"WALKING IN FAITH LIKE ABRAHAM'S!"

Written and preached by David P. Nolte

ROMANS 4:18-23

1. FIRST, OBSERVE THE NATURE OF ABRAHAM'S FAITH:
1. The text says, "Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations." What does that suggest about the nature of faith?
1. The nature of faith is to simply believe God's testimony. God had given a promise, struck a covenant, and Abraham simply believe it to be true, despite his old age. God said it, Abraham believed it, and that settled it.
2. The nature of faith is to look confidently for the performance of God's promise. I love these words, that Abraham was "fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised."
3. The nature of faith is to hope even when the case seems hopeless. The phrase, "Against all hope," can mean, "alongside of, or in comparison to, and even beyond hope." Even beyond human hope, beyond anything a man might hope for, Abraham hoped for what God promised; he hoped even when things appeared to be hopeless from the human vantage point.
4. The nature of faith is to wait for God's timing, not to run ahead of Him; to know that delay is not denial and that in His time He brings His word to pass.
2. Abraham believed God; but when he was 86, and 11 years had passed since God promised to make him a great nation in Genesis 12:2, Sarah prevailed upon him to have relations with her handmaiden Hagar. Instead of waiting in faith, they acted in their own wisdom, or lack thereof. Perhaps she thought, "God promised, but we have to co-operate, and we aren't getting any younger so we have to get busy and have a child." But they never asked the counsel of the Lord. When God promises, He does not expect us to take things into our own hands to fulfill that promise.
3. This episode reminds us that their faith was mixed with a strong dose of human doubt and misgivings but God was still able to work in their lives. We see that 14 years later, in Genesis 17, God restated His covenant. Even Abraham's failure didn't make God give up on him. Sometimes even the most faithful of us succumbs to human weakness. But, do we believe God? Do we look for His promises? Do we hope even in the most hopeless, dire, of situations? Do we get up and keep walking the walk of faith?
4. The nature of David Livingstone's faith was like Abraham's. In 1896, Glasgow University conferred on him the degree of Doctor of Laws. As Livingstone rose to speak, he was received in respectful silence. He was haggard, pale and exhausted as a result of hardships in Africa. His left arm crushed by a lion, hung helplessly at his side as he announced his resolve to return to Africa. He concluded his speech saying, "Would you like me to tell you what supported me through all the years of exile among a people whose language I could not understand, and whose attitude toward me was often uncertain and often hostile? It was this: 'Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the age.' On these words I staked everything, and they never failed!" Like Abraham, he believed God.
2. NEXT, NOTICE THE POWER OF ABRAHAM'S FAITH:
1. The text says, "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." By the time he was almost a hundred, his faith, weak when he was 86, had taken on a deeper dynamic.
2. At the end of his life, Abraham's faith was powerful, dynamic, strong, and resilient.
1. Human weakness didn't diminish it.
2. Human failure, and a horribly bad choice, didn't dwindle it.
3. The time delay of 25 years didn't shrink it.
4. Unbelief didn't make it waver.
5. Old age couldn't weaken it.
3. You see, faith is powerful, dynamic, enabling, strengthening, and uplifting.
1. Faith does not wither when blown across by the desert winds of adversity; faith does not flee when confronted by the fiercest of foes; faith does not fail when all the world around us falls apart.
2. Faith stands, faith endures, faith fortifies.
3. Faith is the victory that overcomes the world
4. Faith has the power to move the mountains of defeat, fear, failure and despair.
4. In a testing laboratory a long bar of steel, which weighed 500 pounds, was suspended by a chain. Beside it an average-sized cork was hanging by a silk thread. It was swung gently against the end of the bar which did not move. For 10 minutes the cork, with rhythmic regularity, continued to strike the end of the bar. Then the heavy piece of steel began to move slightly. At the end of an hour both objects were swinging together like the pendulum of a clock! Sometimes we feel like that cork, and life is that steel bar. We don't have the power we think we need. But if we apply faith, eventually we can make that bar move; we can break a bad habit; we can face an overwhelming task; we can defeat a dark depression; we can overcome the most difficult obstacle. That's the power of faith.
3. FINALLY, SEE THE HONOR OF ABRAHAM'S FAITH:
1. The text says that Abraham was "fully persuaded that God had power to do what He had promised. This is why 'it was credited to him as righteousness.' The words 'it was credited to him' were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness - for us who believe in Him Who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead." So, what is the honor of his faith?
1. God was honored by faith because Abraham considered that God is no liar, God doesn't make vain, empty promises, and God is able to do what He says He will do.
2. Abraham was honored through his faith because, despite his many failings, God recognized and declared him righteous.
3. All who believe in Him Who raised Jesus will share in that honor. God said, "for those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me will be lightly esteemed."
2. Be sure of this:
1. We honor God by loving Him, worshiping Him, serving Him, obeying Him, and making Him known in the world. But nothing honors God like faith that says, "You are credible, reliable, able, constant, unchanging, successful, deserving of our confidence, and trustworthy. We read in the Bible, "You see, it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to Him must believe that there is a God and that He rewards those who sincerely seek Him." Hebrews 11:6 (NLT).
2. The world honors fame, and material success, and machismo, and popularity. But the world's honor is fleeting, fickle and frail. Nothing honors us more than God's own approval in this life and His welcome into heaven when He will say, "Well done, good and faithful servant."
1. Jesus promised, "If anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him." John 12:26 (NASB)..
2. Peter said, "Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God that He may exalt you at the proper time." 1 Peter 5:6 (NASB) .
3. We may be tempted to seek praise from men; we may even be tempted to seek praise from ourselves. But the clear message of the Bible is that we should seek our honor only from God; His honor and recognition is all that counts. And living by faith frees us from the slavery of struggling to live up to the faulty expectations of others; it frees us to serve God in ways that honor and glorify Him.
4. Adam Clarke had a God honoring faith. He was an assistant in a dry- goods store, selling silks and satins to a cultured clientele. One day his employer told him to stretch the silk as he measured it out as that would increase sales and profits and also increase Adam's value to the company. Adam straightened up from his work, faced his boss courageously, and said, "Sir, your silk may stretch, but my conscience won't!" He honored God, and God honored him for being faithful and conscientious by taking him from the dry-goods store and enabling him to write a famous set of commentaries on the books of the Bible which are still in use.

What we need to do is walk through life with that same kind of faith. Faith to believe God no matter what; faith that enables us to accomplish whatever God falls us to do; faith to honor Him in all our days. That kind of faith that trusts God implicitly, and obeys Him unquestioningly. Is that your faith? You make the choice. Make that decision as we sing our hymn.

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