Stand with me this morning and turn with me to Roman, and God just gave me this a few minutes before I come to church, some scripture here. Roman chapter 4, and I want to look, starting in verse 13, and I want you to listen very carefully this morning at the reading of the Word. It said this, the promise REALIZED THROUGH FAITH. A PROMISE REALIZED THROUGH FAITH. WHAT PROMISE? PROMISE OF ETERNAL LIFE. AND HOW DO WE GET THAT? THROUGH FAITH. WHAT IS FAITH? FAITH IS THE SUBSTANCE OF THINGS. HOPE BAR IS THE EVIDENCE OF THINGS NOT SEEN. SO LISTEN AS I READ, FOR THE PROMISE All about Abraham, for the promise that he should be the heir of the world was not to Abraham, I thought he was, didn't you? But it was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law. Now then, it's getting straighter. But through the righteousness of what? Through the righteousness of faith, for For if they which are of the law be ours, faith is made void, or faith is no good. Because the law worketh wrath, for where no law is, there is no transgressions. Verse 16, Therefore it is of faith that it may be by grace, anybody know anything about grace? Therefore it is of faith that it might be by grace to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed, not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all. I like verse 17, as it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations. Before him whom he believed, even God who quickneth the dead and calleth those things which be not as though they were. Who, listen to this, verse 18, who against hope believed in hope. Remember that. Who against hope believed in hope that he might become the father of many nations according to that which was spoken, so shall thy seed be. And being not weak in faith, anybody get that? And being not weak in faith, listen to this, he considered not his own body now dead when he was about 100 years old. Neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb. Listen to this, verse 20. He staggered not at the promise. Amen. Somebody say Amen. He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God. AND BEING FULLY PERSUADED THAT WHAT HE HAD PROMISED HE WAS ABLE ALSO TO PERFORM, AND THEREFORE IT WAS IMPUTED TO HIM FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS NOW. IT WAS NOT WRITTEN, LET'S DO THIS, FOR HIS SAKE ALONE, FOR IT WAS IMPUTED TO HIM, BUT FOR WHO? but for us also to whom it shall be imputed if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered for our offenses and was raised again for our justifications. Amen. Now I want to talk this morning for a little bit Now these few verses here, and it may go a little further if time allows, but for the PROMISE that he should be heir. How many of us this morning have received that same promise that Abraham received? Now we know that Abraham, I guess, was before the law and there was nothing to show people what was right or wrong. But even though the law, only the law when it was come into focus, the Mosaic law, the law, thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, so, so forth. Now all of them, Brother Mark, was written to show people what sin was. Thou shalt do this and thou shalt not do that. So the law showed what you could do and what you couldn't do. But after the law showed them what sin was, they had to go to the priest once a year, get their sins rolled back. Not forgiven because no priest could save you, never could and never will be able to save you from your sins, amen. There's only one way to heaven this morning. and there's only one man that can forgive us of our sins this morning. I am not that man. Dean is not that man. None of you are that man or woman that can forgive us of our sins. Amen? Only Jesus Christ. And so in order to receive that promise, now you think about Abraham back in his day when there was no law or anything, and so Abraham, he believed that there was a God. He didn't only believe that there was a God, He put his trust in the only God. Amen. And the Bible says that he walked with God, talked with God. How many of us today walked with God and talked with God? So Abraham, he believed God. Now when we get on down there, it says that this promise made, for if they which are of the law be ours, faith is made void. So faith is made void if the law could do what Jesus Christ could do, but he couldn't do it. So it went ahead, he said, therefore, verse 16, therefore it is of faith that it might be by what? That it might be by grace. By faith we believe. Amen, this morning. By faith we believe. How many believe that there is a God? How many believe that there is a Son of God? How many believe that God sent His only begotten Son into the world to save us all? How many believe that He sent Him down here to die for your sins and my sins? How many believe that this morning? how many believe that they nailed him to a cross not just in our place but for our sins this morning? How many believe that? How many believe they put him in a tomb in three days? And how many believe that he arose that third day? How many believe what Brother Dean was teaching this morning when he appeared to the disciples and the 5,000, 4,000, whatever, and he fed them the multitudes after he arose from the grave He was seen of a lot of people after that. But how many believe that after He rose from the dead, some days after, that He ascended back to His Heavenly Father? He said, My work is done here, and I've got to go back to My Father that your work can continue. You remember over in the book of St. John's Gospel, I'll be with you long, about chapter 15, 14 or 15, it said that when Jesus called the disciples to Him, and He said unto them, they were sad, and He said to them, He said, don't really be sad, paraphrasing, He said, it is expedient for me to go back to my Father. It is very important that I go back to my Father. He said, because if I don't go back to my Father, then He said, the Holy Spirit will not come. Amen? But He said, when I go back, He said, I don't want you to be scared. I don't want you to worry about it. Because He said, when I go, I'll not leave you comfortless. HE SAID, BUT I WILL SEND BACK THE HOLY GHOST. AMEN. A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE SCARED TO DEATH WHEN THEY HEAR THE WORD HOLY GHOST. AMEN. WELL, SOME PEOPLE NEED TO BE SCARED ABOUT IT IF THEY DON'T HAVE IT. AMEN. BUT HE SAID, AND IT WILL LEAD YOU AND GUIDE YOU INTO ALL TRUTH. So let's get back here to the promise that he promised Abraham because Abraham had faith in God and he believed in God. Now how much did he believe in God? Now where I read you at there, Sarah was barren. She was about 90 years old, the Bible says. Abraham was about 100 years old. And you know, back in those days, if you had a son or sons, you were counted a very, very important man to have sons. They had none, and here Abraham, God said, you're gonna be the father of many nations. He said, I'm gonna give you a son, and he is going to rule many, many kingdoms, many, many nations. your son in Isaac. Well, here, Abraham was 100 and Sarah was 90. And the Bible said, the Bible said over there in verse 17, it said, as it is written, I have made him a father of many that be called before him, whom he believed, even God, who quickneth the dead and calleth those things which be not as though they were, who against hope BELIEVED IN HOPE. IN OTHER WORDS, HOW MANY OF US SOMETIMES OUR HOPE GROWS WEAK AT SOMETHING? HOW MANY OF US SOMETIMES WE PRAY ABOUT SOMETHING? HOW MANY TIMES DO WE HOPE TO SEE OUR CHILDREN SAVED? HOW MANY TIMES DO WE HOPE TO SEE OUR HUSBAND SAVED OR WIFE SAVED OR CHILDREN SAVED? but our hope sometimes gets awful slim, don't it? Well, now God had told Abraham, hey man, that he and Sarah was going to bear a son, all right, at that old age. Now how many of us in here this morning would have really had hope in that happening? I tell you what, if God, and I'm gonna confess this morning, if God told me at 76 years old and my wife at 74 that we were gonna have a son or a daughter, I'm gonna tell you what, I wouldn't have much hope in it because I think I know, hey man, just as they probably know that Sarah's womb was dead and probably Abraham too at 100 years old. And so who would have believed that? Who would have believed that? But the Bible said, he who against hope believed in hope that he might become the father of many nations according to that which was spoken, so shall thy seed be. And being not weak in faith, how many times sometimes does your faith become weak? How many times do you want to see somebody healed? You want to see somebody saved? You may be going through a situation this morning. You may have cancer. You may have heart disease. You may have a lot of things. And you may feel like this morning that you have no hope this morning of being healed. But let me remind you this morning, friends, faith can move mountains. You may be going through some storms this morning. You may be going through, I'm talking about spiritual storms. This morning, does anybody ever go through a spiritual storm? Amen, we all go through this spiritual storm. How many times do we go through situations that we see and have no hope of ever getting out of these situations? We have no hope, Brother Mike, that you know that we're gonna come through the situation, but look what Abraham said, and he said, being not weak in faith, he, listen to this, he considered, he considered not his own body now dead when he was about 100 years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb. Somebody ought to say amen in this place. He considered not, he believed in God, He did not have any doubt in God. When God told him something, he believed it, amen. And he didn't even still consider knowing for a hundred years he and Sarah had not had any kids. She could not be buried. Her womb was dead, so to speak. And so with his, you know, he could not perform for a child at a hundred years old. I don't know of anybody today that's ever done that. Do you? It happened though. How many believe it happened to Abraham? It happened for your sake and my sake this morning. So it said in him being weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead when he was about a hundred years old, neither yet the sadness, the deadness of Sarah's womb. But listen to the text this morning in verse 20. The Bible said he staggered not at the promise of God. Well, glory, he did not stagger. How many times do we stagger? You say, what does that word mean, stagger? How many times do we doubt God when God tells us something? How many times do we doubt it? There's some sitting here this morning that's still doubting in God. Let me water up, brother, and I will. I read that this morning. I've probably read it a hundred times. He staggered not at the promise of God. That means doubt. Through unbelief. Through unbelief. He staggered not. He staggered not through unbelief. But was strong in faith, giving God glory. I sat there this morning, and when I read that, and I read where God had promised Abraham and Sarah. I read that, and I kept reading it, and I kept reading it, and I know God was, I wanted God to show me what I wanted, what I needed to know before I preached this. And I got to that verse and he staggered not at the promise of God. And I thought, Ralph, how many times have you staggered at the word of God? How many times do we doubt God? Abraham didn't. He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief. Now listen to this next part. but was strong in the faith, doing what? Giving glory to God, amen. He did not have that son, she did not have, they did not have that son at this time, but they believed God, and they knew God, and they knew that God would not break his promise. They knew God could not lie to them, and so when he staggered not into faith, and when he thought about he was gonna have a son that he'd wanted for 100 years, years, amen, and now then God was telling him, and even though he's probably gonna have to wait nine months to get that son, but he believed God, not seeing it, and she had not conceived yet, but he glorified God and believed that God was gonna do what he said he would do. How many times do we doubt God? How many times do we say, well, I just don't think God's going to do this, God's going to do that? How many times do we get in a situation and we even think God can't help us out of it? How many times? We're all guilty of it. We're all guilty of it. all you have a little fight what do you think they were having said no i'm a hundred-year-old i don't know about what i did know that i never happened and i'm going to have never happened and it's not going to happen that god i just don't believe you you believe that god will give them a son absolutely not so when you're asking for something the next time and you pray about something the next time you remember the scripture if you don't let believe anything else you believe that god can and is able to do all fine i don't care what situation you're in this morning you may have a physical illness you may have a spiritual illness and i will tell you a spiritual illness is what lot worse than a physical it is but he was strong and being fully persuaded, he was fully persuaded. I mean, he didn't stand, he didn't doubt. And being fully persuaded that what he had promised, he was also able to perform. That's good stuff. I don't care what y'all receiving it or not, it's good. I'm blessed this morning. I was blessed when I read it and he gave it to me and I'm just more blessed right now that I'm able to share it with you people. And being fully persuaded that what he had promised, he was able to. And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness, or relief for righteousness. Now then, verse 23, now it was not written for his sake alone, Abraham's sake alone, that it was given to him. But this same promise, listen to me, This same promise, it said in verse 24, but for us also to whom it shall be imputed or be given. Elf, there's that word elf. I've always said elf and bunt, you better look what follows it because there's something important you need to know. It said, Elf, and only Elf, we believe on Him that raised up Jesus, our Lord, from the dead. How hard is it to believe, Brother Jerry, in the Lord today? And the world we live in today, you just look around us. You look at God's creation from the very beginning of time. You drive by the lakes over here and you look and you say, God made them. You go out and you look around at the woods that God made and you walk out in them and a bird is singing and a squirrel to run into and fro. And you look around and you see them. Did you ever think, how did they get here? The Bible says God made all things. Made all things. And the Bible says he made them for the good of mankind if they were blessed. And so it says, but for us also to whom it shall be given if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead. Is there anybody here this morning that does not believe that, that God raised Jesus from the dead? I don't believe there's one in this building this morning that don't believe that. But I do believe those people in this building this morning, and I'm not being judgmental, but I do believe there's people in this church this morning that I need to say this to. You may believe that God raised Jesus from the dead. You may believe that he will forgive you of your sins, but you may still be in your sins because that's not because you believe him. You've got to accept him. YOU'VE GOT TO ACCEPT IT. IT IS SO EASY TO GET SAVED THIS MORNING. IT'S SO EASY TO GET SAVED. IT'S SO SIMPLE TO GET SAVED THIS MORNING THAT A LOT OF PEOPLE THAT'S GOT A LOT OF MONEY THAT THEY CAN HAVE THIS PROMISE, THEY CAN HAVE THIS PROMISE FOR ETERNAL LIFE. for ten thousand dollars and the promise that they would not go to hell well they gladly give ten thousand dollars they just don't understand that god can't be bought you and i was bought you and i was paid for but somebody had to pay for it and that was Jesus Christ that died for us. But just BELIEVING that there's a God, BELIEVING that there's a Jesus Christ, that's not good enough to get you to heaven. It's not good enough to get you to heaven. You say, if I believe there's a God, I believe in Jesus Christ, I believe He raised me from the dead, or raised Jesus from the dead, and I believe He died for me, That still ain't good enough. That's good that you believe all this, but it's not good enough to get you to heaven. He told Nicodemus, he said, you first got to be born again. Born again simply means you've got You've got to confess your sins to Jesus Christ. You can confess your sins to me all you want to, but that ain't gonna get you to heaven. You can confess your sin to every priest out here in the world today, and I'm not throwing off on priests. I'm just telling you what the Bible says. But they cannot forgive you of your sins. They can't. Ain't only but one can forgive you, and that's Jesus Christ, amen. So if you're here this morning and you believe this, then it's so easy to get saved. Now I'm not gonna tell you when you get saved, I'm not gonna tell you that it's gonna be a cakewalk and all your problem is gonna be over. I'm not gonna tell you you won't get sick. I'm not gonna tell you that you won't go through some trouble and trials. I'm not gonna tell you you ain't gonna have a lot of heartache. I'm not gonna tell you that. But I can tell you this, and I can promise you this, that you won't have to go through it alone. Jesus will be there for you. And so after talking about this, I'll fix the clothes if they'll come on. So after Abraham believing and all of this, The Bible said in chapter 5, therefore being justified, when we believe justified just simply means you're forgiven when you confess your sin. By faith, then we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Dean was talking about the peace this morning. No matter, Dean, what's going on in that world, no matter how bad that world gets, no matter what's going on around me, no matter what's happening, I can lay my head on the pill at night, and I can say my prayers, and I can say, Lord, if I have offended or hurt anybody or done anybody wrong, forgive me of any sins that I may have done, and I know that He is true, and just to forgive me of my sins, because He said He was, and cleanse me, and I can lay my head on that pill at night, and I can, by faith, I have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. You know why? Because I believe that God sent His Son to die for me. I believe that his son came and died for me. I believe he arose from the grave, just like the Bible said. I believe everything that God has got in that Bible. I believe every word of it. I may not understand a lot of it, but I believe a lot of it. And I believe this much too. When he died for my sins, I believe he said, if you will come and follow me and listen to me, You will have a home in heaven with me one of these days. So I have received the same promise through faith and through believing as Abraham did many, many, many years ago. And all it takes to receive that promise, all you gotta do is accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. So, I've got peace this morning. I've got a lot of problems going on. But I still have peace, a peace that the world don't have to give me.