Faith of Abraham Part II

The hardest moments are the ones where the facts feel final. We look at Abraham at 99 and Sarah at 90, stare straight at the words “as good as dead” and “barren”, and ask the question that sits underneath so many real-life trials: what do you do when natural hope looks gone, but God has made a promise?

We take our cues from Romans 4 and the way Abraham thinks clearly without collapsing into unbelief. He considers his body, he considers Sarah’s womb, he does not pretend the problem isn’t there and yet he does not weaken in faith. That distinction matters if you’re dealing with pressure around marriage, kids, finances, conflict, or a decision that keeps you awake at night. We also keep coming back to Romans 8:28, not as a slogan, but as a practical place to plant your feet when you can’t map the outcome.

Along the way we talk about the Bible as your “road book”, why nothing beats the living word of God, and how to build a real relationship with the Father through prayer and time in Scripture. If you’re not sure where to start reading, we share simple guidance for new believers and remind you that faith is not fantasy, it’s substance you can hold on to.

If this encouraged you, subscribe, share it with a mate who needs steady hope, and leave a review so more people can find it. What promise are you choosing to trust today?

Good morning, good afternoon, wherever you are in the world - Welcome to Grapevine Ministries.

Transcript

Tech Hiccups And A Recap

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Now it's gonna taste uh um taste it's gonna sound a bit funny, but I mean still having a few technical issues. Can't wait for my son to come over for a visit so he can actually do these things. But I just want to reiterate when last we were talking about okay, Abraham. Okay, he's 99, okay, Sarah's 90, and it says her womb is barren, and if you go into details about that, like she hasn't had any children, right? So at that point in time, uh Abraham has not got anybody, he's got nobody to follow

Abraham And Sarah Against The Odds

SPEAKER_00 0:40

on his family, but God has told him that he's going to be the father of many nations. So we won't go back to the statistics, we know what happens um about all that sort of stuff. But I think the important thing is to remember that is when all natural hope seems lost, Abraham continued to believe. Now it's not that Abraham refused to think about things, on the contrary, he thought about it really long and hard. Okay, and we read this that he said this in Romans 4 19, he did not weaken in faith when he was considering his own body, which was as good as dead, since he was about a hundred years old, or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's womb. Now, yeah, he considered things, you know, the reality of the situation was what he was looking at. He thought about his own human body, he thought about how old he was, he thought about the possibility of being a father, and his conclusion was this his body was as good as dead, and that means that there was no way that he's able to father a child at his age. Now, I know you know people talk about all sorts of things like you know uh different people fathering children at certain ages and all this sort of stuff, like a 95-year-old person marrying someone who's only 30. Okay, we get that. We're talking about back here in the day. Verse 19 speaks how accurately he evaluated his situation. It's like he took out a pen and paper and he tried hard to assess the situation. It wasn't like the 50-year-old who thought that he could go out and compete with a 20-year-old. You know, he wasn't Michael Jordan playing the Washington Wizards. No, he knew full well that he was washed up, his fathering days were over. And when he considered Sarah's body, now he came to the same conclusion. She was barren, she was ninety years old. If she hadn't given birth in the first 90 years of her life, there was little hope, or absolutely no hope, that she would give birth when she's 90. And yet, in light of the insurmountable difficulties, Abraham believed God. He didn't weaken in his faith. That's the thing. He didn't weaken. It was none of this, oh, but um, maybe, oh, hang on, maybe there's this new fangled drug that's just been developed. I don't know. Let's get down to the natural aspects of this. We are not looking at technology or advancement or any of that sort of stuff. We're looking at right here, right now, Abraham, okay, is just talking to God and God's telling him that you're gonna be a father of many nations. Now, verse 19 speaks of how accurately he evaluated things, you know, and I remember that, right? And I read through it, and even when he considered Sarah's body, right, he had looked at everything, but still, you know, he didn't weaken in his faith in any way, shape, or form, you know, the very thing that could have pulled him down into unbelief, the fact of his life that was working against the promise of God, like his age and his wife's age, had no effect upon his faith. In fact, if anything, he grew stronger. Verse 20 says, and in so doing, God was greatly glorified. How do we glorify God? We do what God wants us to do. Now I know you're all screaming, oh, but what about Hagar? Now let's not get sidetracked, we can discuss that another day, but just as a side note, Sarah's idea saying he was okay to father, but Sarah was not okay to mother. Okay. I don't want to get off track, and yeah, okay, we could go into the big spool about how, yeah. But the thing that gets me, I'm I'm not trying to be crude or anything here, but just imagine, okay. He he's 99 and Sarah's 90, and then he goes his wife to say, Well, okay, why don't you lay with

Thinking Clearly Without Losing Faith

SPEAKER_00 6:05

Hagar? And he goes, Well, I'm 99, so I got just as much chance as what you've got, you know. But no, I mean he did, and obviously we know the story about that as well, but we're not getting sidetracked, okay? So let's get back on track with Paul. Paul is calling us this morning. This is what Paul is doing. Paul, the apostle of Jesus Christ, is saying, follow the faith of Abraham. Now, in the life of all of us, there are seasons of blessings and there are seasons of trials. I know that some of you are facing some very difficult trials in your life right now. I know because I've talked with many locally that listen on my podcast. Myself and Maria are praying for our listeners. And last night before I went to sleep, Maria and I prayed together about all of you out there, about your faith in the Lord, that it remains strong. And I have never met a lot of my listeners, and I know that they're in other countries, and that's why I say good morning, good afternoon, good evening, because it depends on what country you're in, at what time you're listening, and what time I'm doing this. And I also know I I don't want to sort of like uh you know pinpoint anything, but I know that there's many of you that are experiencing difficulties with you know children. Some of you are facing challenges in your marriage, and I certainly know that there are problems and difficulties in your life that I know nothing about, but are heavy upon your heart. Perhaps there are financial difficulties, perhaps there are some major life decisions that are stirring in your mind. Perhaps there are some relational conflicts that you are facing. I'm simply asking you if you are going to follow the faith of Abraham. Are you going to trust in the promises of God? Now, unlike Abraham, you haven't received any direct revelation from God about your situation. Not that I'm aware of, but you do have promises in the word of God.

SPEAKER_01 9:01

The Bible.

SPEAKER_00 9:03

Now I know a lot of you, uh I'll just give you a scripture first. You have promises in Romans that you can turn to, and that's about the promise of Romans 828. For the most part, most well-loved promises in all the Bible. But the thing is, the Bible is that's your road book. That's the road book to everything about your life, everything that you want, everything that you need to know, everything that is going on is all in the word of God. And you know, some people say Bible is basic instructions before leaving earth. I just thought I'd throw that in there. But the main thing is that okay, you can listen to someone behind the pulpit, yeah, that's great. You can read books that they may have written, that's great. You can read my book that I've written, which is great, but nothing beats the insatiable, you know, alive, living word of God that is written, and that is what you should stand on. That's your foundation, that's your capstone. So when all else fails, go back to the word of God. If you've got a situation in your life that is challenging, find a scripture that will suit. And if you can't find a scripture that suits, post something in my um on my website or you know, on WhatsApp or anything, you know, even on Facebook, I'll see that. Instagram, I spend more time in. But look, there's many ways to contact me, okay? And if you can't find the scripture that you need for your life to strengthen your inner being, let me do it for you. All right, let me help those that can't help themselves. That's what I believe that my job is, okay? Yes, I'm a pastor, yes, I do this, that, and everything else. But the main core principle behind me as part of the five-fold is to shepherd the flock, and that's what I want to do. And I don't care where you are in the world, I can't help you, but the word of God can. Okay, but I can help you find where the word of God is to help you get you on the journey that you need to be on, and we know that for those

Trials Today And Abraham’s Example

SPEAKER_00 11:55

who love God, all things work together for good. For those who are called according to his purpose, are you going to trust in his promise? Are you going to trust that God has promised to work these trials in your life for good? Now, you may not understand how in the world this might be the case. You could sit down with a pen and paper in hand and try to figure it out yourself, but that's not the way out of your problems.

SPEAKER_01 12:36

That's right. Where Abram was, but he still counted it all joy.

SPEAKER_00 12:46

There was no conceivable way that he saw God fulfilling the promise to him, and he didn't weaken in his faith. Now, I mean, I just gonna quote a couple of verses here. Verse 19, and he didn't waver in his faith. Verse 20, he became strong in his faith, and in the end of verse 20, and he gave glory to God. How many of us pray to be glorified in our lives? Now let's make sure that we uh totally pin the tail on the donkey in the right spot. Abraham he considered the reality of his situation, he thought about his own body, he thought about how old he was, he thought about the possibilities, and all of the time he was thinking about this and he did not worry about it whatsoever. God is there, and just because you are thinking about things that are going on does not mean that you lack faith. It means you're always looking at your options, and when all gets said and done, we go back to the word of God. Because unlike Abraham, you haven't received any direct revelation from God about your situation, but you do have promises in the word of God, you have promises in Romans that you can trust and turn to Him, and you can do that, and that's what I was saying before. Romans 8 28 is one of the best promises you can get in the Bible. Are you going to trust in his promise? The reason I'm talking about all of these, I suppose you call them faith giants in the scriptures, it is purely and simply because I want to let you know your options. I mean, you can talk about the faith of Noah, you can talk about the faith of Abraham, the faith of Moses, and the faith of David, which we're going to talk about uh next week or the week after.

SPEAKER_01 15:19

But the point I'm making is somewhere in the Bible is the solution to your problem.

SPEAKER_00 15:32

Yes, you can go to the pastoral leadership at your local church, you can talk to your senior pastor if if that's a possibility. You can talk to other faith, word of faith people in Christ. Don't go to someone who is wishy-washy about their faith or doesn't believe the word of God or looking at some other form of um church. And I've seen a lot of people do this. A lot of people go from church to church and they're looking

Standing On Scripture Romans 8:28

SPEAKER_00 16:10

for something, and it's right in there. I remember someone told me once about this this joke, and there was this um this guy was sitting outside this church, and he's trying to listen to the praise and worship through the door, and he couldn't he couldn't uh hear well enough, so he went and sat down on the steps of the church, and this guy walks up and sits down next to him, and he goes, Why so sad? And he said, Well, I want to go into the church. He said, but they won't let me in. He said, Well, is it because the way you dress or the way that you look? And he goes, Oh, I've been living on the street for the last 12 months and everything, and um, and he said, I I can't get into the church. And he said, Look, I've been trying to get into that church for years, and I haven't been successful either. And so the man turned around and he said, Look, he says, Take this and go to this place down the road, and they will help you. Oh, thanks very much. And as he went to walk off, and he goes, Sorry, I didn't catch your name, and he said, My name's Jesus. Now, some of you may get the joke, others don't, okay? But not every church, you know, is a place where you can go and feel the presence of God. And I'm not saying that in a in a negative manner, it is a reality, and there are so many different types, so many different variations of places where you'll find the word of God. After doing Bible college, this was one of the reasons that I did SMTI because Brother Barclay is basically uh he's the Lord's told him that it's his calling to preach to other pastors, and so he goes around teaching people about how the church should run according to the scriptures, how to actually look at your you know your um your ushers and people that volunteer in the church and your other associate pastors, all these types of things, you know, and I know to a certain degree that a um a church is a business because you know otherwise how could they function because they would not have the finances to do the Lord's work. But if God's in the house, you know, it will grow and it will prosper. If not, it will fall by the wayside. So if you feel that you're hearing from the word of God and he's talking to you, and he might say, Go to the Philippines, and uh and you run off to the Philippines and you try to get into uh missionary work and everything, and you fall flat on your face, and then you come back and you're all heartbroken and and uh messed up. But see, the thing is, if you heard correctly from the Lord saying go to the Philippines, it might not yet be your time. See, it's all in the timing, God will never leave you nor forsake you, right? He's always with you. Uh Matthew 28-20. The thing to remember is that you've got to build a relationship with the Heavenly Father, and the greater that the time that you spend with him, uh the greater the relationship will be. Like I said, I was saying earlier, um, been married for 42 years. That's

Church Culture And Hearing God Well

SPEAKER_00 20:10

not because we don't communicate, that's because we do communicate. And even if my wife is talking, I don't know whether any of you people old enough to do this. Used to be a thing called a landline, which is the phone that was plugged into the wall and it was mounted on the wall, and it had a dial in it, and you picked up the handpiece, no, no digital display screen or anything like that, you know. And my wife didn't have to ring me up at work and say, Hi Phil, this is Maria, because she could just start talking because I know her name. The shepherd knows the sheep. That is why you know he left the 99 and went after the one, because all souls are precious, you know, he's listening to you. You can come boldly into the throne room of grace and stand before the Father, and the desires of your heart shall be met. Why? Because Jesus bore it all upon the cross, it's all at the cross. He shed his blood, he took those stripes upon his back, he was beaten, he was tra you know, he was humiliated, and everything he did for you, even before you were formed in your mother's womb, he knew you, and he wants a relationship with you. The same way you get a relationship with your wife or your children, you don't get it by not being there or not communicating. God wants to start a dialect with you, He wants to start. Speaking with you. It talks about in Genesis how he would come into the evening and walk in the garden because he wanted to spend time with his creation, Adam and Eve. Right? That is still the same thing. God, in essence, is love. Yes, we know he's a tribe being Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. We know that there's three parts to the body. And you can communicate with any one of those three parts. But Jesus is your gateway to the Father. And start a dialogue with him. And even if that dialogue is just spending time in the Word of God. Now I know a lot of people say, Oh, I don't use your phone and don't use the apps and all that sort of stuff. Look, whatever works for you, and you're getting the undiluted, irreputable written word of God into your life, that's where it starts. And don't start in uh Genesis or you know in the Old Testament. There's a time for doing that. But if you read the New Testament, start with the Gospels, you know, Romans, one and two Corinthians, okay, Acts, okay. But if you read them and if you get a teaching Bible in the column, it will it will show you where the relevant scripture is in the Old Testament. I mean, maybe one day, you know, if people are interested, I will do a teaching on how young Christians can find their place in the Word of God. But right now, I'm talking about faith. Hebrews 11:1. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, evidence of things not yet seen. I've said it time and time again, faith is a substance. If it has substance, it's something you can grab hold of, it's something you can get, it's tangible. Okay,

What Faith Is In Daily Life

SPEAKER_00 24:25

you can go outside, you can't see the wind, but you can see the effects of the wind, you can feel the wind, but you can't physically hold the wind, but it's there. Alright, there are so many things where you actually use faith every single day of your life. If you've got an automatic vehicle and you go for a drive somewhere and you slam your foot on the brake, you expect that vehicle to come to a standstill. Why? Because you know that's the brake pedal and you know all the mechanics of the vehicle and you know how it works, not necessarily, you rely on faith when someone has told you that that's the brake pedal and this is what it does, because it does do that, and until that fails, you will continue to believe that. When my kids were really young, um I was trying to teach uh my children to you know have you know love, faith, hope, you know, but the strongest of these is love. I was teaching them to know that I would never let them down. And I was getting them to jump off the couch and I would catch them. I was saying, come on, jump, your dad will catch you. I will always catch you, right? And they used to practice doing that and they loved it. But it got to a stage where if I was walking from the front door into the kitchen and I had to walk past the couch, I would all of a sudden hear this, Daddy, catch me! And my daughter come flying out, and I would just automatically throw my back out, spin her out, and catch her because that's what I promised I'd always do, and I've never done that, but I know that some of you are listening, your earthly fathers do let you down or have let you down, but do not put all your eggs in one basket and do not believe that your heavenly father is the same as your earthly father, and this is why I'm mentioning more than one person. You may be able to relate to Abraham, you may be able to relate to Moses or Noah, okay, but you may be able to relate to David, depending on your circumstances and where you are and what circumstances you're going through, one of those faith giants will be the bedrock for you moving forward, and God is with you always, he will never leave you nor forsake you. And so, you know, until next week, when we go on to talk about another one of our face giants, please hear my words. Do your own research, choose where to look, okay? And hopefully, the first place you go is to the Word of God, and the second place is into the throne room of God. All right. God bless, and we'll talk to you next week. Bye for now.