Persuade Yourself
Gtcotr/ss062704
There are a few things you need to talk to yourself about.
Repeat after me: God Is! - God Can! - God Will!
Our text for today will come the book of Romans, Chapter 4
Key Scripture: Numbers 23:19 God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?
Moses wrote this, in fact it is well accepted that Moses wrote the first five books of the bible, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
What many may not realize is that even though this period covers approximately 2553 years, only five intermediary links between Adam and Moses were required to verbally pass on these full accounts of creation, the flood, the captivity and the exodus.
Counting both Adam and Moses, only seven people were needed to personally witness these amazing stories first hand.
The longer life spans from creation allowed these testimonies to be passed on verbally by those who lived them. People like:
* Methuselah who talked with Adam for 243 years
* Shem who talked with Methuselah for 98 years
* Shem did not die until Isaac was 50 years old
* Levi who talked with his grandfather, Isaac for, 53 years
* Amram, son of Kohath:
> Walked and talked with Levi
> Married Levi’s daughter, Jochebed
> Was the father of Miriam, Aaron and Moses
According to my Timeline Studies
> Isaac was born about 2048 years after creation
> This correlates to about 2066 BC - (Nelson)
> By some accounts, the midway point between creation and the birth of Christ is very close to the time when Abraham was called to sacrifice his son, his only son Isaac, on the mountain of Moriah, a hill which would later be called Mount Calvary.
Abraham so impressed God that God blessed him and decided to not lay any sin to Abraham’s account. Romans 4:3-8
In fact, lets go ahead and look at Romans 4
1 ¶ What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found?
What did Abraham find out that persuaded God to so bless him?
The Story of Abraham
* Born and named Abram, he was the third son of Terah, descended from Noah through Shem.
* Abram was born and raised in the city of Ur, in Chaldea, which encompasses modern day Iraq, near the city of Al Kut, about 175 miles Southeast of Baghdad.
* At 70 years old he was called by God and moved 300 miles North to the city of Haran. Acts 7
* Later he received a more specific call from God who promised to make him a great nation. Genesis 12
* God changed his name to Abraham meaning father of many nations.
* Hebrews 11:8 says that Abraham trusted God, “not knowing where he went”.
* Living a migratory life, dwelling in tents, Abraham and his household, probably over 1000 people, journeyed South to the land of Canaan.
* God so greatly increased Abraham that he was forced to separate from his nephew, Lot, who chose to live in the fertile plains of Sodom while Abraham took up residence in an area just a short distance South of Jerusalem, in what is now known as the city of Hebron.
* God spoke to Abraham again in Genesis 15 and promised him a son.
* When Abraham’s wife, Sarah, was 75 years old and barren, she grew impatient with God’s promise and persuaded Abraham to have a child with her servant girl, Hagar. Thus Ishmael was born .
* When Sarah was 90, Genesis 17:17, and Abraham was 100 years old, she conceived and in the course of time Isaac was born.
* Genesis 22 tells us that Abraham was tested by God and told to offer Isaac as a sacrifice to God. When God saw Abraham would obey, God sent an angel to stop him.
* Abraham dies at the age of 175
* In the New Testament Abraham is called
> Faithful Abraham Galatians 3:9
> The Friend Of God James 2:23
> Romans 4:16 The Father Of Us All
Romans 4 (KJV)
17 ¶ (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.
18 Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be.
19 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 Sara’s womb:
20 He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;
21 And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.
22 And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.
More than just a belief, Abraham was persuaded.
What persuaded Abraham - He persuaded himself!
* Abraham chose to believe God - he heard the stories and …
God’s Presence
God’s Promise
God’s Performance
Are For The Fully Persuaded
Persuade Yourself -- God Is! - God Can! - God Will! -- Deal with Doubt
