Living by faith. This describes
God's people. This is the best description
you can give of God's people. They believe God. They live by
faith. The people of God live no other
way than by faith. And it has always been by faith. In the next chapter, we have
all these examples of faith. And one of the first ones he
starts with is the one back in Genesis, Abel. He starts with
Abel. When Abel offered unto God a
more excellent sacrifice, he did so by faith, trusting in
the substitute, knowing that his salvation lay in another,
not in turnips, not in potatoes, what Cain brought. What Cain
offered unto God had no faith in it whatsoever. It was all
works. It was all, look at what I've
done here. You ought to be pleased. When Abraham was called to go
out to a place he knew not, He went out by faith. It says he
didn't know where he was going. God didn't give him a map. He
told him to go. And he went out. And when Abraham was given the
promise that all nations would be blessed through his seed,
which is Christ, he believed God, it says. He believed God. And it was counted unto him for
righteousness. And Noah, moved with fear, reverent
respect. God told him to build an ark.
He was going to destroy the world. And it had never rained. But
God told him to build this ark. I'm going to flood this world.
And Noah believed him. And he moved with fear and built
an ark. And the list goes on. And we'll
see a good part of this list in chapter 11 next time. But he says here in verse 38,
now this is the sum of it. This is the sum of what I have
been writing to you about. The just shall live by faith. This is written four times in
the Word of God. Doug just read it to you in Galatians.
Do you know that the first time this is written, do you know
where it is? Habakkuk. Let me read it to you in Habakkuk.
I've got it marked in Habakkuk. I think I've got it marked. Listen
to this in Habakkuk. In chapter 2 of Habakkuk, I will
stand upon my watch and set me upon the tower and will watch
to see what he will say unto me and what I shall answer when
I am reproved. And the Lord answered me and
said, Write the vision, make it plain upon the tables, that
he may run that reads it. For the vision is yet for an
appointed time, but at the end it shall speak and not lie. Though
it tarry, wait for it, because it will surely come. It will
not tarry. Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in
him, but the just." Every time Paul quotes this, he's quoting
it from Habakkuk. but the just shall live by his
faith." The first time that this is mentioned of living by faith,
believing God, that's how the just live, is mentioned in the
Old Testament. It's mentioned in the Old Testament.
Not the New Testament. The New Testament is just quoting
the Old Testament. This is not a New Testament doctrine. Living by faith is as old as
the beginning. Well, to tell you the truth,
it goes back into eternity. It goes back into eternity. God
never planned, never purposed to ever save any sinner by His
works. Never. That was never ever planned. So this has been mentioned four
times here in Habakkuk, in Galatians, and in Romans, and here in Hebrews. So it must be important for it
to be mentioned that many times. Martin Luther was brought to
faith by this Scripture. He was brought to faith, he was
converted by this Scripture, crawling up the steps. He's crawling up those steps.
And this Scripture came to his heart, it came to his mind in
such power, he got up and he left that place, and thus the
Reformation began. That began the Great Reformation. Now, who shall live by faith?
Who shall live by faith? It's very plain, it's very clear
here. The just. The just. No one else will or
can live by faith. You cannot live by something
you don't have. No more than you can fall out
of a tree you've never climbed. Only the just can live by faith
because they are the only ones who believe God. They are the
only ones. No one else believes God. Believing
there is a God is not believing God. There is a difference. Believing that God created the
world is not the same as believing God who created the world. Abraham
believed God. He believed what God had to say.
He believed everything God had to say. The believer who believes God
believes every word of this book. There's no question mark on it,
is there? I believe God did flood this world. I believe at one
time the highest mountain, I think it's like 20 feet above the highest
mountain, I believe God did that. I believe God parted the Red
Sea. I believe He parted the Red Sea.
I believe Israel walked on dry ground across through that path,
and then when the Egyptians tried to go, God drowned them. I believe
that. I said, how could that be? God,
that's how it would be. The only way I can explain it
is God did it. God did it. The just are the only ones who
live by faith. The just are those who are justified. That's why they're called just.
They are justified. They are the ones who live, they
are the ones who live before God, and they are the ones who
live before God believing God with full confidence. with full confidence in Christ
as their Redeemer, as their Savior. Full confidence. They live before
God by faith and not by sight. We don't live by what we see.
We live by believing God. We don't live by what we believe.
We live by who we believe. Paul said, I know whom I have
believed. We don't believe in what, we
believe in whom. Now what does it mean to be justified? Pardon
is not justified. Forgiveness is not justified. We are pardoned. We are forgiven
through the blood of Christ. We are forgiven of our sins.
But that's not justified. Justified is to be cleared of
any and all offenses against God. There is not one offense
on the books against me or against any believer. There's not one
offense on the books against you. You're justified, cleared
of all charges, not guilty. Not guilty. Because God justified
you. The judge of all the earth justified
you. He's cleared you of all offenses,
not one mark or blemish before God. That's why David wrote in
Psalm 32, Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute
iniquity. You know why? There's not any. It's gone. God will not impute
what's not there. He only charges what's there.
And Christ has so efficiently and effectively put away the
sins of all His elect that there's nothing to impute. There's nothing
to charge. They're all gone. They are all
gone. through the substitutionary person
and work of Jesus Christ, all for whom He died are justified. And faith receives Him who justifies us. Now what shall they do? What
shall they do? They shall live. Live. First they live, they are spiritually
alive. The justified are spiritually
alive. No one else is. No one else is. And this is how they live on
this earth. This is how they live out their
spiritual life on this earth. They live it out by faith. That's
how they live. They live it out by faith. By
faith, believing God for all things. Now listen, I said, believing
God for all things. We believe God for salvation.
We believe Him for forgiveness. We believe Him for pardon. We
believe Him for acceptance. But I tell you what, we believe
Him for providing. The Lord will provide. He's going
to provide for us. He's going to provide our daily
food. He's going to provide us everything we need. Everything
we need in this life, we trust God for. Don't we? We don't just
trust Him for salvation and then worry about what's going to happen
tomorrow. Or how am I going to get through the day? No, the
same faith that trusts Him for eternity trusts Him for time.
Take care of us today. They live before God on this
earth by faith, believing God for all things, all things, for
time and eternity. Spiritual life and faith go together. They can't be separated. They
can't be separated. If God has given you life, spiritual
life, when that happens, He's given
you faith at the same time. He's given you faith at the same
time He's given you life. It's like a child when it comes
into this world. What's it do? When it has life,
it comes into this world. It breathes. It breathes. When a sinner is born of God,
the first thing it does, it believes. It believes God. It believes
God. The Armenians have faith preceding
life, or they have it the cause of spiritual life. I came out
of that. No, that's not so. Here's the
truth. We live. You know why we live? Because He lives. John 14, 19. Turn over there. Here's why I live. I don't live
because I believe. I believe because I live. And
that is not a play on words. In verse 19 of John chapter 14,
Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more. But you see
me, because I live, ye shall live also. That's why you live. That's why you live. Christ rose
from the dead. He's alive forevermore. And I
have life through Him who is my life. He is my life. And this is very important here.
Now listen. The Lord Jesus Christ is our life. Because I live,
you shall live also. Faith is not my life. Jesus Christ is my life. I don't
live upon my faith. Faith does not live upon faith.
Real God-given faith lives upon Jesus Christ. We never live upon faith or because
of faith. We live upon our Lord. When Christ,
it says in Colossians 3, 4, when Christ, who is our life, shall
appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory. Just live by faith and not by
experience. We do not keep looking back,
reaching back to a time or an experience we had years ago. Faith is always looking to Christ,
looking, as it says in Hebrews here, I think it's in, yeah,
it's in Hebrews, I forget the chapter. Looking unto Jesus,
the author and finisher of our faith. That's chapter 12, verse
2. That's what faith is doing. It's
not looking back. It's looking to Him. Looking
to Christ crucified is looking to Him now. You know, John said,
I saw a lamb as it stood in the midst of the throne, slain. I
saw a lamb slain. We look to Him constantly. We
look to Him presently. Presently. It's looking to Christ. Faith does not live upon its
experience, and faith does not live upon excitement. I don't have to come here and
just feel like we're all just tore up and Pentecostal is what
I'm thinking of. Just a bunch of hoodoo going
on. Then you've got to have it again
next week. You've got to have it again next
week, like an adrenaline rush. Faith lives upon Christ when
you can't feel anything. When you feel like the Lord's
clean gone, you still take His Word and you live upon Christ. When you can't even detect His
presence, you've got His Word. Let me give you a few words here
about saving faith, this faith he's speaking of here. This faith
here that the just shall live by is the gift of God. Paul said, all men have not faith.
All who claim to have faith have not faith. But everyone that's
just has faith. And it's the gift of God. For
by grace are you saved through faith. And that is not of yourselves. It's the gift of God. The human
heart will never, never, never believe God. Christ said in John
5, I am come in my Father's name and you receive me not. If another
shall come in his own name, him you will receive. You will receive
him, you will believe him, but me you won't believe. And you
won't receive me, you don't have anything to do with me. But you have. You have. You've received him, you've believed
him. That is a gift of God. God's given that to you. How
precious is that? That's why faith is so precious,
because God has given it. It's a gift. He doesn't give
that to everybody. The Word of God tells us the
natural mind is enmity against God. And when I was born into
this world, when you were born into this world, every last one
of us was born into this world with this enmity. At war with
God. Every last one of us was at war
with God at one time. And because of the love of God
and the grace of God, He reached down and had mercy on us, lifted us
out of the pit, gave us a new heart and a right spirit, and
His love was shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. You love God, you believe God,
because you can't help it. God has done such a mighty work
in you that you can't help but believe. You can't help but love
Him. You know, love responds to love.
Love responds to love. It's all the work of God. You
know what the difference is between a false faith and real faith. You know why real faith grows? If you have it, I'm telling you,
if you truly believe God, I promise you this, you're going to grow.
You're going to grow in grace and in knowledge of the Lord
Jesus Christ. The difference between false
faith and real faith is this. Real faith has its roots in Jesus
Christ. I'm the vine, you're the branches.
It has its roots, it has its very connection to Jesus Christ. False faith is nothing but a
stick in the ground. You ever see a stick produce
anything? Go stick a stick in the ground. That's false faith. False faith is nothing but a
stick in the ground. True faith has roots and it blossoms. And the fruit of it is love,
joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness. That's the fruit of it. The fruit
of the Spirit is a fruit of it. God-given faith completely, 100%,
relies on Jesus Christ for wisdom. I know this. Apart from Christ,
I am ignorant. I am ignorant. Now that's offensive. To call somebody ignorant is
offensive. But I know, apart from Christ,
I am ignorant. I don't know God. Not by nature. I did not know God. Not one of
us knew God. We did not come into this world
with a knowledge of God, an understanding of who God is. I'm trying to think of that scripture,
that not the rich man glory in his riches, and the strong man
glory in his might, but let him glory, glory in this, that he
understands and knows Me. God's given us an understanding. And then this faith by which
the just live by, it is the foundation of every grace. Without faith,
it's impossible to please God. I wrote a little article. I think
it was this week's bulletin. I wrote just a little article.
It's impossible to please God. It's also impossible to have
real joy. It's impossible to have real
love. It's impossible to have real peace. It's impossible to
have real contentment. It's impossible to have real
assurance. In fact, it's impossible to have salvation at all. apart
from faith. Someone said the measure of every
grace in us is this. Our Lord said this. According
to your faith, so be it. According to your faith, so be
it. Now what are the blessings that
come to us through faith? Well, Not necessarily in this order,
but first of all, peace with God. The war is over. The war
is over. Peace with God. You know, right
now, and I say this with... I never... I hate to talk about hell. I
don't like to talk about it. Because it's very real. The torment
is very real. Here we sit, and we have the
Gospel being preached, we have God's Word open, and there are
people who are dying right now, that are perishing, have no hope
whatsoever. And yet we have peace with God.
Peace with God. Romans 5.1, therefore being justified
by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We have peace with God. And then
we have access into this grace, he says, wherein we stand. In
verse 2 of chapter 5 of Romans. By whom also we have access by
faith into this grace. We have access by faith into
this grace wherein we stand. and rejoice in hope of the glory
of God. And then we have justification. As Doug read there in Galatians,
he says, but that no man is justified by the law and the sight of God,
it is evident. He said it's evident. It's never
happened. It's never happened. The just shall live by faith.
And the law is not of faith. No one ever kept the law by faith. The law is not of faith. The
law is do or die. It's like the speed limit out
there. Drive the speed limit or pay the ticket. The law is not of faith, but
the man that doeth them shall live in them. Christ hath redeemed
us from the curse of the law being made a curse for us, for
it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangs on a tree. that the
blessing of Abraham might come on us Gentiles. And it comes
on us Gentiles through faith. It says in Acts 13, being known
unto you, therefore, men and brethren, that through this man
is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins. And by him all that
believe are justified from all things. All things. I don't care
what it is. It doesn't matter what it is.
It doesn't matter what it is. How vile, it doesn't matter.
Justified from all things. What you could not be justified
by the law of Moses, by keeping the law of Moses. And then righteousness,
written in Romans 10, that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth
the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath
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." We don't work for righteousness, we believe.
We believe. We believe God. You know it's
only right to believe God. It's only right to believe one
who cannot lie. We believe and trust God. We take Him at His
Word. We look to the Lord Jesus Christ
for everything, for all our acceptance, all our hope, all our plea. And when Jesus Christ died, He
died for me. That's it. That's it. And here's another blessing,
eternal life. Written in John chapter 5, Verily, verily, I
say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him
that sent me hath everlasting life, and shall not come into
condemnation, but is passed from death unto life. He that heareth
my word, and believeth. You hear the gospel and you believe
it. You believe it. God said that
man, that woman hath, has everlasting life. That's why you believe
it. That's why you believe it. It's not if you believe you shall
have it. He says you have it. You have
it. The evidence of life is this,
you believe. Now the apostle says, the just
shall live by faith, but my soul shall have no pleasure in him. and Him who draws back, and Him
who takes His sails down. You're on the sea and you've
got your sail up and it's blowing and you become fearful of wrecking
and going in the wrong direction. You just become fearful and you
just pull the sails down. It also has the meaning of coward. Drawing back because you are
a coward. The persecution that was going
on. They became afraid. They became cowards. And they
said, I didn't sign up for this. I signed up for heaven. I didn't
sign up for this. I didn't sign up for the persecution
part. And they draw back. They draw back. They're cowards. They shrink. Shrink out of fear. Out of fear. And the apostle says, my soul
has no pleasure in this person. Light and darkness can't walk
together. Light and darkness can't walk together. You know,
someone, if one of you, one of you, or me, walk out of here and say, I don't
believe that no more. I don't believe that no more.
You and I are not going to walk together anymore either. Except
two agree how they're going to walk together. It ain't going
to happen. Not going to happen. That's why
he says, my soul has no pleasure in this person. It's painful
to watch someone who confessed Christ leave. It's painful. The saving faith says this, I can do all things through Christ
who strengtheneth me. Do you believe that? Do you really
believe you can do that? I believe it was David who said, by the
Lord's help, I'm going to paraphrase here, by His help, by His grace,
by His giving me strength, he said, I can run through a troop
and leap over a wall. I can do all things through Christ
who strengthens me, but my soul is not going to have any pleasure
in those who draw back. But here's a word of encouragement.
Here's a word of encouragement. We are not of them who draw back. Now listen, this is how serious
this is to perdition. They're just not drawing back,
and they're not just taking the back seat in the bus. No, this
leads to perdition. This leads to hell. Torment. Total destruction. We're not
of them who draw back to perdition, but of them that believe to the
saving of the soul. True faith will not leave the
way and go back. It will not leave the way and
go back. It matters not how hot the trowel
is. It will not leave. Because the
Lord said, I'll not lay on you more than you can bear. And whatever
He lays on you, He will enable you to bear. How tough it is,
He will enable you to bear it. When you go through the water,
He said, I'll go with you. And through the fire, it'll not
burn you. You read that, Ed, last Sunday. Whatever He sends our way, He
gives us strength to bear. Peter said, Lord, to whom shall
we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. God-given faith
is a persevering faith. It is a faith born of knowledge,
taught of God. All thy children shall be taught
of God. Paul said, I know. This is not guesswork. I know
whom I believe. I know whom I have believed.
And they're persuaded that He's able to keep that which I've
committed unto Him against that day. True faith is persuaded that
Jesus Christ is who the Word of God says He is, and that He's
enough. He's enough. Jesus Christ is
enough. And the Scripture says we are
kept by the power of God. How? Through faith. God keeps us believing. God keeps
His children believing. When the hour is the darkest,
and you can't see your hand in front of your face, so to speak, and yet you believe God, Why? Why? I'll tell you why. You believe God by His power.
He keeps you believing. His Word, God's Word, this is
why it's so important to be in His Word, His Word is at work
in your heart. And you don't even realize it.
You don't even realize it. The just, Those who are justified
live by faith.