Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of Matthew. The book of Matthew chapter 8.
I'm going to read this scripture in just a few moments, but before
I do, let's have a word of prayer. Our Father, how thankful we are
for this blessed time to be able to call upon you, Lord, to believe
you, to know by faith that you are Lord, I pray tonight, have
mercy on us, speak to our hearts, bless the Word to our understanding,
forgive us where we fail you for Christ's sake. Amen. Like I said, I'm going to read
this in a moment, but I want to say first of all, the Scripture
has so much to say concerning faith. Faith. And how imperative is true God-given
faith? How imperative is it? Well, Hebrews
11.6 says, but without faith, It is impossible, impossible
to please God, to please Him. It's impossible. For he that
cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder
of them that diligently seek Him. concerning the possession of
it. How does a man or woman come to have
it? Well, Philippians 1.29 says,
For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to
believe on Him, but also to suffer. For His sake. It's not something
that men are born with. Look at 2 Thessalonians 3. 2
Thessalonians 3, 1 and 2. Now listen. Men are not born with faith from
above. They're just not. 2 Thessalonians
3, 1 and 2. Finally, brethren, pray for us.
that the word of the Lord may have free course and be glorified
even as it is with you, and that we may be delivered from unreasonable
and wicked men. For all men have not faith." Faith is the gift of God, and it is given to those that
Almighty God calls out of darkness. Titus 1.1 refers to it as the
faith of God's elect. The only possessors of faith,
true faith, faith from above, are those that have been ordained
to eternal life. chosen in Christ from before
the foundation of the world. An unbeliever does not have faith.
God gives faith to His people when they are called out of darkness. The Lord Himself gives it. It's given unto you. Remember,
we just read that. And the Lord alone Sees it. Now we've got an evidence of
it, and I'm going to say something about that in just a second when
I read that passage. But the Lord sees it. Listen to this, Matthew 9.2,
And behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying
on the bed. And Jesus, seeing their faith,
said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, be of good cheer, thy sins
be forgiven thee. Faith. The just are justified. Walk by it. It is the evidence
of our justification before God. It's Hebrews 11.1. Now faith
is the substance of things hoped for. It's the evidence of things
that are not seen. But it's manifested in a believer. James says this, James 2.18,
A man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works. Show me Thy
faith without Thy works. What works, James? Well, the
work of faith, the labor of love, the patience of hope in our Lord
Jesus Christ. That's good works. Works wrought
by the Spirit of God. Show me Thy faith without Thy
works. You show me faith without the
work of the Holy Spirit in you. He said, I will show thee my
faith by my works, by that labor of love and work of faith and
patience of hope in Christ. Now I want to read four passages
of Scripture. Most of them are found right
here in Matthew and one of them is in Mark. But I want to read
four passages of Scripture and it's concerning faith. And I
want us to look at the mark, at the common marks of faith. I want you to look, first of
all, Matthew 8, verses 1 to 3. Matthew 8, verses 1 to 3. When he was come down from the
mountain, great multitudes followed him. And behold, there came a
leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst
make me clean. Jesus put forth his hand and
touched him, saying, I will be thou clean. And immediately his
leprosy was cleansed. Alright, now in Matthew 8, 5
and 10, now this is the passage I originally started with, and
the rest of it just came from me looking at this passage. Look
at this. Matthew 8, verse 5, When Jesus was entered into Capernaum,
there came unto Him a centurion beseeching Him, And saying, Lord,
my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented.
And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him. The centurion
answered and said unto him, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest
come under my roof, but speak the word only, and my servant
shall be healed. For I am a man under authority,
having soldiers unto me. And I say to this man, Go, and
he goeth. To another, come, and he cometh. And to my servant,
do this, and he doeth it. When Jesus heard it, he marveled. and said to them that followed,
Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no,
not in Israel." I want you to look at Matthew 15. Matthew 15,
verse 21. Then Jesus went thence and departed
into the coast, of Tyre and Sidon, behold, a
woman of Canaan came out of the same coast and cried unto him,
saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David. My daughter
is grievously vexed with the devil. And he answered her, Not
a word. And his disciples came and besought
him, saying, Send her away, for she crieth after us. But he answered
and said, I am not sent, but unto the lost sheep of the house
of Israel. Then came she and worshipped
him, saying, Lord, Help me. But he answered and said, It's
not meat to take the children's bread to cast it to dogs. And
she said, Truth, Lord. Yet the dogs eat the crumbs which
fall from their master's table. Then Jesus answered and said
unto her, O woman, great is thy faith. Be it unto thee even as
thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole
from that very hour." Now I want you to look at Mark 5. Mark chapter
5, verse 25. Mark 5, verse 25. And a certain woman, which had
an issue of blood twelve years, had suffered many things and
many positions, had spent all that she had, and was nothing
bettered, but rather grew worse. And when she had heard of Jesus,
came in the press behind and touched His garment, for she
said, If I may touch but His clothes, I shall be whole. And straightway the fountain
of her blood was dried up. She felt in her body that she
was healed of that plague. And Jesus immediately, knowing
in Himself that virtue had gone out of Him, turned Him about
in the press and said, Who touched My clothes? And his disciples
said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and
sayest thou who touched me? And he looked around about to
see her that had done this thing, but the woman, fearing, trembling,
knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him
and told him all the truth. And he said unto her, Daughter,
thy faith hath made thee whole. Go in peace, and behold of thy
plague. From those four passages of Scripture,
we're taught something of the experience and the evidence of
faith. But how? How did not only these
four people here, but how does any believer come to possess
Faith. What was the means of the impartation of the faith
that the Lord said all four of these people had? How was it
wrought in them? Alright, here it is. And I'm just, for sake of time,
I won't go back and re-read it, but listen. They heard the gospel. Every one of them. Every one
of them. Mark 5 that we just read, verse 27, concerning the
one that had the issue of blood. Here's what it says. When she
had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind and touched His
garment. Hearing the gospel is essential. Romans 10.17 says this, So then
faith cometh. by hearing, and hearing by the
Word of God. It is absolutely imperative that
you hear the Gospel. Little hearing, little hearing affects the faith
that we've been given. Faith cometh by hearing. There is an essential need of
hearing the truth. Turn to Romans 10, 13. We've
read this before, but look at it again. Romans 10, 13 to 15. People say, you know, faith is
just something everybody can have. No, no, no. The Scripture
bears out. that it is absolutely essential
that we hear the Gospel. The Gospel of Paul said, I'm
not ashamed of. It is the power of God unto salvation,
the Gospel. Romans 10, 13, Whosoever, for
whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on Him
in whom they have not believed? Now if somebody is going to call
on the Lord, now the Lord that the Apostle Paul is talking about
right here is the Lord of glory. It's not the Lord that died for
everybody. That Lord is not this Lord. This
Lord right here is the one that said in John 10, 15, I lay down
my life for the sheep. This Lord right here is the one
that told those Pharisees, He said, you don't believe me because
you're not my sheep. My sheep hear my voice. This Lord right here is the One
that came into this world seeking to save that which was lost.
Who is that? His people. Call His name Jesus,
for He shall save His people from their sins. This Lord right
here is the Lord that said in John chapter 17, all power is
given unto the Son that He should give eternal life to as many
as the Father hath given Him." This Lord right here is the Lord
that says, I pray not for the world. John 17, 9, I pray not
for the world. I'm not praying for the world.
I'm praying for those that Thou hast given Me. This is the Lord
here. For whosoever shall call upon
the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call
on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they
believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they
hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach except
they be sent as it is written, how beautiful are the feet of
them that preach the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings
of good things." Now listen, if Almighty God is pleased to
save a sinner, He is going to save that sinner under the preaching
of the gospel of God's sovereign grace. The Spirit of God does not bless
a message that doesn't honor totally the Son. The Spirit of
God does not bless a message that gives man any honor or any
glory. I have heard people tell me.
I was saved a long time back there. And later on, I came to
the doctrines of grace. Well, there's something tragically
wrong. We don't come to the doctrines
of grace. We come to Christ. But you were not converted according
to the Scriptures. You were not converted under
a lie. You were not. No, you weren't. I just quoted
what Paul said. I'm not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ. It's the power of God unto salvation. God was pleased to save you,
called out His people through the preaching of the gospel.
So what was the means? What was the means? It's the
hearing of the truth. If there's spiritual eyes to
see and spiritual ears to hear, I'm going to tell you something,
you're a blessed sinner. The Lord gave you those eyes.
That's what Proverbs 20 says. Listen to our Lord in Matthew
13. Matthew 13, verse 15-16. For the people's heart is waxed
gross, and their ears are dull of hearing. Their eyes they've
closed, lest at any time they should see with their eyes and
hear with their ears, should understand with their heart,
and should be converted, and I should heal them. But blessed
are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. If the Lord has given you a heart
to believe, You believe this gospel. He's given you spiritual
eyes and spiritual ears. There's going to be some evidence
of it. There's going to be a mark about
it. If God has given you eyes and
ears to hear. Now I want us to just look at
these four passages that I've just read. Now I'm not going
to read them all. I'm just going to read excerpts out of them.
Look back at Matthew 8. And listen to this, Matthew 8,
2. Now this was that leper. Now listen to this, Matthew 8,
2. And behold, there came a leper,
and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make
me clean. When Jesus was entered into Capernaum,
Matthew 8, 5. there came unto him a centurion
beseeching him." And Mark, I'll read this to you,
Mark 5, 27, the woman with the issue of blood, and when she
had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind and touched his
garment. Matthew 15, 21, 22, that Syrophoenician
woman, Canaanite. Then Jesus went thence, and departed
into the coast of Tyre and Sidon. Behold, a woman of Canaan came
out of the same coast and cried unto Him, saying, Lord, have
mercy on me, Thou Son of David. Have mercy on me, O Lord, Thou
Son of David. Now let me ask you this. Did you happen to catch
something? There were four verses of Scripture
And they all said that all four people did the same thing. Here's what they said. They came
to Him. There came a leper. There came
a centurion. There came a woman with an issue
of blood. There came a woman of Canaan. This is what our Lord declared
would happen, would be evidenced by everyone called out by the
Spirit of God in regenerating grace. John 6.37, All that the
Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me
I will in no wise cast out. Now listen, believers don't come
to the front. They don't come to Mary. They
don't come to the baptismal pool. They don't come to the church.
As I said a while ago, they don't come to the doctrines of grace.
They come to Christ in their heart by faith. Someone says, well, how do they
come? If He calls you, you come. My sheep hear My voice. I know them. They follow Me.
They come to Me. John 10, 2 and 4, But he that
entereth in by the door, that is, into the sheepfold, is the
shepherd of the sheep. To him the porter openeth, and
the sheep hear his voice. He calleth his own sheep by name. They know him personally. They know him. I mean, this is
something that I can't explain. God's people, called by God's
grace, know Him. They know Him. And they fellowship
with Him. And they pray. And they call. And they seek. And they sit.
And they hear. He calleth His own sheep by name,
and leadeth them out. And when He putteth forth His
own sheep, He goeth before them, and the sheep follow Him, for
they know His voice." As I've said before, I'm telling you,
if I preach something other than what I'm preaching right here,
and I give men any honor, any glory, if I say anything, and
it's inconsistent with these Scriptures, Let me tell you something,
you that know Him, you'll pick it up that quickly. You'll hear
it in a heartbeat. I mean, there's certain things
that I know I say, you know. I ain't from around here. And
there's certain words that I say, and I've said them all my life.
And they just come out like that. And when you hear it, you recognize
it. Yeah, that was Marvin talking.
I recognize that. When you hear the gospel of God's
free grace, and you hear that message that gives the Lord all
the honor and the glory and the praise, you hear of God's electing
grace, predestinated us under the adoption of children by Jesus
Christ to Himself. And you say, that's my master's
voice there. That's him talking. That's how he talks. And I love
it when he talks. I love him. When he honors himself
and when the gospel is preached, that's the Master's voice. My
sheep hear my voice. I know. They follow me. There's
a coming to Christ. That's the mark of true faith.
They heard the gospel. God gives them a new heart, willing
in the day of His power. And they come to Him. They come
to Him. And they want to hear Him. They
want to hear Him again. And I'll tell you the second thing. There's
an admittance of our impotency. We'll admit that. That leper
came to the Lord and said, Lord, if Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean. You know what he said? I can't
do it. I can't. If I had the ability to make
myself well, if I had the ability, physically speaking, to make
myself well, I wouldn't have that on. I would not. But you know what? I can't do it. Lord, if you will,
you can make me clean. That soldier commanded a hundred
men, centurion. had a servant. But you know what? As powerful as he was, the influence
that he had, he could not make his servant well. That woman
with an issue of blood, she spent all her money and wasted it on
people that could not help her. She was none the better. She
was doing the best that she could. She was doing all that she could,
and she still had an issue of blood. It would not stop. It
just kept bleeding and bleeding. But by faith, the Lord gave her a heart and
said, you know what? If I can get to Him, if I can
but touch the hem of His clothes, I'm going to be well. I'm going
to be well. I'll be made whole. I know that.
That Canaanite woman had no ability to cast that demon out that vexed
her daughter grievously. She couldn't. Here's what a believer
knows. Without Him, I can do nothing. I cannot. A believer says, I'm going to
tell you something. That's way, way, way over my
pay grade. I can't do it. I don't have the
ability. I don't have the ability to take
the first step. I don't have the ability to do
anything. All I can do is cry out by the grace of God that
He's given me for mercy. That's all I can do. Physically, Listen to Luke 13,
11, Behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity
eighteen years, and was bowed together, and could in no wise
lift up herself. Spiritually though, Paul the
Apostle said in Romans 7, 18, For I know that in me that is
in my flesh dwelleth no good thing, for to will is present
with me. But how to perform that which
is good, I find not. I tell you what a believer does.
I tell you what true faith knows. It knows I must come to Him.
And by faith, I do. And I know this, secondly, I
have no ability of myself to do anything. Thirdly, and lastly, True faith
owns the Lord as God Almighty. That leper said, Lord? No man called the Lord, Lord,
but by the Spirit of God. I mean knowingly. Knowingly. Lord, if Thou wilt, Thou canst
make me clean. You know what a believer says,
Lord, if you will, you can save me. Lord, if you will, you can bring me to where you
are. Lord, if you will. I've read John 17, 24. Father, I will that those that
thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they may behold
my glory." Heaven, I know, I know, I know
that eyes not seen, ears not heard, neither hath entered into
the heart of man that which God has prepared for them that love
Him. I know this is absolutely beyond the wildest part of my
ability to know or think. I know it's absolutely wonderful. But I'm going to tell you this,
if I have no part in it, it's not wonderful to me. But
faith says, Lord, I know if you will. Lord, you said, He that
cometh to you, Lord, I'm coming in the only way I know how. Lord,
as frail as I am, as weak as I am, I know that there's nothing
good in me. But Lord, would you save me?
Would you save this sinner? Lord, there's not a record in
all of Scripture that says you ever turned out one that came
to you. I know this, based on your word,
you won't turn me away. He that cometh to me, I will
in no wise come. Lord, I'm coming as a helpless,
needy sinner. A centurion said, Lord, I'm not
worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof, but speak the
word only, and my servant shall be healed. I'll tell you what
faith says. Lord, if you by your Word speak life to me, I'm going
to live. Lord, you said you're the way,
the truth, and the life. That's what he said. Speak the
Word only, and my servant, behold, going to be healed. That woman
with the issue of blood, I touch him, I'm going to be whole. That Canaanite woman, he answered
and said, ìItís not meat to take the childrenís bread and cast
it to dogs.î And she said, ìTruth, Lord. Truth, Lord. Yet the dogs eat of the crumbs
which fall from the Masterís table.î I ainít leaving. I ainít leaving. It's not me that I should give.
I'm not leaving. Like Jacob, wasn't she? Turn
me loose, he said, not unless you bless me. If I can be torn away, if I can
get away from you, I don't have any hope. Where am I going to
go? Where am I going to go? It's
not me that I should give the children, but I ain't leaving.
I ain't leaving. True faith evidences itself by
these marks. They hear the gospel. God Almighty
grants faith, gives them a new heart, and they come to Him.
They come. When He gives them life, they
come. Until He gives them life, they don't come. They see themselves
as helplessly impotent spiritually, and He's everything. He's the
mighty God, able to save, able to save. And that believer, made willing
to come in the day of God's power, never gets away from knowing
that He is in Himself. in his flesh, no good thing.
And he cast himself upon the one who is mighty to save. Lord save me, for Christ's sake.