Once again, seeking the Lord's
help to grant me the words to speak to you, I'd like to direct
your attention to the chapter that we read together, Romans
chapter 10, and the text you'll find in verse 17. So then, faith cometh by hearing,
and hearing by the word of God. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing
by the word of God. Those of you who were here last
Lord's Day we spoke of faith and Enoch how that he walked
with God and he pleased God. Without faith it is impossible
to please him for he that cometh to God must believe that he is. We spoke of faith as a gift given
to us by God to enable us to believe the truths of the gospel
and to enable us to see our need of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
I think we even mentioned this verse that faith comes by hearing
and that God or the Lord Jesus Christ had commissioned his apostles
to go into all the world and to preach the gospel. And this
was the way in which the truth of the scripture was to be set
forth before the nations beginning at Jerusalem and then to Samaria
and then into the uttermost parts of the world. And so the Lord
Jesus Christ has chosen the means of preaching the proclamation
of the gospel, the heralding of the good news of the Lord
Jesus Christ to work through the preaching of the gospel and
those men who he has set aside for that work that he has chosen
that as the means by which the kingdom of light may advance
into the uttermost parts of the world. And as we read through
the book of Acts we see that the the advancement of the kingdom
of Christ. We see that the Holy Spirit working
with the apostles and with the early church as they go from
place to place preaching about the Lord Jesus. And we see many
people are brought to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. They are
brought to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus. They are brought
to see their need of the Lord Jesus Christ. They are convicted
of their sin. and they are brought to repentance
and faith and they're enabled to lay hold of the Lord Jesus
Christ as their saviour. And as the churches, as we know,
as the churches were established then the apostles began to write
to them and to set in order the things that were lacking in the
churches and to arrange them in the way which Christ would
have his church arranged and to and to teach them the doctrine
and the practice by which Christ would have his church to continue
preaching and to continue living out the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ and we see in this chapter that the Apostle Paul has a real
concern for those of his own people, the Jewish nation, who
were lost and he is so concerned because they are continuing to
go on in the way that they always had. They hadn't listened to
the preaching of the gospel. They hadn't seen their own need
of the Lord Jesus Christ or his finished work. They didn't need,
they thought, a righteousness that came from somebody else.
But they were persistent in trying to pursue a righteousness or
a goodness to obtain God's favour by themselves. in verses 1 to
4 he says, brethren my heart's desire and prayer to God for
Israel is that they might be saved. We see in this mindset
of the Apostle Paul that he had this compassion for the salvation
of those people who were lost, not only for the Gentiles but
also for his own nation, for his own home people. He had that desire that they
might be saved and as we look at the mindset of the Lord Jesus
Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ also had that compassionate spirit
to those people who were set before him. And we read in the
scriptures that we are also, as believers, to have the mind
of the Lord Jesus Christ, that humble mind and that desire to
see the advancement of the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
Paul, he says that his desire is that they might be saved.
He says, for I bear them record that they have a zeal for God,
but not according to knowledge. they being ignorant of God's
righteousness and going about to establish their own righteousness
have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God
for Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone
that believes. So here he says that as though
the gospel came to the Jews as they even witnessed the Lord
Jesus Christ, as they heard the preaching of the Lord Jesus Christ,
they rejected that truth, they rejected that information that
was being passed on to them and they continued on in the pathway
that they were going. was no change. The gospel had
no effect upon them and even though they were presented with
the righteousness of God in the Lord Jesus Christ yet they rejected
it as a false teaching and they continued to try and follow the
law of God to obtain a righteousness for themselves and we know that
that can never take place because of our sin. Once we have broken
one aspect of God's law we are guilty of breaking all of it
and therefore we will never ever be able to obtain a righteousness
of ourselves which is acceptable to God and so that is our only
hope. Our only hope is that we can
accept the righteousness which is of God which is the Lord Jesus
Christ and that is why God sent forth or Christ sent forth his
apostles and then his church into all the world to preach
the good news of the gospel for the whole world was plunged in
darkness and unable to save themselves and so the light of the glorious
gospel is the good news of salvation that man cannot obtain a righteousness
for himself but God has created a righteousness which is enabled
to be put on by faith. By faith in the Lord Jesus Christ
and faith comes by hearing or the word cometh is not in the
original language it just says so then faith by hearing. In verse 16 it says for they
have not all obeyed the gospel for Isaiah said Lord who has
believed our report and the word hearing can also be translated
as report and that is what the proclamation of the gospel is.
We are reporting what Christ has passed down to us through
his word. We report it we proclaim it to
those who hear. So then faith by reporting and
hearing by the word of God. There are three then aspects
of faith. Faith to know the truth. Then it is to be convicted of
the truth. And then it is to lay hold of
the truth. We see these three types set forth in the scripture. We see people who hear the truth
but they don't receive it as truth, they receive it as a lie. It doesn't go beyond their brain. They just reject it immediately
as nonsense. There is no faith. Although it
is the truth of the word of God, it has no effect upon them. Like the seed that is sown in
hard ground, it is snatched away by Satan. It's snatched away
by the birds of the air and it never bears any fruit or anything. It's just rejected as a falsehood. And the Jews were similar to
that. You see, the Jews were presented
with the truth. Jesus Christ, he says, I am the
truth. And the words that he spoke were
the words of God. They were the truth. The Lord
Jesus Christ never spoke any lie. Everything that he said
was the truth. And yet it fell mostly upon deaf
ears. The Jews who heard him they said
he is a liar. They said that he was the prince
of the devils. In Matthew chapter 9 it tells us
there after the Lord Jesus had been speaking and healing that
the truth had no effect upon the people. Although they had
been listening to the words of the
Lord Jesus Christ, although they had been presented with the healings
of the Lord Jesus Christ and although they had the Old Testament
which testified that when the Messiah come the lame would walk
and the blind would see and the deaf would hear and the dead
would rise again, yet when they were presented with this truth
this visible truth of God. They rejected it as not being
truth. Matthew chapter 9 from verse
32. And they went out and behold,
they brought to him a dumb man possessed with the devil. And
when the devil was cast out, the dumb spake. And the multitudes
marvelled, saying, It was never so seen in Israel. But the Pharisee
said he casted out devils through the prince of the devils. And
Jesus went about all the cities and villages teaching in their
synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom and healing
every sickness and every disease. And so there presented with the
truth, the fulfilment of prophecy, Old Testament prophecy, healing
and preaching the gospel yet they rejected it as a lie and
pointed and said this man is from the devil. If you go to
Matthew 12 again they accused Jesus of the same thing in verse
24. But when the pharisees heard
it they said this fellow doth cast out devils but by Beelzebub
the prince prince of the devils. And so they knew the truth, they
were presented with the truth, and yet they were not convicted
of the truth, they rejected the truth as a lie. In Romans chapter 9 and verse 17,
we have Pharaoh. It says, the scripture says,
unto Pharaoh, even for this same purpose have I raised thee up
that I might show my power in thee. and that my name might
be declared throughout all the earth. You remember when the
children of Israel were in Egypt and the time came for the Lord
to deliver them out of the land of Egypt he sent Moses to Pharaoh
and there were the plagues that took place and we read that after
each plague it's like his heart was softened but then The next
day or after the plague had finished his heart became hard again. He was presented with the true
living God and his power yet he rejected that truth. He had
no desire to believe that truth and he was so hard that he continued
on in his own way. He was presented with the truth. but he didn't believe it as truth. In Exodus 11, in verse 4 it says, And Moses said
unto the Lord, About midnight will I go. out into the midst
of Egypt, and all the firstborn of the land of Egypt shall die,
from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sitteth upon the throne,
even unto the firstborn of the maidservant that is behind the
mill, and all of the firstborn of beasts. And there shall be
a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there
was none like it, nor shall be like it any more. But against
any of the children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue,
and against man nor beast, that ye may know how that the Lord
doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel. And all these thy servants shall
come down unto me, and shall bow down themselves unto me,
saying, Get thee out, and all the people that followed thee,
and after that I will go out. And he went out from Pharaoh
in an anger. And the Lord said unto Moses,
Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you that my wonders may be multiplied
in the land of Egypt. And Moses and Aaron did all these
wonders before Pharaoh. And the Lord hardened Pharaoh's
heart so that he would not let the children of Israel go out
of his land. You know, right at the beginning,
when God was going to deal with the people of Israel, he said
that he was going to deal with the firstborn son of Pharaoh. And so God dealt with Pharaoh
through these plagues. And although Pharaoh was presented
with the true word of God, this is what is going to happen. If
you don't let my people go, this is what is going to take place.
At times his heart seems to soften, but then it is made hard again. And although he's presented with
the truth, he rejects it. If any of you have ever done
any bricklaying, you will know that at the end of the day, after
bricklaying, your hands, the end of your fingers are very
sensitive. You've worn away the skin of
your fingers and your fingers become sensitive and you can
feel it. But then after a few days those
fingers become even harder. And Pharaoh's heart was like
that and people's hearts are like that. They may be touched
for a little moment, they may feel a bit sensitive like Pharaoh,
but then the next day it's all hard. they've forgotten about
what was spoken and they reject the truth of God's word and just
go on their own way. There was a bitter feeling but
then the harness of the heart comes and they go the way and
we see how that took place with the Jews. Sometimes they were
marveling at the miracles of the Lord Jesus Christ, then they
stumbled at his teaching. Their hearts were hard when it
came to the teaching of the Lord Jesus. And Pharaoh, seemingly
soft, sensitive, But then his heart calluses over, hardens
over and he rejects the truth of God's word until finally it's
too late and the judgment of God falls upon the people of
Egypt and they are chased out. But then even then he follows
them and his heart is hard and he pursues them into the Red
Sea and then the Egyptian army it is destroying And so knowing
the truth or hearing the truth is not enough. You may be presented with the
truth of the Lord Jesus Christ. It may give you a tingly feeling
in your heart for a little while but then it is gone. It has no
effect. Like water off the duck's back,
your heart is hardened. Satan snatches the word away
and it's remembered no more. And so knowing facts about the
Lord Jesus Christ is not enough to save us from the consequences
of our sins. It's not just knowing about the
Lord Jesus. It has to be more than just knowing
him. There are many people, aren't
there, who have sat under the preaching of the Gospel. There
are many people who have walked past street preachers and they've
been able to listen to the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, but
it has no effect. What they are hearing is the
truth. If it's faithful to preaching, what they're hearing is the truth
of God's Word, the reasons why they need the Lord Jesus Christ.
Yet, although presented with the truth, They reject it as
they don't need it or it's not for them or it's a lie and so
it does not have any effect upon them. But then there is the convicting
of the truth. It has a little effect. It takes root. It may enter into
the mind for a little while. but that's as far as it goes.
It's the mere information about the Lord Jesus Christ that may
affect our lives in one way or another. And I thought about
the preaching of Jonah. You see as Jonah went to Nineveh
he preached the truth of God's word. Though he ran away yet
God still moved him to go and preach the message to the people
of Nineveh. And it tells us, the scripture
tells us there that they heard the word of God and they believed
the word of God and they were brought to repentance. They were sorry for their sin
and they listened to the message. And the Bible tells us that they
turned from their sin right from the person lowest down right to the
king of Nineveh. In Jonah chapter 3 it says, in
verse 4, And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey,
and he cried and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown. And so the people of Nineveh
believed God and proclaimed to fast and put on sackcloth from
the greatest of them even to the least of them. For the word
came unto the king of Nineveh and he arose from his throne
and he laid his robe from him and covered himself with sackcloth
and ashes. And so it had an effect. The
word had an effect. They were brought to repentance. They had, as it were, added another
step beyond Pharaoh. Pharaoh's heart was hard. And
he was soft for a little while but then immediately his heart
is hardened again and there is no effect whatsoever. And yet
in Nineveh they heard the word of God and they repented over
their sin. They believed the message and
God turned away from his anger even though Jonah wanted them
to be destroyed. Even though Jonah felt that these
people did not deserve the mercy of God. you see it was not the
next step you see the next step would have been to point them
to Christ or point them to the coming Messiah but they just
took one step the message had an effect upon their lives but
it didn't enter into their hearts it didn't cause them to change
completely to believe and trust in the living God and to come
to worship him in Jerusalem and so they were one step further
on than Pharaoh and there are many Christians that are one
step further on They don't reject the truth of God completely.
They accept the truth of God. They are convicted or convinced
of the truth of God and their lives are shaped by the scripture. They live day by day with a knowledge
of God. They would argue even about creation. They would argue about the Lord
Jesus Christ and the need for salvation. They would argue that
Christ would be able to come again but it's just they're in
the mind, they're convicted of the truth but that does as far
as it gets. Their life is altered a little
bit. They are instead of 180 degree
they're like 45 degrees. They're not or 90 degrees so they're not
fully persuaded of the truth. They are happy with a nominal
walk of obedience to the Lord Jesus but not a saving knowledge
of the Lord Jesus Christ. The book of James tells us that
the devils are in a similar position. If you remember through the life
of the Lord Jesus the devils knew who Jesus was. They trembled at his presence
and they obeyed his word. In James 2 in verse 19 it says,
Thou believest there is one God, thou doest well. The devils also
believe and tremble. And so the devils, when presented
with the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ, they believe it and they
tremble at it. But that is as far as they go. They listen to the word of Christ. They are obedient to the word
of Christ. They fall under the authority
of the word of Christ. There are many like that. They know the Bible is the word
of God. They would argue its case. But that is as far as it
goes. It's not a saving knowledge. There's a link missing. They know the truth. They're
convicted of the truth. But that truth has not laid hold
of them and they have not laid hold of it. And so that is the
next step. It is the laying hold of the
truth. It is the laying hold of the
Lord Jesus Christ as the way, the truth and the life. And so
as we come to our text That is the presentation of the
truth. The preaching of the gospel is
the presentation of the truth of who we are and who the Lord
Jesus Christ is and who God is. And faith comes by laying hold
of that truth, not just knowing it as a structured set of facts. not just being convicted by it
and altering the course of our lives to try and improve ourselves
but it is laying hold of the truth of God's Word by faith
that it is the missing link that unites us to Christ. You remember the lady who had
the issue of blood She heard of the Lord Jesus Christ. It
was no good her just hearing about the Lord Jesus and what
he could do. She had to act upon what she
knew. She had to act upon the information
that she received and sought out the Lord Jesus Christ. And
that itself was not enough. She heard, she acted, but then
she laid hold of him. She pressed through the crowd
to lay hold of the Lord Jesus Christ. And in laying hold of
him, that is when the missing piece of the puzzle was put into
place. That is when the missing link
of the chain was put into place. That is when she received the
virtue, the living virtue that flowed into her. And Jesus says,
thy faith, again, we said last week, thy faith. Although it
is a gift of God, it is given to us. And it's for us to exercise
that faith, to lay hold of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so the
gospel, the preaching of the gospel, presents the truth of
our need of the Lord Jesus Christ, our sinful condition. It tells
us the truth about ourselves, it tells us the truth about the
Lord Jesus Christ, the truth about God and God through the
preaching of the word. He uses it to bring people to
a saving knowledge of himself in the gospel according to John.
John tells us the reason why he has written his gospel in John 20 and verse 30. And many other signs truly did
Jesus in the presence of his disciples which are not written
in this book. But these things are written
that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God,
and that believing you might have life through his name. And so John says I have written
all these things down, the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ, so
that you might be presented with the truth of Christ. You might
know all that he did, all that he said, and all that was accomplished
by him. and that by believing in him,
by believing this truth, you might have life. And so it's
not just reading it and knowing the facts. It's not just altering
your life based upon those facts, but it is laying hold of those
facts as truth by believing them, who the Lord Jesus Christ is
and why you and I, we need him. You think of Peter when Peter
was with the Lord Jesus Christ as the Lord Jesus Christ was
walking upon the water to him. He exercised these three aspects
of faith. He says in verse 28 or verse 26 and when the disciples
saw him walking on the sea they were troubled saying it is a
spirit and they cried out for fear but straightway Jesus spake
unto them saying it is a Be of good cheer, it is I, be not afraid.'
And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come
unto thee on the water. And he said, Come. And when Peter
was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water to go
to Jesus. But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid
and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. immediately
Jesus stretched forth his hand and caught him and said to him,
O thou of little faith wherefore didst thou doubt? And so Peter
here at this time, he exercises those three aspects of faith. He knew Jesus Christ. He had
the knowledge of the Lord Jesus. He had all the facts about the
Lord Jesus Christ. He knew the miracles that he
had done. He knew his ability to do great
things. And he was convicted of those
things. He believed them. But he took
the next step. He trusted in those facts. He trusted in the knowledge that
he had of the Lord Jesus. He had faith to believe in those
things. And so he had heard about the
Lord Jesus. He had seen the truth of the
Lord Jesus Christ and he was convinced of that truth and he
laid hold of that truth and he believed and he stepped out of
the boat under the invitation of the Lord Jesus Christ. We
can say as in Hebrews it tells us that it was mixed with faith. Hebrews
4 it says, Let us therefore fear lest a promise being left us
of entering into his rest any of you should seem to come short
of it for unto us was the gospel preached as well as unto them
but the word preached did not profit them not being mixed with
faith in them that heard it and so with with Peter The word of
Christ is responded and it's mixed with faith and he reacts
to that invitation of the Lord Jesus Christ. As Christ says,
come. So all of those three things
are working together. Faith, compiled of knowledge,
of conviction, of action, works together to move Peter to step
out of the boat. And although it is a gift of
God, it is classed as our faith. So then faith comes by hearing
and hearing by the word of God. And so the truth that is preached
cannot just stay in our minds. It must drop into our hearts
and alter the course of our lives and enable us to lay hold of
the truths of the Lord Jesus Christ and to be affected by
them. As Peter was moved by that invitation, Lord bid me come
to thee walking on the water, come. And so he responds and
he obeys the voice of the Lord Jesus and we know that Yes, he
was distracted. Yes, he took his eyes off the
Lord Jesus Christ and he began to sink. Yet Christ rebukes him
for that. Why did you doubt? Why did you
take your eyes off me? Why did you not trust me? Why
did your faith not lay hold of the truth about me instead of
being distracted by the storms that are around about you? And
so faith then can actually be asked for. If one sees the need of it, Peter
says, Lord, invite me to come. Give me that permission. And
Christ says, come. In Mark chapter 10, and verses 51. And Jesus answered him and said,
What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? And the blind man
said unto him, Lord, that I might receive my sight. And so he was Bartimaeus as we
looked at him last week. He had the knowledge of Christ.
He had heard all that the Lord Jesus Christ had done and was
doing. He heard that the Lord Jesus
Christ was passing by him and he responded to that knowledge
that he had about the Lord Jesus Christ and he cried out and so
Christ asks him a question, what do you want me to do for you?
Lord that I might receive my sight. Go thy way, thy faith
has made thee whole.' And immediately he received his sight and followed
the Lord Jesus Christ. And so with Bartimaeus those
three aspects of faith working together he's asked the question,
what do you want me to do for you? And maybe that's where you've
been brought to this morning you have the knowledge of the
Lord Jesus you know all the facts about the Lord Jesus Christ you
are convicted of those facts and you come like Peter Lord
invite me to come and you're waiting for those those words
of invitation come or you are like blind Bartimaeus what is
it that you want him to do for you Lord that my eyes might be
opened, that my eyes of faith may see the Lord Jesus Christ
more clearly. You've heard the word, you've
heard the gospel. Faith is working within your
heart and you're wanting to lay hold of the truths of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Think faith itself. I said last
week it's not a natural thing but it is a gift of God, it is
a fruit of the Spirit of God indwelling. And so why are you
feeling like you want to lay hold of Christ yet denying that
you know anything of him? The very fact that you want to
lay hold of the Lord Jesus Christ, like Bartimaeus, it's because
you see your need of him. And as Jesus says, that is faith
itself. It may not be a great faith,
but it's seeing your need of Christ, having all of the facts,
all of the information put together in your mind, it's dropped down
into your heart and it's causing you to move and to inquire about
the salvation of your soul and as Jesus says, thy sins which
are so many they have been forgiven for the none who come to the
Lord Jesus Christ will ever be turned away from the Lord Jesus
Christ. If you come seeking him because
you have heard the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, you've
been presented with the facts about yourself You've been presented
with the facts about the Lord Jesus Christ and something stirs
within your heart that you want to lay hold of him like the woman
with the issue of blood. You're moved to your knees to
ask for a saving faith. You come like the man, Lord I
believe help my unbelief. And so faith then comes by hearing,
and by hearing the word of God. It is the word of God that is
preached. It is the word of truth that
is proclaimed. And as the word of God is preached,
the spirit of God works through the preaching of the word of
God to convict people of their sin. But not only to convict
people of their sin, but also those who have been convicted
of their sin, the Spirit points them to the Lord Jesus Christ. And to those who have been enabled
to lay hold of the Lord Jesus Christ by faith, they still need
preaching of the word of God for God has chosen the preaching
of the word of God for the edification and the encouragement of the
church and so faith still comes about by hearing and by hearing
the word of God the child of God is fed under the preaching
of the Word of God. They're encouraged to press on
the narrow way that leads to life. They're encouraged in difficulty
and in persecution through the preaching and the Word of God. It's for believers also. There are many churches nowadays
who are set up solely to encourage unbelievers, what is known as
the seeker-sensitive movement. The whole purpose of coming together
as a church is to get people saved. But the purpose of the church,
meeting together, yes it is so that people are saved but the
main focus is the church, the true believers in the Lord Jesus
Christ that they come out from the world and they come and they
sit together and fellowship together and they sit under the preaching
of the word together not so that they can be saved again but so
that they can be encouraged to press on the narrow way that
leads to life. We come out from the trials and
the difficulties of the world to be fed by the word of God. The scripture tells us doesn't
it that man shall not live by bread alone. And so as we come
to the Lord's day and the services of the Lord's house we come to
be to be encouraged in our faith. We come out of much trouble and
difficulty to be fed under the Word of God, to be encouraged
under the Word of God, that we may persevere, we may be brought
under a conviction of a besetting sin and brought to the knowledge
of guidance and direction. may be helped in in providence
as the Word of God is applied to our lives and that our faith
is encouraged and so when we meet together for worship we
are exercising our faith under the hearing of the Word of God. And so God has chosen this means,
this foolishness of preaching which to some is a foolishness
yet to those who believe it is of a great blessing and a great
importance. And so as we come to a knowledge of the truth
as we come to the Lord's day to sit under the ministry of
the preached word. It's not just an experimental
truth that we are seeking. Faith comes by hearing and hearing
by the word of God. It is good that we are filled
with the knowledge of the scripture. It is good that we are filled
and convicted of the truth of the scripture so that our faith
is encouraged. In Colossians it tells us, For
this cause we also since the day we heard it do not cease
to pray for you and desire that you might be filled with the
knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. that you might walk worthy of
the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work,
increasing in the knowledge of God, strengthened with all might,
according to his glorious power, unto all patience, longsuffering
and joyfulness. And that's what his desire was,
that the believers would be filled with the knowledge of God and
that that knowledge of God would affect their walk with God would
increase their faith in God for the more that they know about
God the greater God is in their mind and the greater the object
of their faith to lay hold of him that they might walk worthy
of the Lord pleasing and being fruitful in every good work and
increasing in the knowledge of God and so faith comes by hearing and hearing by the
word of God and so through the preached word preaching of the
truth, the preaching of the Lord Jesus Christ, people are brought
to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus. They not just need
to know about the facts about the Lord Jesus, they need to
be convicted of those facts. Not only convicted of those facts,
they need to lay hold of those facts as truth And that is an
act of faith which is done by the indwelling of the spirit
within the heart enables them to touch and receive that living
virtue for their soul. And so there are those responses
to the preaching. Like Pharaoh, a hard heart. Maybe a little sensitive, but
then it's done away with. Or like the people of Nineveh,
they hear, they respond, but they never lay hold of Christ. We need to be like the people
in the Book of Acts, who hear the preaching of the Word of
God and cry out, what shall we do? Then I pointed, believe upon
the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. And as believers,
we come and we sit under the word of God to be filled with
the knowledge of God. We might know the way in which
he will have us to go. We may be encouraged in persecution,
encouraged in difficulty, helped in trial by having an increase
in our faith. that we may see God as who he
is and Christ who he is and all that Christ has done for us,
his people. So then faith comes by hearing
and hearing by the word of God. Well may we be given ears that
hear and hearts that are soft and eyes like Bartimaeus that
want to be opened to the sound of the truth, presented with
the facts we are unable to lay hold of
the facts. You think of a blind man. You could present to him
all the evidence possible that the trees are green, that the
sky is blue, that there are clouds in the sky but he can't see it
until he has his eyes opened. And that's where we need to come.
Open thou my eyes that I may behold thy glory. Is that your
prayer this morning? you want your eyes to be open
well then surely that is an evidence, an evidence that Christ is at
work in you because you want to see, you want to know that
you are part of the number, that you are part of the flock of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Open now my eyes that I may see. So then faith comes by hearing,
and hearing by the word of God. For whosoever shall call upon
the name of the Lord shall be saved. And verse 9 says, If thou
confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine
heart that God has raised him from the dead, you shall be saved. Amen. Our final hymn this morning is
from Gadsby's hymn number 143. 143. Rock of ages, cleft for
me, let me hide myself in thee. Let the water and the blood from
thy riven side which flowed be of sin the double cure. Cleanse
me from its guilt and power. Hymn number 143, tune 505. ? Rock of Ages, cleft for me ?
? Let me hide myself in thee ? ? Let the water and the blood
? ? From thy riverside which flowed ? not the labour of my
hands, ? And fulfill thy Lord's demands
? ? Good night, still the rest I know ? ? Good night is forever
true ? ? Hope for sin could not outdo thee ? ? Thou must save
and thou alone ? ? Nothing in my hand I bring ? ? Simply to
thy cross I give ? ? Make it come to thee for dress ? I'll
turn to Thee for grace, while I to the fountain fly, watch
me, Saviour, all my life. I draw this fleeting breath when
my eye dreams break in death. When I soar through tracks unknown,
see me on my judgment throne. O God of Ages, care for me. Let me hide myself in Thee. Almighty God and loving Heavenly
Father of Thy people, we thank Thee for Thy Word and we pray
that we may be more than filled with the knowledge of the truth
and convicted of the truth. We pray that we may be granted
the faith to lay hold of the truth and receive the living
virtue flowing from Thy Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and to
be cleansed from all sin and from all uncleanness. We pray
that we may be granted as thy people a greater measure of faith,
that we may be filled with the knowledge of thyself and the
love of the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that be with us now as
we depart from each other to bring us together again this
evening in peace and in safety. And now may the grace of the
Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God the Father, with the fellowship
and the communion of the Holy Spirit, to be with us each now
and for evermore. Amen.