Morning. You don't have to turn there,
just open the service with the reading of God's word, the revelation
of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him to show unto his servants
things what must shortly come to pass. And he sent and signified
it by his angel unto his servant, John, who bear record of the
word of God and of the testimony of Jesus Christ and of all things
that he saw. Blessed is he that readeth and
they that hear the words of this prophecy and keep those things
which are written therein for the time is at hand." The time
is at hand. God give us faith to believe
what he has said. Give us ears to hear. from his
word this morning. Let's stand together. Brother
Tom's going to come lead us in the hymn on the back of your
bulletin. Chief of sinners though I be,
Jesus shed his blood for me. Died that I might live on high,
lived that I might never die. As the branches to the vine,
I am his and he is mine. O the heights of Jesus' love,
deeper than the heavens above, deeper than the depths of sea,
lasting as eternity. Love that found me, wondrous
thought, found me when I sought Him not. ? Jesus only can impart
? ? Bonds to heal the spittin' heart ? ? Peace that flows from
sin forgive ? ? Joy that lifts the soul to heaven ? ? Faith
and hope that walks with God ? ? In the way that Enoch trod
? ? Chief of sinners though I be ? Christ is all in all to me
? All my wants to him are known ? All my sorrows are his own
? Safe with him from earthly strife ? He sustains the hidden
life ? O my Savior, help afford ? By thy Spirit and thy Word
? When my wayward heart would stray ? Keep me in thy narrow
way ? Grace in time of need supply ? While I live and when I die
? Please be seated. Good morning. If you have followed
our pastor's admonition and advice to read Proverbs every day this
month, today's Proverbs will be on the eighth. Proverbs eight
will be our Scripture reading this morning, Proverbs 8. Though now wisdom cry, and understanding
put forth her voice, she standeth on top of high places by the
way in places of paths. She crieth at the gates, at the
entry of the city, at the coming in at the doors. Unto you, O
man, I call, and my voice is to the sons of men. So this call is to us. And this,
of course, the Proverbs speak about Christ, but I think especially
this particular chapter, because it talks about creation and being
there, just like Christ was the creator. O ye simple of understanding,
understand wisdom, O ye simple, and ye fools, be ye of an understanding
heart. Herefore I will speak of excellent
things, and the opening of my lips shall be right things. My mouth shall speak truth and
wickedness and abominations to my lips. All the words of my
mouth are in righteousness. There's nothing forward or perverse
in them. Again, we think about Christ
constantly throughout this chapter. There are all plain to him that
understandeth and write to them that find knowledge. Receive
my instructions and not silver. and knowledge rather than choice
gold. So this instruction, this wisdom
of God is more important than any possession, more important
than gold or silver to us. For wisdom is better than rubies
and all the things that may be desired are not compared to it. No possession can be compared
to it. I wisdom dwell with prudence. and find out knowledge of witty
inventions. The fear of the Lord is to hate
evil. Pride and arrogancy and the evil
way and the forward mouth do I hate. Counsel's mind and sound
wisdom. I am on standing. I have strength. By me the kings reign. Princes
decree justice. By me princes rule and nobles,
even all the judges of the earth. I love them that love me. And
those that seek me early shall find me. Riches and honor are
with me. ye durable riches and righteousness. The riches that last is everlasting
life in Christ Jesus, of course, everlasting life. My fruit is
better than gold, ye then better than fine gold, and my revenue
than choice silver. I lead the way of righteousness
in the path of judgment that I may cause those that love me
to inherit substance and I will find their treasures. The Lord
possesses me in the beginning of His way before His words of
old. I was set up from everlasting,
from the beginning, from wherever that earth was. When there were
no depths, I was brought forth. When there were no fountains
abounding with water, before the mountains were settled, before
the hills was brought forth, while yet As yet he had not made
the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust
of the world. When he prepared the heavens,
I was there. When he set a compass upon the
face of the depth, when he established the clouds above, when he strengthened
the fountains of the deep, when he gave the sea his decree that
the water should not pass his commandment, When He appointed
the foundations of the earth, there I was with Him, as one
brought up with Him. And I was daily His delight,
rejoicing always before Him." Again, we think about the Gospel
of John chapter one, don't we? It says Christ was there in the
beginning and nothing was created that He did not create. rejoicing
in his hallowed parts of earth. And by my delights were the sons
of men. Now, therefore, hearken unto
me, all ye children, for blessed are they that keep my ways. Hear
instructions and be wise and refuse it not. Blessed is the
man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at
the posts of my doors. For whosoever findeth me, findeth
life, and shall obtain favor of the Lord." Of course, how
can we not see Christ throughout this whole chapter? But he that
sinneth against me wrongeth his soul, for they hate me, love
death." And I'd like to remind you in the New Testament in Colossians
it says, speaking about Christ, It says, in whom, that is Christ,
are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. They're
all in Christ. To seek wisdom is to seek Christ
and to have, this is not the wisdom of the world like the
Greeks were seeking, like Pastor Greg read. This is the wisdom
of God, which is Christ. Father God, we come before you
and we thank you. We come before you, of course,
through the Lord Jesus Christ, through his sacrifice and through
his life. Father, we thank you that you
allow us to be here. Father, we want to hear of you.
We want to hear of your son, the Lord Jesus Christ, through
the scriptures. We want him magnified. We pray
that you might give us the Holy Spirit. Fill us with this Holy
Spirit. Both the speaker and the hearer,
we both need the Holy Spirit to be able to see Christ more
clearly, to be able to see more of his glory because there's
a lot more to be seen, Father, that we're able to see, Father.
We pray that we may seek the wisdom of Christ. because that's
the wisdom that we need. In Jesus' name, we pray this
also for all the other churches that preach Christ. In Jesus'
name, we pray. Amen. Let's all stand together once
again. We'll sing hymn number 352 from your hardbacked hymnal,
number 352. Jesus, lover of my soul, let
me to thy bosom fly, while the nearer waters roll, while the
tempest still is. ? Guide me, O my Savior, high ?
? Till the storm of life is past ? ? Safe into the haven guide
? ? O receive my soul at last ? Other refuge have I none, hangs
my helpless soul on thee. Levi, leave me not alone, still
support and comfort me. All my trust on thee is stay. All my help from thee I bring. Cover my defenseless head with
the shadow of thy wing. Thou, O Christ, art all I want,
more than all in Thee I find. Raise the fallen, cheer the faint,
heal the sick, and lead the blind. Just and holy is thy name. I am all unrighteousness. False and full of sin I am. Thou art full of truth and grace. Plenteous grace with thee is
found, Grace to cover all my sin. Let the healing streams
abound, Make and keep me pure within. Thou of life, the fountain
art. Freely let me take of thee. Ching thou up within my heart. Rise to all eternity. Please be seated. Adam? Adam
Sharon's going to bring special music. Abide with me. Fast falls the eventide. The darkness deepens. Lord, with me abide. When other helpers fill and comforts
free. Help of the helpless poor, abide
with me. Swift to its close and out lies Earth's joys grow dim, its glories
pass away. Change and decay in all around
I see. O thou who changest not, ? Abide
with me ? ? I need thy presence ? ? Every
passing hour ? ? What but thy grace can ? ? Foil
the tempter's power ? Who like thyself my guidance
day can be. Through life and sunshine, oh,
abide with me. Hold thou thy word. for my closing eyes. Shine through the gloom and point
me to the skies. Heaven's morning breaks and earth's
faint shadows flee. In life, in death, O Lord, abide
with us. Thank you, Adam. That's our hope, isn't it? The
Lord will abide with us. Will you open your Bibles with
me to Mark chapter 9, please? The title of the first hour was
the word strangers. And I tried to make things real
simple this morning. The title of this hour is the
word faith. Faith. I pray the Lord will enable
us to see from this passage of scripture the origin of faith,
the nature of faith, the confession of faith, and the result of faith. Scripture makes it clear that
without faith it is impossible to please God. For they which
come unto Him must believe that He is and that He is the rewarder
of them that diligently seek Him. This is the story that you
hear quoted oftentimes when the father of the young man who was
possessed with the devil cried out and said, Lord, I believe. Help thou mine unbelief. It's every believer's experience. Every believer's experience.
Oh Lord, I do believe. But oh, I've got so much unbelief. The sin that doth so easily beset
me. My old man is just full of unbelief. And Lord, if you don't abide
with me and keep him and control him, I'll be overwhelmed by him. Lord, I do believe. Help thou
mine unbelief." Is that your experience? Let's read the story
together. It begins in verse 14 of Mark
chapter 9. And when he came to his disciples, he saw a great
multitude about them and the scribes questioning with him.
And straightway all the people, when they beheld him, were greatly
amazed and running to him, saluted him. And he asked the scribes,
what question you have with them? I love the picture here of the
Lord Jesus Christ always running to the defense of his people.
And he still does. He still does. He defends his
children. They were interrogating the disciples,
trying to catch them in something. And the Lord takes the attention
to himself. And one of the multitude answered
and said, Master, I brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb
spirit. Now, one of the other gospel
writers that recounts this story says the man, the young boy was
a lunatic, that he was possessed with the devil. Here we hear
that he was deaf and dumb. He was unable to speak and was
unable to hear. The spiritual picture here is
so clear, apart from faith, we cannot speak the things of God. We cannot speak the glory of
Christ without faith. We cannot speak a confession
without faith. And we cannot hear. We cannot
hear. The hearing ear and the seeing
eye are both of the Lord. God has to give us that. So here's
a picture of our spiritual condition outside of Christ. In verse 18, and wheresoever
he taketh him, he teareth him and he foameth and gnasheth with
his teeth and pineth away. And I spake to the disciples
and that they should cast him out and they could not. They
could not. One of the things I see in this
story is Don't ever, this man, this father is going to say in
a few verses, if thou can't do anything, have compassion on
us and help us. And the Lord's going to respond
to him by saying, if thou can't believe, all things are possible
unto him that believeth. This man was calling Christ into
question because of the inability of his disciples. Don't ever
do that. If a child of God fails you,
don't call God into question for that. I've seen people walk
away from the church, walk away because they were offended by
a believer. Don't ever call the Lord Jesus
Christ into question just because one of his disciples don't measure
up to your expectations. Probably truth is you don't either,
isn't it? He answered him and saith, oh,
faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? And how
long shall I suffer you? Bring him unto me. What they should have done to
start with, to bring him to Christ. And when they brought him unto
him, and when he saw him straightway, the spirit tear him and he fell
on the ground and wallowed foaming. And he asked his father, the
Lord Jesus Christ asked the father, how long is it ago since this
came unto him? The Lord never asked a question
because of lack of information. He's asking this question too,
to give us the information and everybody else that was around.
And he said of a child, he's been, he was born this way. We've
been having this problem with this, with this boy ever since
he was a baby. And oftentimes it had cost him,
cast him into the fire and into the waters to destroy him. But
if thou can't do anything, have compassion on us and help us.
What a picture. Here's our condition, isn't it? We come into this world lunatics
at enmity with God, under the control of an evil
spirit. And if the Lord doesn't deliver us, We'll be just like,
well, we'll die this way, won't we? And Jesus said unto him,
if thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. If thou canst believe, all things
are possible to him that believeth. And straightway, immediately,
as soon as the father heard that, with tears, He cried, saying,
O Lord, I do believe. Help thou mine unbelief. And when Jesus saw the people
come running together, He rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto
him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him,
and enter no more into him. And the spirit cried, and ran
him sore, and came out of him, and he was as one dead, and so
much that many said he is dead. But Jesus took him by the hand
and lifted him up, and he arose. Oh, what a picture of mercy.
If thou canst help us, have compassion on us and help us. Not a lack
of my ability. And when he came into the house,
the disciples asked him privately, why could not we cast him out?
And he said unto them, this kind come forth by nothing but by
prayer and fasting. The first question I want to
answer in this message is what is the origin of faith? What
is the origin of faith? We know what the cause of faith
is. Faith comes by hearing. And hearing comes by the word
of God. Apart from hearing the gospel, there will be no faith.
Where does faith come from? For by grace are you saved through
faith. And that not of yourself, it's
a gift of God. lest any man should boast. Men
boast all the time about their faith, don't they? They believe
their faith to be the effectual cause of their salvation. They
believe that God's done everything He can do and now they bring
their faith to the table and that's their gift to God. No.
No, faith is a gift from God, not our gift to God. Hebrews
chapter 12, says looking unto Jesus the author, I was quoting
this verse to someone recently and they said doesn't it say
your in there, look it up, look it up. The word your is in italics
which means it wasn't in the original text. Looking unto Jesus
the author and finisher of faith, of faith. So the Lord Jesus Christ
is the author of our faith, He's the sustainer of our faith and
He's the keeper of our faith. And the child of God never stops
crying. Lord, help thou mine unbelief. The disciple said,
Lord, increase our faith. Lord, if you don't give me faith,
I've got no place else to go to get it. The origin of faith
is God. The unbeliever is in bondage
to his sin because he is unable to believe. To be delivered from our sins
means that God gives us grace to believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ, to trust Him, to follow after Him, the unconverted cannot
believe. Now, the encouragement thing
here is that the smallest faith is evidence of salvation. When
it comes to justification, when it comes to standing guiltless
in the presence of God, it doesn't matter how much faith you have,
it matters whether you have faith. It matters whether you have faith.
And so, the babe in Christ, the one with the smallest of faith,
and the mature father in Christ who has been walking with the
Lord and has proved God's faithfulness time and time again, all stand
in the same position before God. You see, because the unbeliever
doesn't have any faith. He doesn't have any faith. And
faith is the evidence. It's the only evidence of our
salvation. It's the only evidence. Faith is the substance of things
hoped for. Faith is the evidence of things
not seen. Now, someone said, well, when
the Lord saves you aren't there supposed to be some changes in
your life? Yeah, if you're doing things that you ought not to
be doing, the Lord is going to correct you for it. He's going to. He's
going to chastise you. He's going to deliver you from
some things. But here's the thing about it.
Unconverted men often quit doing bad things. Is that evidence
of their faith? I hear people say, well you know
I don't do that anymore. That's the evidence that I'm
saved. Well, I'm glad you don't do it anymore. You shouldn't
have been doing it to begin with. What did Saul of Tarsus look to as
the evidence of his faith? He said before he was converted,
concerning the law, I was blameless. No one could charge me with anything
against the law of God. But when the spirit of God spoke
to my heart and caused me to see, that covetousness, which
is the secret of my heart that no one else could see, was the
evidence of my breaking of God's law, not my outward behavior. What changed in Saul of Tarsus'
life? He said he wasn't a murderer anymore. He was murdering Christians
believing that he was doing it in the name of God. He didn't
see what he was doing as righteous. You see, there's no outward evidence
of a changed life. What about Cornelius? Cornelius,
a God-fearing man, he was seeking to honor God with his life, but
he didn't know the gospel, he didn't know Christ, and the Lord
saved him. What about Nicodemus? Nicodemus was a leader of the
Jews, an outwardly moral man. The Lord saved him. He couldn't look to a change
in his life. as the evidence of his salvation. What's the evidence of salvation? Looking unto Jesus, the author
and the finisher of faith. The substance of things hoped
for, the evidence of things not seen. The Lord has to do some correcting
in each of our lives, so be it. Let Him do it. He will. He will. What I'm trying to say to you
this morning is don't look to change in an outward behavior
as the evidence of your salvation. People do that all the time.
And Satan's glad to take something bad away from you in order to
give you a false hope. He's happy to do that. You remember the story that the
Lord told about the man who cast the demon out of his house? And
then after the demon was gone, he garnished his house and made
it beautiful. And the demon said, you know, the house is empty.
And they took him back seven times stronger. The demons of
religion, self-righteousness, trusting in some outward virtue
are much stronger than the demons of bad habits. Am I justifying
having bad habits or doing sinful behavior? No. God correct us, change us, if
that be the case. I'm just saying that the evidence,
the evidence of our salvation is faith. And that comes from
God. That comes from God. So here's
the question. What do I believe? What do I
believe about the Lord Jesus Christ? the nature of faith. Turn to
me to Luke chapter 18. Luke chapter 18. This man cried
with tears. Cried with tears. Lord, I believe, help thou mine
unbelief." Now, you're not going to obligate God. You're not going
to force God's hand by your tears. The tears of repentance must
be washed in the blood of Christ in order to be acceptable to
God. You're not going to obligate God. You're not going to convince
God to have mercy on you because of how hard you beg. Does that mean that we don't
beg? Oh, no. No. Turn with me. You have your
Bibles open in Luke chapter 18. Look at verse 1. And He spake
a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray
and not to faint, saying, There was in a city a judge, which
feared not God, neither regarded man. And there was a widow in
that city, and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine
adversary. And he would not, for a while
but afterwards he said within himself though I fear not God
nor regard man yet because this widow troubleth me I will avenge
her lest by her continual coming she weary me and the Lord said
hear what the unjust judge said now I've heard people take this
passage of scripture and compare the unjust judge to the Lord
Jesus Christ well you know we just have to We just have to
storm heaven with our prayers and beg God enough, and if we'll
give him no rest, then he'll eventually come through for us.
No, this parable is contrasting God to this unjust judge. And shall not God avenge thine
own elect which cry day and night unto him though he bear long
with him? I tell you that He will avenge
them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of
God cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?" When the Son of
God cometh, here's the nature of faith. This kind cometh out
only by prayer and fasting. What's the nature of faith? The
nature of faith is a mercy beggar who never ceases and asking God,
have mercy upon me. Lord, I believe help thou my
unbelief. In another parable in Luke chapter
11, the Lord tells about a man who goes to a friend's house
and knocks on the door to go in. And the man says, I've already
gone to bed, go find someone. And he keeps knocking. And the
man that was in bed said, because of his importunity, He got up
and let him in and fed him and gave him shelter because of his
importunity. What is the significance of that?
Well, here's the question that you and I have to ask ourselves.
How important is it for you for God to save you? How important
is it? Because that's the nature of
faith. Lord, if you don't have mercy
upon me, I've got no other place to go. I've got no hope. Lord,
I can't do anything but just keep praying and keep begging
and keep knocking and keep coming. That's all I can do. That's the
nature of faith. That's what this man did. He
never quit. He came crying and pleading with
the Lord. And if the Lord, you know, ever
puts, if he ever puts our sin on us, then that's all we'd be
able to do on him. The Lord said, it's expedient
for you that I go away for, if I go not away, the comforter
will not come. But when he comes, he's going to convict the world
of sin because they believe not on me. Oh Lord, help thou mine
unbelief. Help thou mine unbelief. Have
mercy upon me. As you receive Christ Jesus the
Lord so walk ye in him. How do you receive him? You receive
him as a mercy beggar, worthy of nothing, depending completely
upon his grace. Lord, if thou art able, oh no,
I'm able, I'm able. Are you able to believe? Are
you able to believe? I hear people say all the time,
well, you know, God won't put more on you than you can bear. You better hope He does. Because
if you can bear the guilt of your sin, if you can somehow
atone for your own sins, if you can somehow make up for your
sin in the presence of a holy God, then you won't need Christ.
You won't need Christ. But when the Spirit of God comes
and He causes us to see, There's no righteousness. There's nothing
I can do to atone for my sins. I'm completely dependent upon
a savior. I'm completely dependent upon
the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now I've got a
burden I can't bear. And even after the Lord gives
us that burden, he often puts other burdens on us, doesn't
he? It's a mercy. that God would stir up troubles
in our lives in order to remind us of our need for Him. That's
what happened to this Father, and it continues to happen with
all of God's people. Here's the promise. Yes, there
hath no temptation taken you, but such as is common to all
men, but God is faithful. He will not suffer you to be
tempted above that which you are able, but will with the temptation
provide the way of escape that you might be able to bear it.
The Lord Jesus Christ is the only way of escape. Where did this man's faith take
him? The nature of his faith was to cry for mercy, wasn't
it? Was to admit his inability. and his complete dependence upon
the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's always the nature
of faith. Turn with me to 1 Peter 1, please. 1 Peter 1. Now, I heard many years ago a statement
that was true. and I've seen it, I've seen it
bear itself out in many occasions over the years. That which is
born in the storm often dies in the calm. I've seen people
get in trouble and they cry out to God in their trouble and then
within just a while the trouble goes away and so does their need
for God. so does their need for God. Does
that mean that God doesn't use troubles to cause his children
who understand that their greatest trouble is their sin? No, the
Lord does stir up trouble in his children's lives and it's
a mercy to keep us coming back again and again. What I'm trying
to say is that if just Your need for God is just to deliver you
from a trial or a trouble. When that trial or trouble goes
away, and it eventually will, it eventually will, then so will
your need for God. And here's what the Lord says
in 1 Peter 1. Look, Peter, an apostle of Jesus
Christ, verse 1, to the strangers. There we are. There we are, brothers
and sisters. We're strangers in Babylon, aren't
we? throughout Pontius, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,
and the United States. And wherever you live, elect
according to the foreknowledge of God, the Father through sanctification
of the Spirit unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of
Jesus Christ. Grace be unto you and peace be
multiplied. Oh Lord, sprinkle us with the
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy
has begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead to an inheritance. Here's the end of our salvation,
an inheritance. We're joint heirs with the Lord
Jesus Christ. And as Hugo read earlier from
Colossians, all the blessings of God are in the heavenlies
in Christ right now, right now. The wisdom of God, the righteousness
of God, every hope of salvation is in him. An inheritance incorruptible. What else can we say is incorruptible?
These mortal bodies certainly aren't incorruptible. This world
in which we live is not incorruptible, but the inheritance is. The inheritance
is. Lay up for yourselves treasures
in heaven where moths do not eat and rust does not decay.
It's the only place where things are not defiled. Undefiled, that
fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept
by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed
in the last time, wherein you greatly rejoice, though now for
a season. If need be, you are in heaviness
through manifold temptations, that the trial of your faith,
being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it
be tried with fire, might be found under praise and honor
and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ, whom having not
seen you love, in whom though now you see him not, yet believing,
you rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory, receiving
the end of your faith, even the salvation of your soul." God gave this man a difficult
heartache. It drove him to Christ, didn't it? I walked a mile with pleasure. She chattered all the way. She
left me none the wiser for all she had to say. I walked a mile
with sorrow and never a word she said, but, oh, the things
I learned from her when sorrow walked with me." The nature of
faith, first and foremost, is for God to put our sin on us,
a burden that we cannot bear. And then he continues, all throughout
this pilgrimage in Babylon, to give us sorrows and troubles,
to drive us to Christ. This health and wealth prosperity
gospel that men want to preach today is a lie. It's a lie. The nature of faith is a life
of trouble. What is the confession of faith?
What is the confession of faith? Lord, I believe. I believe. I believe that you're
able. I believe that you are the Christ,
the Son of the living God. I believe that you can do whatever
you're pleased to do. I believe I'm completely dependent
upon you. I believe that you did accomplish
everything that God sent you to do. That you finished the
work of redemption for God's elect. I believe that. I don't
believe you were a failure for one minute. I don't believe salvation
is an offer to be made effectual by man's free will. I believe that you actually secured,
as the surety of your people, everything necessary for everyone
that God chose in the covenant of grace. I believe you're God. I believe you're God. What did the Ethiopian say when
Philip said, if thou believe us with all thine heart, I believe
that Jesus Christ is the son of God. Oh, I believe he's the
Christ, the anointed one. I believe he's got the full power
of God and the fullness of God in him. Turn to me to Romans chapter
10. This is the confession of faith. It's to believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ. Remembering that the origin of
faith is God Himself and the nature of faith is trouble, the
confession of faith is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, to
rest all the hope of your salvation on His glorious person and on
His finished work. Look what the Lord tells us in
Romans chapter 10 beginning at verse 6, but the righteousness
which is of faith speaketh on this wise, say not in thine heart
who shall ascend into heaven, that is to bring Christ down
from above. Perish the thought that you can do something to
force God's hand and cause him to come down. That's not faith. or verse 7, who shall descend
into the deep, that is to bring Christ again from the dead. What
can I do to make the death of the Lord Jesus Christ work for
me? What's God waiting for? Perish the thought. That's not
faith. But what sayeth it? What is faith? The word is nigh thee. even in
thy mouth and in thy heart." That is the word of faith which
we preach. The word of faith which we preach.
What do we preach? We preach Christ and Him crucified. We preach the gospel of God's
free grace in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
so what is faith? It's to believe the message that's
being preached. that if thou shalt confess with
thy mouth, the Lord Jesus. Lord, God, Jesus. Jehovah saves. He does all the
saving all by himself. And shall believe in thine heart
that God has raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with
the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture
saith, whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between
the religious and the irreligious. They're all lost. The Jew and
the Greek, you see how outwardly virtuous a person is, is not
the determining factor in their salvation. It's believing on
the Lord Jesus Christ. For the same Lord over all is
rich unto all that call upon Him, for whosoever shall call
upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. What else was this
father confessing? other than confessing, Lord,
I do believe. I do believe. What else was he
confessing? Help thou mine unbelief. He was
confessing himself to be a sinner, wasn't he? That's what he's confessing.
Lord, I'm a sinner. I can't do anything. I don't
have anything. I don't know anything. All I've
got to bring to you is my sin. And finally, what is the result
of faith? What's the result of faith? What happened to this
young man who was deaf and dumb? They thought he was dead. The
Lord put his hand on him, raised him up. Now he can hear. That's the result of faith. I
can hear the gospel. I can hear the difference. God's
made me to differ. I know the Lord Jesus Christ. I know whom I have believed,
and I'm persuaded that He's able to keep that which I've committed
unto Him against that day. I can see the difference. How
many people are not able to hear the difference between what we
believe and what the world's saying about Jesus Christ? God's
given me ears to hear, and He's given me a tongue to confess.
The same thing this man confessed. Here's my confession. Lord, I
believe. Help thou mine unbelief. Our Heavenly Father, we're thankful For the gift of faith. We're
thankful, Lord, even for the troubles that you cause in our
hearts and lives. For we know that that is the
nature of faith. Oh Lord, we pray. That you would
enable us. To confess with this our brother. Lord, I do believe. Help them
on unbelief. And Lord, we pray that you would
place your hand on us and raise us up. Give us ears to hear. Mouths to speak. Hearts to believe. But we ask it in Christ's name. Amen. Number 19, let's stand together,
please. Number 19 in the spiral hymnal. Sovereign ruler, Lord of all,
prostrate at your feet I fall. You are holy, wise, and just. I'm a creature of the dust. move at your command, governed
by your mighty hand. ? Heaven, earth, and hell I see
? ? Fulfill all your wise decree ? ? Dares a man resist his Lord
? ? Stand against the sovereign God ? ? I will bow before your
throne ? ? Seeking grace in Christ your Son ? ? Through his blood
and righteousness ? ? Lord, I plead with you for grace ? ? If you
will, you can, I know ? ? Grace and mercy to beshow ? ? Will
you, Lord, my soul forgive ? ? Grant this sinner grace to live ? ?
I've no other hope but this ? Jesus' blood and righteousness ? Now
I'm conquered by your grace ? In the dust I hide my face ? Give
me Christ or else I die ? I upon your grace rely Oh, for mercy, now I plead. Grant me, Lord, the grace I need. Turn, oh, turn to me and say,
all your sins are washed away. In my son, your debt is paid. He, for you, the ransom made. th th