Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his mercy, he kept his promise and sent his Son who was delivered over to death and was raised to life for our justification. Amen.

God our Father, your Son welcomed all who came to him, even the outcasts, sinners, and the despised. Give us a faith that dares to come to you, trusting only in your love and mercy. Give us a love that accepts others, as we have been accepted by you. Amen.

When I was a freshman in high school, I tried out for the JV basketball team. I was the last person cut. I was told that I didn’t make the team because I was too short. I had to face the fact that I was short; I am short. When I was on the college soccer team, I could run and sprint for ninety straight minutes. Now I get tired chasing my kids around the backyard. I have to face the fact that I’m getting older and I’m out of shape. Four hours after we signed the papers to buy our house, it was struck by hail.

Sometimes we just have to face the facts. Reality sets in. The truth is set before us. Sometimes when we face the facts, we find negatives. But sometimes we can also find positives. For example, if I had made the high school basketball team, I wouldn’t have made enough money working after school to pay for college. If I become winded playing with my kids, that may be telling me that I need to exercise more. Although it cost us some money and work, our home now looks brand new. There comes a time in our lives when we just have to face the facts.

This morning we join with Abraham in seeing that faith faces the facts. There were both negatives and positives in Abraham’s facing of the facts. Today we join with Abraham in seeing that we must first face the fact of man’s helplessness. Then, we can face the fact of God’s faithfulness.

Paul tells us in our sermon text that the time for facing facts had come for Abraham: "Without weakening in his faith, [Abraham] faced the fact that his body was as good as dead--since he was about a hundred years old--and that Sarah's womb was also dead." Abraham faced two unavoidable facts: his body was dead and Sarah's womb was dead.

On both sides of the equation, Abraham faced an absolute impossibility. On a human level, he was too old. Period. End of discussion. Case closed. To put it bluntly, Abraham was impotent and Sarah was 45 years past menopause. Unless God did a double miracle, no baby would be born.

Someone summarized the situation well when he said that "Abraham and Sarah were closer to the grave than to the marriage bed." Abraham was helpless. There was nothing he could do physically to change the situation and have a child. Still, Abraham "hoped against all hope" that he would become the father of many nations, as God had promised him.

Remember when your mother caught you disobeying one of her orders? You were guilty, caught red-handed, and you knew it. And you had to accept your punishment. Over the years the situations have changed drastically, but the results of disobedience and guilt are still the same. Our adult sins take many forms: hatred, gossip, lying, lust, pride, self-centeredness, and on and on. And this time we know our guilt is much more serious and we have offended someone even more important and more powerful than Mom. We stand guilty before God. Every sin that we commit is a direct defiance of God’s laws and an assault on his holy nature.

Mom punished you by grounding you, spanking you, or telling Dad when he got home. God’s punishment is much more serious. It also lasts much longer than a stinging rear end or sitting in your room. God’s punishment for our sins is death – physical death and then eternal death – eternal separation from God forever, eternal flames, weeping and gnashing of teeth. And we are helpless to change the situation. We are as good as dead.

Abraham couldn’t change his situation on his own, and we can’t change ours. So what did Abraham do in order to receive that child in his old age? He simply believed. "Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, ‘So shall your offspring be.’"

Abraham believed God and "it was credited to him as righteousness." Abraham believed that as impossible as his situation seemed, he would be the father of many nations. More importantly, he believed that his Savior would be the Great One from his many descendants. This Great One who would make Abraham righteous before his God and would justify him of his sins.

Paul tells us that this righteousness and justification wasn’t just for Abraham alone: "The words ‘it was credited to him’ were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness--for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification."

Abraham was helpless to change his childless situation. As impossible as his situation seemed, he believed God’s promise of a son and he received a child in his old age. More importantly, Abraham believed God’s promise of a Savior, and he was saved. You and I are sinners who are helpless to change our hopeless situation. Hell was looming before us, and as impossible as our situation seemed, when you believe in Jesus as your crucified and resurrected Savior, you are justified – declared innocent, made righteous – made right with God, and saved.

Faith faces the fact of man’s helplessness, so that we may be saved.

Faith also faces the fact of God’s faithfulness – God keeps his promises. When Abraham was 75, God promised him that he would be the father of many nations. This must have seemed incredible to a 75 year-old man with no children. 75 is a little late to be starting a family, and even if you could, how could you ever start a nation?

If Abraham focused only on his circumstances, there was no way he was going to have children: "I’m too old." "She’s too old." "Nothing like this has ever happened before." "We’ve tried for years to have a baby and it hasn’t worked." "Our friends think we’re nuts."

Abraham’s only hope was to believe in the promise of God. He did … and after 25 years, his faith was rewarded. God fulfilled his promise.

One of the most devastating lessons a young person learns is that people break their promises. Children naively assume that if someone says, "I promise," they can count on it. But this assumption takes a vicious beating. A father vows to go camping with his son, but weekend after weekend finds Dad too busy with work. A mother pledges to take her daughter to the zoo, then forgets all about it. A child shares a secret with a friend, only to discover that everyone in her class at school is in on it. No doubt you can give examples of promises made to you that were never kept. Jonathan Swift once said, "Promises and pie crusts were meant to be broken."

But God isn’t like that. God always keeps his promises. He is always faithful to his word. We know this, but aren’t there times when you forget it? Aren’t there times when you doubt God? Aren’t there times when you think 25 years of waiting is just a bit too much? We let little things bother us. We only focus on the circumstances. We forget that God always keeps his promises. But God is faithful.

> > >> A little boy was telling his Grandma how "everything" was going wrong -- school problems, family problems, health problems, etc. Meanwhile, Grandma was baking a cake. She asked her grandson if he would like a snack, which of course he does. "Here, have some cooking oil." "Yuck" says the boy. "How about a couple raw eggs?" "Gross, Grandma!" "Would you like some flour then? Or maybe baking soda?" "Grandma, those are all yucky!" Grandma replied: "Yes, all those things seem bad all by themselves, but when they are put together in the right way, they make a wonderfully delicious cake! God works the same way."

Many times we wonder why God would let us go through such bad and difficult times. But God knows that when he puts all these ingredients together in his order, they always work for good. We just have to trust him and eventually they will make something wonderful.

We need to hear that God is faithful; that he is still in control; that it’s not over until he says so. We need to hear that life’s mishaps and tragedies are not a reason to bail out. They are simply a reason to sit tight. Corrie Ten Boom used to say, "When the train goes through a tunnel and the world gets dark, do you jump out? Of course not. You sit still and trust the engineer to get you through ..."

Next time you're disappointed, don't panic. Don't jump out. Don't give up. Just be patient and let God remind you he is faithful; that he is in control; that it isn’t over till it’s over.

"The LORD is my light and my salvation-- whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life-- of whom shall I be afraid?" (Psalm 27:1) "I am the LORD, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?" (Jeremiah 32:27) "Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed," says the LORD, who has compassion on you." (Isaiah 54:10)

When you and I learn to trust God in everything, our lives will never be the same.

God was also faithful to his greatest promise and he sent his Son, Jesus. Trust God’s promise and he will strengthen your faith. Then you can give glory to God. Trust that God has the power to do what he promised. That is exactly what happened with Abraham. "[Abraham] did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised." Abraham was very much aware of the situation, but he "hoped against all hope."

Abraham was 75 years old when he received the first promise from God. He was 100 years old when Isaac was finally born. I wonder what he was doing during that 25 year period? I wonder if it went something like this: 76 – he buys a crib; 78 – makes a list of possible boy’s names; 80 – orders super-absorbent Pampers; 82 –stocks up on strained carrots and peas; 85 – goes hunting while Sarah's friends give her a baby shower; 86 –puts up wallpaper in the baby's room; 90 – subscribes to New Parents magazine; 93 – he and Sarah start lamaze classes; 96 — drives a practice run to the hospital; 99 — packs the bags and puts them by the door of the tent. Obviously I’m having fun with Abraham. But I also want you to see that he really did believe that God was going to keep his promise. For 25 years he kept that faith. You and I can also have that same faith. God always, always keeps his promises.

Abraham believed in spite of humanly impossible circumstances. "He faced the fact." In every crisis you eventually have to face the facts head on. You can't run from reality. Whether it is cancer or the loss of a job or death of a parent or anything else. You have to face the facts. You can’t run and hide and stick your head in the sand. That won't do any good. Faith doesn't avoid the facts; faith faces them and then reacts to the facts on the basis of the God’s Word. Faith doesn't say, "This isn't happening to me." That's not faith; that's fantasy. Faith says, "This is happening to me. But this isn't God's final word on the subject." Faith believes that beyond the crisis a better day is waiting to be born. Faith believes that there is more than meets the eye. Faith sees that we are helpless, but God is faithful. Amen.

To the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen. (Romans 16:27)