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Empty HandsFitchburg Nazarene Church

September 13, 2015

by

Rev. Charles W. Pendleton, Jr.

(These are the Pastor’s notes. He may have said more which is not noted here. He could have ignored certain portions of these notes in our actual service.)

Last week we looked at Romans, Chapter 3, and were reminded in verse 23 that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

I don’t think that we have much problem understanding that – at least, not many of us do.

Then we were reminded in verse 24 that

“24 all are justified freely by his (God’s) grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”

There are some major theological concepts that are bound up in that verse, and I think we need to re-look at those for a few minutes before we travel into Chapter 4.

JUSTIFIED – a legal term

(made) Right

(to be) Vindicated

(to be made) Acceptable

GRACE - the unmerited favor of God toward man.

Grace carries with it the idea of having "favor in the eyes of the Lord."

Although there are many examples of this in scripture – I mention two now…

We see this with Noah in Gen. 6:8

Again with Moses in Exodus 33:13

So this GRACE, this unmerited favor with God…

it is a free gift of God for us – Jew or Gentile.

It is unmerited, and it is free. It cost us nothing.

But that does not mean that our Justification comes without any price at all. There is a price, and Rom. 3:24-25 tell us about that price, and who paid it.

REDEMPTION -

This word find its context in the social, legal, and religious customs of the ancient world.

The metaphor of redemption includes the ideas of

loosing from a bond , setting free from captivity or slavery buying back something lost or sold exchanging something in one's

possession for something possessed by another, and

ransoming.

We could do a whole service on the social, legal, and religious nuances from the Old Testament, showing how redemption

involves deliverance from bondage based on the payment of a price by a redeemer. But that is not our goal today.

Let it suffice to say that as sinners:

Our righteousness – our rightness, or one-ness with God, is the result of His gracious act of purchasing (restoring) us through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ as our redeemer.

Let’s remember that there was no such thing as Chapter 4 in Paul’s letter to the Roman believers. This simply helps us to find the exact spot that we are looking at when we read scripture together.

What we are looking at today is a continuation of what Paul was telling the Roman believers – that we are sinners, bought with a price.

He goes on in his letter now, to explain the connection between:

Abraham’s Redemption, and

Our Redemption.

READ: Romans 4:1-2

There is a phrase that I find very interesting in our passage this morning, and it is

repeated several times within these few verses which we just read.

The phrase is found in verses 3, 22, 23:

Vs. 3 - “credited to him as righteousness.”

Vs. 22 - “credited to him as righteousness.”

Vs. 23 - “credited to him.”

Of course many of you know that this phrase is taken right out of the Old Testament book of Genesis.

Genesis 15:6 Turn & stay there with me.

“Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.”

Well, let’s set this up a little bit.

If we looked back at Genesis 12:1-3, we would see Abraham’s first recorded message from the Lord God. Let’s do that!

The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.2“I will make you into a great nation,

and I will bless you;

I will make your name great,

and you will be a blessing.3I will bless those who bless you,

and whoever curses you I will curse;

and all peoples on earth

will be blessed through you.”

Then in Chapter 13:1-3 we read about Abram’s worship life.

So Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev, with his wife and everything he had, and Lot went with him. 2Abram had become very wealthy in livestock and in silver and gold.3From the Negev he went from place to place until he came to Bethel, to the place

between Bethel and Ai where his tent had been earlier 4and where he had first built an altar. There Abram called on the name of the   Lord.

If we were to read Chapter 14 we would find out that Abram was a mighty man of God – even as it came to warfare. That God was with him, and delivered Abram’s enemies into his hands.

As we move into Genesis 15 we find out some very interesting information.

Genesis 15:1-6

1After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision:

“Do not be afraid, Abram.

I am your shield,

your very great reward. ”2But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.” 4Then the word of the Lord came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.” 5He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if

indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”6Abram believed the   Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

You see, Abram remembered the promises of God that he received back in Chapter 12.

And those promises inferred that Abram would be made into a great nation – and yet, he still had no children.

Abram was 75 when God made those promises, and here he is in his 80’s and no children yet.

So what does Abram do? He takes matters into his own hands. Boy, am I glad we never do that, huh? Always patiently waiting for the hand of the Lord to bring us his blessings. (yeah, okay)

Read along with me…

Genesis 16:1-4a, 151Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian slave named Hagar; 2so she said to Abram, “The Lord has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her.”

Abram agreed to what Sarai said. 3So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian slave Hagar

and gave her to her husband to be his wife. 4He slept with Hagar, and she conceived.15So Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son she had borne. 16Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael.

86 years old – and finally a son. Good thing he didn’t wait around for God to make good on His word, huh?

But God was having none of it! In chapter 17, which we had read to us this morning, God shows up on the scene again and promises Abram a son from his wife Sarai.

This time however, God places some stipulations on Abram. We’ll get to that a little later.

For now, we see that Abram had been living the last 13 years in disobedience to God.

For 13 years he did things his way. Abram plotted to make the promises of God come about, as if God needed his help.

As a sign of the certainty of His covenant with Abram, God changes Abram’s name to Abraham, and Sarai’s name to Sarah.

Abram (Noble Father) becomes

Abraham (Father of many) and

Sarai, (Princess) becomes Sarah (Mother of Nations).

Basically, God is adamant here – “Look! It’s going to be as I have said!”

And what does holy Father Abraham say/do?

Genesis 17:17-18

17Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, “Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?” 18And Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael might live under your blessing!”

So there we have it!

The man who is the Father of Many Nations; the man through whom all the nations of the earth will be blessed, says:

Come on Lord, just let Ishmael live under your blessing and everything will be fine!!

This is the man of whom it is said,

“Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.” (Gen. 15:6)

We have got to look at Abraham in the light of reality, not in some mystical, magical; oh boy he sure was the cat’s pajama’s, wasn’t he?

Abraham was flesh and blood.

Abraham was of the line of Adam.

I now that this is a week early, but in Chapter 5 which we will look at next week,

Paul tells both the Roman believers, and us that

“just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned—“

Abraham was tainted by the fall!!!

He would suffer death just like all of us.

He sinned, and mistrusted God – just like all of us.

But! But!! There’s that word again.

Abraham was justified by God – just as you and I are.

It is by faith – but do you think that this faith is something that you – in your wonderfulness – have conjured up on your own?

Do you think that you bring something to the table in your salvation??

YOU DON’T!!!

You have nothing to commend you to God!

Nothing, that He should look at you and desire to make you ONE WITH HIM!!

But – GRACE!

Paul tried to explain it to another group of believers in the city of Ephesus. In his letter to them, Paul made some very powerful notes regarding our salvation.

Look with me in Ephesians 2:

NO! We need to start in Chapter 1 – I’m getting excited!!!

Look with me in Chapter 1 of Ephesians – starting with verse 3.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In

love 5heb predestined us for adoption to sonshipc through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—6to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 7In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8that he lavished on us.

MOVE with me to Chapter 2

1As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the

cravings of our flesha and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 4But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9not by works, so that no one can boast. 10For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ

Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Do you get it?!?

Verse 9 NOT BY WORKS! No boasting – you haven’t done anything worthy of your salvation. You never will! You never could!!

Verse 10 All of it is God’s handiwork!

He done it! Not you – not me!! God’s handiwork!!!

Any good works – That’s something that He prepares for us to do.

He has in mind a bunch of stuff – good works – that He is allowing us to participate in.

Not to save us! To help us see the very real change He has made in us.

To help us see the very real changes He continues to make in us.

To help others to see the very real changes God has, and is – making in us.

These works don’t get us saved.

They prove we’re saved.

Turn with me to James 2.14What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? 15Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 16If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? 17In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.18But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”

Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. 19You

believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.20You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is uselessd ? 21Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?

PEOPLE – we have to hear these next verses

 22 You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,”e and he was called God’s friend. 24You see that a person is considered

righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.

Verse 22 – “his faith was made complete by what he did.”

My brothers and sisters, we cannot come to God with our hands full of all the good deeds that we do, and expect Him to say,

“Oh, what a good boy, or what a good girl. You come into Heaven – you’ve been SO GOOD.”

I now that we don’t like the old hymns of the church anymore. They don’t have the complex melodies, or room for guitar riffs and the like, but the words from one of them are certainly appropriate for us this morning.

ROCK OF AGES

Rock of Ages, cleft for me,Let me hide myself in Thee;Let the water and the blood,From Thy wounded side which flowed,Be of sin the double cure,Save from wrath and make me pure.

Not the labor of my handsCan fulfill Thy law’s demands;Could my zeal no respite know,

Could my tears forever flow,All for sin could not atone;Thou must save, and Thou alone.

Nothing in my hand I bring,Simply to Thy cross I cling;Naked, come to Thee for dress;Helpless, look to Thee for grace;Foul, I to the fountain fly;Wash me, Savior, or I die.

While I draw this fleeting breath,When my eyes shall close in death,When I rise to worlds unknown,And behold Thee on Thy throne,Rock of Ages, cleft for me,Let me hide myself in Thee.

It is my prayer this morning, that we would take comfort in the final words of Romans 4 this morning. Even as we look at our own unworthiness, at our failure to fully walk in faith as He desires us to.

23The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, 24but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. 25He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.

Let’s PRAY