Peace With God | Sermon 12/12/2021

All right I'm so glad that so many of you are willing to be pioneers That's what a church plant needs, you know pioneers people who are who are you know, happy to serve happy to try new things and happy to Bear with us as we continue to serve the

Lord and get better at what we do to the glory of God. So We are going to continue our series of sola fide by faith alone

And that's going to be in Romans chapter 4 continuing on With with our passage

You might remember we did verses 1 through 12 of Romans 4 last week and we're gonna continue on today from that So if you would turn in your

Bibles to Romans chapter 4 starting in verse 13 Hear now the words of the living and one true

God for The promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would be heir of the world

Was not through the law but through the righteousness of faith For if those who are of the law are heirs faith is made void and the promise is nullified

For the law brings about wrath, but where there is no law there is also no violation

For this reason it is by faith in order that it may be accordance with grace So that the promise would 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's the father of us all as it is written a father of many nations?

Have I made you in the presence of him who he believed even God? Who gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist in hope against hope he believed?

So that he might become a father of many nations According to that which had been spoken

So shall your descendants be? 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 Therefore it was also credited him as righteousness

Now not for his sake only was it written that it was credited to him But for our sake also to whom it was 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 Thus ending the reading of God's Holy Word.

Let's pray quickly father. Please bless the proclamation of your word today Lord speak through me and Let it be helpful for your people today

Lord, please Help us Lord to to see the the defense that Paul is making for justification by faith that it is

Biblical that it is Lord your will in that Justification by faith that it is not by any sort of work or thing that we can do to merit salvation

So Lord help me to speak clearly today Let it be helpful for you to peep for your people and let it be true

And we give you all the glory in it in Jesus name. Amen So I said it last week

That all other world religions are works based systems that offer no real hope of peace

They offer no real hope of peace Christianity demonstrates a Savior who accomplished the work

Died for his people was raised in power showing he can accomplish likewise in us

And it is all by faith through grace It is something that we can't make pilgrimage for it's not something we can accomplish by becoming a monk in the

Himalayas It's not something we can spiritually ascend to through gross ritual or inner enlightenment

Right. None of those things can can can achieve these things consider Islam for instance

Salvation in Islam is only through the worship of the Muslim God Allah and a non -trinitarian false

God and accepting Muhammad as Prophet doing good works being sincere repenting of sin and Hoping that Allah will forgive you the only

Guarantee for salvation in Islam is by dying in jihad Jihad means striving and it can be used differently and in different contexts

The Quran demonstrates one way in surah 9. It is a call for Muslims to engage in offensive warfare against non -muslims this is not the offensive holy war

God called Joshua to do when the Canaanites were practicing grave evil and Sacrificing their children and performing all kinds of immoralities

Something of which it has never been instituted since by the way This is for them a right alternative to persuasion or conversion or proselytizing

To simply exterminate those who don't believe the way they do Of course not all

Muslim sects believe this okay, not not all branches of Islam believe this

But it is in the Quran They all agree though that one must believe in the

Prophet Muhammad Surah 9 63 says know they not that for those who oppose

Allah and his prophet is the fire of hell Wherein shall they dwell? Surah 33 70 through 71.

Oh ye who believe fear Allah and always say a word directed That he may make your conduct whole and sound and forgive you your sins he that obeys

Allah and his prophet Has already attained the achievement the highest achievement and so I could

I could go on and on with verses from the Quran Showing you you need works.

You need to seek Allah to be forgiven and It says it actually says in their text there will be no mediator

No one is allowed according to Islam to bear the burden of your sins and You you have to have faith in a mere man

What is one of the biggest goals in the afterlife for Muslims part of it to worship

Allah But even orthodox Muslim theologians all Alga gazali and all our share have discussed men receiving heavenly virgins for a reward and pleasure

One of them describes heaven is a slave market He says where where there will be no buy and sale

But if any man wishes to take a woman for himself, he can have that woman at that moment. He can just take her this is

Diametrically opposed to Christianity This is diametrically opposed to the hope and truth recorded in the

Bible concerning Christ the eternal state the way of salvation and the nature of God completely

Christianity is Reported today is the largest religion in our world at an estimated 2 .2

billion Followers, which is over 31 % Next is

Islam At 1 .6 billion Muslims, which is 23 %

We just covered that Third is Hinduism at 1 billion, which is 15 %

Hinduism claims that there are 330 million gods 330 million gods, but recognizes one as supreme

Brahma is this impersonal and unknowable God Impersonal and unknowable

Hinduism views mankind as divine because Brahma is everything

Hinduism asserts that everyone else is divine as well All all of reality outside of this

Brahma is considered mere illusion. So the goal The spiritual goal of a Hindu is to become one with Brahma thus ceasing to exist in its illusory form of Individual self

This freedom is referred to as what's called Moksha Moksha until Moksha is achieved a

Hindu believes that he will be repeatedly Reincarnated in order that he may work towards self -realization of the truth

How a person is reincarnated is determined by what's called karma It's a principle of cause and effect governed by nature's balance

What one did in the past affects and corresponds with what happens in the future?

future past lives all Included and so you might you might hear that word karma.

You might hear it at school work at the store on TV Hopefully if I do blank if I do this nice thing good karma will come to me

You've you might have heard that before good karma will come back to me or someone does something bad to someone else and they wish bad karma on them or They recognize my man that person.

Did you see what they did? They're gonna have bad karma. That's what they say, right? So if you are kind and selfless and good during this lifetime, you will be rewarded by being

Reincarnated into a more pleasant life after this one. That's the goal

That's that's the goal. That seems very anticlimactic to me Some If you now on the other hand,

I'm sorry if you live a life of selfishness and evil You will be reincarnated into the next life in an unpleasant and hard existence

Some even think it's possible in that instance. You might reincarnate into an animal

Interesting and so when I was researching reincarnation there would be articles on my web search titled 11 signs your soul has been being reincarnated a lot of times

So it's like okay. How many times have have you been reincarnated? It's just it's laughable, right?

It's laughable Islam and Hinduism both deny original sin and So when there is a denial of original sin in a sin nature

There's no need for a savior or you become your own savior Whether it be good works or jihad of Islam or working out good karma in Hinduism you are justified saved or reach the celestial promise through those acts of self self

You aren't the problem the world is everyone else is

The problem and you can be empowered to remedy your situation. That's what they sell us all the time, right?

And so ex -muslims and ex -hindus who are now Christians. They they'll tell you how bankrupt those systems are

They're striving never amounted to any salvation oneness or enlightenment

It left them just as lost as when they started And as Christians, we're often shocked by hearing these beliefs, right?

It's a bit shocking to me that one could think that a suicide jihad death could bring someone salvation or or in India They do these bathing rituals in feces and trash infested rivers

Thinking if they bathe in them, they'll come out with their sins cleansed from them. That's that's a real thing okay, and so This July even millions of people will sacrifice time money and their health to do what's called

Hajj the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca, right? They must do this at least once in their lifetime to be able to earn salvation with Allah To make it to paradise

We are shocked by these things, but in many ways we shouldn't be in Jesus's day. There were those who did external rites

Rituals and followed traditions to earn salvation themselves. And those were the Pharisees right

Pharisees did that All these religions of the world are no different John MacArthur says this you see there are only two kinds of religion in the whole world the the religion of divine

Accomplishment that is Christianity the accomplishment of Jesus Christ on the cross Then there is the religion of human achievement and that covers every other religion there is he says

So last week we were able to see how the Lord Defines justification by faith in the latter part of Romans chapter 3 and into our text

Romans 4 we considered the one who works and therefore earns a wage as Well as the one who doesn't work and receives grace

Abraham didn't work. He approached God with the empty hand of faith believed

God into his account was imputed the righteousness of God and It is this righteousness that comes from Christ in his remember his passive and active obedience that can avail before a holy

God our so -called Righteousnesses the so -called

Righteousnesses of a Hindu or a Muslim or any other religion? cannot merit eternal life

Our text today is continuing on in Romans 4 13 through Romans 5 1 and so if if verses 1 through 12 of chapter 4 were defining

What justification is you might look at our passage today as the

Apollo Gia the? The apologetic defense of the theology that Paul established in the verses prior

So let's go verse by verse and let's begin that now. Let's let's look at what the

Lord is saying in Romans 4 so starting in verse 13 For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would be heir of the world was not through the law

But through the righteousness of faith This promise we talked about was from Genesis 15 6

We also see it repeated in Genesis 17 He says God says this as for me behold my covenant is with you

And you will be the father of mold a multitude of nations No longer shall your name be

Abram But you shall be called Abraham for I will make you the father of a multitude of nations

I have made you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you and kings will come forth from you so a multitude of nations not just Israel a multitude isn't just from Isaac and Ishmael Okay, it is it is hundreds.

It is thousands of nations I Don't think this promise is even by blood relation

From from out of every nation will come spiritual offspring as a result of this covenant

God made to Abraham out of Jesus says it this way out of every tongue tribe people and nation will spiritual

Israel manifest There are there are Christians on every continent today.

I bet you there's one on Antarctica right now. They're doing research There's a there's Christian on every continent today, this is being further and further realized in our world today

Mustard seed kingdom of God mustard seed type stuff, right? The promise that he would be heir to the world was not through law

It says it was before it and it was and it was even before works

Abraham's status of a righteous justification by God did not depend on his observance of circumcision and Not even on his obedience to the law

Paul makes it clear. His justification was independent of the law We continue to see a contrast through this chapter of of law and works

Opposed to grace and faith those those things are always in contrast with Paul here

He says the promise was through the righteousness imputed by God through faith Now, let me take a let me take a sidestep for a second because I think it's important to address this

This is not to make the law or works bad. Okay, I want you to know that we'll see

After this in Romans 6 and Romans 7 that they are not bad The point is this definitely

Here listen to this law and works This is what he's trying to say law and works will not produce

Justification law and works will not produce a right standing before God law and works though after justification and regeneration after they're applied to a believer are good and profitable to observe to produce sanctification the

Ongoing process of God working in us and making us more holy and more like Christ and this

Sanctification is something a believer is empowered to do by the Holy Spirit and It is authored by Christ who will finish the work started in you

And Ephesians 2 10 says for you are to walk in the good works that God prepared before him

You just walk in them God prepared the works and he gave you the law so that as Christians we don't earn our salvation, but we observe the law as it is righteous and is

God's nature and it is what? sanctifies us Okay, that's one of the big differences if a true

Justification has occurred Then a true lifelong process of sanctification the act of becoming more like Christ will manifest as well

We don't just become licentious or what's called antinomian, which is lawless after justification is applied and And that's where James the brother of Jesus if you remember this passage,

I know LDS message this I'm sorry mentioned this passage a lot in James chapter 2.

They say faith without works is dead Well, that's what I'm describing here That's what

I'm describing here that there will be fruit Appearing due to God's work of justification in a believer.

The fruit is the sanctification part It is it is it is the evidence that God has done a work in you.

It's not what saves you It's evidence that God has done a work. Yeah faith without works is dead in that sense But we're talking about saving faith

Justifying faith here it is different than sanctification Okay, that's the that's a sidestep you need to hear he says heir of the world heir of the world

Galatians 316 says Christ is the seed of Abraham He is the offspring

Abraham is the type Christ is the substance and fulfillment of the promise

Christ has inherited the entire world and he receives spiritual

Israel as his progeny Christ gets spiritual Israel. He gets us. We are his bride.

He receives us verse 14 For if those who are of the law are heirs faith is made void and the promise is nullified

In other words if a man or woman could be made an heir through works of the law then faith is

Unnecessary faith wouldn't be necessary anymore The promise hinges upon faith

That's what? 4 1 through 12 established if it was of the law it would be made void

We need divine intercession not human striving There is there's nothing in the middle here.

There's there's no other option It is either faith alone sola fide or it is nothing

There's no other way to bring about this promise of God verse 15

For the law brings about wrath, but where there is no law there also is no violation

Now let's just say Abraham rejected God's promise and tried to do works

Let's just say he did that or or if the law was present in his day and he tried to observe it for justification

Let's say he did that Nice try Paul's saying nice try, but the law just brings about wrath.

The law just brings about wrath You me anyone in this world can attempt it all they want

But trying to follow the law To bring about justification or a right standing before a holy

God will only result in Wrath to our account not righteousness to our account

What does it mean though? It says where there is no law? Where there is no law there also is no violation.

What does that mean? Violation also means transgression in the

Greek This is saying God's wrath is made ever more apparent since after given the law

Meaning being taught the precepts of God learning what exactly pleases our

Holy God We then as men and women do the opposite of that after learning what what

God desires We do the opposite we transgress the law John Calvin says in other words

Transgression here is not a mere act of sin. It's not just sin But a willful determination to violate what is right?

I Some I know some of you might be thinking But wait if there is no law How is there a transgression of it in in Abraham's in Paul's point about Abraham?

How did how did God find fault before the law? Or those who don't know the law?

Well, we went over it a bit in the last sermon with Romans 1 It said that the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth of God so all types not just some all types of Ungodliness and unrighteousness

It says God has revealed himself through what has been made and they don't honor him

Despite that general revelation of himself God has generally revealed himself to all men and women everywhere

So that even on the undiscovered island in Papua New Guinea God has revealed himself

Romans Romans 2 says even though the Gentiles didn't have the law it is written on all men's hearts

Even if they don't have the law it's written on all men's hearts Even even in an isolated tribe in the

Amazon when a murder takes place they want vengeance a

Young tribe boy his his father is killed. He wants vengeance. Someone has murdered his father

Where does he get that mindset? Where is he? Where does he get that? Well, how is that wired in him?

When they steal in that tribe someone else's food or belongings they want restitution they feel wronged

God has written his law on all men's hearts They know they just suppress the truth

But back to back to Calvin's point sin versus transgression Let's use our children for an example.

Okay? You have a four -year -old at the grocery store you're going grocery shopping four -year -olds with mom and Something overcomes this young man, and he steals a candy bar and he puts it in his pocket

This little four -year -old boy steals a candy bar and puts it in his pocket. Okay? He puts it in there for later.

Is that is that wrong? Is that wrong that he steals that would would most parents if they became aware?

Would they put it back? I'd say so. I think most would And even the ones who don't put it back and let their child steal that that candy bar.

I think they would know it's wrong I think they would know that It is what the four -year -old did sin

Yeah, I think the bible demonstrates Stealing is a sin and even though he didn't know what he was doing.

He he stole it and it's still sin So it's a it's a sin to steal And so now after this mom gives junior a lesson on stealing

She teaches him for the first time how is it how it is wrong to steal things that don't belong to you

Every person has a right to their own property And let's just say a few weeks later

Junior and mom go grocery shopping again, and he steals another candy bar again

This time he not only sinned But he transgressed his mother's command.

Do you see what i'm saying? The first time was sin. The second time is sin, but this time there's an extra level to it

He's transgressed his mother's command. He knowingly and willfully disobeyed both are sin both carry consequences

But paul is demonstrating why the law so readily brings about wrath

Because when you read the law And you don't do it you're convicted You you've just read it.

You know what god requires now and you don't do it. You do the opposite of it So that's that's transgression.

Okay verse 16 through the first part of 17

It says for this reason it is by faith in order that it might 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 a father of us all As it is written a father of many nations.

I have made you And so since this law creates wrath

It must be that justification is by faith There is a logical stream of thought here.

Okay? Listen, listen to this essentially it's saying Justification is by faith so that So that it can be by grace god's grace so that The promise will be guaranteed to all who believe by faith whether jew or gentile you have this stream

So that so that this stream this connection this chain To remove one of these parts

Of the stream would be to damn it up affecting all the other parts Then it would not be guaranteed to all those who believe by faith

Works would dam up the flow of faith law Law dams up the living waters of grace at the source

Okay Dr. White puts it this way. He says Like a key that only fits in a particular lock

So faith is the sole key that matches the lock of grace You hear that Faith is the sole key that unlocks them that matches the lock the lock of grace one can attempt

To get the keys of works and law into the lock of grace all day long, but it'll never work

Works and law are not in accordance With grace only faith is it says in accordance with grace

Brothers and sisters paul is saying god made a promise

And his promise is Guaranteed by his grace his grace is the guarantee of that promise

Praise the living god for that grace Your poor performance is not the guarantee for that grace for that justification for that promise

Your failings this week aren't the guarantee his grace is

And the apostle belabors basically carves the point out into our brains at this point

That this promise is for jew and gentile all who believe by faith the dividing wall has been broken down So that even listen to this even an ethnic jew in israel today who doesn't believe

That jesus christ is the mashiach the messiah He can't say that abraham is his father

He can't even an ethnic jew in israel Who doesn't believe in christ can't say his father is abraham

Your father is abraham in that sense. You see what i'm saying. You have the inheritance Of abraham you are descendants of abraham.

You are the spiritual israel those who believe by faith in christ second part of verse 17

It says in the presence of him who believed even god Who gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist?

Abraham believed god God's character is impeccable. God's character is perfect because he is god

God doesn't choose to be perfect. God is perfect by nature because he is god.

Okay this this is The god who can give a guarantee because he is perfect and righteous when he makes a promise

Or a guarantee it will be upheld it will be it will be given if the lord says it

He will make good on that promise This is the god who gives life to the dead

He raised the widow of zarephath's son from the dead in first king 17

He raised the shunammite woman's son in second kings 4 He raised the man whose body literally just touched the bones of elisha and this man raised to life in second kings 13

And jesus said to the widow's son in nain Young man, I say to you get up and that dead corpse

Obeyed the lord's word And it says the dead man sat up and began to speak

He was alive again in luke 7 Then you have poor poor gyrus

He comes to jesus, but he learns as his servant comes down. He says don't even don't even bother him anymore

Your daughter has died gyrus's daughter died But jesus says no, let's go

And he followed gyrus back to the house and told the little girl my child get up And she stood up at once God raised her from the dead

Then you have john 11 the famous passage of lazarus of bethany. Jesus is good friend.

God raised him from the dead in matthew 27 after jesus's death on the cross when he says it is finished

And the veil is torn in two and the whole world is shaking all of a sudden these tombs break right open

And all these saints come back to life God raises from the dead Tabitha was raised from the dead by god through peter in acts 9 after becoming deadly sick

Now here's here's one of my favorite eutychus Someone named your next child that eutychus.

I love that eutychus a young man Who was sitting in the window in the upper room and paul was giving a long sermon

Not unlike maybe what you hear today Uh, it's not your typical 25 minute, uh thing here.

I get it And so paul is giving this long sermon this long oration or or homily

And eutychus falls asleep in the window and he literally falls back And goes all the way down and he dies when he hits the ground eutychus

And so paul runs out of the house and he God raises eutychus from the dead

He said, you know I wonder I wonder what I wonder what the thinking was there

I'm sure god was so delighted to raise a young man who just simply fell asleep

Listening to a sermon. So, uh, if god has grace on a man who falls asleep during a sermon

I don't ever feel bad if I I see some of you sometimes you got your eyes are uh, you're closing a little bit

You know what? That's okay. You're not gonna die number one and i'll have grace on you too. Okay. All right

And so We have we have these examples, right? Of course

The resurrection of jesus christ is the focal point of all scripture And the most important event that has ever occurred in history

You realize that the resurrection of jesus christ is the most important event that has ever occurred in the history of mankind and so You have this god who who gives life to the dead?

Abraham Believed on this god who gives life to the dead sarah's womb was closed

It was barren In other words sarah's womb was dead. It was dead

God brought life to sarah's womb God god's promise was carried out through a womb

Don't you see the correlation? We what are we celebrating during this this christmas season?

The promise of god being carried out through a womb Interesting amazing the advent the incarnation of christ

In sarah's case though isaac was born God gave life to a dead womb

And when isaac was to be sacrificed and killed on mount moriah God gave life back to isaac and a ram was provided instead

It says it says after that it says god calls into being that which does not exist

This this harkens back to genesis 1 right? This definitely this passage supports creatio

Ex nihilo creation out of nothing no doubt No doubt But it could also be speaking to sarah's womb to produce isaac

It could be both It could also be pointing to hosea 1 10

Listen to this it says yet the number of the sons of israel will be like the sand of the sea

Which cannot be measured or numbered and in the place where it said to them You are not my people.

It will be said to them. You are the sons of the living god Hosea 2 23

Highlights this again. It shows god saying I will say to not my people That that's all capitalized in the bible in well in my bible actually

And uh, you know, I think that's a smart thing by the translator because he's saying he's calling that a name of someone

He says I will I will say to not my people as if that's one name that you are sons of the living god so Meaning god calls into being by his grace a people for himself who once not were

You were once not a people and now through Christ through the promise through abraham.

You are a people god calls out of out of nothing He calls you into existence as the people of god verse 18

In hope against hope If you want to go to the next one in hope against hope he believed

So that he might become a father of many nations according to that which has been spoken. So shall your descendants be

In in what seemed impossible due to his old age and their barrenness

Abraham believed god's promise to make his descendants great in number You see abraham shows us true faith is directed towards god

Towards the god who is able and not towards our circumstance The proverbs talk about it often

A false balance is an abomination to the lord a just weight is his delight

So in the bible times or even in countries To this day that still use these weights and scales and balances

There are wicked people who tamper with these balances with these scales

They tamper with them. Maybe they hollow out some of the uh, the um, The measuring weights or maybe they make the measuring weights heavier than what they're what they're recorded to be um

Or they press down on the scale when when you're weighing the goods, right?

This happens even today in other countries. It definitely happened in the bible times. That's why god says

He hates those who tamper with scales just weights Are are are a delight to him

And so what would happen is if a crooked man a crooked merchant had some goods on this scale

And he put the weights That were tampered with on the other side and maybe they were heavier or lighter

They would be in his favor so that the person purchasing the goods would receive less of that product

And the merchant would receive more money at the same time. That's a that's that's wicked.

That's crooked Or maybe maybe some of you guys have messed with your wife and when she's checking her weight on the scale

She gets on and she doesn't know you're right behind her and you kind of like press your toe On the scale putting some weight on the corner and all of a sudden she's 50 pounds heavier than what she thought she would be

And and she starts screaming half to death, you know, that's uh, maybe that's It got ladies if they do that, that's not for me.

Okay That they've heard it now. Don't transgress it. Okay So you get what i'm saying though this this scale thing

And so basically in in what what I would call the scale of faith We take god and we put him on one side and we take our circumstance and we put it on the other side and we

We alter the scale we in our sin we alter it in our unbelief

We press down on the side of our circumstance making our circumstance heavier than god

But but know this that every time god is is more than your circumstance god is

Far more than your circumstance every time You know, we have to stop thinking when we can we can can control it that we're sovereign over it

Have just weights and scales between god and your circumstance know that god outweighs that circumstance every time

We make that circumstance too powerful You look at what you're going on in your life and you look at that issue.

You lost your job Your your your marriage is in turmoil you you know, you maybe you've even lost a child

And we can give those things or maybe they're smaller things than that, but we give those things more power than the living god

Don't do that. That's that's what we're talking about verse 19

Without becoming weak in faith. He contemplated his own body now as good as dead

Since he was a hundred years old Someone some hundred year old guy is somewhere going. Hey and the deadness of sarah's womb

To further understand the context of this listen to genesis 17 15 through 19.

It says God said to abraham as for sarai your wife you shall not call her name sarai

But sarah shall be her name. I will bless her and indeed. I will give you a son by her

Then I will bless her and she shall be a mother of nations Kings of peoples will come from her

Then abraham fell on his face and laughed and said in his heart Will a child be born to a man 100 years old and will sarah who is 90 years old bear a child?

And abraham said to god. Oh that ishmael Might live before you But god said no

Sarah your wife will bear you a son and you shall call his name isaac And I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him

Abraham is old He's 100 years old. Sarah is old. She's 90

The promise isn't through ishmael who is already born and alive Who's probably a teenager by now?

born through hagar Their servant the promise will be produced through a new son

A son of his love through his wife sarah You could you could see his laughing is slightly incredulous maybe a little hysterical

But I I look at it this way have you ever been so excited you sort of just laughed You ever been so excited?

You just kind of laughed maybe Maybe some of some of you women out there you You were pregnant and your husband didn't know yet and you came to your husband and you said honey

I gotta tell you something. Are you ready? Are you stand up stand up? Maybe you should sit down. No stand up You won't believe this

But i'm pregnant. We're having a baby and maybe maybe maybe the husband just goes And he starts laughing like yes,

I can't believe this. That's the way that I look at this moment You know some people see this as a moment of doubt

Um, but paul's saying there is no doubt here in abraham Okay By by worldly standards

The notion of a hundred year old man and a 90 year old woman having a baby is laughable in one sense.

Sure but abraham believed god verse 20 verse 20

Yet with respect to the promise of god he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith giving glory to god

The faith god had given abraham did not waver It did not stagger

Any temptation to doubt god's promise giving birth to unbelief was stomped out by faith

Matthew henry says of this passage And he therefore staggered not because he considered not the frowns and discouragements of second causes

He disputed not He did not hold any self -consultation about it did not take time to consider whether he should close with it or not

Did not hesitate or stumble at it but by a resolute and peremptory act of his soul with a holy boldness ventured all upon the promise

He took it not for a point that would admit of argue or debate but presently determine it as a ruled case

Did not at all hang in suspense about it. He staggered not through unbelief Unbelief is at the bottom of all our staggerings at god's promises

It is not the promise that fails my friends It is not the promise that fails but our faith that fails when we stagger when we stumble

And so Matthew henry here. He says He didn't dispute it. He didn't argue it.

He didn't debate it with god. It was a done deal It was a done deal for abraham.

He he disputed not it was resolute And he believed god in that moment

And by the faith abraham exercised it says he gave god the glory when one when one has faith in god and when one

Practices dependence on the living god. It gives god glory when you have faith in god.

It gives god glory Verses uh 21 And 22 and being fully assured that what god had promised he was able to perform

Therefore it was also credited to him as righteousness Okay in genesis 18 verse 14 god asks this

He says is anything too hard for the lord? Is anything too hard for the lord?

Cannot the one who creates out of nothing and makes the dead to rise again do this

Surely he can do this At first glance it may seem abraham had faith simply in the promise or maybe

Just in god's ability to perform it But there mustn't be any doubt The object of abraham's saving faith was god is god

And and he is a god who is able to perform and fulfill his promises

You see god doesn't just justify the ungodly

That justification comes with promises comes with promises promises of sin forgiven wrath appeased hell escaped a new nature given

Any an eternal inheritance awaiting for you in heaven? And a dwelling with god as a son or daughter of the most high god being co -heirs with christ forever comes with those promises

Abraham believed that what about us? Do we believe these promises? Does our saving faith?

Bubble over into the promises of god What what are you not believing today?

What are you not believing that god has said today? What what lies are you telling yourself that god has never said it's time for you to let go of them today

He will he will finish what he started in you. He will walk you through your present suffering

He will provide for you. He will never leave you nor forsake you He will uphold you by his righteous right hand and he will lose none of whom the father has given him

He will raise you from dead to life and give you a glorified body

He will raise you again. You will die one day. This body will fade away. But if you are in christ you

Will be given a new life Nothing can separate us from his love.

It says not even death in romans 8. Do we believe this? If we don't believe this we need to repent and we need to believe it verse 23

Now for his sake only was it written that it was credited to him I'm, sorry now not for his sake only was it written

That it was credited to him. Why was The record of abraham's faith and the imputation of god's righteousness

To his account. Why was it written? Was this to showcase abraham as a godly man

In genesis was it written only for him or maybe his descendants in just the 12 tribes of israel

Verse 24 makes it clear It says written but for our sake also

To whom it will be credited and those who believe in him who raised jesus our lord from the dead

This was recorded not for the sake of abraham only and his covenant with god

But it was and is god's purpose that The church that paul was writing to the roman church

All the christians of that era and every christian since and into the future

Who also has believed or will believe in him who raised our lord jesus From the dead would benefit from these words.

It's for all christians Everywhere who would benefit from these words given to abraham

They are written in genesis They were written in genesis By divine inspiration of the holy spirit

That the apostle paul May explain the justification of god to believers by his grace through faith

That we may cease from our striving with god and the law and believe on him who loves perfectly

And keeps the law perfectly jesus christ The faith given to abraham who believe god has now been made fuller in the special revelation of jesus christ the bright light of heaven

Has shined down and the shadow is no more and we see the substance of jesus christ

In the fullest and there he is jesus christ. No longer a promise.

No longer a shadow Christ came and we have salvation in him today verse 25

He who was delivered over because of our transgressions and was raised because of our justification

Paul highlights here Jesus's role in our salvation He's saying this is how justification is possible

The crucifixion is of the utmost importance in the propitiation

Of sins and removal of them, okay? But the resurrection

In a way is the guarantee of what took place in the crucifixion You might have read before first corinthians 15

Says that if christ wasn't raised If christ wasn't raised from the dead Then we are still dead in our sins and we are the most we are to be most pitied among men if christ wasn't raised again

Christ is not in the grave my friends Unlike what humanists and secularists and atheists say christ left that grave and he is alive forevermore

And he reigns and rules in heaven from above and he is coming again He's coming again theologian

Charles hodge says regarding this with a dead savior With a dead savior a savior over whom death is triumphant held captive if that were the case

Then our justification would be forever impossible As it was necessary the high priest under the old economy

Should not only slay the victim at the altar, but carry the blood in the most holy place And sprinkle it upon the mercy seat

So it was necessary Not only that our great high priest should suffer in the outer court

But that he should pass into heaven To present his righteousness before god for our justification

Both therefore As the evidence of the acceptance of his satisfaction on our behalf

And as a necessary step to secure the application of the merits of his sacrifice Basically the resurrection of jesus christ

Was absolutely essential for our justification. It was absolutely necessary All right.

I'm wrapping up. I'm wrapping this all up here. Okay? Listen to this now After all that has been said from the justification vein in the latter part of romans 3

Through all of romans 4 we have this statement in romans 5 1 it says

Therefore having been justified by faith. We have peace with god through our lord.

Jesus christ This is the pinnacle. This is the climax of paul's discourse

Therefore having been justified by faith. We have peace with god through our lord.

Jesus christ. This Is the application of all the theology demonstrated?

And the and the apologetic defense given Greek scholars have recognized the way

The greek participle is shown in having been and justified That is to say

Justification is past tense. It is accomplished this confirms

My friends the once for all sacrifice of jesus christ on behalf of his elect

We are justified by faith by an action of christ In the past But now in the present possess something

What do we possess now? That's peace with god peace with god

They would they would know Back then the significance of that word shalom shalom peace

Not this is not a brief truce. This is not a temporary ceasefire

This is peace in the fullest sense of the word Shalom is

Is no more conflict? No more striving. No more war a ceasing of hostility

A root a removal of enmity between us and god that is shalom. That is peace

Right relationship has been regained between the creature and the creator

And this this my friends isn't just a state of mind Where you might sit on a quiet deck

Listening to the wind go through pine trees At a cabin or something and you feel a sense of calmness or peace

Your relationship to god is now at peace Your relationship to god is now at peace through christ for all who believe

Believers are no longer The just object of his wrath anymore.

They are recipients of his grace And heirs to the promises I mentioned

In a practical application sense now that we are at peace with god we can be at peace with others

Because we have peace with god we can have peace with our spouse We can have peace with our children because we have peace with god we can have peace with our brothers and sisters in christ

We can have peace with each other in this church We can have unity in this church because of the peace god gives us through christ in fact

Because we have peace with god we ought to have peace with each other. It's not optional

Since our lord justifies and forgives the ungodly surely we can forgive each other in christ

Since god holds no record of wrong and and we sin against him daily.

We can hold no records of wrong against each other This peace extends beyond our position before a holy god and compels us

To love another with the same love A love that doesn't count iniquities

Against each other a love that covers and hides sin and forgets it That you could forget sin against one another

Let's consider that as we leave this place Knowing our justification is sure and how that changes the way we make peace with others because we have peace with god jesus

Jesus my friends has established what his title promises It isn't just a name

It does something jesus christ is the prince of peace

Let's pray father Please bless the message that went out lord.

Please impact your people with it lord. Help us to grow closer through it And god,

I pray that it brought you great glory lord sanctify us in your truth for your word is truth Pray this all in christ's name.