Sermon Cloud

·        It is so easy to seek glory in this day and age, but finding true glory is not so easy.    

o       So few of us will hit the game-winning shot for an NBA Championship or catch the winning touchdown in the Super Bowl. 

o       Some of us have mightily fought in our wars and are worthy of all respect, but few have ever told me that that time was glorious.  Movies and books make those things glorious, but losing your friends rarely is.

·        So we seek glory in other places. 

o       Maybe it is the sweet BMW or the promotion or position of our job. 

o       Maybe you seek glory vicariously through your children reveling in the fact that they get good grades or succeed in sports where you didn’t.

·        Either way, glory is hard to find.  I’ll tell you one place I try to find glory:  physical exercise.

o       I love fixing a time frame when I run and telling myself to beat it.  I love running a single mile and trying to beat my time.  I’ll even break it down into a quarter of a mile and try to beat time from when I was 25.  I’m close but not there yet.

o       Mountain biking is a bit different.  Sometimes I mountain bike for time and when I do that, I’m mindful of the best route to take avoiding stumps and anything that will slow me down.

o       However, even when I’m going for time, I can’t avoid that stump that is going to let me jump Evel Knievel style. 

o       Those jumps and stumps are more fun and leave me more prone to getting bloodied and bruised, but the glory is in the trying and in the achieving.

·        But our seeking of glory and settling for less has an understandable cause:

o       Since every human being was created in the image of God, we are designed to worship our Creator and give Him glory.  Every human being has been uniquely designed to relish and bathe and enjoy the glory of God.

o       Sadly, since the Garden of Eden, our desires for glory and worship have been tainted and corrupted with sin.  And because of that, we seek out small and poor substitutions for what glory really is. 

§         You chase after glory in work success. 

§         You chase after glory through the accomplishments of your children. 

§         You chase after glory in sexual conquest.

§         We even chase after glory in sports and exercise.

·        All of that to say, “Not even close.  No cigar.  We are far away from enjoying glory for what it really is.  The only real glory is the Glory of God. 

o       There are a million reasons why we struggle in this world and why we are sad and discouraged.

o       One fundamental reason is that we have sought glory in every other place but in Jesus Christ and we have found that false glory lacking in every real and substantial way.

·        Well, once you are gifted with faith by God, a faith that causes your heart to cry out to God for salvation, then you are on the pathway to pursing true and real and lasting glory. 

·        The greater your faith grows, the more you will enjoy and live within the glory of God. 

o       That being the case, if we want to enjoy the glory of God, we have to grow in our faith.

o       Growing in our faith is seeing more of God and less of ourselves in every thing.

o       As John the Baptist said, “I must decrease.  He must increase.”

o       True faith sees to lift God up while diminishing and denying self.

o       In that way, faith leads to glory.  Greater faith means enjoying and producing more glory to God.

·        So in light of that, the Big Picture Question this week makes plenty of sense. 

 

Big Picture Question:  If salvation is free and by faith alone, what can we do to increase and strengthen our faith?

 

Roman 4:13-25

 

4:13 For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. 14 For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. 15 For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression.

 

·        If you weren’t with us last week, or even if you were, let me catch you up with what is going on. 

o       Last week, Paul wanted to make something very clear.  Salvation and forgiveness are free from God.  And a central temptation will be that as you grow in the faith and salvation, you will be tempted to take pride in obedience and the things of God making them religious trappings instead of spiritual gifts.

o       To emphasize that point, Paul explained how Abraham had faith in God before he was circumcised.  Abraham believed before doing anything righteous and God counted Abraham’s faith as righteousness.

o       The hope for people in the book of Romans and the hope for you is that salvation is undeservedly handed out by God to us apart from any good thing we do and that should give us hope for others who do not know Christ and who have not done anything good in and of themselves. 

o       That in its essence is the Gospel:  God’s love and help to you in light of your not earning God’s love and help.

o       Paul is trying to keep Jesus the main thing.

·        Paul picks up here with that same thought.  Abraham believed that God was who He said He was and that God would do what He said He would do.  The promises that God had made are reiterated here in these verses.

o       God had promised Abraham that he and his descendants would physically constitute the people of God.

o       This promise was given to Abraham when he and his wife Sarah were barren and advanced in age.  In fact, they waited 25 years until their son, Isaac was born.

·        But God wasn’t waiting for a certain amount of obedience from Abraham and Sarah to bring about the promise.  If God had been, they probably would never have had Isaac. 

o       In that 25 year wait, Sarah takes a turn in harem and they attempt to bring about the promised son by having Abraham sleep with one of his servants.

o       They didn’t fare too well while waiting.  They didn’t earn God’s faithfulness to His promise by obeying.

·        But they did believe that God would keep His promise.  They just weren’t very good in waiting.

o       You can relate to that, can’t you?  Can you relate to believing what God has said while simultaneously struggling and even sinning while you wait.  I bet you can.

·        Paul makes this point.  If it takes obedience to be a part of the people of God, nobody gets to be part of the family of God.

o       Paul says it clearly, “If the people who obey the law get to be the people of God then there is no need for faith and the promises of God become useless and pointless.”

o       It obedience is what is require for God to make you His child, any obedience whatsoever, then there is no need for faith.  You can do it on your own.

·        Then Paul makes this incredible statement.  He says, “The law brings wrath.”

o       Now just back in chapter 3 Paul says that He upholds the law. 

o       He does that because the law reflects the character of God and so do we also uphold the commands of God.

·        Then why does the law bring wrath?

o       The law brings wrath because in attempting to obey God we fail.  No one obeys and no one obeys perfectly.  In fact, apart from God’s help, no one even attempts to obey God.

o       No measure of you goodness or modicum of your obedience is going to change that.

o       Praise God if He enables you to obey, but the law of God brings wrath and does not bring about the promises of God.

·        Paul wants to make it clear:  the promises to Abraham came by faith and were not earned. 

·        Let’s make this practical.  Ask yourself.  Have you ever wanted something so badly from God?  Have you prayed and prayed and not received it?  Then you start thinking, “Oh, God is waiting for me to be this good and THEN He’ll give me what I want.” 

o       That is dangerous territory because then we make God like a deity who can be manipulated.

o       We think, “Oh can I just find the right combination of prayer time, study time, not looking at porn, giving enough money, never missing a Sunday, and on and on.” 

o       We think there is a mysterious combination that we have to dial into like a locker in High School that has a finicky lock on it.

·        Shame on you for reducing God to someone who can be manipulated.

·        Shame on you for thinking God is so vague and cruel.

o       God makes it clear what is necessary.

·        To further explain that, look at verse 16.

 

16 That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, 17 as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.

 

·        Look at the first part of verse 16, “That is why it depends on faith.”  Stop there for a moment.  Think of whatever your present goal, frustration, challenges, or obstacle in life is.  Got it?  Once you think about it, consider what you are either doing or not doing to overcome those things.  Then tell yourself, “That is why it depends on faith.”

o       Think about losing weight.

o       Think about getting out of debt.

o       Think about repairing communication in your marriage.

o       Think about being a better parent.

o       Think about a more responsible student.

o       Think about studying your Bible.

o       Think about praying.

o       Think about sharing Jesus with a friend.

o       Think about stopping a particular sin that won’t go away.

o       Think about whatever it is you are waiting for.

·        Those things are pretty hard and difficult and normally success is pretty allusive with those things.  Now tell yourself this.

o       I can’t seem to lose weight on my own.  That is why it depends on faith.

o       I can’t seem to get out of debt.  That is why it depends on faith.

o       I can’t seem to repair the communication in my marriage.  That is why it depends on faith.

o       I can’t seem to be a better parent.  That is why it depends on faith.

o       I can’t seem to be a responsible student.  That is why it depends on faith.

o       I can’t seem to study my bible or pray.  That is why it depends on faith.

o       I can’t seem to share Jesus with my friend.  That is why it depends on faith.

o       I can’t seem to stop this particular sin.  That is why it depends on faith.

·        In every one of those examples, you are either trusting yourself for the outcome or you have faith in God to enable and change you.

·        Abraham’s example of faith in light of God’s promises is an example of how the guarantee of all things from comes by faith.

·        If you have faith, you are part of that promise to Abraham and part of the children of God.

·        To emphasize that God can do all things, Paul describes the gathering of God’s people and the formation of the children of Abraham to what?  God’s calling all things into creation that did not exist.

o       His point is, if God can create everything, the land, the trees, the wind, the water, you and me out of nothing, then of course He can gift you with faith and make you His child and change you.

·        The work of creation is a picture of God’s power and His ability to save and make you His own.  If God can do those things, why should you ever doubt that He can help you in the day to day.

·        Yet still we struggle with faith and giving God glory.  Paul again explains Abraham’s situation so it might encourage each of you.  Look at verse 18.

 

18 In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.” 19 He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's womb. 20 No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, 21 fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.

 

·        I love verse 18.  Abraham believed in hope against hope that he would have a child.  God promised Him a child when he was old and he waited 25 years for the promise to come about. 

o       Do you know what it means to wait with hope against hope?  That means you have no other options. 

§         You don’t trust your own ability.

§         You have no idea about what you can do to bring about what you want.

§         You don’t have the money.

§         You don’t even have the potential ability.

§         You don’t know someone who can do it for you.

§         You have no hope except for the mercy of God.

o       And here is the thing though:  You think that is a bad place.  It is exactly where God would have you.

o       Hoping against hope says, “If it my wife is going to be healed” or “If my marriage is going to be healed” or “If my children are going to love God” the only hope I have is if God does it.

·        I don’t mean jump to the conclusion and answer our Big Picture Question ahead of time but here it is. 

o       If salvation is free and by faith alone, what can we do to increase and strengthen our faith?

o       The answer is to learn to wait on God.  Trust that there is no other hope for you in any situation, not just the desperate ones but in any situation. 

o       What hope would you have other than the mercy of God?  Yourself?  Give me a break. 

o       And I’ll be honest with you.  You want to know who pointed this out for me in this passage?  Meredith did during one of our family devotions, so you guys thank her.

·        You see for Abraham, even while he waited for 25 years, even though he sinned along the way, he didn’t give up hope that God would keep his promise.

o       His body was long dead.

o       His wife’s body was long past the age of having children.

o       There was no reason to think that they would ever have children. 

o       Well there was one reason to believe that:  God is who He says He is and because of that God keeps His promise.

·        20 No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, 21 fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.

o       There is it folks in its simplicity.  He may have sinned and not trusted God fully at times, but he always believed that God was who He said He was and could do what He said He would do.

o       So Abraham’s faith grew how?  It grew as he sought to give glory to God.

·        Let me bottom line it for you in two ways.

o       You may have sinned and not been faithful, but that does not mean that God is sinful and unfaithful.

o       If you want your faith to grow, quit seeking glory for yourself and seek the glory of God.

o       Reorient your entire life so that its goal is not for you and your needs but to give God the glory because of Jesus Christ.

 

22 That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.” 23 But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, 24 but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, 25 who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

 

·        God crediting Abraham’s faith as righteousness was not just for him.  It is for you and anyone else who has ever cried out in faith to Jesus Christ. 

o       Do you believe that Jesus died for your sins and was raise back to life by the Father?

o       Do you believe that Jesus paid the penalty of your sin and trespasses?

o       Do you believe that Jesus provided your justification to repair your relationship wit God?

·        Then that is your hope beyond hope. You don’t trust anything but God and God alone for your relationship with Him.

o       I had the joy this week of speaking with someone right here with SK about these very things.

o       He had been to church and heard about faith, but didn’t know whether he possessed it.

o       He wanted though to have faith and assurance of being forgiven by God.

o       He realized that left to himself he had only made a mess of his life.

o       But he said he wanted to know that he was forgiven.

o       So right there, with hope beyond hope, we prayed that he would know Jesus and His forgiveness and have real hope for his life and now He does.

·        Folks, I know that every one of you have something that you are either actively praying for or actively working for or actively worrying about.

o       My question to you is, “Where is your hope?”

o       Is it in your own hands?

o       Is it in your own efforts?

o       Is it in sticking to the plan?

·        Or is your hope beyond hope?  Is your only hope Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

o       See the glory of God in every aspect of your life.

o       See to grow your faith by glorifying Jesus.

o       Trust nothing else but the promises of God.

·        And watch your faith grow and your contentment grow and your love for your neighbor to grow all because you are seeking first His glory. 

·        These last few verses are a summary of the Gospel.  Take them and apply your name in each place where it says “ours” and “us” and “our”.