May almighty God be pleased to
bless us together this evening as we meditate in his holy word.
Let's turn to the epistle of Paul to the Romans, the fourth
chapter, and we'll read verse 18. The epistle of Paul to the
Romans, chapter four, and reading verse 18. 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. The history of Abraham is very
wonderful and we see how God so gloriously led and directed
Abraham because as we know he was born in Ur of the Chaldees
and he and his father and brother were brought out of that place
and they didn't know where they were going. He didn't know where
he was going. But he was led by the blessed spirit of Almighty
God. And indeed, as we trace out Abraham's
life, we might find it's rather unusual. But one thing stands
out, that he walked by faith. And also, God was with him. But also, his religion was indeed
tried and tested. and especially with regards to
having a son and then with regard to that son. God spoke to Abraham
and God told him that he would be the father of generations. And all nations will be blessed
through him and his children would be and forebears would
be as the stars of the sky. So there was a great and vast
promise given to Abraham. Sometimes God, still today, gives
you and me promises. And we expect those promises
to be answered. We only have a very short timescale,
usually, in our experience. But Abraham had to prove that
the timescale with regard to a son was not short. It was a
long time. And especially as Abraham was
an old man. But God's purposes were to be
fulfilled. And we should be encouraged by
that in our lives today. This verse really speaks so clearly
of Abraham, who against hope, everything appeared to be going
against him. Yet he believed in hope. His hope didn't fail. that he
might become the father of many nations, according to that which
was spoken, so shall thy seed be. And if we just briefly go
back to the 15th of Genesis where this account is spoken of for
our encouragement really, because the word of God is encouraging
and we see how things are traced out. And we see how things work
out. And they did indeed work out
in Abraham's life. And in the 15th chapter, we read
this. And Abraham said in the third
verse, And Abraham said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed,
and lo, one born in my house is mine heir. And behold, the
word of the Lord came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine
heir, but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels
shall be thine heir. And he brought him forth abroad
and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars if thou be
able to number them. And he said unto him, So shall
thy seed be. What do we read then? And he
believed in the Lord. And he counted it to him for
righteousness. And he said unto him, I am the
Lord that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee
this land to inherit it. And he said, Lord God, whereby
shall I know that I shall inherit it? And he said unto him, take
thee a heifer of three years old, and a she-goat of three
years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtle dove,
and a young pigeon. And he took them, all these,
and divided them in the midst. and laid them piece by piece
against one another, but the birds divided he not, and so
on. And he offered up this sacrifice. And what a wonderful thing it
is to realise that here was Abraham then, in this situation, not
knowing how this would come to pass, because Sarah, Abraham's
wife, had no children, But she had a handmaid, an Egyptian,
whose name was Hagar. And Sarah said unto Abraham,
Behold, now the Lord hath restrained me from bearing. I pray thee,
go in unto my maid. It may be that I may obtain children
by her. And Abraham hearkened to the
voice of Sarai. You see how easy it is, as it
were, to seem to take the easy option. But it wasn't God's plan. And so Hagar was blessed with a child
but it wasn't the child of promise. And so we find that still there
is this trial for Abraham. And when Hagar's child Ishmael
was born he was 86 years old and he had to wait another 14
years until the Lord confirmed and blessed Sarah with a child. And what a wonderful blessing
it was. And we read, and when Abraham
was 90 years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abraham and
said to him, I am the almighty God. Walk before me and be thou
perfect. And I will make my covenant between
me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. And Abraham
fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying, As for me,
behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of
many nations. And so it came to pass. And so it came to pass. But the
truth was that this word was also very true, 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. So we live in a day when God
does still speak not necessarily with regard to an heir, but in
our little lives. Sometimes he gives us promises,
sometimes tells us what the future holds, and naturally we think
perhaps that's going to be performed very quickly and very soon. But
it wasn't so in the case of Abraham. And we are told and being not
weak in faith, he considered not his own body, now dead, when
he was about a hundred years old, neither 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. Well, it's a blessing for us
today. If God gives us that faith to
believe, to believe his promises, it's very easy to suffer from
an evil heart of unbelief. It's very easy to look around
and say, well, that was not a word from God, it hasn't come to pass,
and therefore I must do something different, just like really Abraham,
We need to be patient. We need to have faith. We need
not to be weak in faith. We're told with regard to Abraham,
he was fully persuaded that what he had promised, he was able
also to perform. That's a blessing, isn't it?
What a blessing that would be for you and me today, if we're
fully persuaded in our heart that what God has promised He
is able also to perform that may be in natural things it may
be in spiritual things it may be with regard to promises for
our spiritual life which of course is very important and how necessary
it is that they are fulfilled well here we have the example
of Abraham and it's given to us isn't it to encourage us and
the great blessing was that this faith was given to Abraham wherein
he was fully persuaded of it we're told and therefore it was
imputed to him for righteousness just ponder that given to Abraham
imputed to him for righteousness and then he goes on 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
that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead who was delivered
for our offences and was raised again for our justification. They're great truths and we can
read them very easily, but it's a great blessing when such truths
are applied to our hearts. The application of God's word
to our soul through the work of the Holy Spirit And it comes
through God giving us that blessing to believe what he has spoken. Well, we're told that Abraham
staggered not at the promise of God. And may God give us grace
to not stagger at the promise of God through unbelief. We have a great adversary who
would always try and tempt us. And as time goes on, no doubt
the temptation gets stronger. And perhaps we wonder whether
we've made a mistake. Well, we're not told that Abraham
ever gave way to such thoughts. He believed God. And his situation,
of course, was naturally almost impossible. He was an old man,
and his wife was past bearing age. And yet, he was still given
faith to believe. And that's a great mercy. And
we have here, in the Word of God, this great and glorious
example for us today. And in the Hebrews, that wonderful 11th chapter,
which speaks about the faith of God's people. We're told about
Abraham. We're told about when he left
Ur and we're told by faith, Abraham, when he was called to go out
into a place which he should after receive for inheritance,
obeyed. And he went out, not knowing
whither he went. We read it, don't we? And we
know what the result was. But it's good sometimes to try
and put ourselves into Abraham's place, in his shoes, and think,
there he is, in his homeland. There he is, El of the Chaldees,
and tells to go out. Go out. Not told where. Not knowing where they went. Faith in God. By faith he sojourned
in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in
tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob. He didn't have a permanent residence. The heirs with him are the same
promise, for he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose
builder and maker is God. Again, that's a glorious reference,
isn't it, for us today. Because we are on a journey. We're on a journey. We're travellers,
passing through this world. And what a mercy therefore if
we are like Abraham was, looking for a city, that heavenly city. We thought about it a little
bit this morning. He looked for a city which hath
foundations, whose builder and maker is God. That's the glorious
prospect for the Church of God, not only for Abraham but for
every true believer. And then we read about Sarah
herself received strength and was delivered of a child when
she was past age. because she judged him faithful
who had promised. Therefore sprang there even one,
and him as good as dead, as many as the stars of the sky multitude,
and as the sand which is by the seashore innumerable. Well, as we know, I'm sure, that
of course Abraham's faith was tested further when he had to
offer up his son God told him to, and he willingly obeyed. Again, it's a great blessing,
isn't it, to obey what God tells us to do. He leads us. He led Abraham. He instructed
him. And Abraham was made willing
in the day of God's power to do all that he'd been told. And
there was a wonderful outcome as we know. There was that picture
of substitution with that ram who was caught in his horns,
taken instead of Isaac and sacrificed. And it's a wonderful thing as
you and I may trace out the Word of God The great pattern it sets
before us of faith and believing and the performance of Almighty
God. God brings it to pass. And so
here we have this statement. Who? Against hope. Everything seemed to be against
Abraham. Sometimes things may seem to
be against us. God knows, I don't know what's
in your lives, but it may be that things seem to be against
you. And yet you hope there was going
to be a deliverance. You hope there was going to be
a way out. And yet there seems to be nothing.
Well, here we have the example who, against hope, believed in
hope, blessed with that godly faith to believe. What a mercy
for you and me today to have that faith to believe when things
appear to be impossible. And we read in Luke's gospel,
the things which are impossible with men are possible with God. So as we journey on through life
and we see what appears to be an impossible path before us,
may seem to be mountains before us, great hills a wilderness,
many obstacles. We may wonder however we're going
to journey on. Well, The secret is have faith in God. And remember, here we have God's
servant and it's granted to us here in this way, 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. But we see in this account, not
only the fulfilment of what God had promised, but we see that
God very gloriously imputed to him his righteousness. And what a great blessing that
is, imputed, put upon Abraham, his righteousness, and it's a
wonderful example. And as you and I may read through
the beginning of Romans, we see how this was brought about and
how all of us need righteousness. We are unrighteous in and of
ourselves and we need the righteousness of God. And how wonderful it
is to think that you and I can't achieve that ourselves. Because
by nature we are unrighteous. But God gives it to us. He imputes it. That's the word
used in scripture. To put upon us His righteousness. And so we're told here, 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 that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead. So the great and wonderful need
and a wonderful favour is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. To believe that he came into
this sinful world to save sinners. That he came into this sinful
world to save such an unworthy sinner as ourselves. To stand amazed at God's mercy
and his long-suffering and his grace and it's of course all
surrounded by his love What a mercy then to have this righteousness
imputed to us because we won't be found in glory without it. Indeed it's a robe placed around
us and on us, His righteousness, and it's pure and it's spotless. Our righteousness has so many
faults in it, so many failings, so many black marks, would never
be accepted because we know in glory we need that wedding garment. We need the righteousness of
Christ. And how very humbling surely
it is to be blessed with this wonderful privilege to realise
that God himself imputes it to us. He gives it to us as he gives
us faith to believe. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. Believe that God did raise up
Jesus from the dead and to realise that our hope is built on nothing
less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. Well it's a great blessing for
us today as we read together this fourth chapter to realise
the necessity of possessing the righteousness of Christ and to
think unworthy as we are it's granted to us And what a mercy
therefore to be given a heart to believe the great truths of
God and to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And to believe
he came to seek and to save that which was indeed lost. Left to ourselves, we are lost. Left to ourselves, we follow
our own path. Abraham was directed by God. Abraham followed God's direction. He didn't object. He left his
homeland and he went out. And he dwelt in tents. He didn't have a permanent building. No, he travelled from place to
place. But the great consolation was
God was with him. God was with him. And surely
that is the most wonderful blessing that any of us can realize and
receive, that God is with us as we travel through this world. And the Lord knows where he has
ordained that you and I should move and travel as we go around
The Lord has fixed the place of our habitation. And here we
have, therefore, the account of Abraham's willingness to obey
God, to do his will, and not to therefore disagree with it. We don't read of Abraham disagreeing,
do we? Even when he was told to offer
up his son, in whom was couched. You might
say, all is religion. Yes, because God had promised
that through his son there would be so many people born, and yet
here he was being told to take the life of his son. He didn't
hesitate. It's a glorious example for us
today. to realise that God has a perfect
plan and God's plan was to get honour and glory to himself and
in so doing was to set forth that wonderful position of that
lamb taken and used then in place of Isaac. and to direct us today
to the glorious substitution of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus
Christ. We read it, don't we? We read
the account. We read about Abraham. We think how wonderful it was.
And so it was. But it must have been a really
testing time. He walked by faith. And you and
I today, walk by faith and that means we don't walk by sight
we walk by faith naturally we'd like to be able to grasp things
physically and to walk by sight but you see God moves to encourage
us and to give us grace to walk by faith And as you and I walk
by faith, it's a wonderful blessing because it is indeed, it brings
about this glory of imputed righteousness because he's given us faith to
believe. To believe that that which he
directs us in, that which he says to us, is indeed right and
good. And therefore we should not object
to it. We should recognise the great
truth as for God, his way is perfect. Our ways are very imperfect. You see, we only view the scene
as sinful man does. But God sees it in all his perfection. he sees how everything will be
worked out for his honour and for his glory and so it will
be as the whole Church of God by his grace are brought safely
home to glory and they will indeed praise God for that faith given
to them to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, to believe The
path that they're being led is the right way. And to recognize,
as indeed we read in the 107th Psalm, He, Almighty God, led
them forth by the right way. Yes, not the wrong way. The right
way they might go to a city of habitation. That was true for
Israel. It's true for God's people. It's true for you and me today
to think that God is leading us to our eternal home. But sometimes the way appears
rough. Sometimes it may appear that
we've taken a wrong turning. We didn't think it would be as
difficult as this. We didn't think it would be as
hard as this. That's why God has given us a
word like this, who against hope believed in hope. The way that
seems to be hard to our natural mind and yet to realise it is
the way that God has ordained. God has ordained that way for
you and me. It's a way which the vulture's
eye has not seen and the lion's whelp has not trodden in. It's
a way ordained by Almighty God. And how humbling it is to think
that he takes us, as it were, by our hand, like he did Israel,
and led them along safely to arrive at home. And so who against
hope, believed in hope, that he might become the father of
many nations according to that which was spoken. So if God has
spoken to you and me, let us not be discouraged. Let us remember Abraham. Remember the many years God has
spoken to him and he had to walk without the fulfilment of those
promises. And so in our life, perhaps God
has spoken to us and there doesn't seem to be any possibility of
a fulfilment. Well, remember this occasion
here in this chapter in Romans, according to that which was spoken. If God has spoken, He will fulfil
it. He will fulfil it in His timescale,
not in our timescale, in His way, not in our way. And the reason is this. God will
then achieve honour and glory. If the Lord allowed our way to
come to pass, we would claim some of the glory ourselves.
God is a jealous God and He will have all the honour and glory.
And therefore we should not be surprised if there are those
times when things don't seem to be going smoothly. They don't
seem to be working out as we anticipated. But what a blessing
it is as Abraham was able to look back and to see how God
appeared for him. And of course, as you well know,
he lived many years after Isaac was born. It wasn't just a short
time, he lived many years after that. The Lord knows what he
will do with us. He knows his plan and it's a
mercy to submit ourselves under the mighty hand of God. Examples,
don't we? We have the examples of Isaiah,
we have the examples of Jeremiah. They didn't enjoy easy lives
today, but God was with them. And what a comfort that is, if
God is with us and we realise then that he is leading us by
the right way and it is leading us in that way which does lead
to an eternal habitation to that place of glory at last and surely
we don't want to misstate the way do we? we don't want to go
in the wrong way we don't want to go in that way which seemeth
right unto a man but the ways thereof are the ways of death
We want to go in the way which is the right way. The way ordained
by Almighty God. And the right way is the way
that will be good for our souls. And also, it will bring honour
and glory to God. Sometimes it's worthwhile just
pondering when things don't work out. We think, why hasn't that
come to pass? It's good just to ponder and
think, well, if it had come to pass, who would have received
the glory? And you will find very often,
if it had come to pass, we would have claimed some of the glory
for the hand that we had in bringing it about. And so we have to leave
the issue with Almighty God and to go on patiently and willingly
in that way that he has ordained. It's a great blessing to have
a God who ordains our path. If you and I chose our path,
it wouldn't be good for our souls. We wouldn't choose a path that
would be a benefit to us. We'd choose a path which was
easy and appeared to be nice and rosy. There wouldn't be any
prayer in it. We'd just carry on. God causes
us. to pray our way along as we journey
on day by day, week by week, month by month, year by year. Yes, He causes us to pray our
way along, to commit our way unto the Lord, to trust also
in Him, believing that he will bring it to pass. And he does. The Lord brings it to pass and
we shouldn't lose sight of the fact that our life is a preparation
for our eternal home. And in that life of preparation,
we are brought nearer to the Saviour. we are moved farther
away from the vanities of this world. That which at one time
was very attractive to our hearts, the Lord graciously moves away
and we find Jesus is the one thing needful. I without him
perish must. What a gracious God we have.
to make himself the one thing needful. Again, sometimes the
path is painful to the flesh, but the flesh will perish. But what a good thing it is to
realize that God is leading us by His Spirit. and directing
us so that we are drawn to Him and made submissive in the day
of His power to do His will and not to do our will so often you
say we want our will to be performed well be sure of this if you and
I are God's children we shall be directed to do His will and
we will do His will and as we do His will and as we realise
we are doing His will you know that will bring consolation into
our heart because we will recognise that God in His love toward us
has given us that willing heart that willing soul not to be found
pleasing ourselves And the great issue is that in so doing, to
view the life of the Saviour, to realise that He didn't go
about pleasing Himself. He prayed to His Father that
if it were possible, He might not have to endure the cross. But He did. He knew that was
the path. And what a mercy, therefore,
in our lives, If God takes us and leads us by His hand to the
cross, you and I wouldn't go there naturally. But it's a good place because
as we view the cross, we view the Savior. And what are we viewing
the Savior? We view the Saviour dying in
our place, taking away all our sins. And therefore if the Lord
has graciously waited to be gracious, to overcome perhaps our arguments
against the path, and to realise that that way is the right way. to be made conformable unto his
image as I refer to quite often is that third chapter in the
Philippians where the Apostle Paul desired, didn't he? to be made conformable unto his
image and what did the Apostle Paul believe? he believed in
hope against hope, he believed in hope And so God was with the
apostle. He helped him, he enabled him
to stand firm against all the opposition that he had to endure. And again, it's wonderful that
we have these examples in the New Testament, in the Old Testament.
We have these wonderful examples of the men of God who had to
face so much opposition. The prophets of old realized
what they endured. but they got safely home at last. And that surely is the reason
for the way that our Lord leads us and directs us, so that we
come and understand. Therefore, the word here, which
tells us, who against hope believes in hope that he might become
the father of many nations, According to that which was spoken, so
shall thy seed be. It's a good thing, isn't it,
to be made willing to submit ourselves under the mighty hand
of God. We don't always like to do it
because we in our sinfulness have our own plans and we think
very often our plans are good but we don't really realise what's
involved. What a mercy when God, as it
were, leads us into all truth as it is in Jesus. That's a blessing, isn't it?
He leads us into all truth as it is in Jesus. And therefore
we do believe against hope when things appear to be going in
an opposite direction. That's why we have an account
like this which reminds us of Abraham's life in some detail
and instructs us that through that life, through his obedience
to the path that God led him, And it wasn't easy. There was
opposition, but it came to pass. And as a result, we are told
now it was not written for him, for his sake alone, that it was
imputed to him, which it was, but for us also, to whom it shall
be imputed. Well, what a blessing, my friends,
if that righteousness, which we can't achieve ourselves, is
imputed to us, placed upon us by none less than Almighty God. And I cannot but fail to remember
that in return our sin is imputed to the Saviour. What an exchange! What love to think that Almighty
God none less, was willing to take our sin and in exchange
to give us His righteousness. Well surely eternity would be
too short to praise Him for such amazing love. When we look at
ourselves and all we can see is sinfulness, an opposition
to the way that God leads us. But then to think he takes us
in hand and he leads us by the hand. and brings us at last safely
to our eternal home. Abraham got safe home. All the Church of God get safe
home. And you and I will get safe home
if we walk by faith and are blessed with this wonderful truth of
imputed righteousness and to understand as Abraham did, who
against hope believed in hope. Don't give up. 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 what a mercy, if that's true,
of each one of us. Amen.