All right, if you can turn your Bibles to Romans chapter 4, it's going to be part 2 of last week's sermon, "That Salvation is Promised and Not Negotiated," part 2. I'm going to be reading from verse 16 and on. Reading out of the ESV. Again, so the first four chapters of Romans, we've been talking about the foundation of the Gospel.

And again, every part of what we are talking about is a different element of the Gospel that is being pounded over and over again. Why this is so essential to our faith. And I think out of all the Bible study materials that I've ever gone through to lead somebody to Christ, and then once they become a Christian, like what material do we go through?

What are some of the first things that we need to talk about? And I would say probably most of the materials that I've seen usually goes through assurance of salvation. Whether it's from Navigators or CCC or Southern Baptist or whatever Bible study material, one of the first things that every group that comes at us, what is the first thing that we need to make sure that the brand new Christian is assured of is his salvation.

So you go through the Gospel message and why we can have assurance. We talked about last week what is unique about our Christian faith is that we are able to have this assurance. Where John says in 1 John 5, "I write these things to you so that you may know that you have eternal life." That we have assurance that when we die we are not rolling the dice standing before God saying, "Hopefully that I've done enough good.

Hopefully that my good outweigh the bad and then hopefully that we'll be able to get to Heaven." But we are assured by the blood of Christ. And the reason why we are assured, we talked about last week, the first of the three points that we talked about, is that it is based upon His promise and not by our works.

So He said, one, why it has to be promised is because we are promised to be heirs of the world. That that's not something that you and I can add to. You can't just wake up one day and say, "I want to be a child of Bill Gates." You can't add to that.

You can't one day decide by your own will, "I'm going to be a child of God and this is the way I'm going to do it." So the very nature of our salvation requires that it is salvation completely by grace. And then He says, "If you try in any other way to merit your salvation, it actually nullifies the promise.

It is either by grace or it is by your works. But it can't be both." Thirdly, He says, "Because it is based upon promise, it is absolutely guaranteed." It is guaranteed. It is not contingent upon you. It is not contingent upon your deeds. It is contingent upon His promise.

And He says, "Because it is by grace that we are guaranteed to have this assurance." If our salvation is by faith and by faith alone, how can we be assured that we have that faith? How can we be assured that your faith is actually genuine? That it's not just wishful thinking?

Years ago, there was a movement, and I think that movement is still around today, but there was a movement called the Word Faith Movement. Another way that they described this movement was Name It and Claim It Movement. That same movement today is called the Health and Wealth Gospel Movement.

And basically what that movement teaches is that if you have faith, that faith is able to get you whatever you want. So there was actually a book that I read years ago called The Fifth Dimension. And in that book, it basically says that whatever it is that you desire, you want a Lamborghini or you want a beautiful wife or you want to have a million dollars, whatever it is, that if you have enough faith and you put it in an incubator of prayer, so some of the stuff that you desire requires more incubation time.

So you pray longer than other things, right? And some of the things are not as difficult, so you put it in there, and then it's a little bit of faith, a little bit of prayer, and then it works. But at the core of what that movement is, is you have faith in faith.

See, the only reason why faith is powerful is not because of faith itself. It's because of the object of our faith. It is what we have faith in. See, if you look at scripture, faith and hope is used almost interchangeably. In Hebrews chapter 11, it says, "Now faith is the assurance of the things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." What do we hope for?

What are the things that you desire? Faith is not just some intangible thing that lays in your heart that you can't read. It's deep in here. Faith is very tangible, because whatever it is that you are hoping for will affect your decision. Whatever it is that you're hoping for will affect the path that you take.

Let me give you an example. Sometimes, the way we look at faith, the things that we hope for, we hope for things that have nothing to do with Christ, and the way that we approach Christ is, Christ is a helper to get us to things that we hope for.

Okay? And let me explain what that means. Sometimes, our hope is money. We want to have more money, and we think that if we have more money that we're going to have, you know, it's going to solve our problems. So we come to Christ, hoping that Christ will help us to get more money.

Or sometimes we think our hope is in friendships or relationships. So we come to Christ hoping that Christ will help us to have better relationships. And what we're really hoping for is something else. And then we're using Christ, hoping that He'll help us to get us to what we're really hoping for.

Does that make sense? But what the Scripture is telling about when we have faith is that faith causes us to hope in Christ. That hope is our, Christ is our hope. Not just an avenue to get to the hope that we have. And that is why it's extremely important that we understand why is Abraham the ultimate example of this faith?

Why is he called the father of faith? Because in verse 18 it says, "In hope he believed against hope." Basically, what he was saying is that he had nothing else to hope for. He had nothing else that he could hold onto, and his only hope was God and God alone.

And that's what revealed his genuine faith. What was revealed, again, a lot of times you can come to church and where Christ is not your hope, and then you're kind of using Him to get to what you really want, and then when God doesn't help you to get to what you're really hoping for, you're done with Him.

You move on to something else. "Well, I prayed to Him, it didn't work. So I'm going to try something else." Well, what we want to look at today is not a placebo of faith, just wishful thinking, hoping that if I just do the right thing that somehow things are going to go well.

We talked about last week, again, the promise, why we're able to have assurance because it's based upon promise. Today we're going to do the other two parts where we're able to have assurance because this covenant that God made was based upon God's power and not man's. Based upon God's power, not man's.

And then the third and final point is the covenant was based on God's faithfulness and not man's. So let's look at verse 17, the second point. The covenant, meaning the gospel and our salvation, is based on God's power and not man's. Verse 17, it says, "I have made you the father of many nations in the presence of the God in whom He believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist." Think about the calling of Abraham.

Abraham, it says, he believed in God simply because God said, "I will do it." There's no negotiating. He said, he didn't come before God. He said, "Well, give me about four years. Let me see what you have." God said, "Follow me and I will make you a great nation." He just believed.

I mean, it's crazy. It wasn't like he was homeless and he had no money. Most scholars believe that Moses was probably a rich man already at the War of Chaldeans. I mean, if you look at what he left the War of Chaldeans with, he already was a pretty wealthy man.

But all God said was, "Leave all of that, pack it up, and go out into the desert where it's dangerous. You might actually die because of all these bandits and greater nations surrounding you." And he said, "The reason why he did that is because he believed. He believed that God is able to bring people from the dead and to create things out of nothing." See, God himself is the only creator.

No human being ever creates anything. All we do is we're creative with creation. Think about the magicians, especially the real good ones. David Blaine, he's actually the only guy I know. But David Blaine, right? Think about these great magicians and the reason why they make all kinds of money and why even somebody like me knows his name is because he's good at his trade.

He kind of takes crazy stuff. He takes coins, he throws it out the window, and that coin that was marked goes to the window and lands on the sidewalk on the other side. Wow, that's crazy. He would take things and they would just boom, it just disappears and he makes it appear.

So if you're a great magician, you're good at presenting, you know, basically tricking people. But nobody believes that he actually creates cars. Nobody actually believes that. You'd be crazy. It's like, "Wow, how did you do that?" And when we say, when we ask the question, "How did you do that?" We're not saying, "How did you put all the little pieces together just like that in three seconds?" Right?

What kind of trickery did you use? Is it a mirror? Is it a camera? What is it? Because we understand that only God can create from nothing. He's the only creator. The theologians call that ex nihilo, out of nothing. He creates from nothing. Psalm 33, verse 6, it says, "By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the breath of His mouth all their hosts." He's the only one who actually creates anything.

Psalm 33, 9, "For He spoke and He came to be. He commanded and it stood firm." Years ago, there was a book called, "Why do bad things happen to good people?" And the Rabbi Kushner tried to answer the question of why the question of evil in the world. Why is there evil in the world?

His conclusion was twofold. One, either God is not good and He doesn't care. And He actually enjoys seeing people suffer. And so maybe that's the reason why there is evil in the world. And again, as a Rabbi, that is unacceptable. How can God be evil? If God was evil, we would all, you know, we'd be all in danger.

Like we wouldn't be able to survive the next day if that was the case. So he said, "But that may be an answer." But he said, "Obviously, that's not the correct answer." And so he gave the second solution. The second solution is God is not powerful. And so what he was, what he was trying to present as an answer is that all the evil is happening in the world because God does not have control.

He doesn't have the power to do anything about it. Obviously, it is absolutely unbiblical. It is absolutely blasphemous to even think that. God who created the universe is absolutely powerful. And that's why in verse 18 when it says, "In hope he believed against hope." Why? Because in Romans 4.21 he says, "He was fully convinced that God was able to do what He had promised." He's able.

Again, in Ephesians 3.20, he says, "Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all we ask or think according to the power at work within us." He is able. The first and foremost, the thing that everybody wrestles with is, is he able? Can he do it?

Can he? And he says clearly the reason why Abraham was able to leave behind all this thing, walk into danger, is because God was able to fulfill His promise. I can make promises to you. I'm going to make you all millionaires. Right? I'm going to make you all millionaires.

Now no one's going to trust me because you know I don't have that. And you know that I don't have the capability. So I can make all the promises in the world, but if I'm not able to carry it out, it means absolutely nothing. It means absolutely nothing. Right?

But he says, first and foremost, God Himself. He can create. He's a creator. And you're able to have confidence in Him because He's able to do all things. Not only is He the creator, He says He is the recreator. He gives life to the dead. And that's why at the end of Abraham's, at the end of Abraham's life, where he is asked to give Isaac, the only possible way that God could fulfill this promise was through Isaac.

At least in our mind, Abraham was willing to give it up. And the reason why he was able to give it up is because it says in Hebrews 11 19, he considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead from which figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.

So his faith wasn't simply about faith. It was faith based upon God's ability. That even in death, even in death, that he can still have hope. Remember the disciples? You know, the whole reason why they follow Jesus, why they left behind their comfort, their businesses to follow Jesus, is because they knew that life was found in Christ.

But even they had a difficult understanding because to them death was final. As long as they didn't die, they knew that they would benefit from walking with Christ. And Jesus made it very clear, "If you follow Me, I'm going to the cross. You're going to have to pick up your cross too." And He made it very clear that, "I'm going to Jerusalem.

I'm going to be crucified. And I'm going to be raised on the third day." Over and over again He tells them that. But they hear it, but they don't hear it. Right? Because they don't understand. Because death is final. In human experience, the worst thing that could happen to anybody is death.

So how can, if we're following Jesus to live, and He's telling us we're going to die, and He's going to die, it makes no sense. So He was hearing them, but not hearing them. It wasn't until He is crucified and He's resurrected from the dead, He comes back from life, that He realized this man has power even over death.

You know years ago I was out evangelizing out on campus and this guy came and said, "You know what? Jesus never claimed to be God. The Son of God, maybe a God or a prophet, but He never claimed to be God." And this was when I was I think a second or third year Bible student at Biola.

And so he definitely knew the Bible better than I did. And so he just rocked me. I was like, "Uh, duh." You know like I didn't have any answer for what he was saying. And so I took a bunch of youth group students out with me. And I remember this one particular student after that encounter, he looked at me and he's like, "Dude, he rocked you." You know?

Because he did. And so I was so discouraged. I went back to school and I talked to my professors and I asked all my professors the questions that came up. And he had very simple like quick answers. It wasn't like deep complicated. It's like, "Oh, okay." And this guy was perverting Scripture.

But through the years one of the things that he said was, "Jesus never claimed to be God." And you know we can have a whole year coming through Scripture where He does claim to be God. But one of the greatest things that Jesus says, absolute confirmation of His deity, John 5:21 He says, "For as the Father raises the dead and gives Him life, so also the Son gives life to whom He will." Jesus basically said, "As the Father has the author of life, so does the Son." So if we hear that and say, "Did He actually just say that?" See the Jews at that time heard exactly what Jesus was saying.

Right after this, they pick up stones and they try to stone Him. He said, "We're stoning you not because of the works that you've done. We're stoning you because you being a mere man claim to be God." He never came out and said, "I am God." But they clearly understood that what He was claiming can only be from God.

Again in John 10, 18, "No one takes it up from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord." I have authority to lay it down and I have authority to take it up again. Only God has that authority. Now why is this so important? Because if we don't, if we're not convinced that He is able, that these are empty promises and all it is is just a placebo, then Christianity is only about this life.

Like if you follow Jesus and you become healthy, and if you follow Jesus and you become wealthy, then yeah, okay, this is worth it. But if God, if God is God and He's a Creator of the universe, then what causes us to persevere and to put our hope in Him is absolute belief that He is able.

He is able. But here's the third and final point that I think is where the rubber meets the road, right? My guess is that most of us in this room believe that He is able. I don't think you'd be a Christian if you said, "You know what? God created the universe, but I don't know if He can pay my bills, you know.

God created the universe, but I don't know if He's going to fulfill His promises, right? He gave His only begotten Son, but I'm not sure if He's going to give us the other stuff, right?" I think most of us, if not all of us, believe that He is able because we worship the Creator, right?

Not the creation. The struggle that we have, where the rubber meets the road, is this God who is able, is He faithful? Is He faithful? Will He keep His promise? Now that goes up and down, depending on sometimes where you are, right? Like sometimes you feel like, "Oh, God's going to fulfill His promise if you do your part." So when you've done your part, you're like, "Yes, you know, I'm convinced." But as soon as you feel that there's some sin in your life that you're having a hard time conquering, that question comes up.

It's like, "I know He's able, right? I know He's able, but will He keep His promise to me? Will He be faithful to me?" See, again, the reason why Abraham is a father of faith, and the perfect example of this faith, he says he had hope against hope. He believed that he is able, but not only was he able, but he is faithful.

Look at verse 19 and 20. "He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead, since he was about a hundred years old, when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's womb. No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God." Do you remember Abraham's name before he met God was Abram.

What does that mean, Abram? Like glorified father, right? And he's like the great father. That's what that means, right? You ever wonder why his father may have named him that, Abram? Like today, you know, when we name our children, you know, some people name their children because some Disney movie, or you know what I mean?

It just sounds nice, but you know, like, but some of you guys, you know, put some thought into it, and it's like, oh, we like a child of God, or prophet of God, or something, right? But we give names sometimes because we are hoping that God will be faithful, and that maybe the meaning of His name is we are hoping and praying that God will fulfill that in their life.

And in the Old Testament, in the biblical times, no name was given flippantly. They gave with some purpose. Why was Abram named Abram? This is my guess. He comes from a pretty wealthy family, or Chaldeans. So, my guess is his father, maybe grandfather, was thinking, well, now you have a really good start, and we have all this wealth that we can kind of get behind you.

And so, our hope and desire is that you would be a great father. At that time, you could have all the wealth in the world, but if you don't have descendants, it dies with you, right? So, today, you know, we say, oh, you can't take it with you, but the way they thought was, well, you can't take it with you, but you can leave it all behind to your descendants, right?

So, if you don't have descendants, all of that would have been it. That's where it would end. So, I believe that his parents probably named him Abram, hoping that all the things that his maybe father and grandfather accumulated, that all these great descendants of Abram will be a beneficiary of this.

And that's why they named him this. By the time God shows up in his life, he's already 70, and he has no children. And his wife is barren. And so, God calls this guy who maybe already have given up. All his life, Abram, glorified father, great father, you know.

And by the time God shows up, he probably already has given up. So, imagine, you know, being called great father with no children. You know, it's almost like calling somebody a small stature, big guy. "Hey, big guy." You know what I mean? It's almost mocking him. Or sometimes you do something really foolish, and then they say, "Hey, genius." Right?

"Hey, genius." Right? So, it's almost like calling Abram a glorified father, every time he probably heard his name, as a reminder of the position that he was in. So, God calls him, and he says, "Follow me. I will make your descendants multiply. You can't even count them." So, I think for Abram, it was a very personal promise.

It wasn't just a kind of generic promise. This is something that he's been hoping and praying for. And God said, "If you follow me." And he just goes out. Right? Because he believed. He believed that he is able to fulfill this promise. But the thing is, God made this promise, but for the first 25 years.

For the first 25 years, it doesn't happen. In fact, it's almost comical. If you read verse 19, he said, "He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead." Right? That's pretty harsh. He's old, but he's not dead yet. But he said, "As good as dead." In other words, there's no possible hope for him.

Not only is there no hope for him, because he's so old, he's as good as dead. Right? He said, "But since about, he was 100 years old, but also consider his wife. She was also as good as dead. Her womb has been closed." And so, God waits until there's absolutely no hope to fulfill this.

And then, that's when he steps in. And if you notice, you know, God names him. Here's a guy, he's like all his life, he's like, "Hey, Abram." You know? What does he change his name to? "Abraham." And what does the name Abraham mean? "Father of multitudes." Right? I mean, it's like, "Hey, genius." And he said, you know, "Hey, Einstein." You know what I mean?

Like, you're taking a difficult name, and you're making it impossible now. It's almost mocking. Right? But God tells him, "Your name is going to be Abraham, when he has no descendants, and there's no hope whatsoever. And then it isn't until there's absolutely no hope, nothing that they can cling to, and God shows up, and he fulfills his promise." Isn't that exactly the way God works?

In verse 19, he says, "He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body." He was just as good as dead. He had absolutely no hope. And then God comes in, and he gives him a child. Isn't that what the Scripture says, of what he was doing in the Old Testament?

Think about Israel's history. Like, why did God give the law? If the law wasn't going to fulfill God's promise of salvation, why did He give the law in the first place? He says, "So that the law would make sin utterly sinful." Now, I want you to understand the fulfillment of this in Israel's history.

If you look at Israel's history, it's a constant cycle of rebelling against God, God bringing judgment, they repent, and then God restores them. And then when they get restored, they forget God, and then they rebel, God judges them, He forgives them, and then they get restored. It is a constant cycle, over and over again.

But every time that judgment comes and they get restored, they go back to the same determination, right? Over and over again. "We won't fail you." You know, I know, we learned our lesson. We learned our lesson. And we're not going to do this. I know why the Babylonians came.

I know why the Assyrians came. I know why the Midianites came. I know why the Philistines came. I know why judgment came over and over and over again. But every time they get restored, what was their conviction? "We won't fail you." As their whole history was about their determination to keep the law.

And that's the reason why the Pharisees were so committed to keeping the law. They weren't going to make the same mistakes as their forefathers. They went into captivity because they refused to obey the law. They said, "No, we're not going to make that same mistake." And that's why they wanted to get rid of Jesus.

This guy's telling people to not to obey the Sabbath law. It's better to get rid of one troublemaker than to bring the wrath of Rome and God upon us again. So each time God restores them, they're determined. "We're not going to fail you." And so each time, each time they were determined, and each time they fell, sin became utterly sinful, absolutely hopeless.

See the whole purpose of Israel's history is to allow them to get to a point where they realize they have absolutely no hope. There was no hope. There was no hope for their government. There was no hope for somebody to come and save. There was no hope for power.

They tried everything and nothing worked. And God was waiting for them to get to that point, as God was waiting for Abraham to get to a point where he said he was good as dead. She was already barren before they met him, and 30 years later it was even worse.

But he said faith. He had faith. When there was no faith, there was nothing to cling on, because the only thing that they were able to hope for was God himself. In fact, if you look at 1 Corinthians 1, 26-29, he says, "Here's this Corinthians church thinking that somehow God may have chosen them because some of them were more prominent than others." And he says, "Do you not know that God chose you because you were of no repute?

Because you have nothing that man could say, 'Oh, that's why God chose you.'" God chose you because when the world looks at you and says, "That? God chose you?" 1 Corinthians 1, 26-29. "But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise. God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong.

God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring nothing, the things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God." The promise of God is not about you. It is not about me. It's not a display to put you on a pedestal and say, "Look how precious they are!

Look what I—how I made them!" God's promise was a display of His own glory. Because it was the glory of God that we missed. It was the glory of God that we'd fallen short of. So if it was the glory of God that we'd fallen short of, it was the glory of God that has to be restored.

So He displayed His mercy to glorify Himself. Psalm 106 verse 7, "Yet He saved them for His namesake, that He might make known His mighty power." His power. Isaiah 48 verse 9, "For My namesake I defer My anger; for the sake of My praise I restrain it for you, that I may not cut you off." It was to display His mercy and His glory.

That's why God waited. When it said the perfect time came, it was when Israel had absolutely nothing to hold on to. They're utterly helpless. And even during Jesus' ministry, even during Jesus' ministry, He spent most of His time—remember when we were going through the Gospel?—most of His time in the three cities.

And at the end of three years of ministry in the cities, what happened? They reject Him. Right? John chapter 6, 66, remember that? 666. Is when all the people, the miracles that He performed, the miraculous food that He gave to them, and their end result? We don't want it.

And then how was He crucified? The very people that He loved and cherished, He died in their hands. I mean you think about hopelessness. When Jesus went to that cross, yes He went voluntarily, but His own people, His own people, leaders of His own people who were created to glorify Him, put Him on that cross.

We talk about hope, like having no hope. If there was any period when Israel had absolutely no hope, was when Jesus was being led to the cross. It was as dark as you can possibly be. And it was in that, it was in that darkness, God's glory was at display.

He said it was for His glory. And that's why we have assurance. Because it was never about you. It was never about me. We are the benefactors. We benefit from Him glorifying Himself, from Him displaying His grace. But He is faithful to Himself. Number 2319, God is not a man that He should lie, or the Son of Man that He should change His mind.

Has He said and will He not do it, or has He spoken and will He not fulfill it? That God fulfills His promise for His namesake. But look at what He says in verse 20, "But no distrust made Him waver," Abraham, "concerning the promise of God, but grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God." Fully convinced that God was able to do what He had promised.

So let's stop right here, okay? He said, "Abraham did not have distrust and he did not waver concerning his promise." And I want you to think carefully about Abraham's life. Did he ever waver? Think carefully, okay? Don't give a knee-jerk answer because, "No, he didn't." That's what it says here, right?

But I want you to, I want you to think carefully. Like, did he ever waver? Humanly speaking. I can think of a few instances, right? Both times when he was out in the desert and he was so afraid that somehow the higher powers are going to basically take his life because his wife was so beautiful.

So he had this great plan that, "Throw her under the bus," right? And say, "This is my sister, and do whatever you want with her, but please save me," all right? Man of faith. Never waver. And this happens twice. You know what I mean? This happens twice. And then, why is his son named Isaac?

What does Isaac mean? Laughter. Now, did God name him Laughter because God said, "I'm going to give you a son." Ishmael is not. That was your, that was in the flesh. That was not fulfilling a promise. I'm going to do it, right? But a real descendant, and his name is going to be Isaac.

But why did he name him Isaac? He named him Laughter. It wasn't because Isaac and Sarah heard this like, "Oh, thank you, Lord." Okay, we're going to name him son Laughter. Is that what that laughter meant? When God finally promised, He said he was as good as dead. He was completely barren.

He said, "I mean, we had no hope when we were 70. Now we're 100. We had absolutely no chance whatsoever." So when God said, "It's not Ishmael. You're going to have a true descendant," remember the response? Like, "God's crazy." God saw that, and He said, "I will name your son Laughter because you didn't believe Me." Right?

That's why their son was named Laughter. As a constant reminder to them, "You didn't believe Me." So when he said, "He didn't waver concerning the promise of God." Is that a contradiction? That Paul forgot about Israel's history and Abraham's history? Is that what he means? I hope you didn't say yes because then you have a problem with inerrancy.

All right? So, of course, it's not a contradiction. But what does he mean then? If Abraham didn't waver in unbelief, I think he means the exact same thing when Jesus says to Peter in Luke chapter 22, He says, "I pray for you so that your faith would not fail you because Satan has asked permission to sift you like wheat." Peter says, "I will not fail you.

Even if everybody else fails you, I will not fail you." Remember what Jesus says? "Oh, you're going to fail Me. And you're going to fail Me three times. The rooster's not going to crow until you deny Me three times to My face." Wait a second. He just prayed for him.

He just prayed that his faith would not fail him. And then he just said, "You're going to fail." And then he said, "But when you get back up, feed my sheep. Feed my sheep." So what did it mean for Peter not to fail? That he would get back up.

He would get back up and continue. You see what he says to Abraham? Abraham didn't waver in unbelief, but he grew strong in his faith. He grew strong in his faith. His faith became stronger and stronger as he continued to follow God. And he didn't turn back because his hope was firmly placed on God.

He didn't quit because he trusted in Him. Isn't that our experience? We believe that He is able. But our problem is, I know He is capable, but will He be faithful to the promise to me? And the reason why we wrestle with that is because week after week, we see our own struggles.

And we can't discipline ourselves. The goals that we've met, we've made, we've achieved some, but there's a bunch of stuff that we weren't able to achieve. We're not where we thought that we would be at the age that we're at. We don't know the Scripture as much as we hoped that we would.

We didn't evangelize to as many people as we were hoping for. And so we have this burden on us. I know He is capable, but maybe I didn't earn His grace. And that question causes you to question His faithfulness to you. I know He is capable, but is He faithful to me?

And the answer is emphatic yes, because His faithfulness is to His own glory. It is to His own glory. It is to display His mercy. It is to display His grace, so that when we look upon the cross, we see Him. He fulfills His promise, and that's why He says He guarantees it.

He guarantees it. His purpose, and His nature, and His promise never changes. And if we believe this, if we truly believe this, we will change. We will change. That's why it says in Romans chapter 4, 20 to 25, "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 raised Him from the dead, Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification." This is why we have assurance of salvation.

This is why we have assurance of salvation. We became followers of Christ because we knew He was able. But we persevere because we know He is faithful. He's faithful. God does not make promises that He does not fulfill. Our salvation is firmly in His grasp. His grasp, not ours.

Yes, we ought to be better Christians. Yes, we ought to read our Bible more. We ought to pray more. We ought to evangelize more. But our assurance of salvation is not shaken, as long as our hope is in Christ and Christ alone. Let's take a few minutes to pray, coming before God.

And I know sometimes it can sound like semantics, but it's a world of difference between somebody who's living by faith and living by the flesh. A person who lives by faith is a person who's constantly responding and thanksgiving for what he has done. And so everything that we do is an expression of thank you.

Thank you for loving a sinner like me. Thank you for putting up with me. Even despite all the distractions, even though I've been praying and asking for repentance for the same thing for the last 10 years. Despite all of that, thank you. Thank you for being faithful to your own promises, for showing your love toward me while I was yet a sinner.

So I want to encourage you this morning, as you come before the Lord, if you've been weighed down by your sins, come before the Lord in repentance. Ask the Lord for forgiveness. He is faithful and just to forgive you of all your unrighteousness. Then once you're forgiven, live your life in thanksgiving.

Offer your body as a living sacrifice, reasonable response to the grace of God. Let's take some time as we ask the worship team to come up. And again, I want to remind you, you know, prayer, the most effective prayer is the most honest prayer. Not the most theologically rich, not because you have the most Bible verses in your prayer, but the most honest prayer.

I believe, help my unbelief. I believe, help my unbelief. Let's take some time to come before the Lord and to connect with the only God that we have any hope in.