If you take your Bibles and turn
with me to Mark, Mark chapter 16. Mark chapter 16, we'll be
looking at two verses this evening, verse 15 and 16. I've entitled
this message, A Vital Message. A Vital Message Concerning Faith. A Vital Message Concerning Faith. The Scripture says, And He said
unto them, our Lord Jesus said this, Go ye into all the world,
and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and
is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be
damned." A vital message concerning faith. Now, just a few months back, Audrey
had asked me about a verse of Scripture. She asked what verse
of Scripture she should study. She was going to read and this
verse came to my heart almost immediately. He that believeth
and is baptized shall be saved. He that believeth not shall be
damned. I cannot think of a verse that
requires a more serious examination than the words spoken by the
Lord Jesus Christ here. These words deserve a very serious
examination. There is no better or clearer
message that should occupy the minds and mouths of God's church
than the words Christ commands us to preach. Go you into all
the world and preach the gospel. What is this gospel? Here it
is. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. Now
there's a gospel. He that believeth not shall be
damned." Now, I'm going to give you five
reasons why this requires serious thought. First of all, these
are the words of Jesus Christ. These are the words of Jesus
Christ. These are not the words of a mere man, but the words
of God, manifest in the flesh. This Word should not only be
considered. You should consider it because
God said it. But not only considered, it should be proclaimed. It should
be declared by the Church at every opportunity. He said that
to us, didn't He? Go you into all the world. He's speaking to His people,
His Church. Go you into all the world and
preach this Gospel to every creature. We, no doubt, ought to then obey.
If it is the Word of God, we should obey that Word. Tonight,
we are obeying that Word. We are preaching this Gospel.
Secondly, these are the last words Jesus said before He departed.
Now, when a man says his last words, they're important, aren't
they? When one of our family members
dies, we want to hear his last words. When David spake his last
words, they said, these be the last words of David. They're
very important words. These were the last words before
Christ ascended into heaven. The last words He spoke while
He had His feet planted on the earth. These are the last words
before He was ascended into glory. You should consider that. These
are important words. Third, these words were spoken
to us, a great issue that faces all men. Eternity. Eternity. Eternal life and eternal
death. These words contain things that
the issue that faces all men. Now life is but a vapor, is it
not? The scripture says that we are
like the grass and the glory of man is the flower of grass.
The grass withers, the flower fades away. Listen, pretty soon
we're going to be gone. And nobody's even going to know
we were here. In a hundred years, who's going
to know we even were here? Fifty years, who's going to even
know we're here? But after that, what? The judgment.
It is appointed to men once to die, and after that, the judgment.
And all of us are going to face the judgment of God. All of us
will stand before God in that day. We'll face God and we'll
spend eternity either in heaven or in hell. And these words are
very plain as to who will live and who will die. He that believeth
and is baptized, what? Live. They'll be saved. He that
believeth not shall what? Be damned. You see, it's very
clear as to who will live and who will die. These words are
very important. Fourthly, in these words we find
God's terms of peace. Don't we? People talk about peace. They say, we want peace in the
world. We want world peace. They say
that. We want peace in our country. We want peace in our marriage.
We want peace in ourselves. But I'll tell you, there's a
peace that transcends all of those, a peace that is more important,
and that is peace with God. Peace with God. In these words
we find this, some have peace with God. He that believeth and
is baptized, what? They'll be saved. Why? They have
peace with God. How is that? Because peace was
obtained by the blood of Jesus Christ. Colossians 1 verse 20
says the blood of Christ has obtained peace. He made peace
by the blood of His cross. That's why you should pay attention
to these words. because they speak of peace with
God. And fifthly, you ought to seriously consider these words
because they apply to everyone. I don't care who you are. These
words of Jesus apply to every one of you. And listen, we're
all included in this, isn't we? Those that believe and those
that don't. We're all included here. You
should consider these words because you fall into one of these two
categories. You are either saved or you will
be damned. You're either believing or you're
not. These words are about you. You should consider that. They're
very important words. And that's why this should be
preached to everybody. Everybody. And so these words
spoken by Jesus, they're solemn words, aren't they? They're very
solemn words. They're vital words. They deal
with life, eternal life, eternal death, peace with God. And they
apply to all men. And listen, we're to boldly,
constantly, consistently preach these words. That's what he tells
his church. Go you into all the world and
preach this. When? Every opportunity you get. Every
opportunity you get, you preach this gospel to every creature. Next, I want you to see that
these words are absolute, unquestionable, show the absolute, unquestionable
necessity of faith in the salvation of men. These words show that
faith is vital to salvation. That there is no salvation apart
from faith in Jesus Christ. He that believeth and is baptized,
what? Shall be saved. And what happens
to those that don't? He that believeth not shall be
damned." Faith is vital in these words. It's vital. He that believeth
and is baptized shall be saved. Faith in Christ, then, is essential. It's essential to eternal life.
It's essential. It's an essential principle in
God's saving grace. Don't you know this? That all
the other graces spring from faith. What good is love without
faith? What good is temperance without
faith? What good is patience without faith? What good is joy
without faith? Faith is essential. It is the
root grace of all other graces. How do we know that? Without
faith, it's impossible to please God. It didn't say anything about
without love. It's impossible to please God.
Without temperance, it's impossible. All these other graces are important,
they're vital, but faith is the root grace. And conversely, unbelief is the
root to damnation. He that believeth not shall be
damned. Now listen to me. Some of you don't believe. You
don't believe. Well, it's speaking to you, isn't
it? He that believeth not, you continue on this path of not
believing, this scripture is plain. He that believeth not
shall be damned. All but he that believeth. He
that believeth. This is the good news. He that
believeth shall be saved. Saved. Now, faith is essential. Go over
to John chapter 3. Go to John chapter 3 and look
at verse 14. Jesus here preaches the gospel of himself. He says
in verse 14 of John chapter 3, as Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.
Now, he's telling you how salvation is accomplished. Salvation is
accomplished by the Son of Man being lifted up, satisfying the
justice of God. But how is salvation then applied
to man? Here it is. That whosoever believeth
in him, Should not perish, but have everlasting life. Don't
you see the necessity of faith? Salvation's already accomplished,
but how is it applied? It is applied through faith.
It's necessary that you believe. He that believeth should not
perish. Isn't that good? Should not perish,
but what? Have everlasting life. Remember
what Paul said to that Philippian jailer? He said, believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ and what? Thou shalt be Saved. Now listen, his faith didn't
accomplish salvation. His faith simply received it.
Salvation was in Christ and accomplished by Christ. Faith simply receives
what has already been done. Go to 1 John. Go to 1 John chapter
5. I'm just going to quickly look
at these. 1 John chapter 5 and then we'll
move on. Look at verse 11. And this is the record. This
is the gospel. That God has given us eternal
life, and this life is where? It's in His Son. And what's the
record? He that hath the Son hath what? Life. He that hath not the Son
of God hath not life. Well, how do you know that you
have the Son or you don't? What's the means by which we
know if we have the Son? Here it is. These things I've
written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that you may know you have eternal
life. Who has eternal life? They that
have the Son. Well, how do you know you have eternal life? Do
you believe on the Son? Do you have faith on the Son
of God? And listen, and that you may
believe. You see, you believe, but also
these words are written that you may continue to what? Believe. That you continually... Faith
is a constant, present thing. Those who have faith, continue
in faith. One, it's vital. It's necessary. And so too, you go back now to
your text. Go back now to your text. Now I want you to see that
he that believeth, he that believeth, is what? Shall be saved. But notice, the lack of faith
leads to another very devastating thing. He that believeth not
shall be damned. So now, seeing the seriousness
of the text, that the need of faith, the need of faith to have
eternal life, seeing that the absence of faith leads to eternal
death, we will now deal with the text by asking three serious
questions. I've got three serious questions
that must be answered regarding faith. First of all, what is
it? Is that not a question? If you've got to have faith,
you've got to know what it is. Second of all, what is the object
of faith? That's a question, isn't it?
You may have faith, but if you have faith in the wrong object,
then you're going to get the wrong
result. What is the object of faith? And thirdly, how does
faith come to the sinner? How does faith come to the sinner? If you've got to have it, you've
got to know what it is. You've got to know who you believe in.
And thirdly, you've got to know how it comes. How it comes. So let's ask these questions. What is this faith? Well, faith
in Christ must be explained if men must have it. You've got
to know what it is. And we will do this. I want you
to go to 2 Timothy now, chapter 1. And we're going to use Paul's
definition here of his own faith. And we're going to see three
things about true faith. Three things that describe true
faith. 2 Timothy, chapter 1, and look
at verse 4. Paul said, for this cause, for
the which cause I also suffer these things. Nevertheless, I
am not ashamed." You see, he's suffering for his faith. He's
suffering for preaching the gospel. And he said, listen to this,
I'm not ashamed of my faith. I'm not ashamed of my faith in
Christ. If you have faith in Christ, listen to this, you're
not ashamed. Are you ashamed of Him? I tell you what, I'm
ashamed of me, but I'm not ashamed of Him. And listen to what he
says about faith. He says, I know whom what? I have believed. And what is it? Secondly, he
said, and am persuaded that He who I know is able to keep that
which I have committed unto Him that day. Three things about
faith. Listen. Faith has knowledge. Faith is
persuaded. And faith is committed. Three
things. Faith is based in knowledge. Paul said, I know whom I have
believed. Now, there are many who have
great knowledge about the Word of God. They know a lot. They
know a lot about Jesus. You ask them questions and give
them papers to write and dissertations to write. They can write a bunch
about Jesus. They know a lot of His history. They may even know the five points
of Calvinism and be able to explain each one of them. That's not
the knowledge I'm talking about. That's not the knowledge Paul's
talking about. Paul's talking about a personal knowledge of
a person. Faith has a knowledge of a person. an intimate knowledge of Him,
I know whom I have believed." You can have knowledge without
faith. You know that? You can have knowledge
without faith. But you can't have faith without
knowledge. You can't. You've got to know whom you believe. You're not going to believe something
you don't know. Isn't that right? Can you believe something you
don't know? You can't. You don't know it, so how can
you believe it? Same way about Christ. Unless you know Him,
you will never believe Him. You will never believe Him. You
must know Him. Paul said, I know whom I have
believed. And this is the first root of faith, is the knowledge
of Christ. This is why we are commanded to preach. This is
why we are commanded to preach the Gospel, because Men by nature
cannot and will not come to Christ because they don't know Him. Paul said, Whosoever shall call
upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Isn't that good? Doesn't
it sound good? Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord
shall be saved. But how in the world are you going to call on
Him in whom you've not what? Heard. You can't call on somebody
you don't know. And how are you going to hear
about Him without a preacher? And how are they going to preach
except they be sent? God sends men to preach the gospel
so that you might hear of Christ. And what? Know Him. Know Him. Our Lord Jesus, when He was going
to the cross, He said this, He says, As thou hast given Him
power over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as
many as thou hast given Him. And this is eternal life, that
they might know Thee. the only true God, and Jesus
Christ, whom thou hast sent." You can't know God apart from
Christ. Eternal life comes by a knowledge
of God only through Jesus Christ. You gotta know Christ. You cannot believe what you don't
know, so God ordained that faith cometh by hearing, and hearing
by the Word of God. That's what we're doing tonight,
isn't it? I'm preaching the Word to you. I'm telling you what
He said. And that way you know Him. You might know Him. And
so the source of knowledge, the source of true faith is what?
The Word of God. The Word of God. By God's Word
we know God declares who He is. You can't know God by going in
there and look at the trees of nature and look at the stars
of heaven. You can know very limited things about God by looking
at that. But God has revealed Himself
in this book. He's revealed Himself. By this
book, we know who God is. We know about ourselves, that
we are depraved by nature. By the Word of God, we know the
holiness of God, the justice of God. By the Word of God, we
see the success of Jesus Christ. We see a successful work in satisfying
God's justice. Scripture says, by His one offering,
He has perfected forever them that are sanctified. How do you
know that? Word of God says that. Word of God declares that to
us. And so we see this by the Word of God, that the work of
regeneration and faith comes by the Holy Spirit. How is it
that you believe on Christ? We know this by the Word of God,
that the Spirit, like the wind, bloweth where it listeth. You
can hear the sound thereof, but you can't tell whether it's coming
or whether it's going. So is everyone that is born, what,
of the Spirit of God. You're born of the Spirit of
God. How do you know that? Word of God tells us. And so
true faith is grounded in knowledge by the Word of God. That's how
you know who Christ is. You know, it really doesn't matter
how you feel about Christ, or what you think Christ is. It's
what the Word of God tells us that Christ is. That's how you
know whom you have believed, simply by the Word of God. The
declaration of Scripture. And the power of the Spirit reveals
Him to you through this Word. Paul said, I know whom I believe.
Do you know whom you believe? See, true faith knows Christ. You know him? I didn't say, do
you know about him? Do you know him? You know him. Second of all, true faith is
confident. Paul said, I know whom I believe
and am persuaded. I'm confident of something. True
faith has confidence. Confidence in what? That he is
a You see, if I know Him, I know this. I'm confident that He is
able to keep that which I've committed. He's able to save. I know that. True faith believes
that Christ is able to save. True faith that is of the Holy
Ghost knows Christ. I know this. He's God manifesting
in flesh. Don't you know that? Without
controversy. See, I don't even have to debate
that. without controversy, grace and mystery of God in this God
was manifest in the flesh. I know Christ was successful
in his work of salvation. He was successful. He actually
accomplished my salvation. He finished the work that God
gave him to do. In fact, he said that, Father,
I finished the work you gave me to do. Then on the cross,
he said what? It is finished. It's done. Salvation is accomplished. You see, I know that about him.
I know him. And I know this, that no man comes to God but
by Him. I know that. Scripture says there's none other
name given among men whereby we must be saved. And we know
this because we are taught of God. Isn't that right? Anyone
who knows Him, you know Him because you were taught of God. Over
in John chapter 6, this is what Jesus said. He said in verse
John 6, 44, no man can come unto me except what? The Father which
hath sent me draw him. And I'll raise him up at the
last day. It is written in the prophets, they shall all be taught
of God. Every man therefore that hath
heard and hath learned of the Father, what they do? They come
to me. Have you come to Him? How did
you learn that? You learned that of God. God
taught you that. If God taught you something,
if God taught you who Christ is, you will believe on Him. You will believe on Him. And
all who know Him, all who believe on Him, listen, we are confident
in Him. We are persuaded. Listen, you're
not going to come to Him unless you're persuaded, are you? You
can't come to Him unless you're fully convinced He is able to
keep your soul. We are confident, not in our
flesh, not in our ability to keep ourselves, we are confident
that He is able. Paul said this in Hebrews 7,
that He is able to save to the uttermost. Who? Them that come
to God by Him. Are you come to God by Him? That's
a good question for you right now. Are you come to God by Him? Well, you did if you know Him.
If you know Him, you know this. I'm confident. Not in me. I'm confident in Him. True faith
knows Christ and knows His ability to save. Didn't that leopard come to Him
that way? He said this. If you will, you can make me
whole. He came with faith, didn't he?
He knew that that man alone had the power to make him whole.
So when we come to Christ, we know this. He alone can make
me whole. He alone can. This is true faith, that he has
the ability. Paul said this in Philippians
3, he said, We are the circumcision which worship God in the spirit,
rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh. None. So we see that faith has
knowledge. Knowledge of who? Christ. Because
you know him, you are persuaded That He is able and you what?
You come to Him. You believe on Him. I tell you
what, I am more persuaded of Him now than I ever have been
before. I'm more confident in Him. Less confident in me. And more confident that He is
able. Thirdly, true faith is this, true faith is committed. He said, I've committed something
unto Him. I'm persuaded that He's able
to keep that which I have what? committed. True faith is committed. True faith is sold out to Christ. Lock, stock, and barrel. He is, listen to this word, He is all my life. He is all my peace. He is all my redemption. He is all my sanctification. He is all my wisdom. He is all. I've committed everything to
Him. Everything. I'm persuaded that He's able.
Otherwise, I wouldn't have committed at all to Him. We're committed. We know Christ. We know He's
able. And we commit our whole self, whole self, body, soul,
and spirit to His care. That's what it is to believe.
Listen, you keep nothing for yourself. Faith keeps nothing
for self. It's totally sold out. He said, I'm committed. What
I've committed to Him, I know He's able to keep. What have
I committed? Everything. He's all my salvation. So to
us who believe, we are committed to Christ. We're committed to
what? To obey Him. Can you be committed to Him and
not obey? Is that possible? What do we obey? The law of Christ. The law of Christ. What is the
law of Christ? Well, it's to believe. You believe. You are what? Obedient to the
law of Christ. You're obedient to the law of
Christ. And what's the other command? Love. Do you love? You love God? That's obedient. True faith is committed to these
things. We're committed to believe Him.
We're committed to obey Him. And we're committed to preach
His gospel. Go you into all the world. Isn't that the command
given in our text? Go you into all the world and preach the
gospel. That's not a suggestion, is it? You suppose He's given
you an option? No. That's our command. That's
a command, and faith is committed to this. What do we preach? He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved. Why do we preach that? Because
we know it's true. We know it's true. It's here I want to now deal
with this matter of baptism. He that believeth and is baptized.
Why did the Lord include this? According to Scriptures, it is
very plain that only the blood of Christ atones for sin. The
waters of baptism have no effectual work in this matter of atonement
or redemption or remission of sins. Well, how do you know that? The Word of God is plain. Listen
to this very carefully. Without the shedding of blood,
there is what? No remission. Blood is required
for remission of sins. Water is not required. The waters of baptism have nothing
to do with the remission of sins. It was by the obedience and blood
of Christ that saves the sinner, not baptism. But see why the
Lord put it there, because baptism is an act of submission and obedience. I told you that you can't have
faith without being committed. You can't be committed without
obedience. And here's the measure of obedience. He says, He that believeth, what
is he going to do? He's going to be baptized. It's
an act of obedience and submission to one who believes on Christ,
one who is committed all to Christ. Now our baptism, what is it?
What is baptism? It is simply this, a confession
of faith. There is no, in the book of Acts,
there's nothing in Scripture ever about people walking to
the front of the church and making a profession of faith. None of
that. Not found there. The only thing that is given
for confession of faith is this matter of baptism. He that believeth,
and what? Is baptized. Baptism is a confession
that we identify with Christ. When I am standing in the water,
and I am plunged and submerged into the water, and I come up
out of the water, it is a picture. It's a gospel message in itself,
saying this, that I am one with Christ. I was one with Christ when He
came into this world. I was one with Christ when He
obeyed the law. I was one with Christ when He
died on the cross. I was one with Christ when He
was buried in the tomb. And I was one with Christ when
He rose again from the dead. He is my representative. I am
one with Christ. I was in Christ when He did all
those things as my high priest and representative. That's how
God made me, right? It says, but of God are you what?
In Christ. In Christ. In union with Him. Paul picks it like this. He says,
He is the head and we are the body. Just as your head and body
are in union, so I am in union with Christ. And that's what
baptism is telling people. I'm confessing that to you. I confess by this that I was
in Christ when He lived, when He died, when He was buried,
and when He rose again from the dead. Now listen. You cannot separate faith and
obedience. A lot of people want to do that.
They want to make a profession of faith and then go live however
they desire to live in sin and so forth. We know that's not
true faith. Why? True faith is committed
to Christ. It just is. Because why? I know
Him. I love Him. I want to believe Him. I want to serve Him. I want to
love Him more. And so true faith and obedience
go hand in hand. True faith always works. It always
works. And what is our motive for obedience? Here's the difference between
law and grace. Law is motivated by terror and fear. Grace motivates obedience by
love. I beseech you because of the
mercies of God." God, do you know anything about the mercies
of God? What does that incite in you?
What does that stir up inside of you when you hear mercy and
love and grace Election. Oh, great. Election. When you
hear of redemption, when you hear of His death and His suffering
and His love and His resurrection, what does that incite in you?
Terror? Listen to these words. Faith
worketh by love. Our motivation for obedience
When I'm committed to Him and committed to obey Him, it is
not a grievous thing to obey Him. It's a grievous thing that
I don't do it. It's a grievous thing when I
sin against Him. It is grievous to my soul. So that's true faith. True faith
is committed. And so if we profess to believe,
but will not, for some reason, be baptized. I've even met people
who profess to believe in Christ and yet, for some reason, they
refuse to be baptized. I'm aghast. I don't understand.
It's a simple thing, isn't it? To be put into the water and
come up as a symbol, as a picture? It's as simple as eating the
Lord's Supper, isn't it? The Lord's Supper is a picture,
and we do that. I've known people who just say,
I don't think you've got to be baptized to be saved. You don't.
But I'll tell you this, you have to obey. And if you won't obey
in something so simple as baptism, what do you think you're going
to do when bigger things come? Like Abraham, go offer your son. Do you think you'll offer your
son? Well, you won't even be put in the water. What makes
you think you'll do greater things? No. I cannot imagine anyone who
knows Christ and believes on Christ and is persuaded that
He's able to save them, and somehow they revolt and will not be baptized. This is nothing less than being
ashamed If you will not be baptized, listen to me, you're ashamed
of him. What does he say about that?
He said, if you're ashamed of me, I'll be ashamed of you. Now, we must not elevate baptism
above what it is. I don't want to elevate baptism
above what it is. It's a picture. It's a gospel message in a type.
But we must never separate true faith and full commitment to
obey Christ's command to be baptized. So what do we see? The three
things in true faith. Three things in true faith. Knowledge of who? Him. Confidence in who? Him. And commitment to who? Commitment
to Him. That's true faith. You got that?
Do you have true faith? Second of all, what is the object
of true faith? I'll move quickly through these.
The object of true faith is, He that believeth on the Son,
John said, hath everlasting life. The only object of true faith
is Jesus Christ. It is Jesus Christ alone. Jesus
Christ and Him crucified is the only object of true faith. We do believe the Word of God.
But believing the Bible is not true faith. We believe in the mercy of God.
But listen, believing in the love and mercy of God will not
save you. People believe God's loving all
the time, don't they? They say, I believe in a loving God. That
won't save you. If that's the object of your
faith, that won't save you. I believe God's merciful. Listen,
you can believe that all day long, and He is. But that will
not save you. If that's the object of your
faith, that will not save you. They say, surely why? I believe
you got to have faith, preacher. Well, if your faith is in your
faith, you're lost. I know a lot of people believe
in their faith. They say, well, you just got to have faith. No,
you got to have Christ. And the object of true faith
is always Christ. It is always Jesus Christ. He is the only object. He said
this, Look unto Me and be ye saved. Not a mixture of you and
Him. Just Him. I like that, don't you? It's
very simple. It's not complex. You don't need two things, you
need one thing. You need Him. You need to look to Him. It was
Christ who shed His blood. It was Christ who satisfied God's
justice. It was Christ who obtained eternal
redemption. And so I believe His Word because
He's the theme of it. He's the object of the Word of
God. I believe in the love and mercy of God because He's the
root and cause of mercy. And so sinner, I'll tell you
this, you should call on Him. Believe on Him. Why? He alone can save you. There's
no salvation anywhere else. Don't look to me. Don't look
to yourself. Look to Him. And all who believe
on Him, we are fully freely and only desire to be found in Him. Do you want to be found anywhere
else? When you see God face to face, who do you want to be found
in? I want to be found in Him. Why? That's the object of my faith.
It's Jesus Christ. This is vital. This is serious.
If you believe anything in anything but Christ, Your works, your deeds, your
prayers, your tears, your sighs, your grief, your sin. I know
some people believe, well, I'm a sinner. And they think that
gives them some measure of faith toward God. Well, yeah, you're
a sinner. That doesn't help you. Believing Christ cleanses us
from all our sins. Christ cleanses us. Christ cleanses
us. Christ saves us. He's the object
of our faith. If you mix your faith with anything
but Christ, it's empty. This is dead serious. The whole
book of Galatians deals with this one thing. This church had
got this false doctrine that said, well, you've got to believe
in Christ. Yes, faith in Christ is good,
but you've got to be circumcised as well. They added one Now,
is circumcision good? It was part of the law of God,
wasn't it? There's nothing wrong with that. It was part of the
law of God. The law of God's holy. The law of God's good.
But you add that to Christ, and what did Paul say? He said, if
you be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. You add anything. Anything. Anything. You put your hand to the Word
and it's defiled. He that believeth on the Son
hath life. Not the Son plus your works,
not the Son plus your deeds, the Son. What do you have? You have life. You believe on
the Son? Guess what? You have life. You
have life. And thirdly this, how does faith
come? You know what faith is? Faith
knows Christ. is persuaded that he's able to
save. Faith is committed and comes
to Christ. But how does one have faith?
We cannot work faith into anyone. Tonight, I want every one of
you to believe. I cannot make anyone believe. I cannot make anyone believe. I cannot even give faith to myself. The Scriptures tell us that faith
is both a gift of God and a work of God. Listen to these verses.
Here it says in Ephesians 2 that faith is a gift. It says, for
by grace you are saved through faith. Listen, and that, what
is that? Faith is not of yourself. It, what? Faith is a gift of
God. It's not an offer. It's a gift. God gives it. And what does God
do? He not only gives it, He works it in you. He works it
in you. How do we know that? Jesus said
this in John 6. He said, this is the work of
God. Well, Jesus, what is the work
of God? That you believe on Him who He has sent. This is the
work of God. Faith, friends, is not of the
will of man. It's the work of God. Most people
believe that faith is nothing more than a mere decision that
can be made by anyone. That's not what the Scripture
teaches. Listen to this word in John chapter 1. It says, "...as
many as received Him." That's a beautiful word, isn't it? The word receive means like if
you have a glass of water and you're thirsty, and you take
that water and you pour it down your throat, you have received
it. You wanted water, you needed water, and you received the water. Same with us. We saw our need
of salvation, we saw Christ was capable of fulfilling that need,
and by grace, we received Him. Now, how did you do that? Well,
you did it willingly, didn't you? Well, of course you did. Nobody denies that the will is
not involved. Of course you willingly received
Him. Why? You needed Him. You had to have
Him, and you received Him. But how did you do that? He said
this, which were born. You had to be born. Not of blood,
nor of the will of flesh, nor of the will of man. But whose
will? Of the will of God. You were born of the will of
God, therefore you were able to receive it. You see who gets
the glory in this? God did the work. God did the
work. I like what he says in Ephesians
1 in verse 18. He says, the eyes of your understanding
being enlightened. What is that enlightenment? That
I may know Him. That you're persuaded of Him.
that you're committed to Him. Your eyes have been enlightened
that you may know what is the hope of His calling, the riches
of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the
exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe. Don't
you see that faith requires exceeding great power? The same power that
raised up Jesus from the dead is the same power that gave you
faith. It's the same power. He said,
which was wrought in Christ when He raised Him from the dead.
Behold how very serious the condition of man is. It's ruined. Man's
ruined. He's hopeless in his condition,
in his fallen nature, and it takes the exceeding great power
of God to give him life and faith. I know He will work faith in
the hearts of His elect. I know that. He's going to do
that. When He will do it, I don't know.
The providences He will use to do it, I have no idea. The only
thing I know about how God communicates faith through the Spirit is by
one means, preaching. That's all I know about this.
I know this, He's going to bring the sinner and the preacher together,
and then He's going to hear that Word, and the Word of God is
going to be used in an effectual way, and faith is going to be
brought. That's how it happened to me.
That's how it happened to you. As you heard the Word of God.
You heard this. He that believes and is baptized
shall be saved. You need to be saved? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. A great illustration of God working
faith. I'm going to give this to you. I'm going to close this.
That Samaritan woman at the well. That was a sinner. She was an
adulterous woman living in adultery, wasn't looking for God, wasn't
looking for Christ. She was just going to the well.
Who met her? Who met who? Christ met her. Christ sought
her. Christ found her. And where did
He find her? He found her in her sin. Isn't that where God finds His
people? He doesn't find us and wait until
we get better. He finds us in the very teeth
of our sin. And He comes to us. And what
does He do? When He comes to the sinner,
He creates an interest. And He said, hey, give me some
of that water. And you say, well, you... He
said, if you knew who it was that asked you for water, I'd
give you eternal life. This living water. She goes,
what's this living water? I don't understand. He created
an interest in her. And then what did he do? He exposed
her. Men don't like to be exposed. Listen, God's never going to
save you. He's going to expose you. He exposed who she was. Then what'd he do? He declared
who he was. What happened? She believed.
She believed. She believed. This is exactly
how God instills faith. He brings the sinner. He finds
the sinner in their sin. He exposes the sinner in his
sin. He reveals himself. And you know
what? The sinner can do nothing but
believe. You know what? I really understand
that. There was just one lady came
to our church one time. One of the greatest testimonies
I think I'd ever heard when she said this. She said she was listening
to the gospel for a while and she hated it. But she couldn't
stop listening. She had to listen. She had to
hear it again and again and again. And she said, before I knew what
happened, I was believing. That's what it is. He that believeth
in what is baptized shall be saved. He that believeth not
shall be damned. This surely should interest everyone. And I do pray that God would
show you, do you believe on the Son of God? Now if you believe,
listen, you're saved. How simple. Salvation's in a
person. It's in Christ. Look to Him. Our gracious Father dismisses
with your blessing. Pour out your Spirit upon us
if you please. I ask you to do this in Jesus' name. impact.