The Church of Eleven22 - Wk 10: Hope Against Hope

Episode Date: March 18, 2018

What do you do when you find yourself in a seemingly hopeless situation? You remind yourself every day that your faith is NOT in the temporary circumstances of this world, but your faith is in your Sovereign Savior. Jesus is the only legitimate source of hope.

Amen and amen. Church, would you please stand for the reading of God's Word? I'm going to read Romans chapter 4 verses 13 through 25 with a cough drop. So give me a break. God's Word says, For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. For if it is the adherence of the law who are to be the heirs,

faith is null and the promises void. For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law, there is no transgression. That is why it depends on faith. In order that, the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring. Not only to the adherent of the law, but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all. 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 death,

dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. 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 as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. That is why his faith was counted to him as righteousness.

But the words it was counted to him were not written for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him, who raise from the dead, Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification. May God add blessing to the reading and the hearing of his word. Amen, you may be seated. So we're just going to jump right in and dive right in. No real intro. My hope is in the next 50 minutes or so, while the time we're done, we will bust down some strongholds in your life like UVA busted up my bracket. Amen? That's where we are going. So the first few verses, like up until about 1st 17, it's going to sound a bit of a review.

And the reason, because the book of Romans is not actually a book. Like when you switch chapters, it's not like a new idea. It's really a letter from Paul to Gentiles and Jews in Rome. And the theme from chapter 3 all the way through the end of chapter 8 is one thing, that the salvation is by grace alone through faith. The justification is by faith alone, not by our work. So we're going to dig in, and then we'll shift gears when we get to verse 18, kind of go in a little different direction.

Verse 13, he says this, for the promise to Abraham and his offspring, that he should be heir of the world, did not come through the law, but through the righteousness of faith, okay? That's Pastor Adam's entire sermon from last week. Took him an hour, takes Paul one sentence here. Now, by the way, how blessed are we to have preachers like Adam Flint and Ryan Stone and Ryan Britt? Amen.

Amen. So if you missed last week, shame on you. All right, let's do it. And so what he's talking about here is that, this is what Pastor Adam covered last week, that Abraham's faith was counted to him as righteousness. The theological term is imputed. It means like to put on. Like this morning, many of you imputed something.

You didn't use that word, but you had a bagel that had no cream cheese, and you imputed cream cheese on it. That's what this means. And so, apart from Christ, you had no righteousness. But when you put your faith in Jesus, and all that means is when somehow you believed, you trusted, when Jesus died on the cross, somehow that counted for me, then God, like smearing cream cheese on a bagel, He covers, I don't know where I'm looking for, he covers, he takes his righteousness and he spreads it over you.

That's what imputed is. And so that does not happen by how good you are. It happens by what Christ did on the cross. Verse 14, for if it is the adherence of the law who are to be heirs, then faith does null and the promise is void. Here is the problem with works-based righteousness. Worst-based righteousness is that idea that if I'm good enough, then I'll be acceptable to God. There's two major problems with workspace righteousness. Number one, you can't pull it off.

You can't pull it off. No matter how hard you try, you can never be holy like God is holy. All right? I mean, no matter how hard you try. You realize that you and I, we are wretched black-hearted sinners, that nobody lies to us more than we do. Nobody fails us more than we do. nobody breaks promises to us more than we do. Amen? Here's how I know this. It's March.

How's that New Year's resolution working out? Some of you promised, I'm going to lose 10 pounds. Not only have you kept your 10, you found somebody else's 6. Okay, that's just a fact. Failure. So if we try, by our own merit, to live up to God's standard, one of two things happen, okay? One is you'll live in total exhaustion because you'll realize every day I can't pull this off

for all of sin and falling short of the glory of God. Or what you'll do is you'll try to love. lower the standard of God to somehow meet what you can meet. And this is how you come up with rules-based religion. Like, good Christians, don't drink, smoke, or chew, or go with girls who do. So as long as I just do those things, then, then I will be right before God. In other words, workspace to religion, number one, practically, you just can't pull it off. You don't have it in you.

Secondly, and more importantly, the reason that there's a big problem is because when we think our righteous deeds make us right before God, essentially what we are saying is God when it comes to my salvation forget you I don't need you I got this this is what Adam and E did when they ran in the garden and they sowed fig leaves for themselves God we don't need you by our own work we will cover our sin and shame in that even if you it is like void of the gospel but you put Jesus clothes all around it to make it look super spiritual and if you try to say I got this by how good I am essentially who's God God in that equation. You're saying, God, I don't need you for salvation. I will sit on your throne because I am the God of my salvation. And when that happens, faith is null and the promise is void.

In other words, I don't need God to be the promise keeping God because I got this. He's saying that is a big, fat problem. Verse 15, for the law brings wrath. But where there is no law, there is no transgression. This is Pastor Stone's sermon a couple weeks ago, all right? Remember he had the props. with the things. See, when you get four months to plan a sermon, you can have like props and all that. That's why it's so good, okay? It was very good. But what he's saying is, the law, that being a Christian doesn't mean the law is gone,

that the law or the Bible is both a map and a mirror. It's a map to show us how we ought to live. In other words, God's ways are better than our ways. They just are. You do money God's way. You do sex God's way. You do nutrition God's way. It all is better than our own ways.

But the law is also a mirror. to show us our utter need for faith. And so this doesn't mean that the gospel does away with the law. This means that the law shows us our need for the gospel. That was his sermon. Verse 16. That is why it, and the it here is the promise of God. That is why the promise depends on faith in order that the promise may rest on grace

and be guaranteed to all his offspring. And then he's going to tell us who all his offspring are. not only to the adherent of the law. And right here when it says the adherent of the law, what he's saying is not only to the people that grew up being really good. Okay? Like, did you hear when Pastor Stone said two weeks ago that he was better than you? He's right.

He is better than you. He really is. Stone grew up in such a strict rule kind of household. This is a true story. When he was a little kid and they would go out to eat at a restaurant. You remember you would make a drink called the suicide. You remember that? You get a little Coke.

a little Diet Coke, you get a little Dr. Pepper, you'd get a little Fanta. You remember that? And you'd mix it all together. His parents would not allow him to do that because that was a mixed drink. You should pray for that brother. You understand what I'm saying? And so he is. He's better than you. Me too. I know. So not only to the stones of this world, that's my own version of adhered to the law, but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all. In other words, for those of us that at an early age mixed drink meant something totally different, okay? So whether you're really good at being good or you're really good at being bad, then what Paul is saying here is good nudes, everybody needs Jesus.

Every single one of us needs Jesus. And remember, at the end of chapter 2, Paul redefines what it means to be a Jew or redefines what it means to be a part of Israel or redefines what it means to be a child of the promise, that children of the promise are grafted in by faith to be heirs of Abraham, that it's a heart issue, not a heritage issue. Verse 17. As it is written, I have made you the Father of many nations in the presence of God in whom he believed or trusted.

And in this little part, Paul, in like half a sentence, is going to review salvation. He says this, who gives life to the dead and calls into it. existence the things that do not exist. In other words, when Abraham believed or trusted, not fully understood, not even fully obeyed, but when Abraham believed or trusted that God is who he says he is and he always keeps his promises, then God counted that to him as a right standing before God, and God gives life to the dead and calls into existence things that do not exist. Here's what this means. The message of the gospel is not about making bad people better. It's not. It's not. So like if you showed up at church,

let's say you hadn't been here in a decade or so. You know what? I need to be better. I know. I'll start going to church. The message of the gospel is not. God is good. You are bad.

Try harder. See you next week. Now that's what a bunch of us grew up on. And the message, like Jesus did not come down on a cross to make bad people better. He didn't. He came to make dead people alive. And if you don't know Jesus, I've got a diagnosis. Maybe good, maybe bad.

Depends on how you respond. And the diagnosis is this. You're dead. You're spiritually a day. And you know what dead things do? Not that much, okay? They just stink and rot. That's what they do.

Now, here's the good news. Here's why I say it is also good news. Here's why it's good news for me to say it's not about bad being better. It's about dead coming to life. Do you know how many degrees of dead there is? There's just one. It's just dead. If you've been dead a hundred years, you just, if you're dead a minute, guess how dead you are?

The same. You are. If you get hit by a train, you're dead. And if you just don't wake up tomorrow. You're the same. dead. So here's why this is good news. If you're just barely itty-bitty like a half a sinner like Pastor Stone, you know what I mean? Like you just almost messed up one time, but then you got proud of it and so now you're

going to hell. All right. So, I'm telling you, pray for that dude. Okay, so. Or it's even shameful to say out loud, the kind of stuff that not you used to do, but are doing. The good news is all are made right not by what you have done or will do, but by what Christ did. What does it take? it takes to you to believe. Say, okay, Jesus, I trust that when you died on the cross, died on the cross, somehow that counting for me. Now, hopefully this sounds like review, because every week this has pretty much been the message,

justification by faith and long. Now, here's what I believe could be happening at this point in our study in Romans. Is that you hear that week after week after week after week. And you're like, yeah, I got you, I got you, I got you. And that's great for Abraham. and last week, Paul brought up David too. And that's great for these like, you know, Bible characters of old. And I want to believe like that.

I mean, I really do, but I don't know that I've got that kind of fate. I mean, I look around my own circumstances, and how in the world can I trust God with my life? And I look at my circumstances and they don't seem that trustworthy. I mean, it seems to me, and then honestly, Pastor, if I'm being honest, I know this is church, it's no place for that. But if I'm being honest, I get all stirred up when I come here to church and we sing the songs and there's all these people and I hear the sermon. And it's all, I mean, I got all this faith like stirred up in me and it lasts well into Tuesday.

But then, you know, I just got stuff going on in my life. Like I get up, I got mouths to feed, I got bills to pay, I got this woman I'm trying to stay married to for one more year. I mean, I got, it's just like real life. And if I'm being honest, man, as I look around the circumstances of my life, it just, like I want to believe. God is a good, good father, and I want to believe that he loves to give good gifts to his kids, but if he's still in charge of the whole world and he loves me like you say that he loves me, then explain this. And your answer is, I'm just supposed to have faith. Well, how do you do that? How do you just, just have some faiths? It's like looking at somebody that's afraid of heights.

What's wrong? I'm scared. Stop. Okay, how do you do it? It's like trying to sleep. You ever try to sleep, just making it worse, all right? And the more I try to have faith, this seems like the worst that it gets. So, man, maybe that works for guys like Abraham. I just don't know if it works for me, which is why I think Paul may be using Abraham as Exhibit A. You see, in this next verse, everything begins to shift. Look at verse 18. This is talking about Abraham. It says, 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. Listen to this.

In hope, he believed against hope. You know what this means? For about 25 years, Abraham was in a seemingly hopeless situation. See, here's what happens. Abraham and Sarah, their names were Abram and Sarah at one point, but God shows up to them, and they're hanging out in this place called the Urra Caldees. Know where that is?

Me either. It's like on the other side of the Tallahassee or something. I don't know what they're doing, all right? And they're just hanging out doing whatever good old pagans do. And then one day, God just shows up. for no reason except God is good and gracious and he chooses him and he says Abraham why don't you follow me and then sure enough God gives him this promise I'm going to bless you and whoever blesses you will be blessed and whoever curses you will be cursed and you will be

not just the father but you'll be the father of many nations and he gives him this promise and he's 75 years old guess when God fulfills that promise he's almost a hundred So what do you do? What do you do in that 25-year period of time where God makes a promise and yet day after day and week after week and month after month and year after year?

It seems like God's not fulfilling his promise. You ever been there? I mean, you know some promises in the Bible that God has plans to prosper you and not to harm you and give you a hope and a future and see that everywhere, every corner you look around. it seems a lot of hopelessness and it seems like a lot of pain. You see, that's where Abraham is.

And so the question is, what do you do when it seems like there's nothing to do? What do you do, and I know you would never say this out loud, but I'll say it for you, what do you do when it seems like God won't behave? Like you've got this prayer request and God's just not coming through. And you want to believe. I mean, you really want to believe. You want to believe. he's a good, good father.

But when you look at your own circumstances, you say, God, if you really do love me, why would you not do something about this? See, Abraham knows how you feel. He hoped. In hope, he believed against hope. And some of you, many of you, honestly, at all of our campuses,

hundreds of people that would be at 1122 this weekend, you find yourself in what feels like a hopeless situation. And all this faith talk just seems to be like, what? In fact, some of you are struggling with exactly what Abraham and Sarah are struggling with. Infertility. Infertility. And you're like, okay, God, we're not asking for much.

You make billions of people all the time. Could you just make us one? And as I scan the globe, I think we would make great parents. I mean, we would raise this kid in the church. We would raise them in the gospel. This isn't even about us. We're trying to raise a little missionary here for your glory. I mean, the Bible promises you're the author of life.

So how about author up some life, all right? It's been weeks and months and now years. And then right when you're there, man, and it seems hopeless. Sure enough, somebody that you know and you can't stand, and sure enough, they get pregnant. And you're like, God, are you even being serious? How come the people that seem like the worst parents on the planet are the most fertile humans alive? And you get them a kid? And you, it feels hopeless.

And for some of you, you feel super guilty right now because the last thing in the world you want her right now is to be pregnant. It's changing all of your plans. And you think, and all your friends are telling you how you can take care of that. And yet you know, deep down in here, you know, you know, from your perspective, it's an unplanned child, but you know there are no unplanned children, only unplanned parents.

And you know, you know that's the image bearer of God. And you realize, crap, this is going to change my whole life forever. And then you've got this guilt. And then some of you, bunches of you, it could have been decades ago or years ago, and for some people just weeks ago, you had an abortion. And you just feel like you're never going to be able to get over it. And you've prayed prayers, and you've had people pray, and the elders have anointed, and you know you're forgiven in Christ. And yet every single day you walk into church, man, there's this shame that walks in with you. And you think, if I'd done something to ruin me forever, and maybe I'm just hopeless.

I mean, what do you do when you're in that hopeless situation? For some of you, it's your marriage, and you're divorced. And you think, well, there's no hope. They're gone. They're gone. And I remember, I stood in an altar, and I promised in front of you and God and everybody till death do we part, for better or worse. And then he found somebody better.

Now he's running off with somebody else. And you're tucking your kids in by yourself all the time. And you're like, where's my hope? Or some of you, man, you're right on the brink. brink of divorce. And you think there's no way, man, I've prayed prayers and gone to the disciple group and sought counseling and you think it's hopeless. And some of you, some of you, on the outside, everything looks great.

In fact, you're sitting together right now. This is the closest you've been to one another all week long. Because the most important thing for you is to hold up the facade so everybody knows. Good Christian people don't get split up. But you go home and it's awful and it feels hopeless. What do you do? What do you do? For some of you, it's financial.

that I mean, you got more bills than you got dollars. And you're thinking we might lose the house. It's not just like you don't get to do the vacations you used to do. You're thinking, I don't know what we're going to do. You know, the 20th century prophet Biggie Small says, more money, more problems, because if you ain't got no money, ain't but one problem. And that's where you are.

And then the thing that drives you crazy is like, Lord, we tried to do it your way. We've been generous for you. We tried to do money your way. And then these unexpected things come, and I just don't have enough money to pay it. And then my friends that I work with, they're dirtbags. They break the law. They cheat on their taxes, and they got money on money on money. God, help explain that to me.

I thought you had the cattle on a thousand heels. How about let me hold one in? For some of you, it's physical. I mean, everything's going great, right? Everything's fine. And then you had this one little spot, and you said, I need to go get this checked out. And they'd call you back. So, hey, you need to come in for more tests.

And the test came in. and you knew it was bad when they said, hey, can you come in for the results? And you think, uh-oh. And you heard the scariest words you've ever heard, like cancer and stages. And you think, oh, no, I don't get it. Or maybe somebody that should love like crazy.

And here's your prayer. You're like, God, I've read many, many times about you healing people. You healed this one chick, she didn't even mean to. She just fought up through the crowd and touched the edge of your garment. He was like, who's that? So you healed her on accident.

Can you get me one on purpose? Please? And you're betting. Like, God, I know you can. All right? So why wouldn't you? And you know, you say the right words and the right places, but you just feel it feels hopeless. Or for some of you, it's an addiction.

And you know better, man. It doesn't make sense in your own mind. And you wake up every day and you're consumed with thoughts over the substance that is killing you. And you know it's killing you and you know it's killing everybody that loves you. And yet for some reason you continuously go down the road. and you've been to the meetings and you've worked the program and you've worked the steps and everybody else gives testimony every week if there's successes and you ain't got those successes. And then some dumb Christian came wrong in your life and said,

if you really love Jesus, you wouldn't even want to do that stuff. And you're like, uh-oh, well I thought I believed. Do I even do I? Or maybe for you, it's not your addiction, maybe even worse, it's the people that you love the most and they are ruining their lives. And you pray like crazy. Lord, I know that the, I know that the, I know that, that you cast out demons, would you please just let me reach in there and grab that demon and

throw it away? It is taking our family down. And you feel hopeless. For some of you, it's joblessness. You just got this phone call. You never saw it coming out of nowhere. The boss calls, like, okay, we don't pack up your stuff. We don't need you anymore. And you're like, what? I have served faithfully for all of these years. And then to make it worse, you're trying to get another job, and it just didn't working. And if you're honest, a year ago, you kind of looked down your nose that somebody didn't have a job. You think a bunch of lazy people. What's wrong with these people? And now you find yourself in this place. And you've sent out resume and you're on every website and you can't get a call back. And you're like, what is going on here? And to make it worse, your brother-in-law is an

idiot. He just got a promotion. He's like, what? Are you being serious? He rolls up to Thanksgiving at a brand new car and I don't have a job. You're like, Lord, help me. And for some of you, you buried somebody early and you're like, where's my hope? You know, where's my hope? I guess I hope to see them in heaven, but explain that to me, God. Like, I don't under, it's one thing, man,

it's sad when, you know, when grandma dies on time. It is. But it's still a celebration in life. It jacks us all up when those things get out of order and people are burying kids and brothers and sisters. And you say, God, I don't understand. If you've got the whole world in your hands, then why is my world falling apart? If some of you are single.

And it was fine for a while. It was actually preferable. But singleness has now turned to loneliness. And you keep saying out loud, you want to believe it, and you hope everybody else believes it, and you're just saying, oh, Jesus, he's more than enough for me. But you show up to every week, the church, at every one of our locations. You do one at each one, and you're serving on every team. He's just looking around.

They're like, somebody pick me? And it's funny unless it's you, right? And from your point of view, everybody else gets to go home with somebody, and you go home by yourself. And the crazy thing is, you used to go home with people, and you know that dinged up your heart really, really bad. You don't want to go down that road anymore. And you're at a church with 10,000 people this weekend, and somehow you fell all along. Maybe the worst one. I don't know how to explain this one very well, but on the outside, everything's pretty great.

It really is. And yet, every morning you wake up and you wake up and you, deeply dissatisfied and depressed. And you're afraid to say it out loud, especially to your friends, because they look at your life and they were like, what's wrong with you? If I had your husband and your house and your career and your schedule and your vacations, if I had what you had, I'd be fully satisfied. How in the world can you be disappointed with this life that you have?

And you're like, I don't know. And yet somehow, man, nothing satisfies. And I'm not talking about you've been looking for it in the wrong places. you know Jesus and all that stuff. And then again, some dumb Christians told you that you can't be a Christian and be depressed. To which you start thinking, holy, moly, maybe. What? And you feel hopeless.

In fact, some of you this week have thought about taking your own life. Please hear the Lord, don't, don't, don't. Please let us know so we can walk with you. I don't know we'll make anything better. You won't be alone. That's better. So what do you do? what do you do when you find yourself in a seemingly hopeless situation that's because

that's what Abraham was in for 25 years God made a promise and then nothing for 25 years what do you do the Bible says in proverbs hope deferred makes the heart sick is your heart sick it goes on to say in proverbs above all else guard your heart it's the wellspring of life well what do you do when the wellspring of life is sick because you find yourself in a hopeless situation This is what Paul is talking about with Abraham. And you know what Abe does? In hope, he believed against hope. And so you may be asking, okay, all right.

So what do I do? What do I do if I find myself in the meantime when there's nothing to do between the promise of God and God's fulfilling promise? Well, here's what Abraham did. Verse 19, here's what Paul says. 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, or literally the deadness of Sarah's womb. Nope. No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do

what he had promised. That is why his faith is counted to him as righteousness. So that's what you do. And then honestly, you read that, and you go, well, if that's how you respond, then I'm screwed. Because I'm telling you,

My world's falling apart, and I'm not just standing. Okay, good for Abraham. Good for Abraham, okay? I get it. He's a Bible character, all right? I got a 9 to 5 job, and I clock in and out. I don't think they're writing Bible stories about me. So if that's what it takes, good old Abraham and all of his circumstances are falling apart,

and God's not coming through on his promises, and he stands there with his beard and his staff and his robe and his cape and his big F for Faith Man, flapping in the wind. Well, if that's what it takes, then I'm screwed. Now hold on one second. Real quick. If you've been around Bible study for a minute, all right? If you've done a Bible study ever on the book of Genesis, pop quiz, is that how Abraham's

life went down? You ever remember some of the stuff that Abraham did? Is that how it actually went down? You see, the reality is that this is some like redacted history or something. If you go back to the book of Genesis, starting in Genesis chapter 12 and go until Abraham dies, there's all kind of stuff. I mean, to me it does kind of look like his faith wavered. To me it does look like he was weak.

Now, don't get me wrong, there were some moments of incredible faith, all right? That by faith, Abraham leaves where he lived in the Ur of Caldez. He's just hanging out in the Ur, and then God shows up and says, hey, tell Sarah to pack up and stuff, you're going to move. Where are we moving? I'll show you when you get there. Husbands, how much faith would it take for you to go home and tell Mama, hey, mama, pack it up, baby.

Where are we going? I'll tell you when we get there. Yeah. You call that travel, not moving. All right, and so James 2.23 says that Abraham is a friend of God because he had his faith in God. At one point, Abraham rescues a lot,

has conversations with God. Maybe the ultimate sign of faith. God tests his faith. When he does come through and he gives him his son, and then God says, take your only begotten son, your one and only son, the son of promise, and take him up to a mountain and you deliver him unto me. And Abraham takes his boy Isaac up to the mountain.

and when Isaac says, hey, where's the sacrifice? And by faith, Abraham says, the Lord will provide. So he's got these moments of big faith. But you know what all? He also has? Abraham has some moments of great failure. I mean, major failure. Like right after God gives him this promise,

it says, I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you, and you will be the father of many nations. That's chapter 12. You know what happens in the next chapter? They're moving, like God told you. them to and they kind of have to hang out in Egypt for a little while. Pastor Adam mentioned this last week. And while they were there, he's like 75, his wife, as old as he is. And he understands that the Pharaoh is going to think Sarah, his wife is beautiful and might kill him to get to her. So he goes to

the Pharaoh to the king and says, that's not my wife, that's my sister, go ahead and take her. And he receives some cash and prizes for her. Does that sound like the stalwart of fate? I mean, you think your marriage is bad, but I'm pretty sure ain't too many guys here like pimping out their wives right now. You understand? Abraham did. He does. Not only that. After a few years when God has not come through on the promises of this promised son, him and Sarah come up with this plan to say, all right, God, forget you, we ain't waiting on you. We're going to handle this ourselves. And he sleeps with his maid servant that lives at the house. And he has an illegitimate child. How do you think his marriage is doing now? all right first of all you try to sell me off for some money and now you're going to sleep with her but it was your idea

shut up you actually listen to that imagine that conversation so then and then newsflash the two women can't get alone y'all can't have get along in bible study all right much less all this going on so he goes to his illegitimate kid and baby mama and he's like y'all got to get out of here abraham is a deadbeat dad does not take care of his responsibility and then to make it worse they're traveling around again, and they go to this place where King Abimelech lives, and guess what Abraham does a second time? For the second time in his marriage, he goes, no, no, no, that's my sister. Why don't you take her? So listen, the reason I share this with you, does that make your faith feel better? Honest of goodness, I hope it does. I want you to imagine, if you were having coffee with Father Abraham, the father of the faith, and you're like, you know what, I'm just struggling with some stuff.

What you're struggling with? Loneliness. He goes, that's cool. I pimped my wife out twice, all right? Go, what's next? So why is this in here? Especially this way. Here's why. Because our faith is rooted in the faithfulness of God to be who he says he is,

and he always keeps his promises. Our faith is not our ability to muster up inner confidence marked by how good we are. That's not it. So then how in the world does Paul say about Abraham he didn't weaken in faith? Here's how. Because you know

that Abraham's faith was counted to him as righteousness. That with the imputed righteousness of Christ upon you, how about this? By fate, God rewrites your story. By faith, God can rewrite your story. Even if your circumstances are all jacked up, I've got good news. Your circumstances are not your Savior.

Your circumstances are not your Savior. They don't get to tell you who you are. That your Savior is the sovereign king of the universe. and because of that, because of the imputed righteousness of Christ, in hope, Abraham believed against hope. And this is how God, the Holy Spirit, inspires Paul, say, hey, tell them about Abraham. And I don't know how it works, okay? I've never written the Bible before, but I don't know if Paul's like, oh, you mean that shady stuff? Like, no, no, no, let's don't talk about that.

You see, in faith, in faith, by faith, God rewrites our story. And by faith, not works, but by faith. Abraham is known as someone that in hope, he believed against hope. And listen, this isn't just an Old Testament thing. This is a New Testament reality. I could give you 20 examples of this through the New Testament. I mean, how about John the Baptist? John DeBaptis was a dude, man.

I mean, in fact, Jesus says about John the Baptist, he's the greatest ever born among women. Now, I'm not saying you're not awesome. I'm just saying John DeBavis is better than you, all right? And better than stone. Tell him that. And yet John the Baptist gets arrested for preaching the gospel. And at one point in a dark day in the dungeon,

John the Baptist sends his disciples to Jesus to ask this question. Are you the one or should we wait on another? Do you ever feel like throwing in the towel? You're in good company. Or how about Mark chapter 9? Mark chapter 9, there's this man in Mark chapter 9 and he finds himself in a seemingly hopeless situation. His son is sick.

not just regular sick, but his son is, from his perspective, he's consumed by a demon. And he can't talk. And sometimes his boy seizes up and falls down and foams at the mouth. And imagine what it would be like in the first century. I mean, imagine how hard it is now. And listen, parents, you know this. There is no pain like kid pain when something's wrong with your baby. And it doesn't matter if your baby's three or 33, does it?

And so this dad, he finds it. he finds the disciples. He hears, hey, the disciples are in town. Jesus is in town. This one that is known to raise the dead and heal the sick. And so this dad's like, if I could just get my boy to him. And somehow he figures out where they are. Because think about it, man, they don't check it on Facebook. They don't release the healing tour coming to a town near you. No, they just wander around. You've got to figure out where they are. So Jesus, I mean, this dad gets his boy, Mark chapter 9, figures out where Jesus is, but Jesus isn't there. He's up on the mountain of transfiguration and so he takes them to his disciples hey can y'all heal my boy and they can't do it

and you got to think think about how low this man feels utter hopelessness and then finally jesus and peter james and john they come down off the mountain and jesus sees the disciples arguing imagine that people show up for healing and they find a church is arguing with itself and so he goes what y'all fighting about and they start da da da da and the dad is like um jesus I brought my boy here, and I need help. I need help. He's never spoken. Sometimes this thing overcomes him and he seizes up. He foams at the mouth and this thing's trying to kill him. It'll throw him in the water and I have to go save him or throw him into fire, trying to burn him up. Please, God, don't think Bible story, people. Think a dad in desperate need. And he feels like he's in a hopeless situation.

And then the man says to Jesus these words. See, he's sitting in a polished. church guy, man. This is a dad in need. He goes, if you can, would you please have compassion and heal my son? To which Jesus replies, if I can, all things are possible for those who believe. And the man, the Bible says, Mark 9, you should read it. Immediately the man cries out, Lord, I believe, help me overcome my unbelief. You ever been there? You ever been there? I mean, you want to believe, man, you really do. You really do. You get here, you get here. get all fired up. You hear the song. You hear the testimony of God moving in somebody else's life. And you're like, God, I want to believe so bad, but I need you to help me overcome my

unbelief. Because I got a whole bunch of don't believe and I got maybe sometimes a little itty, bitty bit of belief. You know what Jesus does not say? He does not go. Not good enough. Go do some more faith exercises. And once you get the faith meter up to a miracle, then come back and I'll do something. That is not what he does. Immediately he heals his boy. You see, faith is not mustering up some sort of inner confidence to say words that you hope you believe. It's not. In fact, in fact, do you realize this? It's not the amount of faith you have. It's where you place your faith that matters. You could have an infinite amount of faith in you. It's worthless. You could have a little it bitty-bitty mustard seed like you can't see it from where you're sitting

type of faith and it'll move mountains. I mean, you could believe with everything you made of. You put feathers on your back. You could fly out of Europe. Guess what? You ain't going to do it. You could have just enough faith to step on a 747 and it will take you places you never believe. that it could. Do you ever feel like that? Lord, I want to believe. Help me overcome my unbelief. Or how about not some random guy that we don't know anything about the rest of his life? What about Peter, the apostle Peter? Did you know there was a time of Peter's life where he almost walked away from Jesus and quit being a disciple? Yeah, it's in the Bible. John chapter 6. In John chapter 6, Jesus has just fed 5,000 people. It says 5,000 men. So everybody brings like a date and a kid.

That's like 15,000 people. It's kind of a big deal. And you've got to think in this moment, Peter's thinking, this is going awesome. I have made the right career choice. He's going to be president of Jerusalem, and I'm going to be VP of the Holy Land, all right? And then Jesus says this. Jesus says, all right, put your food up. Miracle time's over, teaching time.

He says, a lot of you guys are just following because of this miracle. So how about this? I am the bread of life. And imagine, Peter's writing this down, oh, that's good. Bread of Life. We're going to make T-shirts. It's going to be awesome, all right? And then Jesus says, and unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you have no part with me.

Now, the Bible doesn't say this, but in my mind, this is how it happened. Man, and Peter's like, what did he say? James, did you get eat my flesh? Did I hear that right? I thought he said, eat the fish, no, not the flesh. Huh. Then he looks up, and the Bible says that many begin to leave him because his teaching is hard. And at this point, he's thinking, oh,

Uh-oh, I have chosen very poorly. I mean, I ain't following the cannibal around. This guy went crazy. I know he could walk on water and, like, heal people, but I ain't nobody. I ain't drinking nobody's blood. I don't care what you say, all right? And so, again, this is not how the Bible says it exactly, but if I need, I like to think through, like, how could it happen? If I'm Peter, here's what I know.

When I feel like things are out of control, I typically try to take control of the situation. That's what I do. So if I'm in Peter's spot, I'm stepping in and be like, okay, hold on everybody. Time out real quick. the sovereign savor of the universe is a little bit tired and so, don't you take a break, and we're just going to have a brief intermission.

And there's free snacks on the back. Remember the miracle? Because he's the miracle maker. We'll see you in 10. Then I would go to Jesus and be like, what are you talking about? Seriously. This is crazy talk.

What's about, about, like, the dad with the two sons. They love that one, all right? Or send the pigs into the ocean. Do something neat. Quit with this eating the flesh stuff. And then Jesus says to him, because Peter says,

because many people are leaving. I thought the whole reason we were here to get more people to come. You're driving them away. And then Jesus asked him this question. You don't want to leave two, do you? Why is he asking that? Jesus knows the heart of every man. Jesus asked Peter that because Peter wanted to leave.

Peter's like, well, how did you bring it up? Why? Because Jesus was doing something that Peter didn't understand. They ever been there? You ever been there? You ever look at him and be like, seriously, what are you doing? You could heal them. you can reconcile this you could bring her home what are you doing and here's the crazy thing in john

chapter six jesus doesn't even explain himself he doesn't and he could do you know what he's talking about he's talking about the gospel unless you receive the gospel you have no part with me and one day in church we're going to celebrate the gospel by celebrating this thing called the lord's supper or communion or the eucharist whatever you want to call it and he could have been like hey peter come here okay listen you don't actually you're not going to like bite my elbow okay it's not how it works one day at church depending on your denomination, you're going to get this little shot glass thing, and a little, and if you're Baptist, it's like a Jesus and some welches, and if you're Catholic, you know, it's like the loaded stuff and a little Peter bread.

You just, boop, it's not that big a deal. You've got to like eat my tricep. You understand? He'd be like, oh, okay, cool, thanks. And Jesus doesn't even explain himself. So when you and I are like, God, you better explain yourself. No, he doesn't. So he looks at Peter.

You ever been here? You don't understand what he's doing and you're tempted to walk away? Because the circumstances don't make any sense. He says, you don't want to leave two, do you? And here's what Peter does. Peter looks at his life, and he says, well, where should we go? You're the only one that offers eternal life. In other words, I know this.

I have no idea what's going on here, and I don't understand. So I'm going to pick up my doubts, and I'm going to pick up my questions, and I'm going to pick up my divorce, and I'm going to pick up my pain, and I'm going to pick up my cancer, and I'm going to pick up my debts. I'm going to pick up all of my circumstances around me that I can't explain right now, and I'm just going to keep following after you, because I know if I walk away from you, I walk towards something else.

I've been down that road before. It's nothing but pain. And so by faith, I'm just going to keep following after you. Or how about Jesus himself? You think Jesus himself found himself in a hopeless situation, the Almighty Son of God, the one who is and was and is to come, that spoke into existence all things, who is before all things, all things were created by him, for him, through him, and to him.

And yet, on the night that he was betrayed, he is in the Garden of Gassimony. It literally means a place of crushing. And somehow, in his fullness of humanity and his fullness of divinity, he sets aside his divinity so he could feel the hopelessness of humanity. And he calls his disciples, and he goes, boys, we all come with me, will you just please pray for me tonight? And he gets three of them to come a little bit further. Will you please pray for me?

and then, which, by the way, if Jesus feels like he needed people with him to pray for him, why in the world do you think you can do it by yourself? And then the Bible says that Jesus falls on his face in the garden of crushing, and he feels like he's going to die. You ever feel like that? You're in good company. That's how Jesus felt. And he got up and he went back and his boys were asleep and he's like, please, just an hour.

And he goes back and three times, three times the one that spoke the universe into existence, with a word has to pray out loud three times. If there's any other way, God, because this feels like it's going to kill me. And he was right. And he says, not my will, but your will be done. What do you do when you find yourself in a hopeless situation? You trust God.

No matter what. You trust he is who he says he is, that he is the promise keeping God, and that his time is his own time. I don't know if you ever noticed this, man. God's never late, but he ain't never been early for me. And you pick it all up and you just go, I don't know what to do. I don't know how to explain this. I wish my circumstances would change. But my faith is not in my circumstances.

My faith is in my Savior. Not my will, but your will be done. That's what Abraham did. And then when we put our faith in him, guess what he does? He rewrites our story. He changes everything. And you say, how do you say that? Because look how Paul, look how Paul wraps it up. Paul wraps it up by pointing back to the gospel. He says, but the words it was counted to him were not written for the sake of him alone. But for hours also, it will be counting to us who believe. But what if I only believe a little bit? Perfect.

You make a great disciple. You can move mountains. But what if I screw up? You mean like Abraham? He screwed up pretty good. But what if I have doubts? Like John the Baptist, he had pretty big doubts. but what if I find myself in a situation where I'm tempted to walk away because I don't understand.

You mean like the Apostle Peter? You mean like those guys? Perfect. Perfect. Then you pick up your fears, you pick up what feels like hopelessness, you pick up your doubts, you pick up all of those things, and you just trust. Not just believe that with your head, but you trust, okay, God, if I were you, I think I would do this differently. But here I am, with all my fears and all my hopelessness and all my doubts and I. trust you. He says, but for hours also, it will be counted to us who believe in him who raised

from the dead, Jesus, our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification. Here's the point. What do you do when you find yourself in a seemingly hopeless situation? You remind yourself every day that your faith is not in the temporary circumstances of this world, but your faith is in your sovereign Savior that Jesus is the only legitimate source of hope in this world and how do I know God loves me when my world's falling apart because Romans 5-8

tells us that God demonstrated his love for us and this that while we were yet still sinners while we want to believe but we got a whole bunch of unbelief while we're so afraid of the wind and the waves around us while we've tried to take things into our own hands over and over and over before we ever got our life right Jesus came and demonstrated his love once and for all at the cross so what do you do when you find yourself in a hope of situation you just pick it up and by faith you keep following Jesus that's the way we're going to close today at all of our locations is I'm going to ask you to

take a step of faith that will require it will require a great amount of faith. And if you find yourself in a hopeless situation, whether it's divorce or debt or sickness or whatever it is, it's shame and guilt, whatever it is. But somehow the Holy Spirit has been speaking to you while I've been moving my mouth. Then if you find yourself in a hopeless situation, then right now at all of our locations, I just want you to stand up. I want you to stand up. Amen and amen and amen and amen And if you find yourself in this hopeless situation And right now you're thinking

Well what's standing up going to do? First of all, look around You were not alone That there are men and women around you And you have been called into this faith family And let me tell you why you stand up Because the Bible says therefore now There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus

And Paul says here That word wasn't just written for people 2,000 years ago that word was written for you, and that word was written for you, and that word was written for you. And you see, gross things grow in the dark. And the beginning of the gospel is a confession that you ain't got this. And when you're standing up, here's what you're saying, Lord, I need your help. God, I got some stuff going on, and I need your help. I can't do this without you.

I can't do this without you. Some of you're still sitting down because you're afraid. Do not let your fear keep you from a blessing of God. And it's just a confession. God, I want to believe. Please help me overcome my unbelief. My life and circumstances seem hopeless. What do I do?

And I'm saying, by faith, you hope against hope. You hold on to Jesus, because I promise he will never let you go. He will never, ever, ever let you go. You hold on to Jesus. He is the only legitimate source of hope. And by faith, he can rewrite your story. By faith, he can take whatever the hopeless situation that you are going through. And he uses it for his own glory.

didn't make that up. I want to read you some words that Paul's going to write by the time he gets to chapter 8. I couldn't wait until we get to chapter 8. We'll be there this summer. But for every one of you standing, I believe, like Paul said about these words, these words were not just written for Romans 2,000 years ago, for every one of you standing. Every man, every woman, every student, these words are written to you. Hear the word of God. And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good. All the, my divorce. My divorce. My divorce. I'm not. My divorce. I it's a thing. My debt, it's a thing, my depression, it's a thing.

That God is working in all things together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed into the image of his son in order that he might be the first board among the brothers. And those whom he predestined, he also called, and those whom he called, he also justified. And those whom he justified, he also glorified. What shall we say to these things?

What things? the reason you're standing up what shall we say to these circumstances that are driving you crazy what shall we say to these things that you wake up in every day that you wish God would take away what shall we say to these things

if God is for us who could be against us he who did not spare his own son but gave him up for us all how will he not also with him graciously give us all things who shall bring any charge against God's elect

it is God who justifies Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died more than that. He was raised, who is at the right hand of God who indeed is interceding for us. Folks, this means that Jesus is at the right hand of God the Father praying for you and you and you and you. And every single person is standing up. He is praying for you right now. And who shall separate us from the love of Christ?

Shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? or divorce or debt or sickness or cancer or unforgiveness? Can any of those things separate you from the love of Christ? He goes on in 37 and say, no. In all these things, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present or things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ, Jesus, our Lord.

That means nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing can pluck you out of the hand of God. And whatever you do, do not give up on the one who would never, ever, ever, ever give up on you. And so you have a church that prays for you. And so that's what we're going to do. And so if you're near these folks, if you know them, would you reach out and grab their hand? If you don't know them that good, just reach out and put your hand on their shoulder. This may require you to move. And some of you're like, I grew up bad, but I don't do this.

Well, you better get used to it. That's what we do. Okay, move. And get around these folks. And there's still some of you, honestly, and you were scared to stand up. Stand up right now. Don't let your pride rob you of what God wants to do in you. And I'm going to pray.

We're going to pray at all of our campuses. And then when I get finished, we're going to sing a song that Gretchen wrote called What Grace Did for Me. And it talks about our own brokenness. And then there gets this part where it says, make my darkest night bathed in light. Now I finally see what Grace did for me. You know what grace can do for you? Grace can rewrite your story. Let's pray.

Our good and gracious Heavenly Father, God, I thank you and I praise you for every man, for every woman, for every student that by faith stood up. And Lord, we pray that your light shines and scares away the darkness. God, we do pray that you would change things. God, you would bring health. You would bring forgiveness. You wouldn't bring reconciliation. But, God, more than that, we pray.

that you would just bring us closer and closer and closer to you. God, we believe that you are a promise-keeping God. And God, we thank you that your grace is sufficient to us in any and every circumstance. Spirit of God, would you do what Jesus said you would do? Would you be a comforter? Would you bring a peace that transcends all understanding? Would you guard hearts and minds in Christ Jesus? And for the men and women that are in hopeless situations, God,

Would you remind them that their pain is a platform to put on display the glory of God for the world to see? And God, would you break down strongholds because you did not give us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of self-discipline? And would you give us eyes to see what grace has done for us? And we pray this in Jesus' name, the only name that matters when you pray. And all God's people said, amen.