Romans 4:16-25
April 5, 2026
preached by Pastor Ryan Bouton
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Time of Reflection Quotations

“I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.”

~ “Is Theology Poetry?” by C.S. Lewis (1898-1963 AD), a British writer, literary scholar, and lay theologian

“It is indisputable that some of the followers of Jesus came to think that he had been raised from the dead, and something had to have happened to make them think so.”

~ How Jesus Became God by Bart Ehrman, an American New Testament scholar and professor

“Why would the apostles lie? Liars always lie for selfish reasons. If they lied, what was their motive, what did they get out of it? What they got out of it was misunderstanding, rejection, persecution, torture, and martyrdom. Hardly a list of perks!”

~ Peter Kreeft (1937-present) author, theologian, apologist, and professor of philosophy at Boston College and The King’s College

“Let us band together to invent all the miracles and resurrection appearances which we never saw and let us carry the sham even to death! Why not die for nothing? Why dislike torture and whipping inflicted for no good reason? Let us go out to all nations and overthrow their institutions and denounce their gods! And even if we don’t convince anybody, at least we’ll have the satisfaction of drawing down on ourselves the punishment for our own deceit.”

~ Eusebius Pamphili (260/265- 339/340), Bishop, historian, theologian and writer

“If Jesus rose from the dead, then you have to accept all that he said; if he didn’t rise from the dead, then why worry about any of what he said? The issue on which everything hangs is not whether or not you like his teaching but whether or not he rose from the dead.”

~ Timothy Keller, The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

~ John 11:25-26

Sermon Passage

Romans 4:16-25 (ESV)

¹⁶ That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, ¹⁷ as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. ¹⁸ In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.” ¹⁹ He did not weaken in faith when he considered 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. ²⁰ No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, ²¹ fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. ²² That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.” ²³ But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, ²⁴ but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, ²⁵ who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.