Good evening. Let's all stand
together. We'll sing hymn number 176. 176 Lord, to me, to me. As Thou didst bless the bread
of Galilee, Then shall all bondage cease, me me ? For Thou art God ? ? O send Thy Spirit, Lord, now
unto me ? ? That He may touch my eyes and make me see ? Be seated, we'll sing hymn number
355. 355. From every stormy wind that blows,
from every swelling tide of woes, there is a A true retreat is found beneath
the mercy seat. There is a place where Jesus
? Full of gladness ? ? All are
his ? ? They praise then all ? ? Besides more sweet ? ? It
is the blood bought mercy ? There is a scene where spirits
blend, where friend holds fellowship with friend, though sundered
far. A round one common mercy seed. A whither could we flee for aid? ? Tempting desolate display ? ?
For hell the host of hell defeat ? ? And suffering saints no mercy
give ? ? Of their uneagle wings we soar
? ? And sin and sin's foe is no more ? ? And heaven comes
down to earth again ? While glory crowns the mercy
seat. Good evening, let's all turn
together for our scripture reading to First Thessalonians, chapter five. But of the times and the seasons,
brethren, You have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves
know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief
in the night. For when they shall say peace
and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them as travail upon
a woman with child, and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren,
are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a
thief. You are all the children of light and the children of
the day. We are not of the night nor of
darkness. Therefore, let us not sleep as
do others, but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep,
sleep in the night, and they that be drunken are drunken in
the night. But let us who are of the day
be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love and for an
helmet, the hope of salvation. For God hath not appointed us
to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, who
died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live
together with him. Wherefore, comfort yourselves
together, and edify one another, even as also ye do. And we beseech
you, brethren, to know them which labor among you and are over
you in the Lord, and admonish you, and to esteem them very
highly in love for their work's sake, and be at peace among yourselves. Now we exhort you, brethren,
warn them that are unruly, comfort the feeble-minded, support the
weak, be patient toward all men, See that none render evil for
evil unto any man, but ever follow that which is good, both among
yourselves and to all men. Rejoice evermore, pray without
ceasing, in everything give thanks, for this is the will of God and
Christ Jesus concerning you. Quench not the spirit, despise
not prophesying, prove all things, hold fast that which is good,
abstain from all appearance of evil, and the very God of peace
sanctify you wholly. And I pray God your whole spirit
and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of
our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you
who also will do it. Brethren, pray for us. Greet
all the brethren with an holy kiss. I charge you by the Lord
that this epistle be read unto all the holy brethren. The grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen. Our kind and gracious and merciful
Heavenly Father, we come before you with gladness in our hearts
and bow before you. and we gladly bow, and we thank
you for the word that's been read. We ask you, Lord, to make it
effectual to our hearts. Apart from your spirit, the words
are just words on a page, but your spirit can give them life. your spirit
can open our eyes and our hearts and make them effectual. We ask
you, Lord, as we open your word in the service, as it's preached
tonight, that you'd send your spirit and cause the word to
speak to our hearts, cause your word to move us, to affect us,
to teach us and instruct us, cause your word to see Christ,
May we see him afresh tonight. Show us more of his beauty. Show
us more of his glory. We know we've seen such a small
part of Christ and his glory. Help us to honor him tonight. Help us to lift him up. Help us to believe him and trust
him. Thankful for the salvation that we have in him that is an
eternal salvation, eternal redemption. All that's around us is fleeting,
fading, dying and decaying. But our salvation, our home,
our eternal home is secure in Christ Jesus, our Lord, who's
seated at thy right hand. Our forerunner who has entered
and prepares a place for us eternal in the heavens. and we're so
thankful that we can be at peace in this world of sin, this world
of decay, this world that's fading and fleeting, that we have that
eternal place at your blessed feet. Thank you for the gospel
that's preached here. Continue to maintain it, sustain
it, give us Ability and there's a desire
to come and support the work. And come and hear the word preached.
Save the lost sheep. In our midst, our children, our
grandchildren that don't yet know you. Lord, ask that you'd
go and visit them and their. Seeing in their. Unbelief. Cause him to see their need of
Christ. Help us to honor you in this service tonight. Be with
our pastor as he leads us. Help us as we open our Bibles
and follow along and listen. Give us grace to worship. Thank you for the
grace you've given us and ask you for continued grace in this
hour. And as we leave this place, may
your grace go with us. Oh, how we need your grace and
your mercy, your guidance, your keeping power. Thank you once
again for this gathering of thy people, for this time of worship.
Honor thyself in Christ's dear name. Amen. In page, on page 30 in our course
books, we'll sing Living by Faith. Page 30 in the course books. and all of my safe from all harm. It is sheltering
on. I'm laying my faith in Vilna
alone. Though tempest may is in his ? He's sheltering me ? He's sheltering
me ? I'm living by faith ? I'm living by faith ? And He'll know
alone ? He'll know alone ? I know that He safely will carry
me through ? No matter what evils be done to remain. Safe from all harm, with a sheltering
arm, I'm landing back there. Hebrews 12, Hebrews chapter 12. I preached recently on Christ
our atonement. Tonight I'm going to preach the
author and finisher of our faith, and God willing, I'll deal with
him as our ark, as our altar, and our advocate. And then I'll
see if I can start on the B's. I know two right off the top
of my head where he starts with B. A brother, a brother and a branch. And I'll tell you, I know they're
A, alpha and omega. I just want to say, you know,
how in the world we go, you know, you just, you open the scriptures
and there's the Lord Jesus Christ. But the first two verses here
in Hebrews 12, "...Wherefore, seeing we also are encompassed
about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every
weight, and the sin which doeth so easily beset us, and let us
run with patience the race that is set before us." looking unto
Jesus the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy
that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame,
and is set down on the right hand of the throne of God." The
author and finisher of our faith. The Lord Jesus Christ truly,
truly is all in all to his people. Christ is all in all. He is precious. Peter said, He is precious to
them who believe. And I know He's precious. He
is so precious. I mean, what would we do without
Him? How could we live without Him? I just can't imagine life
without Christ now. Can you? Can't do it. Just can't. But here He is called the Author
of our faith. And I tell you what, Bill, now
we see the author of our faith, he's the one who gives us faith.
Not only does he give us faith, but he FINISHES our faith. And
this word, author, is found three times in the New Testament, and
every one of them relates to the Lord Jesus Christ and an
office He has. Three times. In Acts chapter
5, He's called the Prince of Life, and that means the Author
of Life. Now before you can be an AUTHOR
of life, you have to have LIFE in yourself. You have to have
LIFE. You can't be an AUTHOR of life
in anybody else if you don't possess it in yourself. So then
also He's called a PRINCE and a SAVIOR. The AUTHOR, an AUTHOR
and a SAVIOR. The AUTHOR. And then when He's
called the CAPTAIN of our SALVATION, He's the AUTHOR. AUTHOR. And
that means the one who BEGINS, the one who ORIGINATES with.
And that's what he's talking about. Our salvation originates
with Christ. He's the author of our life.
He's the author as our Savior, and here he's called the author
and finisher of our faith. Now, faith has two meanings,
two meanings in the scriptures. First of all, faith means believing. Our Lord said, He that believeth
on me. SHALL HAVE EVERLASTING LIFE.
HE THAT COMETH TO ME MUST BELIEVE THAT HE IS. SO IT'S BELIEVING. IT'S BELIEVING. AND WE CALL OURSELVES
BELIEVERS. AND THEN SECOND THING ABOUT FAITH
IS WHAT IS BELIEVED. NOW, JUST BELIEVING, YOU KNOW,
I BELIEVE THE EARTH IS ROUND. THERE'S PEOPLE THAT BELIEVE IT'S
FLAT. I believe that God created the
world by a world, and then there's people who believe in evolution.
So there's a lot of people who believe a lot of things, but
when we're talking about believing, we're talking about believing
on Christ, talking about our Lord Jesus, He comes and we believe
on Him, and I believe, and that's why that one man said, Lord,
I believe! You know I believe! I DO believe! But help thou my unbelief. And I think that scripture says,
let us lay aside the weight which the sin which so easily besets
us. I think that the sin that so
easily besets us is unbelief. We get in trouble, we get careless,
we get cold, and we get indifferent. And an unbelief is an horrible
thing. And yet we come and say, Lord,
I believe. You know I believe. Oh God, help
my unbelief. And I tell you then, not only
believing, but what IS believed. Our Lord Jesus Christ enables
us to believe, and then He turns around and teaches us what we
ARE to believe. And what it is, is He gives us
what we are to believe. Like our priest this morning,
you know, about the Holy Ghost. He shall take the things of Christ,
AND HE SHALL SHOW THEM UNTO YOU. HE'LL TAKE MINE AND SHOW THEM
UNTO YOU. AND THAT'S WHAT FAITH DOES. FAITH
BELIEVES AND THEN IT BELIEVES IT HAS SOMETHING. YOU KNOW PEOPLE
SAY WHAT'S YOUR FAITH? METHODIST, PENTECOSTAL, BAPTIST. I READ A BUNCH OF ARTICLES HERE
RECENTLY YOU KNOW WHY? WHY BAPTIST? WHY BAPTIST? BIG
WHOLE BUNCH OF LOT OF STUFF ABOUT WHY BAPTIST. Well, why am I a
believer? And what is it that I believe?
What is it that I believe? And let's talk about Christ being
the author and finisher of our faith. And what does it mean
for Him to be the author and finisher of our faith? Well,
that means that He's the cause of it. HE'S THE CAUSE OF IT HE'S
THE ORIGINATOR OF IT HE'S THE ONLY ONE THAT CAN GIVE IT HE'S
THE ONLY ONE THAT'S GOT IT THAT HE CAN GIVE IT TO US NOW YOU
ALL KNOW EPHESIANS 2, 8 EVERYBODY KNOWS THAT FOR BY GRACE ARE YOU
SAVED THROUGH FAITH AND THAT FAITH IS NOT OF YOURSELF WHAT
IS IT? IT'S THE GIFT OF GOD IT'S NOT OF WORKS BUT OF HIM Him that
giveth to us, not of works, lest any man should glory." So that
FAITH He s talking about, God gave it to us, Christ gave it
to us, He s the AUTHOR of our faith. If we didn t have Christ,
we wouldn t have nothing to believe. What would we believe? And I
tell you, a man has They say man has a nature, he's got a
nature that he can believe any time he wants to, but man has
not the nature of the power to believe. He does not have a nature
and the power to believe. Now what in the world, and you
know, our Lord Jesus Christ, when we talk about the author
of our faith, now let me tell you something, when He died and
when He shed His blood, He purchased some gifts for all of His people. He bought for us. He bought faith
for us. Faith has to be perfect. We don't
have perfect faith, but He does. That's why Paul said, I'm crucified
with Christ, yet I live. Yet the life I now live, I live
by what? The faith of the Son of God.
That's what he's talking about here. He purchased faith for
us. Then he gives us gifts. He's
the author of everything we have. He gave us eternal life. He gave
us repentance. He gave us faith. And if he had
brought heaven for us, shed his blood for us, established righteousness
for us, what good would it do without faith? What good would
it do without Him enabling us to believe? And that's why freewillism
is such a heresy to think that men can be TALKED into believing,
and they by nature got it, and they got to EXERCISE it, when
everything TELLS us that it's a gift, and we don't have it
by nature! I didn't have FAITH! I know when
I didn't have it, now I know I got it. It's like being dead
in sin, it's dead, and then you know when you're alive, when
it gives you life. And oh, that's why free will
is just awful, it's just awful. And I'll tell you, man by nature cannot look to
Christ for faith and look without faith, and I'll tell you what,
the only place you can get faith is Christ to be the author of
it. And I'll tell you something else about it. It's a work of
power. You know, it's a work of power.
It's an absolute miracle. It's a work of power for a sinner
to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. It's a work of power
for God to give a man faith, for Christ to give a man faith.
Now, I want you to see that over here in Ephesians 1. I mean,
it takes power. Oh, it takes power. IT TAKES A POWER, AND OUR LORD
SHOWS US WHAT KIND OF POWER IT IS. MOST PEOPLE WHEN THEY BECOME
A BELIEVER, YOU KNOW LIKE I SAID THIS MORNING, YOU SAY, HOW IN
THE WORLD COULD I EVER BELIEVE ANYTHING ELSE? ONCE GOD GIVES
YOU FAITH AND OPENS YOUR UNDERSTANDING AND YOU SEE THE THINGS. LOOK
WHAT HE SAID HERE IN VERSE 18, EPHESIANS 1-18, the eyes of your understanding
being enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of the
calling of Christ, and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance
in the saints." Now, listen to this, "...and what is the exceeding
greatness of His power toward us," listen to this, "...who
believe," how did we believe? "...according to the working
of His mighty power." The same power that raised Christ from
the dead is the power that it takes to give us faith. I mean, it takes power to give
us faith. It takes power to give it to
us. And I want you to see over here
in Colossians, right on past Ephesians, go right over to your
right to Colossians, and look over here in Colossians chapter
2. And look in verse 10 with me.
And you are complete in Him, which is the head of all principalities
and powers. And in Christ you are circumcised
with a circumcision, cleansed without hands. And what circumcision
do we have? The putting off of the body of
sins of the flesh by the cleanliness circumcision of Christ. Now listen,
buried with Him in baptism, we're in all, and that's that baptism
of the Holy Spirit, again, wherein also we are risen with him through
the faith," and listen to this, "...of the operation of God."
God operates on us to give us faith, operates on our mind,
operates on our hearts, operates on our understanding, operates
on our will, operates on our emotions, our affections. He
has to operate on US, and it's an operation. And God said, I'm
gonna perform an act for these people. I'm gonna change their
minds. I'm gonna change their wheels.
I'm gonna change their natures. I'm gonna change their affections. I'm gonna change their emotions.
I'm gonna change their understanding. And that's what he does. He does
it. And to work means to be active,
to active. And then not only is he the author
of our faith and the cause of our faith, I said the cause of
it, But now he's the author of it. Now what? He's the cause
of it. He gives it to us. He has to
give it to us. It's an operation. It's a gift. It's not natural
to us. But when he talks about the author
of our faith, he is saving faith's object. That's what he is. How
can you tell whether your faith is real or not? Do you look to
Christ and Him alone? Does your faith go outside yourself
and look to Christ, the object, Christ being the object of his
faith? Not only is he saving faith object, what we look at
and look to, but he's also his foundation. He's the foundation
of our faith. And that's what he said over
here in Hebrews 12, who for the joy set before him, despised
the shame and endured the cross. He's the author of the means
of our faith. Now, what's the means that God
uses for our faith? Romans 10, 17 says this, faith
cometh, cometh. And how does it come? By hearing,
by hearing. And by hearing by the word of
God, the gospel from faith to faith, the gospel brings faith.
and it produces faith, and then it brings faith, and it produces
faith, and it brings faith, and it produces faith. You know, that's the thing about
it. Faith, every time we hear the gospel, every time we understand
the gospel, every time God does something for us, Christ said
before, faith says yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. I agree with that,
I believe that. And oh my, he sends the Holy
Ghost, he sends the word with power, And it's called the seed. When he sends the Holy Ghost
with power, it's called the seed. And a seed, the word priest,
a seed. Let me say something about that.
A seed don't come up immediately when it's first sown. You ever
notice, put a seed in the ground or a seed in the pot or something
like that, and it come up just like that? It takes a while for
it to sprout. It takes a while for it to come. And that's what the gospel does,
and that's what this faith does. God comes along, and by the gospel,
and by the word, and because He's the author of our faith,
He sows a seed. He sows a seed in a person's
heart and understanding, and then when that faith comes, that
faith that Christ gives, that faith that comes as a gift of
God and Christ being the author, that faith will all of a sudden
spring up and you'll say, I BELIEVE! I BELIEVE! I DO BELIEVE! I BELIEVE! I DO BELIEVE! And
that's why, that's why looking unto Jesus, and you can't look
unto Christ without faith. You can't do it. And He gives
us faith to look to Him, and He's called about, endured the
cross. He gives us faith to look upon
Him as the crucified one. As the one who died. The one
who on a cross, the one who bore our sins in his own body on that
tree. Oh, the blessed son of God, he
despised that shame. That's why he said, Father, if
it'd be possible, let this cup pass from me. If it'd be possible,
oh God. Oh Father, please let this thing
pass from me. But nevertheless, not my will,
but thine be done. Despising the shame that was
coming upon him. But oh my, he went to that cross. And why was he crucified? Why
was he crucified? I was telling somebody this week,
I said, you can ask a lawyer. And you talk to him about law
and justice. Law and justice. You know, and
everybody, you see all these things that people say when somebody
gets murdered or somebody gets killed, they say, I want justice
for the person. I want justice for my family.
I want justice. And so they got somebody out
here and then the law says they guilty and justice says they
got to pay the penalty of breaking that law. And folks are not satisfied
until their loved one gets some justice. And that's the way it is with
Christ. Christ was crucified because God's JUSTICE, because
we were offenders, offenders of God. God's JUSTICE said, I
MUST have justice! I MUST have justice for all the
sins and offense that you've GIVEN me on your lifetime! I've
GOT to have justice! And the Holy Ghost comes and
prosecutes us and convicts us and convinces us. And that's
why Christ was crucified. Justice said, I will, I got to
have justice. Christ said, I'll give it to
you. I'll give it to you. I'LL SERVE
THE PENALTY, I'LL SERVE THE PENALTY OF YOUR BROKEN LAW, I'LL SERVE
THE PENALTY OF YOUR PEOPLE'S SIN, I'LL GO UNTO DEATH BECAUSE
OF WHAT YOUR PEOPLE DID. And that's what He did. And now
God, through Christ, and then Christ gives us the faith, gives
us the faith to believe on Him and what He did, And he satisfied
justice, he fulfilled the law, he died, and he rose again, and
beloved, that's why we, he gives us the faith. You know, we wouldn't
even know about his crucifixion, what accomplished on his death,
had he not gave us that, and taught us that, and gave us the
faith to believe it. Everybody, you know, believes
something about Christ being crucified, but it also says here
He endured the cross, and now He's sat down at the right hand
of the throne of God. He's the Risen One, Exalted One,
Reigning One, and the Coming One. That's why He's the author
of our faith. Oh, where did you get your faith? Where'd it come from? You know if you could go to the
drugstore and buy it Most folks would try to anyway
But here's the most mysterious thing That we cannot believe
on Christ until he gives us faith itself He gives us the faith
to believe on him He gives us everything we need. And I tell
you, like I said, you've got to have a perfect faith. Where
in the world are we going to get a perfect faith? Your faith is
not perfect right now, and mine's not. Mine's not, and yours not. Well, where in the world are
we going to get it? God said everything that He asked, it has to be perfect.
Who are we going to get perfect faith at? Christ. His is perfect. THAT'S WHY WE
LOOK TO HIM AND NEVER LOOK TO OURSELVES. THAT'S WHY WE LOOK
OUTSIDE OURSELVES AND LOOK TO HIM. AND HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS, OH
MY, HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS IS THE OBJECT, NOT ONLY IS HE THE OBJECT
OF OUR FAITH AND THE FOUNDATION OF OUR FAITH, BUT HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS
IS OUR JUSTIFYING FAITH, IS THE OBJECT OF OUR JUSTIFYING FAITH.
AND I'VE DONE QUOTED THAT VERSE OF SCRIPTURE. YOU KNOW IT SAYS
THAT Paul said, I'm crucified with Christ, I died with Christ,
yet I'm living. But the life I'm now living,
I'm living by the faith, the faith of the Son of God who loved
me and gave himself for me. The life that I'm now living
in the flesh, I live by his justifying faith. We sang that old song
out, there is no other, all other ground is sink and sin. There's
only one righteousness, one righteousness. And our faith, He gave us the
faith that we look to Him as our justification. And we have
no justification before God. You know, men are so prone to
justify themselves and their actions. But oh my, to be justified
before God. For God to look at us and say,
listen, I find no fault. There's nothing wrong with them.
They haven't done anything. They don't have any sin. All
they've got is a righteousness. All they've got is an obedience.
Oh, that's justifying faith. And this justifying faith enables
us to stand justified before the holiness and righteousness
of God. We stand right now because of
Christ and the faith he give us. He's the object of our faith
that justifies us. It says in Romans 4.25, He was
delivered, given up for our offenses, for our sins, but He is raised
again. For what? For our justification. What's our justification? What's
our justification to be able to approach God? What's our justification
that we have no sin? What's our justification that
we have faith? What's our justification that
we believe the God? What is our justification to
call on God and look to God? What is it? Christ. Christ. He justified us. He justified
us. There's two ways that God appointed
for a people to have life. Two ways God appointed for people
to have what? To have, attain life. Two ways. Works, do and live. Do and live. Do and live. And the second way that he's
appointed is faith. Huh? Faith. and where He gives JUSTIFYING
FAITH, SAVING JUSTIFYING FAITH, He takes a man, and listen to
me now, He takes a man and He TURNS him from TRUSTING IN HIMSELF
in ANY WAY, from LOOKING TO, THINKING OF, BELIEVING, and WORKS
IN ANY WAY WHATSOEVER as a CONTRIBUTION to His salvation. I MEAN WHEN GOD GIVES US JUSTIFYING
FAITH, WE REFUSE, WE REFUSE TO BRING ANYTHING OTHER THAN CHRIST. OH MY, AND I KNOW THIS, WHAT
I'M SAYING IS LIKE THE APOSTLE PAUL, HE WAS RAISED UNDER GAMALEL,
HE WAS A PHARISEE OF PHARISEES HE SAID. He was the strictest
religion, had a zeal like nobody else did. But when God saved
him, when God smote him down, and God taught him God's, and
revealed Christ to him, you know what he said? He said, I count
everything but done. Everything, the righteousness
I had, you know what it is? It's filthy rags. You know what
it is? It's junk. You know what it is? It's rotten.
You know what it is? It's corrupt. And that's what
God does when He gives us justifying faith. We say everything that
we ever believed, everything we ever done, and we WILL NOT,
we WILL NOT by God's grace bring ANYTHING to God Almighty but
Christ Himself. That's how justifying faith is.
Huh? Oh my, look, we never look or
think or believe in any works as contributing to our faith
or our salvation. And if it was work, look in Galatians
2. Look in Galatians 2. Let's look together in Galatians
2. Look down here in verse 21. If salvation were of works, and
that's what most folks think, work means God said, do this
and live. Do this and live. And if it was
work, if that was works, there'd be absolutely no need of Christ.
I don't know how many times I've told people that. When they talk
about their works, I say, well then, if you're trusting in yourself,
there's no, Christ is dead in vain. And that's what he says
here in verse 21 in Galatians 2. I do not frustrate the grace
of God. I don't make it something that's
useless, aggravating, frustrating, has no meaning to it, has no
power to it. For if righteousness come by
law, by works, you know what? There is no reason in the world
for Jesus Christ to die. Ain't that right? Next time somebody
starts talking about their self-righteousness and their works and how faithful
they are to where they go and all their obedience and all that,
and you know, and I've got to live right, got to do this right,
that right, and everything else right. Well, I'll tell you next
time they say that, you'd go Galatians 2.21 and say, if you're
saved by what you do, then why in the world was Jesus Christ
crucified? What was the purpose in the death
of Christ? If Christ didn't save us and Christ didn't justify
us, if Christ didn't give us faith, if Christ didn't give
us repentance by His death, if He didn't give us everything
we needed, then beloved, He died in vain. And I tell you, we're
not going to frustrate. We're not going to make the grace
of God void. We're not going to no, no, no,
10,000 times no. And that's the first thing folks
want to know. What do you all believe about
salvation? What do you believe about works?
I believe in ONE WORK, ONE WORK, ONE MAN'S WORK, and that's the
work that the Lord Jesus Christ did. Huh? I ain't never done
a... As old Scott Richardson said,
it ain't worth spitting on the ground for. We ain't got nothing, ain't never
had nothing and we never will have nothing if we ain't got
Christ. But if we got Him, we got everything that God wills
for us to have and purposes for us to have. And He has to give
us faith to believe Him. He has to give us faith to trust
Him. He has to give us faith to see
Him on the cross. He has to give us faith to believe
that He actually bore our sins in His own body. He has to give
us that faith. We wouldn't believe on it if
he didn't give it to us. And then, oh my, look here at Galatians
3 again. Let me show you this in Galatians
3. I done left it, but I'm going to go back over there. Look again
in Galatians 3. I don't know why I turned away
from it. I got something else here I want to show you. There
had been no need of Christ if our salvation is by works, if
salvation is by law. And you know these people have
these reformed faith. Man, I don't need reforming,
I need regeneration. Can you imagine reforming yourself?
Oh boy. I don't need reforming, I need
regenerated. What would I reform? The thing
I know about reform is reform school, and it's just a wonder
I didn't end up there. I brought Don Fortner, son, to
that one time. The only place I haven't been anywhere before
would have been reform school, and that's the only reformation
I know anything about. But look what he said here in
Galatians 3.21. Oh, talking about works or faith,
and he gives us saving, justifying faith. And it says, Is the law
then against the promises of God? Is God's law and all His
Word and all the commandments, is all that against the promises
of God? God forbid! If there had been
a law, if there had been something in God's Word back under the
law and all the ceremonies and rituals, there had been a law
given which could have given LIFE then righteousness would
have been by that law. But, you know what he says? The scripture hath concluded
all under sin. That's where we are. That the
promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.
Given faith, and you believe. Oh, but listen, before faith
came, We were kept, kept under that law, kept under our own
works, and we were shut up under the faith. Listen to this now. We're shut afterwards. Watch
this happen now. Be revealed. It got to be revealed
to you. Huh? Oh, my. Got to be revealed
to you. Oh, my. Ain't you grateful? It's
a revelation. God revealed it to us. Oh my,
then let me give you this, not only is the cause of our faith
and the author of our faith, but it says here is the finisher
of our faith. You know what finisher means?
It means to bring an end to, it means to perfect, it means
to complete. You reckon our faith will stop? Oh, there's gonna be an end to
it one of these days. 1 Peter 1, let me show you this. I think it's 1 Peter 1. I believe
that's where it's at. Yeah, this is where it's
at, yeah. You know, he's the finisher of
our faith. That means he's gonna sustain it. He's gonna maintain
it. He's gonna strengthen it. He's
gonna bring an end to it. He's gonna complete it. He's
gonna perfect it. And that's why He said, you know,
there in Hebrews 12, look at this GREAT CLOUD OF WITNESSES,
and it says these all died, what? IN FAITH! Christ brought an end
to THEIR FAITH, they DIED IN THAT FAITH! But look what He
said here, I think it's verse 7, that the trial of your faith,
being much more precious than the gold that perishes, Oh, it's
more precious than any gold. Though it be tried with fire,
might be found under praise and honor and glory under the appearing
of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen, you love, and whom though you
see him not now, listen to this, yet believing, you rejoice in
him, with joy unspeakable and full of glory." Now listen to
this, receiving the end of it. There's gonna be a time our faith
will not be needed. Receiving the end of your faith,
and that's when our souls enter into glory. Huh? That's the same
thing he says over here in Hebrews. Let's go back over to Hebrews
a minute. Oh my, such a great cloud of
witnesses. Such a great cloud of witnesses.
He's talking about Jacob and Abraham Enoch and David and all
of those who, they died in faith. But oh my, these are witnesses
faithful of the keeping power of the Lord. Those folks didn't
have the promises we got. Those folks didn't have the word
we've got. They didn't have the light we have. But they was looking
to the promise and they died looking to that promise. And
I'll tell you, look what He says here. Oh, these folks believed
in the keeping power of the Lord. Look in Hebrews 10.38. Oh, He's going to sustain it. He's
going to finish this faith. You know, He which hath begun
a good work in you, what does it say? He's going to perform
it. He's going to perform it. He says in Hebrews 10.38, The just shall live by faith. That's how people that's justified
do, they live by faith. But if any draw back, draw back. Not need Christ anymore. Not
justified, don't need faith anymore. My soul shall have no pleasure
in him. But oh, listen to what he says.
But we are not of them who draw back unto damnation. but of them
that believe, believe to the saving of the soul. We believe
till our soul gets into glory. You know, we don't know what
shape we're going to get in before we leave here. You may go into
a coma, you may have a stroke, you may be brought to a place
where you can't think, you don't believe, you can't do anything.
Well, how in the world are you sure that your faith is going
to result in you entering glory because he's the finisher of
it, not you, not me. I've seen folks in comas. I mean,
folks, folks go to where they don't know they're in this world,
but they were believers before they got there. Your daddy got
there and they're believers before
they get there. and they ain't got the, they can't believe now,
they can't even talk, they can't think, they can't move, they
can't do anything, they can't do anything now. But their faith
didn't start with themselves, and their faith ain't gonna end
with themselves. Christ's the author of it, and
he's gonna be the one to see it through all the way to the
end. You talking about a blessed hope, huh? I sometimes, I told
him back there, I said, I got up three or four times last night,
and you said, are you nervous? Are you nervous? I told him,
I said, I got up three or four times trying to think. I've got
to get up to get something, but I can't think of what you're
supposed to get. And finally it dawned on me what I was going
to get. So I did finally get up. But I got up and down trying
to think, what, what, what. Now that's where your brain gets.
What if it gets where you don't even know you're in the room?
But I tell you what, that ain't gonna stop our salvation. You
know why? Because Christ started it. He's
the author of it. And He's gonna see the end of
it. He said, I give unto them eternal life, and they shall
never perish. You know, and He gives us Himself. And when He gives us faith, then
He's gonna sustain that faith. He's gonna maintain that faith.
He's gonna keep that faith. He's gonna keep us believing.
There's three things, three things I'll give you. First and foremost
is, he said, I give unto them eternal life and they shall know,
no man shall ever pluck them out of my hand. That's the first
thing that he tells us that our faith is secure and our salvation
is secure. No man is gonna pluck them out
of my hand, nobody. And the second reason is, he
says, I'll never leave you And I'll never, no never, no never,
no never, no never forsake you. That's a good one, ain't it? And the third one is, he prays
for us. Simon Peter, Satan sought to
sift you as wheat, but I prayed for you. I prayed for you. How many times has Satan sought
to sift us and Christ prayed for us? some danger, some obstacle
in our way, I prayed for you. And oh, Thomas, he said, oh,
them fellas said, we've seen Christ, we've seen Christ. Thomas
said, I'm not gonna believe, I'm just not gonna believe. He
spent three years with Christ, said I'm not gonna believe until
I see. Our Lord stood before him and
said, look here, Thomas. And he fell down and said, my
Lord and my God. You know what our Lord said?
Blessed as he has seen and believes, but more blessed as he who hasn't
seen and yet he believes. And then I tell you what, he's
going to bring it to its end. Look in Jude, look in the book
of Jude. He's going to bring this thing
to an end. Oh, three things. He said, And then, you know,
I give eternal life and nobody's going to pluck them out of my
hand. And he said, I'll never leave
you and I'll never forsake you. I tell you something, you take
away Christ, you take away Christ. And faith dies. He's the author
of it and he's the finisher of it. And look what he said here
in Jude, verse 24. Jude verse 24, oh, what a verse
of scripture. Oh, what a powerful verse. Now
unto him, that's what he says, now unto him that is able to
keep you from falling. And not only keep you from falling,
to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with
exceeding joy. Not only is he able to keep us
from falling, but he's going to present us faultless. Like
we are right now, that's the way he's going to present us.
Oh, what a gospel, what a savior, what a blessed master we have. Our father, oh, our father. In the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ, thank you for being with us. Thank you for your gospel. And Lord, I do so enjoy speaking
of you and trying to say things about you and the things you've
done for us. Lord, we believe because you
gave us faith, and we'll continue to believe because you're the
finisher of our faith. And so, Lord, Keep us looking,
keep us believing, keep us cleaving to our blessed Savior. Never,
ever by your grace let us look to ourselves, have any confidence
in this flesh in any way, shape or form or fashion, but look
outside of ourselves to our blessed Lord Jesus Christ who loved us
and gave himself for us, washed us from our sins in his own blood.
God bless these dear saints. And Lord bless those that listen
tonight. May they be encouraged. And may you open hearts and open
understandings to trust the Lord Jesus Christ. We ask in his blessed
name. Amen. Amen. All right, 51 in
the hymn book. 51. We'll stand together and
we'll sing this and then you'll be at liberty to go. 51. This is what we do. This is what
we want to do. It's what we need to do. ? Praise the Savior, ye who know
him ? ? Who can tell how much we owe him ? ? Gladly let us
render to him all we are and have been ? Jesus is the name
that charms us He for conflict fits and arms us Nothing moves
and nothing harms us While we trust in Him ? Trust in him ye
saints forever ? He is faithful, changing never ? Neither force
nor God can sever ? Those he loves from him Keep us, Lord,
O keep us cleaving To Thyself and still believing Till the
hour of our receiving Promise joys with Thee ? Then we shall be where we would
be ? Then we shall be what we would be ? Things that are not
now never could be ? Soon shall be our own Good night and God
bless you, Lord will, and I'll see you Wednesday.