Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayerful attention to Paul's epistle to the Galatians. Galatians chapter 5 and reading
for our text, verse 6. Galatians 5 and verse 6. For in Jesus Christ, Neither
circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith
which worketh by love. And it is the last clause, especially
upon my spirit, faith which worketh by love. And I hope there are
those of you here that are concerned to be found in Christ, in that
great antitype of the Ark. What a safety there was in Noah's
Ark for those within it. How different to those that were
shut out. Those shut in were safe, borne
up on the water and brought safely to the other side. Our Lord says
that the end of the world shall be coming as quickly, as suddenly as what that flood came
that took so many unawares. And yet we read that by faith,
Noah, he made an ark to the saving of his house. And the Lord Jesus
Christ is that great anti-time, those that are found in Christ. And so we read in our text, for
in Jesus Christ. He's setting forth what it is
to be in Christ. And maybe your question is, what
is the right way being found in him? And is there some ways that are
effectual, those that are ways that will result in salvation,
and others that will not? Because in our text, the apostle
is setting forth before these Galatians those who had been
taught, taught the truth first, but then others came and said
that the faith that they had, that faith in Christ, needed
to be added to, they needed to be circumcised, keep the law,
otherwise they could not be saved. But the apostle, he writes to
them, and he doesn't even say, well, circumcision, that may
held somewhat, he just dismisses both. He says, in Christ Jesus,
neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision. He completely dismisses completely
the doctrine, the teaching, and the law of circumcision. And then he says, but faith,
which worketh by love. That avails, that is effectual,
that is the thing that is counted or does count towards salvation. And it is vital that we be not
pursuing, even while we are wanting salvation, pursuing things that
will never result in it. Paul, when he wrote to the Romans,
he testified how he desired the salvation of his own countrymen. He longed for it. And I hope
it is the case with every pastor and every minister. They long
for the salvation of their heroes. I long for it. I pray for those
who sit under my ministry. I pray the Lord will bless it
to them and save them through the word preached. It is a word
maybe the congregation doesn't realize, a word not in the book
but in the closet before and after the services and in the
week too. Watering that which is sown with
prayer. But Paul, he said he viewed those
of his countrymen and they had a zeal for God but it was not
according to knowledge. They were going about to establish
their own righteousness and had not submitted themselves unto
the righteousness of God. What a grief, what a sorrow to
the Apostle and really to every minister of the Gospel to see
those of his heroes that may be very diligent may be very
zealous, may be doing many things that indicate that they know
the worth of their souls and want to be saved, but they're
aiming and looking at a completely wrong direction and wrong way. And this is what the Apostle
saw with the Galatians here. And he's saying the way that
you're going with this teaching and trying to fulfil the law,
adding really the law unto grace as if grace, and if the faith
in Christ is not enough, there must be something else added
to it. He's saying this is not going to avail anything, won't
help you at all. Now when I was studying in engineering,
there were several times in the lessons where the instructors
would say, look, don't bother learning about this, don't go
down that track. It won't count anything towards
your end of year marks. It won't help you at all towards
your exams at the end of the year. However much you might
apply yourself to it, it doesn't relate to this at all. And I've
often thought of this with the Word of God, there's many things
that you might say, I wish the Word of God told us about this
or that, and it's silent, it doesn't tell us. Sometimes there's
many years, we're reading through judges and You get a period in
Judges there, you read of 80 years they had rest, and then
another 40 years they had rest. And the Scripture's silent. You
think 120 years of the history of Israel and nothing is said? Didn't anything happen at that
time? No doubt it did. But it's not necessary for salvation,
not necessary to be included in the Holy Word of God. And
in a way, what the Lord is saying, you don't need to know about
this. John, in his gospel, he said, these are written. He said,
many other things could be written that our Lord did, but these
are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Son of God
and that in believing, you might have life through his name. And
so the Lord has kindly, in one way, shepherded us who believe
in the inspired, infallible Word of God, and stick close to that
rather than traditional men's teaching, that it shepherds us
away from things that are empty and vain and will not result
in salvation. But nevertheless, there is a
need, like the apostles saw with these Galatians, of teaching
what clearly will avail, what will and does count, For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision
availeth anything, or counts for anything, nor uncircumcision,
but faith which worketh by love. Not any faith, but faith which
worketh by love. So I want to look with the Lord's
help this evening. Three points. the faith of Christ,
that is its origin, faith's origin. And then secondly, faith in Christ,
that is the object of faith. And then thirdly, faith which
worketh by love, the fruit of faith. of the faith that is spoken
of here that avails. So firstly, the faith of Christ,
the origin of faith. We read in Hebrews and chapter
12 that our Lord Jesus Christ is the author and finisher of
our faith. All men do not have faith, but
faith is given. And it is given at the same time
as the new birth. Many things, many descriptive
ways are used to describe the same thing. Conversion, regeneration,
the new birth, passing from death unto life. It is all a vital
change. I pass by thee when thou wast
in thy blood, and when thou wast in thy blood I bid thee live.
That time, and that time he which hath begun a good work in you,
he shall perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ. It's that
beginning, that calling, no man cometh unto me except the Father
which sent me. Draw him, and I'll raise him
up at the last day. It's that drawing, that beginning,
that call, that at that time, faith is given. Faith which is described in one
way, of course we have it in our text, but faith that is described
in Paul writes to the Hebrews and in chapter 11, and you might
say there is the fruits of faith right through that chapter. But
he is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things
not seen. And without faith it is impossible
to please him. He that cometh to God must believe
that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek
him. Faith is trust, it is trusting
trusting in the Word, trusting in God, trusting in His salvation,
resting not in our own works but in God's. And so the source of that is
in God. The first great distinguishing
mark of true and saving faith is that it is God that sovereignly
gives it. He gives it the time of conversion. Now we have in Galatians here,
if we were to go back to chapter 2 and verse 16, we read there, knowing that a
man is not justified by the works of the law, that is, countered
without guilt or not guilty, not under condemnation, is not
justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus
Christ. I may have said it before, versions
like the ESV, they translate this as, but by faith in Jesus
Christ in this passage. And those that defend that, Translation,
that rendering of it, will say that if you believe in faith
being sovereignly given, then the AV is correct. If you believe
in duty faith, or that is faith in Christ that we exercise ourselves,
then the ESB is right. And you see, even in a translation,
it can change the doctrine But Paul in this chapter, and we'll
see it in these two points, the first two points we have, he
does speak of faith in Christ as well. It's not that that is
excluded, that is very important, vital. But what is so vital is
the source of that faith. So we have in verse 16, chapter
two, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the
law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, for he is the source
of it. Even we have believed in Jesus
Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not
by the works of the law, for by the works of the law shall
no flesh be justified. And then if we go on to verse
20, the same chapter, he says, I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless
I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me, and the life which
I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God,
who loved me and gave himself for me. And really in that verse,
he's not only saying that His faith came from God, but that
God loved him first and God gave himself for him first. This is
God's work. I've loved thee with an everlasting
love, therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee. And it is
the Lord's work I lay down my life for the sheep. Other sheep
I have which are not of this world, them also I must bring.
And it is the love of God that brought our Saviour to suffer,
bleed and die. And He gives then to His people,
He gives them faith to believe and trust in what He has done. He is the source of it, the giver
of it. Every blessing comes to us through
Jesus' precious blood. And so then if we Go to the third
chapter, Galatians 3 and verse 22. The Scripture hath concluded
all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might
be given to them that believe. But before faith came, We were
kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards
be revealed. And he says the law was a schoolmaster
to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that, faith is come. Faith cometh by hearing, and
hearing by the word of God, and Paul in that Romans chapter 10,
he describes that that faith of Jesus Christ is the word that
we preach, that is in our hearts, that with the heart man believeth,
and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. So whatever faith we have, we
must know this, that the origin is from God. If we have a faith
of our own, You and I will have to keep it alive ourselves. We have to keep on propping it
up. But the faith that God gives, that will support us. And I say
this, there are different degrees of faith, little faith, great
faith, there's faith that is known in different degrees and
ways, there's faith that completely blots out all doubt. Dear brother in the faith, years
ago in New Zealand, and I asked him, he's a minister there, and
I asked him about assurance, and he turned on his heel, he
said to me, assurance, you have assurance? Don't look for it
10 minutes later. And what he was meaning is that
assurance of which we have no doubt, a real persuasion, that
when we die we shall go to heaven. And there are degrees of love,
aren't there? You know, we can say that we
love a brother, or love a parent, or love a wife, but there are
different degrees of that feelings of that love, and even where
we may love a wife or love a husband, there are times that that will
really well up and you'll feel it much, much stronger than at
other times. It's not that you don't love
them those other times. As you go about your daily lives
and that you do, you do. But some things will make you
feel that love to them even more. And so it is with the things
of God. So it is with faith as well. But remember with Peter,
when Peter almost was thinking he was going to trust in himself,
that all men forsake thee, yet not will I. And the Lord told
him about how that Satan had desired to have him and to sift
him as wheat. But he said, I prayed for thee.
Not that you won't fall. Not that what you said is true. All men will forsake, but you
won't. I pray that that will come to
pass like that. No, he didn't. He said, I pray
that thy faith fail not. The faith that the Lord had given
him, he maintains that, he keeps that, that is safe in heaven
above, that cannot be lost. The Lord has given it and he'll
maintain it for his people. And I've used this illustration
before, The times I've been in the Bethesda homes or Pilgrim
homes, and one of the residents has had a walking frame. And
you see them walking down the corridor, and they're holding
the frame. They're lifting the frame up, walking with it. And
you think, you'd be much better off without it at all. You see
another one, and they'll be pushing the frame along, leaning upon
it with all of their weight, That frame is supporting them
completely. They need it. They're relying
on it. That's what faith is. Faith is
to be lent on, relied on, is given by God. But when it is
our own, we've got to carry it. It's a burden to us. It's vital that what faith we
have is given from above and maintained from above. And sometimes
it will be evidence that it is from above by the very type of
thing that Peter experienced. Peter's fall and restoration. Those changes, like we had a
sapling of a tree growing upwards, the wind blew it off to the side,
right over, as soon as the wind has taken away, back it comes
up again. And that faith that God gives
to his children, he will maintain that, even though there may be
those times that it's greatly tried, greatly buffeted, and
greatly tested, but it will always return to the giver of it. That soul that has this faith
will say, it's not in me. It's not in me. I cannot maintain it. I didn't
give it to myself, the Lord gave it to me. And I cannot maintain
it. And I seek of the Lord that he
would keep me. And the Lord that would strengthen
that faith through the word of God. That faith might grow stronger
and that it might centre in Christ. And that is the next point I
desire to bring before you, and that is this faith. A faith which
worketh by love, the saving faith of God's children, is a faith
in Christ. Its object is Christ. Men may speak of many things
that they're going after and seeking after, but the true faith
of God's elect always have one object, one desire, one expectation
of life through Christ in what he has accomplished and done
at Calvary. Trusting in his death, the payment
that he paid, the work he did on our behalf. Trusting alone
in Christ's finished work and not as these Galatians were trying
to do, Trust in something else and lean in something else as
well. We have again in Galatians here
this pointing to faith in Christ Jesus. In Galatians chapter 3
and verse 26. For ye are all the children of
God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been
baptized into Christ have put on Christ, there is neither Jew
nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male
nor female, for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And the object
of faith is in Christ. When Paul writes to the Colossians,
he says to them in chapter 3, sorry, chapter 1, since we heard, in verse 4, since
we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which you
have to all the saints, and that is bringing together some of
what we have in our text. the object of faith in Christ
and the fruit of faith which is love to all the saints." Marking
out what true faith is, a saving faith, an effectual faith, a
faith that avails. So we have in chapter 2 of Colossians,
verse 5, "'For though I be absent, in the flesh, yet am I with you
in the spirit, joying and beholding your order and the steadfastness
of your faith in Christ. As ye have therefore received
Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him. And again he's bringing
together these two parts in our text, a faith which worketh,
which worketh by love. It is a faith then that is in
Christ, that Christ will do all that is necessary for our soul's
salvation. We mentioned before, he which
hath begun a good work in you will perform it unto the day
of Jesus Christ. Now faith in Christ believes
that and it trusts that, that the Lord has begun and he will
continue on that work. He has loved with an everlasting
love, and because of that, he went to Calvary. He suffered,
bled, and died there. And our hope is in what the Lord
has done there. Wherever the Holy Spirit is put
forth, and he is the author of the new birth, born of the Spirit
and of the water, the Word of God and the Holy Spirit of God,
And it is He that takes of the things of Jesus and reveals them
unto us. The finished work of redemption. In the empty tomb it proves that
that is finished. The debt is paid. God has been
reconciled by the death of His Son. The people of God are reconciled
unto Him. It is a wrath-appeasing sacrifice. It is Christ that died, yea,
rather, that is risen again, that sitteth on the right hand
of God, appearing in the presence of God for us. Thou advocate
with the Father. In the book of Ruth, In the first
three chapters we read about Ruth, we read about Naomi. In chapter three we read about
how Naomi is directing Ruth to make her petition to Boaz to
spread his skirt upon her, to act the part of a near kinsman,
to marry her. And in chapter four we do not
read of Ruth, except, of course, at the very end. But all is left
with Boaz. She presents her petition to
him, and Naomi says, sit still, my daughter. The man will not
be in rest until he have finished the thing this day. And Ruth
was to have faith in Boaz, trust in him, leave it with him. He will manage it. He will do
it. He will perform it. And that is vital in the way
of salvation. It is not resting on our works
or efforts, but resting solely upon Christ. From what He has
done in eternity, His choice of us, and what He has done at
Calvary, and what He has done in bringing us into the world,
and what He has done in bringing us to have a hearing ear and
to have spiritual life. I give unto them eternal life,
that life has a beginning, and faith is what is given at the
beginning. And it's evidenced as well with
a hearing ear. He that hath an ear, let him
hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. And as faith cometh
by hearing, hearing by the word of God, all these things. are
all intermeshed and they're joined together. You know, we think
of a baby that is being formed in the womb from the first implanted
seed, and then all parts of that baby all come together, they
all work together, and you can't take away any aspect and let
it be a whole baby. So when the Lord begins with
his people, all that they need is being wrought and done in
them. hearing ear and faith and teachableness, knowledge of their
sin and knowledge of their need of a saviour. A faith given by Christ and faith
in Christ, looking to the Lord to perform for them. So our second
point then is faith in Christ, is that faith which avails. The last point I bring before
you is the main point of the text, which is faith which worketh
by love. That is, it's fruit, faith's
fruit. What kind of faith is it that
brings forth fruit to the honour and glory of God? Well, James
would say it is a working faith. that it works out what God has
worked in. John would say the same as he
writes in his epistles, we know that we have passed from death
unto life because we love the brethren. We love him because
he first loved us. The love of God, this is the
love of God that We keep His commandments, and His commandments
are not grievous to us. And that faith of God, then it
works out in a way consistent with love to the Lord Jesus Christ. That faith perceives and knows
that it was of nothing in us that brought the Lord to suffer,
bleed, and die. It perceives the love. Hereby
perceive we the love of God to us. That while we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us. And when we realize that and
feel the love of God bestowed upon us, then it begets also
a love to those that are bound up in that same secret. The secret
of the Lord is with them that fear him. and a love to the Lord
that so gave them faith and so suffered for them and blessed
them. And so that love is a constraining love. The love of Christ constraineth
us. And so we have here the faith
that does avail, that does count for something, is a faith that
worketh by love. It is a fruitful faith. Now, you might say in the passage
we read in James, well, we live in a day when it seems that many,
they have a faith of charity. Anyone who listened to the sermon
of the Archbishop at the coronation of our King, And he virtually
patted everyone there on the back, how good they were, a lot
of the representatives from charities, what good deeds that they were
doing. As if it was God looking upon all of their good works. And you say, well, how is it
different then? Here with James pointing to works. You know, those that are It may
be two people, they're doing exactly the same thing. Maybe
they're both helping their neighbor or helping those that have no
clothes or no food. They're both doing it. Same thing,
exactly the same thing. One is doing it with the thought,
I'm doing this, I'm doing my part, God has got to do his.
He's going to reward me for what I'm doing. And because I'm doing
this, he must take me to heaven. and he must give me hell and
heaven in payment for this. That is salvation by works, is
looking to earn our way to heaven. The other one says, no, my faith
has been given me by the Lord and I trust solely in Christ
alone. I am doing this because of what
my Lord has done for me. I'm not doing it with any, there's
sin mixed with all, there's pride with me what I'm doing. And sometimes
I'm rather begrudging to it, rather do something else if I'm
honest. And they know and feel the sin
mixed with that. Doing exactly the same thing,
but with completely different feelings, completely different
motive. One is at work to obtain salvation,
the other is at work because salvation has been obtained And
that constraining love is the desire that as the God that has
saved them is good to all, his tender mercies are over all his
works, that we are to do good to all men, especially them that
believe. Because the Lord is the saviour
of all men, especially of them that believe. The household of
faith. He maketh his son to shine on
the just and unjust, him that serveth God and him that serveth
him not. The Lord is good to all, tender
mercies over all his works. And so the Lord directs us to
walk in that same way. And James points this out as
being a faith that is a working faith. Yea, a man may say, he
says in verse 18 of chapter 2, thou hast faith and I have works. Show me thy faith without thy
works, and I will show thee my faith by my works. Faith affecting what we do, how
we act, how we act toward others. Having received mercy, we give
mercy. Having received blessings from
the Lord, we bless others with what the Lord has. given us. This is the kind of faith that
must link all of these parts together. Those that just do
the charity part, you ask them where their faith is for eternity. You ask them who gave them their
faith. You ask them even whether what
they're doing is an act of faith at all. And you'll find it is
not. Just because some will abuse
or some do something from a wrong motive, doesn't mean to say that
then we turn away from it, from doing it in a right motive, a
good way. Now the Word of God, it sets
before us exhortations and you might say, if faith is real,
if it is given by the Lord, Why should we have to be exhorted
in it, especially regarding these fruits of love? But if we think
it on that side, think of it what the Word of God has to say
concerning husbands and wives. In Colossians 3, we have husbands
love your wives and be not bitter against them. Why on earth would
you have to exhort anyone that loves their wife to love them? There is a place, there is a
need for exhortation, for warning, for encouragement, even in the fruits and effect
of what true and saving faith is. We said that faith cometh
by hearing and hearing by the word of God. So it is that faith
gives the hearing ear and it believes that word, trusts that
word, obeys that word. Remember, Peter says as well
that we are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation,
ready to be revealed in the last day. How can God's people be
kept through faith? Because the Lord opens their
ear, brings the word, brings the preach word, through that
word they are warned. You might be planning something
in the week to do, and you come into the Lord's house, the minister
comes in the path, and you go and you undo and you stop what
you planned to do because you're warned from the word you're not
to do that. It's a good thing when the Word of God moves us,
so we go from the Lord's house or from the Word of God and do
what we wouldn't do, or stop doing what we shouldn't do. And
it's by that way that we really are saying we're going to trust
in the Word of God. The Lord has given me faith to
believe His instruction, His direction, my sheep, They hear
my voice, what do they do? Say, oh, that was a nice word,
doesn't apply to me, my life. No, they follow me. Obedient, they follow. Thou shalt hear word behind thee,
saying, this is the way. Walk ye in it when ye turn to
the right hand, when ye turn to the left. I'll instruct thee
and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go. I'll guide thee
with mine eye. But what if a person doesn't
have faith? And they say, well, That word
doesn't apply. That's only Paul, right? That's
not the word of our Lord. Or that's Genesis. That's just
myths. And those even in the professed
church that pull the word of God to pieces, how can they have
faith that cometh by hearing if they don't even acknowledge
that the word that they hear is the word of God? But when we have an open ear,
then through that Word. Then we hear these exhortations,
we hear what the Word has to say to the people of God. You think of in Jude, the exhortations
there, the general epistle of Jude, and the warnings there
of those that shall come in unawares. He exhorts them in verse 3 to
earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto
the saints, that is, the way of salvation, the whole plan
of salvation. Then you have at the end, in
verse 20 and 21, that ye beloved, building
up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost,
keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of
our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. You might say, well, isn't
it God that keeps us in his love? Isn't it God that does this?
But you know, we're not just mechanical typewriters that we're
just forced to do everything. These people have I formed for
myself, they shall show forth my praise. They do it because
of love. the constraining love of God.
And so they hear the exhortations, they hear what is needful. And the exhortations that are
in the Word, that we truly be caused even to pray as the Thessalonians
were, that the Lord direct our hearts into the love of Christ
and the patient waiting for Christ, the love of God. And Peter again,
he says, see that you love one another with a pure heart, fervently. And we are to look to those fruits
of love, not just saying, well, it will just happen, but paying
heed to what we hear and seeking to walk in. that path of love,
a faith that worketh by love, a faith that is a practical faith,
a faith that patterns itself off the Word of God, directed
how it is to walk according to the Word of God, how vital it
is. that we have a true faith, a
saving faith, a faith that gives honour and glory to the Lord,
to the giver of it. A faith that is described here. Faith which worketh by love. We think of Paul's epistle to
the Corinthians and how he sets before them in that beautiful
chapter in his first epistle to them in chapter 13. And he uses the example of charity,
a practical love, a working Charity never faileth, but whether
there be prophecies, they shall fail. Whether there be tongues,
they shall cease. Whether there be knowledge, it
shall vanish away. And he says, though I speak with
the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become
a sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal. Though I have the gift
of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge,
Though I have all faith so that I could remove mountains and
have not charity, I am nothing. Charity suffereth long and is
kind, charity envieth not, charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed
up. And we can read through that
chapter at your leisure, but what is set before us there is
a practical working love, a faith that worketh by love. Now abideth
faith, hope, charity, these three, for the greatest of these is
charity. And of course, in this world
here below, we need faith, but the Lord is the author and finisher
of our death. Faith is finished, it's changed
to sight. We no need to have faith in heaven.
And hope, beyond the grave. Here below, we are saved by hope,
a good hope through grace. Beyond the grave we don't need
hope, but here we have love, and beyond the grave we have
perfect love. And it is that love that bridges
over to both sides that only shall increase. And so, what
a mark, what a true mark of faith, of this saving faith, is that
it is faith which worketh by love. The Lord give us that which
does avail, will avail, which will land us safe in heaven above. For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision
availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith which worketh by love. The Lord add his blessings.