Alright brother, if you will,
begin turning to Romans chapter 1. Our text notes will be Romans 1 verse
17. We looked at 16 and 17 last week,
but there's just a lot there. I was reading ahead in Romans
to kind of get an idea of what's coming up next, what my points
will be. There's some hard things coming. As I studied, I realized that
those things here in the first chapter of Romans come and the
natural man does not want to deal with. This state doesn't
want to deal with, this nation doesn't want to deal with, and
this world doesn't want to deal with. So I was thankful that
tonight's message is going to be very pleasant. I have one
more week. gentle, easy things for me studying,
you know. And as I studied it, I worked
on this passage, I was brought into remembrance. When a man's
brought low and Christ is lifted up, the natural man can't stand
it. So it doesn't really matter what we're looking at, does it?
Brother Richardson once said, when the gospel is preached,
the comfortable are disturbed and the disturbed are comforted.
So it really doesn't matter where we are, does it? But over some
of these things, people have been known to leave the gathering
of saints, to leave the church, leave a faithful congregation,
but either they can't stand the gospel and they walk away from
a faithful congregation or they know the gospel and they walk
away from a congregation that's not faithful, from a pulpit that's
not faithful. But if there's a split or division,
it's always because of Christ, not for anything else. Other
things may seem like an excuse or a reason, but that's not the
reason. It's who Christ is. That's what
either for or against. His word doesn't return void. But people want to be comforted. But natural man's comfort is
found in things, in acts and activities and doing, religion. Anything that keeps them looking
to themselves, looking inward. And recently, this past weekend,
that famous man here in California died and his family and everything
that's been on the news is always a great man of faith. And everybody
wants to justify. There's justification in death.
And either we justify the people we want to be justified after
they're gone, I'm sure Pol Pot and Adolf Hitler, they're famous. Well, he's in a better place. Maybe he is, maybe he isn't.
That's between him and the Lord, isn't it? But I wanted to ask
myself, do I live by faith? Am I convinced that I'm living
by faith? Are you convinced? In Romans
1.16, Paul writes, For I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ,
for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth.
the Jew first and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness
of God revealed from faith to faith. As it is written, the
just shall live by faith." Those justified by God live by faith. Those who know Christ as their
wisdom live by faith. Those that know Christ as their
righteousness live by faith. Those that know Him as their
sanctification live by faith. Those who look to Christ for
all their redemption, that's the just. That's the ones that
live by faith. But what is this faith? What
is this faith that God's people live by? When we look at faith, the natural
man thinks some things and God says some things about it, don't
He? An actual man thinks it's something inside themselves.
Courage or bravery. Persistence. Diligence. An inner strength. Something
in them that they muster up and go forward with. They're looking
inside themselves. Most people say, well I have
strong faith. No, you don't. You have good self-confidence. True biblical God-given faith
is not looking inward, it's looking outward. The best definition
I've heard on this is an inner weakness looking to an outer
strength. I hope that will soak into us.
I hope that will soak into me. I hope I can remember that. Faith
is not looking at myself. It's not looking at my ex. It's
not looking in. It's not looking at Kevin. It's
looking to Christ. That's faith. Faith does not
look to itself, it looks to Christ. So that faith, what does it do?
What does faith do? Faith believes God. Faith looks
to Christ. Turn over to Hebrews chapter
12 with me. Hebrews chapter 12 verse 1. It says, Wherefore,
seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of
witnesses, Let us lay aside every weight and the sin which doth
so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that
is set before us." Now about this race, the Hebrew writer
is saying we have so many witnesses around us, so many faithful men
speaking the gospel, speaking the truth to us. We have these
scriptures the Lord's preserved. Lay aside every weight, every
care, every concern, lay it away. And that sin would thus so easily
beset us and run with patience that race set before us. And
how do we do that? Verse two, Hebrews 12, two, looking
unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. He is the author. That means he created it. He
wrote it. He began it. It began with him
and he's the finisher. He's the one that completes it.
He sustains it and keeps it to the end. If you notice there
in verse 2, our is italicized, so looking unto Jesus the author
and finisher of faith. All faith. But it's not just our faith only.
True faith is authored, sustained, and finished by Christ. If any person has real faith
that came from Christ, And it's finished by Him from beginning
to end. But did it really come from Him? Did He give me most
of it? Was it in me and I had to encourage
it? We know it comes from Him. Galatians
2.20 says, I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live,
yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. And the life which I now
live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God. who loved me and gave himself
for me. Christ loved me. He gave himself
for me. And because of that, because
of His faith, I have faith. Because of His faith, I live.
Turn over to Ephesians 2. See if we generate our own faith.
Ephesians 2. Verse 8 says, For by grace are ye saved through
faith. That's the means he uses. And
that not of yourself, it is the gift of God. There's those of's
again. A little two letter word. That
not of yourself. It doesn't originate with man.
Man doesn't have any. It's the gift of God. It's from
Him. He authored it. He gave it to
us. Not of works lest any man should boast. The end of verse
8 there has a colon. Paul is going to list some stuff.
He was moved by the Holy Spirit to immediately show us, not of
works, lest any man should boast. That faith is not of work. A
man can make a work out of anything. Several years of my life, I made
a work out of not working. I was, oh, I don't, I don't do
anything that's works. And that was, that controlled
me. That soaked me up. That was a
work. But Paul is clearly showing here
that faith is not a work, it's given. It's given of God. All
true faith is Christ's faith. It's from Him, it's through Him,
and it's to Him. So we see now what faith is,
we see what faith does, and we see where it comes from. So I
want us to look tonight at what does it mean to live by faith. When the Lord gives faith, He
convinces men and women of some things. They're convinced of
some things. I'm convinced of some things
in my life. If I hold a bowling ball up by
my head and I let it go, I'm convinced it's going to land
on my foot. We know those things. We're convinced of them. But the Lord's people, they live
by these things. They're not shaken from them.
They're not driven away from them and they walk in them. There
are four places in this scripture where the phrase, the just shall
live by faith is listed in the whole Bible. And each one of
those scriptures, you can read that pretty easy in some commentary
and say, oh yeah, there's four places that is. But each one
of those things where it's listed, it's not just listed four times,
there's something attached to them. There's a phrase attached
to the just shall live by faith. That's important. What is it
to live by faith? These statements that's going
to be attached to the just shall live by faith are going to tell
us. I don't want to know what a man thinks. You all don't care
to know what I think. I want to know what God thinks.
I want to know what he says about it. Don't you? I think he shows
us clearly here. First place in scripture this
is listed is a backup two. If you want to go in the I marked
it. Henry said, you want to know
how I got there so fast? He said, I put a paper clip there last
night. Go to the end of the Old Testament, work back four books.
So the minor prophets, you got Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk,
Zephaniah. So Habakkuk 2, verse 4. His soul which is lifted up is
not upright in him, but the just shall live by faith." We are
convinced that we are not upright before God. When our souls are
lifted up, when my soul is put into view, when it's put on a
platform, I can see it. I declare that I'm not upright
before God. I'm not perfect. I'm not able to to go into his
presence, and not just that I'm not perfect. I have some fault. I'm completely worthless. I'm completely depraved. We declare
that it's not upright. It makes man to know he's a sinner. That's living by faith. The Lord
gives faith to someone. They take sides against themselves
for God, don't they? Turn to John chapter 16. John 16 and verse 7 says, our
Redeemer is speaking. Nevertheless, I tell you the
truth. It is expedient for you that I go away. For if I go not
away, the comforter will not come unto you. But if I depart,
I will send him unto you. And when he has come, here's
the first thing he's going to do. He will reprove the world
of sin. He will admonish, scold. He'll bring to light. The Holy
Spirit comes to a sinner and it reveals what that sin is in
him. And of righteousness, who that
righteousness is, and of judgment. Our warfare is over. God's pleased
to save a man or woman. The first thing that'll happen
to them, they'll have a knowledge of sin, they'll have a knowledge
of what they are, who they are. They'll know they're depraved,
helpless, immoral, and evil. During this time of struggle,
this trial, this self-loathing, you're just curled up on your
floor crying. As soon as they see their sin,
they're a child of God, and that is living by faith. Understanding
your depravity. Being taught that. Being brought
to know how low we are to live by faith. To look outward to
Him. The second scripture is ours
here tonight, our text in Romans 1.17. So first off, we're convinced we're
unrighteousness. Secondly, we're convinced that
God is righteous. Romans 1.17. says, for therein
is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith. As it is
written, the just shall live by faith. God reveals His righteousness
in Christ to us. We're made to see what we are,
and then we're made to see who Christ is, what He is. And it's
from His Spirit, capital S, to our spirit, lowercase s, the
spirit that He gives us. From His faithfulness to our
faith that's given to us. Communicated, when we're convinced
All of our hope is in Christ. All of our righteousness is His
righteousness. And as that's happening, as we're
bowing to God and seeing who Christ is, we're living by faith.
We're walking in faith. We stop looking to ourselves
and looking to what we can do, and we look to what Christ has
done. We stop thinking we're right, and we see Christ is right
before God. That's righteousness. Everything
He does is right. in God's eyes. We'll turn over to Galatians
2. Galatians 2.21, Paul writes,
I do not frustrate the grace of God, for if righteousness
come by the law, then Christ is dead and vain. That's strong
wording, isn't it? Very strong. All these things,
these gifts from the Lord to us, our righteousness and sanctification,
all those gifts, they're the same. They come together, don't
they? They're sisters of grace. So that statement's true. If
I do something to gain my own wisdom, If I have to increase
myself, Christ died in vain. If I have to do something to
gain my own righteousness, as Paul just wrote, Christ died
in vain. If I have to do something to gain my own sanctification,
Christ died in vain. If I have to do something to
redeem myself, He died in vain. Faith makes us bow to that. Makes us believe that. Makes
us rejoice in that. Because when we see those things,
if we're walking in faith because the Lord's given it to us, we
rejoice in that. Everything's done for me. He's
done it all. Crossed us all and done it all,
hasn't he? Third place in scriptures, if you're there in Galatians
3. Galatians 3 verse 11. First, to walk in faith, to live by faith, we are convinced
we are sinners. Secondly, we are convinced Christ
is all righteousness. And third, we are convinced that
we cannot satisfy God through the law. Galatians 3.11 says, but no man is justified
by the law in the sight of God. It is evident for, because the
just shall live by faith. It is evident. It's clear. because the just shall live by
faith. What's this law? In one way you can look at Moses'
law, the Ten Commandments, the Levitical law, that was to the
nation of Israel wasn't it? We're going to see this more
next week. Our fallen Adam. But what we use in modern day
language law is, it's the Bible. Well, I know the Bible says this.
I know the Bible says that. So it's not just the Mosaic law,
the Levitical law, but all the precepts in the New Testament.
These things that we know. The law says do. The gospel says
it's done. That's the difference. Do I have
to do these things in this book or is it already done? Look at
Romans chapter 10. Romans chapter 10 verse 5 says, For Moses describeth the righteousness
which is of the law. Moses told us that the man which
doeth those things shall live by them. If you do this you have
to live by it. But the righteousness which is
of faith speaketh on this wise. So in Romans 6.10 I'm sorry,
Romans 10 6, but the righteousness which live by faith speak on
this wise. It's going to tell us what our
faith, this living by faith means. In verse 6 and 7 it tells us
what not to look to, but in verse 8 it continues, but what saith
it? What does that true faith say?
Romans 10 8, the word is nigh thee, Even in thy mouth and in
thy heart, that is the word of faith which we preach, that if
thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus Christ and shalt
believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead,
thou shalt be saved." If we believe in our hearts, that's what faith
does, it believes God, doesn't it? If I fully believe that Christ
was buried and rose again, I believe that, do you? How do I believe
that He went into that tomb, that God was made man, came down
to become flesh, made like us, walked this world perfect, was
lifted on a cross according to the scriptures, died, was buried
in the way He said He was going to be in that tomb, and He was
risen again? How can I believe that, living
by faith? The Lord gives that to us. Gives
us the ability to look at that. The new man believes God. He said what he was going to
do, and then he did it. I believe that, don't you? He
showed us. This cloud of witnesses. But now, do we ignore that law?
Do we ignore the scriptures? Do we ignore these precepts that's
given to us because we're not under? God forbid is what Paul
said. That's silly, isn't it? We want to respect our Lord,
honor our Lord. Do I go against those things?
David said, I love your holy law. Someday, every one of us,
all of God's elect, will be made in the image of Christ. We'll
be made like Him. We want no sin. I try to dwell
on those things too much. What's it going to be like when
I'm gone? When I go home? The human mind on this world
can't enter those things. I won't have sin. You won't have
sin. And we'll be living that way.
And we won't know any different. Be able to approach God and worship
Him truly as He deserves to be worshipped. Fourthly, Hebrews 10. So living in faith, we're convinced
of sin. Living in faith, we're convinced
that Christ is our righteousness. Living in faith, we see that
we can't come to God through that law, but Christ fulfilled
that law. And finally, we're convinced that our Lord will
keep us to the end. Hebrews 10 verse 38 says, Now the just shall
live by faith, but if any man draw back, my soul shall have
no pleasure in him. What that means is it's Christ
or nothing. If we draw back to the law, if
we draw away from Christ to have a work to do, if we draw away
from the law, the precepts in these scriptures, to our faith,
if I don't look to Christ, if I look to why I have strong faith
in me, if we draw back to adding a little bit of self in the mix
in any way, God will not accept it. That's living by faith. We don't
look to ourselves. We don't draw back from Christ
to something else. We look to Him, don't we? The
Lord keeps His sheep and none will be lost. I saw that several
times the other day in John. The Father spared not His own
Son for His elect. He gives us the faith to believe
on Him. Do you think He'll keep that
faith? He'll grow us in that faith? If He can keep me to the
end and raise me up, I'm confident He can keep me looking to Christ
during that time. Keep me living by faith. Living
by Christ's faithfulness. It says there in verse 39, Hebrews
10, 39, But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition,
but of them that believe to the saving of the soul. Who's that? We're just this group of people
that's just so good that we're not going to fall away. We're
too strong to fall away. No, the first thing He taught
us was our weakness. Here He's teaching us, I'll keep you. We
ain't the ones that fall back. Lord's people, He keeps us. Now
those four things back in our text, Romans 1 verse 17. True faith grows. It says there in verse 17, it's
revealed from faith to faith. And that does mean that from
His faith to our faith, from His capital S Spirit, the Holy
Spirit, to the lowercase spirit in us, the new man in us. But
it also means it's revealed from one degree of faith to the next
degree of faith. As we learn these things, like
any grace from God, we grow. We grow in that. He grows us.
We've grown to believe in God and seeing more clearly His holiness
and His righteousness. And we see more clearly what
we truly are and how lowly we are, how in need we are. We're
grown to understand that we walk through this world living by
faith. But we're grown to understand
that because of that faith given, that's why we live. We have life because of the source
of our faith, eternal life. So many people worry about living
in faith. That's how I'll have eternal
life. Christ's faith. Here, that's wonderful. It makes
for an easier life, an easier way to address trials, an easier
way to not looking inward, looking outward. True faith. Looking
to Christ. It makes those things easier
to deal with, doesn't it? It's comforting. But the end state
of all that is true life. says they shall live by faith.
We shall. That's how it's going to happen.
Shall have eternal life by cross faith. But we believe on cross
and will forever be in His likeness, worshiping Him for what He's
accomplished. And then our faith will be sought,
won't it? We'll see Him. That's how it turns. I hope that
was a blessing to you. Let's pray together. Father, forgive us. We're so
prone to wander. The path we wander is to ourselves. So prone to look inward. We have nothing but worry and
anxiety and stress and fear and hopelessness. Turn our hearts,
Lord. Give us true faith. Let us live
in the faith here on this earth, looking to Christ. Because of
His faith, Lord, give us eternal life through Him. We need You
to give it to us. Thank You for showing us what
we are, in part. Thank You for showing us what
Christ is and what He's accomplished. Keep us always looking to Him,
Lord, and be with our brethren everywhere. As they meet tonight,
give them hearts to hear Your Word and rejoice. Make us rejoice,
Lord, in them. It's in Christ's name that we
ask it.