And verse 13 through 17 of this
great passage as our Lord deals with his disciples and apostles. about him and about his person
and what they thought about him. So in verse 13, when Jesus came
into the coast of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying,
whom do men say that I, the son of man, am? And they said, some
say John the Baptist, some Elias, and others, Jeremias, or one
of the prophets. He said then unto them, but whom
say you that I am? And Simon Peter answered and
said, thou art the Christ, the Son, of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto
him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood
hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And in the 16th verse again,
Peter answers for them all, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the
Living God. And what we have proposed this
morning is a subject very large, too large for any one study to
cover it all. So we just find a place and put
vessels in to this ocean that has neither bank nor bottom. And we want to consider this
morning what Paul speaks of as the faith of God's elect in the
book of Titus chapter 1 and verse 1. In fact, Paul calls himself
there a servant of God, an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to
the faith of God's elect. That his calling and his preaching
and his purpose had a direct connection with the faith of
God's elect. Now, when we think of Paul, we
know that Paul was not an Arminian, either in his persuasion or in
his practice, for he knew that all were not the elect of God. And he exercised his ministry. He endured all of those troubles
and all the persecution that came upon him because of 2 Timothy
chapter 2 and verse 10. I endure all things for the elect's
sake that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ
Jesus. So the ministry and the preaching
and the gospel of Paul and all that he did and all that he suffered
was in that direction because the Bible teaches us that some
are elect and that these elect have a unique faith. They have a faith that is unique
unto them. Now, this faith of the elect
is not native. It is not something that is there
by nature, not even in the heart of an elect, but is worked in
them and given unto them as a gift by the grace of God. But faith that it might be properly
used must have a foundation, it must have an author that begets
it in us, and it must have an object. And that latter is basically
what we're looking at this morning. It must have a proper object,
and when one is given a new heart in regeneration, and faith is
born and brought forth in that particular individual, faith
is strengthened and nourished by the Holy Spirit, and it is
fed and given knowledge by and through the Word of God, then
that faith is directed toward the Lord Jesus Christ as its
object. He is the object of the faith
of God's elect. He is the author, and he also
is the object of that faith that saved. Now, God willing, we will
take some of that up a little bit later on in our study. But first of all, let's say a
few things about the grace of faith as it is laid out in the
scripture. And one of the first things that
we acknowledge is faith is spiritual faith, not historical and it's
not humanistic. It is spiritual faith and it
is not innate. It is not natural to an unregenerate
sinner. The Apostle cautioned in 2 Corinthians
3 and verse 2 that all men have not faith. We find that to be
true. As we live, as we preach the
gospel, we find that certainly all men do not have faith. In fact, apart from regeneration,
they are shut up in unbelief. Romans 11, verse 32. And as John told his hearers
in John chapter 3 and verse 27, a man can receive nothing unless
it is given unto him from heaven. Now, one of the great heresies
of Arminianism is that one that we identify as freewillism, and
all that goes with it. Such, they say, every person
has the potential, has the ability, to savingly believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ, at any time that they will, and that salvation,
therefore, is within the power and the ability of the sinner. I believe, if I mistake not,
that most Armenians would agree that all have some sort of latent
faith down in them somewhere, and that it only needs to be
aroused in some way or manner and then channeled in the right
direction and man will be all right. I quote Thomas Goodwin,
faith is above the power and the faculties in men. It is beyond us to have the faith
of God's elect in the Lord Jesus Christ. For not only is there
nothing in the sinner that might aid and abet the faith of God's
elect, Everything by nature that is in him actually militates
against them having faith and believing in Christ. To bring
one to believe, there is no principle in anyone unregenerate that has
any power to give assistance under the faith of God's elect. It must be wrought in them by
a work of God, a new work. Faith is incompatible. Faith is incompatible. with a
state of unregeneracy. There is not anything in the
person or individual that will produce this faith of God's elect. Many saw the Lord's miracles
with their own eye, and they did not believe upon Him. In fact, some of them took it
as an occasion to blaspheme. In fact, the preaching of the
Word of God does not convert or bring to faith everyone that
hears. In some, it actually arouses
enmity against God and Christianity. Nor can the working of natural
conscience bring one to faith. Religious works and keeping the
law will not beget faith. For the law is not a faith, says
Paul, for the simple reason that faith is a work of divine grace. Therefore, to sum up the matter
before us today, saving faith is rooted in the regenerative
work of God. It is seeded, then, or begotten
in the innermost being of that blessed individual. Some, as
Louis Burkhoff had said, the seed of faith is implanted in
man in regeneration. And then it is drawn forth in
and by the effectual calling and conversion of that individual
under the word of God and the gospel. Between regeneration
and conversion, we therefore should make a distinction. that
regeneration is the forerunner and conversion is that that follows
after. And saving faith may be summed
up in a few words, that saving, justifying faith is a certain
belief and a full persuasion, which is born out of the work
of the grace of God, that the gospel is the truth of God, and
the belief that Christ, like Peter, is indeed the very Son
of God, the Savior of sinners, yea, the only Savior of a sinner. Now, there's some that you might
read that would speak of the, quote, elements of faith. Others of the essence. of faith,
that is, of what faith consists in, how may we define it or describe
it? The Puritan Owen, the nature
of faith is how he spoke of it, how to define it. What is faith
in the biblical sense of the word and of the thing? I will tell you that there are
some that make a distinction between the habit of faith and
the activity of faith, and that it is both a principle and an
actuating grace in the elect of God as it is given. The habit of faith, the principle
of faith, issues forth into acts of good works, and worship, and
service, and love unto God, unto Christ, and unto others of like
mind. But as to the order, the principle
must precede the act. There must be faith before there
are acts of faith that are done by the child of God. And as to the constituent elements
Faith that is what faith is made up like what makes up faith at
the top of the list I would submit to you comes knowledge Revealed
knowledge when God revealed the things of God Unto a person in
this text in Matthew chapter 16 the Lord said to the Apostle
Peter flesh and blood hath not revealed this unto me, but my
Father which is in heaven." Flesh and blood would be humanity,
or human nature, or another person, or individual, including one's
own self. Now, in the text here, we have
this. Flesh and blood hath not made
it known. Flesh and blood hath not imparted
it. Flesh and blood had no work or
part in this matter at all. 2 Timothy chapter 2 and verse
4. The Lord would have those that
are saved to come to the knowledge of the truth. So faith is certainly
made up of knowledge. 2 Corinthians 2. Those chosen
from the beginning through our belief of the truth as it is
in Christ Jesus. Isaiah 53 verse 11 wrote about
it by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many
now not the knowledge that is possessed by the righteous servant
of the Lord, but that that he imparts is or that that he reveals
unto others. By the impartation of knowledge
shall my righteous servant justify many. Furthermore, in John 17
and 3, The Lord, in that great prayer, near the end of His life,
prayed this. And this is eternal life, that
they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom
Thou hast sent. That is what the Lord prayed
for. Eternal life is this. knowing
God the Father and Jesus Christ, whom he has sent. So that faith
is not a blind ignorance, as some people would make it out
to be. Faith is not a leap in the dark,
as some people describe it. Faith recognizes truth. It hears that truth, it believes
that truth, and it cleaves unto it and loves that truth. which is declared, which is in
Christ Jesus. Now again, faith rests and adheres
to and stands upon the truth of God and God's word. Let God be true and every man
a liar. Well, knowledge is involved in
faith. Then there are certainly is an
emotional element as well in faith, in that faith, or believing
on Christ under the saving of the soul, is in a sense, a real
sense, a new beginning of life in that person. We have a new
interest, and it gives us a hearty joy, and an empty void in the
life is filled by this great work of God. Faith is not dead,
dry dogma, as some people. For that is, it's not simply
intellectual or educational. It is a real, experiencing belief
that Jesus Christ is a Savior and that He has saved me. Then there is a volitional element. in faith, in that faith comes,
in that with faith comes an inclination toward the things of God. It is faith that moves us in
that direction and begins us in that life. We read of the
obedience of faith in Romans 1-5 and again in Romans 16 and
25. You remember it was by faith
that Abraham obeyed God and went out, not knowing where he went,
Hebrews chapter 11 and verse 8. But in drawing ever nearer
to our subject, which is the object of faith, which, like
Noah's dove, finds rest for its feet only in the ark, so faith
only in the Lord Jesus Christ. Faith is drawn only to a suitable
and a proper object of faith. Faith is drawn by those things
that are meant for its development. John Gill and others that I read
taught that when it comes to saving faith and eternal life,
that there are two grand objects of faith to be considered. Number
one, God the Father, and number two, the Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ. In John 14 and verse 1, the words
of the Lord to his Savior Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also
in me. And Paul said in Acts chapter
20 and verse 21 that he testified both to Jews and to Greeks repentance
toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. Christ. That was in his farewell address
to the elders at Ephesus as he confirmed and strengthened them
for his absence. Toward God. This repentance toward
God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. One wrote on this
verse, the two together. constitute the whole practical
religion and evangelical instruction. To repent before God, to have
another mind, a change of life and a change of heart, the life
all together turned about. We remember that even repentance
is not in the ability of the wayward sinner, but that the
goodness of God leadeth one to repentance. Romans 2 and verse
4. That it was God who granted repentance
unto the Gentile in Acts chapter 11 and 18, and it's called repentance
unto life. And Paul tells Timothy, 2 Timothy
2 and verse 25, it is preaching to others to meekly instruct
the ones who oppose themselves if perventure God will grant
them repentance unto the acknowledging of the truth. Also, Paul preached
faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ, to believe in Christ, to trust
in him, to view him as the object of faith and trust. So let's
recall the words of the Lord again in John chapter 14 and
verse 1. You believe in God, believe also
in me. Now these together are the dual
objects of faith and of trust. And they cannot be separated.
God the Father who sent, and Jesus Christ the Son who came. One cannot have the Father and
exclude the Son. We need to get that. One cannot
have the Father. One cannot come to the Father
to the exclusion of the Son. One might first think of God
and of coming to Him. And this would be our natural
tendency and first inclination, like the prodigal. I will arise
and go to my father and make a confession unto him. But this
coming to God the Father, remember, requires a mediator. It requires a middleman. It requires
one to mediate and to reconcile one unto God. This requires a
mediator to appease the offended sovereign and to placate his
wrath against the transgression of the law, so that when any
sinner would come to God, they must come through the Lord Jesus
Christ. 1 Peter chapter 3 verse 18, Christ
suffered for sin that he might bring us unto God. That Christ
has done what is needed in order to bring sinners unto God implies
that they are and were, by nature alienated and like the prodigal,
far off. estranged at enmity with God,
separated from God by sin. So, the Father, when he means
to save a soul, directs that soul to the Lord Jesus Christ. Again, he said, God puts an instinct
into that soul to go to Christ, unquote. Faith is given. It is
by to create there the faith of
God's elect. And it can have only one first
and proper object, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. Faith,
true faith, As I like to say, we'll spy out Christ in a room
full of fakes and impostors. That faith being the faith of
God's elect, it both sees and hears him in the word of the
gospel. And being the faith of God's
elect, it responds to that. It finds truth. It finds affinity
with that great truth of God in the gospel. It is not content
to rest in works. Its conscience can never be at
peace in that manner. It is not content to rest itself
in a chosen church or a denomination. It is not even content to rest
itself in the doctrine of Christ, but in Christ himself, the literal
Son of God, and in his person and in his work. And faith does
not attempt to make a savior out of itself. If you listen
to people today, I think many have tried to do that. They've
tried to make their faith their savior. It does not put itself
in the place of the Lord Jesus Christ. I had some wonderful
thoughts from a man a long time ago named Bell from his treatise
called A View of the Covenant. and that because faith rests
upon Christ alone, he said, it excludes itself as a work in
the matter of justification. So that the sinner does not rest
upon his faith, For Christ is the only object of the faith
of God's elect. It is sometimes necessary to
mention this. Because of the many there are
in professing Christendom who have faith in their faith. They have faith in their faith,
the fact that they believe, the fact that they made a decision. And they rest upon their act
of faith rather than the object of faith, which is the Lord Jesus
Christ. And Bell said they would have
their act of faith to be their righteousness. They trust in
their trust. They believe in their believing,
they have faith in their faith, the words of Mr. Bell. And to
this Bell wrote again, thus Christ is bid to stand at a distance
while the sinner's own act of believing is bid to come near
in the case of justification." And that's really how a lot of
people look at it today, and particularly in Arminianism. So let's raise a question that
we might be able to ponder, hopefully for our edification. The question, whether Christ,
by his suffering and death, procured for all of the elect the grace
of faith. In other words, I'm asking, in
other words, is faith a fruit of the death and the purpose
of Almighty God or not? Did his death for them ensure
that all that he died for and shed his blood for will be brought
to believe or brought to the faith of God's elect. The question also might be phrased
another way, perhaps to better get a grasp of it, is faith,
the grace of faith, the fruit of the death of Christ, or must
we only trace it back to regeneration and no further? Or can we tie
it to election, the faith of God's elect? We believe, as did
the Puritan Owen, all the grace and all graces which are bestowed
upon the elect in time or eternity are two things. Number one, they
are purposed before the world began. Ephesians 1, 3 through
5. Romans chapter 8, 28 through
verse 30, whom he did foreknow, he also did foreordain and called
and justified. You remember that. But secondly,
they are made sure by and through the merit of the death of the
Lord Jesus Christ. So the Lord procured faith for
those that he died for, and he either did it in one or two ways
or degree. A, either he procured it conditionally
or he procured it absolutely for the elect. And if only conditionally,
then we would desire of such as hold this view What then is
the condition of faith? Do Arminians say, Christ died
for all upon the condition that they believe? What is this but
a condition, but that faith is the condition of faith? Faith
is a condition of faith by that view. Or as one put it, Christ
procured that they should believe upon condition that they believe.
How absurd is that? And so you understand why Mr. Bell made that point. The only
alternative to say that faith is strictly an act of a fallen
sinner or that the word of the gospel produces that faith in
an individual. Consider a verse in Philippians
1 and verse 29. For unto you it is given. in behalf of Christ, not only
to believe upon him, but to suffer. Now notice that. It is given
unto you in behalf of Christ to believe and then to suffer. Now we concentrate upon the first. It is given for Christ's sake
to you to believe on him. Now the word given. is powerful. It is a gracious grant. It is
a gracious bestowal by God, by His grace. It is something freely
given. It is given. It is a show of
kindness. It is a work of grace and of
mercy. So what then is given unto us
in this verse? And that is to believe. to have
faith, to believe upon Christ. And again, let's emphasize, it
is given in behalf of Christ. And the word behalf is the word
huper, which can mean over. It can also mean on behalf of. It can mean in regard to, in
regard unto Christ, on the part of. We connect that with Ephesians
4 and verse 32, that God has, for Christ's sake, forgiven you
your sin. Then there's that verse in Acts
13 and verse 48, that as many as were ordained to eternal life
believed. And the order is not reversed. It is not as many as believed
were ordained to eternal life, but as many as were ordained
to eternal life believed. Hebrews 12 and 2 calls Jesus
the author and finisher of faith. That's pretty hard for me to
understand and define, but the author and finisher of faith. And the word author there in
that verse in Hebrews 13 and 2 is not the same word as in
Hebrews 5 and 9, where Christ is become the author of eternal
salvation, the causer of it, if you will. Now the word in
Hebrews 12 and 2 three more times in the New Testament. Is it in
Acts 315, 531? It is translated Prince. In Hebrews
2 and 10, the word is translated Captain. The Captain of of our
salvation. Some call him the file leader,
is how they might translate it out of the Greek. The author,
one who goes before, who leads the way, who conducts us into
the way or unto the end, and who follow. So let's notice something
then about Hebrews 12, 1 and 2. First, the context and the
flow of thought. The author has given us In chapter
11, how faith is the substance, that is, the reality of the things
hoped for, the evidence of things not seen, and he's done that
by many manifold examples in chapter 11. And he said in chapter
12 and 1 of Hebrews, he likens the believer to one running a
race in the games. That before a great bank of spectators
or witnesses that are there. And I believe the witnesses are
those in Hebrews chapter 11. But in verse 2, he directs our
eyes to the one who is the supreme model of faith and obedience,
who is not only the perfect model, but also is the perfect example
and object of the believer's faith. And of course, I speak
as does he of the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Why, in so many
things, In so many things, our blessed Lord believed the Father,
and He trusted the Father, and He obeyed the Father. Yes, vicariously too, but the
author in chapter 11 of Hebrews, recalls the experience of those
men and of those women of like passions as we are, who by faith
did great and wonderful things under the old economy. While
in Hebrews 12 and verse 2 would have us set our eyes on the author
and the finisher of faith, the Lord Jesus Christ, the very Son
of God, the Word who has been made flesh. Now, I ask you, is
he not the sum and the substance of the object of the saint's
faith, as was the author, preserver, and finisher of faith? Did he
not pray for the Apostle Peter that his faith might not fail
him. We find that in Luke 23 and 32.
And in John chapter 17 and verse 20. He prays for those who would
believe in him later through the apostles' words and preaching. He prays both for converting
faith and persevering faith in the elect, who are kept by the
power of God through faith unto salvation in the last day. 1 Peter 1 and verse 5. Now there could be the question,
good when dealt with it, whether Christ exercised faith in God
both for himself and for his people, and as every grace flows
to the elect, through him, whether it be the same with justifying
faith, for Christ trusted that he would live again when he was
dead and in the grave. Psalm 16 and Acts chapter 2,
24 through 28. And he was raised again for our
justification after dying for our sin, Romans 4 and verse 25. But that is a subject for another
time, too far for us to get in today. For now, let's end up
where we began, and that is in Matthew chapter 16, verse 13
through 17. And again, the confession of
Simon Peter. As they the longer accompanied
with the Lord, as they were with him and were taught and learned
from him, opposition grew stronger and stronger against our Lord,
not weaker and weaker, and the Lord drew ever nearer unto his
death upon the cross. As that time was fast approaching
when these words were said, then our Lord, if I may use the expression,
would test their soundness. He would test their soundness
regarding himself and what they believed and what they thought
of him. First of all, he asked them,
who do men say that I am? Now, in spite of what others
are saying, tell me, who do you say that I am? Who do you take
me to be? Not what they say about others,
what others say, but what do you say about me? For though Cephas answered the
Lord, he had put the question to all of the disciples and not
Peter personally. Peter answered for them all.
He did it again in John chapter 6 and verse 68 and 69. We, he
said, we. We, your followers and apostles,
we, you, are the Christ, the Son of the living God. For faith, the faith of God's
elect, saving faith, true faith, holds Christ in the highest value
and the highest esteem, the Anointed One, the Son of God, the Son
of God Most High. Saving faith never looks on Christ
as just a man, just a good man, or just a good teacher, or just
a martyr. Saving faith always rises to
the top. Thou art the Christ, the Son
of the living God. Now, how did the apostles arrive
at this persuasion? How did they come to believe
this? How did they know this? Well,
the answer is by revelation. not by, not from, or through
flesh and blood, by the Father and from the Father in heaven. The first cause of faith is divine
revelation, and revelation of the knowledge as it is in Jesus
Christ. What inadequate, sorry views
so many have today of Christ. You ever hear anybody call Christ
a good old boy? Blasphemy. You ever hear anybody
refer to Christ as a philosopher? As an example, a teacher, a revolutionary,
a self-reformer, a social reformer. That's how many look at our Lord
today, and that is not a proper view of the Lord Jesus Christ. To the elect, he is none other
and less than the Son of God. the God-man, God and man in one
person, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, I'll close with this. Remember,
As unbelief is a mother sin, and unbelief gives birth to many
sin, so grace and faith are master graces, and they're the leading
graces, and they lead us in the things and the worship of God
Almighty. We believe that He is the Son
of the Living God. We believe that he hath the words
of everlasting life. None else do. And we believe
in him as the Savior, the only Savior, like Abraham, who believed
God, and it was imputed to him for righteousness. Genesis 15.6
and Romans chapter 4. We believe and are sure, Simon
Peter said, that thou art the Christ, the Son of the living
God.