Scripture referenced 12 passages
The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.
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Romans 4:16 main text for the sermon, faith and grace, promise guaranteed to all descendants
16 For this cause it is of faith, that it may be according to grace, to the end that the promise may be sure to all the offspring, not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all.
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Keep this verse
Romans 4:17
God who gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist
17 As it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations.” This is in the presence of him whom he believed: God, who gives life to the dead, and calls the things that are not, as though they were.
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Romans 4:18
in hope against hope Abraham believed he would become father of many nations
18 Besides hope, Abraham in hope believed, to the end that he might become a father of many nations, according to that which had been spoken, “So will your offspring be.”
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Romans 4:19
Abraham contemplated his own body as good as dead and the deadness of Sarah's womb
19 Without being weakened in faith, he didn’t consider his own body, already having been worn out, (he being about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb.
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Romans 4:20-21
Abraham did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith fully assured God could perform what He promised
20 Yet, looking to the promise of God, he didn’t waver through unbelief, but grew strong through faith, giving glory to God,
21 and being fully assured that what he had promised, he was also able to perform.
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Romans 4:22-25
credited to Abraham as righteousness, written for our sake also, Jesus delivered for our transgressions and raised for our justification
22 Therefore it also was “credited to him for righteousness.”
23 Now it was not written that it was accounted to him for his sake alone,
24 but for our sake also, to whom it will be accounted, who believe in him who raised Jesus, our Lord, from the dead,
25 who was delivered up for our trespasses, and was raised for our justification.
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Romans 3:23
there is no one righteous, no not one, used to show God did not choose Abraham for his righteousness
23 for all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God;
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Genesis 12:1-4
God calls Abraham to leave his country and go to a land He would show him, Abraham obeyed immediately
1 Now Yahweh said to Abram, “Leave your country, and your relatives, and your father’s house, and go to the land that I will show you.
2 I will make of you a great nation. I will bless you and make your name great. You will be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who treates you with contempt. All the families of the earth will be blessed through you.”
4 So Abram went, as Yahweh had told him. Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.
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Genesis 15:1-6
God promises Abraham a son from his own body, descendants like the stars, Abraham believed and it was credited as righteousness
1 After these things Yahweh’s word came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Don’t be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.”
2 Abram said, “Lord Yahweh, what will you give me, since I go childless, and he who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?”
3 Abram said, “Behold, to me you have given no children: and, behold, one born in my house is my heir.”
4 Behold, Yahweh’s word came to him, saying, “This man will not be your heir, but he who will come out of your own body will be your heir.”
5 Yahweh brought him outside, and said, “Look now toward the sky, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” He said to Abram, “So will your offspring be.”
6 He believed in Yahweh, who credited it to him for righteousness.
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Genesis 17:1-8
God appears to 99-year-old Abraham, establishes covenant, promises he will be father of a multitude of nations
1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, Yahweh appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty. Walk before me, and be blameless.
2 I will make my covenant between me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.”
3 Abram fell on his face. God talked with him, saying,
4 “As for me, behold, my covenant is with you. You will be the father of a multitude of nations.
5 Your name will no more be called Abram, but your name will be Abraham; for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.
6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you. Kings will come out of you.
7 I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God to you and to your offspring after you.
8 I will give to you, and to your offspring after you, the land where you are traveling, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession. I will be their God.”
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Ephesians 2:8-9
saved by grace through faith not of yourself so no one can boast, faith is the only receptor for God's grace
8 for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
9 not of works, that no one would boast.
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1 Thessalonians 5:23-24
closing benediction, God of peace sanctify you completely, He who calls you is faithful He will do it
23 May the God of peace himself sanctify you completely. May your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
24 He who calls you is faithful, who will also do it.
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Recap
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
The pastor preached from Romans 4:16-25, tracing Paul's argument back through the life of Abraham in Genesis to show that faith has always been the only way a person receives God's grace. The sermon centered on what it looks like to actually believe God when He tells you to do something you cannot see your way through. Communion followed as a natural close to that call.
What was said
Paul's argument in Romans 4 did not originate with Paul. To understand it, you have to go back to Genesis and watch it happen in a real man's life. Abraham appears first as nothing more than a name in a long genealogical list at the end of Genesis 11, no different from anyone around him, no indication that he was more righteous or more deserving of God's attention than the next person on the list.
Then Genesis 12 happens. God speaks to Abraham out of that crowd and tells him to leave everything he has known and travel to a place God will show him later. The remarkable thing is verse 4: Abraham went, immediately, with no destination in hand. That response, trusting a word he could not yet verify, is the pattern Paul is pointing to throughout Romans 4.
The life that follows is not a portrait of a man who had it together. The pastor walked through the chapters carefully: Abraham lying to protect himself, Abraham and Sarah trying to engineer the promised child through Hagar rather than waiting on God, Abraham sinning again in the same way after God had already established a covenant with him. Moses went out of his way in Genesis to show how flawed this man was. The point is that God did not credit righteousness to Abraham because Abraham earned it. He credited it because Abraham believed Him.
The specific promise God made, that Abraham would be the father of many nations, was made to a man whose body was as good as dead and whose wife had a womb that was, by every natural measure, past the point of bearing children. Romans 4:19-20 says Abraham contemplated those facts and still did not waver in unbelief. He grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, being fully assured that what God had promised He was able also to perform. That assurance, that God is both willing and able to do what He says, is where glory comes back to God.
To explain what giving God glory actually looks like from the ground, the pastor used one picture. A little girl standing at the edge of a pool, her father in the water calling for her to jump. She can refuse because she thinks he is not strong enough to catch her. She can refuse because she thinks he is mean and will let her go under on purpose. Or she can jump. When she jumps and he catches her, that is glory to the father. Abraham jumped. That is the whole sermon in one image.
Paul then makes plain that all of this was written down not for Abraham's sake but for ours. Those who believe in the God who raised Jesus from the dead are in the same line of descent, not by blood but by faith. Jesus was delivered over because of our transgressions and raised because of our justification. The same structure that saved Abraham, God making a promise, a person believing it, God performing it, is the structure of the gospel.
The closing question was personal and direct. Salvation is the first jump, but it is not the only one. God continues to ask His people to trust Him with specific things, a hard forgiveness, a major life change, letting go of a persistent sin. Whatever God has been asking, the answer is the same one Abraham gave in Genesis 12. Jump.
Doing a Bible study?
Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages in order, questions for the group, and room to write.
- The pastor spent time in Genesis showing that Abraham was just a name in a long list before God called him, and that Moses went out of his way to show how sinful Abraham was even after the covenant. What does it mean to you that God did not choose Abraham because he was already righteous?
- The pastor said that the only receptor we have for God's grace is faith, and that in human terms we always want to pay for what we have so that we know it is ours. Where do you find yourself trying to earn what God has offered freely?
and 3 more questions in the guide
Read the full transcript 7,765 words
0:00
Speaker 1How are y'all this morning?
0:01
Speaker 2Good. Good.
0:02
Speaker 1Good. It's it's good to see some of you back. It's it's summertime is coming when we have these visitors starting to show back up. Glad to see you. Would you turn with me to hymn number three twenty nine?
0:15
There's power in the blood. If you'll stand, we'll sing the rest of men from the vestibule. Hymn number three twenty nine, if you want
0:25
Speaker 2to find your part. Would you be free from your burden of sin? There's power in the blood. Power in the blood. Would you or evil a victory win?
0:40
There's wonderful power in the blood there is power power wonder working power in the blood of the lamb there is power power wonder working power in the precious blood of the lamb would you be free from your passion and pride there's power in the blood power in the blood, come for a cleansing to Calvary's tithe. There's wonderful power in the blood. There is power, power, wonder working power In the blood of the lamb, there is power, power, wonder working power, in the precious blood of the lamb. Would you be whiter much whiter than snow there's power in the blood power in the blood sin stains are lost in its life giving flow. There's wonderful power in the blood.
1:55
There is power, power, wonder working power in the blood of the lamb. There is power under working power in the precious blood of the lamb would you do service for Jesus your king there's power in the blood power in the blood would you live daily his praises to sing there's wonderful power in the blood there is power power wonder working power in the blood of the lamb there is power power wonder working power in the precious blood of the lamb Amen.
2:51
Speaker 1So, we're gonna sing, Are You Washing the Blood? It's actually directly across the page if you're holding the hymnal.
3:04
Speaker 2Have you been to Jesus for the cleansing power? Are you washed in the blood of the lamb? Are you fully trusting in his grace this hour? Are you washed in the blood of the lamb? Are you washed in the blood, in the soul cleansing blood of the lamb?
3:30
Are your garments spotless? Are they white as snow? Are you washed in the blood of the lamb? Are you walking daily by the savior's side are you washed in the blood of the lamb do you rest each moment in the crucified are you washed in the blood of the lamb Are you washed in the blood in the soul cleansing blood of the lamb? Are your garments spotless?
4:09
Are they white as snow? Are you washed in the blood of the lamb? When the bridegroom cometh, will your robes be white? Are you washed in the blood of the lamb? Will your soul be ready for the mansion's bright and be washed in the blood of the lamb?
4:33
Are you washed in the blood, in the soul cleansing blood of the lamb? Are your garments spotless? Are they white as snow? Are you washed in the blood of the lamb? Lay aside the garments that are stained with sin and be washed in the blood of the lamb.
5:00
There's a fountain flowing for the soul unclean oh be washed in the blood of the lamb are you washed in the blood in the soul cleansing blood of the lamb are your garments spotless are they white as snow are you washed in the blood of the lamb amen y'all can have a seat
5:30
Speaker 1I have a few announcements this morning just a few There is Awana happening tomorrow night. Actually, I did not say this but we are having not this next weekend but the next is the big Awana Grand Prix. I didn't say that in the first service but the Awana Grand Prix is happening and we're going to have lunch afterwards like dinner on the grounds and then we're gonna come inside for them to race Pinewood Derby's cars here after the service in two weeks. So, two weeks from today. But Awana is happening again tomorrow night, Mondays starting at six.
6:05
At the same time, as Monday nights at First B happens down the hall, Neil Music and a Message down the hall. Carl is preaching through Nehemiah. It's been really, really good. The connect hour still happen in between services. The family fun night.
6:19
This place was completely full on Friday night. People, the fellowship was completely full to where it was standing room only with kids and adults coming in for visionary parenting with Rob Rinell was a video series upstairs for the adults and then there were volunteer and paid workers downstairs too with the kids and they were having a ball with Buck Denver. What's in the Bible with Buck Denver? Little series which is good and then they played a lot of games. So, that's happening again this Friday night at 05:30.
6:50
Goes on till about eight. Youth spring retreat. Renzi is on vacation right now. So, he's not here but if you wanna know anything about the middle school and high school youth spring retreat, you can ask me after the service and I will help you get the information that you need. That's happening May thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth.
7:07
It's at Camp Bethel up in the Bighorn Mountains. That's where Renzi and Kale met. He has a a a place in his heart for Camp Bethel. He loves it. The baby bottle campaign for Turning Point, I told you I would remind them.
7:19
I'm reminding them right now. Have a goal to raise Turning Point has a goal to raise $25,000 this year in the baby bottle campaign. There are still a few empty baby bottles in the back in the 10 bins back there up under the star painting. If you'd grab one of those and you can fill it up and bring it back. There are two of em on my desk this morning.
7:39
People have brought back in which is nice. We are doing Vacation Bible School, June 20 through the twenty fourth. It's nine in the morning to twelve noon. The theme this year is Surf Shack. So, Cowabunga, Hangten, all of those things I'm sure will come up a lot but Surf Shack is the theme and we need volunteers.
8:00
We have some folks signed up right now, but we've switched over. You can either see Krista or Dancy like we've always done, and that's the probably the easiest way. But if you find yourself thinking, you know what? I wanna volunteer, and I'm here and they're not here with me. You can go online and do it.
8:16
So, if you can register online at firstbjackson.org or you can see Christy, Christa, or Nancy. And that's good. June 20 to twenty fourth, nine to twelve. One more thing. There was a congregational meeting today between the services.
8:31
We're talking about the kitchen remodel. And if you wanna know more about that, you can talk to me again afterwards. Or if you have suggestions, you can talk to Kevin Olson about that. For anything else and I think there's probably plenty of stuff in the bulletin. I've not read it this morning but if there's anything else that's in there, check your bulletin as always.
8:52
Would you stand up and greet one another And Judy and I will bring you back together with a song.
9:09
Speaker 2Worthy of all the blood songs we can sing worthy of all of the offerings we bring you are worthy Father, creator, you are worthy. Savior, sustainer, you are worthy of worship and praise worthy of reverence worthy of fear worthy of love and evocean worthy of bowing and bending of means worthy of all this and added to these you are worthy. Father, creator, you are worthy. Savior, sustainer, you are worthy. Worthy and wonderful, worthy of worship and praise.
10:39
Almighty father, master, and lord, savior and source of our life without end you are worthy father creator you are worthy. Savior, sustainer, you are worthy. Worthy and wonderful, worthy of worship and praise
11:32
Speaker 1Amen. Would you sing Just A Closer Walk With Thee? Hymn number five sixty four if you want your part.
11:49
Speaker 2I'm weak but thou art strong Jesus, keep me from all wrong. I'll be satisfied as long. As I walk, let me walk close to thee just a closer walk with thee granted Jesus is my plea daily walking close to thee let it be dear Lord let it be shed none but thee, dear Lord, none but thee, just a closer walk with thee granted Jesus is my plea daily walking close to to thy shore just a closer walk with thee granted Jesus is my plea daily walking close to thee Amen.
14:19
Speaker 1Y'all can have a seat. I'm gonna invite the frontline team to come forward. God, would you grant us just that, a closer walk with you that we would be able to be so close to you, lord, that we understand your reactions, that we understand how we should react to every given situation. Lord, would you give us the the grace to walk close to you, to be walking exactly where you would have us, Lord, and to have the words on our lips, the meditations of our heart be acceptable in your sight. But, Lord, that we would be saying those words, that we would be speaking to people, that we're speaking a message of love and forgiveness, of mercy, and grace available because Christ Jesus has paid the price on Calvary for sin.
15:13
So, God, would you take these tithes and offerings that we're given this morning? We're acknowledging you. We're acknowledging that we trust you. We're saying, lord, would you do what you've done in our lives and the lives of others? From here in this community to the ends of the earth.
15:30
In Jesus name, Lord, would you do that? Amen. Amen.
15:38
Speaker 3A very religious man born 1685, a baroque master, most likely the most famous one of all, baroque masters, and came to love God. He worked for churches, had to compose every week, either composition for choir, organ, or orchestra, or whatever, and after every time he wrote a composition, wrote AD. That means have mercy on us. And one other side note, having missionary work even while you're dead. As most people know the Japan actually speak.
16:22
Speaker 1Speak right in there.
16:24
Speaker 3Most people know the Japanese people do not believe in Christ. However, around fifty or so years ago, Bach was introduced to Japan, and many became followers of Christ after they heard Bach's glorious music. Amen. Amen. Thank you.
16:44
Speaker 1After every one of his pieces too, he put SDG, Soli Deo Gloria.
16:50
Speaker 3Okay. Yes.
16:50
Speaker 1To God only the glory. And it's amazing that he keeps on preaching. Yeah. Long long after he has passed. Amen.
16:58
Thank you. Have mercy on us. Wow. So, this morning, we're up to Romans 16. No, sorry.
17:09
Romans four sixteen. Romans four sixteen in our study and I got to thinking, we probably ought to read the whole section that we're gonna read first. Blake, I'm throwing a curve here because one of my slides did not show up in the last service. So I'm gonna read the first two slides, and then we're gonna go to the very last slide, okay? So first two slides, and then that one that was obliterated for the first service.
17:34
Apparently, they didn't need to hear we'll go to that, okay? So, we're gonna read all of the scripture we're gonna cover today and then come back. For this reason, it is by faith in order that it may be in accordance with grace so that the promise will be guaranteed to all the descendants, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all. As it is written, a father of many nations, have I made you in the presence of him who believed even God, who gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist. In hope against hope, he believed, that's Abraham, so that he might become a father of many nations according to that which had been spoken, so shall your descendants be.
18:17
Without becoming weak in faith, he contemplated his own body now as good as dead since he was about 100 years old and the deadness of Sarah's womb, yet with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that what God had promised, he was able also to perform. And can I hit the last slide there? Maybe next to the last slide. Nope. Sorry.
18:48
Blake, would you mind switching the sermon? To the one that I put in there between services that I didn't forgot to tell you about? Okay, I'll vamp for a minute while you do that. How about that? So, how many of y'all know anything about Abraham other than father Abraham with seven sons?
19:04
Seven sons have father Abraham. I'm one of them so are you. So, let's just praise the Lord. Y'all remember that one? Okay.
19:10
Well, we're going to sing it. No, not really. If if he gets that swapped around, we'll we'll go back to the service. What I want to do though is start with father Abraham like go back to Genesis. Now, I can't read 10 whole chapters of Genesis in the first part of a sermon on Romans but I am going to read sections from it.
19:33
I wanna start where it starts. If you look and you're looking along the line in Genesis, you go through Adam and Eve, you go through Noah, you get to chapter 11, and you get to the Tower Of Babel where God separated the languages and then below that, it gives a long list and that long list is a message of that we usually skip. It's the begats and so and so begets so and so and so so had so and so and they had seven sons and all of these different things and we usually just skip that. The first place that Abraham mentioned is like in verse 26 or 27 of chapter 11 and it just mentions it by name. He's in the list, just a big old list of names.
20:15
He is not shown to be any different than anybody else until chapter 12 and in chapter 12, it says something that makes a difference. Now, I'm gonna read this. Sorry. Thank you, Blake for all that you do. Trying to keep up with me.
20:29
Therefore, it was also credited to him as righteousness that's Abraham. Not for his sake only was it written that it was credited to him but also for our sake also to whom it will be credited as those who believe in him who raised Jesus our lord from the dead. He who was delivered over because of our transgressions and was raised because of our justification. Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Would you pray with me?
20:59
God, this morning, as I stand up here and we get through the little hiccups and all of the little glitches that happen. Would you just center our hearts on the one clear, distinct message that we have today. There's one illustration in this sermon and it is a call just like you called out to Abraham to believe you. In Jesus name, would you would you contact us today with this message? Would you connect it with our hearts and would you let it resonate and work its way out in what we do.
21:31
In Jesus name, amen. So, for weeks and weeks and weeks, I've been preaching about it's more about being. It's believing. What you believe makes a difference because that's how you get in. Justification by faith has been the theme but if we back up a bit, I want you to see that in the life of Abraham.
21:47
So, we're gonna go back to Genesis 12. Imma start by just Genesis twelve one to four. Now, we're going all the way to chapter 22. I'm not gonna read the whole thing but here you go. Now, the Lord said to Abraham, Abraham, now, Abraham was just a name in a list up until this point.
22:02
He is shown to be no different than any of the others. Now, we've already passed three twenty three that says, there's no one righteous, no, not one and he means it. He didn't pick Abraham because Abraham was righteous. He picked Abraham. Why every picked him?
22:18
We don't know. But the Lord said to Abraham, go from your country and from your relatives and from your father's house to the land which I will show you and I will make of you a great nation and I will bless you and make your name great and so you shall be a blessing and I will bless those who bless you, the ones who curses you, I will curse and in you, all the families of the earth will be blessed. I love this. It's immediate. It's the next verse.
22:49
God has spoken to him out of the crowd basically and said, do this. Go forth from your country, from your relatives. Leave the land that you know and go to a place I'll show you and then verse four says, so Abraham went forth as the Lord had spoken to him. It was immediate obedience. And Lot went with him.
23:09
He was just a relative. Yeah, I'll go with you. God had not spoken directly to Lot but he'd spoken to Abraham. Lot went with him. Now, Abraham was 75 years old when he departed from Haran.
23:21
He'd been living in the same place or with the same group of people at least for seventy five years and then God speaks. All of a sudden, God speaks and he answers in faith. Genesis 13, Abraham and Lot, Abraham guided by God. He said that go to the place that I'll show you and so Abraham is going out to the place God will show him. He does not have a clear path exactly where it will be but he's going.
23:48
God is showing him and he's going. Lot is following and eventually, there becomes a little skiffle between Lot's herdsman and Abraham's herdsman. There's a little bit of a disagreement. There's a fight and since they're kinda starting to war with each other and drive each other crazy on a long trip, then, Abraham says, you know what? We don't need to fight.
24:11
We're we're brothers, you know. We don't need to fight. You look, Lot, and you see whatever you wanna see, and you go whichever way you wanna go, and I'll go the other way. If you go to the left, I'll go to the right. If you go to the right, I'll to the left.
24:26
You look and you choose and so Lot being the speculator that he is, looked down and saw that valley that was so nice and the grass was great because it was well watered on all sides and he chose the cities of the plain in the valley. It was fantastic. Great investment, right? Abraham said, wherever you go, I'll go somewhere else. So, Abraham went to the not so well watered place.
24:52
Turns out, as real estate goes sometimes, Lot had seen Sodom and Gomorrah and looked really good to him. We know how that turned out. Not a good choice for Lot but Abraham had given him the grace of saying, you know what? Take what you will and I'll go the other way and immediately after that, God recognized in Abraham that he had graciously given and he said, all that you see from here, all that you see will be yours. You will inherit this, all.
25:20
You and your descendants forever. Abraham and Lot separate. There's a war of the kings. This is an again one of those things that typically we skip because we don't know who the names are. We don't know what the countries are.
25:31
We don't know anything about but there's war, strife, struggle. Abraham comes through it. Well, God has seen him through it in Genesis 14. At the end of Genesis 14, Melchizedek comes and blesses him. Melchizedek, priest of the most high God.
25:47
Then, we get to 15 and this is what he says, fifteen one, after these things, the word of the Lord came to Abraham in a vision saying, do not fear, Abraham. I'm a shield to you. Your reward shall be very great. Abraham said, oh Lord God, what will you give me since I am childless and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus? And Abraham said, since you have given no offspring to me, one born in my house is my heir.
26:13
Then, behold, the word of the Lord came to him saying, this man will not be your heir but one who will come forth from your own body, he shall be your heir. This is the child of promise. God says, I am going to bless you with a child from your own body. He shall be heir and he took him outside and said, now, look toward the heavens and count the stars if you're able to count them and he said to him, so shall your descendants be. Then, he believed in the Lord or he believed the Lord and it he reckoned it to him as righteousness.
26:42
Now, Paul has called back on that. We've already hit that twice in the text of Romans that Abraham believed God and God imputed that or counted that or credited that to his account as righteousness. That's where we see it in Genesis. Now, this is somewhere between ages 75 and 99 for Abraham. Okay?
27:01
Somewhere around 90, most people are guessing, but 75 to 99. It's somewhere in there. When he's promised that Isaac will be his son. It's like, it's gotta be I can do the math. He's in his he's in his upper seventies or eighties.
27:15
Alright? 86 maybe. If my math is right, he's 86. Anyway, he tells him to look outside and see the stars if you're able to count em. This is the way your descendants will be.
27:27
So then, Abraham and Sarah devise a plan. Sarai and Abraham are trying to look at this and saying, God's promised us a son. We gotta figure this thing out because look at me. You know, I'm not having this. I'm not going to have this baby.
27:42
Sarah did not believe that she was able to have the baby and maybe this is the way God wants us to do it through human into human logic and human works. Maybe for Abraham, definitely not for Sarah. Okay, Hagar, that's our answer and they go ahead with that. That didn't go well either. Genesis 17.
28:03
Now, when Abraham was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to Abraham and said to him, I am God almighty. Walk before me and be blameless. I will establish my covenant between me and you and I will multiply you exceedingly. This is for a 99 year old man with a 90 year old wife. I'm going to multiply you exceedingly and it's not that way.
28:23
Not Hagar's child, not Ishmael. He's not the child of promise. The child of promise is still to come. Alright. Abraham fell on his face and God talked with him saying, as for me, behold, my covenant is with you and you will be the father of a multitude of nations.
28:38
No longer shall your name be called Abraham but your name shall be called Abraham for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations and I will make you exceedingly fruitful I will make nations of you and kings will come forth from you and I will establish my covenant between me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant to be God to you and to your your descendants after you. Paul is calling back and saying, those who believe like Abraham believed are in that line of his descendants and that is how he gets to be the father of many nations. Genesis 18, we're going on forward. The birth of Isaac is promised. Again, this time, it's promised to Sarah too.
29:18
She heard it and she laughed. Yes, exactly. She laughed out loud. Come on. What are you saying?
29:24
I'm 90. This is ridiculous. Birth of Isaac is promised and he said, surely, it is going to come to pass. This is going to happen. Genesis 19, anything that your Netflix series or anything that your series that you're watching on television right now has, these 10 chapters of Genesis have got it.
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The doom of Sodom, death and destruction, brimstone raining down from heaven. Genesis 20 is a story of Abraham's treachery. That is sin. Abraham's sin. Now, this is not the first time.
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Abraham immediately after God calls him and makes him a covenant. He goes in and he tells some Egyptian guy that his wife is his sister and he does it again here. This is this is my sister. No, it's not. It's your wife.
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You're lying. It's Abraham's treachery. He's trying to get by because he's afraid, because he's fearful. Now, this is the man who God has established his covenant with. Is he sinful?
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I think that they go out of the way to show how sinful Abraham is. Moses went out of his way in Genesis to say that. Genesis 21, Isaac is born. Finally, the child of promise is here. We've been waiting for it for so long.
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Abraham has been waiting for it for so long and he's born and that's fantastic. God is making good on his promise but the very next chapter is but you gotta be willing to give him up. The offering of Isaac is the next chapter. So, are you with me? We're seeing all of the different phases of the life of Abraham from the time where God calls him out all the way through the child of promise and having to give that up even and seeing God provide afterward.
31:00
Now, that's a different sermon for a different day. Maybe after we finish the New Testament, we'll go back to the old. I wanna go back to Romans four. Romans four sixteen says, for this reason, it's by faith in order that it may be in accordance with grace. The only receptor that we have for God's grace is faith.
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Ephesians two eight and nine says, what? I say this one all the time. What does it say? For it's by grace that you're saved through faith, not of yourself so that no one can boast, right? Yes.
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It is by faith. In order that it may be in accordance with grace. The only receptor that we have for the grace of God is faith. Are you with me? Do you agree with me?
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We've been going over this quite a bit lately. Faith and grace go hand in hand. There's no other way to accept it. In fact, in human terms, we always want to pay for everything, don't we? We want to pay for whatever we have so that we know that it's ours.
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If it's given to you freely just by faith. What we typically think is if it's too good to be true, it's what? Too good to be true. You have to trust that a good God has given this freely in order to receive it freely. So, that the promise will be guaranteed to all of the descendants.
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Now, all of the descendants, I will make of you a great nation. I will bless you and make your name great, Abraham, so that you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you. The one who curses you, I'll curse and in the in you, all of the families of the earth will be blessed. Everybody has opportunity because you've taken what I said and believed it.
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The promise when I get to this so that the promise will be guaranteed. The promise is right here. As for me, God says, behold, my covenant is with you. This is a one-sided unilateral thing. God is making towards Abraham.
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My covenant is with you and you will be the father of a multitude of nations no longer shall you be called Abraham but Abraham for I've made you the father of a multitude. I will make you exceedingly fruitful. I'll make nations of you. Kings will come from you. I'll establish my covenant between me and you.
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I've been saying for weeks that God is the one who does all the work because if it's dependent on us, we doubt and we have problems and we go up and down in our faith, right? But God is saying that trust me and I will do this. I'll bring it to completion. Are you with me? Okay.
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But also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, those who believe God, who is the father of us all, as it is written, a father of many nations I have made you. In the presence of him whom he believed. Now, I I've separated this one out because sometimes for us today, we think, well, yeah, but if you read those 10 chapters of Genesis, it's very obvious that God was there in bodily form. He was close enough to Abraham that he could reach out and touch him and see him and he was speaking to him. He made a covenant with him.
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He actually made an old Hittite covenant with him where he said, take this animal and kill it and split the pieces and I'm going to walk in the midst of it with you. I'm going to make a covenant that you'll understand and you know about. We might say, yeah, if God was in the flesh right here with me, maybe it'd be easier for me to believe him. Think about that. Would it be?
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If God was right here in the flesh, would it be easier to believe that that's God and not just another man? There are tons of people that were yelling, crucify him, crucify him even though Jesus had shown himself to be God in the flesh. In the presence of him whom he believed, even God. This is God who gives life to the dead. This is the God who calls into being that which does not exist.
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Now, the given life to the dead, he mentions the deadness of Sarah's womb. He mentions his body in just a minute. He mentions his body being reckoned as dead. Giving life to the dead and he calls into being that which does not exist which always reminds me of a joke and I'm gonna share it because that's what I do. So, there are scientists who feel like they've come so far advanced.
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They've gotten so far along and these are mostly, you know, atheistic science, scientists but even if not atheistic, they said, you know what? It doesn't matter because we can do everything God can do. All that healing business, medicine, modern medicine, we've got this. Modern engineering, we can build anything we want to. We can make things.
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We can manipulate things. We can make things and we can do it and we would challenge God to do anything that we can't do and so, God says, alright, I'll take that challenge. So, he says, now, create life and so the scientists go and they pick up a handful of dirt and they start separating out the elements and God says, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, he gives life to the dead and he calls into being that which does not exist. Now, Abraham, in hope against hope, he believed. Now, everything logically was stacked against him, right?
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Everything was stacked against him but yet in hope, against hope, he believed. So that he might actually become that father of many nations according to that which he had been spoken and so shall your descendants be. All of this is calling back to Genesis. Now, verse 19, without becoming weak in faith, he contemplated his own body now as good as dead. 99 year old man.
36:51
Since he was about 100 years old and the deadness of Sarah's womb. How do you contemplate that without becoming weak in faith? The next few verses kinda go over that but it is hard when you look at your circumstances to think about how is it that God's gonna do what he says he's gonna do. If he has given you the direction to do what it is you need to do, he's going to complete it. Actually, next verse goes in that.
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Yet, with respect to the promise of God, Abraham did not waver in unbelief. He really believed God and he didn't waver in that. With respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but he grew strong in faith, giving glory to God. Now, I've got one illustration. Actually, I might have already shared an illustration I forgot about but I've got one illustration for this sermon and it centers around this, the giving glory to God.
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How do we give God glory? What is the way that we first of all, what's the chief end of man? Are there any good Presbyterians in here? What's the chief end of man? To glorify God and enjoy him forever.
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To glorify God and enjoy him forever. That is the way that it goes. So, giving glory to God. How do we give glory to God? God is almighty.
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He is all powerful. He's omniscient. He's all those things that we can repeat and say that but how do our lives give glory to God? Obedience Believe him. Believe him first.
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You can be obedient to that which you believe, right? Obedience is putting feet to the prayers. It's actually believing in them and acting on it and this is the place in Romans where we shift from who you are is based on what you believe to now that you believe. Go forward from here and act on that. You're saved by faith.
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But when you have faith, it begins to change you and it begins to change the way that you act, the way that you are. So giving glory to God. Now, I've got one illustration. This is it. There's a little girl sitting on the side of the pool.
39:05
I have a little girl, and so this one's really close to home. If, let's say, that little girl standing on the edge of the pool and daddy is down in the pool and daddy steps back and says, alright. Jump to me. I'll catch you. That little girl on the side, though she may be afraid of the water, has not learned to fully swim yet, bobs up and down, and kinda dog paddles around.
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She looks at that and he's further back than he want she wants for him to be. And she's like, I don't know. And she's got a choice there. It's her daddy. I know all earthly fathers are not like our heavenly father, but it's her daddy and he's right there and he's calling for jump to me.
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Come on. I'll catch you. That was the position that Abraham was in when he said, go from the place that you know and go to a place that I will show you. You don't know whether I'm gonna catch you or not but I'm saying, do this. Now, for that little girl, if she believes daddy and she leaps into his arms and he catches her, oh my goodness.
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That's glory to the dad. I just have to say. That's there's nothing better than that feeling of whoo just reckless abandon heading towards you and you catch her and all is well and then, the next time she gets the opportunity to jump, she's ready and she'll jump. Does that make sense? Are you with me on this illustration?
40:40
Now the other thing that she could do is stand there and go, nope. I'm not jumping for a couple of reasons. One, she could think, you can't catch me. I don't trust you. That water is too scary.
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I don't wanna be in there. I don't wanna have anything to do with it, and I I don't no. You're incompetent. I don't trust you. You can't actually do what you say you can do.
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And if she thinks that, she'll stand on the side and it'll frustrate, it'll frustrate her, and it'll frustrate the dad, right? Even though he loves her and knows he can catch her, it'll frustrate both of them. Or she could think, you're mean, not incompetent. You could do it but you won't. You thinker?
41:22
How many of y'all grew up thinking God was angry? That he's just waiting for you to do something ugly so that he can smack you. He's a cosmic killjoy. He's listed a bunch of things that are fun and if I do any of those things, he's just waiting to catch up and get me. God is mean and that's like the little girl saying, I broke that lamp yesterday and he's just saying jump so that he can let me wander in that water.
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He's going to get out of the way and pull his hands back as soon as I jump. He's mean. That's one way to think of it. Or she could just trust him and jump. Brings glory to the dad like I said, brings glory to God when you believe him.
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That is the way. I mean, we can't add to his glory. He is almighty God. He is omniscient. He lacks nothing.
42:05
So, there's nothing we can give him that's a value except for believing him. So, this is what Abraham did. Being fully assured that what God had promised, he was able also to perform Therefore, it was also credited to him as righteousness. Now, Abraham was not righteous. We've seen it over and over and over again.
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He was not. He was a trickster. He was a liar. He was a lot of things. He even was enriched by each of his opportunities where he took the advantage and lied.
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He was a cheat, a swindler. It shows up in his family line several times forward from there. But he was credited as righteous because he believed God. Now, not for his sake only was all of that written, Paul says, that it was credited to him but it was for our sake also to those whom it will be credited. So, this line goes on and on and on.
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For our sake also, to whom it will be credited as those who believe in him, who raised Jesus our lord from the dead, he who was delivered over because of our transgressions and was raised because of our justification. He's saying that this is the story of Jesus. Abraham had to look forward to him not knowing. He still, he left the land that he knew and he was going to a place that God would show him and every human being before Christ that followed after Abraham in faith did the same and we are following after him. We're looking back to the cross of Christ.
43:39
We're here today to celebrate Lord's supper and we're looking at that cross of Christ, that final payment for sin, the only payment for sin. Jesus was delivered because of our transgression. He was raised because of our justification. If you have jumped and you've trusted him with your salvation, you're welcome to partake of the table here today but I wanna ask you one more question. What is God asking you to do?
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It's not just salvation. I mean, Abraham trusted God and it was credited to him as righteousness but he continued having to have a relationship with him and continued to walk that line where he was trusting God and he would get himself in some pretty sticky situations but he had to trust God to get him out of those situations and to keep on moving forward. So, in order for you to keep on moving forward, is there something that you know that God has asked for you to do? If it's a big thing, a move of some type, a change, some major thing, major life change, I'd say jump. Just do it.
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You know that God's the one who said it? Do it. Period. Jump. That's how you glorify God.
44:52
Trusting him with difficult decisions and circumstances. What is God asking you to do? It might not be a major thing as the world sees it. It might be a minor thing like forgiving a neighbor or forgiving your mother or forgiving a friend or helping a neighbor, your mother or friend, or doing something that might not be seen as a major life changing thing. But some of y'all are being set free by the simple gracious acts.
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God has graciously given to you. God has graciously forgiven you, and you can pass that along to others and you'll find that you are set free in doing that. So, what is God asking you to do? Whatever it is, I say jump. Okay?
45:40
I think that one's out of place. So, I'm gonna invite the frontline team to come forward and we're just gonna go into a time of communion. The Lord's supper and I wanna give you a chance. Before we start. If you have something right now that God's asking you to do and it might be let go of your sin.
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You've got this specific stronghold in your life and you wanted to let go and you tried time and time again but you don't really trust me because you won't stop. Knowing that he who promised is able to deliver just like Abraham knew. Don't waver in your faith that God wants you to let that go for his glory. I'm gonna give you a chance. God, would you forgive us of our sins?
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We know that you do. That's what you do. That's what you're in the business of doing but those things that are conscious on our part that we still persist in like Abraham persisted in lying. Lord, it's your righteousness imputed to us. It's your spirit within us speaking and leading.
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Would you give us the strength to just say yes to jump? Daily as we go and lord, as we distribute this bread, may we contemplate your perfection, your life lived in this flesh, tempted in all the ways that we're tempted yet without sin. So, would you, lord, bring to our realization that you have made the way. You have given us the example and you gave your perfect life credit so that we might be counted as righteous. In Jesus name, would you bless this bread as we distribute it?
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Amen. On the same night that Jesus was betrayed, he took bread after supper and after he'd given thanks, he broke it and he said, this is my body which is given for you. Take this and eat and do it in remembrance of me. Lord Jesus, when I think of this, remembering you, I remember all of the stories of your earthly life, of your grace, of your mercy, of your love, of your walking with temptations but without sin. And I thank you that you know us.
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You know us completely. You know us. God, I thank you that you have given your blood, the eternal and ultimate only sacrifice for sin. I thank you, God, that you did that on the behalf of every one of us who believe. Would you give us the grace and mercy and love to share so that others would also make that leap?
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In Jesus name, Lord, we thank you for your blood represented by this cup. And as we distribute, I ask you to bless to each one who partakes and for everyone, Lord, who lets it pass, not yet haven't believed. Lord, that you would work in their lives and draw them to realization of who you are. In Jesus name, amen. In the same manner that Jesus took the bread, he took the cup after supper.
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And he said to them that this was the new covenant in his blood. We've been talking about eternal and everlasting covenants and I've been talking about today jumping, doing what he asked you to do. I think also right now to the wine at the wedding of Cana when they had run out. They didn't have any wine. And Mary, just like Abraham, had faith in God.
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She had faith in Jesus. And she said to those guys who were serving, she said, go to him and whatever he says, do it. And they did, and they believed in him. This is the new covenant in my blood, Jesus says to his disciples. Take this and drink.
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Drink it in, And as often as you will and do it in remembrance of me. Amen. Amen. Would you sing with me the doxology? Would you stand and we'll just sing one verse?
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Speaker 2Praise God from whom all blessings flow praise him all creatures here below praise him above the heavenly host praise father son and holy
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Speaker 1Amen. Now, may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful. He will surely do it. Amen.
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