Let's be, well, before I tell
you where we're gonna turn, I want you to know I'm gonna speak to
you today about faith, about faith. And I wanna just say a
few things that the Lord teaches us about faith before we go to
our text and look at faith in that text. So one thing that
the Lord tells us is that faith is the gift of God. Faith is the gift of God, saying
in Ephesians 2.8 that by grace are ye saved through faith, and
that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God. And the Apostle Peter, he speaks
of faith in his second epistle that he writes to the brethren
saying in the first verse, the very opening verse that he's
writing to them that have obtained like precious faith with us,
with the apostles. We have that same faith. Believers
today have the same faith which was given to the apostles of
the Lord Jesus Christ and the early church. And he adds in
verse 3 of 2 Peter 1, 3, adding that in Christ, God's divine
power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life
and godliness. Is faith necessary to salvation? Absolutely. Absolutely. Well, that faith is given to
you. It's given to you and to me by
the Lord Jesus Christ. And so everything that we need
in salvation is given to us by our God in Christ. Everything
that we have in Christ is given to us by God. And we're told
it said this way in Ephesians 1, 3, that the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ. And so everything
we need and everything we have is given to us of God in the
Lord Jesus Christ. All that we need for salvation
is given to us. And so today I want to focus
on this gift, this fruit of our God, this fruit of his born in
his people this morning. Now before we go to our text,
let's go to one more place to Hebrews chapter 11. Hebrews chapter
11, this is called the chapter of faith, the great chapter of
faith. And let's read looking at the first six verses Hebrews
11. Now faith is the substance of
things hoped for and when you see that word substance well
around the corner from my house there was two plots of land and
in the last couple of years they built on those plots of land
and the first thing they did before they built anything on
that land was they laid a foundation. They prepared it and they laid
concrete down and let it sit there for quite some time. They
laid a foundation. Well, that's what that word substance
means. Faith is the foundation upon
which the Lord builds our hope, the hope of the believer. It's
laid as a foundation for us. And it's the evidence of things
not seen. Perhaps you've heard that term,
someone say, let's kick the tires on it. Regarding a car or something
like that, or whatever it is, let's kick the tires on it. And
what they're saying is, let's prove it. Let's prove and see
if it's worth the money or the time or the energy. Well, our
faith is proved in that manner. verifying the evidence. It's
the evidence that our God has done this. It's the evidence
of what our God has done for us. And so this faith which is
given to us is the foundation that our Savior lays for us. It's faith in Christ who is the
foundation. He gives us this faith which
looks to Him and believes Him. And then through various trials
and tribulations, through persecutions and through various difficulties,
that faith, which is given to you, is proved. It's hit, it's
kicked, it's knocked, and it doesn't fall over. It doesn't
fold like a cheap lawn chair. It remains. If it's of Christ,
it remains. If it's of this flesh, it falls. But if it's of the Lord, it shall
remain, it shall stand. And so faith is that substance
of things hoped for, upon which our hope is built, the evidence
of things not seen. Verse two, for by it, by faith,
the elders obtained a good report. This work done in them was of
the Lord. Through faith, we understand
that the worlds were framed by the Word of God, so that things
which are seen were not made of things which do appear. We believe the Word of God concerning
this earth, concerning this world that is made of His hands. We
know that men are lying, men are deceived, they're just speaking
things that are not true. We know that the Lord made this
world. He formed this world for his
own purpose, for his own glory, to the praise and honor of his
name. By faith, Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice
than Cain. He worshiped God in spirit and
in truth By faith which was given unto him of God, and Cain had
not that faith, he did not believe the true and living God. Abel obtained witness that he
was righteous, God testifying of his gifts. And by it he being
dead yet speaketh." And that word, God testifying of his gifts,
that's really what faith is. It's a testimony that God has
done this work in you. Because faith is the gift of
God, it is not the fruit of this flesh. This flesh brings forth
absolutely no fruit. It does works, but it's not spiritual
fruit. By faith Enoch, when translated,
that he should not see death, and was not found because God
had translated him before his translation, he had this testimony,
that he pleased God. And what we're seeing there in
that he pleased God, that means he's a living soul. He's living,
breathing soul. Because faith is as important
to us, it's as necessary to us as our breath. Whenever my children
were born, when they came out of the womb and they were born,
I waited with anticipation. to hear those signs of life.
I wanted to hear that little whimper, that little cry, whatever
they made, that little sound. Okay, they're alive, they're
alive. And that's what faith is. It's
the picture, the Lord showing, testifying, you live. You live. You're mine. You're mine. And
so that testimony that he pleased God means that he had faith.
He's a living soul, a living creature. For 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. And so that's why the scriptures
tell us the just, we're living, we're justified, the just shall
live by faith, just as we live by breathing this air. It's as
essential to life. You that believe, you that are
kicked, and that faith stands firm. It's because you live. God has testified that you are
His. And you that endure to the end
in that faith is a testimony that you are the Lord's. It's as simple as that. You that
continue in faith is a testimony that you are God's. It's a testimony
of the Lord worked in you. And so the just shall live by
faith. Now our text is in Romans chapter
five. Romans chapter five, just looking
at verses one and two. And there's three things that
we see about faith in the Lord's children. These three things
that we'll see in verses one and two are that by faith, we
have peace with God. Next we see that by faith we
have access unto the Father. And third, by faith we rejoice
in this hope which God has given to us in the Lord Jesus Christ. By faith there is a rejoicing
in this hope. So let's read in Romans 5 verse
1. Therefore, being justified by
faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, our translators added a
comma after the word faith. In the original Greek, as I understand
it, there was no grammar. There weren't little marks that
we use today in our English language. And they put that comma after
the word faith so that many teach and think that we're justified
by our faith. that we give ourselves life by
our faith. And the great danger there is
that man thinks, man boasts of his faith. He thinks that it's
his faith that is saving him. That God has done all he can
do in sending Christ, but it's ineffectual unto you until you
pour the gasoline of faith in the engine and rev it up. And
then that's when it all fires up, by your faith. No, faith
is not the works of man. That's not our contribution to
our salvation. Faith is the gift of God. It's the product, it's the blessing
that is given to us arising out of Christ's redemption. It's all part of His salvation
and what He accomplished for His people. And we that are redeemed
by Christ shall not come short of the glory of God in Christ. All that we need shall be given
unto the children of God, chosen of God in Christ before the foundation
of the world. Everything we need is given. by Christ, given through Christ,
in and by the Lord Jesus Christ. And so if you look back at Romans
4, verse 25, the verse just before the one we're looking at here,
Romans 4, 25, we find that we're justified by Christ, who was
delivered for our offenses and was raised again for our justification. In other words, everything we
need, Everything we need to be justified by God is given to
us through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself
for his bride, for his people, to put away our sin, to obtain
the forgiveness of our sins, and to give us life. And everything
that pertains to life and godliness, as the Apostle Peter said in
2 Peter 1, 3, all that pertains to life and godliness is given,
given. Given not produced by this flesh. This flesh is dead. It's an old
man. It's dust It's going back to
the dust. It does not bear fruit the new
man in you born of Christ That's where the fruit is born of the
spirit. That's where this fruit is born
and seemed Look back further in Romans 3 Romans 3 verse 24 being justified freely by his
grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. And so this faith we have is
through, given through the redemption, the purchase of the Lord Jesus
Christ for his people. And so that's the key thing about
faith is it's a fruit of the spirit, just like the scriptures
tell us. The scriptures tell us in Galatians
5.22, but the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering,
gentleness, goodness, faith. Faith, it is the fruit of the
Spirit. And then it adds meekness and
temperance in the next verse. Faith is the fruit of the Spirit. That faith that believes Christ
is all my salvation is the fruit of the Spirit. That is not something
you and I produce of this flesh. You believe by the grace of God. And that's a great comfort to
us who believe, because we know it's not of this flesh. We don't
have to wonder, well, what if he doesn't love me? If you believe
him and trust that he's all your righteousness, it's because he
has put away your sins forever. Believe him. Rejoice in him.
Be glad in him. This is where that peace comes
from that we're looking at here in Romans 5, 1. Therefore, being
justified by faith, we have peace with God because it's a certainty
that it's of Christ, not of this flesh. That is the peace that
we have. It's not looking to me and whether
or not I'm doing enough and doing it right. My hope and trust is
in Christ. And what I do for the Lord is
not for my justification, but in gladness, and joy, and peace,
and thankfulness that Christ has done everything that I need.
Everything that I need, it's all in him. And so with that
being settled there of Romans 5.1, I read it as therefore being
justified, comma, By faith, we have peace with God through our
Lord Jesus Christ. But if you insist on saying,
well, Abraham believed God and it was counted unto him for righteousness,
again, see how it, from those verses, Romans 4.25 and Romans
3.23, how faith is a necessary product that is born out of the
redemption of the Lord Jesus Christ, Nothing is going to stand
against it. Nothing. You and I cannot even
prevent the salvation of God being wrought in our hearts if
Christ lay down his life for you because he was given us by
the Father, gave us to him. So nothing's going to prevent
that. He's going to conquer all things that stand up and rise
up against him, even putting us down, and we're made thankful
for when he does, when he humbles us and brings us to Christ. So
with that being settled, we see that one of the blessings of
God in Christ These blessings which are received in us in that
new man, born of Christ, born of his spirit, born of his grace,
is that we have peace. By faith, we have peace with
God through our Lord Jesus Christ. I know the scriptures say that
we are trees of the Lord's planting. We are called trees in Isaiah
61, three, we are called trees of righteousness, the planting
of the Lord. And the picture there is that
we're grafted in, right? We're grafted into, into Christ. We are trees grafted into that
tree, that living tree, which is Christ. In Psalm 1, it speaks
of the blessed man. And that's not you and I. That's speaking of the Lord Jesus
Christ. He is the blessed man. And it says, I think it's verse
3, that he is that tree planted by the rivers of water that bringeth
forth his fruit. in his season and there's such
a union between the believer between the bride of Christ and
Christ our husband there's such a union there that it's his fruit
being born in us And so we're bearing the fruit, but it's by
Christ, who is the blessed man. We're blessed in him. We are
kidding ourselves if we think that we're getting blessings
because of something we are or something we've done. It is because
of Christ. It's for Christ's sake. You believe
him because Christ has given you faith to believe him. You
obey him because Christ has given you obedience and taught you
and brought you through the right way in the Lord Jesus Christ. And so this salvation is a certainty
because Christ cannot fail. Isaiah 53 11. It speaks of Christ
where it says, He shall see of the travail of his soul and shall
be satisfied. Because it's a certainty. He
does not fail. Christ is the successful Savior. He's the successful Savior. By
his knowledge, not by your knowledge, by his knowledge, shall my righteous
servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities. And so when our Lord went to
the cross, he went as the sacrifice of his people to make himself
a propitiation for our sins, to be the very means of our salvation,
the very means of our righteousness, the very means of our forgiveness,
the very means of our salvation with the true and living God.
And he turned the wrath of God that was against us upon himself
and put it away, satisfying our debt with the true and living
God. And so all of this is understood
by us by faith. By faith, we believe Christ. You either believe Him or you
don't. And you that believe Him, it's by His grace and power,
His majesty, His spirit. It's of the Lord. Salvation is
of the Lord. Jonah 2, 9 and Psalm 3, 8. Salvation is of the Lord. It's
of Him. It's of His grace and power and
we're learning it. It's the knowledge he gives us,
the understanding that he gives to his people, which again is
another blessing, another spiritual blessing given to us of the Lord. As it says in Luke 24, I think
48, where it says, then opened he their understanding that they
might understand the scriptures. It's all testifying of Christ. It's all blessing us with showers
of blessings in the Lord Jesus Christ, showing us that He is
the successful Savior, the wonderful Savior, the mighty God, almighty,
wonderful, wonderful. And so it testifies of Him. And turn over to 2 Thessalonians
2. This is why 2 Thessalonians 2,
verses 13 and 14 are worded in this manner. because it rests on the foundation
of Christ. 2 Thessalonians 2, verses 13
and 14. But we are bound to give thanks
always to God for you. We don't thank you, we thank
God. We thank God for your faith.
We're bound to give thanks to him for you, brethren, beloved
of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you
to salvation through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the
truth. God chose you. He sent his spirit,
and the spirit took you apart. all the others because he had
chosen you before the foundation of the world and he comes in
time and he separates you unto this salvation and he calls you
by the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ giving you faith to believe
that truth verse 14 where unto he called you by our gospel to
the obtaining not to come in short of it, not to fall short
of it, but to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. And so this certainty of our
salvation is revealed unto us through the preaching of the
gospel. And that's why I'm emphasizing it. That's why I'm going over
something that seems as simple as faith, because we don't know
it in the Old Man. And we miss those glories, that
beauty of Christ who gives faith and makes it effectual, your
faith effectual in him. It's, it's all of his work in
order that we would have peace with God, because again, it's
not resting on me. When I'm looking at me, there
is no peace, because all I can see is how I fail and come short,
how I'm imperfect in my ways. Though I might strive and try
and labor and spend and give and sacrifice, I'm always going
to come short. But Christ never comes short. If you're depending on you, you
will be anxious, worried, upset, tried, beat down, ruined, trusting
yourself and looking to you. But if you look to Christ, He's
given to you for your peace. your peace. Peace, it says in
Isaiah 57, 19, peace to him that is far off and to him that is
near, saith the Lord, and I will heal him. I'll do it. I'll give you peace in your heart.
I'll give you peace in your mind. In Christ, our foundation. which, and he's given us this
faith, whereupon we build this hope, right? He's the one building
the hope and stacking it up on that faith which he's given.
So that all our hope rests in the Lord Jesus Christ. And so peace, by this peace,
we come to know this warfare's over. We're still fighting and
punching at God and putting our fists up in His face, thinking
that we're angry with Him by nature. And God is at perfect
peace with His people in Christ. And in spite of what we're doing,
He separates us by His Spirit. brings us under the sound of
the gospel, making us to hear what the Spirit saith unto the
churches, so that we obtain that which is given to us in Christ
through that faith which he's given. So there's peace, to know
that we are reconciled to him, that enmity which stands in the
way of God and resists God and fights against God, he puts it
down. by blessing you and feeding you
and nourishing the new man in the gospel and everything that
exalts itself against God he's putting it down by Christ and
so this old man of sin is silenced and laid down in the dust in
the dust and he tries to get up and it's by grace that that
old man is put down and silenced in the face of Christ and so
By faith being brought into the new man, all the stumbling, the
death, the idolatry, the traditions of man, all the things that get
in the way, he keeps teaching us and separating us from those
things that we might have peace in Christ. Have peace in the
Lord Jesus Christ as new and living creatures. If any man
be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold,
all things are become new, new in Christ. And then so this work
is all of Christ through his redemption and that's why it
says Ephesians 2 10 for we are his workmanship created in Christ
Jesus unto good works which God hath before ordained that we
should walk in them. It's all His work, it's all to
the praise and glory of His name. This is why, with all the thorns
we have, and the difficulties we have, and the weaknesses we
have, we know by faith, I can do all things through Christ,
which strengtheneth me. Not looking to me, I can do all
things by my strength. No, I can do all things through
Christ, which strengtheneth me. Now, the rest of these will go
rather quickly here, but following this hearing of faith, whereby
we have peace with God through this new and living way, which
is Christ, the Lord brings us into the way of peace, whereby
we have access unto the true and living God. It says in Luke
1, verse 79, that our God gave Christ, sent
his Son to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the
shadow of death. That is us by nature. to guide
our feet into the way of peace. And so Christ is the way. This is why he told the disciples
that he is the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto
the Father but by me. Now I skipped over reading Romans
5 too. Let me just read the first half
of that verse. By whom also we have access by
faith. We have access unto God by faith
into this grace wherein we stand. We stand in Christ. We trust
Christ. We are able to withstand the
fiery darts and the trials and the things that come and kick
the tires of faith, as it were, and beat upon them. And it stands
because we're standing in Christ the way. We have access unto
the Father by Christ the way, the truth, and the life. And so if you would know the
Father, if you would know the true and living God, if you would
know Him, look to the Lord Jesus Christ. Look and live. Believe Him. What must I do to
inherit eternal life? Or what must I do to be saved?
Look to Christ. believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. Because you that believe, it's
his gift. It's his work. It's him laying
the foundation upon which your hope shall be built so that all
that comes against you, you'll see it's of his work. And so
by you that believe him, you that trust Christ, You've seen
the Father. You believe the Father. You do
worship God in spirit and in truth, believing Christ. That's
how you worship God in spirit and in truth. Trying to do it
by works is not coming to God and worshiping Him by spirit
and in truth. It's worshiping God in the flesh. It's worshiping
an idol. We believe God, we believe Christ,
and that's how we worship him. That's how we come boldly unto
the throne of grace, in Christ, in Christ. Now, the second half
of Romans 5, 2 speaks of our rejoicing in hope. And I put
faith right before that. By faith, we rejoice in hope. By faith, we have this hope.
What the Lord's showing us there is that we have a living hope,
upon which our confidence rests in Him. The hope we have of our
eternal inheritance is not looking to me. It's not looking at what
I'm doing, but to Christ. We keep our eye looking to the
Lord Jesus Christ, and that's how we are kept in that straight
and narrow way, looking unto Him. If you're doing a big garden,
if you're laying a line in a garden or on a farm, you don't look
behind you, you don't look down, you put your eye on some part
way out in the distance and you just keep your eye on that and
you just keep moving, looking to that point. And you don't
take your eye off of it. That's what we do in Christ.
We just keep looking to Christ, looking to Christ, because as
soon as you turn, just like when I'm driving a car, if I'm looking
somewhere, I start to drift that way. Don't take your eye off
Christ. Keep your eye on the Lord Jesus
Christ. And so by this faith, we rejoice
in the hope that we have in him. It's a living hope. We're confident
in him. that we've been called of Him
as He's revealed it to us by this faith and made us partakers
of the inheritance of the saints and light and the family of God
through Christ, through Christ who has brought us in. So this
hope we have in Him, have of him that it's by the very life
and salvation of Jesus Christ so that we're forgiven of all
our sins it's a certainty by faith we have peace because it's
not what I'm doing but it rests in him. Then we see by faith
we have access to God that is eternal in the heavens. We have
an eternal inheritance and with our true and living God, it's
ours right now through the hope that is given to us by this grace,
by this faith given to us in the grace of God in Christ. And so this joy and rejoicing,
brethren, It rests, rests, rests in the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.