This evening, as we are going through the five great solas of the Reformation, these doctrines that gave rise to the Reformation itself, looking at this month, sola fide, faith alone, I'd like to draw your attention this evening then to Romans chapter four, beginning with verse 16 down to the end of the chapter. This is God's holy word. 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 I have made you. presence of him whom 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 has been spoken. So your descendants shall be. Without becoming weak in faith, he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead, since he was about a hundred years old, in 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 also able to perform. Therefore, it was also credited to 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 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. Amen. May he add his blessings to these. Please be seated. This is an amazing passage of scripture. It certainly is a very powerful passage. The Book of Romans really is credited for the Reformation. It is credited to reforming the church and giving the church back its vitality, its vigor, its life. And we often look to Martin Luther, Dr. Martin Luther, as the father of the Reformation, as it were. Well, you know, before Luther became a monk, he was a brilliant law student. He was a brilliant law student. If he hadn't become a monk and he continued on in law, he no doubt would have gone very far with being a lawyer. He was absolutely brilliant. But because he had been trained in law, As a monk, as a teacher of theology, he read Romans as a lawyer, and it terrified him. If you go back to the early chapter, chapter one of Romans, verse 17, it reads, for in the gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith. Now, that word righteousness in the Greek is dikaiosune. It's translated into Latin as justia. We have that word justia in our own English language as justice. Luther understood this justia, this justice, meaning this, that God is just. And that the just God must deal justly in punishing the unjust. And so as Luther began to read through Romans, he saw that Paul was building his case against Luther. We don't have time to go through all the verses, but in chapter 2, verse 12 and 13, it reads, all who ascend without the law will also perish without the law, and all who ascend under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not the hearers of the law who are just before God, but the doers of the law. They will be justified. Chapter 3, there is none righteous. No, not one. There is none who understands. There is none who seeks for God. All have turned aside. Destruction and misery are in their paths. Finally, in chapter 3, verse 20, it reads, by the works of law, no flesh shall be justified in God's sight. For through the law comes the knowledge of sin. You see, all these statements about the law and how holy the law is, how holy God is, and how sinful men are. And if just and holy God was to bring us to his judgment seat, none of us could stand. It's no wonder that in Luther's confession to his confessor, von Staubitz, when Ron Stoppard said, well, Luther, all you need to do is just love God. And he said, love God? Sometimes I hate God. Terrible statement to make, but I can understand it. If obedience to the law could justify, it's great. But as I look at God's law, the perfect holy standard that it sets up, I can't live up to it. Luther knew that he couldn't keep it. The law comes to us only to condemn us. And so Luther, in his understanding of sin, his understanding of God's holy perfection, as God comes in the law and tells us you must be obedient in every point, he was left without hope. He knew that he was utterly sinful, that he couldn't climb out of his guilt and misery. There was nothing that he could do. Martin Luther knew that he was a condemned sinner. But then as he continued reading in Romans, he went to chapter 3, verses 21 through 26. And there he saw the good news now, because finally he understood that God could in fact be just and justify the ungodly. How? By sending his only begotten son. As Jesus came to this earth, he became our representative. And as he himself was obedient, he was obeying God's law on our behalf, for us. And as he was punished, he was being punished, not for his sin, but for our sin. Our sin was laid upon him. Our sin was imputed to him. And so he was regarded as guilty, and so he died the penalty of disobedience, which is death. The wages of sin is death. He was punished in our place. So God is just in condemning sin, punishing sin, but he can also be the justifier of those who have faith in Christ. He can justify the ungodly. Now, in that, we can't boast in ourselves. There's nothing that we have done in all this. It is all Christ. Chapter 3, verse 28 says, for we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the law. Now, Luther translated that verse as, a man is justified by faith alone apart from the works of the law. And if you go to Roman Catholic websites today, you will see how they criticize Luther for adding that word alone. But they do that only because they're ignorant of the Greek. The word alone is certainly, allene, is not found there in that verse, but it is completely warranted by the Greek text itself. The way that Paul constructed the words, the mood and all that verse, all that verb, it's certainly warranted. It was certainly chrysostom, ambrose, augustine, They all saw that word alone in that verse. And including, by the way, Luther's opponent, Robert Bellarmine. He knew that the Greek actually warranted That word alone. Well, anyway, with that understanding, though, that we are justified by faith alone, apart from the works of law, finally Luther found peace. He was able to say with Paul from the very beginning, I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God unto salvation to all who believe. Through faith alone, we are united to Christ. Isn't that good news? I don't bring my works. I don't bring my energy. My comfort isn't my love to God, but his love for me, as we just sang. We're justified, we're sanctified, we'll be glorified by God's working in us. We cede by faith and faith alone. But now, this evening, as we're looking at this, I want us to look at and answer the question, what is faith? What characterizes faith? Not only that we might be justified by faith, but that we might also have a faith for living, a faith for battling, a faith for overcoming. I want us to look at our text this evening because here in these verses, the apostle shows us, perhaps more than anywhere else, what faith is and what characterizes saving faith. Now, the first thing that we see in these verses is how Abraham's faith enabled him to believe the promises of God. Saving faith is an enabling where we believe the amazing promises of God. We see that clearly in verses 17 and 18 where it says, I have made you a father of many nations and hope against hope he believes so that he might become a father of many nations according to that which had been spoken. So shall your descendants be. course Paul is alluding to Genesis chapter 15 here in chapter 15 Abraham was concerned that he would die without progeny who will be my heir then God came to him and told him Abram can you count the stars can you number the sand and so will your descendants be. There is a tremendous promise, an amazing promise, so your descendants shall be. Now, let's go back a little bit. Why was Abraham so concerned about having children in the first place? Was it merely instinct that was kicking in? Did he simply just want to pass on his DNA? Was it simply that he wanted someone to inherit all his assets? Well, of course, those were immediate concerns, weren't they? But what Abraham was really concerned about, you see, was salvation. Salvation. Now remember, going back to when Adam and Eve sinned and when God came in judgment, He cursed the serpent. And in that curse to the serpent, God promised the man and the woman a Redeemer. A seed to deliver them from sin. And so when God says, so shall your descendants be, he was speaking concerning the seed. See, that was Abraham's real concern. Lord, how will I be saved? How can we be saved? Will you fulfill your ancient promise? I think this comes out even clearer in Galatians 3.16. By the way, it's always fun to go throughout the Bible and read all the 3.16s. I think you'll be amazed. I've mentioned that before, but I think you'll be amazed if you were to do that. But anyway, in Galatians 3.16, it says, Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, and to seeds, as referring to many, but rather to one, and to your seed, that is Christ. You see, here in Genesis 15, God told Abram that the Savior was going to be one of his descendants, one of his seed. Again, an astonishing promise. Jesus also pointed to the very thing when he told the Jews in John 8, verse 56, Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day. He saw it and was glad. See, those Jewish leaders that Jesus was speaking to thought God's promise to Abraham was about them. They were his seed. They were part of the fulfillment to that great promise. They were the seed of Abraham. And so the Jews today regard that and pat themselves on the back for that. But you see, Jesus corrected them. He showed them that no, in fact, it was He who actually is the ultimate fulfillment to that promise. So will your seed be. It is not seeds, but seed that Abraham rejoiced over. Abraham rejoiced to see my day. Now the seed of Abraham was for Abraham's salvation. But you know, again, going back to this, one of the great things that God was teaching him as he came to Abraham in his old age. You know, here Abraham was in his 90s. Sarah was in her 90s. Childless. God came to them in their old age promising this child to show that salvation doesn't come by our own efforts. If God came to Abram and Sarah when they were in their 20s and said, you're going to have a child, no big deal. We can understand that. But coming to a couple in their 90s, near 100, that's an amazing thing. The salvation isn't going to come through their own efforts. The whole tragedy of Genesis 16 is that Abraham tried to make this promise come to fruition through his own efforts. And so Ishmael was born. But you remember God rejected Ishmael. And he told Abraham, no, no, you must wait. You must wait for my coming or my timing. See in verse 19, Paul mentions that the child would come out of one who is as good as dead. Salvation comes to one who cannot help himself. Not only that, but the reference to one who is good is dead, and the deadness of Sarah's womb here point to God's very method of salvation. God, or the Savior, saves through death. He gives life to the dead. Now, of course, Abram didn't see all that clearly at that very moment. Later on in Genesis 22, God commands Abram to sacrifice Isaac. And through that command, Abram grew in his understanding of God's plan. But the point is that God here revealed something of his plan to Abram when he said, so shall your seed be. And Abram believed it. He believed that promise as it focused in on the Savior. He believed in the Lord and he reckoned it to him as righteousness. See, that's the character of saving faith. Saving faith grasps God's promise of salvation and Jesus Christ alone. But again, this promise is more than just to a physical seed. It's more than just to a savior. Here, God also was pointing to a spiritual seed. Verse 17, again, Paul reminds us that God spoke to Abram, a father of many nations I have made you. This promise that came to Abram for salvation wasn't just for Abram's lineal seed. It was for all who had the same kind of faith as Abram. The promise will be guaranteed to all the descendants, not only those who are of the law, not only to those who are born of Abraham's descent physically, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, the father of us all. Again, God here is promising that Abraham would be a spiritual father to many who are perhaps born outside the physical family, you and me, all Gentiles. Jesus said in Matthew chapter 8, I say to you that many will come from the east and west and recline at the table with Abram, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out in the utter darkness. What was Jesus saying? That the natural sons, those who literally, physically descended from Abram, they will be cast into hell. While Gentiles will come and sit with Abram in the kingdom. And why is that? Well, Jesus said that these natural sons did not have faith in Christ. They didn't have Abraham's faith in Christ. But those Gentiles who hear the gospel and put their faith in Christ, these are Abraham's spiritual sons. And their number will be greater than the stars in the heavens or the sand in the earth. And again, the purpose of this is to show that justification is not by inheritance, it is not by DNA, it is by faith and faith alone. And here we have the first principle of what faith is. Faith enables us to believe. astonishing promise of God's salvation in all its fullness as it is found, as it is performed, as it is given in Jesus Christ and Him alone. Faith, saving faith, clings to Christ, enables us to hold to Him. Now, another point that Paul brings up here about Abraham's faith is that this was all he had. All he had was God's Word and nothing more. A saving faith is based and built upon God's word alone. Picture there the scene of Genesis 15 with me. Here again, Abraham's getting old. He's contemplating death. He wonders who will be his heir. Suddenly, God comes, speaks to him, and gives him this promise that his seed will be as numerous as the stars in the sky, the sand in the desert. There's the promise, but what else is there? Nothing else is given. Nothing to back up that promise except God himself. Do you see how amazing that is? If I was to stand up here and promise you this time next year, this date, October 8th, 2018, you come here and I will give you a million dollars. If I gave you that promise, you might stagger, you might wonder at the promise. You might wonder if I would fulfill it. After all, where's the proof? That man doesn't look like he's a millionaire. But if I gave you tonight a down payment of $100,000, you might believe, right? If I gave you down payment, you might believe my promise to you. But here in Genesis 15, there was no down payment. There was nothing but God's bare word. And Abraham believed it. And he believed in him who gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist. See, this is the characteristic of saving faith. It is content with the bare word of God because it is the word of God. It understands that God is not a liar. God can't lie. God is truthful in all that he says. And if God gives a promise, he has the power to perform it. He has the wisdom to perform it. He has the resources to perform it. And in this, faith doesn't ask for proof. It doesn't need that proof. It doesn't need the down payment because it understands, it recognizes God, it's trustworthy. God can't lie. His word and his promise, even if it is as staggering as a hundred-year-old man and woman having a child, even if it's as staggering as that, that word must come to pass if God speaks it. It will come to fruition. And that's what Paul is driving at here when he says to us that in hope against hope, Abraham believed. God gave his promise. Again, in an actual sense, it can never happen. Physically impossible for a Sarah at age of 90 to give birth to a child. Physically impossible. Sarah understood that, Abraham understood that. Remember when the angel of the Lord, that is, the angel of the Lord, when God himself spoke to Sarah and said, within the year, you would have a child? Do you remember what she did? She laughed. That's incredible. That goes against nature. 90-year-old women don't give birth. There was no hope for this happening, as they were as good as dead. Good as dead. And again, this hope brings us back to Genesis chapter 2, or 3, where the seed of the woman will come and destroy the seed of the servant. See, that's the great hope of the world, isn't it? That hope of salvation, as it works its way out in redemptive history, seems impossible. The world got so evil. God had to destroy it in the flood. But through all that, he saves one man and his family to carry the promise on. The promise comes to an old man and to his wife. It's an impossible thing, and yet we see in their old age, Isaac is born. In Genesis 15, as God says, I'm going to give you the seed, he predicted that Israel would be enslaved. And against all hope, as this enslaved people were leaving Egypt, the Red Sea splits and God's people walk to freedom. Centuries later, God promises David that his throne would be forever. That's a great promise. But have you ever read Psalm 89? Psalm 89 was written after the exile, when the people left Babylon. They came back into the land. There was no more king on the throne. Where's the promise of God? Here's what Psalm 89 says. You have spurned the covenant of your servant. You have profaned his crown in the dust. Where are your former loving kindnesses, O Lord, which you swore to David in your faithfulness? Where's the king? Where's the promise? Yet it ends. Blessed be Yahweh forever. Amen and amen. And when Christ was born and then he goes into the wilderness preparing himself for his earthly ministry, he comes out of that wilderness and Matthew points out how the people who were sitting in darkness saw a great light. Those who were sitting in the land and shadow of death upon them a light dawn. Here the people were in no hope in darkness. The Romans were oppressing them where they had nothing. Oh Lord, where are you? You seem to abandon us. But God's promise shone brightly upon them. Remember how God also described the Ephesians before faith? They were without hope and without God in the world. Jesus gave a promise that he will come back 2,000 years later. Where is his coming? Where is he? The world seems to be spinning out of control. And yet he's coming. Faith. runs best in hopelessness. When everything seems opposed to God's promises as being true, when common sense laughs at the promise, when reason has its arguments to dispute it, faith in hope against hope believes. That's the principle of saving faith. Simply because it is founded and built upon God's word alone. He spoke it. God who cannot lie will bring it to pass. God's word, my friends, is a powerful thing. Don't leave here tonight without thinking about this. The word of God gives life at one time. Well, there was no time at that thing. Only the triune God existed. In this triune God spoke a word and a universe was created. Spiritual and physical things were brought into existence by a spoken word of God. God's word gives life. It calls into existence that which does not exist. That's the power of God's word. Therefore, faith reasons. Nothing is impossible with God. If God could create a whole universe without pulling out these things. No, He created all things by speaking a word. If He did that, all things are possible with Him. Remember, Gabriel came to Mary. Mary, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son. Oh, but I'm a virgin. How can this be? The Holy Spirit will overshadow you and you will bear. Even now, your aged cousin Elizabeth, who was barren, is pregnant. See? Nothing shall be impossible with God. And that's what saving faith do. It grasps onto the fact that God's word is not only reliable, God's word is not only truthful, but God's word is powerful. To those Israelites who were in exile, as good as dead as it were, God spoke again his promise of salvation through his servant Isaiah. And he said, so will my word be, which goes forth from my mouth. It will not return to me empty without accomplishing what I desire, without succeeding in the manner for which I sent it out. Isn't that a wonderful promise of God? His word is reliable. His word is powerful. He will bring it out. My word, which goes out from my mouth, it will not come back empty. It will accomplish all that I sent it out to do. Amazing, God's word. And that's what faith grasps onto. And it is because it is God's word that gives life. Faith grasps that life. And it enables us then to have an assurance with respect to all this. Let's look at verse 20 and 21. 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. True faith has this element of assurance or confidence in it. I think here the Westminster Confession of Faith is quite helpful in this subject. It points out that this assurance of faith is founded only upon the divine truth of the promises of salvation. Our assurance is not founded upon even our own faith in this regard. Our faith wavers. It goes up and it goes down. It's inconsistent, doesn't it? Our assurance is based upon the word of God. It's not a bare, conjectural, and a probable persuasion based on a fallible hope. No, it's God's word that grounds this assurance. And faith grasps onto it. Faith holds onto it. And therefore, all true faith has some degree of assurance in it. But that doesn't mean that all faith has a full assurance. Again, faith varies. Sometimes it's strong, sometimes it's weak, sometimes it's consistent, sometimes it's inconsistent. A full assurance may not always be had, but nonetheless, if a faith is holding on to God's word, there must be some assurance attached to it. Because again, faith recognizes God cannot lie. He's able to do all that he said. Hebrews 11, faith is what? Remember, faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. This sense of assurance is an important characteristic of faith. Back in the early, or the first part, or the first half of the 18th century, there was a Scottish pastor by the name of Robert Sandeman. He taught that as long as you say you believe, you are saved. His view was that faith was merely an intellectual assent to the gospel truth. Now, he said that because he was battling the extreme emotionalism of the Methodist revivals. But nevertheless, Sandeman's view of faith was void of all feeling whatsoever. It was all an intellectual thing. Well, you know, the problem with emotionalism is that it can waver according to the circumstances, right? You come here tonight. I'm feeling happy. I'm elated. I got to hear the good news of Jesus Christ dying on the cross on my side, and I'm happy. Tomorrow, you meet a trial, and whoosh. Emotions change. And the problem with intellectualism is that it, too, can waver with understanding. Any person has been emotionally affected in a worship service, but then their emotions run dry, circumstances change, they fall away. At the same time, many have come to understand the gospel claims, they believe in them, But then an intellectual argument is raised against the staggering claims of the Bible, and they fall away. Many have fallen away because science seems to contradict the Word of God. Simply assenting to truth as an intellectual thing is not a saving faith. Faith here certainly affects the emotions. It affects the intellect. But we must understand that that faith is beyond the intellect. It's beyond mere emotions. Faith is that which persuades, that builds confidence. It's the gift of God that helps us to trust in God's promises because, again, it's founded upon God's word. Look at what Paul says that this faith enables us to do. He said they're being fully assured that what God had promised, he was able to perform. God, Abraham heard God's word. Abraham believed the promises that were given to him, and being assured that they were true, he acted upon it. Hebrews 11 tells us that because he had faith in God, he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise. Why? Because he was looking for the city which has foundation, whose architect and builder is God. Whatever else happened to him, as in the case of Genesis 22, where he was told to sacrifice his son, he kept his eye on the promise. And he trusted that God would accomplish his purpose of salvation. Abraham, take your son, your only son, the son whom you love, and sacrifice him. And Hebrews 11 says that Abraham obeyed that word, believing and trusting that God was able to raise Isaac from the dead. You see, his eye was on the promise of God. And though the circumstances, though his mind couldn't wrap around the command, he still trusted and obeyed God because he was assured that God was faithful, God was true, God can't lie. See, that's what faith does. And so verse 20 says that he did not waver in unbelief, but rather grew strong in faith, giving glory to God. See, that's the goal. giving glory to God. Faith makes us strong for that. Faith vivifies us so that we can obey God and live for Him. Here, we're told, these old people well beyond the physical ability to bear children, to them God gave a promise of hope To them, God gave power. God gave them life so that they acted on it, and Isaac was born. This doesn't mean for a second they didn't have doubts. Of course they did. Again, Genesis 16 proves that Abraham doubted. He fathered a child from Hagar. Genesis 18, Sarah laughed. But again, here, what Paul is bringing out, that faith, looks at the promise. Faith looks at the problems, looks at the circumstances, it looks at the inabilities, and alas, it soars above them. Isaiah 40, those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength. Mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary. You see, that's what saving faith does. It overcomes doubt. It overcomes difficulties because, again, it considers God's Word is able to give life. God's Word is able to cause that which didn't exist to exist. So in verse 20, I'm gonna conclude with this. I like how the King James words this, that Abraham staggered not at the promise. He staggered not. That's an amazing statement, isn't it? You know why I think it's amazing? Because the promise of God in salvation is incredibly great. Isn't it? The promise of God to save sinners, to forgive us of our sins, but not only that, to adopt us as children, to bring us into heaven and glory. That's too wonderful even to consider. It's too good to be true. And when it comes, when the gospel comes to us, don't we have a hard time believing it? That's why we need to hear the gospel week by week, because it is so incredibly amazing. We are like that man that came to Jesus. Oh, Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief. Your promises are so great, they're so incredible. The riches that you want to give to us, this lavish grace that you want to pour into our lives, so great, so wonderful, I can't believe it, oh Lord. That's why we need faith, because faith grasps onto God's Word. We stagger at the promises, we go back and forth, we go from side to side, we hear the promise, and again, it's hard to believe. We try to argue ourselves out of it. Why we shouldn't believe this? Well, it may be true for him, but it can't be true for me. I know myself, I know what I deserve. It can't be true for me. But here again, it's God's word. Not based upon me. It's not based upon my energy. Not based upon my intellect. It's not based upon my goodness and my faithfulness or my duty and my abilities. No. Read how again, Abraham didn't stagger in unbelief. What did he do? He clung to the promise. He trusted in God. In Genesis 16, he fell. He was disobedient. But what did he do? Did he fall and say, well, that's it. I got his job? No. He got right back up. He didn't let his unbelief and his disobedience destroy him. God's promises were bigger than his own failing. God doesn't fail. That's good news. That's what faith clings to. And that's why, my friends, when it comes to justification, it must be by faith alone. Because we can never do enough. We are never consistent enough. Even our faith is up and down. We're always failing, we're always falling. Our works can never bring us the righteousness that we need to stand before God. And if it isn't of God, then it can't be accomplished. And see, faith understands that. Faith alone will respond to the righteousness that God has provided through Jesus Christ that comes to us by his word. No, this promise of salvation, this promise of the forgiveness of sins, this promise of holiness, this promise of resurrection, this promise of glory is great, it's marvelous, too great to be even believed. Yet Jesus says, whoever comes to me, I will not cast out. Amazing, the devil will throw his fiery darts at you, won't he? Try to get you to doubt. Faith looks beyond the circumstance. It looks away from the darts. It looks away from the deadness of our heart. And despite all the true accusation, it looks to God's word as that word presents Jesus, the Savior, to us. And it clings to him. And so do you have that faith? When the devil throws his accusations at you, what do you do? What do you do with your doubts? Hear Paul. is calling to you and he says, I want you to do what Abraham did. Abraham grew strong in faith because he received the promise of God. And he believed, he trusted that God is both faithful and powerful to do all that he said he would do. Amen, let's pray. Oh Lord, we thank you that you're a God who's able to do exceedingly, abundantly, above all we ask or think. We thank you that your promises are greater than we can even imagine, that your treasures are more wonderful than what we can even begin to imagine. And they're ours in Christ. Oh, Lord, our faith staggers at this sometimes. It will help us to be like Abraham here, where we don't stagger because we're not looking at ourselves. We're not looking at our goodness. We're not even looking at our own sin here. We're looking only at your promise, only at your word, only at the invitation. Whoever comes to me, I will know why he's cast out. And so, Lord, help us to keep coming to him. despite our weaknesses, despite our failings, despite our doubts, help us to keep coming to Him. And in that coming, may we grow in this saving faith. In this we pray in His holy name. Amen.