May it please God to bless us
together as we consider his word this morning. Let us turn to
the epistle of Paul to the Hebrews, chapter 10, and read in the last
two verses, verses 38 and 39. The epistle of Paul to the Hebrews,
chapter 10, and reading verses 38 and 39. Now the just shall
live by faith, But if any man draw back, my
soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them who
draw back unto perdition, but of them that believe to the saving
of the soul." It is a very vital and important
consideration to know that you and I possess the blessing of
faith. And faith in and of itself is
something which is really not tangible to our natural mind. It is something which is not
really possible for us to just fully understand. And the Apostle
does give a definition of it in the first verse of the following
chapter, where he tells us, faith is the substance of things hoped
for, the evidence of things not seen. So I want this morning to give
some understanding of what true living faith is. so that we might
be encouraged to realize that we do possess the gift of God-given
faith. Now, this 38th verse commences
with this statement, now, and clearly follows that which the
Apostle has been previously addressing the Hebrews on. and we might
just go back a few verses just to recognize that which he is
bringing before us before he makes his statement now the just
shall live by faith and he tells us to call to remembrance the
former days in which after ye were illuminated ye endured a
great fight of afflictions and we should be therefore encouraged
and not dismayed, that if we have been blessed with life in
our hearts, that new birth, that new life, where it really means
we've been illuminated, because previously we were dark, we were
dead, and yet if the Spirit of God has made us alive, so we
are walking in the light and we are illuminated, then we should
not be surprised at the opposition that we fall into. We may think,
and we probably do think, and we probably foolishly think,
that now we have an understanding, a spiritual understanding, and
things will be now plain sailing, we'll be walking in the light
of the Lord, and our life will be one of wonderful joy and happiness. Well, it will be. one of joy
and happiness, but there will be much opposition, and we therefore
should not be surprised at that. In fact, we should probably expect
it, because it's what the Word of God speaks to us about. And
so the Apostle enumerates it in a very clear way. He says,
when we endured a great fight of afflictions, partly whilst
we were made a gazing stock, both by reproaches and afflictions
and partly whilst you became companions of them that were
so used. So in those few phrases we see
there is likely to be opposition. And that's why our faith will
be questioned, our faith will be tested in order to be able
to discern whether it is real or whether it is false. I believe
we can draw this very positive, considerational view that if
our faith is of God, it will be tested. If it's of the devil,
it won't be tested, and we won't have to worry, and people don't
worry, and they think everything's smooth and plain sailing. Whereas
if we are the true Church of God, our faith will be tested,
and we will be thankful that it is tested, because we don't
want to end up with a pseudo-faith. We don't want to end up with
a faith which we produced. We want to have a faith which
God has given to us. And so the apostle just goes
on to tell us, for ye have compassion of me in my bonds, and to joyfully
the sporting of your goods, knowing in yourselves that ye have in
heaven a better and enduring substance. Now the Apostle really
is here directing us to the reality of living faith, which is between
you and God and me and God. It is a personal thing and it
gives us the evidence that we know in ourselves, in our heart. And it's personal to you and
to me, knowing in ourselves that we have in heaven a better and
an enduring substance. He then says, cast not away therefore
your confidence which hath great recompense and reward. Why does
he say that? Because there will be a temptation
to cast our confidence away and to give it up and to think that
it is of no value. The apostle says, cast it not
away because it hath a great recompense of reward. For ye have need of patience."
Well, by nature we're impatient. That's why the Apostle writes
it. We have need of patience. That after ye have done the will
of God, ye might receive the promise. The Apostle is there
telling us again for the need of faith, because we have need
of patience, because when we've done the will of God, we may
automatically think that everything's going to fall into place. Well,
we need patience to wait to receive the promise. It's good, isn't
it? We have these kind of expressions
in the Word of God to encourage us in our Christian path, in
our Christian walk, so that we understand that the Lord is dealing
with us. We haven't been left aside. For
yet a little while, and he that shall come will come. and will
not tarry. The positive truth of God. He will come. He shall come. He will not tarry in his appointed
time. There is an appointed time in
each of our lives. An appointed time for blessing
in this way and that. And God has worked it out and
planned it and ordained it. so that you and I will walk in
that way, and this is the secret, which will bring honour and glory
to God. We tend to think that we need
and we want the blessing now. The Lord knows how to deal with
us. And the Lord deals with us in
this way, so that we will view ourselves in a smaller way and
God in a greater way. And having therefore given this
introduction, We now come to this now. The just shall live
by faith. Live by faith. The just, who
are they? God's people. Those who he justifies. And they will live in this way,
and they will live by faith. And this expression doesn't only
occur at this time, it also occurs in the Romans and it occurs in
the Galatians, just to encourage us. And the epistle of the Romans,
the first chapter, verse 17, we read, for therein is the righteousness
of God revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, the
just shall live by faith. God's people live by faith. It is the only way. It is the
ordained way. And as you and I live by faith,
what it means is that we are dependent upon God. We are dependent
upon God. The previous verse, the Apostle
tells us, For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for
it is the power of God unto salvation, to everyone that believeth, to
the Jew first, and also to the Greek. This gospel of Christ,
what a blessing it is. And may we not be ashamed of
it. The devil will endeavour to make
us ashamed of it. And he's very successful in this
day and age in which we live, you know. He's very successful
in us being ashamed of the Lord Jesus Christ, We seem to lose
sight of the great statement that just shall live by faith. Well, it is important, isn't
it, that we understand this wonderful truth and wonderful favour. And
then when the apostle writes to the Galatians, again he speaks,
not of the righteousness, but this time of being justified. And he commences by, in verse
9 of the 3rd chapter, he says, So then they which bear faith
are blessed with faithful Abraham. Abraham, as we read in that 11th
chapter, was given faith. All the people of God are given
faith. And so we are blessed with Abraham,
with faithful Abraham, for as many as are of the works of the
law are under the curse that means we cannot produce salvation
by the works of the law because we cannot keep the law perfectly
we are imperfect ourselves we are unable to do it and so he
says cursed is everyone that continues not in all things which
are written in the book of the law to do them so we all fail
don't we Every one of us today fails under the law. We cannot keep all the law. We
fail. It's obvious. And so we have
this statement then, that no man is justified by the law in
the sight of God. It is evident. You and I are
not justified by the law. For, and then this great statement,
the just shall live by faith. And the law is not of faith,
but the man that doeth them shall live in them. Christ has redeemed
us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us. For
it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree. And so
we have this wonderful agreement in the word of God. Now the just
shall live by faith. Well, what then is faith? What is faith? how important
it is that we might have and be comforted by a right understanding
of what this true faith is. The faith is the substance of
things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. So there
are two points here. The first is substance. That means a being, really. A being of things hoped for. those things that we hope, and
this is not a false hope, this is a good hope, and depending
upon what God has put into our hearts to believe, a good hope. The apostle wrote earlier in
this same epistle, the fourth chapter, he said in the second
verse, for unto us was the gospel preached as well as unto them,
but the word preached did not profit them not being mixed with
faith in them that heard it how many people perhaps have
heard the gospel preached and it has not profited them because
they have not been blessed with faith to believe the truth of
God They've got away from it. Just to live by faith is substance. The substance of things hoped
for. And the Apostle James, in his
short epistle, he tells us the importance of it. And he says
in his epistle, in the second chapter, and perhaps commencing
in verse 14, what does it profit my brethren though a man say
he has faith and have not works can faith save him? what he's
really driving at here is a working out of true faith and it's evidenced
in this way if a brother or sister be naked and destitute of daily
food and one of you say unto them depart in peace, be warmed
and filled, notwithstanding you give them not those things which
are needful to the body, what does it profit? Even so, faith,
if it hath not works, is dead being alone." So, if we possess
the substance, the substance, the being, is worked out in this
way, there's evidence of it in our lives, because the effect
is we would desire to keep the Word of God and the exhortations
that it contains. Yea, a man may say thou hast
faith and I have works, show me thy faith without thy works,
and I will show thee my faith by my works. Thou believest There
is one God. Thou doest well. The devils also
believe and tremble. And that's a very enlightening
statement, isn't it? For us to realise. We might think that
we have faith. We might believe. The devils
believe and tremble. But wilt thou, O vain man, think
that faith without works is dead? was not Abraham our father justified
by works which he had offered when he had offered Isaac his
son upon the altar? seest thou how faith wrought
with his works and by works was faith made perfect and the scripture
was fulfilled which saith Abraham believes God and it was imputed
under him for righteousness And he was called the friend of God. Well, this substance then, substance
of things hoped for. You see, Abraham, he hoped for
a good outcome. He believed a good outcome would
be forthcoming. And so, as we may be blessed
with living faith, it's to rely upon God's promises being fulfilled. Just again reverting to Galatians
and the fifth chapter, the Apostle encourages us, and as of course
we've gone through the Galatians recently, he says, stand fast
therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free and be
not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. He goes on to
say this, for we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness
by faith. The hope of righteousness by
faith is this substance which is being worked out, a substance
of things hoped for. Well, it is very important, isn't
it, that we possess this substance, this being. This is the evidence
of faith. May the Spirit of God enable
us to lay hold of it. Because as I said, faith is not
something tangible to our natural being, but it is something which
the Spirit conveys to us. Of course, the Apostle, when
he wrote to the Corinthians, that well-known and important
phrase, for we walk by faith and not by sight. We walk by faith and not by sight. Naturally, people want to see
things, don't we? Well, in the spiritual realm,
when we possess that new life, God has ordained that we walk
by faith, not by sight, not by grasping things in a physical
way. It is by faith, believing the
truth of God. And the Apostle tells us, therefore
we are always confident, knowing that whilst we are at home in
the body, we are absent from the Lord. For we walk by faith,
not by sight. We are confident, I say, and
willing rather to be absent from the body and to be present with
the Lord. Now, we will only be in that
frame of mind if we possess living faith. If we don't possess living
faith, we will cleave to this earth. Now our nature, our natural
heart does cleave to this earth, and it always will do. But there
will be that of a spirit which looks beyond the things of this
time state to eternal blessings. Because eternal blessings means
to be with Christ, And as the Apostle says, which is far better. Eternal blessings are to be with
Christ forever and ever and to enjoy those eternal favours. Now the natural mind, that which
is not of faith, does not appreciate these things, has no real conception
of them, doesn't really look forward to such a day. Again,
let me clarify the situation. We do still possess our old nature,
which clings to this life and the things of this life. It clings
to it because, as the Apostle said, he was carnal, sold under
sin. That's the problem that we possess. But the living faith stretches
out beyond those natural things to eternal realities. Bless God then if we possess
this wonderful favour of these eternal blessings. Now, we might
think of an illustration we have in the Word of God to encourage
us in this, and that you may well be familiar with, that case
of Thomas. Thomas is often classified as
doubting Thomas and perhaps we might fall into that category
and be classified as someone who is doubting. Well you may
remember the Lord Jesus after he rose from the dead, he appeared
to his disciples and Thomas wasn't there. And when Thomas was told that
the Lord had appeared, he didn't believe it. He didn't believe
it. He made a statement, he said
this, except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails
and put my finger into the print of the nails and thrust my hand
into his side, I will not believe. Now I believe that is typical
of many people. They make a statement And they
say, well, I'm not going to believe unless X, Y and Z. Well, remember Thomas. Now, the
Lord was very gracious to Thomas. And my friends, bless God, he's
the same God who is very gracious today. And it may be that he
takes us aside, takes us by hand and just reasons with us. You know, the prophet Isaiah
said, now, come now and let us reason together. It's good, you
know, when God graciously comes and reasons with us, just God
and you, other people, just God and you. Come, he says, come
now, come now, and let us reason together. Well, that was Thomas' statement. And after eight days, again,
his disciples were within, and Thomas was with them. Then came
Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst and said,
Peace be unto you. And that included Thomas. Then
said he to Thomas, he spoke directly to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger,
and behold my hands, and reach hither thy hand, and
thrust it into my side, and be not faithless, but believing."
What was Thomas' reaction? Did he do what he said he was
going to do? He made a statement, he was very
firm in it. What did he do? What was his
reaction? He just simply said, my Lord
and my God. He didn't carry out the statement
he was going to, those things he was going to do. Because God
had spoken to him. God had said, in very simple
words, be not faithless, but believing. Now, there we have a wonderful
illustration, really, of this statement of substance. Now remember, the just shall
live by faith. And faith is the substance of
things hoped for, and it's the evidence of things not seen. The evidence You know, when we
talk about evidence, we normally talk about evidence of things
that we can see, don't we? You know, if you go to court
and they have to produce the evidence that you've done something
wrong. Evidence is crucial. Without
any evidence, there cannot be any condemnation, there cannot
be any relief, any freedom. Evidence has to be produced.
And yet here we have this statement that faith is the evidence of
things not seen. Now there is of course the evidence
of things that were seen and we can think of the Lord Jesus'
life. There was very clearly the evidence
that he was born in that manger at Bethlehem. There was the evidence
that he did live his life. There was the evidence that he
was crucified. There was the evidence that he
was risen from the dead and the evidence that he ascended into
glory. But we do not have the evidence
that the Lord Jesus sits at the Father's right hand, not in a
physical way. But we do have it because we
know that we cannot approach unto a holy God only through
the merits of the Lord Jesus Christ, as he presents our prayers
as our high priest at the Father's right hand in glory. So we see
there the evidence, but it's an evidence of things not seen. We don't see it, do we? But we
believe it. And that means if we then therefore
believe it, It's because God has given us that faith. Now
that of course stretches out, doesn't it? Much further. And
it stretches out to us to therefore to believe that the Lord Jesus
Christ has done all things for us. He has provided all things. And it's our faith then that
believes it. Faith is the substance of things
hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Well, I hope we have
perhaps a little understanding then of what faith is. And so then, come back to this. Now, the just shall live by faith
and the Lord justifies his people and therefore we do live by faith
and we should not forget the truth of God's Word with regard
to being justified, as the Apostle wrote to the Corinthians and
he spoke to them, he pointed out the sins of the people and
he said, well you're the same, and such are some of you, but
ye are washed, that means cleansed from sin, but ye are sanctified,
that means made holy, but ye are justified in the name of
the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. And so we see this
justification. Now the just shall live by faith. And that's how we are commanded
and ordained to live our spiritual life. It's by faith, and that's
living faith. And then the Apostle comes here
and he gives a warning. But, if any man draw back, my
soul shall have no pleasure in him. In very simple terms, what
does that mean? It means doubting God's faithfulness. That means doubting God's word. That means doubting God's promises. turning away from them and discounting
them. Now the great desire of the devil
is to produce that evil heart of unbelief and there will be
that tussle, that continual tussle between our old nature and our
new. The old nature does not believe,
the new nature does believe. And so may we be blessed with
the understanding and the evidence in our own heart that God has
given us this faith to believe. If any man draw back, my soul
shall have no pleasure in him. It's a very devastating statement,
isn't it? to think that God has no pleasure,
no pleasure in such. But then he goes on to say, but,
but, we, those who have been given this living faith, but
we, are not of them who draw back unto perdition, and perdition
really means destruction, but of them that believe to the saving
of the soul. Because why have we come here
this morning? Surely it is to be encouraged
that we are amongst those who do believe to the saving of the
soul and that we have come to believe that we possess this
new life and that we do believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, because
the saving of the soul is only through what the Lord Jesus Christ
has done. So, putting it very simply this
morning, do you and I possess faith to believe that the Lord
Jesus Christ has come into this world in order to die in our
place, in order to atone for all our sins, so that by his
grace we're amongst those who possess that new life and that
is an eternal life which will never be taken away. That life
which is in us, the hope of glory and to therefore bless and rejoice
in that great truth that Lord Jesus Christ came in his world
to save sinners as the Apostle said, of whom I am chief. Now that is the blessing of the
saving of the soul. To know the Lord Jesus Christ
came to save our souls. He came to die upon that cross
at Calvary. He came to exclaim, it is finished. That work was complete this morning. Do we believe in that finished
work of Christ? Do we believe that Lord Jesus
Christ did shed his most precious blood in order to deliver our
souls from the wrath to come, and through it we now have a
hope, a good hope, hope for of eternal life, that one day by
his grace we shall be with Christ in glory, that which is indeed
of his wonderful favour and of his wonderful blessings. Well,
the Lord Jesus spoke many great and important words when he was
upon the earth and we can think perhaps of the words that he
spoke in the Gospel of Luke in the last verse in chapter 9 and
we're told this Or perhaps verse 61 first. And others also said,
Lord, I will follow thee, but let me first go bid them farewell,
which are at home at my house. And Jesus said unto him, No man,
having put his hands to the plough, and looking back, not going back,
looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. My friends, may
we be looking unto Jesus. May we not take our eyes off
the Lord Jesus Christ. Look unto me, and be ye saved
on the ends of the earth, for I am God and there is none else. May we be given, may we know
we possess, that we receive this living faith which is the gift
of God, so that we are among those who live by faith. It is a life of faith. It is
a life of faith for all of us. It was a life of faith for all
of those we read of in this 11th chapter. And faith today is still
a great, important, vital gift of God. May we have it, may we
know we possess it, and may we bless God for it. and realise
that it is by his favour that we do live by faith that life
which God has given and he's given us that faith to believe
and we are amongst those that believe to the saving of the
soul. Amen.