True Saving Faith

Q: What does the Bible say about true saving faith?

True saving faith is a work of God in our hearts, recognizing our need for Him and His grace. True saving faith is fundamentally the work of God in the hearts of His people, as it involves a personal realization of one's need for God's mercy and grace. As demonstrated in Matthew 15:21-28, true faith is not merely intellectual assent to doctrine but a heartfelt response to the revealed character of God, where the individual acknowledges their complete dependency on Him. This kind of faith leads to worship and the understanding that without the sovereign grace of God, one remains lost in spiritual darkness. It also encompasses a deep experiential knowledge of God the Father through the Lord Jesus Christ, as expressed in John 17, highlighting the intimate relationship between the believer and the Triune God.

Q: How do we know God's sovereignty is true?

God's sovereignty is affirmed throughout Scripture, exemplifying His control over all events for His glory and the good of His people. The sovereignty of God is a core tenet of Reformed theology and is sustained by numerous biblical passages affirming His ultimate authority over all creation. Romans 8:28 encapsulates this concept by stating that all things work together for the good of those who are called according to His purpose. Throughout the sermon, it is emphasized that God's elect are often found in unexpected circumstances, showcasing His sovereign hand at work in the lives of the marginalized, like the Canaanite woman. This sovereignty guarantees that not even the demons can frustrate His plans, as He works everything in the universe for the salvation of His chosen people. Thus, believers can rest in the assurance of His omnipotence and providential oversight.

Q: Why is humility important for Christians?

Humility is crucial for Christians as it positions us to receive God's grace and acknowledge our dependence on Him. Humility is a fundamental posture for Christians as it aligns with the truth of our condition before God. The sermon stresses that God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble, as stated in 1 Peter 5:5. This humility is necessary for recognizing one's need for God's intervening grace and for being open to His works in our lives. The Canaanite woman exemplifies this humble approach, as she does not come demanding but instead bows low before Christ, acknowledging her unworthiness and dependence on His mercy. Moreover, true humility paves the way for genuine faith, enabling believers to trust in God's promises and His timing for their lives, as seen in the woman's interaction with Jesus. Through humility, we cultivate a heart receptive to God's will and His transforming grace.

Q: How does faith relate to God's electing love?

Faith is a response to God's electing love, manifesting in worship and trust in His promises. The relationship between faith and God's electing love is intrinsic in Reformed theology, emphasizing that faith is a gift from God rooted in His sovereign choice. The sermon illustrates that true saving faith recognizes and responds to the electing love of God, which is not dependent on human merit but on divine grace. For example, the Canaanite woman's faith was commended because she acknowledged Jesus as Lord, which is indicative of her understanding of God's sovereign plan of redemption. She responded to God's election with worship and humility, pleading for mercy without entitlement. In doing so, she models the believer’s journey, which is characterized by a deep, experiential understanding of God's love that calls forth authentic faith and dependence upon Him for salvation.

Well, greetings. It's really
good to be here. Something I wasn't expecting
to happen. It takes a lot to cause me to leave our little
flock down in Australia and I bring greetings from the brethren down
there. They are just really excited
that I'm here personally and here personally in a sense to
represent them and to to thank you guys for what you mean in
their lives and especially to thank you for sending Clay and
Melinda to us a couple of years ago. It was a watershed moment
in the history of our church. are just a remnant group, other
than a few, a little group of three or four that meet three
and a half hours from us. We know of no other fellowship
that delights in the truths that we, I trust, delight in here.
And to have Clay and Melinda come and minister to us. It's just a great confirmation
from our Lord of his work in us and amongst us. So on behalf
of our friends and our fellows, it's a family reunion, isn't
it, when God's children get together. We are fellows in the same ship,
I trust, and so it's lovely to be here. And it's lovely to be
able to come and talk to you about our Lord Jesus. There is
just one topic that fills the hearts of people and there is
just one thing in a sense that governs and excites and enthuses
people who stand behind a pulpit like me, and that is that the
Lord Jesus would be revealed, that he be held up as glorious,
that he be revealed to you. And I asked our brother to read
all of this passage of scripture because in it we have a remarkable
contrast, a remarkable contrast between the religion of this
world, the religion of the Pharisees, and I don't want to spend much
time talking about it, but in a sense we have here in this
passage a stark contrast between the religion of man, the religion
that looks on the outside, the religion that looks to fleshly
things, the religion that holds to tradition, a religion which
extraordinarily, in verse 13, says that it actually I'm sorry. It says that they
actually make the commandment of God of none effect. It's in Mark chapter 7 verse
13. It's imaginative, isn't it? A
religious people who know their Bible off by heart and in fact
what they do is they lay it aside. They reject it and then it ceases
to be a word from God. True saving faith is the essence
of my message tonight. There are two great statements
that the Lord makes about this woman before us in these verses,
and one is she's commended by God. as one who has great faith,
and she's commended by God as one who came and worshipped Him. What a great testimony. If that
is the testimony of the Lord in our hearts, what great peace
and comfort there is. Fleshy religion looks to the
external things. And God reminds us again and
again, the flesh profiteth nothing. Flesh gives birth to flesh. One of the great descriptions
of what it is to be a Christian is in Philippians 3.3. It says,
we are the circumcision, which worship God in spirit. and rejoice in Christ Jesus and
have no confidence in the flesh. So what I wanted to do with this
this evening is for us to follow this woman, a pattern of one
who is led to be one who is called by our God as one who has great
faith, one who worshipped him, a woman who's brought from darkness
to light, transferred from the kingdom of Satan into the kingdom
of the blessed Lord. The paths are clear. The paths are well-trodden paths,
and I trust and know that they are paths that you have walked. Or maybe they are paths that
you will walk if God is gracious and merciful to you. The Bible
has so many pictures of women in travail. You just think of
some of the ones that we know so well. Sarah, Abraham's wife
who couldn't have a baby. Jacob's wife who couldn't have
a baby. Hannah, who suffered year in,
year out. increasing suffering, Elizabeth
and Mary. They are pictures, my brothers
and sisters, pictures of the bride of Christ. They are pictures
of a woman in great need, a woman beyond human help, a woman despairing,
a woman in great heaviness of heart, a woman in a wilderness,
in a cursed land, and only the gracious, merciful, loving, sovereign
intervention of God Almighty can bring deliverance. True saving
faith is the work of God in our hearts. It's a work of God as
he reveals himself to us and reveals us to him. as we really
are to ourselves. Saving faith is having a personal
realised interest in God, the Father, in his electing love,
in the redeeming blood of our precious Lord Jesus, in the quickening
and sanctifying operations of God the Holy Spirit. And it's
sealed to our hearts In John 17, the Lord Jesus says, this
is eternal life. This is eternal life that you
know. You experientially know God the
Father, and you know him through his son, the Lord Jesus. It's
a manifestation of Jesus to the soul, where those great truths
These great truths that the Pharisees would have owned, electing love,
atoning blood, justifying righteousness, eternal inheritance, they claimed
all of these, and yet God says, they worship me in vain. You see, these become, by God's
supernatural activities, a manifest and a revealed reality in our
lives. God not only does these things
in eternity and does them in history, he brings them to our
consciences. and he seals them. He sheds that
love of him abroad and he causes us to delight in his dear son. Let's follow our sister. who has spent the last 2,000
years rejoicing in the presence of God and the angels in heaven. And as you read the passage,
you might well think that it is she who comes to him. But
let's look again. Let's look again. In verse 21
of chapter 15, it was Jesus who came to her. She did come
to him, but she came to him because he'd come from heaven to earth
for her. He came to seek and to save that
was lost. He came not to call the righteous,
but sinners to repentance. And he came as a shepherd, wandering
over hills and dales, seeking his own. Not one ever lost from
his sight. Not one ever out of the grip
of his infinite love. And he came to wear, as Mark
7.25 says, to this certain woman. He comes to individuals and he
comes to a particular place and he comes at a particular time,
as Ezekiel 16 calls it, it's the time of love. And he comes when the particular
circumstances of her life, those sovereignly ordained, those purposed,
activities which had brought her to this particularly desperate
need. It's remarkable. We were talking
with Ravi a little earlier. God moves everything in this
universe to save you. Everything in this universe.
He took Ravi from India to Guyana and up here. He took me from
the comforts of Australia to India to learn the gospel, and
he sent me back to Australia so that others would hear the
gospel. Brothers and sisters, he's moving
everything in this universe, not just to save his people,
but to keep his people. He moves everything, everybody,
even the demons of hell. He moves them with absolute perfect
sovereignty. That his chosen ones will meet
him in his true character. That he might reveal his purposes
of grace to his own and in his own. In fact, we have before
us in the story of this woman, Romans 8.28, being lived out
before us. Election, redemption, calling,
perseverance, faith, they all go together as one in God's purposes. Secondly, we find, with regard
to this woman, that God's elect are to be found in places and
circumstances where we would least expect them to be. She was a woman of a cursed race,
according to Genesis 9, 22 and 25. She was a woman who no doubt
like Her family in that land was a
pagan idolater. And we see the activities of
God's unseen remarkable hand of grace, divine providence. She had heard of him. She had
at this time in her life a great need of his mercy. She had been hedged in. She had her life constrained
that only one person in all of this creation can meet her needs. Hosea says it beautifully, therefore
behold I will hedge up your way with thorns and wall her in so
that she cannot find her paths. Blessed is the man, says Psalm
65, for whom you choosest and causest to approach unto thee,
that he may dwell in thy courts. See, he came to her. She'd heard
of him. She's drawn to look to him. She
comes to him. She leaves Canaan behind. And when she meets her Lord,
as every saved sinner does when they meet their Lord, he must,
he must, and it's a painful, painful process, he must remove
her from her throne. A divine abdication, I call it. We must, by God's hand on our
lives, be cast down from the throne of me, the throne of I
will, I can, I have, I must. Like Paul on his way to Damascus,
we must be stripped of all that we hold dear. We must be left
with nothing. And God, in amazing love and
grace, does it in this lady's life. But we fight, don't we? We cherish and we love and we
passionately defend the throne of self. And if that throne of
self is propped up and built up and adorned with religion. It's a mighty throne. It's a mighty throne. And it's
a more dangerous throne as we see in the scriptures again and
again. The closer it is to holding to the truth of the scriptures. If those truths are held, And
I am left on a throne, a throne of knowledge, a throne of what
I have learned, a throne of what I have done, like these Pharisees. So these Pharisees were five-point
Calvinists, my friend. If you'd asked these Pharisees
about the electing, choosing love of God the Father, they
would say Amen. If you told them about the fact
that Messiah was coming for a chosen people, they would have said
Amen and Hallelujah. If you talked about God's sovereignty,
they would have said Amen. There's hardly a truth that warms
the heart of God's people that these men didn't have intellectually. Their hearts were far from Him. You see, religion without a transformed
heart, religion without a meeting, a real meeting with the Lord
Jesus, is a dangerous, dangerous thing. Brother Clay and I and
others of you stand behind these pulpits and you standing out
there, sitting out there, listening out there, need to be mindful
of what God says in verse 14 of this chapter. What does he
say? They are blind leaders of the
blind. And what is the promise of God? A sobering, sobering word from
Almighty God. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch. Pray for your pastor. Pray passionately
for your pastor. Pray passionately for God's people
around this world that we would not be blind. These men were
utterly blind and ignorant. They were filled with presumption,
with arrogance, with conceit. It's remarkable the pride of
men. These men stood before God in
human flesh and dared to question God about cleanliness and defilement. What shocking Arrogance is in
the heart of man that dares to do that to the thrice holy God. You see, the heart of man hates
all that is heavenly and spiritual. It lives in sin as a fish swims
in the sea. delights in the pleasures of
the world, the praise of man, an insatiable thirst for self-advancement
and for men to pat you on the back. You see, religion, just
religion, changes the direction of a muddy stream. You can take
a muddy stream and you can hew out a path for it and you can
run it to the south instead of to the north. But the waters
are just the same. These men had changed lives so
much so that they could look around and judge others on what
basis. on the basis that they have done
it. Every criticism was a declaration
of their own righteousness and their own self-sanctification. A change of life is not a change
of heart. Man's religion works to build
up the creature in good works, in piety, in good things, like
hearing the word, in activities, in doing and doing and doing. It's the great work of religion
in our land, is to get people so-called converted, and then
you spend the rest of your life whipping them into line, getting
them to act like Christians, getting them to do and to do
and to do. God's religion starts in a different
way. God's religion starts by throwing
the creature down in the dust of self-abasement and self-abhorrence. God does not build up until he
has first pulled down God does not save until he has first made
the soul feel lost. Man is proud and needs to be
humbled. Man is alive and needs to be
killed. Man is full and he needs to be
emptied. Man feels like he's whole and
healthy and he needs to be wounded. Man feels as if he is clothed
like these Pharisees, clothed in righteousness. He needs to
be stripped. Man feels himself rich and he
must be made to see that he's poor. I thought when I went to
India some years ago and spent a goodly amount of time in slums,
you think that pride's associated with living with great luxury
and things. The pride of the man and the
woman living underneath a bit of blue canvas in the slums of
India with a sewer for their front street is just as much
as us living in our fine houses. Man, as I said earlier, pretends
to be a sovereign until he meets a real sovereign. How far down
do you have to be brought? Let's look at our sister. Jeremiah
promises that when they come, Jeremiah 31, 9, when they shall
come with weeping and with supplications will I lead them. I will cause
them to walk by rivers of water in a straight way. As Galatians
says, for if a man think himself to be something when he is nothing,
he deceives himself. God, take us low, make us low. Let's follow the path of our
sister in the presence of our Lord. Brought to this place of
humility, brought now into his presence. And she came and she
prayed. In fact, she more than prayed,
she cried unto him. She besought him. She fell at
his feet, Matthew 7, 25. She comes to him and acknowledges
who he is. And she has so much more in this
short conversation to acknowledge about our Savior. But what a
wonderful start. Oh Lord, thou son of David, See,
she'd heard these wonderful reports in this pagan land that there
in Israel was one who was the Lord. Israel's Messiah had come
after all of those years. you see great faith looks to
and acknowledges his person as he is revealed in the scriptures
as Lord and the promised Messiah and as we'll see great faith
takes God at his word and accepts his word as it is revealed and
accepts his providences as he chooses to dispose of them you
would ask wouldn't you if he really loved this woman wouldn't
he have done it differently what's he do in verse 23 There she is, a woman in desperate
need, has come all that way. She cries out to him and he is
silent. He answered her, not a word,
and to compound her discouragement, to compound her abasement. His disciples came and besought
him saying, send her away for she crieth after us. And the
generous commentators think that the disciples were saying, please
heal her and get her away so she doesn't bother us anymore.
That's reading into the text of scripture. They just said,
send her away because she bothers us. Discouragement from the Lord. Discouragement from humans. And there's a lesson here for
us, isn't it? There is a great lesson, brothers
and sisters. The best of God's saints can
be so very wrong in their treatment of others. We don't know the
hearts of people. And so often we don't know the
Lord's purposes in them. There is great room for us to
be humble and to be gracious and to wait. And then he declares
something to her which would even compound her discouragement. Her great faith perseveres. But he answered and said to her,
I am not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. I'm not sent to you Gentiles
at this time. I'm sent to the lost sheep of
the house of Israel. And the Pharisees would have
been rejoicing. and she is about to learn and
the disciples are about to learn that the Israel that our Savior
speaks of is that bride of his that was his in eternity by the
gift of the Father and by his covenant promises. You see in
verse 13 we have a description of the Israel of God. Every plant
which my Heavenly Father has planted are the children of God. They are planted throughout this
world. The Gentiles were loved as much
as chosen Israel. You see, he reveals even more
of himself, doesn't he? He reveals God's election. At the beginning of his conversation
with her, he reveals election. Election, the electing particular
sovereign personal choosing of God the Father is such an offensive
doctrine. It's extraordinary, isn't it?
The great faith both acknowledges his person, his purposes and
his work. She responded so much differently
to so many people that I have dealt with in religion for so
many years. It is extraordinary, isn't it,
as he works faith in this lady's life, our sister's life. She is brought to see at the
beginning great truths. And what does she do? In verse
25, in response to election, to particular sovereign personal
election, to God's loving His people, from eternity, for God
working in them and coming for them. For this, she comes, and
how did she respond in verse 26? Verse 25, she came and worshipped
him. We were saying earlier that it's
remarkable that the things which God causes his people to delight
in most about God, his sovereignty. He's electing love. He's particular
redemption. He's preservation of his people. He's calling them to himself.
He's robing them with a robe of perfect righteousness. He's
stripping them. of all of they are. The things
that he works in this woman's life are things that cause her
to worship him. I trust they're things that cause
us to worship him. So much of the religious world
finds the things that God causes this lady to delight in to be
of great offense. They are happy to talk about
God. They're happy to talk about Jesus. They're happy to talk about themselves
as sinners. But you mention those things
in the context of Scripture, in the light of who our Lord
Jesus is. And as they've said to me back
home, I will not worship a God that doesn't love everyone. I
will not worship a Jesus who didn't die for everyone. What
did she do when she heard of these things? She came and she
worshipped and she prayed. She prayed again, Lord help me. Great faith bows and worships. Great faith bows and worships
before there are any evident blessings at all. And then to
compound Her situation, he says to her in verse 26, it is not
me, it is not right to take the children's bread and cast it
to dogs. I thought, I said, he loved her. And he called her a dog. Of course, it's a reference to
the fact that as far as the Jews were concerned, The Gentiles
were but Gentile dogs. He's repeating what the Jews
around him thought of this woman. It's not right to take the children's
bread and cast it to their dogs. Great faith worships and answers
You see, when people are humbled, their response is like this lady
in verse 27. She said, truth, Lord. It is true. And she takes her
place. She takes her place as a dog
at his table. That's how low and how humbled
the Lord brings his people. Great faith perseveres and bows
to the word of God. And great faith acknowledges
his right to dispose his grace and mercy as he wills, not as
we will. You see, he magnifies his character,
our sovereign, electing, predestinating, particular in saving and redeeming
love and grace. He makes her wait. He makes her
know her place. She is the clay. He is the potter. She is dependent. He is independent. She is unworthy. He is all-glorious,
sufficient, all-powerful, all-knowing. She is in need, she's in desperate
need of grace, and He is gracious. She takes her given place as
a dog waiting for a crumb from the master's table. You see,
great faith cannot be driven from Christ. In John 6, the Lord
Jesus had that massive crowd that followed him because of
miracles that they'd seen. And in some sense, he preaches
to that crowd as he preaches here. He preaches about God being
God. about the Lord Jesus being God,
about His sovereignty, about His electing love, about His
particular saving death for His people on the cross. And they
are driven away, and they are driven away, and then He says
to the disciples, are you going as well? Great preaching to reduce
a crowd like that to just 12 men. And what's their response? Where else? Where else have we
to go? Great faith cannot be driven
from Christ and will not be driven from Christ when he reveals himself
in his true character. and great faith, receives his
blessing, receives his reward, bows to his word. And then remarkably in verse
28, Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith. And then, as it were, he invites
her to the throne room of God and says, be it unto you as thou
wilt. You can have your heart's desire. It's remarkable, isn't it? Yes, she would love to have her
daughter released from Satan's grip. Yes, she'd love to have
herself relieved of Satan's troubles to her, which would have been
so grievous. For those of you who have children,
for any of you who have in any way dealt with people possessed
of demons, it's a shocking, shocking thing to witness. But also, her
will is now captivated in another way and captivated by Him, captivated
by His person, captivated by His glory, captivated by His
sovereignty, captivated by His grace, captivated by His love. Thy people shall be made willing
in the day of His power The foundation of true faith, the foundation
of great faith and great worship is in those great words that
we have in the new covenant over and over again in the scriptures.
I will and you shall. Let's just briefly before we
close just think of her journey home to her daughter. She who had great faith, when
she journeyed home, no doubt rejoicing, no doubt transformed
in remarkable ways. But did she have doubts? Of course she had doubts. Would
she have had fears? She would have had fears. Would
there have been moments of trembling about what she might meet at
home? All of those things accompany
God's saints on their way home. But when she got there, she would
have seen that he is true to his word. He's gracious. His love is attractive. He draws us sovereignly. He gives faith and he grows faith. He reveals himself in such wonderful
ways and he captivates the hearts of his people. My prayer is that
you might go home and trace the steps of this woman in your own
life. First Peter says, God opposes
the proud but gives grace to the humble. And then he says,
commands, humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God
that he may exalt you in due time. in His good time. Amen.

True Saving Faith

What does the Bible say about true saving faith?

How do we know God's sovereignty is true?

Why is humility important for Christians?

How does faith relate to God's electing love?

Sermon Transcript

About Angus Fisher

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True Saving Faith

What does the Bible say about true saving faith?

How do we know God's sovereignty is true?

Why is humility important for Christians?

How does faith relate to God's electing love?

Sermon Transcript

About Angus Fisher

Comments

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