I've been preaching Bible doctrine
for quite some time and dealing with the work of the Holy Spirit.
And last week we talked about repentance, a week before last,
repentance. Where Paul told the Ephesians
elders when he was getting ready to leave, he said, I kept back
nothing that was profitable for you. I went from house to house.
publicly and from house to house, teaching and preaching repentance
toward God and faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ. And we talked
about what repentance is. Repentance is a change, and it's
a gift of God. Christ gives it. But it's a great,
great change, a radical change in your thinking, in your outlook,
in your regards toward God and yourself and the Bible and everything
in your whole life. But I want to talk about saving
faith tonight. We talked about repentance, repentance
toward God, faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ. And look what
our Lord said here, and let me start reading in verse 36. And
our Lord is talking about the testimonies that men had toward
Him, and some wouldn't believe Him, but He talked about the
witnesses that He had. But I have a greater witness
than that of John, for the worse which the Father hath given me
to finish, The same works that I do bear witness of me that
the Father hath sent me. And the Father himself which
hath sent me hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard
his voice at any time, nor seen his shape. And ye have not his
word abiding in you, for whom he hath sent him, him ye believe
not." He didn't say, believe on him. He said, him, you don't
take him at his word. You don't believe anything he
says. Now watch what he goes on to say. Search the scriptures,
for in them you think you have eternal life. You run to Moses,
you run to the law, you run to ceremonies, you run to the rituals.
And if you searched them, you'd find out that they are they which
testify of me. And you will not come to me that
you might have life. I receive not honor from men,
but I know you, I know you. that you have not the love of
God in you. 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." Now here's the question, and
this is an astounding question. How can you believe? How can
you believe? How can I believe? How can you
believe which receive honor one of another, and seeketh not that
honor that cometh from God on? How can you not believe? How can you not believe? And
he asked that question to people here who claimed to believe,
who claimed to have a relationship with God. But I want to talk
first and foremost, not only did I, Lord, ask them here, how
can you not believe? But he also, remember, he told
that centurion, when that centurion sent to come and heal his servant,
And the Lord started that way. He sent word to him. He says,
Master, don't come under. Don't trouble yourself. You just
send your word, and my servant will be healed. I know that.
Because I'm a man of authority. I say to a man, go, and he goes.
One time, come here, and he comes here. And our Lord Jesus said,
I've not found so great a faith, no, not in all of Israel, than
this man right here. He said, just send your word.
And here, it's our Lord who says, you believe, not me. So how can
you believe which receive honor one of another? Well, let me
make a few things about what saving faith is not. That's the
way I always deal with things. I'll tell you what it isn't before
I tell you what it is. Saving faith is not accepting and believing
some truths, some truths, then living as if those truths were
not at all so. And the old-timers called it
practical atheism, to claim to believe something and then not
act on that belief. Claimed to believe the Bible
and did not act on that belief. Claimed to believe Jesus is your
Savior and did not act on that belief. Claimed to believe that
you are a church member and did not act on that belief. And so
there's the truth. I'll give you a perfect illustration
of this. This has happened several times
here. Over the years, I know it's happened to other places.
There was a man who came here several years ago. And he had
heard about us, and he came out here for a couple services, and
oh, he was just overjoyed that he had found a place with a priest
of doctrine of grace, of five points of Calvinism. He was just
jumping up and down. And he'd come three or four times,
and finally he didn't come. And I called him and asked him
what his problem was. He says, well, my wife don't believe the
same thing I do. He said, I just don't want to
have trouble in the family. So that's what I'm saying. It's
not believing some truths and not acting on it. So not only
is he going to hell, and his wife's going to hell, but because
he preached, he said, I believe this, and then walked away from
it. He did not act upon that. He could not be a witness to
his wife. And then secondly, faith is not saving faith, or
faith is not natural to the natural man. And the natural man does
not have faith. He does not have faith. I know
that preachers and everybody believes and teaches that man
is born with faith, and all you have to do is just talk him into
exercising that faith, and he'll be all right. But, beloved, man
is not born with faith. You know, they say exercise his
faith every time he gets on an airplane or gets in an automobile,
faith that he's going to get to where he's going. That's not
true. You're going on mathematical odds. You've rode in that car
a thousand times, and you say, I'd ride another thousand times
and never have a wreck. That don't have nothing to do
with faith. Faith has to do with the relationship with God. And
that's why Paul told the Thessalonians, he says, I pray that I be delivered
from ungodly and wickedness, for all men, all men, have not
faith. And I'll tell you, beloved, Paul
said it this way, he says, they've not all obeyed the gospel. They
heard it, but they didn't all obey it. Why didn't they obey
it? Because he said, Isaiah said, you have believed our report.
Who's believed our preaching? They heard it, but they didn't
believe it. And John said that they went
out from us because they were not of us. No doubt. There's
no doubt about it. If they'd have been of us, they'd
have continued right with us. They'd have continued with us.
And the Bible is full of faith, the doctrine of faith, the truth
of faith. The Scriptures teach us we're
saved by faith. Our Lord told several, go thy
way, thy faith has made you whole. We're sanctified by faith. And
we walk by faith. And what is our victory that
overcometh the world? Even our faith. And where in
the world does faith come from? Well, look with me. I know you
know this, but you know, we quote it all the time, but look at
Ephesians 2. Where does faith come from? Who gives it? Where does it originate at? If
man's got it, why would God have to give it to him? If man was born with it, and
all he has to do is be convinced to exercise it, like you'd exercise
a muscle, then why in the world is salvation by grace, and why
is faith a gift if a man's already got it? I remember when I didn't have
it. I remember very well when I had it. That old funny saying
here in Ephesians 2.8. For by grace are you saved through
faith, through faith, and that not of yourselves. What's not
of yourselves? This salvation, for by grace
are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves. What
is this faith? What is this salvation? It's
the gift of God. It's not of worthless any man
should boast. You know, that's why the Lord
asks, how can you believe? How can you believe? Well, I'll
tell you, let me ask you another. So where do we get faith from
God? It's a gift of God. It's a gift of God. I mean, you're
set and you don't have it. You go through life and you don't
have it. God puts His life in your soul. Faith is a seed inside
you. Repentance is inside you. And
then when God calls you to Himself, that's when repentance and faith
both go into operation. When there's repentance, there's
going to be faith. When there's saving faith, there's going to
be repentance. And when a man starts that conversion, he starts
going toward God, and he starts crying out, Lord, I'm a sinner.
Oh, I'm a sinner. Lord, there's no hope for me.
Except what you do. And then he says, Lord Jesus,
save me! You're the only one who can do
anything for me. And so that's what saving faith is. But how
does it come to us? How does it come to operating
in us? How does it come to being in us? Well, look in Romans 10. Let me show you, if I can. Romans
10, 17. You know, this is one of the
things that just, you know, This is why it's so necessary
to bring people to hear the gospel, and this is why you who are believers
keep coming and hearing it, for this very reason right here. How does this faith
come to us? How does it come to us? Romans
10, 17 says this, So then faith comes by hearing,
and hearing by the word of God. Faith. You sit and you listen. And God gives a man life. He
listens. God gives him ears to hear. And as he hears, faith
comes with that hearing. Faith comes to that heart. Faith
comes to that understanding. Faith comes to that soul. And
faith is informed as some information with some knowledge. Not just
anything. I mean, it's told some things
that it must believe. There are some things that are
essential for a person to believe. And he hears those things. And
then he says, I believe it. And then once God gives him that
faith and it comes to him, he comes all the time to do one
thing. What? To keep having that faith.
That every time you hear the truth, faith in you responds
to that truth and says, yes, that's right. Yes, that's right. Yes, that's true. And if you
ain't got faith, you can't respond. Ain't that right? And that's
why we come. I sit and hear a preacher preach,
and I mean, oh, it does something for me that nothing else does
in this world. I got all kinds of tapes and
CDs and lots of preachers, but to sit and hear one preach and
take the Scriptures and preached to me from the Word of God, that
faith, and my heart responded, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. I believe
that, I believe that, I believe that. He says, oh, you wretched
worm of the earth. Oh, that's so, that's so. Thank
the Lord Jesus Christ, the only Savior of sinners. Oh, that means
that I'm a sinner, so He's my Savior. The Lord Jesus Christ
sits at the right hand of God, making intercession for me. Oh,
bless His holy name, somebody taking up my cause before God.
Ain't that right? Faith responds to that. And so,
and not only that, but Paul asked the Galatians this question.
He said, did faith come to you by the works of the law or by
the hearing of faith? How did you receive the Spirit
of God? How did you understand? Did you
hear it by acknowledging the law and trying to live by the
law? Or did you receive the Spirit
by hearing? Huh? Of course you received it
by hearing. And that's why Paul told Timothy,
preach the Word, preach the Word, instant in season. That means,
beloved, preach when everything's going well and out of season.
When things ain't going so well, you just keep preaching the Word.
And by His own will, by His own will, began He us with what?
The Word of Truth. Oh, that's how faith comes. That's
how it comes to us. God gives it to us, and that's
how it grows and grows and grows. Now, let me give you some things
about saving faith. That was the things I was trying
to tell you. First thing about saving faith, see if this illustrates
Romans 10.17 to your heart and your mind. With our saving faith,
the first thing that happens, the first thing that happens
when God brings that saving faith to your heart is a self-renunciation. You turn against yourself. You
renounce yourself. I know that in me, that is in
my flesh, dwells no good thing. Our Lord Jesus Christ said, except
a man deny himself, take up his cross and follow me, he can't
be my disciple. And that denying himself means
you deny you. You deny your rights. You deny
yourself righteousness, you deny your flesh, you deny everything
that you thought you was, you deny your own righteousness,
your works, your merits, you deny everything that you had
ever hoped and trusted in before, and you say, write death on yourself. Huh? Oh, my. You call all wretched men that
I am. And, oh, beloved, listen. You
know that, and that's what I mean. The first thing you say, oh,
my, how in the world? I heard a fellow tell another
day, and I could identify with him. He said, oh, I went to the
Lord, and he said, Lord, how in the world you can have anything
to do with me? I don't know. I just don't know. I'm the sorriest
person that's ever come into your presence. I ain't worth
it at all. And he said, I was just so broken.
And he says, but oh God, I know there's nothing to me. And if
you can, and if you will, would you have mercy on me? And I can
identify with that. You see, by repentance, a man
abhors himself. He sees his sin and he abhors
himself. By faith, he goes outside of
himself because he knows there's no hope for it in himself. in himself. He knows that his
own righteousness is as a filthy rag. So I tell you, renounce
yourself. And I say, once you start renouncing
yourself, you never stop. You never stop. Huh? Oh, and not always that
saving faith of self-renunciation. But secondly, saving faith brings
a person to a reliance. A reliance on what? On the Lord
Jesus Christ and Him alone. You see, saving faith, when it
goes outside of itself, it goes to one person. And saving faith
has one object, and that's the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why we talk about it.
You know, we preach a person. That's why the Lord says, you
believe Me not. You don't believe me. And so
when I hear what God says about His Son, and God brings the message
concerning His Son, and that message is that there's only
one Savior, only one appointed of God, only one anointed of
God, Only one sin of God, only one sin bearer, one substitute,
one sacrifice, one satisfaction to the justice of God. And oh,
you hear that and you believe that. You go outside yourself
and you keep going outside yourself to the Lord Jesus Christ. You've
talked about Him in the door. Oh, I just got to have Him. Huh? That's why Paul says, you know,
I count everything that I was, everything that I did, I count
it but done. Well, what are you going to do
now, Paul? I want to be with Christ. I want to be found in
Christ. I want to know Christ. And I
want to count me and everything I've ever done as nothing, nada,
done. And I want to know Him, I want
to win Him, and I want to be found in Him. And, beloved, that's
what, beloved, what Ms. Hall said, it's like when John
Claude asked that question, what's going to be the ground when you
face God of your acceptance with God? The same ground I've got
right now. The same ground I've got right
now, the Lord Jesus Christ. Huh? Oh, you see, believers,
they hear the promise given that he, whosoever cometh unto me,
I'll in no wise cast him out. He that believeth on me hath
not gonna get, hath this everlasting life. This is my beloved son, hear
him. And all faith believes that promise,
and faith rests upon that promise, which is the person of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Look with me over at 1 John chapter
5, just a moment. 1 John 5, 9, just a minute. Oh, saving faith. Saving faith. I was looking today, and I'd
say I've got 6 or 7 or 8 messages with the title, Saving Faith.
And every single one of them is different. I use Abraham for one? Oh, the centurion that said,
I've never found so great a faith? But all here in 1 John 5, 9,
here's what it says here. If we receive the witness of
men, now that's what you're doing right now. You're receiving the
witness of a man. A fellow asked me today, he said,
you've been a pastor up there since that building's been there?
I said, I've been a pastor 32 years. I said, well, he's down
in Vandiver. He said, I moved up here. I said, I don't know
how in the world they put up with it. 32 years must have. 32 years this month, as a matter
of fact, when we reorganized the church in 1979. Remember
when we organized it and tried to save and get all them, you
know, that was May of 1979, we reorganized the church. But anyway, if we receive the
witness of men, that's what you're doing. I'm receiving, you're
receiving my witness right now. I'm a man. Well, if you receive
mine, you know what? The witness of God is greater.
Can God lie? If you'd believe what I say,
surely you'd believe what God says. If you believe what I say,
surely if you receive mine, the witness of God is much, much,
much greater than any man's. For this is the witness of God.
which he hath testified of his son." Put God on the stand. What's
he going to say? He's going to testify about his
son. What's he going to say about his son? Well, here's what he's
going to say. He that believeth on the Son of God hath a witness
in himself. I've got the witness in my heart
that I have cast lots with the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. And he that believeth not God
hath made him alive. He didn't believe that witness.
because he believeth not the record that God gave of himself.
And this is the record that God hath given, not going to give,
hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
He that hath the Son hath hath life, and he that hath not the
Son of God hath not life. And, O beloved, we come to rely
on the Lord Jesus Christ for everything, not just You know,
it was faith. We justified by faith in His
blood, Paul said. Being justified freely by the
grace through the faith in His blood. We sing that old song,
Thy faith has found a resting place, not in divide, not in
greed, but in the ever-living One. And all that old hymn we
sang, ever since by faith I saw the stream, thy flowing moons
of light. Redeeming love has been my thing,
and it's going to be my thing till the day I die. And I tell you what, let me tell
you this quickly about saving faith. Saving faith not only
renounces itself, turns on itself. I got nothing. I got nothing
to give. What are you going to give to God? How can I give Him? What are you going to do for
God? What can I do? And then it's a reliance. You
throw yourself on Christ. You do like Paul, I know whom
I have believed. I'm persuaded. He's persuaded
me. You see, not only that, but saving
faith takes Christ for itself. Not only is it a reliance and
a renunciation, but every single individual in here tonight who
has saving faith, that God gave Satan faith, and faith has been
brought to them. Every single one of them takes
Christ for himself. I want Christ for me. To as many
as received him, to them, to them, gave he the power to become
the sons of God. You see? And this is always born
of need. And you know, if you go to the
doctor, any of y'all ever go to the doctor and they give you
a prescription? Do you take your prescription? Do you use it?
You know why? If you've got medicine and you
don't use it, it ain't no good. And there Christ, if He doesn't
become yours, what good is He to you? What good is His blood
if you don't take it for yourself? What good is His righteousness
if it don't become yours? What good is His power if it
don't save you? What good is faith if you don't
test Him lots with Christ? You've got to take it for yourself.
Huh? And oh, faith is the hand of
the soul that reaches out and takes from the hand of God. And
then saving faith, it's wrought in the heart, worked in the heart
by the Spirit of grace. Spirit of grace. Paul said this,
not only is it given you on the behalf of Christ to suffer for
him, but also to believe on him. It's given to you to believe
on him. And Zechariah said, I pour out upon them the spirit of supplication
and the spirit of grace. And when the apostle talked about
Christ being raised from the dead, he said the same power
that raised Christ from the dead is the same power that worked
in you, that was wrought in you when He wrought faith in you
and brought you to life in Christ. The same power. You see, the
Holy Ghost enlightens the understanding, and He subdues the will. A man
can argue about his will and how powerful it is all he wants
to, but I know this, in the day of God's power, His people are
made willing. Blessed is the man whom thou
choosest. And then, boy, if that's all
they've done, we'd be in a mess. But wait a minute. Blessed is
the man whom thou choosest and causes to approach unto you. I want you right here. Here
I come, boy. Thomas Watson. This is one of
the sweetest things I've ever read. Thomas Watson says this.
The wheel holds out against God. The Holy Spirit with sweet violence
conquers and changes the will. The Holy Spirit with sweet violence
conquers and changes the will. He makes the sinner willing to
have the Lord Jesus Christ upon any terms that he says, not only
to be saved by Him, but also to be ruled by Him. and He'll
acknowledge him from that day on to be his only hope, his only
plea before God. And saving faith, beloved, not
only takes Christ, not only renounces itself and relies on Christ and
brought in the heart by the Holy Spirit, but saving faith is a
living, vital, It's a living, vital principle
in a man's heart and soul. Once God puts it in your heart
and in your soul, faith is alive. Faith lives. Faith actually lives. It lives in you. And it lives
in the believer. It's like repentance. It's something
that constantly be an exercise in faith. You know, faith is
so alive that you cannot not believe. And if faith is alive,
and that means beloved, it constantly acts, reacts, and acts in a certain
way. We walk by faith. We look unto
Jesus by faith. We depend on Christ by faith. You say, well, by faith sometimes
I feel like I ain't got any. He didn't say how much you had. He just said if it's in the right
object. Weak faith is just as good as
strong faith if it's in the right person. Ain't that right? And
oh beloved, it's a life, and where that faith is, it's a life
that manifests itself. Not only believing the truth
every day of their life and the day they hear it, but by God's
grace living that truth out in their life. living in the whole,
living in before your wife, before your children, before your neighbors,
before one another. Where faith's alive, it lives,
and it lacks itself out in its everyday life. It acknowledges, faith acknowledges
the Lord in everything that happens. And I'll tell you, faith and
conduct are inseparable. If your faith is real and it's
saving faith, then it has an effect upon how you live in this
world. Don't you believe that? I believe
that with all my heart. You know, when God told Abraham
to go out, when Abraham believed the promise, the account of the
imperator, what happened to him? He didn't pull his thumb and
say, well, what will be, will be. God wants me to go to that
other country. He'll pick me up and carry me
over there. No, no. Abraham Well, now, where are
you going, Abraham? I have no idea. Where are you
going? The Lord told me to go. And that's the way we are. What
are we going to do tomorrow? I don't know, but God knows.
But we know where we're going to end up at. Abraham knew. Abraham
knew that he had a city. and a place to dwell and live
in that God built that city, God laid the foundation of it,
and he wasn't going to stop looking until he found that one. And
guess what? He found it! He got there! And Noah, God told him 120 years
for one drop of rain ever fell on the face of this earth. He
said, Noah, it's going to rain. What's rain? He said, I'm going
to open up the fountains of the deep, and I'm going to open up
the heavens, and water is going to come. You think the Mississippi
is flooding right now. And it is. And I feel sorry for
those folks. But God said, I'm going to break up the deep. I'm
going to cause all the rivers to start flooding. And I'm going
to break up the heavens, and I'm going to open up every cloud
they have. And it's going to start. Water is going to start
coming. That was 120 years. And Noah
started the day God told him to build an ark. That day. And
he worked on that ark for 120 years. Everything got in it. God shut
the door. Oh, he could have sat down and
said, well, the Lord can save me from this flood. Well, I tell
you what, those folks down there on the Mississippi, they're getting
everything they can out of their houses and getting to higher
ground. But the only place the Lord had to get in was the heart,
and I told Him to. That's what I'm talking about.
Faith, if you believe the truth, You react to that truth. You
cannot help but react to it. And let me show you this. Let
me show you this. It's been 30 minutes, so you
know we've got time. Hebrews 11, 13. You know, as a living
faith, as a living faith and as all things living grows, faith
grows. Faith grows. Now your faith,
you have more assurance now than you had when you first believed.
You're nearer now than when you first believed. You have more
assurance. You have more comfort. You have more rest. You have
more peace than when you first believed. And so that's what
I mean about faith as all living things. It grows. It grows. It grows more and more and more.
Look here in Hebrews 11, 13. It says this. These all died in faith, not
having received the promises. But having seen them afar off,
now they didn't see them like you and I see them, but look
what happened here. They were persuaded of them. They were persuaded. What? The
world made them do that. They were persuaded by the promises
that God made to them. They had such a persuasion that
they said that I will go out, and I'll be a stranger and a
pilgrim, and I'll live on this world, and God will be my Father,
God will be my God, God will protect me, God will keep me,
and I won't stop going until I end that promise that God made
me, in fact. And, oh, beloved, are you persuaded?
I'm persuaded. Paul said, I'm persuaded that
he's able to keep. I'm persuaded he's able to save
to the other motives. I'm persuaded. I'm persuaded
that he is not lose one, has nothing to be able to separate
from the love of God, Jesus Christ. And saving faith, last of all,
will never, ever, ever, ever, ever quit or fail in the end. Can't do it. You know why? what
you're starting with. God gave it to you. God ain't
going to take it back. It ain't going to quit. It ain't going to quit. I love
what I told you. Like I said, you cannot not believe. You can't help it. I've got to
believe. Why you got to believe? Because
God gave you faith and you can't help but do it. Are you still
over at Hebrews 11? Y'all still over there? It won't
fail him in Hebrews 10, verse 38. Look at that real quick.
You know, the end of faith, when you get to the end of it, when
you get to the end of your faith, you know what's going to happen?
You're going to be in the Lord's presence. That's where you're
going to be. When the end of your faith, when
you get to the end of something, you can't go no further. When
you get to the end of yours, the end of your faith is salvation. When I get to the end of it,
Draw my last breath. Need faith no more. We're going
to be in the Lord's presence. And that's what he says here.
Hebrews 10.38. Now the just shall live by faith. But if any draw back, any man
draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But now watch
this. But we are not of them. We are
not of them. We are of them that believe to
the saving of the soul. We believe to the day that our
soul enters into the very presence of God. You know, when we leave
this world, and that's what Peter said, you know, you love the
Lord Jesus Christ, whom though you have not seen, yet you believe
Him. You believe and you love Him,
receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your soul. One of these days, our faith
is going to stop. Faith is going to stop. You know, you go talk
to Floyd, you talk to Ed, you talk to Bill if we would have
been able to talk to him. And I tell you, beloved, every
single one of them will tell you. You know, the only hope
I've got is him. Their faith is still looking
outside themselves. Ain't that right?