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[0:00] I ask if you would join me now in taking your Bibles and turn with me to the book of Romans, Romans chapter 4. Romans chapter 4. We'll be finishing up the fourth chapter this morning, starting in verse 13 and going down to verse 25.

[0:14] Romans 4, verses 13 through verse 25. I am excited about this group of verses because it has spoken to me this week and my prayer is that it will speak to you just as equally and powerfully if not more so.

[0:34] So if you are physically able and desire to do so, I ask if you would join with me as we stand together and we read the Word of God found in Romans chapter 4, verses 13 through 25.

[0:48] Paul, writing to the church at Rome, writes this. For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would be heir of the world was not through the law but through the righteousness of faith.

[1:02] For if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise nullified. For the law brings about wrath, but where there is no law, there is also no violation. For this reason it is by faith in order that it may be in accordance with grace so that the promise will be guaranteed to all the descendants, not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham who is the father of us all.

[1:27] As it is written, a father of many nations have I made you. In the presence of him whom he believed, even God who gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist. In hope against hope he believed, so that he might become a father of many nations according to that which had been spoken, so shall your descendants be.

[1:47] Without becoming weak in faith, he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead, since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah's womb, yet with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief, but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that what God had promised, he was also able to perform.

[2:11] Therefore it was also credited to him as righteousness. Now not for his sake only was it written that it was credited to him, but for our sake also, to whom it will be credited as those who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, he who was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification.

[2:34] Let's pray. Lord, again we come before you with so much thanksgiving. Lord, so much appreciation of your word. Lord, such a love of coming together with one another.

[2:47] Lord, we pray that you would take this word now, and you would speak it into our hearts and minds. Lord, that you would take your word, and you would mold and shape us. You would conform us to become more like you.

[2:59] Lord, as we live our lives bearing in our body the mark of Christ. We pray that these truths would resonate, not only throughout this building, but Lord, within each and every one of us. And Lord, that we would be able to look at them and say, Amen, Lord, even Amen.

[3:13] And we ask it in Jesus' sweet name. Amen. You may be seated. We are continuing our way through the book of Romans. And as we came to this first Sunday in December, it is normally my custom to go through a Christmas series leading up to Christmas Day.

[3:35] I contemplated that and prayed over that matter, and I'm not saying that I will not enter into it beginning next week. All I know is that so far for this week, the Lord told me to stay put in Romans.

[3:46] And I am, for my part, thankful that He did. Though I normally lay out where I'm going to be in the verses that I have before me, I do not limit how the Lord will speak to me, and do not limit Him in giving me the freedom to move me as He sees fit, but I am so thankful that we are here.

[4:05] As Paul has been writing to the church at Rome, he has been laying out what we have called the foundational doctrines of the faith. That is, that which our faith rests upon.

[4:17] The Bible tells us in the book of Hebrews that faith is the assurance of things not seen. It is the thing that we cling to. It says that without faith, it is impossible to please God, and that we must have an assurance.

[4:30] But we can also rest assured that we do not walk by blind faith. Rather, we walk by faith, which has a sure foundation. And that foundation is found throughout all of Scripture.

[4:41] Our faith does not hang out there on nothing. Rather, our faith rests on the true promises of the Word of God. And when Paul writes to a church that is fairly new in the faith, that really came into existence, because more than likely, someone had traveled from the city of Rome to Jerusalem, and heard Peter preach a message on Pentecost, and got so caught on fire with this Jesus man, that he went back to his city and started telling everybody about it.

[5:11] And by the time Paul wrote the book of Romans, there were multiple churches around the city of Rome. My friend, let it never be discounted what God can do with one individual on fire for him.

[5:25] This most influential city of all cities during this time period had multiple locations of churches around it because someone heard a gospel message and believed it, and took it back and said, you guys have got to hear what I just heard.

[5:42] But now they're resting on the fact that Jesus Christ died, was buried, and was raised, and walked in the newness of life. If you read Peter's message at Pentecost, it is not a very long message, but it is a very powerful message.

[5:54] But now do not think, because I know, I've said this before, when I preach to the book of Acts, people point to that message at Pentecost and say, man, Peter preached for about two minutes and the pastor goes for about 45.

[6:05] We always forget about that last statement where it says, and with many other words, Peter exhorted and taught them. Okay? The author didn't record for us everything Peter said, but we just have the outline of what Peter said.

[6:17] But we see here that they took the faith that they had heard and believed and trusted in and went back home with it, and now Paul is writing to encourage them to build them up in this faith which they already possess, to undergird it and to show them why that faith is so important.

[6:34] He has given them the foundational doctrines. He is trying to help cut off any errors in their thinking or any wayward traveling in their direction as they make their way towards glory, and it does the same for us.

[6:48] For the non-believer, it is very fitting to read the book of Romans because in reading the book of Romans, you understand just how it is you can come to salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord. For the believer, it is very good to read the book of Romans because it helps to remind us of why we are saved, how we will continue to be saved, and how confident we can be in our salvation even though we know our own weaknesses.

[7:12] And Paul has been now in chapter 4 alluding to the classic example of all Jewish people and that is Abraham. In the first 12 verses of chapter 4, he is pointed to Abraham as one who was counted righteous not because of something which he did, but he was counted righteous because of a word in which he believed.

[7:31] The Jewish scholars of that day, many of them would have said that Abraham had lived out the letter of the law even before the law was given. Needless to say, that is almost unheard of.

[7:45] We know that the law did not come until a number of years later, some hundreds of years later, when Moses got it on Mount Sinai. But they said that Abraham, while living in the center of idolatry in the land of Ur, looked through the portals of time and saw the standard which God wanted and he lived it out so perfectly, God called him righteous.

[8:07] That's what the Jewish scholars of Paul's day would say. The only problem with that is that's not what the Bible says. The Bible says that Abraham believed God and God credited it to him as righteousness.

[8:20] That the only thing that Abraham did was believe. And as a matter of fact, if we read the biblical record of Abraham accurately and we read it along with the record found in the book of Acts chapter 7 in the defense of Stephen, which is the best commentary on the study of the book of Genesis because the Bible is always the best commentary of the Bible, by the way.

[8:45] Because it's always going to say things which are in agreement with itself. We find when Stephen comments on the life of Abraham that God called Abram from the land of the Ur of the Chaldeans and told him to go to a land which he would show them.

[9:00] And Stephen tells us that Abram went so far and stopped. Now I don't know about you but that doesn't sound like perfect obedience to me. It wasn't until a number of years later when Abram's father died that God told him again, I told you to go to the land I showed you.

[9:17] And then it says, Abram got up and went and took Lot with him which is not exactly what God told him. So when I read the biblical account of Abram turned Abraham, I don't find one living a life of perfection.

[9:31] Rather, I find a man lying twice about who his wife was. I find a man deceiving. I find a man halfway obeying. I find a man with shortcomings. In essence, I find someone just like me.

[9:45] And in reality, just like you. And yet, I find God calling him righteous because he believed. Because he believed.

[9:56] Not because of what he did, but because he believed. And that's what Paul lays out in verses 1-12 of Romans 4. And now we come and we make this transition from what God called him to what God gave him.

[10:10] That is the promise of God. See, friend, when you come to Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior by faith and by faith alone and you accept him because you believe in him, you put your hope and trust in him, God calls you righteous though you are not righteous.

[10:27] He doesn't make you righteous because he does not make you perfect. He doesn't make you clean. He sees you as righteous. He calls you as righteous. That is something T, totally different.

[10:39] It is not something that is made perfect. It is something that is called perfect even though it is not perfect. And that's what God calls us. And when he calls us his children, his perfect children covered by the blood of Jesus Christ, he begins to extend things to us which are called promises.

[10:59] This morning, I want you to see claiming the promises of God. How is it that Abraham claimed the promises of God?

[11:11] Do you know from Genesis to Revelation the Bible is full of promises for you? The Bible is covered with promises of God extended to the people of God. There are promises offered that are conditional promises.

[11:24] I will be your God if you will be my people and you will follow after me. That is conditional because God made it to a nation of the Jewish people. And the reason it was conditional is because God would not be mocked. God said, I will be your God and I will be on display.

[11:37] And I will let everyone know who your God is as long as you live according to my standard. But I will not be mocked and let you go live like hell and try to represent heaven. He said, I'm not going to be mocked.

[11:50] Because if you want to represent me, you will look like me. But that's not just an unconditional promise. That's a promise. And then there are those unconditional promises that we find throughout Scripture. It is the psalmist who writes, I have never seen the righteous forsaken nor begging bread nor going hungry.

[12:05] I've always seen God provide for His own. I've always seen that He takes care of His people. And we see time after time after time again that God promises that He will never leave us, that He will never forsake us, that He will always be present with us and that He will meet our every need though He may not always give us our every wants.

[12:24] And we see over and over again. But the chief promise is you will be with me forever, someday. See, God called Abraham righteous.

[12:38] And then God made a glorious promise to Abraham. It is somewhere around Genesis 15 that God credited righteousness to Abraham's account because He believed in Him.

[12:48] And I think it is somewhere around Genesis 17 that it is given and then it's given again, I think somewhere around the 24th or 25th chapter. You'll have to cross-check my references there where He gives him this promise in greater detail.

[13:00] And the promise is this, Abraham, not only are you going to have a child, but I will make your descendants as numerous as the sand on the seashore or the stars in heaven and your seed shall inherit the earth.

[13:13] I'm going to give you the world, Abraham. Now that's a promise. What a promise. I'm going to give it to your seed and I'm going to offer it to you.

[13:25] It will be yours. A friend, the only greater promise that I can think of that is that when God looks at us, He calls us His children and He promises us that we will reign with Him forever over the world.

[13:38] And it says, now if you follow the line of thought, it is so good, Jesus says in the book of Revelations, to he who overcomes, I will grant it to him to sit with me on my throne. Isn't that good?

[13:49] That's a promise, right? But let's keep going on a little bit further. Do you know the throne that Jesus is sitting on? It says a little bit later that Jesus is sitting on the throne of God. So that's so good. Jesus says, if you overcome by faith, you'll sit with me on the throne of God.

[14:04] That's more than inherent in the world. He said, I'll let you reign over the world. I'll let you rule over some cities. I don't know where I'm going to rule. I don't know what I'm going to be counted worthy of, but I know He's given me promises.

[14:17] I'll let you live eternally with me in the city of God, going in and out openly. All these promises that He offers to us. And there are so many that we claim not just for a future eternity, but things that we can claim today.

[14:30] I will never leave you. I will always be present with you. I will comfort you with the comfort with which I have been given. I will go through pain and suffering so that I can deal with it with you.

[14:42] All of these promises. So how did Abraham claim these promises? Look in verse 13. For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants, we did a little worse.

[14:54] Just for those that were in the young adult class with Carrie and I this morning, descendants, literal translation, seed, singular. Okay? It's seed. By the way, you weren't in that class. Only four of us were in there, so many of you were not, but you need to know this, that when the Bible speaks of Abraham's seed, it is always singular and it's never a group of people.

[15:13] It's always an individual. The seed of Abraham is the same seed of a woman found in Genesis 3. The way I explained it to them. Okay? There is only one seed of a woman who is not the seed of a man who is also the seed of Abraham who can crush the head of Satan.

[15:32] That is Jesus our Lord. Okay? It's a beautiful picture over and over again, but anyhow, it says, for the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would be heir of the world was not through the law, but through the righteousness of faith, first and foremost.

[15:47] In order to claim the promises of God, it must, first of all, be an act of faith apart from works. It must be an act of faith absolutely apart from works.

[16:02] There are a number of people who understand that God is a good God. That God is a giver of good gifts. It tells us in the book of James, be not deceived, all good things come forth from the Father because God gives good gifts.

[16:16] Nothing bad comes from God, all good things come from God. God is a giver of good gifts. And there are people all over the world that have this reality that God is a good God or at least he desires to be a good God and God has great things in store for you but the problem is is that a number of people think they have to deserve those gifts.

[16:38] A number of people think they have to earn those gifts or those promises. That if I am good enough then God will look down and see me worthy enough and then that which he has promised will be given to me because I have finally earned it.

[16:57] Now the reality with that is that it leads you to legalism and it leads you into religion and religion kills instead of edifies and builds up. Religion burdens relationships free.

[17:11] We see here that it says that it was not through the law but through the righteousness of faith. Not according to a standard. The law there would be the Old Testament in its entirety the first five books of the Pentateuch in kind of a condensed form but all of the Old Testament is not according to these standards through the law but through the righteousness of faith.

[17:33] For look at this. For if those who are of the law are heirs faith is made void and the promise is nullified. God gave a promise. God gave an unconditional promise really to Abraham.

[17:44] God did not say Abraham now that I have counted you righteous now that I have counted you worthy now that you have done these things and now you're going to go read the story. I know what you're going to do. You're going to go back and you're going to read it and you're going to see that when God gave this promise to Abraham the second time he gave it to him right after he offered Isaac as an offering on the mount of the Lord.

[18:04] I know you're going to do that because you're a good Bible student and you're going to check me when you get home and while I know you're going to do that I'm going to go ahead and give you kind of a preference before you do that because it will say that Abraham went up on the mount of the Lord he bound Isaac he laid him on the altar he was attempting to slay him God intervened and Jehovah Jireh the Lord our provider provided a substitutionary sacrifice and then it will say now that I know you fear me and then he gives this promise so you're going to come back and you're going to say Pastor Abraham earned it and I'm going to look at you and say no he didn't because the law doesn't say anything about you have to offer your son you have to do this you have to do that you have to do this you have to do that what did Abraham do?

[18:45] What did the Bible say? Again the best commentator on scripture is the scripture what does the Bible say about that time when Abraham took his son Isaac up on the hill in Hebrews 11 who by faith offered up his son Isaac because he counted God worthy of raising even the dead so what did Abraham display to God before God made this promise to Abraham who by faith and the things he did were based upon the faith he had it was not the works he performed that earned the promise that God offered it was the works that displayed the faith that he claimed because faith apart from works is you can say it dead if you say that you have faith and you have no works I'll say that your faith is useless show me your faith by your works and that is exactly what we see Abraham doing when he does it it says it is not according to the law and the reason that it would nullify the promise is because God gave this promise to all of the descendants of Abraham and then Paul goes on to quote and says

[19:48] I will make a multitude of nations from you so how many descendants of Abraham did God say all of the world the multitude of nations everybody will be connected to you Abraham but now biologically there's only one people group connected to him which is the Jewish people and they are the Jewish people who are according to the law now in Jewish thought since we are of the law the promises of God relate to us Paul says that is not true because God made a promise and said it's going to go to all people and if it can only come to those people who are of the law then it nullifies what God promised that is essentially like you say God will give me this God has these things in store for those that are good enough that nullifies the promise of God because nobody is good enough you're never going to do it look at what it says we keep reading on it says in verse 15 for the law brings about wrath but where there is no law there also is no violation

[20:53] I'll show you the perfect example of this or at least give you a mental picture and I'm sure you will kind of agree with me do you know that the law brings about wrath Paul will say this again later that if there was no law there would be no wrath that if there was no law there would be no sin because it says the law makes known to me my sin as a matter of fact the law leads me to sin say I brought something in here before anybody got here say I took something and I put it right here on the table where everybody could see it and say I turned a cup upside down over top of that thing and then I had a number of other things on the table as well and what if I said the only thing you cannot do is to look and see what's under that cup all the other cups are turned right side up you can look and see what is in every other cup but you cannot you must not you shall not look and see what's under that cup what is your natural inclination I want to know what's under that cup I'll wait around until everybody else is gone when nobody else is looking and I'm going to see what's under that cup or I'm going to go ask the pastor what in the world is under that cup and that would make it even worse if I said I'm not going to tell you because I'm going to say oh man no I can't tell you so I mean I can just lead you on and on and on and you before you know it your natural desire would want to know you could not help but know that within you would get angry because you had to know what in the world is under that cup and then when you turn it over and there was nothing under there you'd be really mad but what does the law say the law says don't do this don't do that don't do this you should do this you shouldn't do that drive 55 better not go 65 brother Mitchell will get you you must drive 55 but what is your natural inclination

[22:37] I wonder how fast I can go before they'll stop me friend listen to me all the law does is make you break it it never sets you free from it ever because it arises your natural desires you are naturally a sinner just like I am and all it does is fan the flames of what's already inside of you so there's no way God could give you his promises based upon his law because you can't do it what does he go on to say here for the law brings about wrath but where there is no law there is no violation look at verse 16 for this reason it is by faith in order that it may be in accordance with grace so that the promise will be guaranteed to all the descendants not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham who is the father of us all as it is written a father of many nations have I made you friend let me tell you something every promise

[23:51] God offers you every promise God offers me he offers it to you out of grace he is a good God he wants to keep you he wants to walk with you he wants to sustain you he wants to be your provider he wants to be your banner he wants to be all of these things and he promises to do it out of grace and if you keep the law perfectly and you do everything accurately and you get the promise then it is not grace it is due it's what you are due you earned it and you deserved it but God does not give what we are due praise the Lord he does not give what we are due for the wages of sin is death that's what we are due he gives promises out of grace and if it is out of grace then it must be received by faith it is according to faith an act of faith completely apart from works number two and I know

[24:51] I'm going over but you stay with me I pray that you'll stay with me number one it is an act of faith apart from works number two it is an acknowledgement of one's weakness to claim the promises of God there must be an acknowledgement of one's weakness look at what it says in the presence of him I'm in verse 17 by the way the second half in the presence of him whom he believed even God who gives life to the dead and calls him to being that which does not exist look at verse 18 in hope against hope he believed in hope against hope he believed faith is not its strongest when there is still a glimmer of hope faith is its strongest when hope runs out and faith is really seen when there is no reason for hope hope according to Merriam Webster's dictionary is the expectant return of good based on the available amount of information it is the anticipation of good things because of the things you see before you but the beauty of faith is that it is in existence and it is strong even when there is no hope even when the world says there is no hope hope is that which sustains us and moves forward when hope runs out and it says in hope against hope he believed so that he might become a father of many nations according to that which had been spoken so shall your descendants be look at verse 19 without becoming weak in faith that is a key phrase without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body now as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old and the deadness of Sarah's womb now just stop right there here is the acknowledgement of one's weakness

[26:42] Abraham is at this position and God comes to him and God says Abraham you know what I am going to do I am going to make you a father of many nations I am going to give you the world Abraham I am going to make your descendants as the sand on the seashore and the stars in heaven and Abraham says amen so let it be and you are like well that is great but that is not exactly what Abraham did because the Bible tells us here that when Abraham heard that promise Abraham stood there and he went huh I am 99 years old you know I am pretty much dead Sarah she is well beyond child bearing years she is like in her late 80's early 90's I am going to believe God anyway says he contemplated the deadness of his own life and the deadness of Sarah's womb now we know that Abraham lived a lot longer after this right had a vibrant life he had more children even after that what an amazing thing but what I want you to see is Abraham didn't just jump to the conclusion yes that is great it says that he stopped he contemplated and he thought about his own weaknesses and in spite of his own weaknesses he said you know what

[27:47] I am going to believe him anyway God has to bring man to the point where he understands his own weakness why didn't God give Abraham that promise when he was still in the land of the earth of the Chaldeans why didn't God give Abraham that promise when he was first coming to the land of Canaan why did God wait so long why didn't he give it to him at the age of 75 when he called him why did he had to wait till he was 99 because at 75 Abraham still had a little bit of self confidence if you read the story throughout those years Abraham was still sure of himself and was still walking and you have to see that God allowed Abraham to come to the end of himself and then offer him a promise that was well beyond himself friend listen to me God wants us to get to the place where we acknowledge our own weakness not only does he want us to he will mandate and he will make sure we do if you are at a place where you have to acknowledge that you are weak that you cannot do it if you are at a place where you have to contemplate your own life and you say there's no way that God could get me out of this and then you open up the scripture and you read the promises of God if you are at the place where you have to say you know what there's no hope in my life you know what

[29:01] I don't see how it's physically possible if you are at the place where you say you know what I just don't see how it can happen then praise be to God he finally got you there because now he can do something with it I am so thankful for every time that God has gotten me to the place where I have to say I don't see how it's going to happen but I cannot wait till I see how you do it that is a beautiful place to be because my friend if you can see how it can work if you can see how it can happen if you can come up with how it's all going to do then it is not of God it is of man but when you come to the place where you say I don't know I have no idea I think he's up to something I don't know what he's going to do I see these promises he's given me I feel compelled by the word of God that he's going to do something but as I look at my life I say Lord there's no way then stand back and watch and prepare to be overwhelmed with the blessing of the promises of God because God loves to get you to a place of weakness and he requires us what is salvation the reason man is not saved by works is because as long as the man is working the man is performing in his own strength and it is not until a man comes to the point where he has no strength and he falls upon his face he says

[30:23] Lord would you just forgive me and God says I've waited a long time for you to get here sure what took you so long I've been waiting on you to stop working it is an acknowledgement of one's weakness third and finally not only is it an act of faith apart from works not only is it an acknowledgement of one's weakness number three it is an assurance of God's ability it is an assurance of God's ability what does it say verse 17 I'm going to go back to it because I read it but I want you to see it now Abraham is standing here and Abraham knows himself Abraham knows how impossible this promise is and you come upon things in scripture let's just take something simple okay say that you read the scripture and you're going through it and you come across the words of Christ where it says that we are to give to whoever ask of him but in your mind automatically you go to well my bank account ain't got a whole lot to give and then all of a sudden you feel compelled where it's like

[31:26] God's like yeah but there's a little bit of money in your pocket and you see that person over there I really want you to give it to him and the impossibilities come up you're like but God if I give him that money or if I give them this or if I do that then I'm not going to have this and then God just whispers let me take care of that now you have a picture of where Abraham's at and Abraham is sitting here and God whispers I'm going to take care of it and he's considering all these things but now remember who it is who's talking to you because look at what it says in the presence of him whom he believed you say you believe in God you say you're trusting in Jesus Christ okay in the presence of him who he believed even God who gives life to the dead and calls him to being that which does not exist friend listen remember who it is it is Jesus who said let there be light and there was light who created something out of nothing who did all these things it is Jesus who doesn't need anything to create something because the Bible says that he was the creator and it says that he was in the Father and through Jesus he created everything and he spoke it into existence it is God almighty it is Elohim that we come to who doesn't need anything to work with to make something out of nothing he is the only thing that defines scientific reasoning because he is the creator of scientific reasoning the possibility of miracles exists because he is outside of science because he created science and if we acknowledge that it is him that we stand in the presence of then all of a sudden we have a greater assurance look at what it says it says in verse 19 that he contemplated his own body as good as dead he contemplated the deadness of Sarah's womb but look in verse 20 yet after acknowledging his own weaknesses yet with respect to the promise of God he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith giving glory to God how do you give glory to God grow strong in faith even when the impossibilities are screaming at you believing the promises of God and here it is verse 21 and being fully assured that what God had promised he was able also to perform hear me out brothers and sisters in Christ

[33:47] I am fully assured that everything God has promised me he is able to perform in spite of me the assurance I have does not rest in my goodness it does not rest in my ability it does not rest in my works it does not rest in my labor the assurance of my hope the assurance of all the things I look forward to rest in the fact that God is able and if he said that whosoever believes in me shall not pass into death but shall have eternal life if he said that the moment I accept him I have passed out of death and into life if he says that the moment I step out of this life I step into his promises if he has given me all of those promises then friend listen to me I think he can keep those promises!

[34:32] and I don't really think he needs my help in keeping them because he didn't need my help in making them he just wants me to agree with him and to by faith accept them does that mean that my life will not look differently?

[34:45] no my life will look radically different because I hey listen if I say that I believe I'm going to be in the presence of God the moment I die if I claim that I believe I'm going to be standing before Jesus Christ my King the moment I close my eyes in this life I will be in his presence if I really am assured of that it will change my life because I will be looking at him face to face who paid the price for me I will be looking at the one who bore my sins on Calvary's tree I'll be looking at the one with the nail print hands and the scar on his side I'll be looking at the one who has the eyes of flame and fire I'll be looking at the one who has a name written down his thigh I'll be looking at the one with the sword of the Lord coming out of his mouth and I'll be looking in him and I'll be giving an account to him for everything I've done since I've believed in him it is an assurance of what God has promised!

[35:43] Look at verse 24 But for our sake also to him to whom it will be credited as those who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead he who was delivered over because of our transgressions and was raised because of our justification do you need to have proof that God can do what he promised then look at Jesus look at Jesus God promised long ago that he would suffer and die for man's sins and he did God also promised long ago that death would not hold him that the grave would lose its sting God promised that he would reign victorious and he has he was dead and buried and he lives again the promises of God fulfilled friend listen and I'm closing every promise of God it's claimed by faith apart from works when we acknowledge our own weakness and we agree with God's ability he is able and if we live fully assured that he is able

[36:52] I can promise you our lives will look totally different the reason the reason that some believers have a hard time singing I surrender all I don't even know what song we're singing at the end it's okay the reason every time we sing don't change it that's fine and always a lot of times I say well let's sing it with a joyful heart the reason some believers have a hard time singing I surrender all is because they're not really assured that if they surrender God can give it back they're not really certain that if they let go of everything God's got everything under control we want to hold on to God with this hand and hold on to our world and our strength and our power with this hand but my friend that is an impossibility because you will either throw your arms around Jesus or you will throw your arms around this world but you cannot hold on to both

[37:56]  I for my part I'd rather claim the promises of God than to claim the offerings of this world let's pray Lord I thank you I thank you for all you've done I thank you for all you've given Lord I pray that you would help our hearts to be reassured with things you've promised us that we would look to Abraham and see the faith of Abraham that rings throughout the ages or to be the banning of the flames of our faith that we could be assured that what you have promised you will do even in the face of impossibility Lord we come to the place now where we have a time of invitation Lord knowing you are always inviting us into your presence maybe we need to come before you with rejoicing maybe it's weeping Lord however you lead we pray that you would lead each and everyone in Jesus name amen daddy