Sermon Tone Analysis

MBC – 4~/17~/2005 - Pastor Doug Thompson

*/“The Evidence of Saving Faith”/*

Romans 4:16-25

 

Ø      ROM 4:13 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.

Ø      ROM 4:14 For if those who are of the Law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise is nullified;

Ø      ROM 4:15 for the Law brings about wrath, but where there is no law, there also is no violation.

Ø      ROM 4:16 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,

Ø      ROM 4:17 (as it is written, "A father of many nations have I made you") in the presence of Him whom he believed, even God, who gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist.

Ø      ROM 4:18 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."

Ø      ROM 4:19 Without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah's womb;

Ø      ROM 4:20 yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God,

Ø      ROM 4:21 and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform.

Ø      ROM 4:22 Therefore it was also credited to him as righteousness.

Ø      ROM 4:23 Now not for his sake only was it written that it was credited to him,

Ø      ROM 4:24 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,

Ø      ROM 4:25 He who was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification.

This passage sounds complicated, but it’s extremely relevant to you and I, because Abe is called /“the father of all who believe”/ (Rom.4:11).

He is the /pattern /for saving faith.

Look at verse 12: those who are saved /“also follow in the steps of faith of our father Abraham.”

/This means that every person in heaven will be there because they believed God the way he did, and gave evidence of that faith, the way he did!

What kind of faith did he have?

What is the saving faith that connects a person to God and grasps salvation?

1.)

It is a faith that /renounces/ works.

But, 2.) It is a faith that /results/ in works.

The first thing we have learned is that faith begins with thinking, believing, reckoning something to be true.

It is believing in what Christ has done for us and refusing to /do/ anything to contribute to what He has done.

Ø      ROM 4:5 But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness,

 

We’ve probably said it 1,000 times since we began our study of Romans: It is trusting in Christ alone that connects us to Him--apart from any works or action or physical motion on our part—.

We can go further: the faith that connects us with Christ must /renounce/ all good works, turn its back on all human achievement and walk away from it to trust in Christ alone.

In Gal.2:16, Paul says it 3 times in one verse--

 

Ø      . . .

nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we may be justified by faith in Christ, and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law shall no flesh be justified.

You had /nothing/ to do with your salvation:

 

Ø      The Trinity worked it all out without consulting you, before creation; the Father chose you to be His own, the Son finished the work on the cross before you were born; and the HS applied it to you through the new birth before you even knew what hit you!

So the next time you look into a mirror say to yourself, “I am a Christian and I had nothing to do with it!”

/God justifies those who trust in Jesus Christ/—“being assured that what God has promised, He is able also to perform.”/

/He doesn’t consider all the years of ministry and sacrifice that might follow your initial faith, and neither does He consider all of your sins that follow.

At the heart of all false religion is the idea that God /does/ consider the fruit of a person’s life to determine whether or not they will be justified.

This is at the center of the false gospel of Roman Catholicism, and I believe it’s at the center of the so-called “New Perspectives” that is creeping into evangelical churches.

Saving faith renounces works, /but/ saving faith results in works.

Faith proves that it is genuine by what it does.

You can’t see faith, but you can see what it believes by what it does.

This is exactly what James was saying--

 

Ø      JAM 2:14 What use is it, my brethren, if someone /says/ he has faith but he has no works?

Can that faith save him?

[No!

Why not?

Because it’s phony!]

Ø      JAM 2:15 [practical illus.:]

If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food,

Ø      JAM 2:16 and one of you /says/ to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and be filled," and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?

Ø      JAM 2:17 Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.

Ø      JAM 2:18 But someone may well say, "You have faith and I have works;” \\ ”Show me your faith without the works, [. .

.I’m waiting. .

.] and I will show you my faith /by /my works."

I hate to sound like Forest Gump, but “Faith is as faith does!”

 

Ø      Imagine that you are sitting at a table, and in front of you is a stack of 1,000 thousand dollars bills—a million dollars, and on top is a post-it note with your name on it—it’s yours!

And sitting next to it, is a cup full of liquid that says “potassium cyanide”—fatal if swallowed.

Pastor Jim and I are also sitting at the table with our right hands on our Bibles, and we both say to you: The million dollars is yours if you take it, and the poison will kill you if you drink it.”

[This sounds like a weird dream, doesn’t it?]

We ask you: Do you believe these two things to be true?

“You /say,/ yes, absolutely, I would stake my life on it that both are true.

There is no doubt in my mind.

None.”

But if you wish Jim and I a nice day, get up and leave the money on the table, or chug down the poison because you’re thirsty—what do you /really/ believe?

What you believe is what you /do./

You /say/ that you believe God’s Word—every word of it.

But what do your actions /show?/

Ø      You say you believe ROM 8:28 “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”

Ø      But then a trial comes along and you fall apart, you lose your joy, you become depressed and despondent—what you believe is what you /do./

 

Ø      You say you believe Jesus’ words in Matt.

6:31,32: "Do not worry then, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear for clothing?'

For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.”

Ø      But then you get hit with a major unexpected bill, and you are consumed with worry—what you believe is what you /do./

 

Ø      You say you believe 1Tim 6:9,10: “those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction.

For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil.”

Ø      But you go to the casino and throw your money away to chance hoping to get rich—what you believe is what you do.

Ø      And finally, you say that you believe the Gospel.

You believe that your lawless deeds have been forgiven, and God will not take your sins into account.

Ø      But then you fall into sin, and you are paralyzed with guilt.

You can’t read your Bible, you can’t pray because you think God has turned His back on you.

What do you really believe?

My prayer for you this morning is that you would grow strong in faith, giving glory to God!

But you have to be brutally honest with yourself in answering this question: How does my life--my actions, my decisions--square with what I /say/ I believe?”

And where it doesn’t, that’s just where you need to pray for God’s grace to put your faith into action, and live what you believe.

Faith is just like a muscle: the more you exercise it, the stronger it gets.

Up to this point in ch.4, the emphasis has been on Abraham’s works-renouncing faith, but in this section it puts the spotlight on the way his faith resulted in works.

Abe’s faith proved itself to be genuine saving faith by the way he /lived./

He /walked/ in faith.

And you and I can follow in the footsteps of his faith.

We are going to see his faith (and Sarah’s too) illustrated through three major tests that they faced in their lives: leaving home, getting a son, and losing a son.

*I.

Leaving home.

*

 

Ø      HEB 11:8 By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going.

Ø      HEB 11:9 By faith 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;

Ø      HEB 11:10 for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

When Abram and Sarai began their journey, they didn’t have a map, they didn’t have a plan.

They probably had never even heard of the land of Canaan.

In fact, when they left Ur they had no idea where they were going!

It just says: “Abraham, when he was called, obeyed!”

Ø      Now think with me: When you are reading God’s Word, or hearing it in a sermon or at a Bible study and through His Word, God calls you, “Stop doing that!” or “Start doing this!”, do you obey?