ESSENCE OF FAITH IS GLORIFYING GOD What is the secret of Abraham’s secret? He gave glory to God. Abraham, instead of him looking at his own body and seeing the impossibility, instead of staggering, and stumbling, he looked to God. When things look impossible, don’t look to yourself, look to God. But we tend to look at our weaknesses, we stagger, we look at ourselves instead of keeping our eyes on God. That does not bring glory to God when we do that. Abraham considered who God is and what God is. Abraham glorified God by realizing what God is. He meditated on the attributes of God. We glorify God by meditating and contemplating on God, realizing the truth of God and worshipping Him. REALIZED WHO GOD IS—ATTRIBUTES OF GOD He considered the eternal nature of God. God is self-existent. He realized that God is omnipotent. He is all powerful. There is no limit to His power. He is omniscient. He knows everything. There is nothing He doesn’t know. He thought of God’s righteousness, justice, truth, holiness, unchangeability. When you contemplate on these characteristics and realize God made an amazing promise. When we think about who God is and what He is, He never makes a promise lightly or loosely. When we think these things, we give God glory. God knew that Abraham was nearly a hundred and Sarah’s age and condition, but nothing is impossible with God. Faith always glorifies God. Faith is to believe God simply because He is God. Nothing glorifies God more than this, nothing is so insulting to God as not to believe His Word. E. FULLY PERSUADED CONFIDENT He was fully convinced, confident, committed, certain, with complete hope in God.

- F. THE GIFT OF GOD---IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS

Because of his faith, God gave him righteousness and that's how the transaction works. We believe God, and it isn't on the merit of our believing but it is that our believing receives the gift He offers. God gave him righteousness. And the “therefore” indicates consequence. The ground of his justification was his faith. He believed God, therefore he was made right with God. How does a person become right with God? By doing so many of these things and so many of those kind of things and so many spiritual activities? No, you become right with God by believing what God says, by believing He is the God He reveals Himself to be, by believing enough to do what He says, in an act of belief. He transmits His righteousness. So, he was accepted by God, a sinner, and was given divine righteousness, which he received through faith.

However, with all this we must be reminded there are degrees of faith. The terms strong and weak indicate that there are degrees of faith. For example, remember when Jesus was walking on water and Jesus said to Peter, “O thou of little faith” Little faith is indicative that there can be more faith. When the disciples were in the boat in the storm and they were frightened, Jesus said, “where is your faith?” “Lord I believe, help my unbelief.” “If you have faith of a mustard seed.” That means very small. The Syro-Phoenician woman who held on to Jesus and Jesus said, “Woman great is your faith. The centurion who sent the message to Jesus about his servant who was sick, and the centurion said all Jesus had to do was speak the word. Jesus said, “I have not found so great fait, no, not in Israel. It is good to have full assurance of faith, but what if it is not full assurance, you can still go to God with just enough faith. Weak faith, is nevertheless faith. Faith can be weak, but true faith. A young sapling has the essence of the oak tree in it but is certainly not as strong. A child may have strength but not very much strength. What makes faith great? It is the knowledge of God. And then. It is the application of the knowledge of God. Jesus said to the disciples in the boat, “Where is your faith?” why don’t you apply your faith. We are to apply what we know.