Hebrews 11, I have a very straightforward
message today. I have a declaration from God,
and we're gonna see a few scriptures concerning this declaration,
and then we're gonna be done. Our text is Hebrews 11, verse
six. But I want to point out that
the last word in verse five is God. This is speaking of God. Verse five says, by faith Enoch
was translated that he should not see death and was not found
because God had translated him. For before his translation, he
had this testimony that he pleased God. Verse six says, but without faith, it is impossible
to please God. Him. You know, a man can have
his good works. He can have his good religion. He can have his good morality. He can have his baptism. He can
have his decisions. He can have his whatever he wants
to have. Verse six says, but without faith, it is impossible
to please him. For he that cometh to God must
believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that
diligently seek him. Faith is believing that he is. Without faith causing us to believe
that he is, we will never please God. We cannot please God. We, human beings, men and women
in the flesh, on the earth, living life as we do, we cannot please
God. Without faith, no one can please
God. And with that being said, faith
is something that no one possesses. Nobody has it. until God gives
it to them. No man or woman can conjure up
in himself or herself the kind of faith that he's talking about
right here. Faith that believes God is. That's spiritual faith. The faith
he's talking about right here is spiritual faith. No man or
woman can produce that faith on his or her own. God has to
give it. God has to give it. As human
beings, we can have physical faith. We can have physical faith in
our parents. We can have physical faith in
our preachers, our teachers. We can have faith in the pew
we're sitting in. thinking I'm going to sit down
in this pew because I believe the pew is going to hold me up.
The reason you sat in the pew is because you had faith in the
pew. We can have physical faith in
ourselves. We can have physical faith in
our work ethic. I believe I can do it. We can have physical faith in
our own decisions and our own abilities and we can have physical
faith in anything. But we cannot have spiritual
faith in God unless he gives it to us. We are not born with
spiritual faith. God has to give it to us. Turn
with me over to Galatians chapter 2. Galatians 2 verse 16, it says, knowing that a man is
not justified, that means justified before God, where God will look
at a man or woman and say, I'm happy with that, justified. The opposite of justified is
condemned. I'm not happy with that, condemned. knowing that a man is not justified
by the works of the law. That means obeying the commandments
of the Bible. But by the faith of Jesus Christ. I love this verse because it
shows the difference in of and in. the faith of Jesus Christ and
faith in Jesus Christ. Verse 16 says, knowing that a
man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith
of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ. What
do we believe? Here it is, that we might be
justified by the faith of Christ. And not by the works of the law,
for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. Why? We can't do it. The law says you better love
your neighbor as yourself. I promise, you can't do it. You just can't
do it. Just too selfish. The faith of
Christ, it's his faith that he gives To his people, he gives
it to whoever he wants to give it to. And that causes them to believe,
causes them to believe on him. All right, turn over to Ephesians
chapter two. Just a few pages over. Verse eight says, for by good
works are you saved. It doesn't say that, does it?
For by grace, that's God's grace, God's gift, God's kindness. Are
you saved through faith? And that not of yourselves, it
is the gift of God. It is his faith that he gives
to his chosen people causing them to believe. Turn with me
to Hebrews 12. Hebrews 12 verse 2. looking unto Jesus, the author
and finisher of our faith. It's his faith. He is the author
of it. He is the finisher of it. He is the giver of it. And when
he gives it to his people, that makes his people pleasing in
his sight. They look to Christ, they believe
on Christ, and that makes them pleasing in God's sight. Their works don't make them pleasing. You know, people think, well,
I better do good works and obey the Bible because I want to be
pleasing to God. Our works don't make us pleasing. I would rather people do good
works than evil works, but that's not what makes us pleasing. Our
religion does not make us pleasing. He's a religious man. Well, that's
not what makes us pleasing. Our morality does not make us
pleasing because we really don't have a morality. We are sinners
through and through. But the faith, the faith that
God gives to his elect, the faith that he authors and performs
and perfects, finishes in them. What he does, not what we do,
but what he does, what he produces in his people causes them to
be pleasing in his sight. By his own doing, they're made
pleasing in his sight. His faith. Have I established
that? That's the only thing in us that
pleases him, his faith. The scripture says, Abraham believed
God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. So our text back in Hebrews 11,
right here, Hebrews 11 verse 6, it says, but without faith it
is impossible to please him, for he that cometh to God must
believe that he is. and that he is a rewarder of
them that diligently seek him. How can I know if I possess God's
faith? Here's how I can know. I will
believe that he is. Not just that he exists, but that he is. All right, now
the question is, he is what? He is whatever he says he is
in his word. All right, well, what does he
say he is in his word? He says he's a lot of things.
And if we possess his faith, we will believe it. We will believe
it. I wrote down a lot of scripture. As soon as I wrote it all down,
I thought there's no way we could we could turn to all that. I
wrote down a lot of scripture that tells us what he is, who
he is, what he is. We're gonna read some of them.
We'll look at some of them. I'm gonna quote some of them. And then at the end of this,
every person here can ask himself or herself, do I believe? That's all we're gonna do. Do
I believe that? If we do, then it means God has
put his faith in us and made us pleasing to him. And if we
don't believe what he says about himself, who and what he is,
the opposite is true. And I pray that won't be the
case for anybody here. I pray no one will say, I just don't
believe that. Because verse six says, without
faith, it's impossible to please him. For he that cometh to God
must believe that he is. He is what? Let's find out, all
right? Go with me to Deuteronomy 4. Deuteronomy 4, Genesis, Exodus,
Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. Verse 23, take heed unto yourselves lest
you forget the covenant of the Lord your God which he made with
you and make you a graven image or the likeness of anything which
the Lord thy God hath forbidden thee. Four, the Lord thy God
is. A consuming fire. Even a jealous God. The scripture says God is a consuming
fire. That's what it says. This verse
is repeated in Hebrews. It says this in the Old Testament.
It says this in the New Testament. We must believe that about Him.
He's not just a fire. He's a consuming fire. He is a consuming fire, a devouring
fire. What does He consume? Well, He
consumes sin. He consumes sinners. He consumes
people. He consumes places. Eventually,
He's going to consume this entire world. 2 Thessalonians 2 says,
when He comes back, He will take vengeance in flaming fire on
every soul that does not believe on Him. 2 Peter 3 says, on the day of judgment,
the heavens and this earth, they're going to melt with a fervent
heat because they've been kept in store reserved unto fire and
destruction because of ungodly men. He's gonna burn up people,
he's gonna burn up this place. Revelations 20 says, after that
happens, every soul that doesn't believe on Christ is gonna be
cast into the lake of fire. Fire, fire, fire. He that cometh to God must believe,
number one, he's a consuming fire. He is a consuming fire. Why is God a consuming fire?
It's because He is holy. He is holy. People love that
word holy. What does that mean? That means
He has to do what is right. He must do what's right according
to the law. He must judge justly according
to the law. I told you that story a good
little while back. I was taking Sophie to school
one morning, and we went a different way, and I got pulled over doing
43 in a 45. And the officer came up and he
said, you don't know why I pulled you over, do you? And I said,
no, sir, I don't. He said, you're in a school zone. He said, it
is 45, but at these hours of the day, it drops down to 25
or something, 20. I said, I am so sorry. I didn't
realize that. He took my license. I checked out. He said, I'll
give you a warning. Just remember, have a nice day.
That was unholy. That was unjust. That was a wicked
law, lawman. that would not stand in God's
eyes. People think that because that was nice of him, that was
very kind of him, they think that's how God is. Well, now
God is kind, so he'll let it slide. No, he will not. I deserved
a ticket. I deserved a punishment for what
I had done, and that's what God is gonna give. He's holy. God is, people don't, people
love the word holy. Holy this, holy that, holy everything.
They don't understand what it means. God has to punish you.
You're a sinner. I promise you, you're a sinner.
And God is holy and he's gonna deal with you. In Christ or out of Christ. One of the two ways we must be
dealt with. He is going to judge according
to the law. Daniel chapter 9 says, God is
righteous in all his works which he doeth. He will not sweep one
sin under the rug. Not one. Acts 10 verse 34 says,
God is, he is no respecter of persons. You know, people think
me and Jesus have a good thing going. We're buddy-buddy. He
is no respecter of persons with anybody. Every man and woman
is going to get exactly what is owed to him or her. If we
don't believe that, so look at the cross of Calvary. The Son of God. The Son of God. was hanging on that cross, bearing
the sin of His people, and because of that, the Father of God poured
out His consuming fire on Him. It didn't matter who He was,
but that was God's Son. It didn't matter who He was.
God is no respecter of persons. Whoever bears the sin is going
to bear the punishment. Whoever bears the sin had to
die. That's what He said. I know that many people do not
believe and they don't want to believe that God is a consuming
fire, but He is. And we have to believe that.
Verse 24, the Lord thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous
God. He is a jealous God. Look at
Deuteronomy 6 verse 13. Deuteronomy 6 verse 13. Thou shalt fear the Lord thy
God and serve him and shalt swear by his name. You shall not go
after other gods of the gods of the people which are around
you, round about you. For the Lord thy God is a jealous
God among you. Lest the anger of the Lord thy
God be kindled against thee and destroy thee from off the face
of the earth. God is a jealous God. He that
cometh to God must believe that he is a jealous God. He's jealous over his holiness.
He's jealous over his righteousness. He's jealous over his people.
Like Boaz told Ruth, he said, don't you go into any other field. The Lord has said to his people,
don't give credence to any other God. No other God but the God
of this Bible. If, you know, the Apostle Paul
spoke of another Jesus, they're preaching a different Jesus from
this Jesus. If another Jesus is being preached
out there who is not a consuming fire, when people talk about
Jesus Christ, our God, if he's not a consuming fire,
And a jealous God, if he's not a jealous God, turn and run. Turn and run. Don't believe in
that Jesus. Don't look to that Jesus. He
that cometh to the Lord Jesus Christ, our God, the eternal
almighty God, Emmanuel, God with us. God was manifest in the flesh. He that cometh to him, must believe
that he is a consuming fire and a jealous God. Turn over to Psalm
7. Psalm 7 verse 11. God judgeth the righteous, and
God is angry with the wicked every day. Well, that's how God
used to be. God has changed. No, God does
not change. He is the same yesterday, today,
and forever. He that cometh to God must believe
that he is angry with the wicked every day. I know, believe me
I know, many people don't believe he gets angry, they don't believe
he hates. I personally know some people
who don't even believe there's a hell. There is. And that's where he puts those
that he's angry with and hates. Look at Psalm 5, turn back a
page to Psalm 5, verse 5. The foolish shall not stand in
thy sight. Thou hatest all workers of iniquity. Thou shalt destroy them that
speak leasing. The Lord will abhor, hate the
bloody and deceitful man. He that cometh to God must believe
that he is angry And he hates workers of iniquity. Why? Why must we believe that? Well,
number one, we must believe that because that's what all men and
women are. And we need to know who we're dealing with. All have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. And we need to know and believe
that because that's where the fear of this Lord comes from. Without that fear, there is no
wisdom. And without that wisdom, there's
no cry for mercy. There's no begging for mercy.
Turn over to Psalm 62. Verse 8, it says, trust in Him at all
times, ye people. Pour out your heart before Him.
God is a refuge for us. He that comes to God must believe
that he or she needs a refuge. I'm a sinner in need of a refuge.
I need a place to run. I need a place to hide. from
this judgment that I have come into me. He that comes to God must believe
he or she needs a refuge because we've sinned against God. And
he or she that comes to God must believe that our judge is also
our refuge. This is, let me see if I can
make this clear, this is important. The just one over us is also
our justifier. Sometimes I tell you, if you
leave here only getting this, get this. Get this. We are not our own justifier. Okay, okay, I've sinned against
God. Okay, listen, we are not our own justifier. He is our
justifier. The law is not our justifier. Okay, I've sinned. All right,
let's see here. I've sinned. The law is not our
justifier. He is our justifier. He is our
refuge. He's our place of safety. That's
wonderful to me. That's wonderful. You know, when
Adam and Eve sinned in the garden, they ran and hid. They knew immediately,
they all of a sudden knew they were naked. And when God reveals
himself and reveals sin to a person, we don't go through this life
knowing anything of our own sin until God reveals it. But as
soon as he reveals it, we're like, oh, I didn't know I was
like, I was like this all along, but I didn't know I was like
this. And they ran, they saw they were
naked and they ran and hid themselves for fear of the Lord. They sinned
against him. But do you know the Lord himself
is the one who slew a lamb and covered him? The Lord himself. Psalm 46 verse
1 says, God is our refuge and strength, a very present help
in trouble. Psalm 84 says, God is a sun and
a shield. That means our judge is also
our advocate. Same person. If we ever come
to understand what that means, if the Lord ever causes us to
believe that, we will understand what happened on the cross of
Calvary. What happened on the cross of
Calvary? Here it is. God was our sun,
S-U-N, blazing, high noon, fire, judgment, heat. God was our sun
and he was our shield. He was our judge and he was our
advocate. He was our justice and he was
our justifier. He was all of it. Christ was
all of it. He that cometh to God must believe
that. Must. Turn over to Psalm 116. Psalm 116 verse 5 says, Gracious
is the Lord, and righteous, yea, our God is merciful. Merciful, most think they're
gonna go to God, you know, expecting to get what he owes them. Okay,
here I am, give me what you owe me. No, no, no. We need mercy. We don't need rewards for everything
we've done. If he rewards us for what we've
done, he'll cast us straight into hell. What we need is mercy. We need mercy. If God is a just
God, okay, if all have sinned and if God is a just God, if
he is a jealous God over his holiness and his righteousness,
And if he is angry with the wicked and if he is a consuming fire,
how can God be gracious and merciful? If he doesn't sweep sin under
the rug, how can he be gracious and merciful? Here's the answer. God can be gracious to whom he
will be gracious and merciful to whom he will be merciful because
of his just, jealous, anger and consuming fire of his cross. That's the reason why. God made
Christ to be the sin of his people. God made Christ to stand in the
very place of his people. Christ went to the cross because
he took all the sin of his people unto himself. It was pressed
into himself. He stood there in the sin of
his people. And in doing that, once he took
all that from his people, God made his people to stand in the
actual place of Christ. He became the sin of his people,
they became the righteousness of him. On the cross, in the
sin of his people, God poured out his justice and his jealousy
and his anger and his consuming fire on Christ. He poured it all out on Christ,
and then he turned and he poured all of his grace and all of his
merciful kindness on his people. Everything that was owed to us,
he poured it on Christ. Everything that was owed to Christ,
he poured it on us. By the sacrifice of Christ, in
that sacrifice of Christ, God can, and he is, gracious and
merciful to his sinful people. And he or she that comes to God
must believe that, must believe that. 1 Corinthians 1 says, he
is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. End that transaction. He is our
wisdom. Everything I need to know, he
knows it for me. He is our righteousness, but
what about good deeds? Don't you have to be good to
go to heaven? Yes. Look at Jesus Christ. He is my
righteousness. If you want to see my righteousness,
do not look to this sinner. Don't look to this wretched flesh.
He's our righteousness. Don't you have to be holy to
go to heaven? He is our sanctification. And he paid the price in full
on the cross of Calvary. He is our redemption. Let me show you one last thing.
All right, one final thing. Turn over to Romans 8. Romans 8, and then once you get
there, hold your place and go over to 1 John chapter 4. Just before Revelation, 1 John
chapter 4. First John 4 verse 8. He that loveth not knoweth not
God, for God is love. He that cometh to God must believe
that he is love. God is love. But here's what we must know
and believe. That love is only found in the
person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Only in the person
and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Flip over to Romans 8 and look
at verse 38. Romans 8 verse 38 says, I am
persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities,
nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height,
nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us
from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. The love of God is not in us. Well, how could God love me? The love of God is not in us. The love of God is not in our
works. The love of God is not in this
world. People say God's love is everywhere. No, it's not. It's in Christ. It's in Christ, all right? Now
you say, what do you mean by that? Here's what I mean by that.
God said, Noah, build an ark. And Noah was a preacher of righteousness,
holiness, justice. God is gonna judge this world
because of sin. You have one hope. There's only
one place of safety. You must be in this ark. for a hundred years. And then
when the time came, God shut the door. And here came the judgment
of God on this world. And men and women were drowning,
dying, and that ark was floating up. Every soul inside that ark
was in the love of God. You could put a bumper sticker
on the inside of the ark, smile, God loves you, but you couldn't
put that on the outside of the ark, as men and women were dying
in judgment. That's what it means. All of
God's love is in Christ. Our focus, our attention needs
to be on Christ. God's love is to every soul that
he placed in Christ. And to see that and to believe
that and to need Him because of that, that's what it is to
seek Him. That's what it is to seek Him.
It's to seek everything from God in Him. Every blessing from
God in Christ. Christ is everything. It's to
seek His glory. It's to seek His will, His work,
His praise in everything. Him. It's Him. He that cometh to God must believe
that he is, and he's a rewarder of them that seek him. Not their own self-righteous
works, not their own religion, not their own glory. In coming to God, everything
must be ascribed to Jesus Christ. Everything to Jesus Christ. Now, do we believe? Don't speak out loud, please,
but go into your soul. Look at your soul for just one
second. Do you believe that? The answer is yes. It means God
has put his spiritual faith in you. You could not believe that
had he not put his faith in you. Yeah, I believe that. I believe
God is sovereign and holy and just, and we're sinners, and
He chose who He would save, and He saved them, and it's finished,
and I can't do anything, and He's gonna call me and save me,
and it's all in Him, all of Christ. I just don't know if I'm one
of His. You couldn't believe that if you were not one of His. I used to worry when I first
started preaching, I don't want to give anybody a false hope.
That is an impossibility. If you believe that, flesh and
blood didn't reveal that to you, the Father which is in heaven
did that. And if you do believe that, it means in Christ you're
pleasing to him. I hope we all do.