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Devotions from Gospel Chapel Ministries HOME SERMONS SERMON NOTES
GOD EXALTED IN DOING THE IMPOSSIBLE
God’s grace is displayed after all man’s human reasoning has proven vain and empty. Then faith becomes established, and it is possible to walk by faith because human reasoning is eliminated. After Abram was delivered from all his human reasoning, he became strong in faith. ROM 4:19-21 says, "And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah’s womb: He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform."
The apostle is speaking of the time referenced in our text: "And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect." After thirteen years of barrenness, Abram was strong in faith, "being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah’s womb." Abram knew God was able to do anything He promised.
The strength of Abraham’s faith was not obtained until the Lord returned to Abram to deliver him from his unbelief and human reasoning. After God had brought him through His school at ninety and nine years old, then "...the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect."
Now Abram was able to believe in God without staggering in his faith. He saw the emptiness of all his human reasoning; the promises of God were believable; God would perform as promised. Faith is established after human reasoning is drained dry.
God’s opportunity is to be exalted is in man’s extremity. After all hope of being saved by human reasoning was exhausted, Israel heard the blessed consolation we read about in EXO 14:13-14: "And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever. The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace."
Israel would not be delivered by human strength or reasoning. The Lord closed them in with a mountain on each side, the Red Sea before them, and the Egyptians behind them. The Lord placed them in a situation where they could do nothing but cry out to Him for help. In a seemingly hopeless situation, God came with His consolation. He commanded them to stand still and see the salvation He would provide. God is exalted in man’s desperate situation, when, from man’s human reasoning, there is no solution.
This is what God did for Abram. He waited until Abram and his wife were past the time of life. Abram was ninety-nine years old, and his wife’s womb was dead. In such an extreme situation in which there exists no physical possibility of accomplishing the promise, God is exalted in their salvation.
God has very good reasons for His delays; He not only does the right thing, but He always acts at the very best time. He knows exactly when His action will bring about His decree. We see this same principle in GAL 4:4. "But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law." The Lord has a set time for bringing about His purpose. Do you realize God promised Adam and Eve the Messiah would come, but look at the many years it took before it happened. Four thousand years passed before the birth of Jesus Christ occurred in the fullness of God’s time, at God’s set time. When we trace the history, we find "...the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations," MAT 1:17. Everything God has decreed will come in His time.
It is not until man has come to the end of self that God reveals His delivering hand. Let’s consider the beautiful way this principle is put into words in PSA 107:23-29. "They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters; These see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep. For he commendeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof. They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble. They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wit’s end. [All human reasoning fails first, and then faith comes into exercise.] Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses. He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still."
When they came to their wit’s end, unable in their own strength to solve their dilemma, the Lord heard their cry and brought salvation. Remember Jonah. The sailors strove to bring the ship to shore, but when they came to their wit’s end, realizing they were not able to bring it to shore, they obeyed the Lord and put Jonah overboard. Notice how man first does everything he can in his own strength and knowledge before crying to the Lord for help in his troubles.
There is a tremendous difference between lip service and prayer. We can do a lot of lip service, but when we come to our wit’s end, like a woman in travail, to a point where there is no way out, then we learn the meaning of crying to the Lord. The shortest prayer I’ve prayed became my greatest deliverance. What was it? "Lord, help me." I had not one thing left to say; I had no way to even explain my trouble before the Lord. The only thing I could say was, "Lord help me!" That was my cry in trouble, and He brought me out of my distress.
He answers; He delivers. First, we are brought to that extreme situation where there is no human reasoning left. When we come to our wits’ end, there is no consolation or solution in anything we try to do. In our extremity, God brings deliverance by making the storm calm and the waves still.
God’s clear purpose for these trials is to develop our patience, i.e., our ability to endure the trial cheerfully. The word "patience" as in ROM 5:4 comes from the Greek word "hupomone" which means "cheerful endurance." There is a great distinction between merely gritting your teeth and hanging on, and patiently waiting in total, unconditional surrender to the will of the Lord in the way of cheerful endurance.
We can rejoice in the deliverance before we receive it. JAM 1:2- 4 says, "My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing." Amen.
These on-lines sermons are a ministry of Gospel Chapel located in Conrad, Montana. We also have a book ministry and a daily devotion. See also, our sermon notes. We pray this sermon has been a blessing to those who read it. If you share this sermon with a friend, please let us know. Thank you.