How to have a Strong Faith – Romans 4:18-21
HOW TO HAVE
A STRONG FAITH
DATE: 3/7/2010 pm
READ TEXT: Romans 4 (18-21)
INTRODUCTION
Ill. The story is of told of a revival that broke out in Selma, Tennessee. A revival meeting was held once a year. That particular year a terrible drought had hit the area. Everybody was bothered about the drought.
There was an old deacon who asked the preacher to have a prayer meeting and pray for rain. “Everybody's mind is on the drought and not on revival. We are not gonna have revival if we don't get some rain.”
They set the next morning to meet and pray. When the old deacon came to pray, he brought his hip boots and a raincoat with him. All the town’s folks thought he was crazy.
A little while later, the old deacon’s wife and granddaughter came up the street. The granddaughter had her galoshes, a raincoat and was also carrying an umbrella.
The people came early to the Church to pray. They began with a confession of sin. People confessed their sins to each other and the Lord. The old deacon got in a corner of the building and stuck his face against the corner of the wall. He began to beg God to send rain so they could have revival. He didn't pray for the crops. He prayed for revival. The longer he prayed the closer up in the corner he got.
Tears ran down off his face and down on to his chest as he prayed. He just kept on praying.
In a little while a rumbling could be heard outside. Then suddenly a clap of thunder was heard. The wind began to blow and before noon it became a flood. It washed fences down. It cut gullies through the fields.
When the old man went home he had to wear hip boots and carry his granddaughter on his shoulders the water was so deep. Needless to say, they also had a revival.
Faith is wearing galoshes, a raincoat, and carrying an umbrella when you go to pray for rain!
Jesus said in Mark 11:22 -“Have faith in God”
Paul said in Romans 14:23 that “whatsoever is not of faith is sin”
He also said in II Corinthians 5:7 - “For we walk by faith, not by sight”
There are two statements in the Bible that ought a grip our hearts every time we read them
The first is in Hebrews 11:6 and the other is Matthew 13:58
The Bible says in Hebrews 11:6 - “But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him”
Now think about that for a moment
As Christians - one of our desires is to please God
Yet - if I do not have faith it’s impossible to please Him
When we come to God we must believe that He is—that He exists
We must not doubt His existence
Yet - it is still not enough to just believe that He exist
Most people believe in God but they do not have faith that He is a “rewarder of them that diligently seek Him”
They believe in Him - but they do not believe on Him
They don’t believe that He can do and will do what He said He would do
It is not enough merely to believe that God exists
Ill. Einstein said, "Certainly there is a God. Any man who doesn’t believe in a cosmic force is a fool, but we could never know Him." There is no question that Einstein was a brilliant man, but he when it came to his knowledge of God he was spiritually ignorant
We can know God
We can know Him as a God that acts and responds to those who come to Him by faith
The second statement is found in Matthew 13:58 where the Bible says - “And He did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief”
The root cause of why we do not see “many mighty works” of God is our lack of faith
God rewards those who have faith …
But withholds His blessings and the demonstration of His power from those who do not have faith
Since faith is such an important ingredient in our Christian life
I want to ask this question –
“How Can We Have a Strong Faith?”
In this - the final message in our series entitled A Manual for the Christian Life I want to try and answer that question
Abraham is a good example of someone with a strong faith
Let’s look at the example of Abraham and learn how to have a strong faith
~~~OPENING PRAYER~~~
First, think with me about:
I. THE “DEGREE” OF OUR FAITH
In the example of Abraham in Romans 4
We find Two Degrees of faith that are mentioned
First, we see:
A. A ‘Sickly’ Degree of Faith
We read in v.19 - “And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was
about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara’s womb”
Look at the phrase “not weak in faith”
The word “weak” speaks of that which is “diseased” or “sickly”
The word specifically was used to speak of one infirmed in the body - to suffer from disease or the consequences thereof
It is used in contrast to one who is healthy
We could say that Abraham did not have a puny faith
On several occasions Jesus spoke of the “little faith”
There was the night when the disciples found themselves on a stormy sea
Jesus said to them in Matthew 6:30 - “Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?”
On another occasion on the Sea of Galilee we see Peter get out of the boat and walk on the water
But when he takes his eyes off the Lord he began to sink
Jesus said to him - “O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?” Matthew 14:31
A sickly or weak faith is one in which in there is little faith
This degree of faith is anemic, sickly, and weak
The Bible said of Abraham that he was “not weak in faith”
Rather - when the Bible speaks of the kind of faith he had
It speaks of:
B. A ‘Strong’ Degree of Faith
The Bible says in v.20 - “He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God”
Instead a weak faith - His faith was strong
In contrast to a sickly faith, there is a healthy faith
An example of a strong faith is seen in the Centurion in Matthew 8 who had a servant that was sick
He come to Jesus about the condition of his servant
Jesus said in v.7- “I will come and heal him”
The Centurion said to Jesus in v.8 - “Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed”
The degree of his faith is seen in that He knew the Lord did not have to be present to heal his servant
But all He had to do was say the word
The Bible says that Jesus marveled at His faith
He said of his faith - “Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel”
The centurion’s faith is an example of a strong faith
How would you evaluate your faith?
Would you classify your faith as - weak or strong?
Ill. I am sure most of you have heard the name Robert Louis Stevenson - author of Treasure Island and other well known stories. The influence of a godly home was carried with him throughout his life. Fighting a losing battle with death, he wrote: "The tragedy of things works itself out blacker and blacker. Does it shake my cast-iron faith? I cannot say it does. I believe in an ultimate decency of things; aye, and if I woke in hell, should still believe it."
I like his description of the kind of faith he had—
A cast-iron faith
Is your faith a cast-iron faith?
Or would it be better described as a paper-thin faith …
Easily punctured by the happenings of life?
Secondly, think with me of not only The “Degree” of Faith
But also:
II. THE “DEMONSTRATION” OF OUR FAITH
The degree of our faith is always Demonstrated in our life
The Degree of Abraham’s faith was clearly Demonstrated and made Evident in his life
Look with me at the Demonstration of Abraham’s faith
First - notice:
A. How He ‘Looked at the Problem’
Notice v.19 - “And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara’s womb”
This particular situation being described revolves around the Promise that God had given Abraham and Sarah that they would have a child
Forty years had passed since they received that Promise
From all human logic - things were physically impossible for the promise to be fulfilled
Neither Abraham nor Sarah were spring chickens anymore
Abraham was 100-yrs. old and Sarah was 90
I once heard someone say that an optimist was a 90-year-old man marrying a 30-year-old woman and buying a house next to an elementary school
There is a difference between faith and optimism - though
If optimism is a 90-year-old man and a 30-year-old woman marrying and buying a house next to an elementary school
Faith would be a 100-year-old man and a 90-year-old wife buying a house next to an elementary school
The Bible says that Abraham was well aware that both he and Sarah’s bodies were dead
In other words - He knew they were beyond the age of child bearing
Nonetheless - the Bible says “he considered not” the problem of their deadness
The word “considered” speaks of observing something fully
It speaks of what we mean when we say that we focus on something
A weak faith always focuses on the problems
A weak faith sees the problems and asks –
“What am I going to do?”
I think of the example of the feeding of the five-thousand
Philip looked at the problem and said - “Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little” John 6:7
His faith was weak and demonstrated in how he responded to the situation before them
He looked at the problem and said - “There is no way we can feed this many people”
Some look at their problems and fall apart
They see no further than the human impossibility of their situation
Weak faith is always demonstrated in one feeling that they can’t happen
Weak faith only sees the problem and asks - “What will we do?”
Weak faith fills the heart with fear
Weak faith sees nothing but the difficulty the problem brings
There have been many who were afraid to obey God and the reason they were afraid was their faith was weak
I have seen it time and time again
Someone hesitates to follow God for fear they can’t do it or they won’t make it
Again, the root cause is a weak faith
In the case of Abraham, the Bible said that “he considered not his own body now dead…neither yet the deadness of Sara’s womb”
Abraham’s focus was not on his problems
He did not consider his or Sara’s age a dilemma or a cause to worry and fret
Now - I think you would agree that from a human perspective they certainly had a problem
You never see a 100-year old husband and a 90-year-old wife attending Lamaze classes
Again - from a human perspective - they definitely had a problem
However - he did not look at his problem as a difficulty but as an opportunity
You not only see How he Looked at the Problem, but also:
B. How He ‘Leaned on the Promise’
He was not considering his problem - but rather God’s promise
He did not demonstrate a weak faith by sitting around worrying about his problem
Instead - he demonstrated a strong faith in how he Leaned on the Promise God had given him
The Bible says in v.18 - “Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be”
When he had no reason to be hopeful - he was hopeful
Why? He knew what God had said
God had promised that his seed would be as innumerable as stars in the heaven and the sand of the sea
V.20 says - “He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God”
The word “staggered” literally means “to separate one’s self from”
He did not pull away from what God promised - but wholly accepted God’s promise that it would be true
He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief
But demonstrated a faith that was strong
Now think with me a moment about the promise God gave him
Take the name “Abram” by which he was originally called
The name means “high or exalted father”
Imagine introducing yourself as “High father” when you had no children
If it was not bad enough to be called “High father” it only got worse …
God changed his name to “Abraham”
The name “Abraham” means “father of a multitude,” or “father of many”
Can you imagine someone asking - “What is your name?”
“Father of a multitude,” he would answer
“Father of How many? That’s great
How many children do you have?
The father of many was the father of none!
As the years passed it looked even more likely that the father of many would remain the father of none
But again - Abraham was not looking at his problem
He was Leaning on God’s Promise
V.20 says that he gave “glory to God”
In spite of the years that had passed and the growing unlikelihood that he would have a son from a human perspective - He kept praising God for the promise He had made
V.21 says - “And being fully persuaded that, what He (God) had promised, He was able also to perform”