Turn to Romans chapter four.
Romans chapter four. I was going to read 17 through
25, but let me include verse 16 because I will mention it
or a couple thoughts from it. 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. As it is written, I have made
thee a father of many nations. Notice that is in parentheses
now, you see it? As it is written, I have made
thee a father of many nations. So he is then using scripture
to actually prove what he just wrote in what we call verse 16.
Then it goes on, before him whom he believed, that is Abraham,
even God, who quickeneth the dead and calleth those things
which be not as though they were. who against hope, this is again
Abraham, who against hope believed in hope that he might become
the father of many nations. Notice the change of the phrase
now, the change in the wording now, 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,
he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about a
hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb.
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, that is what God had promised, God
was able to perform. Therefore, Because of that, that's
what it says. And therefore, it was imputed
to him for righteousness. So far, that could be nothing
more than a history lesson. But Paul then is moved by the
spirit of God to give us, to make this personal to us as well. Now it was not written for his
sake alone that it was imputed to him. but for us also to whom
it shall be imputed. And he doesn't mean it hadn't
already been. But the force of this is that it shall continue
to be imputed. But for us also to whom it shall
be imputed if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord
from the dead. And then he makes this defining
statement, who was delivered for our offenses and raised for
our justification. My title this morning, and I
suppose you could say my subject, is this. This kind of faith,
what we've just read about, this kind of faith is enough. This kind of faith is enough. Now Paul, having squashed legalism,
Paul having squashed legalism, he now deals strictly with faith
only, believing God only, grace only, and grace always. Now, having said that, That is
only for the immediate context. Because Paul will be moved by
the Spirit of God to again squash legalism. But since he has stopped
it now, then I will say no more about it this morning. Because
I want to deal with this kind of faith is enough. Paul will
take up legalism again in no uncertain terms. but he's not
doing it here. Now, I have been asked at times
by different people, different occasions, well, what are you
preaching on? And I've made the statement, because a lot of times,
you know, if you really just say it like you really want to
say it, you'll be there for 20, 30 minutes arguing with somebody.
But I've made the statement, well, I'm preaching through the
Book of Romans. Now it is true that I am preaching
through the book of Romans, but my desire is to preach what Paul
has written in this word. Remember, Paul now in our verses,
especially verse 17 through 25, he mentions law in verse 16. But in 17 through 25, he again
mentions nothing about the law. As a matter of fact, he doesn't
mention anything else about the law until on up into the middle
of chapter, what we call chapter five. But Paul now is dealing
strictly with faith only, believing God only, grace only, and grace
always. And the unregenerate mind refuses. It refuses to bow to that truth. Now let me just give you a few
observations from our text on this morning. By the way, this
is Easter morning. It is not Orthodox Easter, but
it is the Roman Catholic Easter, and I have on my Easter tie.
And that's as much Easter message as you get from me this morning.
A few observations from our text. God, here's the first God is
the efficacious cause of grace and faith. The statement, therefore
it is of faith that it might be by grace. You cannot reverse
that phrase. It is not of grace that it might
be by faith. Grace must come first. Not just in purpose, but in power. Power. Grace was always there
in purpose. And faith was always there in
God. But God, in grace, purposed to
give some people faith as a free, sovereign gift. Therefore, it
is of faith that it might be by God Almighty's grace. And that's gonna make it sure
to all the seed. But then here's the phrase that
he uses to show this. As it is written, I have made
thee. So he was. So he was. Even though in reality
it had not happened yet. You see what he's saying there?
I have, not I will make you. I have, as it is written, I have
made thee a father of many nations. Listen to Isaiah chapter 46.
These are familiar, of course. But Isaiah 46, verse 12, God
Almighty through Isaiah says these words, hearken unto me,
ye stout-hearted. Now that automatically gives
the context the connotation of a heart is set in defense against
something. And don't think that you and
I don't still have one. Even if you're saved, you still
got one. Hearken unto me ye stout hearted that are far from righteousness. Now is there any, is it, it can
be any simpler said. I bring near my righteousness. Do you see it? And look, it shall
not be far off. And my salvation shall not tarry. And I will place salvation in
Zion for Israel, my glory. Somebody says, well, that's talking
about Israel. Yes, it definitely is. But we know the book teaches
this. They are not all Israel, which
are of Israel. And we know the book teaches
there are some wild olive branches called Gentiles by nature that
have been grafted into the natural olive tree. So therefore they
partake of the root and the fatness of the olive tree. They are Israel
too. They are Israel too. But what
does God say here? When he, no, since he has designed
and purpose to save. Salvation will come to pass. And God said to Abraham, because
it's written this way, I have made thee a father of many nations,
even when he had no seed whatsoever. Right? Why is that so? Before him who be believed, even
God, who quickeneth the dead. He can bring something out of
nothing. He created this universe in that
manner. Correct? But he can also quicken the dead. Because folks, we are not just
nothing, we are dead in trespasses and in sins. God has to raise
up life out of that deadness. who quickeneth the dead and calleth
those things. Now it's not saying God here
acts like something's true when it's not true. That's not what
he's talking about. You remember I've told you before,
just because there's a this, be careful, you try to run to
a that. This ain't saying God lies about things. No, mm-mm. That calleth those things that
be not. He had no seed yet, but God said, I've already made you
a father of many nations. And God has the right to do so
because he could quicken the dead. And he calls those things
which be not as though they were. So again I say, God is the efficacious
cause of grace and faith. But here's the second observation.
God-given faith in a person makes them a receptor of the promise
of God. Chapter four, verse 18, the first
phrase. who against hope, believed in
hope, that he might become the father of many nations. So it had to actually come to
pass in time. Do you see it? It actually had
to come to pass in time. We are accused often of saying,
well, whatever will be, will be, even if it don't come to
pass. That's stupidity. But to say what will be won't
be is equally as stupid. What will be will be if God Almighty
willed it. Even if we ain't seen it ever
happen before. This is who God is. Now I know
that's not the God most people are hearing today with all of
their Easter garb on. Going to so-called churches today,
this is not the God they'll be hearing about, but this is the
God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Jacob. God-given faith in a person
makes them a receptor of the promise of God, who against hope
believed in hope that he might become the father of many nations. As a matter of fact, it says
of Sarah, it's Hebrews 11, I'm just gonna read one verse and
make a comment, but you don't have to necessarily turn. Hebrews
11, 11, through faith also Sarah herself received strength to
conceive seed. That doesn't mean she worked
up enough faith to do it. That means God gave her enough
faith to believe the promise of God. And she received strength. This woman not only was past
the age of bearing, but had been unable to bear children from
the beginning. Abraham could bear children,
as was evidenced with Hagar. But he had never bore children
up till that point. And that was nothing but the
works of the flesh. The book teaches us that. Through
faith, Also, Sarah herself received strength to conceive seed and
was delivered of a child when she was past age because she
judged him faithful, who had promised. Faith ain't about you
being able to bring it to pass. It's about you believing when
God promised it, it's going to happen. Most people are taught
that faith is willpower, mind over matter. Now, are they not?
have enough faith, have enough strong faith especially, well
then you can cause this to happen. Faith is believing that what
God has promised, God is able to perform. Romans chapter five, look at
it under this. God giving faith in a person makes them a receptor
of the promise of God. Now if you don't care nothing
about the promise of God, you don't have faith. Because that's
what faith runs to, God's promise. God's word, what God said will
come to pass. Therefore, chapter five, therefore being justified
by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
And that's the only way you'll ever have peace with God. Now
God, if you ever come to that faith, God had peace with you
in Christ before the world was. But you didn't have peace with
God. But through faith, being justified by faith, we have peace
with God, but it's still what? Not on the grounds of faith itself. Faith is the receptor. of it,
through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom also we have access by
faith into this grace wherein we stand and rejoice in hope
of the glory of God. So God is the efficacious cause
of grace and faith. God-given faith in a person makes
them a receptor of the promise of God. Here's the third Here's
the third observation. God is the life-giving and declarative
cause of grace and faith. And I've already mentioned it.
As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,
before him whom he believed, even God, which quickeneth thee
dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were. Abraham and Sarah had an insurmountable
obstacle. Abraham was past the age of producing
sperm. I'm not trying to be vulgar,
but just so everybody knows, he was past the age of producing
sperm. Sarah could not conceive a child. She was past that age, but she
was barren from the beginning. This is an insurmountable obstacle. Is it not? Is it not? But we have an insurmountable
obstacle. Now, I could go on and talk about
it. Look at it. Who against hope, I'll mention
that in a moment, believed in hope. An amazing statement. But again, God is the life-giving
and declarative cause of grace and faith. We have a personal,
insurmountable obstacle, and it's common to every one of us.
Now all of us have obstacles to experiencing the blessing
of God in this world. Some of them are circumstances.
If we could set it apart, I could mention circumstances, and some
of you could relate to one circumstance, and others of you could relate
to another circumstance, or maybe several kinds of circumstances
that are these insurmountable obstacles, but they are not common
to us all. But there's one that's common
to us all. Do you know what it is? It's called death. Death. And Paul alludes to that
because he, just out of the blue it would seem like, picked out
this phrase, even God who quickeneth the dead. Now he quickened their
dead bodies. And folks, this was a physical
blessing of bringing forth a real bonafide flesh, blood, and bone
little boy. And had that not happened, you
and I would have went to hell no matter what. No matter how
much repenting, no matter how much believing, no matter how
much law keeping, no matter how much good works, had that little
boy not been born, we'd all went to hell. Why? Because God would
have been a failure. God would have been a failure.
And in that one boy, God said through him, and so shall thy
seed, and Paul points it out in one place, singular. So shall
thy seed be. The Messiah shall come from his
lowliness. Here's, let me just read it to
you. Now, I don't want you, I want you to listen. I know we need
to read, but I don't want you to read. I want you to listen.
Listen to what it says. God, in a corporate way, created
the nation of Israel in one day. Yes, sir. Yeah, he did. When that child, Jacob, was born,
God created Israel. Yes, sir. Because his name was
changed to Israel. But now listen to what it said.
What is true of Israel in a corporate thing has to happen for any individual
if they're ever, ever converted by God. It has to be this. This life from death has to take
place because that is the insurmountable object common to us all. Again, the word of the Lord came
unto me, saying, Son of Man calls Jerusalem to know her abominations. And we could say, let Sovereign
Grace Chapel know their abominations. It's just as equally true. Son
of Man calls Sovereign Grace Chapel to know her abominations
and say, Thus saith the Lord God unto Jerusalem, thy birth
and thy nativity is of the land of Canaan. And thy father was
an Amorite and thy mother was a Hittite. We're not saved because
we're members of Sovereign Grace Chapel. Sovereign Grace Chapel is nothing
but a bunch of sinners saved by the grace of God at best. At best. As for thy nativity,
in the day thou wast born, thy navel was not cut, neither wast
thou washed in water to supple thee. Thou wast not salted at
all, nor swaddled at all. None I pitied thee to do any
of these unto thee, to have compassion upon thee, but thou wast cast
out in the open field, to the loathing of thy person in the
day that thou wert born." Here is death right amidst life. Is it not? But here's the glory. And when
I passed by thee, I saw thee. He saw us like we were. And yet he still did what he's
going to do. He sees this Can I say it? Now, I've heard some
say it's a stillborn child. It doesn't say that. This child
was born and cast out and it died in the field. I mean, that had to be a horrible
sight. Could you imagine walking upon
that? When I passed by thee and I saw
thee, how polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee, when
thou wast in thy blood, you didn't do anything to merit this, cause
this, or bring it to pass. I said unto thee, when thou wast
in thy blood, live. Live. Yea, I said unto thee,
when thou wast in thy blood, live. Now what do you think happened?
They lived. They lived. Again, God is the life-giving
declarative cause of grace and faith, and this insurmountable
obstacle must be overcome by God. And God made a promise,
and they shall all be taught of God. All of who? All those
he gave to the Son. And they shall all be taught
of God. Every man, therefore, that hath
heard and learned of the Father cometh unto me. Isaiah again, chapter 46, right
back to where we were. Verse eight, listen to what it
said. Now, okay, hold that spot. I'm about to jump ahead of myself.
God is the efficacious cause of grace and faith. Secondly,
God-given faith in a person makes them a receptor of the promise
of God. Thirdly, God is the life-giving
and declarative cause of grace and faith. He is the one that
must overcome the insurmountable obstacle. But here's the fourth
observation. With life and grace and faith
depending upon God, And his promise, this kind of faith is enough
to fly in the face of hopeless circumstances. Who against hope believed in
hope. His circumstances were hopeless. No hope afforded by his circumstances. As a matter of fact, his circumstances
were an insurmountable obstacle. But we're not talking about human
effort. Though God used two human beings
to bring it to pass. It all depended upon the power
and the promise of God. And he said this right before
he said, I bring near my righteousness. He said this, verse eight, remember
this and show yourselves men. Bring it again to mind, oh ye
transgressors. Remember the former things of
old, for I am God and there is none else. I am God and there
is none like me. Declaring the end from the beginning. and from ancient times the things
that are not yet done, saying, my counsel shall stand, and I
will do all my pleasure. But what about men? He'll even
call in a ravenous bird from the east. A ravenous, not a faithful
bird. It don't have to be a faithful
bird. It's just gotta be a bird. It don't matter about the bird
itself. What matters? God matters. Calling a ravenous
bird from the east, and I think he's specifically speaking of
one king here in the direct context, but this is who God is. Calling
a ravenous bird from the east, the man that executeth my counsel
from a far country. Yea, I have spoken it, I will
also bring it to pass, I have purposed it, I will also do it,
or else God is a liar. He's nothing but a con artist. But God is no liar. And God is
no con artist. So again, with life and grace
and faith depending upon God and his promise, this kind of
faith is enough to fly in the face of hopeless circumstances.
I look at some things and I think this or that will never come
to pass. But it will if God's purposed
it. God'll never save that one. But he will if he's purposed
it. God'll never bring that one back. He will if he's purposed
it. But if he hasn't, it will not
come to pass. Man does not stand in front of
God and dictate to God what he can and cannot do. How many insurmountable obstacles
did Joseph have to deal with? I mean, I don't have time to
even deal with them all, but he's in a pit. And he's not there
because a band of robbers came and kidnapped him. His brothers
put him there. His brothers put him there. And
most of them were ready to kill him. They were gonna kill him
dead, dead, dead. They were going to murder their
brother, and God Almighty moved one brother to stay the execution. Did he not? Well, we'll just
leave him in here then. That way, it's kind of like,
well, if he gets out, fine. If he don't, well, he ain't coming
out of this pit by himself. But if he does, it's off our
hands. But what happened? Here come
by. Boy, was it Joseph Lucky. this caravan of Ishmaelites. Ishmaelites. And they bought
him up and took him down to Egypt and sold him as a slave. Then
he gets thrown in jail. The leader's wife tried to bed
him down and he refused to do it. Everything's against him. People in jail with him, some
of them liked him, some of them lied about him. But eventually,
Joseph is on the throne, right-hand man to Pharaoh himself. Why? Because God Almighty had
promised it. So much so that he'd given Joseph
a dream about it when he was yet a young boy. And when he
expressed this dream to his brothers and even to his father, his father
thought, oh boy, this boy had too much cheese last night. This
is a big dream, but he dreamed that all these other stalks would
bow down to his stalk. They did. And all human obstacles
were either overruled or manipulated by God to bring his sovereign
purpose to pass. Pharaoh, I'm talking about the
Pharaoh of Moses, the one that Moses, God sent Moses down to
see this Pharaoh. Think about it. Pharaoh was doing
God's will at the same time that he was refusing God's command.
You ever thought about that? Pharaoh was doing God's will
at the same time he was refusing God's command. What was the command?
Let my people go. Let my people go. No, they can
only go so far, only so many of you can go. And it didn't
take God 10 plagues to bring Pharaoh around. After the 10th
one, it wasn't long that he revolted, Pharaoh revolted again. But that
was still him doing what? God's will. Well, then Pharaoh
was okay, he's doing the will of God. No, he drowned in the
Red Sea with his army under the judgment of God. Preacher, I ain't never really
heard of a God like that. Well, you are now. And here's
the question, do you have faith in this kind of God? Think of Saul of Tarsus. I can
just imagine, I know when he was first converted, most believers
just thought this can't be true. This is some kind of trick. Now
wouldn't, I probably would have thought the same blessed thing.
Bless God, God raised up one man named Barnabas. And he and
Paul later split up. Had an argument and then fallen
out. But God gave Barnabas, one man,
enough nerve to say, I'm gonna take him on. And he found out
he was a true, bona fide believer in Jesus Christ of Nazareth,
his Lord indeed. As one preacher preached a message,
when God saved Saul of Tarsus, it took everybody by surprise.
It took Gamaliel by surprise, it took the church by surprise,
it took unbelievers by surprise, it took the Jews by surprise,
and most of all, it took Saul of Tarsus by surprise. But bless
God, God had determined to save him before the world was. It
made him, and I'm using the phrase, but he made him a father of many
nations, and then he also gave him faith to become what God
had purposed for him to be. Somebody says, I don't know,
but that's the only kind of God I got hope in. Here's number
five. Unbelief staggers. That's what
it says here, doesn't it? He staggered not. Unbelief staggers. That means it hesitates. Take
a step and say, well, I'm not quite sure. Take a step, or it
wavers. I don't know about that. I don't
know about this. Unbelief staggers, but this kind
of faith is enough for it is fully persuaded of God's Ability
to do what he said he'd do and it gives him the glory I'm gonna
ask you a question. He said preacher. I don't know
if I got faith like that if you don't you're lost If you don't you're lost God helped me to see it. God
helped me to see it. But I don't believe always like
I should. That's not belief. Quit calling
it faith. Quit trying to think it's faith. Call it what it is. Maybe once
you acknowledge it for what it really is, you'll seek help from
the only one who's able to deal with it for you. Lord, I believe. Help thou my unbelief. Well, I'm just not a strong believer.
I don't have strong faith. Then you don't have this kind.
Now, do you hear what I'm saying to you this morning? And being
not weak in faith. Now, folks, he did some things
that don't look like faith. You know why? Because they weren't.
And when you do things that don't look like strong faith, then
quit trying to say, well, I just got weak faith. Call it what
it is, rebellion and sin against God. Quit playing games because
until God brings you to that place, he never gonna lift you
up out of that horrid pit while you're still trying to justify
it. and being not weak in faith,
he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about 100
years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb, he staggered
not at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith. And here's what's that, giving
glory to God and being fully persuaded that what he had promised,
he was able to perform. That is the kind of faith God
gave me, I believe that. All that I believe ain't always
like that, but the faith he gave me is always like that. Now do
you see what I'm saying? I know some Christians think,
well, I've left off all that old unbelief. Well, you're in
La La Land. Now something's wrong. I hope
it's too many medications, or maybe you need some medications,
and I'm not making fun. I mean, our maladies can be obstacles,
but only God. Only God can overcome them, but
when he overcomes one, it's no longer an obstacle, bless God.
Quit using our rebellion as an excuse. Quit justifying it. Call it what it is. Just maybe
God will be gracious and give us what we really need. Give
us what we really need. And then it says this, and therefore,
it, that kind of faith, that's what that it means. this kind
of faith and therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness. So then Paul gives us a few conclusions. This kind of faith is enough
for it is imputed for righteousness. It is inventoried. Remember,
people use the word. I've done it before. Well, to
impute means to reckon or to count. That's the way it's translated.
It means to take an inventory of. and you can't inventory nothing. It's stupid if I got nothing.
I got this nothing, and I got that nothing. No, you inventory
what you got. You inventory what is. And this
faith is real. And it's really actually given
to God's people in measure. But it's still strong faith.
Because our Lord said, a grain of mustard seed. Now yes, it
lets us know how small it is. But it's still, Paul Pendleton,
great faith. Strong faith, because if you
got even as much as a mustard seed, you can say that mountain
just be gone. But if you got any of it, it'll
cause you to do this, what? You'll be fully persuaded that
what God has promised, God is able to perform. So this kind
of faith is enough for it is imputed righteousness. The second
conclusion is this. This kind of faith is enough
for me and you. Me and you. Abraham had no law. Even the law that was written
in his heart and his conscience was suspect because his heart
and conscience were defiled and dead in trespasses and in sins. Don't make too much of God writing
the law in a man's heart because men will still murder with that
law written down in the heart and the mind, the conscience.
Will they not? they'll still commit adultery and fornication
and incest and kidnap and patricide and matricide with that law written
by God down in here. Why? Because the flesh is corrupt. It's corrupt. That kind of faith
is enough for me and you, brothers and sisters. Now it was not written,
how did he walk? By some inward rules of this
is wrong and that's wrong. He did some wrong, did he not?
And so do you and I. Let's just face the facts. But
he believed God. And he even walked in that belief.
He walked in that faith. Now it was not written for his
sake alone that it was imputed to him, but for us also to whom
it shall be imputed if we believe on him, but then he's got, here
he make this kind of faith. Well, I believe in God, that's
not enough. That's not enough. Look, if we
believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead,
you see that? The gospel has to be the equation. You can believe in God, even
a sovereign God, all you wish and still perish if it's not
based upon and surrounded by the person and work of Jesus
Christ. Well, I'm a good Calvinist. That
don't cut it. Well, Abraham didn't know nothing
about the resurrection of the dead and of the Messiah. Yes,
he did. Abraham, Christ himself said, Abraham saw my day. He
rejoiced in it, he was glad. I believe Christ, not the naysayers
out here. So this kind of faith is enough
for it is imputed for righteousness. This kind of faith is enough
for me and you. As Tim James said, brothers and
sisters, it's okay to believe God. But when you do, everything
will not be okay. When you do everything, all hell
will break loose against you to try to stamp out that faith
in you. Your own flesh will arise in
rebellion and say, I can't do this! And it's right. And it's right. It's one of the
one times the flesh ever tell, I can't do this. But we don't
even believe it when it says it. We'll walk in the flesh trying
to somehow appease God. Again, listen, this kind of faith
is enough for it's imputed for righteousness. Who does this
imputing? God does. So if God does it, that's enough. This kind of faith is enough
for me and you too. This ain't super Abraham. He was a fallen sinner just like
we were. He was the one whose father was
a Hittite and mother was Amorite. Remember Moose Park said what
kind of good could come out of that kind of relationship? None. But here's the third thing he
tells us. This kind of faith is enough for it believes God
concerning the truth about the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, somebody
says, I believe in the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ.
That ain't enough. That's historical facts. but
to 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
on account of our offenses, not for, not in order to get offenses,
but on account of our offenses, and was raised again on account
of our justification. It's done. Bless God, it's done. Now either I believe him or I
don't. Somebody say it's that simple?
It's that simple, but that impossible, apart from the power of God Almighty.
Father, may these words comfort, your word, not my words, but
may your word comfort us and strengthen us to continue on,
to lay hold of Christ, the fresh and anew, and God, by your grace,
never let go, in Christ's name, amen.