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Voddie Baucham - Abraham Justified by Faith · Voddie Baucham Sermons

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  Speaker 1: Well, as we come to the end of Romans chapter 4,
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  Speaker 1: we're coming to the end of this great section on
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  Speaker 1: Abraham and his justification by faith. And beyond that, not
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  Speaker 1: just his justification by faith, but how Abraham's justification by
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  Speaker 1: faith serves as a model for all of us who
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  Speaker 1: are justified by faith. Paul is making the argument as
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  Speaker 1: he has already demonstrated that both Jew and Greek are
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  Speaker 1: guilty before God, that both Jew and Greek who trust
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  Speaker 1: in anything other than justification by faith are actually trusting
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  Speaker 1: in something that is of no avail to them. He
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  Speaker 1: now turns and he looks at Abraham and and demonstrates
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  Speaker 1: how Abraham, contrary to being the example of justification by
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  Speaker 1: works that the Jews thought he was, and contrary to
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  Speaker 1: being the man who stands in history to separate those
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  Speaker 1: who are of the Jewish line from those who are
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  Speaker 1: of every other line, that Abraham is in fact, as
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  Speaker 1: God said he would be, the father of many nations,
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  Speaker 1: not just the Jewish nation, but he's the father of
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  Speaker 1: many nations because the promised seed was actually the person
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  Speaker 1: of Jesus Christ. And in Christ, God has called together
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  Speaker 1: a people for himself from every tribe and kindred and
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  Speaker 1: tongue and nation so that it is in Christ that
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  Speaker 1: that Abraham truly becomes the father of many nations. And
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  Speaker 1: he is the father of these nations, not by virtue
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  Speaker 1: of their being born into his hereditary line, but by
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  Speaker 1: virtue of them being born by faith. That's the picture
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  Speaker 1: that he paints today. in Romans chapter 4. But at
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  Speaker 1: the end of Romans chapter 4, what we now see
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  Speaker 1: is the content of that faith, the substance of that faith,
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  Speaker 1: and the nature of that faith. And this is very
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  Speaker 1: important for us here today. This is not just an
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  Speaker 1: issue of importance for first century Jews and Greeks in Rome.
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  Speaker 1: This is an issue of special importance to us. In fact,
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  Speaker 1: it is an issue of heightened importance for us because
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  Speaker 1: we live in the midst of a time and in
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  Speaker 1: the midst of a culture in particular where faith is
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  Speaker 1: readily misrepresented. We have no idea what faith is, what
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  Speaker 1: saving faith is. And so because our culture misrepresents faith,
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  Speaker 1: abuses faith on the whole, And as a result of that,
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  Speaker 1: there are many within the confines of Christianity in our
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  Speaker 1: culture who identify themselves as Christian, whose idea of faith
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  Speaker 1: looks a lot more like that of those in the
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  Speaker 1: world who have perverted the concept. It becomes very difficult
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  Speaker 1: for us to even have a discussion about saving faith
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  Speaker 1: unless we first do some work to eliminate misconceptions.
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  Speaker 2: Amen? So let's do that. We're going to look at
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  Speaker 2: this battle for faith.
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  Speaker 1: Here's what I want to give you before we even
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  Speaker 1: get into this passage here today. I want to give
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  Speaker 1: you this picture of faith and the difference between a
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  Speaker 1: life of faith and a life that is not of
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  Speaker 1: faith from Richard Baxter. Then what we'll look at is
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  Speaker 1: we'll look at three examples of what faith has been
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  Speaker 1: misrepresented as in our culture and get into this picture
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  Speaker 1: of saving faith in the life of Abraham.
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  Speaker 2: Listen to this from Richard Baxter.
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  Speaker 1: A life of faith … is a living upon the
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  Speaker 1: unseen everlasting happiness as purchased for us by Christ with
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  Speaker 1: all the necessaries thereto and freely given us by God.
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  Speaker 2: A life of.
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  Speaker 1: Faith is a living upon the unseen everlasting happiness as
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  Speaker 1: purchased for us by Christ with all the necessaries thereto
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  Speaker 1: and freely given us by God.
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  Speaker 2: Now, he contrasts that. The contrary life of sense and unbelief.
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  Speaker 2: I love that.
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  Speaker 1: There's the life of faith. What's the opposite of the
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  Speaker 1: life of faith? It is the life of sense, what
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  Speaker 1: we see, hear, touch, taste, feel, and unbelief. The opposite
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  Speaker 1: of the life of faith is the life that says,
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  Speaker 1: if I can't see it, it's not real. If I
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  Speaker 1: can't explain it, it's not real. That's the life that's
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  Speaker 1: the opposite of faith. The contrary life of sense and
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  Speaker 1: unbelief is a living in the prevalence, excuse me, in
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  Speaker 1: the prevalency of sense or flesh to this present world
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  Speaker 1: for want of such believing and apprehension of a better
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  Speaker 1: world as should elevate the soul thereto and conquer the
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  Speaker 1: fleshly inclinations to things present. Let me read that for
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  Speaker 1: you again. And again, this is Richard Baxter. He doesn't
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  Speaker 1: write like we think. Or we no longer think like
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  Speaker 1: he writes.
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  Speaker 2: Amen?
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  Speaker 1: The contrary life of sense and unbelief is a living
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  Speaker 1: in the prevalency of sense and flesh to this present
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  Speaker 1: world for want of such believing and apprehension of a better. Amen?
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  Speaker 1: So we're holding on to this present world, what we
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  Speaker 1: can see, taste, touch, and feel, because we don't know
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  Speaker 1: or believe in a world better than this one. It's
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  Speaker 1: all we've got. As should elevate, what should elevate? A
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  Speaker 1: belief in another world. As should elevate the soul thereto,
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  Speaker 1: and conquer the fleshly inclinations to things present.
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  Speaker 2: That's the opposite.
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  Speaker 1: So what does that look like in our culture today?
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  Speaker 1: So glad you asked. Here's what that looks like in
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  Speaker 1: our culture today. First of all, in the world, in
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  Speaker 1: the culture, there is an understanding of faith that is prevalent.
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  Speaker 1: I've shared with you before from this book, The Secret.
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  Speaker 1: It's been a perennial bestseller since it was first published.
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  Speaker 1: Written by an unknown author, by the way. And this
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  Speaker 1: book is everywhere today. There are many Christians who have
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  Speaker 1: grabbed on to this book. It was part of Oprah's
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  Speaker 1: Book of the Month Club, you know, which again, if
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  Speaker 1: you get on Oprah's Book of the Month Club, that's
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  Speaker 1: just it. You called me about family-driven faith, but I said, nah,
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  Speaker 1: that's all right. But listen, as I read from The Secret,
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  Speaker 1: some of your family members have this book. Listen as
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  Speaker 1: I read from The Secret. This is on page 164.
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  Speaker 1: You are God in a physical body.
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  Speaker 2: You are spirit and flesh.
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  Speaker 1: You are eternal life expressing itself as you. You are
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  Speaker 1: a cosmic being. You are all power. You are all wisdom.
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  Speaker 1: You are all intelligence. You are perfection. You are magnificence.
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  Speaker 1: You are the creator, and you are creating the creation
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  Speaker 1: of you on this planet.
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  Speaker 2: Listen to this from James Ray.
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  Speaker 1: Every tradition has told you That you were created in
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  Speaker 1: the image and likeness of the creative source. That means
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  Speaker 1: that you have God potential and power to create your
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  Speaker 1: own world.
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  Speaker 2: And you are. By the way, the secret is the
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  Speaker 2: idea of attraction. Attraction.
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  Speaker 1: What you set your mind to and what you continue
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  Speaker 1: to speak is what you will attract to yourself. So
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  Speaker 1: what you have to learn how to do is set
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  Speaker 1: your mind to the things that you want, set your
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  Speaker 1: speech on the things that you want, and eventually you
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  Speaker 1: will attract those things to yourself. Now, it's one thing
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  Speaker 1: for this to be in the world.
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  Speaker 2: Newsflash, this is in the church.
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  Speaker 1: The word of faith movement is based on the same heretical, godless, unbiblical,
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  Speaker 1: anti-biblical principles.
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  Speaker 2: And so heretical teachers like.
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  Speaker 1: Ken Copeland, Frederick Price, these individuals who populate programs on
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  Speaker 1: TBN and others, These false teachers are actually basing what
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  Speaker 1: they teach, Ken Hagan, others like him, they are basing
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  Speaker 1: what they teach on the exact same heretical, blasphemous principles
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  Speaker 1: that you find in the secret.
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  Speaker 2: Listen to this. We don't have time for many examples,
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  Speaker 2: but let me give you one.
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  Speaker 1: Listen to this from Frederick Price, pastor at a church
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  Speaker 1: in Los Angeles, California, has a regular program on TBN
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  Speaker 1: and other.
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  Speaker 2: Christian stations as well.
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  Speaker 1: Has thousands upon thousands upon multiplied thousands of members in
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  Speaker 1: his church. The man who says he's not God. going
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  Speaker 1: to die until he's ready to die. He says, and
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  Speaker 1: I quote from Fred Price, now this is a shocker.
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  Speaker 1: But God has to be given permission to work in
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  Speaker 1: this earth realm on behalf of man. Yes, you are
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  Speaker 1: in control. So if man has control, who no longer
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  Speaker 1: has it?
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  Speaker 2: God.
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  Speaker 1: When God gave Adam dominion, that meant God no longer
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  Speaker 1: had dominion. So God cannot do anything in this earth
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  Speaker 1: unless we let him. And the way we let him
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  Speaker 1: or give him permission is through the exercise of our
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  Speaker 1: faith in prayer. That's a man on a Christian television
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  Speaker 1: station every day. Teaching heretical, unbiblical, anti-biblical, blasphemous nonsense. And
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  Speaker 1: he has thousands upon thousands upon multiplied thousands in his church.
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  Speaker 1: How do we understand what faith is in that context?
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  Speaker 1: By the way, we see it in the world. We
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  Speaker 1: see it in this obviously heretical, openly heretical, aggressively heretical
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  Speaker 1: word of faith movement. But there's also a softer, gentler
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  Speaker 1: version that's headquartered right.
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  Speaker 2: Here in Houston.
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  Speaker 1: Smiling Joel doesn't come out as openly and honestly, but
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  Speaker 1: smiling Joel is every bit of heretical in his understanding.
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  Speaker 1: Listen to these words from your best life now. God
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  Speaker 1: has breathed his life into you. He planted seeds of
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  Speaker 1: greatness in you. You have everything you need to fulfill
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  Speaker 1: your God-given destiny.
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  Speaker 2: It's all in you.
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  Speaker 1: You are full of potential, but you have to do
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  Speaker 1: your part and start tapping into it. You have the
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  Speaker 1: seed of Almighty God on the inside of you. We
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  Speaker 1: have to believe that we have what it takes. By
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  Speaker 1: the way, in your best life now, he unapologetically says
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  Speaker 1: this is true of the non-believer as well as the believer.
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  Speaker 2: He goes on.
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  Speaker 1: The Scripture says our faith is Can I.
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  Speaker 2: Just read that again?
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  Speaker 1: The Scripture says our faith is made effectual when we
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  Speaker 1: acknowledge everything good in us.
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  Speaker 2: Think about this.
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  Speaker 1: Our faith is not effective when we acknowledge all our
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  Speaker 1: hurts and pains. It's not effective when we stay focused
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  Speaker 1: on our shortcomings or our weaknesses. Our faith is most
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  Speaker 1: effective when we acknowledge the good things that are in us.
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  Speaker 2: End quote. And so, the culture at large.
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  Speaker 1: Has this destructive, unbiblical, anti-biblical understanding of what faith is.
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  Speaker 1: The radical fringe movement, the word of faith movement, has
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  Speaker 1: this heretical, unbiblical understanding of what faith is. And the kinder, gentler,
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  Speaker 1: more well-accepted version of it, headquartered right here in Houston
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  Speaker 1: at Lakewood Church, has the same unbiblical, heretical, anti-biblical, blasphemous
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  Speaker 1: content to it. So when we use the word faith,
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  Speaker 1: and again, here's why it's important that we do this.
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  Speaker 1: If this is what we're swimming in and bathing in
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  Speaker 1: all the time, then when we use the word faith,
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  Speaker 1: what we are going.
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  Speaker 2: To think is this stuff.
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  Speaker 1: That faith, all faith really is, is hoping real hard
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  Speaker 1: that you're going to get what you really want. And
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  Speaker 1: the ones who get what they really want are the
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  Speaker 1: ones who hope harder than others. As one apologist has
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  Speaker 1: put it, the formula goes like this. Faith is a
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  Speaker 1: powerful force. Your words are the containers of that powerful force.
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  Speaker 1: And through the use of your words, you can create
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  Speaker 1: and or alter your reality. That is not what the
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  Speaker 1: Bible teaches. Well, what does the Bible teach about faith
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  Speaker 1: and specifically about saving faith? TFPC asks all the right questions.
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  Speaker 1: Romans chapter 4. Let's begin at verse 16.
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  Speaker 2: Because we must be a people of faith. Amen?
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  Speaker 1: Well, how do we come to salvation? Through repentance and faith.
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  Speaker 1: How do we live our lives as believers?
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  Speaker 2: By faith.
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  Speaker 1: So what does that mean? What does it look like?
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  Speaker 1: What is the content of it? What's the nature of it?
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  Speaker 1: We see it here, beginning of verse 16 of Romans
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  Speaker 1: chapter 4. That is why it depends on faith. Let
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  Speaker 1: me back up to verse 13. We covered this paragraph
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  Speaker 1: last week, but just for the flow. For the promise
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  Speaker 1: to Abraham and his offspring that he would be the
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  Speaker 1: heir of the world did not come through the law,
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  Speaker 1: but through the righteousness of faith. For if it is
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  Speaker 1: the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs,
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  Speaker 1: faith is null and the promise is void.
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  Speaker 2: For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law,
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  Speaker 2: there is no transgression.
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  Speaker 1: That is why it depends on faith, in order that
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  Speaker 1: the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed.
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  Speaker 2: To all his offspring.
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  Speaker 1: Not only to the adherents of the law, but also
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  Speaker 1: to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who
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  Speaker 1: is the father of us all. As it is written,
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  Speaker 1: I have made you the father of many nations. In
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  Speaker 1: the presence of the God in whom he believed, who
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  Speaker 1: gives life to the dead and calls into existence the
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  Speaker 1: things that do not exist. In hope, he believed against hope,
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  Speaker 1: that he should become the father of many nations. As
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  Speaker 1: he had been told, so shall your offspring be. He
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  Speaker 1: did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body,
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  Speaker 1: which was as good as dead. Since he was about
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  Speaker 1: a hundred years old or older, when he considered the
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  Speaker 1: barrenness of Sarah's womb. No distrust made him waver concerning
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  Speaker 1: the promise of God, but he grew strong in his
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  Speaker 1: faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that
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  Speaker 1: God was able to do what he had promised.
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  Speaker 2: That is why.
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  Speaker 1: His faith was counted to him as righteousness. But the
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  Speaker 1: words it was counted to him were not written for
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  Speaker 1: his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be
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  Speaker 1: counted to us who believe in him who raised from
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  Speaker 1: the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for
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  Speaker 1: our trespasses and raised for our justification. And so we
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  Speaker 1: see here in Abraham the essence of the kind of
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  Speaker 1: faith that justifies. Justification by faith, by what kind of faith?
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  Speaker 1: Just a blind hoping? Or is it something more? We see,
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  Speaker 1: for example, that Abraham's justification by faith demonstrates God's grace.
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  Speaker 1: Note what is said here beginning in verse 16. That's
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  Speaker 1: why it depends on faith in order that the promise
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  Speaker 1: may rest on grace. It depends on faith in order
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  Speaker 1: that the promise may rest on grace. Again, as we've
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  Speaker 1: been reading throughout chapter 4, what we've been made aware
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  Speaker 1: of is this, that if it is based on works,
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  Speaker 1: then it is based on merit. Man gets what he deserves.
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  Speaker 1: The one who works gets a wage or receives a wage.
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  Speaker 1: If I'm receiving a wage, I'm receiving what I have
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  Speaker 1: coming to me. I'm receiving what I am owed. However,
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  Speaker 1: if it's based on faith and not based on works,
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  Speaker 1: then I am receiving what I do not deserve because
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  Speaker 1: I am believing in the one who is granting to
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  Speaker 1: me whatever it is that I possess. So the first
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  Speaker 1: reason that it's incredibly important that this is based on
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  Speaker 1: faith is that it is therein that we find the
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  Speaker 1: grace of God and only therein that we find the
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  Speaker 1: grace of God. if it is not based on faith,
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  Speaker 1: if it is based on my works, if it is
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  Speaker 1: based on my merit, if it is based on what
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  Speaker 1: I deserve, then God owes.
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  Speaker 2: It to me and I have reason to boast.
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  Speaker 1: That is why, as we've said before and we'll continue
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  Speaker 1: to say again, it is very important that we make
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  Speaker 1: a distinction between what the gospel requires and what the
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  Speaker 1: gospel produces, between the indicatives and the imperatives. If we
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  Speaker 1: confuse these two, What the gospel requires, by the way,
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  Speaker 1: is repentance and faith. What the gospel produces is obedience.
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  Speaker 1: When I confuse these two, that's when I'm in the
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  Speaker 1: realm of works righteousness. Now, all of a sudden, I
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  Speaker 1: believe that what is required is for me to obey
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  Speaker 1: God in order to merit God's favor so that I
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  Speaker 1: must do in order to gain. That is works righteousness,
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  Speaker 1: and the gospel is null and void at that point.
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  Speaker 1: That's the entire message of the book of Galatians. You're
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  Speaker 1: confusing what the gospel requires with what the gospel produces.
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  Speaker 2: You may not do that.
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  Speaker 1: So if you are going toward this area of circumcision
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  Speaker 1: in order to be in right relationship with God, you
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  Speaker 1: have completely missed the boat as it relates to justification.
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  Speaker 1: And whatever we put in that category, we completely missed
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  Speaker 1: the boat as it relates to justification. But once we
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  Speaker 1: understand that we are justified by grace alone, through faith alone,
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  Speaker 1: in Christ alone, that's when we've moved into the realm
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  Speaker 1: where the gospel is indeed good news. Here's the other problem.
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  Speaker 1: If it's not based on faith, it's not good news.
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  Speaker 1: I don't know about you. That's not good news to me. Votie,
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  Speaker 1: you are a wretched, rank sinner, okay?
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  Speaker 2: Okay? You have violated the very law of God, okay?
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  Speaker 1: What is required of you is perfect obedience and adherence
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  Speaker 1: to the law of God. Okay, so far so bad.
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  Speaker 1: But here's good news. The good news is Christ died
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  Speaker 1: for sin. Once for all, the just for the unjust,
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  Speaker 1: so that you could have a little help and a
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  Speaker 1: little nudge.
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  Speaker 2: In keeping the law perfectly.
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  Speaker 1: Okay? Go, be warmed, be filled, be perfect. Folks, that's
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  Speaker 1: not good news. That's not good news at all, you know?
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  Speaker 1: That's like a man who was riding an elephant in India.
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  Speaker 1: And as he's riding this elephant in India, all of
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  Speaker 1: a sudden something came across the path and the elephant
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  Speaker 1: sort of went off and went crazy. Next thing you know,
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  Speaker 1: the man... is down on his back with an elephant
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  Speaker 1: on top of him. And someone walked up to him
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  Speaker 1: and said, you have an elephant on top of you.
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  Speaker 1: And said, yes, I know I have an elephant on
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  Speaker 1: top of me.
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  Speaker 2: Well, here's a stick. You can use it for leverage.
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  Speaker 1: Great. Get a truck to go with it. You cannot
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  Speaker 1: get out from under the weight of the law.
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  Speaker 2: It is crushing. It is overwhelming.
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  Speaker 1: And our only hope of escape is the grace of God.
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  Speaker 1: And the only way that that can be our means
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  Speaker 1: of escape is that it depends on faith. and faith alone,
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  Speaker 1: not on our adherence to the law. So we see
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  Speaker 1: here first that because of this justification by faith, we
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  Speaker 1: have a clear picture of the grace of God.
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  Speaker 2: In addition to that.
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  Speaker 1: This justification by faith extends hope to all. Look at
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: what he says. Again, verse 16. That is why it
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: depends on faith in order that the promise may rest
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: on grace and.
• 23:10
  Speaker 2: Be guaranteed to all his offspring.
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: Not only to the adherent of the law, but also
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: is the father of us all. That is, it is written,
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: I have made you the father of many nations. In
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: other words, here's what happens. Before we can do this,
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: I need to explain something here in this verse. Note
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: where it says, not only to the adherence of the law,
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham.
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: If we're not careful and we read that outside of
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: the context first of Romans chapter 4, and second outside
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: of the context of Romans chapter 1 through 4, and
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: thirdly outside of the context of the entire book of Romans,
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: here's what you see there. That Abraham serves first as
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: a model for the one who keeps the law and
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: is therefore justified before God, and the one who can't
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: keep the law but relies on faith. That is not
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: what's being said here. Remember we've seen over and over
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: and over again in the first three chapters of Romans,
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: to the Jew first and also the Greek.
• 24:15
  Speaker 2: Not only the Jew, but the Greek.
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: To the Jews and the Greeks, over and over and
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: over again. When we see this reference to the one
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: who was under the law or the one who keeps
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: the law, it.
• 24:26
  Speaker 2: Is a reference to the Jew.
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: When we see the other reference, it is a reference
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: to the Greek or to the non-Jew. So the statement
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: that Paul is making here is not that Abraham serves
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: as an example, both for the one who keeps the law,
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: because we know that by the works of the law
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: shall no flesh be justified. We read that in chapter 3,
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: there is none who keeps the law. But the reference
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: he makes here is this, that Abraham serves as hope
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: for the one who is the Jew, who lived under
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: the Mosaic law, which, by the way, he could not keep,
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: therefore they had the sacrificial system, and to the one
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: who never had the Mosaic law. Both, by the way,
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: are guilty before God, and both find their hope in Abraham.
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: Listen to this. Those who are of the law, and
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: this is from Everett Harrison, are not excluded from Abraham's offspring.
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: This means that a person who happened to live during
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: the Mosaic era was not thereby excluded from the blessing
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: of the Abrahamic covenant, provided he had faith. The expression
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: cannot refer to legal obedience without bringing Paul into contradiction
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: with himself. But the blessing of Abraham is also for
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: those who though not belonging to the Messianic or the
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: Mosaic epic, yet share the faith of the patriarch. Both
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: groups are in view in the statement. He is father
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: of all of us. The beauty of this statement is this.
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: It's twofold. Number one, the faith of Abraham gives hope
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: to us all. It gives hope to the Jews. Because
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: remember this, if you are a Jewish individual who lives
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: in the Mosaic epic, you are constantly reminded and constantly
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: afraid before God. You are constantly bringing sacrifices. You are
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: constantly bringing offerings. And animals are being sacrificed around the clock.
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: The stench of blood and burning flesh around the clock
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: reminding you that you have to continue to do this
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: because you are not worthy before God. We read from
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: Leviticus 16 a couple of weeks ago. In Leviticus 16,
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: what do we find out? Aaron, I want you to
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: go on the most high holy day and sacrifice.
• 26:55
  Speaker 2: For the people. Very good, God.
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: But before you go and sacrifice for the people, you
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: got to sacrifice for you because you're not worthy to
• 27:02
  Speaker 1: sacrifice for the people. Then you have to sacrifice for
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: all the stuff that we're sacrificing because nothing that we're
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: sacrificing is worthy of being in front of me. Then
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: you have to sacrifice on behalf of all of the people.
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: And after you sacrifice on behalf of the whole people,
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: which by the way, will only be accepted if you
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: come into this place in right relationship with me, otherwise
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: you die. And then they got to go get another
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: high priest to come in and sacrifice for himself, for
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: his family, for all the people, and then give me
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: the scapegoat.
• 27:32
  Speaker 2: What are we reminded of? There's no hope. Are you
• 27:40
  Speaker 2: right with God?
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: Again, I'm a Jew. I live under the Mosaic Covenant.
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: I have 633 laws to keep. And I'm probably breaking 300,
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: 400 a day. And someone comes to me and says,
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: do you have hope? If I'm honest, my answer is no. No.
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: That's why I'm bringing turtle doves again. That's why I'm
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: bringing a grain offering again. That's why I'm bringing a
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: wave offering again. That's why I brought an ox. That's
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: why I brought a lamb again, again, again, again, and
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: again because I do not have hope apart from these
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: continued sacrifices that ultimately serve to do nothing more than
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: to remind me that I'm guilty before Almighty God and
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: I still haven't gotten it right. And on top of
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: all of this, they had been taught, Abraham is your father.
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: Abraham is your example. He was justified because he was
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: perfect before Almighty God.
• 28:52
  Speaker 2: Go and do likewise. Paul brings good news to the Jew.
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: Because he says earlier in chapter 4, listen, you think
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: your circumcision justifies you. Abraham was counted righteous before he
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: was circumcised. You think your adherence to the Mosaic law
• 29:18
  Speaker 1: justifies you. Newsflash, Abraham was declared righteous and he's a
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: forefather of Moses. Genesis comes before Exodus. Abraham is your father,
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: but he's your father if you are trusting in God first.
• 29:40
  Speaker 2: By faith you mean I don't have to bring another lamb.
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: No you mean I don't have to bring another bull
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: another goat no Not another turtle dove.
• 29:57
  Speaker 2: No. Not another grain offering. Not another wave offering.
• 30:01
  Speaker 1: No.
• 30:02
  Speaker 2: None of that.
• 30:04
  Speaker 1: There was a once for all sacrifice. In fact, the
• 30:08
  Speaker 1: only reason you ever had to do that was so
• 30:13
  Speaker 1: that it could be the object of your faith in
• 30:15
  Speaker 1: place of that which it foreshadowed.
• 30:25
  Speaker 2: But now that the fullness has come, put down the shadows.
• 30:30
  Speaker 2: Put down the forms. Trust God. But what about to
• 30:36
  Speaker 2: the Greek?
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: Here are these holy people of Israel, these holy Jews.
• 30:43
  Speaker 1: Certainly I'm not as holy as they are. And they're
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: not even right before their God, which is why they
• 30:50
  Speaker 1: have to continue all of these sacrifices. I'm left out.
• 30:56
  Speaker 1: What hope do I have? Well, you have the same hope.
• 31:00
  Speaker 1: Father Abraham is the father of many nations, and that
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: includes your nation, oh wretched Gentile. But he's your father
• 31:12
  Speaker 1: when you have faith as he did. So on the
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: one hand, This is good news because Abraham becomes the
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: father of all. But on the other hand, it is
• 31:25
  Speaker 1: good news because in Abraham now, we see that the
• 31:29
  Speaker 1: dividing wall is broken down as we read in Ephesians
• 31:32
  Speaker 1: chapter 2. And he doesn't just serve as the example
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: for Jew and Gentile, but he serves as the point
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: of unification for Jew and Gentile. Turn with me to
• 31:46
  Speaker 1: the right. Ephesians chapter 2. Again, we've read this before.
• 32:14
  Speaker 1: But it is our nature to need to be reminded
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: again and again. Amen?
• 32:17
  Speaker 2: Amen.
• 32:20
  Speaker 1: Beginning at verse 11 in Ephesians chapter 2. Therefore, remember
• 32:24
  Speaker 1: that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh called
• 32:27
  Speaker 1: the uncircumcision by what is called the circumcision, which is
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: made in the flesh by hands. Remember that you were
• 32:34
  Speaker 1: at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth
• 32:37
  Speaker 1: of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having
• 32:42
  Speaker 1: no hope and without God in the world. But now
• 32:45
  Speaker 1: in Christ Jesus, you who were once far off have
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he
• 32:50
  Speaker 1: himself is our peace who made us both one and
• 32:54
  Speaker 1: who has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall
• 32:58
  Speaker 1: of hostility by abolishing the law and commandments expressed in
• 33:02
  Speaker 1: ordinances that he might create in himself one new man
• 33:06
  Speaker 1: in place of the two. So making peace and might
• 33:10
  Speaker 1: reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross,
• 33:14
  Speaker 1: thereby killing the hostility.
• 33:16
  Speaker 2: And he came and.
• 33:17
  Speaker 1: Preached peace to you who were far off and peace
• 33:20
  Speaker 1: to those who were near. For through him, we both
• 33:23
  Speaker 1: have access in one spirit to faith, the one spirit
• 33:28
  Speaker 1: to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers
• 33:31
  Speaker 1: and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints
• 33:35
  Speaker 1: and members of the household of God. He unites Jew
• 33:44
  Speaker 1: and Gentile.
• 33:48
  Speaker 2: He unites all in Christ. He makes us into one body.
• 33:57
  Speaker 1: So much so that Christ says, by this shall all
• 34:01
  Speaker 1: men know that you are my disciples, that you have
• 34:04
  Speaker 1: love for one another. We don't get this. We cannot
• 34:11
  Speaker 1: comprehend this because we do not understand the ancient dividing
• 34:15
  Speaker 1: lines between Jew and Gentile, between one nation and another.
• 34:19
  Speaker 1: We do not comprehend a time in this world where
• 34:23
  Speaker 1: a Jew who had to go from point A to
• 34:25
  Speaker 1: point B would not make a straight line if he
• 34:28
  Speaker 1: had to go through Gentile territory, but would add a
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: day or a half a week to his journey in
• 34:35
  Speaker 1: order to go around the territory of the Gentiles and
• 34:38
  Speaker 1: as to not be defiled by them. He makes them one.
• 34:51
  Speaker 1: No Jew, no Greek, but a child of God and
• 35:00
  Speaker 1: a descendant of Abraham by faith. Moreover, Abraham's justification by
• 35:09
  Speaker 1: faith serves as a model for us all. A model
• 35:15
  Speaker 1: for us all. How do I have faith in God?
• 35:20
  Speaker 1: How do I exercise this saving faith? Several things about
• 35:27
  Speaker 1: Abraham's faith, and then we'll be done. First of all,
• 35:32
  Speaker 1: Abraham believed God's word. That's the key. And that's the
• 35:37
  Speaker 1: difference between these false examples of faith that we looked
• 35:41
  Speaker 1: at before and our biblical example of faith that we
• 35:46
  Speaker 1: see here in the life of Abraham. What do these
• 35:48
  Speaker 1: false pictures of faith say? Basically, these false pictures of
• 35:51
  Speaker 1: faith say that the object of your faith is.
• 35:54
  Speaker 2: You and what you want. Amen. Or the object of
• 36:01
  Speaker 2: your faith is faith itself.
• 36:03
  Speaker 1: Amen. You just need to have faith in the power
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: of faith. And if you have faith in the power
• 36:09
  Speaker 1: of faith, what you do is you turn your attention
• 36:12
  Speaker 1: to whatever it is that you need the power of
• 36:14
  Speaker 1: faith to do for you or.
• 36:15
  Speaker 2: Give to you.
• 36:16
  Speaker 1: And when you turn the attention of the power of
• 36:18
  Speaker 1: faith on that thing that you want, that thing that
• 36:21
  Speaker 1: you need, that thing that you desire, if your faith
• 36:24
  Speaker 1: is focused enough and firm enough, then that thing will
• 36:29
  Speaker 1: come to you. Here's the question, where's God in that?
• 36:34
  Speaker 1: I'll tell you where God is in that. First of all,
• 36:42
  Speaker 1: in these non-Christian forms, God's nowhere in that. In fact,
• 36:46
  Speaker 1: they say you are God. What about in these Christian
• 36:50
  Speaker 1: derivations of it? Where's God in that? Here's where God is.
• 36:54
  Speaker 1: God was simply the first one to have faith because
• 36:57
  Speaker 1: according to the Word of Faith movement, God actually created
• 37:00
  Speaker 1: the world by faith. And when he spoke the words,
• 37:03
  Speaker 1: it was an example of what we do when we
• 37:06
  Speaker 1: speak the proper words. So God speaks the world into
• 37:10
  Speaker 1: existence by faith, therefore serving as our example of what
• 37:14
  Speaker 1: faith is and what faith does. Also, when God does this,
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: he puts into the universe this principle of faith. Now,
• 37:22
  Speaker 1: once he puts this principle into the universe, it is
• 37:25
  Speaker 1: a principle that you have to grab onto. So God
• 37:28
  Speaker 1: is no longer absolutely necessary. What is absolutely necessary is
• 37:33
  Speaker 1: the principle, number one, by which he created the world,
• 37:35
  Speaker 1: and number two, by which he gives you the power
• 37:37
  Speaker 1: to do the same thing. That's blasphemy. Abraham's faith was
• 37:46
  Speaker 1: nothing if it wasn't God-centered. Listen to what he says.
• 37:52
  Speaker 1: Verse 18, in hope he believed against hope that he
• 37:58
  Speaker 1: should become the father. By the way, some people just
• 38:00
  Speaker 1: stop there. In hope he believed against hope.
• 38:03
  Speaker 2: Amen.
• 38:03
  Speaker 1: That's faith right there. You just, in hope you believe
• 38:06
  Speaker 1: against hope. Believe what against hope? Whatever it is that
• 38:10
  Speaker 1: you believe in God for, you believe it against hope. No,
• 38:13
  Speaker 1: in hope he believed against hope that he should become
• 38:16
  Speaker 1: the father of many nations. Why did he believe that
• 38:19
  Speaker 1: against hope? As he had been told, so shall your
• 38:23
  Speaker 1: offspring be. What's the object of his faith? The object
• 38:28
  Speaker 1: of his faith is the Word of God.
• 38:35
  Speaker 2: And what does it mean he hoped against hope? Well,
• 38:38
  Speaker 2: continue to read.
• 38:40
  Speaker 1: He did not weaken in faith when he considered his
• 38:43
  Speaker 1: own body, which was as good as dead, since he
• 38:47
  Speaker 1: was about 100 years old. Or when he considered the
• 38:49
  Speaker 1: barrenness of Sarah's womb. By the way, that's hoping against hope.
• 38:54
  Speaker 1: There is no hope when you look at your circumstance
• 38:56
  Speaker 1: and your situation. So what do you count on? Well,
• 38:59
  Speaker 1: you count on the Word of God. Abraham's walking around saying,
• 39:02
  Speaker 1: I'm going to be the father of many nations. Why?
• 39:05
  Speaker 1: Just because he believed that if he spoke the words,
• 39:07
  Speaker 1: he could create a new reality? No, because God's word
• 39:11
  Speaker 1: is reality. Your circumstances are not your reality. God's word
• 39:16
  Speaker 1: is your reality. And what we believe in when we
• 39:19
  Speaker 1: hope against hope is we believe the word of God.
• 39:24
  Speaker 1: Why could he hope against hope? Continue to read. No
• 39:28
  Speaker 1: distrust made him worthy. concerning the promise of God but
• 39:32
  Speaker 1: he grew strong in faith as he gave glory to
• 39:36
  Speaker 1: God not to faith.
• 39:41
  Speaker 2: He gave glory to God.
• 39:45
  Speaker 1: Fully convinced what that God was able to do what
• 39:50
  Speaker 1: He had promised. There's the Word of God again. He
• 39:56
  Speaker 1: serves as our example because He believes what God promises.
• 40:02
  Speaker 2: Now, let's be careful here.
• 40:05
  Speaker 1: If I go to a passage of Scripture, for example—
• 40:09
  Speaker 1: where God makes a promise and it was never intended
• 40:12
  Speaker 1: to be taken the way I take the promise, and
• 40:15
  Speaker 1: I hope against hope in the promise that was never
• 40:18
  Speaker 1: meant to be taken the way I take the promise,
• 40:21
  Speaker 1: is my faith effective? Absolutely not, because I'm trusting God
• 40:26
  Speaker 1: to do what God never promised. Let me give you
• 40:28
  Speaker 1: an example. Every year we have this National Day of Prayer.
• 40:33
  Speaker 1: And every year on the National Day of Prayer, we
• 40:35
  Speaker 1: have someone who stands up and boldly proclaims 2 Chronicles.
• 40:40
  Speaker 2: 7, 14.
• 40:42
  Speaker 1: If my people who are called by my name will
• 40:46
  Speaker 1: humble themselves and pray and turn from their wicked ways,
• 40:48
  Speaker 1: then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and
• 40:50
  Speaker 1: heal their land. Oh, almighty God, we call upon you
• 40:54
  Speaker 1: as America, your chosen people. That America, your chosen people,
• 41:00
  Speaker 1: will call upon you so that America, your chosen people,
• 41:04
  Speaker 1: will have America, your chosen land, healed.
• 41:07
  Speaker 2: Small problem.
• 41:10
  Speaker 1: If you keep reading, he says, I will be attentive
• 41:13
  Speaker 1: to the prayers offered in this place.
• 41:17
  Speaker 2: Where's this place? The temple. Where's the temple? Jerusalem. What's that?
• 41:27
  Speaker 2: Eastern New York?
• 41:27
  Speaker 1: 2 Chronicles 7.14 is not a promise to America. It
• 41:34
  Speaker 1: has nothing to do with America. So if I have
• 41:37
  Speaker 1: faith that God's going to restore America because of His
• 41:40
  Speaker 1: Word proclaimed in 2 Chronicles 7.14, I'm trusting God to
• 41:44
  Speaker 1: do what God never promised. Do you see how that works?
• 41:51
  Speaker 1: I'm trusting God to do what God never promised. I'm sick,
• 41:57
  Speaker 1: you know, and we love to run, you know, by
• 41:59
  Speaker 1: his stripes, I am healed.
• 42:02
  Speaker 2: Amen. And so I'm not going to believe in this sickness.
• 42:05
  Speaker 2: I'm not going to claim this sickness. I'm not sick.
• 42:08
  Speaker 2: I'm healed because his word says I'm healed. Newsflash.
• 42:12
  Speaker 1: His word also says you die. And most people don't
• 42:18
  Speaker 1: just die. Most people get sick, then they die.
• 42:22
  Speaker 2: Amen.
• 42:23
  Speaker 1: God never promised that his people wouldn't get sick. And
• 42:26
  Speaker 1: he never promised that it was his will to always
• 42:30
  Speaker 1: heal the infirmities of his people. In fact, we know
• 42:33
  Speaker 1: the exact opposite from the Bible. That thorn in the
• 42:40
  Speaker 1: flesh that tormented Paul, not once, not twice, three times
• 42:47
  Speaker 1: he came to God. And God would not remove it.
• 42:55
  Speaker 1: Because his strength is made perfect in weakness. Everyone whom
• 43:05
  Speaker 1: Jesus healed eventually died. And most of them got sick
• 43:10
  Speaker 1: and then died. Sometimes God is glorified when sick saints
• 43:19
  Speaker 1: get well.
• 43:21
  Speaker 2: Amen.
• 43:22
  Speaker 1: He has done that. and I mean miraculously, supernaturally, bam.
• 43:28
  Speaker 1: And it's not ever partial when he does it, okay?
• 43:34
  Speaker 1: One leg was six inches longer than the other. God
• 43:37
  Speaker 1: touched me. Now it's only five and a half inches.
• 43:39
  Speaker 2: Longer than you. Come on now. That's not what God does.
• 43:46
  Speaker 1: There are times, though, when God supernaturally intervenes and heals people.
• 43:51
  Speaker 1: He does it to his glory. Sometimes God is glorified
• 43:54
  Speaker 1: when sick saints get well. But more often than that,
• 43:57
  Speaker 1: you know what happens? God is glorified when sick saints
• 43:59
  Speaker 1: die well. And it is no less glorious for a
• 44:05
  Speaker 1: man to believe God for a good death than it
• 44:08
  Speaker 1: is for a man to believe God for healing. Somebody
• 44:12
  Speaker 1: ought to say amen right there. Our church is four
• 44:17
  Speaker 1: years old. We have not had anyone die yet, but
• 44:22
  Speaker 1: we will. Because last time I checked, the death rate
• 44:25
  Speaker 1: was one per person. And I haven't looked into it
• 44:31
  Speaker 1: all that carefully, but I believe it's probably the same
• 44:34
  Speaker 1: for believers as it is for unbelievers, but I can't
• 44:36
  Speaker 1: say that with certainty because I haven't examined those figures yet.
• 44:44
  Speaker 1: When Rita came through here, She did not skip the
• 44:48
  Speaker 1: houses of believers. That oil slick, it is not trying
• 44:55
  Speaker 1: to determine where the least amount of Christians are so
• 44:59
  Speaker 1: that it can go ashore there. So just because we
• 45:07
  Speaker 1: say our faith is God-centered... and we're trusting in God's word,
• 45:12
  Speaker 1: that doesn't mean that we can go grab God's word
• 45:15
  Speaker 1: completely out of context, hold on to that because it
• 45:19
  Speaker 1: makes us feel better and believe that because our faith
• 45:22
  Speaker 1: is so strong in our faith that we're eventually going
• 45:25
  Speaker 1: to get that.
• 45:31
  Speaker 2: That's just not true. He trusts God's word.
• 45:35
  Speaker 1: Secondly, not only does he trust God's word, but we
• 45:39
  Speaker 1: also see that he trusts God's character. Notice what's said
• 45:43
  Speaker 1: here at the end of verse 17.
• 45:47
  Speaker 2: In the presence of the God in whom he believed.
• 45:51
  Speaker 1: Who? What's the nature of the God in whom he believed?
• 45:55
  Speaker 1: Who gives life to the dead and calls into existence
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  Speaker 1: the things that do not exist. What's the character of
• 46:11
  Speaker 1: God that Abraham was believing? Abraham believed that God could
• 46:15
  Speaker 1: give life to the dead. Why is that significant? Look
• 46:25
  Speaker 1: at this, verse 19. He did not weaken in faith
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  Speaker 1: when he considered his own body, which was as good
• 46:33
  Speaker 1: as dead. You're going to be the father of many nations. Okay,
• 46:44
  Speaker 1: reproductively speaking, that's dead, God.
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  Speaker 2: Me and her.
• 46:54
  Speaker 1: That part of us is dead. But I believe you.
• 46:59
  Speaker 1: He believed that God died.
• 47:02
  Speaker 2: Could give life to that which was dead.
• 47:05
  Speaker 1: The other thing is, look at it says, and call
• 47:07
  Speaker 1: into existence things that do not exist. God said you're
• 47:12
  Speaker 1: going to be the father of many nations. Did the
• 47:15
  Speaker 1: many nations exist?
• 47:16
  Speaker 2: No. Would they exist? Yes.
• 47:19
  Speaker 1: Why? Because God can bring into existence things that do
• 47:24
  Speaker 1: not exist. That's the God whom we serve. That's why
• 47:31
  Speaker 1: we can take him at his word, by the way.
• 47:34
  Speaker 1: So we need to know the word of God and
• 47:36
  Speaker 1: we need to know the character of God. So God
• 47:39
  Speaker 1: makes a promise. We look at our circumstances, and our
• 47:42
  Speaker 1: circumstances say there's no way that this promise can happen. However,
• 47:47
  Speaker 1: I know that the God whom I serve is more
• 47:49
  Speaker 1: powerful than life and death, and he's more powerful than
• 47:52
  Speaker 1: existence or non-existence. Therefore, although all hope is dead, I
• 47:57
  Speaker 1: trust God, and although what I'm waiting for doesn't exist,
• 48:02
  Speaker 1: I trust God. Finally, this was counted to him as righteousness.
• 48:18
  Speaker 1: Look at the last part of this. Verse 22. That
• 48:25
  Speaker 1: is why his faith was counted to him as righteousness.
• 48:30
  Speaker 1: What is why? Because he trusted in the word of
• 48:34
  Speaker 1: God and he trusted in the character of God. That's
• 48:39
  Speaker 1: why it was counted to him as righteousness. He trusted
• 48:44
  Speaker 1: in God's promise and he trusted in God's character. In fact,
• 48:51
  Speaker 1: he trusted in God's promise because he trusted in God's character.
• 48:56
  Speaker 1: And so it was counted to him as righteousness. But
• 48:58
  Speaker 1: here's the good news. Remember, the point is Abraham's justification
• 49:02
  Speaker 1: by faith serves as a model for us all. So
• 49:06
  Speaker 1: what does saving faith look like? Saving faith looks like this.
• 49:10
  Speaker 1: We trust in what God has said. We trust in
• 49:14
  Speaker 1: God's Word. And then we trust the character of God
• 49:17
  Speaker 1: who does what? Who can … resurrect the dead and
• 49:22
  Speaker 1: call things that be not as though they are. By
• 49:25
  Speaker 1: the way, look at the next part of the text.
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  Speaker 1: But the words it was counted to him were not
• 49:30
  Speaker 1: written for his sake alone, but for ours also.
• 49:34
  Speaker 2: It will be counted to us who believe, first of all,
• 49:38
  Speaker 2: listen to this, In him who? What's this?
• 49:42
  Speaker 1: The character of God and the promise of God. Those
• 49:46
  Speaker 1: of us who believe in him who? Raised from the dead,
• 49:49
  Speaker 1: Jesus Christ our Lord.
• 49:51
  Speaker 2: What's that?
• 49:52
  Speaker 1: Go back up to verse 17. Who gives life to
• 49:54
  Speaker 1: the dead? What did Abraham believe? Abraham believed that God
• 50:00
  Speaker 1: could give life to the dead.
• 50:02
  Speaker 2: What do we believe?
• 50:03
  Speaker 1: That Christ died and that God made him alive again.
• 50:07
  Speaker 1: Abraham's our model of saving faith because we believe in
• 50:11
  Speaker 1: the resurrection of Jesus Christ because of the character of God.
• 50:14
  Speaker 1: But there's another step. Look at the next part of this,
• 50:16
  Speaker 1: verse 25. Who was delivered up for our trespass and
• 50:22
  Speaker 1: raised for our justification.
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  Speaker 2: Now watch this.
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  Speaker 1: He was delivered up for our trespass because I trespassed,
• 50:30
  Speaker 1: I am what?
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  Speaker 2: Unrighteous.
• 50:33
  Speaker 1: If I am going to be in right relationship with God,
• 50:36
  Speaker 1: I can't be unrighteous. So he has to make that
• 50:40
  Speaker 1: which is unrighteous, that which is not, righteous.
• 50:47
  Speaker 2: Same root word.
• 50:50
  Speaker 1: So he has to get righteousness out of unrighteousness, which means,
• 50:55
  Speaker 1: go back up to verse 17, who gives life to
• 50:59
  Speaker 1: the dead and calls into existence the things that do
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  Speaker 1: not exist. I'm believing in the same thing Abraham was
• 51:07
  Speaker 1: believing in. I believe that he can raise Jesus Christ
• 51:13
  Speaker 1: from the dead. And I believe that he can call
• 51:16
  Speaker 1: me righteous.
• 51:19
  Speaker 2: Though I'm not. Why? Because he can make me righteous. Why?
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  Speaker 2: Because he's God. Amen.
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  Speaker 1: All by himself he's God. There is none like him.
• 51:36
  Speaker 1: That's saving faith, not just blind hope. And it's not
• 51:43
  Speaker 1: just how I come to Christ, it's how I live
• 51:45
  Speaker 1: in Christ. I continue to believe in what God promises
• 51:52
  Speaker 1: because I believe who God is. Listen to this from
• 51:58
  Speaker 1: our confession of faith, the London Baptist Confession, chapter 14,
• 52:03
  Speaker 1: paragraph 2 on saving faith. And it just wraps it
• 52:07
  Speaker 1: up nicely. By faith, a Christian believeth to be true
• 52:13
  Speaker 1: whatsoever is revealed in the word for the authority of
• 52:16
  Speaker 1: God himself and also apprehendeth an excellency therein above all
• 52:22
  Speaker 1: other writings and all things in the world. as it
• 52:26
  Speaker 1: bears the glory of God in his attributes, the excellency
• 52:30
  Speaker 1: of Christ in his nature and offices, and the power
• 52:33
  Speaker 1: and fullness of the Holy Spirit in his workings and operations,
• 52:38
  Speaker 1: and so is enabled to cast his soul upon the
• 52:41
  Speaker 1: truth thus believed, and also acteth differently upon that which
• 52:46
  Speaker 1: each particular passage thereof containeth, yielding obedience to the commands,
• 52:51
  Speaker 1: trembling at the threatenings, and embracing the promises of God
• 52:55
  Speaker 1: for this life and that which is to come. But
• 52:58
  Speaker 1: the principle acts of saving faith have immediate relation to Christ, accepting, receiving,
• 53:06
  Speaker 1: and resting upon him alone for justification, sanctification, and eternal
• 53:10
  Speaker 1: life by virtue of the covenant of grace. Is that
• 53:15
  Speaker 1: not good? That's what saving faith is all about. We
• 53:21
  Speaker 1: believe God because we believe who he is. We believe
• 53:26
  Speaker 1: what he has said because we believe who he is.
• 53:35
  Speaker 1: I read in the word what God says about me
• 53:38
  Speaker 1: and look to myself for the actualization of that.
• 53:42
  Speaker 2: I've got a problem because I can't get there from here.
• 53:46
  Speaker 2: But what do I do?
• 53:47
  Speaker 1: I believe in the God who can raise the dead
• 53:51
  Speaker 1: and call things that are.
• 53:53
  Speaker 2: Not as though they are.
• 53:59
  Speaker 1: When I read the indicatives in scripture that say who
• 54:01
  Speaker 1: I am in Christ, I think to myself, I'm not,
• 54:05
  Speaker 1: but praise God, he is able. When I read the
• 54:09
  Speaker 1: imperatives that say, do this, do that, or don't do
• 54:15
  Speaker 1: this and don't do that, I think to myself, there
• 54:17
  Speaker 1: is no way in the world. But thank God I
• 54:21
  Speaker 1: serve a God who created the world. And if he
• 54:26
  Speaker 1: can raise Christ from the dead, He can overcome my sin,
• 54:31
  Speaker 1: my shame, my guilt, and my struggles.
• 54:38
  Speaker 2: That's saving faith. Listen to me.
• 54:44
  Speaker 1: Saving faith and faith in general is not the one
• 54:49
  Speaker 1: who denies reality because they believe that that denial will
• 54:53
  Speaker 1: bring about a new reality. How you doing? Well, I'm
• 55:06
  Speaker 1: blessed and highly favored and I'm healed in the Lord. Yeah,
• 55:11
  Speaker 1: but I thought you went to the doctor and you
• 55:12
  Speaker 1: got a bad report. Yeah, but I'm not receiving that report.
• 55:15
  Speaker 1: I'm not believing that. And God, all things are yes
• 55:18
  Speaker 1: and amen. I'm healed, I'm whole, I'm blessed, I'm highly favored.
• 55:22
  Speaker 2: Really? How about this?
• 55:26
  Speaker 1: I'm sick and I might die, but the good news
• 55:30
  Speaker 1: is I serve a God who raises the dead. So
• 55:33
  Speaker 1: even if I die in Christ, yet will I live,
• 55:36
  Speaker 1: John 11. And I also serve the God who can
• 55:39
  Speaker 1: call those things that be not as though they are.
• 55:41
  Speaker 1: So if it's not my time to die yet, I
• 55:43
  Speaker 1: serve a God who can make me whole. So how
• 55:45
  Speaker 1: am I doing? I'm sick and it's bad, but God
• 55:49
  Speaker 1: is good. And it gets even better than that because
• 55:52
  Speaker 1: whether this is what eventually takes me out or whether
• 55:55
  Speaker 1: God makes me better from this so that I wait
• 55:57
  Speaker 1: for the thing that does eventually take me out, God's
• 56:00
  Speaker 1: grace is sufficient for me to endure whatever I have
• 56:04
  Speaker 1: to endure in the meantime because I am trusting in
• 56:08
  Speaker 1: Christ and this is not my final destination or my
• 56:11
  Speaker 1: ultimate home.
• 56:12
  Speaker 2: That's how I'm doing. How are you?
• 56:20
  Speaker 1: You don't have to deny reality, people, in order to
• 56:23
  Speaker 1: have faith. In fact, that's not faith. That's not trusting God. Amen.
• 56:31
  Speaker 1: I only trust the God who can make this not
• 56:34
  Speaker 1: be true in me anymore. I do not trust the
• 56:37
  Speaker 1: God who can walk with me through the valley of
• 56:39
  Speaker 1: the shadow of death. The only God I'm willing to
• 56:43
  Speaker 1: serve is the God who will heal me. I am
• 56:46
  Speaker 1: not willing to serve the God who will crush me
• 56:48
  Speaker 1: for his glory and walk with me so that I
• 56:51
  Speaker 1: can endure it.
• 56:54
  Speaker 2: That's not faith. That's not close to faith.
• 57:03
  Speaker 1: Remember, sometimes God is glorified when sick saints get well.
• 57:11
  Speaker 2: And the minute we.
• 57:11
  Speaker 1: Gather at the back of this room to pray, why?
• 57:14
  Speaker 1: Because we've been commanded to it because we trust God.
• 57:16
  Speaker 1: And God may be glorified when sick saints get well.
• 57:19
  Speaker 1: So we pray that he will do that.
• 57:21
  Speaker 2: Amen.
• 57:22
  Speaker 1: But sometimes God is glorified when sick saints die well.
• 57:27
  Speaker 1: And there is no less glory in that. So what
• 57:35
  Speaker 1: do we do in the meantime and in between time?
• 57:38
  Speaker 1: We trust the God who was able to raise the
• 57:42
  Speaker 1: dead and to call those things that do not exist
• 57:48
  Speaker 1: into existence. We trust his promises. We trust his providences.
• 57:58
  Speaker 1: But ultimately, we trust him in life and in death.
• 58:06
  Speaker 1: in this age and in the age to come. That,
• 58:10
  Speaker 1: my friends, is saving faith.
• 58:16
  Speaker 2: Let's pray.