Good morning. Good to see you. If you got Bible, go ahead and get it out and turn with me to Romans chapter one. Going to continue through this series, we are still in the peak of justification. We need to remember that. That’s the overarching narrative of where we are. And this is actually part one of a two part message this. Wow. I’m just going to get it all out of the way, part one of a message entitled, “True Faith” Part 1. And what you’ll see is we’re going to be covering four verses. It’s going to take two messages because God wrote them and they’re full of truth. We want you to get every single bit of what it’s saying in these messages for every single bit of the text. And so, what we’re going to be covering, really, is Romans 4:18-21. Four verses. But what I want to do is I want to read two verses in front of that so we have the immediate context. Okay, so we remember that we’re talking about justification. So, let’s pick it up in Romans 4:16-21. Verse 16, “That is why it depends on faith. (What? The promise. The promise, which is analogous to justification for a human being by faith in Christ) that is why it depends on faith in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring. (Speaking about Abraham here, okay?) Not only to the adherent of the law (that would be the Jew), but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, (all meaning, all believers), as it is written, ‘I have made you the father of many nations in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.’” There’s the context. Justification by grace through faith, Abraham being the type and the shadow and the picture. Then we come to our text. I’m going to read 18 through 21 speaking about Abraham, “In hope, he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, ‘So shall your offspring be.’ He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead since he was about 100 years old, or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God. But he grew strong in his faith, and he, as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what He had promised. So again, don’t see this as the kind of faith operating synergistically in sanctification. We have to separate from this. Okay, this is the peak of justification. This the heading is justification. When we get to chapter six, seven and eight, we’re going to go into sanctification. It comes right after justification, okay, but where we’re talking about right now is justification. And these are things that we need to see were gifts from God for Abraham to be justified, a type and a picture, an analogous to us being justified. So, we’re going to cover three of 5 points. 2 points I’m saving for next week. You’re welcome.
Here’s point number one.
1. True Faith Hears
True Faith hears, well, we see this here in the text, look back with me. Romans four. Look back at verse 18, “In hope (here’s the term. Look at this) he believed against (al)l hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told. He believed. Why? Because he had been told, so shall your offspring be. He believed because he had been told. True Faith hears. What do we mean by that? We mean exactly what the scripture says in Romans 10:17, “So faith comes from hearing and hearing through the word of Christ.” I remember the first time I read that. I read it in the King James Version, because my pastor told me that all real disciples read through Romans 100 times. He didn’t tell me that nobody else did it. He just told me all real disciples. Do you take that for what it’s worth, but I read “Faith cometh” and I you know you notice that “cometh” is a weird word. Doth it be? Nobody talks like that, but cometh comes. That means it comes from an outside source. There’s something alien coming toward not an alien, great little green men, something of foreign origin. Faith does not originate inside of you. This is living proof that it’s a gift. Faith comes to you how? It comes by hearing it comes when you hear the word of Christ. And I, at first, when I read that, I asked Bob. I said, “Bob, does this mean only the words that are in red?” He said, “No, the entire Bible is Jesus.” “So well that why are some in red?” He said, “Men are stupid.” He was an ex-biker, and so it was really cool being discipled by this guy, because I didn’t get a lot of the religiosity varnish early on, and I think maybe it helped me read the Bible. And so, Faith cometh. it comes to you and it comes when you hear the word of Christ, right? He is the Word made flesh. When God is speaking, right? It is Him. When you read in Genesis chapter one, “Let there be light.” That is Jesus speaking because the Bible says, “Through Him, God created everything that is in the universe, Heaven and Earth, under the earth, all is under his authority now because of his finished work, but He is the Creator. And faith comes when you hear the word of Christ. Faith doesn’t come when you see something and you’re impressed by it. Faith does not come when somebody has behavior enough to somehow convince you of something. It’s not the way it works. Faith does not come when you hit somebody hard enough with the law. That’s not what brings faith. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of Christ.
Let’s see it in action. Genesis 15:5-6. We keep looking back at Abraham because he’s the immediate context of justification. Verse five and six, “And he (that’s God), brought him (that’s Abraham) outside, and said to him, ‘Look toward heaven, and number the stars if you’re able to number them, then he said to him, so shall your offspring be there. This, this is actually the promise. So shall your offspring be, see that, ‘So shall your offspring be.’” Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of Christ. And so, what did Abraham receive from outside? He received the gift of faith, the Ephesians 2:8-9, the gift of faith. And he believed on it. The next verse says, “And he believed the Lord (believed what? He believed just the Lord in general? No, he believed what the Lord said, he was given faith) and he counted it to him righteousness.” Faith comes by hearing. True faith hears. Now we have a problem, because in our culture, we tend to say, seeing is believing right now, I get it in the natural seeing is believing. “Show me, don’t tell me.” That makes a lot of sense. But in the Spirit, it’s different. Faith comes when you hear the Word of God. You don’t get faith any other way. It has to arrive to you from a outside source, which is the Word of God. That’s why we get right to the Word of God. If you haven’t figured out one person in here a few months ago, they decided to time Sherman Bible on how quickly we got to Scripture, it was four seconds. There’s a reason for that. There’s a real reason for that. Faith comes by hearing what do we want to grow in you your faith. We want to see you mature in your faith. We want to see some of you come to faith. So, what do you need? You need to hear. Seeing is not believing. People will say, “Well, I, you know, if I saw the miracles, okay? John 6:36, Jesus says this, “But I said to you that you have seen me (Oh my gosh. They saw Him) and yet do not believe.” Nope, they saw Him. They not just saw Him but they also saw what He did. Can you imagine looking into those eyes, hearing that voice, seeing creative miracles people born blind, seeing, the dead, getting back up and saying in your heart this, “I don’t believe it.” John 12:37, “Though he had done so many signs (what? what is a sign? It points something else but it’s what you see) though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him.” How is that possible? Because faith comes by hearing.
The greatest place that we ever see. This is actually in Luke 16:19-31. Now this is not a parable. How do I know? Because verse 19 says, “There was (He doesn’t say it’s like unto He says there was) There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, (not the same Lazarus, who was the brother of Mary and Martha, that he raised from the dead, different man. It goes on verse 21) of Lazarus, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. (That word side is translated literally from the Greek his bosom. It was the abode of the righteous dead heaven was not open yet because atonement had not been made. But righteous people by grace through faith, did not go to hell. They went to what was called Abraham’s bosom. IT Says) the rich man also died and was buried and in Hades, okay, that’s a word for hell. The rich man is in hell. And. Being in torment. He lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. (Now, how does that work? I don’t know. I have to take it for what it says. The man’s in hell. He can see Abraham and he can see Lazarus there with him) and he (that’s the man) called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’ (If you want to know what hell’s like you’re seeing it.) But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that in your lifetime, you received your good things, and Lazarus and in like manner bad things, but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish.’ (Now that’s a really easy way to understand that you lived for yourself. Lazarus had faith in God. he goes on) he says, ‘And besides all this between us and you is a great chasm that has been fixed in order that those who would pass from here to you and (I don’t know why anybody would) may not be able, and none may cross from there to us. (In other words, we can’t do that. That’s not how God designed it) And he said (watch what he says) ‘Then I beg you Father, send him to my father’s house, for I have five brothers, so that he may warn them lest they also come into this place of torment.’ But Abraham said, (watch what he says), ‘They have Moses and the prophets (Now, what is that talking about? That’s talking about the Old Testament scriptures, Genesis all the way through Malachi. That’s a way of saying it. It’s a rabbinical Hebrew way of saying that’s the Bible that was then. Now, what’s the man saying, please send him back from the dead and have him warn my brothers. And Abraham’s response is very clear. They have Moses and the prophets. Let them hear them. Two more verses here, and he said, ‘No, Father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ (So what are we basically saying? They will believe if they see. Now, how does God’s Word answer this? Look what Abraham says, verse 31). He said to them, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’” I have a question for you. Is that true? It is true. How do we know? Because someone did rise from the dead. Someone did rise from the dead, and they made a cover up story to hide it. Faith comes by hearing not by seeing. How is a man justified? When he hears the gospel and finds himself believing when faith cometh? That’s number one.
Here’s point number two,
2. True Faith Hopes.
True Faith hopes. So how does that work? Well, when you hear the Gospel, when you hear the word of God, it bring does it bring faith? Yeah, it does, absolutely. But it creates a hope, because there’s always a promise embedded in the Word of God related to justification. Let’s go back Romans 4:18 here’s the very beginning. Remember, we passed over it, but I want to come back to it. Look at this, “In hope he believed against hope…” Now, that sounds like a play on words, but the reason why it’s written this way is what? There’s two kinds of hope, aren’t there? Yeah, there are. There’s two kinds of hope. There’s natural hope and there’s supernatural hope, right? There’s hope in the things that are possible with man, versus hope in the things, which are all things that are possible with God. That shouldn’t be of a surprise to us, right? There’s two kinds of love, aren’t there? Absolutely, there’s natural, earthly affections versus supernatural agape. There’s two kinds of grief. Bible’s very clear. There’s a worldly sorrow, right? It just leads to death, and there’s a godly sorrow that leads to life, two kinds of fear, two kinds of hate, two kinds of jealousy, two kinds of a lot of things. There are two kinds of hope. Now, when it says “he”, it’s talking about Abraham, “He hoped against hope.” That means he had a supernatural hope, even though he had no natural hope. And you remember, he had no natural hope? Why? Because he was basically dead. It’s a picture of us. It’s a picture of a person who hears the Word of God and believes. Their faith comes and then what do they do? They see themselves and realize, I’m hopeless. I have no hope in me, and then they see their Savior, and they hope in Him. “In hope he believed against hope…” Natural is hopelessness when it comes to justification. Supernatural is the only place there’s hope. Look at Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the assurance… See, this of things hoped for, right? You can have normal hope, but natural hope just simply says this, “I really hope it happens. Maybe it will. I’ve got my fingers crossed. I never know, you know, maybe it will. Maybe it won’t.” But faith that comes from the word of God is different. It transcends. Natural hope, it gives supernatural hope, which gives not only assurance, but it also gives “…conviction of things not seen.” That means it’s deep and it’s abiding and it’s transcendent, true faith, hopes, and it’s not a wishy washy in the sweet by and by, it actually is firm, strong and an anchor. Natural hope is the desire for something that might be true or might happen. Supernatural hope is from faith. It is firm confidence, assurance, conviction and substance that what is hoped for is true and or will happen. That’s what happens at justification, the hope doesn’t just come that “I hope one day he raises me from the dead.” No, there’s an assurance to it even though you see yourself and you realize that death is permanent, even though you see yourself and you look at yourself like Abraham did, and you consider yourself and you say, “How can I ever stand righteous before God?” Well, it’s because of the finished work of Jesus Christ. It’s an alien righteousness that’s imputed to you. Your sin on the Lamb of God, His righteousness upon you, you get credit for His perfect life, and He takes your sin. That’s the divine exchange. You see how that works? That’s the hope. The hope is not that someday you’re going to clean up your life, everything’s going to be better. People are going to look at you and they’re going to say, “Wow, man, she is so godly. God’s really going to be happy to see her in heaven.” Some of you guys that are more in touch with who you really are, you when you consider yourself, it’s really kind of hard, because there’s no hope left in you. Guys, that’s true faith. That’s where all your hope is actually in the one who causes you to not just have a sweet by and by, but a fixed hope that is strong. That’s what real faith is.
I don’t know how long you’ve been walking with the Lord. I got saved when I was 19. I’m 58 around I’m not 58 I’ll be 58 February, and I always figured by the time I was this old, that I’d be dead. No, I was kidding, just kidding. But I really thought, I really thought that that I would be somebody that I realize now I’ll never become. I really thought I’d reach a place of transcendence. I wouldn’t sin anymore, I wouldn’t stroll, why y’all laughing me? You too. And if you’re young, I want to tell you something, don’t focus on yourself, man. You can’t get anywhere that way. Humanistic discipleship is no discipleship at all. Churches that hand out life hacks and little sermonettes for christianettes, they do the saints no favors, because it points to you, and you go away and you consider yourself, and all you’re going to come away with from that is hopelessness. We want you to look at Jesus. That’s where true hope is found.
Finally, here’s point number three, yes, point number three. This is a longer one.
3. True faith considers.
It considers. Here it is in the text, Romans 4:19, “He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead since he’s about 100 years old, or when he considered barrenness of Sarah’s womb.” Now here, think about this. Faith comes by hearing, and then in faith, you hope, and it’s a solid hope, and in that solid hope, which comes by faith, right? What are you actually able to do now? You’re actually able to look at things as they really are in natural reality. True faith considers. True faith is not contrary to intellectualism. Did you know that? You don’t have to lay your intellect down to come to Christ. You have to lay your pride down, right? You know you don’t. You don’t start just saying, “Oh, I want to be a better Christian. So I’m just going to be I’m going to be blank in my mind. I don’t want to overthink things. I don’t want to hear opposing arguments. I’m afraid of other other positions. I’m afraid of other religions. I’m afraid of hearing things that might get in my mind.” Now I get it. You gotta have your mind renewed. But true faith is able to evaluate situations as they really are. You don’t look at your body, and you just had your leg blown off, and you’re like, “No, I claim I do not have a missing leg.” You better get a tourniquet on that leg, right? You don’t look at your house payments. “I can’t make this, but I don’t believe, God doesn’t believe in banks. I’m going to name it and claim it, blab it and grab it.” That’s a fake faith. That’s phony faith. That’s not real faith. True faith can look at things, eyes wide open and say, “Yep, that’s what it is.” Now, how’s that apply in justification? Well, it’s very clear, justification is supernatural work of God, it’s forensic in nature. He makes that declaration over us that we’re righteous because of faith in Christ, but we’re still able to look at us and say, What? “Yeah, I’m not measured up. He didn’t save me because of how great I am.” That’s why we sing How great thou Art. And you notice nobody’s pointing at you? I hope you weren’t. That’d be how great I am. And then, you know, lightning. But it’s able to consider it’s able to take a look at what’s, listen hopeless in the natural, struggle with it, and faith isn’t bothered by it. You say, “Well, if I don’t fix my eyes on Jesus, there’s a problem.” No, that’s true, but fixing your eyes on Jesus is not the ignoring of things going on around you, right? That’s escapism. That’s how cults are formed, right? Let’s all move off to some place in East Texas, and we’ll have a little compound. It’ll be just Jesus and us, and we’ll just be weird. Yeah, watch out, Kool Aid is on the way. Kool Aid is going to be on the menu. And if you don’t know what that means, you’re younger than me. Yeah, he sees what he sees, but it doesn’t change him. He sees his body’s dead, but it doesn’t change his faith. He sees the womb of Sarah’s dead, but he doesn’t change his faith. Why? Because he can see what he sees, but it doesn’t matter, because he already heard what he heard.
Let me read you something Martin Lloyd Jones said about this, just one of my favorite preachers of all times, back in the 40s and 50s in England. He says, of Abraham, “He looked at the facts as they were at their very worst, and yet, though he did that, he was not at all weak in his faith. (Why? This is the important point.) Abraham looked at the facts, but he did not stop there. He did not just go on looking at the facts and difficulties and obstacles. He looked at them, but having looked at them, he looked at something else. He looked at someone else.” That’s good. You’re able to consider it. It’s not Pollyanna, it’s not your head in the sand. It doesn’t mean you can’t understand what’s happening in the world with politics. It doesn’t mean you can’t understand somebody else is trapped in a false religion. It doesn’t mean that you can’t accept the fact that somebody has a sickness, a weakness. It’s the fact that your faith is not weakened by that. I really need us to get this because there’s a misunderstanding about what unbelief actually is.
Let’s see now it says it is faith in weak and when he considered, okay, let’s go back to Genesis, 17:17-18, because there seems to be a contradiction here. Now, it seems to be a contradiction. It’s an apparent contradiction. Now, what is a “contradiction”? It’s two words Contra, which means against diction, which means to speak or say contradiction. So, there’s something that seems to say something against what we read in Romans chapter four. Here it is, right. God told him she’s going to have a baby. “Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, ‘Shall a child be born to a man who’s 100 years old? Shall Sarah, who is 90 years old, bear a child?’” You think, Well, he was just laughing because it was amusing him. No, no, no, no, no, no. He’s struggling. How do we know next verse? “And Abraham said to God (what? Oops, you back that up) ‘Oh, that Ishmael might live before you.’” What is he? What is he saying in there? He’s saying, “Okay, You don’t have to do that. Don’t worry about it. Don’t take the time or energy. I’ve already got a son. Let’s just export the promise to him.” Is it? What is that picture of that’s picture of you and I bringing our works righteousness, the strength of our flesh, into salvation. And you know what the next verse says? It says, No, I don’t have it up here, but this is it. It seems like there’s a contradiction that he didn’t weaken, but it seems like he’s weak. Look at the text again. Romans 4:19, will include part of verse 20. “He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was about as good as dead since he was about 100 years old, when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb.” Now, people have read this throughout the centuries and gone see there’s a contradiction, because I just read it in Genesis, and he did struggle and he did sin and he did stumble. This says, “His faith doesn’t weaken.” Here’s what I want you to see. Having doubt does not weaken your faith. You’re not less justified when you struggle, when you stumble and when you find it hard to wrap your mind around certain truths, promises, doctrines, or your still condition doesn’t change your faith. Bible never talks about that. In fact, verse 20 says, “No unbelief made him waver…” Now we’ll get to the details of that, but I want you to see. Look this, this right here, this word “unbelief” is very important here, because when you see this word, this word faith, right here, is the Greek word, “Pistis”. Pistis is the Greek word for faith every time you see it. “Unbelief” is the Greek word, “Apisteo”. You see that “a”? When you put the “a” in front of it, it turns it into a negative. We have that right? “Ah”, when we can put “ah” in front of something, well, like “a” “theist”. An atheist. What does that mean? It means no God when you put “a” in front of it. So let me say it to you this way, it is impossible to have pistis and apisteo. It’s impossible. In terms of justification, this is impossible. You can’t be a believer who has faith and an unbeliever who doesn’t. It’s impossible. You either are the new creation or you are not. People say, “Well, yeah, but people struggle in their flesh.” No, no, listen, that’s sanctification. We’re going to get to that right here, right now, immediate context. What are we talking about? Talking about justification. You’re not justified, and then you’re not and then you waver and you are and you go back, guys, that’s the stuff that bad youth camps are made of. “I rededicated my life.” You know, I’m sure God’s real impressed in the strictest sense, the strictest, literal sense, there is no such thing as an unbelieving believer, no such thing. I know we use the words struggling with unbelief, but in the strictest sense, there’s no such thing. Unbelievers are a completely different classification of people than believers. Now you might think, “Oh, you know you’re being such a separatist, and you’re, you know you’re being narrow minded.” Well, yeah, we’re supposed to be narrow minded, because it’s what the Bible says, right? Some people are so open minded, their brain rolls out.
Let me show you just two verses the Bible shouts to this 2 Corinthians 4:4, “In their case, the god of this world has blinded the minds of (what?) the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel, the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” He’s talking about unbelievers. It can’t be talking about believers, in fact. Contrast is clarity. Let’s look at this 2 Corinthians 6:14-15. “Do not be unequally yoked (by the way. He’s talking to Christians. He’s speaking to the church at Corinth) do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial (a demon)? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever?” What’s the answer? None. You either are or you are not. And I get it. We use the term “unbelief”, right? And we reference things like the man who said, “I believe, but help my unbelief.” I don’t mind talking about that verse, but if I were to teach you that verse, you would see it in its context. Nobody was believing, and what he asked Jesus to do was different than chapter one and verse 40, where the leper said, what? “If you’re willing”. What does the man say about healing, about casting out the demon of his son? “If you are able.” Because remember, the disciples weren’t able to do it, and so they bring him to Jesus. That man didn’t have faith. Jesus actually mocks what he says, “If you are able”, He says, read that verse. Then the man says, you know, “I believe help my unbelief.” That’s contradiction when it comes to justification, it’s not possible. So, what happens then, when you consider true faith considers you look at yourself, or you look at a doctrine, or you look at whatever it is that you’re considering, right? And it causes you to waver. It causes you to struggle. And I mean sound doctrine will make you struggle. When God starts behaving like God in the Bible, that’ll stretch you. People are like, “I don’t think that’s fair.” I don’t see that the word “fair” is used. God is just. God is not fair. It’s not fair. Why did you get all the muscle, Brad? It’s not fair. See? God is just. So, what happens when we come into that. Go into wrestling, and we’re like, “Ah, I want to come under this, but I’m struggling with this.” Good. Every disciple struggles. You’re going to struggle with doctrine, you’re going to struggle with your sin, or you’re going to struggle with the doctrine while you’re struggling with your sin. And in the middle of that, you’ll struggle with your spouse. In the middle of that, you’ll struggle with your kids, struggle with your job, struggle, struggle, struggle, struggle. Take heart. Christian, it gets better. This is the worst we’re ever going to have it. But there’s struggle when we consider things. So, well that’s not unbelief. That’s not possible. A new creation cannot unbelief. You cannot be pistis and apisteo, can I prove it to you?
I want to give you one, one easy illustration. This is like an easy button. This is out of Matthew 14:25-31 thank God for Peter, right? Start verse 25 remember this, Jesus is going to walk on the water, “And in the fourth watch of the night, he came to them walking on the sea. (Now they’re going to have to consider this) But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified. (Think of this, 12 grown men in a boat at night screaming like little girls, and said (They didn’t say this), ‘It is a ghost!’ (Right? You ever notice all the Jesus movies? They’re always British.) And they cried out in fear, (Ah) but immediately Jesus spoke, (ooh, there it is. He’s going to talk. Remind me real quick. How does faith come? Oh, yeah, it’s by hearing and hearing by the word of Christ. He spoke to them) ‘Take heart. It is I. Do not be afraid.’ (Now, immediately they can believe that because Jesus said it.) And Peter answered him, ‘Lord, if (there’s no if and or, but it’s Jesus. What is this? A Jesus impersonator who can walk on water?) if it is you command me to come to you on the water.’ (Now, can we pause for a second? If he walks on the water, would you admit that’s an act of faith? You’re going to get out of the boat and walk towards someone you were just screaming in terror from? That’s an act of faith.) He said (that’s it right there) ‘Come.’ (There it is. Faith comes by hearing. Peter is infused with faith. Faith cometh. He said, ‘Come’) So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. (Everything’s going great. Came by hearing) But (when he considers) when he saw the wind, he was afraid and began to sink, and he cried out, ‘Save me, Lord.’ (Now what is this a picture of? Is this a picture of unbelief? Does this mean that Peter has no faith? No, no. You know he’s going to end up in the boat, right? He’s going to be the only one that’s wet, and Judas is in there. And you just know, Judas was a mean, vindictive jerk, probably looking at him like this. Peter could easily say, “Hey, at least I got it out of the boat.” But here he goes. He’s sinking. Now, if you think this is a picture of unbelief, let me just tell you it’s not. It is a picture of struggle. It is a picture of considering this and forgetting about Him. But it’s not falling away. That’s not what it is. It is a doubt. And a doubt is a different, whole different word, different context. In fact, look at verse 31) Jesus immediately reached out his hand, took hold of him and saying to him, (look) ‘O you of little faith.’ (He doesn’t say, ‘You don’t have any faith.’ He says, ‘You of little faith.’ Now I forget how much faith does it take to tell a mountain be uprooted and cast into the sea? Mustard seed, which is the smallest of all the seeds. ‘You of little faith.’ Well, if Peter had little faith, how much faith did the guys in the boat have? This is a stumble. This is a struggle, yes, but this is not apisteo. It’s not, it’s not, it’s not, it’s not. Stop believing that) ‘Oh, you of little faith, why did you doubt?’” Why did you doubt? That’s not unbelief. That’s a place of him considering the wrong thing for too long, it does not uproot faith. The presence of doubt does not mean the absence of faith. That’s a lie from the pit of hell, and it’s meant to discourage you, Christian, that every time you struggle, every time things are hard. Every time your faith gets stretched or it’s getting tested that you start to go, “I guess I just don’t” and you come into a point of despair. That’s why we preach the gospel. So, you take your eyes off you, and you put your eyes on Him, and what you realize is yeah, even in your doubt, He grabs you immediately when you cry out, we serve a great God.
It considers, so how does justification work? Well, Faith considers I told you that. When? The gospel is preached, when someone’s raised from the dead, they start seeing themselves as they really are. You realize you don’t have a good estimation of you until you’re raised from the dead. You can’t repent till you’re born. You can’t believe until you’re born. You can’t see the Kingdom till you’re born, you can’t enter the kingdom till you’re born again. But on all counts. So, what happens? Well, the Holy Spirit comes right. Part of preaching the gospel is tell people the law you’re condemned in your sin. Jesus says of the Holy Spirit. John 16:8, “And when he (that’s the Holy Spirit), when he comes, he’ll convict the world, considering sin and righteousness and judgment.” And so, the man hears this truth, sees himself, because His eyes are open, makes an honest evaluation.
Hears condemning things like this. Romans 3:10, “As it is written, ‘None is righteous. No, not one.’” That’s bad news. But the consideration, see, in the gospel, it doesn’t stop there. We can come back. We can come at this from any angle we wanted to. Let’s let Isaiah say it. How about that? Look at Isaiah 53:6, “All we like sheep have (what?) gone astray…” Oh, it’s bad news. I’m considering that. I’m thinking, 19 years old, I heard that. Oh, boy, did I ever know that was true. “All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way…” I’ve gone my way. I haven’t gone God’s way. I’ve gone headlong willingly into sin. I didn’t do it because I had to. I did it because I loved it. Did you have free will? Yeah, I had free will. I chose how I would sin. But I did not have a heart to please God. I did not have a heart that loved God. I didn’t love God. Didn’t love His Word. Didn’t love His people. I didn’t love the things of God. I had no desire for God. He gave me a new heart. I realized, “Oh my gosh, what am I doing? I’ve gone astray. I’ve gone my own way.” But then I saw past that, because this how justification works. “…The Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” He put it on. “I see it, I consider that’s Oh no, that’s me. Oh, look, it’s on the Lamb.” What good news true faith considers. And that’s how hope against hope works. You consider the deadness of your soul. You consider the deadness of your righteousness. You consider the deadness of your own holiness. But you look past that and you see His. We’ll cover the next two points next week.
SPEAKER
Steve LeBlanc
KEYWORDS
Romans, Justification, True Faith, Abraham’s Faith, Abraham’s Bosom, Hope, Natural Hope, Supernatural Hope, Unbelief, Doubt, Contradiction, Pistis, Apisteo, Gospel, Sherman, Texas