I'm gonna ask you to take your
Bibles and turn with me to the book of Hebrews, Hebrews chapter
11. Hebrews 11. I wanna read two verses of scripture
out of Hebrews 11. And I want to consider this subject. Pleasing God. Pleasing God. Hebrews 11.1 says,
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence
of things not seen. And then verse six of Hebrews
11 says, but without faith, it is impossible to please him. For he that cometh to God must
believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that
diligently seek him. Pleasing God. I want to know something about
that. Pleasing God. Now, this scripture has spoken,
both of them have spoken about this subject of faith. Faith. And when man by nature speaks
of faith, in the natural sense, They're
talking about something of which they can find some assurance,
they can base this assurance on something that has been proven. Now we're in a building this
morning and I have some assurance based on the fact that I've been
here almost 21 years, and as of this moment, that ceiling
has not caved in. I've got some assurance that
it's gonna hold up this morning. You're sitting in those pews
right there. How many years you been sitting in those pews? You've
got some assurance that you can rely on that pew
to hold you up And naturally speaking, we'll say, we'll use
this terminology, well, I've got faith, I've got faith in
that pew. Well, you have some assurance. But the scripture sets forth,
when we talk about faith, faith is that precious gift of God
given to a people. of His eternal love, of His compassion,
of His choosing, men and women that have been given the grace
of faith. So when we talk about faith,
I've got faith in that faith deals with one thing. believing on the Lord Jesus Christ.
That's the only thing faith deals with, faith, faith. We use that
word, but we're talking about reliability, we're talking about
some assurance, but you're not talking about faith unless you're
talking about the Lord Jesus Christ. And men are not born,
turn to 2 Thessalonians. I quote this, I say this every
once in a while. I want you to turn to this, 2 Thessalonians
3, 2 Thessalonians 3. Verses one and two. Faith is not that grace with
which men are born. You're not born with faith. 2
Thessalonians 3, verse one and two. Finally, brethren, pray
for us that the word of the Lord may have free course and be glorified
even as it is with you and that we may be delivered from unreasonable
and wicked men, for all men have not faith." So remember, faith
is a gift. It's given unto you to believe,
because men are not born with faith. But without it, It's impossible to please God. Men and women are leaving this
world every day. Some die in the faith. And some die without faith. Those without faith die blindly
trusting in themselves that they are righteous, like the Pharisee
of Luke 18.9. Men are reliant. They're trusting that they are righteous because
they can see something or feel something that they did. Now
that's where assurance comes in. I see that ceiling. I see
those fans turning right there. I pretty well feel assured that
they're anchored to something that's gonna keep them up there.
That's not faith. That's reliability, but not faith. call what they see in themselves. I saw myself walk down an aisle. I remember that I quoted a prayer. I repeated something that some
man said to me. I got in a baptismal pool and
I saw the water. I felt the water and I have faith. You're trusting in something
that you see. And when you trust in something
that you've done, or you said, or you thought of yourself and
think that you have done something to satisfy God, that is not faith. And it produces one thing. I
want you to turn to Ephesians 2, Ephesians chapter 2, verses
eight and nine. That produces one thing. Now,
what I wanna do is I make statements a lot of time, and I wanna make
sure that when I make a statement, that I can back it up with scripture.
I don't want somebody to say, well Marvin said so and so and
so and so. Well, where'd you get that? Well,
I'm gonna get it out of the word of God. I'm gonna prove this.
It produces one thing. When you look to something that
you did, You walked down the aisle, you got baptized, whatever,
whatever. You spoke in tongues, whatever.
Whatever you thought that you did in order to be saved, in
order to be converted, that produces one thing. I'll prove it. Ephesians
2, verses eight and nine. For by grace, unmerited favor,
for by grace, are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves,
that gift, that faith was not of yourself. It's the gift of
God, not of works, lest any man should boast. Now if any man,
any woman, thinks that they were converted by something that they
did, it did not produce life in Christ, it produced pride
in yourself. That's what it did, produced
pride. The scripture says if a man is
going to glory, 1 Corinthians 1 31 says this, he that glorieth,
he that has a reason to rejoice, to be glad, to have some confidence,
he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. because there's only one way
to have peace and acceptance with God, and that is by faith. I'm gonna, you know, I'm gonna
just kind of build a little foundation here. We're gonna build on something
here for a few minutes. Faith. Faith. Now, I've gone back to this ceiling,
and there are those pews right there, and that fan right there,
and this pulpit right here. Assurance, reliability, like
faith, is based on something. It's based on something. I see
that. I'd go up there, I probably could
go up there and look at those rafters up there, and I'll bet you the
way those men built it back then, I promise you, it was built correctly. And it's got some substance to
it. Those pews right there, they got some, but I'd see that, I'd
see that. Faith is based on something too.
Faith is based on something. Hebrews 11.1 says, faith is the
substance. Faith is the ground or the confidence
of things hoped for, looked for, expected. It's the evidence of
things that are not seen. Man has to have something on
which to base faith. Faith. Faith is based on something. People talk about blind faith.
No, no, no, no, no, no. You made that up. You made that
up. Blind faith. I just, you just
leap in the dark. No, no, no, no, no. You made
that up too. Men don't have blind faith. Gary, we believe this. It's based
on something. What is faith based on? This book right here. Scriptures
right here. It's based on these scriptures.
It's based on the word of God. Hebrews 11.1. Now faith, and
let me just, you know me. I'm not gonna add to or take
away by the grace of God. I'm not gonna add to God's word
or take away from God's word. But that faith right there, now
faith, I'm gonna tell you something. It's faith in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Acts 16.31 says this. Whenever that Philippian jailer
asked Paul and Silas, what must I do to be saved? Here's what
they said. Believe, be persuaded. have some confidence in, trust
in, or entrust yourself to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and
thou shalt be saved. Don't trust in your walk. I've told you, or a lot of you,
the only difference, when somebody says, well, he walked down the
aisle, the only difference in me and you is 20 feet, 30 feet.
Walking down an aisle, all that means is that you can walk. That
has nothing to do. Faith is of the heart. Men come
to Christ in the heart. Men come to Christ and never
move a muscle. I can come to Christ right now.
I can come to Him, trust Him, and I'm standing right here.
I'm standing right behind the pulpit. I didn't move. Faith,
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the message of Hebrews
11, 6. But without faith, without faith
in Christ, that's what Paul the apostle said. The Lord said,
he that believeth on me, he that believeth, he that trusts me,
you come to me, him that cometh to me, he said. Without faith in Christ, It's impossible to please him,
to please God, it's impossible. I want you to hold your place
right there, but turn to Isaiah 45, Isaiah chapter 45, verse
24. Isaiah 45, 24, 25. Isaiah 45, verse 24, surely, Shall one say in the Lord, in
Jehovah, in the Father who chose, in the Son who redeems, in the
Spirit of God who regenerates, in the Lord have I righteousness
and strength. Even to Him shall men come. And
all that are incensed against Him shall be ashamed. In the Lord shall all the seed
of Israel be justified and shall glory. Listen, let me tell you
something. Faith in Christ. When I say that, let me tell
you what I'm saying. I'm going to repeat it again just in case
you didn't get it. Faith in Christ and not faith
in yourself. Faith in Christ and not faith
in your works. Faith in Christ and not Faith
in your faith. Well, I believed. You must believe. But if you're trusting your faith,
we're saved by grace through faith. Faith is the means. Faith is the gift of God by which
we grasp hold. We trust Christ. I wish I could grab hold of what
I'm saying. I know it's so. Faith in Christ
is the ground, the confidence of that for which we wait, trust.
It's the evidence, it's the proof, it's the conviction of things
that are not seen. Scriptures declare that there's
a book. There's a book. Is it literal? Is it the memory
of God? I don't know. I don't know. But
I can tell you this. There's a book that is referred
to and it's called the Book of Life. And I can't get to it right
now. But I believe that it's so. Why? Because God said He's so. I believe
before the foundation of the world that I was chosen in Christ.
that I should be holy and without blame. What is the confidence
that I have that I'm one of his? I believe him, I believe him.
And I have, by the grace of God, no confidence in my flesh. I
told you, I've already been in the water two or three times.
Rededicated myself, you know, a few times, because I, you know,
they told me I'm supposed to. Faith in Christ, the gift of
God. Faith is the confidence, the
gram of which of those things that we cannot see. We believe God. By faith, we
trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the revelation of Jehovah.
Everything we know of God is known in Christ. All the blessings,
all the promises of God are in Him. God's promise. God's promise. That's faith's
claim. What do you believe? I believe
God. I believe the Lord. God is truth,
faith in Christ. Faith in Christ has no other
substance. There's nothing else. Faith,
there's no other evidence. The weakest believer And the Lord Jesus Christ possesses
the reality and the certainty of that which is invisible. We're constantly attacked on
every side. Our conscience, the wiles of
the devil, we stumble just like David did, just like Peter did,
just like Abraham did, just like I do and you do. But I'll tell
you this, God Almighty promised Peter. He said, Peter, before the cock crows two times,
you're gonna deny me three times. Peter said, I'll never do it.
I'll never do it. Satan has desired to have you,
Peter. But I've prayed for you that your faith in Christ fail
not, that your faith fail not. I prayed for you. You know why, if you do believe
him, you know why you still believe him right now? Because he intercedes
for you. He prays for you. That your faith
fail not. I've prayed for you. that your
faith fail not. This is how we're kept. Somebody
says, can you lose your salvation? If God saved you, you ain't going
nowhere. Turn to 1 Peter, 1 Peter 1.5. 1 Peter 1.5, can you lose your
salvation? No. Are you sure? Yes. How do you know? Because
God said so. Well, I've known people that
were saved and got lost. No, you don't. No, you don't. Made that up. Here's what God
said. 1 Peter 1 verse three to five. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy
hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ, from the dead to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and
that fadeth not away reserved in heaven for you who are kept
by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed
in the last time. Faith. Oh, the preciousness of
faith. There's nothing that is as precious
to a believer as faith in Christ. More precious than silver or
gold, that's what 1 Peter 1.7 says. Now, with that thought,
I want us to go back to a passage of scripture. It's Luke 23. I
want us to go back to a passage of scripture that we've looked
at so many times before. I started looking at this a few
days ago, and I thought of that passage of
scripture where Paul the apostle said, he said, for me to say
the same things to you, he said, for me it's not grievous. He
said, for you it's safe. Now this is something that's
safe. I want to deal with a passage that we've looked at, we've visited
many times, and I want us to go back to Calvary, and I want
us to see what the Lord, Luke chapter 23, I'm gonna start reading
in verse 27 and come right on up. to when the Lord is getting
ready to give up the ghost. He said in Luke 23, verse 27,
that there followed him a great company of people and of women,
which also bewailed and lamented him. But Jesus turning unto them
said, daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for
yourselves and for your children. Behold, the days are coming in
the which they shall say, blessed are the barren and the wombs
that never bear, and the paps which never gave suck. Then shall
they begin to say to the mountains, fall on us, and to the hills,
cover us. For if they do these things in
a green tree, what shall be done in the dry? The Lord is talking
to a group of people that's following, that they're feeling some There's
some lamenting for him, and he's speaking to some people that
he's warning. He's warning. He said, don't
weep for me, daughters of Jerusalem. He said, weep for yourselves,
because if they're doing this to me, who is innocent, the green What will happen to you? For
the dry, don't weep for me. And then he said in verse 32
and 33, what the scripture says, there were also two other malefactors
led with him to be put to death. And when they were come to the
place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him and
the malefactors, the one on the right hand and the other on the
left. Now, here we see when the Lord
got to Calvary, there were two others that would be crucified
that day. And they were, they were evil
doers, malefactors. They were, they were criminals. These, these two men were, The
kind, these were criminals now. These were bad men. These were sinners. But let me
tell you the amazing thing about these two sinners. These were
the kind of men that Christ came to save. Paul the Apostle in
1 Timothy chapter one, verse 15, here's what Paul the Apostle
said concerning himself, 1 Timothy 1.15. This is a faithful saying
and worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the
world to save sinners of whom I'm chief. Now, if you are a
sinner, I looked that word up, sinner,
you know, one devoted to sin. One devoted to it. One that has no desire but to
sin. Now that's a sinner. And the
scripture says all have sinned and come short of the glory of
God. I wish I could tell you that there's some good, there's
a little good in all of us, but there's not. There's not, I don't
have anything good to say to any of us as we're born in Adam. We're all born sinners devoted
to it. We're devoted to it. We love
it. I may say, well now, I think you're being a little harsh.
No, the best thing in the world that anybody ever told me from
the scriptures is what I am. Because that's the only kind
of people that Christ came to save. He said, I didn't come
to save the righteous. There ain't none. There's none
righteous. Not one. But he came to save
sinners. And all have sinned. But by the
grace of God, the Spirit of God teaches some of us. So if you're
a sinner, now if you're not a sinner, you can sit here and listen,
but if you're not one, okay, but I'm talking to sinners, if
there's any sinners in here. There was two malefactors, two
criminals, two sinners, and one was hanging on one side of the
Lord, One was on the other side. The Lord in the middle. And then
back in Luke 20, 23, verse 34 to 38, the Lord began to speak. He said something. Then said
Jesus, Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. And
they parted his raiment and cast lots, and the people stood beholding.
And the rulers also with him derided him, saying, he saved
others. Let him save himself if he be
Christ, the chosen of God. And the soldiers also mocked
him, coming to him, offering him vinegar and saying, if thou
be the king of the Jews, save thyself. The superscription also
was written over him in letters of Greek and Latin, Hebrew, This
is the king of the Jews. These two malefactors and all
the folks standing around, they heard the Lord Jesus Christ speak. And he began to speak unto his
father. They heard him pray. Father, forgive them. Father, let go of the debt. Father, remit. Give up judgment toward them. For they know not what they do.
Father, they're ignorant. They're born in this world. and they're sinners, they're
rebels. Father, forgive them because
they're ignorant who they're actually offending. You, forgive
them. Hold your place right there.
Turn over to John 19. I want to give you, this is John's
account of this very event, the crucifixion, and the Spirit of
God moved on John to write something else concerning the words of
the Lord. John 19, 25 to 27. John 19, 25,
27. There stood by the cross of Jesus
his mother and his mother's sister, Mary, the wife of Cleopas. and Mary Magdalene. And when
Jesus, therefore, saw his mother and the disciple standing by
whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy
son. Then saith he to the disciple,
Behold thy mother. From that hour, that disciple
took her unto his own home. Here's two accounts Two of the
writers of the Holy Scriptures moved by the Spirit of God to
pen the words of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that, those two thieves,
they heard what he said. And those people heard what he
said. They heard the Lord pray, Father, forgive them. They don't
know what they're doing. And they heard him look at the
disciple he loved, John. Behold your mother. In that time,
he took care of her. He knew what the Lord was saying.
These two thieves heard the Lord speak concerning forgiveness and the ignorance of man, tenderness
toward those that he loved, Words that were an expression of the
concern that the Lord has for all of His people. The church,
the bride, His chosen, the elect. They heard the Lord say some
things concerning the truth. I'm never going to leave you.
I'm not going to forsake you. He's dying on the cross. He's
going to take care of those that He loved. Take her home. Take
her home with you. These two thieves heard God speak. They heard him speak with this
natural ear. No doubt about that. But obviously
there was one who heard with a new ear. Proverbs 20 speaks of the hearing
ear. The hearing ear. The seeing eye. That ear and that eye of faith. Faith. That ear that hears the
voice of the shepherd. That's what the Lord said. My
sheep hear. Back in Luke 23, one of those thieves, Bryant,
heard. He heard. Both of them heard. Both of them heard. You hear
what I'm saying right now. If you understand Southern English,
you hear what I'm saying. You know what I'm saying. but by the grace of God, some
here. And those two thieves heard the Lord speak of forgiveness, ignorance, compassion. Back in Luke 23, next verse,
verse 39, one of the malefactors, verse 39, which was hanging railed
on him, saying, if thou be Christ, save thyself and us. Now this thief, he heard the
Lord speak, but obviously nothing changed. He saw no need of forgiveness,
no need of redemption in Christ, because this is what
he said, if you're the Christ, know who that was, who he claimed
to be, saw the sign over his head. If you're the Christ, save yourself
and us. Obviously, he saw no need for
the shedding of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Save yourself
and save us. I don't deserve what I'm getting,
obviously. This man, he wasn't a sinner
in his own eyes, but the other, that other one, That other one
that had heard, he heard. Verse 40 and 41, the other answering
rebuked him saying, does not thou fear God? By the grace of God, we're gonna
hear what this man said here in the next couple of verses.
This man knew who was hanging on that cross. He knew, he knew. and his mouth is gonna confess
it. Does not thou fear God? Don't
you have any reverence, any respect? Seeing thou art in the same condemnation,
and we justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds,
but this man hath done nothing amiss. Here was one rebuking
the other for his lack of fear, reverence for the one hanging
on the cross. You know what that man just did? Do you not fear God? We're getting exactly what we
deserve. This man right here, he's innocent. He's innocent. Hold your place, turn over to
Matthew 10, 32. Matthew 10, 32. I think about these precious
words. You know what that man did? He was confessing openly
who he was, who the Lord Jesus Christ was. Matthew 10, 32, whosoever
therefore shall confess me before me and him will I confess also
before my Father which is in heaven. Spirit of God gave that
thief, that regenerated thief, I can
tell you just from his words, faith to believe and faith to
confess Christ. And he wasn't ashamed. Now he's
hanging on that cross. And he's dying. But he wasn't
afraid to confess that the Lord Jesus Christ who was hanging
on the cross right beside him was none other than God coming
to flesh. You know who this is? This man,
this is God the Messiah. This is God in the form of Sinful
flesh, this is God in the flesh, this man, this man. This man
has done nothing. This is the holy, harmless Lamb
of God. And He's innocent. This is the Redeemer. Redeemers are sinners. We're
getting what we deserve. We're getting, we're getting
what we deserve. I did just exactly, he said,
what I'm accused of. Spirit of God moved on that thief's
heart and he knew himself to be a malefactor. Ready to admit
it, 1 John 1.9. 1 John 1.9 says this. If we confess
our sins, Well, that's what he did. That's
what he did. He said, we're getting just exactly
what we deserve. If we confess our sins, he's
faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness. This thief heard the Lord Jesus
pray unto his father. And he heard this word. to forgive
them. And that thief knew if God is
gonna forgive somebody, that means that somebody's guilty
and somebody's condemned and somebody is soon to meet God
in judgment. One that has been ignorantly
sinning against him with no regard with no regard for any respect
toward him. And if there's anybody on this
hill today that needs forgiveness because of his ignorance, I'm
it. I'm the one. Faith cometh by hearing. hearing by the word of God. And
that thief was blessed to hear the gospel of God's grace from
the very lips of the Messiah himself. Luke 23, 42, and he said unto
Jesus, Lord, remember me. when thou comest into thy kingdom.
He said unto Jesus. He said unto Jehovah is salvation. He said unto God's salvation. That's what Jesus means. Lord, sovereign master, prince, God,
the Messiah, you who own all things, by whom all things consist,
you who have power, to give eternal life to as many
as the Father has given you. Lord, would you be mindful of
me? Would you remember me when you
enter into your kingdom? Lord, you're the king. I know you're getting ready to
enter into it. Lord, would you be mindful of me? I don't deserve
it. I know what I am. I know what
I've done. But Lord, there's forgiveness
with you. This man had no good work to
offer. What has he done? All he'd ever
done is rebel against God. He was a sinner. He had no righteousness
that God would accept. He had nothing. He had nothing.
But God gave him faith. who cast himself upon the mercy
of God. Two thieves hanging on each side
of the Lord Jesus Christ. One heard it with disregard,
but by the grace of God, Christ had compassion on one. Did he have the right
to do it? That's what he told Moses. He
told Moses he did. I'll have mercy and compassion
on whomsoever I will. Salvation's of the Lord. Now,
I'm gonna say this. If you're a sinner, a helpless,
helpless sinner, one that Almighty God has given you a heart to
believe. I can't save myself. Why didn't that thief just exercise
his free will? Come on down. Why? Lord, if there's forgiveness
with you, Lord, would you forgive me? Lord, would you remember
me for Christ's sake? Amen. All right, let's take a
short break.