[Abraham] is the father of us all. As it is written [in Genesis 17.5]: “I have made you a father of many nations.” He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not. Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him [in Genesis 15.5], “So shall your offspring be.” Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.”
Sometimes people say “I haven’t got very much faith,” or “I haven’t got a strong faith.” Have you ever said that? There have been times when I have felt like that especially when I have really big challenges before me. Some people say that they don’t have any faith at all.
But in fact, everyone has faith. Do you agree with that?
Think with me a moment…
· Some people have faith in themselves. They have incredible self-belief and assurance in their own abilities. We call that egoism.
· Some people have faith in human progress. They say that humanity is constantly evolving and improving. We are attaining an ever-increasingly sophisticated level. We call that secular humanism.
· Some people have faith in science and rational logic. They say that everything can be explained by scientific enquiry and some of them ridicule faith in God as childish and superstitious - like belief in Father Christmas and fairies. We call that atheism.
· Some people, believe it or not, have faith in politicians. This is usually strongest during an election campaign or when an election has just been won and optimism is high. Remember the wave of euphoria when Tony Blair and Barack Obama came to power. Look at them now. Faith in politicians usually morphs into cynicism.
Everyone has faith in something. The question is this; is your faith the right kind of faith?
The kind of faith the Bible talks about in Romans 4 is a particular type of faith. In Greek, the word translated “faith” basically means a conviction about or a confidence in the truthfulness of God. A conviction about or a confidence in the truthfulness of God.
There’s a story about a Baptist, a Catholic and an Anglican arriving at heaven's gate, and they ask if they can come in. Peter says, "Yes, you can come in if you can answer one question: I want to know who you think Jesus is."
So the Baptist says, "Well, Paul said in Ephesians 1 that Jesus is..." and Peter interrupts, "I didn't ask you what Paul thinks. I'm sorry but you can't come in."
The Catholic goes next, "Who is Jesus? Well, Papal encyclical of 1598, n°64b says that Jesus is..." and Peter stops him again, "Ah, ah, ah; I didn't ask you what the Pope thinks. Sorry, you can't come in."
So it's the Anglican's turn and he says, "I think that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God..." "Great!" says Peter, "you can come in!" Then the Anglican continues his sentence, "...but on the other hand..."
None of the three had a conviction about or a confidence in the truthfulness of God.
In Romans 4 Abraham is called the father of all who believe. What does that mean? It’s a bit like calling a really bad pile up on the motorway “the mother of all road accidents.” It sort of means that Abraham is the epitome, the essence, the example par excellence of what faith is about.
A conviction about or a confidence in the truthfulness of God means having the kind of faith that God has. Did you know God has faith? Sounds a bit strange doesn’t it?
But when you read Romans 4.7 I think you’ll see what I mean.
Verse 17 talks about the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not. That’s God’s faith. God calls into existence things that were not. That means that God speaks out, by faith, and something which didn’t exist, which wasn’t there, comes into being so it is there and does exist.
Let’s think about that for a moment. You could say that the chair you’re sitting on is red. Well, let’s say I call it green. If I did that you’d probably ignore me for a while, but when you realised I was serious, you’d probably get a bit annoyed and say, “Look, John, it’s a red chair. Don’t be silly.” And I could still say, “I don’t care what you think, I am telling you that I call it green, so it’s green.” You’d probably conclude that I needed a long lie down - and you’d be right.
That’s not faith. That’s folly. Faith isn’t the same as folly. But when God calls a red chair green, it is green. His word actually effects change.
Check that out. Remember Genesis 1? God says “Let there be light,” and instantly the universe is born in a spectacular bang. In a fraction of a second there are galaxies forming everywhere in a rapidly expanding cosmos and there really is light.
Here’s another example. In Matthew 8, Jesus looks at a leper, covered in sores and with skin flaking off in lumps, with dirty bandages holding disintegrating limbs together. But when Jesus says “Be clean, be healed” then instantly, by his powerful word, the leper’s skin becomes clean, soft, smooth and healthy.
God’s word, spoken in faith, effects change.
In the story referred to in Romans 4, Abraham, a nobody from a nowhere place at a nothing time in history, was getting on in years when God said these words to him,
"I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
When God said that Abraham was 75 years old and his wife Sarah was decades beyond the menopause. And yet he believed that he would start a family with her and that that family would have many, many, many descendants.
What did that faith look like? Well, let me tell you a little story to show what it didn’t look like.
A young woman is introducing her new fiancé to her wealthy parents. After eating together, her father invites the young man to have a private chat.
“Now then,” he says, “what are your plans as you start out together?” The young man says “Well, I really want to go to Bible College for three years and study theology.”
So the father says, “That’s great, but what plans have you made about where you’re going to live so you can provide for my daughter a comfortable home?” “Oh,” he says, “I’ll be too busy studying the Word of God to go out to work, but we’ll live by faith. Don’t worry, God… will… provide.”
“I see,” says the father, “but how are you going to afford to do that if children come along?” “Oh, I haven’t thought about that, but I don’t think that will be a problem, God… will… provide.”
A little later his wife asks him what she thinks of their future son-in-law. “Well,” he says, “he’s got no job, he’s got no money and he thinks I’m God!”
The sort of faith God is looking for is not presumption based on vague hopes. God is looking for faith that is anchored and rooted in the promises of his Word.
Faith is not a feeling either. With Abraham, it wasn’t “I know, it might be nice to be a dad one day so I’m believing God for a miracle.” No, this was a measured, calculated response to a promise from God.
In Genesis 17.5 God says to him “I have made you a father of many nations.” It is interesting that God says “I have made you” because, at that time, his son had not yet been born or even conceived.
For God the promise is so certain, so sure, so guaranteed, that it was as if it had already happened. So Abraham believed. Three times in our short little passage it talks about the reliability and the trustworthiness of what God says.
So faith isn’t presumption. It’s not a feeling. It’s not a fantasy either. It says here that “Abraham faced the fact that his body was as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old - and that Sarah’s womb was also dead.”
With faith you don’t close your eyes to the facts around you. You don’t go around saying, “I haven’t got cancer” when the doctor says you have. You don’t say, “My bank account is looking great” when your statement tells you that you’re overdrawn. It’s not mind over matter. It’s not fantasy. You face facts.
Think about an impossible situation in your life...
Julia was saying last week that she had three weeks to find £1,800 to attend a Christian children’s conference in the USA. She felt that God had spoken to her about going so she signed up in faith. She was settled, at peace, and just knew in her spirit that God would provide. Within a week, all the money she needed for travel, for lodgings, for food and for the conference fee had come in – and with no cake sales, bingo evenings, concerts, car washing, sponsored walks or any other kind of fundraising.
It started with a conviction from God, it continued with a step of faith, a practical action that built on what she believed and she was at complete peace about it.
What’s impossible in your life? Could it be about money? Or about a relationship? Or about a job? Or about a health issue? Or about a mess you’ve got yourself into?
The Yorkshire plumber and evangelist Smith Wigglesworth once made a vow to God that he would not sleep at night unless he had won a soul for Christ that day.
One night he couldn’t sleep at all – he just kept tossing and turning. Then it occurred to him that he hadn’t led anyone to Jesus that day, so he got dressed and went out into the night. After a while, he saw an alcoholic man so he walked up to him and spoke to him about Jesus. He told him that Christ has power to deliver men and women from the grip of addiction and the man fell on his knees and gave his heart to the Lord.
Wigglesworth went back home to bed and slept like a log!
But Smith Wigglesworth once said this “Great faith comes only from great fights, great testimonies only from great tests, and great triumphs only from great trials.”
Some of you may have heard of Tom Rees. He was an evangelist. And he was looking to buy a mansion near Tonbridge in Kent for a Christian conference centre. He saw a large house which was absolutely perfect for what he needed. He believed, in faith, that it was for him. He felt that God spoke to him about it and was settled at peace about it.
The owner was a man named Lyle, a sugar millionaire from the company Tate and Lyle. But Lyle held out for £10,000 more than Tom Rees could afford. So Tom Rees said "I can’t go any further" but Mr Lyle insisted on the sum in full.
So Tom went and prayed about it, and a short time later a farmer from Yorkshire with a small holding phoned and said "Tom, I feel the Lord has been saying you need some money." and Tom replied "Well I do but I’m quite sure it’s more than you could give me"
He knew that property prices are considerably higher in southern England than in the north. And the farmer said, "Well, how would a loan of £10,000 suit you?" And Tom said "That’s just what I need, but I didn’t think you were worth that, are you sure you can?" So the farmer said "Well my brother just died, the farm came down to me, and I’m prepared to lend you 10,000 from the sale of the farm. So Tom said again, it’s incredible it’s the exact sum needed to buy this house.
But a few days later the man rang and said "Tom, the loan is off." Tom said "Well thank you very much for considering it." And the man said, "No, I mean the loan is off because now it’s a gift." So Tom said, "But how? I mean, don’t you need the money?" The man said "my brother’s home has just been sold for £10,000 more than it was valued at. So I feel that’s a windfall from God and I’m going to give you it." So Tom said "How come the house sold for that much more than its value?"
So the farmer replied "Well it was sold to a large firm instead of a private individual so it was easier to get an inflated price." So Tom said "what commercial firm?" And the man said "Tate and Lyle!"
That’s how faith works. God speaks a promise. We hold on to that promise and we don’t let go until we see it accomplished.
“Great faith comes only from great fights, great testimonies only from great tests, and great triumphs only from great trials.”
I believe that God is speaking to us about the outreach to the parish in our vision.
I believe he has spoken to us about blessing the parish.
I believe he has spoken to us about a river of life flowing out from here.
I believe he has spoken to us about praying every Sunday at 5:00pm.
I believe he is saying to us that it is time to enter a season of growth and blessing.
You might say, “Well I can’t see much evidence of that yet.” Yeah? So what? What has that got to do with anything? How much evidence did Abraham have when he was 75 that he was ever going to have even one child, let alone a great multitude of descendants? Absolutely none. Seeing is not believing. Faith in the promise of God is believing.
Verse 19: Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.
Let’s pray…
Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, February 20th 2011
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