You've got a troubled breast. It's a little easier, doesn't
it? It's comforting. Look back in John chapter 12. This text we have before us this
morning is our Lord's last public message. After this, the rest
of His preaching and teaching is going to be done to His disciples
in private. And the subject that our Lord
chose for His last recorded message, the subject that He chose to
preach before He goes to the cross, before He dies and is
buried and raises again the third day, before He is seen to many
of His disciples and ascends back to the Father, is faith,
faith in Him. The subject of the last recorded
message of our Lord before His bodily presence is removed from
this earth is faith. Saving Faith. The title of the
message is The Importance of Faith. I want us to leave here
this morning understanding the importance of faith. And I want
us to understand what saving faith really is. Now, verse 44,
John 12, is where we'll pick up. Jesus cried and said, He that
believeth on me believeth not on me, but on him that sent me.
He that seeth me seeeth him that sent me." Our Lord Jesus Christ
cried with a loud voice, a voice that was meant to be heard, a
voice that's meant to be believed. Believe on him. And he says,
he that believeth on me, believeth not on me, but on him that sent
me. And our Lord, what he means there is, if you believe on him,
you don't believe on him only, exclusively. You don't believe
on him just as a mere man. But you believe on Him as the
Son of God, as the God-man who came to accomplish the Father's
eternal purpose for the salvation of His elect. If you believe
the Son, you believe the Father. If you believe the Son, you believe
the Holy Spirit. You cannot separate the work
of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit in redemption. You
can't separate them. They're all one. These three
are one. Now, they're three divine persons,
but they're one God. with one purpose and one work. And you can't exalt the work
of one above the other two. You can't do that. They're all
one. You can't see one and not see
the other two. That's why our Lord told Thomas,
he that hath seen me, hath seen the Father. Because they're one. Christ is the manifestation of
the Father. So if you believe Christ, you
must believe the Father. 2 Corinthians 5.19, God was in
Christ, reconciling the world to himself. So if you see Christ,
you've seen the Father, because God's in him. If you believe
Christ, you have to believe the Father. And if you don't believe
Christ, you can't believe the Father, because they're one.
Now you believe the Father and the Son. How do I know if I believe
the Father and the Son? Well, you believe the Father
and the Son if you believe that if the Father is going to justify
sinners, He has to send his Son into the world so that his people
will be justified by his blood. There's no other way. If you
believe the Father and the Son, or if you believe the Father
and the Son, you believe that if the Father is going to forgive
sinners, he had to send his Son into the world so that we could
be forgiven through the blood of his sacrifice. You do believe
the Father and the Son if you believe that if the Father is
going to accept He had to send his son into this world so that
sinners would be forgiven and accepted in the beloved. Now
verse 46, Christ says, I'm come a light into the world that whosoever
believeth on me should not abide in darkness. I'm come a light. The only way a sinner can see
the Father is by believing Christ. The only way we can see the Father
is in the light of the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ is the light that
reveals everything. He reveals the Father to sinners. It's only in the light of Christ
that the Father's will of salvation through a substitute is revealed.
It's only in the light of Christ that God's love for sinners is
revealed. We'd never know God loved sinners
if He didn't send His Son into the world to save them. It's
only in the light of Christ that we see God's wisdom in salvation. How God can save sinners and
still be God, still be holy. Everything we see about the Father,
we only see in Christ. Not just in the light of Christ,
but in Christ. Because Christ is the express
image of the Father. Now, Christ had to come. Because
God's elect are born in sin, in the darkness of unbelief.
We can't see. We can't see anything. We're
in darkness. But after Christ comes, we're not in darkness
anymore. Now we see. And we walk in light,
we walk in truth, we walk in the way of life because we have
Christ. Now verse 47, And if any man
hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not. For I came not
to judge the world, but to save the world. Now this is how important
faith is. This is how important believing
Christ is, believing His word is. The only way you'll not continue
in darkness, the darkness that you're in by nature, the darkness
of unbelief, is if you believe Christ. If you believe Christ
as He's revealed in His Word. If we don't believe Christ, one
day we'll be judged by that very Word. You have the Word of God
preached to you. If you don't believe it, one
day you'll be judged by it. And you'll be sent to eternal
darkness. And someone will ask, well, what about people who didn't
have the Word, never had the Word read to them or preached
to them? Everyone knows God is. If you don't have the Word, John
Gill talked about being judged by different dispensations. You
know God is by the light of creation. You know He is. Well, then you'll
be judged by the light of creation. People have the law. They know
God is by the law. Then they'll be judged by the
law. You have the complete Word of God, the Gospel of God, and
that's what will judge you and me if we don't believe. Now our
Lord says, if any man hears the word and doesn't believe it,
he says, I'm not going to judge him. He means I'm not going to
judge him now. He'll judge him later, but he's
not going to judge him now. Our Lord didn't come to earth
the first time to judge. He came to redeem. He came to
save. He didn't come to judge and condemn.
The world's already condemned. He didn't have to do anything
to condemn the world. He came to redeem from sin. He came to
save his people from the condemnation of the law. But now, that day
of judgment is coming. And that day, this will be the
issue. There's just one issue. Do you
believe Christ? That's the only issue. Christ
will be the judge and Christ will be the standard by which
we're judged. The question will simply be,
do you believe Christ or not? Are you in Christ or not? There's
not going to be any question, not the first question, about
our works. Nobody's going to question whether
our works were good enough or not. That's too obvious. Of course they're not. That's
not the issue. I'm glad my works will not be
brought up in judgment. That's not going to be the standard
by which I'm judged. If that was the case, I'd have
no hope. So the question's not going to
be my works. Do my good works outweigh my
bad works? That's not the question. The
question is, do you believe Christ? Do you believe Him? Now, this
is a serious matter. To not believe Christ. It's not
just a doubt. I don't know. It's not being unsure. To not
believe Christ is not to think, well, you know, Jesus, he's all
right. I mean, you know, I like him, but I like other things,
too. He's a way, but there could be other ways. No. To not believe
Christ, to not believe the Word of God, is to reject Christ. to thrust him away with both
hands and say, no, I'll not have him. To not believe the word
of God is to say this, God's a liar. That's what it's to say. If you don't believe something
I say, you must think I'm not telling the truth. If you thought
I was telling the truth, you'd believe me. The only reason we
don't believe God is we think God's a liar. First John chapter
five, you say, Frank, that's awful strong. That's what God's
Word says. It's not strong. It's just plain. People say, well, that's mean
or harsh. That's strong. That's awful strong. They say
that one's plain. If you're being ambiguous, they
don't say that. Boy, you're being plain. That's
when they say something's strong. God's Word's plain. Look here
at 1 John 5, verse 10. He that believeth on the Son
of God hath the witness in himself. He that believeth not God hath
made him a liar, because he believeth not the record that God gave
of his Son." Well, what's the record? And this is the record.
That God has given to us eternal life, and this life is in his
Son. He that hath the Son hath life,
and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. Now, the
only reason that you don't think life can only be found in God's
Son is if you think that God is lying. There's no other reason.
Pretty serious matter to stand before the judge and say, I think
you're lying. Verse 49, back in our text, John
12. For I have not spoken of myself, but the Father which
sent me, he gave me a commandment what I should say and what I
should speak. Now, the Lord Jesus Christ, He's
not just a good man. He's not just a kind man. He's
not just a gentle man. He wouldn't hurt a flea. That is the heretical image of
Jesus that people have been given in our day. And if that's the
image that you think of Jesus, then you think, well, I can take
him or leave him. And if I leave him, he's too
kind to hurt fleas, he won't hurt me. That's not so. He is the Lord Jesus Christ. He's God come in human flesh,
and we're commanded to believe him. This is the commandment
of God. We're commanded to beg Christ
to save us. You're never invited to come
to Jesus. Ever. You're commanded to come
to Him and follow His feet and beg Him to save you. You're commanded
to come to Christ. He's the Lord Jesus Christ, God's
Son. You're commanded. The Word of
God The Word of God is not just a bunch of good ideas that are
written down and bound up in a book. You know, people think,
well, you'd just be a whole lot happier if you follow the precepts
of this book. You know, the world would just
be a better place if everybody would just follow the ideas that's
given us in the Bible, because it's a collection of good ideas.
Our homes would be happier. We'd all be wealthier and more
prosperous if we just follow the ideas, the precepts that
are in this book. That is not the purpose. of God's
Word. All those things I reckon are
true, but that's not the purpose of God's Word. God's Word is
a commandment to believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
You're commanded to believe every word of this book. You're commanded
to. It's not a recommendation on
a way to live. It's a commandment of the way
of life. This commandment is life. The Word is life. And if you do not obey, and believe
God's Word, then you've rejected, you've thrust away eternal life
with both hands. Look at verse 50. And I know
that His commandment is life everlasting. Whatsoever I speak
therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak. Now
this Word is the Word of the Almighty. The Lord Jesus Christ
is the incarnate Word of God. Christ is God's expression of
Himself. We use words to express our thoughts
and character and things. Well, Christ is God's expression
of Himself. He is the Word of God. He is
the revelation, how God saves sinners. And if you reject Christ,
you reject eternal life, because life's in Him, and you choose
eternal death. That's the importance of faith.
If you don't believe Him, you choose death. Now, we see from
our Lord's message here, saving faith. is important. There's
no life without it. There's no everlasting life without
faith. Now everyone, everyone believes
something. Everyone has some form of faith.
These people are our Lord's talking to. They have a form of faith. It's not saving faith, but they
have a form of faith. Why don't you? How do I know
if my faith is genuine faith or false faith? These people
are our Lord's talking to. They were steeped in the Jewish
religion. From the time they understood
words, they were steeped in that Jewish religion. I was too. From the time I could understand
language, I was taught God's Word. I've been taught the Gospel.
Well, am I different from them? Do I have genuine faith or false
faith? These folks read God's Word every
Sabbath. Put a lot of stock in it. I do
too. I read God's Word every day.
Am I different from them? Do I have saving faith or false
faith? These people believed that God is. They believed that. They believed God created the
world in six days. They believed that. They believed
that God rules over all things. I do too. How do I know if my
faith is just a form of faith or if it's saving faith? How
do I know? Let me give you seven marks of true faith. First mark
is this. Saving faith begins with knowledge. Knowledge of who Christ is. There's
no such thing as blind faith. You cannot have faith in Christ
if you don't know Him. If you don't know who He is,
How should they believe in Him of whom they've not heard? Just
being religious is not faith. It's not saving faith. Like I
said, it's some form of faith. These folks were religious and
they had a form of faith, but it wasn't saving faith. And it's
not saving faith because most religion is religious motion. It's religious works. It's hubbub
without knowledge, without knowledge of Christ. Oh, they may have
a knowledge of the the doctrines of their fathers or the ancestry
of the church or something, but it's not a knowledge of Christ.
The Samaritan woman at the well. She was a sinful woman. She's
a sinful. She's ashamed to come to that
well at any time at noon. Everybody else was at siesta,
but she was religious. And what did our Lord tell her?
You worship. You know not what? You're worshiping
without knowledge. Look at Romans chapter 10. Saving faith begins with knowledge
of who Christ is. Romans 10, verse 1. Brethren,
my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they
might be saved. For I bear them record, they
have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they being
ignorant of God's and going about to establish their own righteousness
have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God."
They don't have saving faith because they're ignorant of the
Savior. They're ignorant of His righteousness. And saving faith
knows Christ. Saving faith knows who Christ
is. And saving faith loves who Christ is. Saving faith's knowledge
of Christ is based on this. Who Christ says He is. Who Christ
says He is in His Word. Not what I think that somebody
else has made up. Not what I heard second hand.
But what I see first hand from God's Word. That's how I understand
who Christ is. That's my knowledge. In our text,
we just saw that. Saving Faith knows who Christ
is. He's God. He's one with the Father. He's God in human flesh. Saving
Faith knows the character of Christ. We know He's light. He
is Christ as everything light is. He's holy. He's righteous. He's just. He's life. Without
light, nothing can grow. He's life. That's the character
of Christ. Saving faith knows the mission
of Christ. He's the Savior. He came to save
His people from their sins. He didn't come to make an attempt
at it. He did it. He's the Savior. He didn't come
to judge. He came to save. He'll judge
later. And if we're judged in Him, it'll
be fine. Because He came to save His people.
Saving faith knows the commandment of God. The commandment of God
is to believe. And saving faith obeys the commandment
by believing God. That's the second mark of true
faith. Saving faith believes Christ. Now Abraham, he's the father
of the faithful. What's the first thing that you
think of when you hear the name Abraham? I bet almost everybody
in this room, what goes through your mind is Abraham believed
God. It was counted to him for righteousness. Abraham is the
example of faith. Well, saving faith doesn't have
to have everything laid out for us all at once. So we see it. I see it gets from here to there,
so I believe it. Whenever we go on a trip, We've
got GPS's and stuff today. I still want to look at the map.
I want to see how I go from here to here. Okay. I believe it. I can get from here to here.
I see it. That's not faith. That's just looking at the evidence.
Saving faith believes when there's no evidence. None. I just believe. No evidence. Just the authority
of God's Word, I believe. That's what Abraham did. Abraham
believed God. when he didn't know where. Abraham,
get out of your father's house and go to a place I'll show you.
And Abraham got out, not knowing where. He knew where he was going,
but he went. Why would he do that? He believed
God. I don't know where heaven is,
but I believe heaven is, and I believe I'll be there one day
with Christ because He's there. I don't know where God's eternal
throne is. I mean, we think it's in the
skies? I don't know. But I believe Christ
is sitting on that throne, ruling and reigning, making intercession
for me. I believe that. Abraham believed when he didn't
know where. Abraham believed when he didn't know how. God
said, Abraham, I'm going to give you a son. Abraham and Sarah,
they're too old to have children. They can't bear children anymore.
But Abraham believed he was going to have a son, even though he
didn't know how that was possible. He didn't know how God was going
to give him one. Abraham believed not only that God was able to
do what he promised, Abraham believed that God would do what
he promised, and he believed, even though he didn't know how. I believe, but I don't know how. There's
lots of things I don't know how. I don't know how Christ could
be made sin, yet be holy. remain holy and without sin.
I don't understand that, but I believe it. I don't know how
I can be made righteous even though I do nothing but sin.
I don't understand how, but I believe it. I don't understand how I'm
justified even though everything I see about myself is unjust,
but I believe it. Why do you believe that? Because
I believe God. Faith is the evidence of things
not seen. Abraham believed God when he
didn't know where, when he didn't know how. Bless his heart when
he didn't know why. I often ask God why. I reckon
I shouldn't. Why? Abraham believed when he
didn't know why. Abraham did not know why God
told him, take his son, sacrifice him. He didn't know why, but
he believed God. He did it because he believed
God was going to fulfill his promise to make a great nation
out of that young man. He believed God, the Messiah
is coming through that man, that young man, Isaac. He's the child
of promise. And Abraham fully intended to
slaughter his son, to quarter him and burn his body on the
wood. He fully intended to do that because he believed God
was going to raise Isaac from the dead because God promised
to send the Savior through him. Abraham believed God. He didn't
know why. I don't know why God does anything.
That's why I ask him why, because I don't know. I don't know why
we suffer the things we suffer. I don't know why heartache and
disappointment and pain and suffering and sorrow are the lot of God's
people on this earth. I don't know why. But brethren,
I believe God. I believe Him. I believe all
things work together for good. To them that love God, to them
who are called according to His purpose, I believe it. Simply
because God's Word said it. I believe it. I believe God brings
good from every situation. Every situation that He brings
to pass on this earth is working together in the wheels of God's
providence to produce good. I believe it. Even though I never
see it. There are instances, it's horrible. It's a horrible tragedy. I don't
see any good from it and won't the rest of my life. But I don't
have to see it. I believe. These all died in
faith, not having received the promises. They didn't receive
the fulfillment of them, but having seen them afar off and
were persuaded of them and embraced them. That's saving faith. Saving
faith believes Christ even though it sees no evidence. Whom having
not seen, Thirdly, saving faith trusts
Christ. I believe Christ and I trust
Him. Our Lord said in His final test,
there's going to be a day of judgment. Well, I believe there's
going to be a day of judgment because He said it. I trust Christ. I trust Him. So I'm not afraid
of the day of judgment. It gives me no concern whatsoever
because I've already been judged in Christ. Just like that Israelite
father, on Israel's last night in Egypt, he sacrificed that
lamb he'd had in a pen and been watching it for four days. This
is my last day in Egypt. I'm going to sacrifice that lamb.
I'm going to put his blood on the door. I'm going to roast
his body with fire. I'm going to shut the door. I'm going to sit
down. I'm going to eat that Passover lamb with my son, with my shoes
on, my loins girt, my staff in my hand. I'm leaving here tomorrow
morning with my firstborn in hand. I trust I'm going to do
that. How can you trust that? The avenger's
coming through. How can you trust you're leaving
in the morning with your firstborn in your hand? I trust God. God said, when I see the blood,
I'll pass over you. That's enough for me. I trust
Him. Because God said. And one day, I'll stand for the
judgment seat of Christ. Without fear. Because the Lord
Jesus Christ took His precious blood I'm available into the
throne room of the Almighty and offered his blood as atonement
for my sin. And I face that judgment without
fear, fully trusting him, because God said, when I see the blood,
I'll pass over you. God said, I'm pleased with that
sacrifice. God said the blood is enough.
I trust I trust in him. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus, because he was condemned for
it. I trust him. Saving faith trusts Christ so
completely that saving faith commits everything to him. That's my fourth point. Saving
faith commits to Christ. You could never say, I love Janet,
if I didn't commit to her. Saving faith commits to Christ. Saving faith is not here today
and gone tomorrow. Saving faith doesn't look to Christ today
and kind of check out for something better, you know, maybe something
better over here tomorrow. Saving faith commits to Christ. Everything I have, everything
I am, everything I hope for, everything I ever hoped to be
all committed to Christ. Look at Matthew 13. Saving faith commits to Christ. Verse 44, Matthew 13. Again, the kingdom of heaven
is like unto treasure hidden afield. The witch, when a man
is found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth
all that he hath, and buyeth that field. Again, the kingdom
of heaven is likened to a merchantman seeking goodly pearls, who, when
he had found one pearl of great price, he went and sold all that
he had, and bought it." That's a pretty big commitment. Aren't
you afraid? You sell everything you have.
You just got that one pearl. You just got that one field.
What if it's not enough? If that treasures Christ, it's
enough. I commit all to Him. Saving Faith trusts Christ so
fully that everything's committed to Him. Everything. Lock, stock,
and barrel. There's no plan B. There's no
backup plan. If this doesn't work, I don't
have an escape hatch. It's Christ. I've committed all
to Him. All my salvation is committed
to Christ. Saving Faith relies on Christ
totally to save me without any help from me. Saving faith relies
on Christ so fully, it commits all control to Him. Control is
a tough thing to give up. Saving faith does it. It commits
all control to Him. I don't want to be in control
of anything. Not one thing. I want Christ
to be in control Everything. This world, I want Christ to
be in control of it. My little speck of a corner of
it, I want Christ to be in control of it. Everything about me, I
want Christ to be in control of it. Everything about my children,
I want Christ to be in control of it. Everything about my family,
I want Christ to be in control of it. Everything about you,
I commit you. Every day I commit you to our
Lord Jesus Christ. I want Him to be in control of
you. Saving faith commits all to Him. Fifthly, the foundation
of faith is the Word of God. In our Lord's final message,
He told us plainly how important it is to believe the Word of
God, His Word. Not believing the miracles, His
Word. Now, we looked at this last week.
Some of the Pharisees, Scripture said, believed. But they believed
why? Because they saw the miracles.
They saw the things that he did. And they saw all those things
that he did with fulfillment of these Old Testament prophecies
over here. So they believed. That's false faith. That's factual
faith. Based on the evidence, they believed. That's not saving faith. Peter
saw miracles too, didn't he? He saw some they didn't see.
Peter saw everything that happened that night on the Mount of Transfiguration.
What a night. The Lord's glory, His glory as
God shone through His human flesh. Moses and Elijah appeared talking
with our Lord. Peter said, I saw all that. I
heard all that. I heard the Father speak from
heaven. I said, this is my son. I'm pleased
with you. Peter said, I saw it all. We
have a more sure word of prophecy. That you do well, take heed.
That word of prophecy is the word of God that you do well
to believe. Abraham believed what? The word
of God. He believed everything God said.
It was the word that God spoke to Abraham he believed. One night
the Apostle Paul was on a ship. Boy, a storm came up. It kept
getting worse and worse and worse. The ship started to look in trouble.
All that merchandise they had on that ship, pretty important
stuff, they're going to sell it. Their life's in danger. That stuff became less and less
important. They're throwing it all out. The waves keep getting
bigger and bigger and bigger, crashing over that ship. And
Paul said, boy, the ship's going down. That ship is lost. It's a lost cause. But there'll
be no loss of life. Sirs, be of good cheer. All the waves are crashing over
this ship. I hear it breaking in pieces. How can I be of good
cheer? For I believe God. It shall be even as it was told
unto me." I believe God. Saving faith believes God's Word. Now, I believe that God elected
a people. Before the foundation of the
world, God elected a people. He chose them. And He put those
people in His Son before He ever said, let there be light. God
has always saw those people. He's always loved those people.
He's always accepted those people in Christ. I believe that. I believe that the Lord Jesus
Christ was born of a virgin. Frank, that can't be. It can't
be. It's impossible for a baby to
be born from the womb of a virgin. I believe that. I believe Christ
was born of a virgin simply because God's Word said it. That's the
only authority that I need to believe that. I believe that
the perfect, holy, righteous Son of God was made to be sin
for his elect to Calvary. I believe that. And I believe
that a vile sinner like me is made to be the righteousness
of God in him. Just because God's Word says
it. I don't have to debate it. I don't have to wonder about
it. Just believe it. Because God's Word says it. I
believe that all of my sin was put away by the blood of Christ.
Even though all I see about myself is sin, I believe all my sin
has been put away under the blood of Christ. So I have no fear
of judgment, because the blood of Christ is enough to pay for
my sin. I believe that at this very moment,
the Lord Jesus Christ is making intercession for me. Now, I've
never had a vision of glory. I've never had a vision of the
throne of God with Christ sitting upon it, and I don't know Anybody
else who has either? Well, then how do you believe
that Christ is sitting on the throne of God making their session for
the likes of you? Because Christ said so. I believe
it. Because he said so. I believe
that God is in control of every situation. Every one of them. I believe that. And because I
believe that, I know this. I will persevere to the end.
Now my faith is awful shaky. My actions are very sinful. My
heart is often cold and hard and dead. But I believe that
I'll persevere to the end because Christ my Savior lives to ensure."
And he said he did. I believe it. Saving faith believes
Christ based upon the Word of God. That's its foundation. Saving faith is a faith that
is confessed publicly. Verse 42, we looked at these
verses last week. Nevertheless, among the chief
rulers also, many believed on him. But because of the Pharisees,
they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the
synagogue. Why did they do that? For they loved the praise of
men more than the praise of God. Now that can't be saving faith.
If they had saving faith later, they were given saving faith
later. But at that moment, that's not saving faith. That's a factual
faith based on seeing the miracles, not believing God's word. There's
no commitment there, none whatsoever. They're not committed to Christ.
They'd rather have their old friends and their old ways rather
than Christ. They're not committed to him. They've not cast all
upon him. They're afraid to be thrust out of the synagogue.
They're afraid to be thrust out of organized religion. Where
will I go if I'm kicked out of there? There's no trust there. If Christ saves you, this I know,
you will run at full speed away from organized religion. They're
not going to have to kick you out. You're going to run out
because you'll be running to Christ to cast all on Him. With
these men, there's no confession of Christ. There's no identification
with Christ. They wanted to keep it a secret.
Well, there are no secret disciples. There's no secret faith. Saving
faith is a faith that is confessed publicly. If Christ saves you,
you have to tell somebody. It's too wonderful to keep to
yourself. You have to tell somebody. It
will leak out on you, Brother Henry says. Now, there are three
ways that a believer confesses Christ. Saving faith is a faith
that's confessed. First of all, it's confessed
by believer's baptism. When we're baptized, we're not
just, we are confessing, but it's not only confessing that
I'm saved by the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, but
I'm also confessing this. I'm such a vile sinner. The only
way a sinner like me could ever be saved is through the death,
the burial, and the resurrection of God's Son. When we confess
Christ, that's what we're confessing. Look at Mark 16. In Acts 2, everyone who gladly received
the Word was baptized. They confessed that Christ had
saved them. In Mark 16, verse 15, this is the commandment
of our Lord. Go ye into all the world and
preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned. He that
believeth will be baptized and confess that Christ has saved
him." We confess Christ and believe his baptism. Secondly, we confess
Christ with my mouth. If Christ has saved me, I'm going
to say so. Everybody's not a preacher. Everybody
is not eloquent, or maybe they don't feel very confident in
talking about these things, especially abating Christ. But if Christ
has saved you, you can say this, Christ is all my salvation. People
start talking about all this stuff, you say, no, Christ is
my salvation. They say, well, I did this and
this and this, so I saved you. You say, no, Christ saved me.
He did that. You can say it. You will. You can even help it.
You'll say it. Maybe you won't say it exactly right, but you'll
say it. Look at Romans 10. One thing a believer enjoys talking
about is the Lord. You'll confess it with your mouth.
Romans 10, verse 9. That thou shalt confess with
thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart
that God raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. This is not just saying with
my mouth, Jesus saved me. It's not just saying I believe
that with my mouth he was raised from the dead. This thing about
coming down front and repeating the sinner's prayer. Confessing
with your mouth is not repeating something I say. I don't, when
she would teach her Sunday school class sometimes, you know the
three, four and five year olds, some of those verses are kind
of tough and they might get started and they get, you know, hung
up and she'd say two or three words. And they'd repeat them.
And then she'd say the next two or three words. And then they'd
repeat them. And then they'd get their treat,
you know, saying their memory verse. That's not confessing Christ.
We don't confess in repeating what somebody else says. Look
at verse 10. For with the heart man believeth
unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made
unto salvation. For the Scripture saith, what
saith the Scripture, whosoever believeth on him shall not be
ashamed. And I confess that what I believe
in my heart with my mouth. I don't have to have somebody
else's words. It's what Christ has done for me. You can always
tell somebody what Christ has done for you. Isn't that what
the Lord told the leper? You go home and you tell your
friends what great things the Lord has done for you. You confess
Christ with your mouth. Thirdly, we confess Christ by
identifying with God's people, by having saving faith I'm going
to find out where God's people meet, where the Lord's preached,
and that's where I'm going to be. I'm not going to be bouncing
around from place to place to place, see which one I like better.
I'm going to find where Christ is preached, where His people
are, and that's where I'm going to be. I'm going to be identified
with God's people. And when I see one of them in
the grocery store, I'm going to give her a hug. I'm going to
identify with God's people. That's the way it is. That's
confessing Christ. And last, saving faith. It's tried. Tried faith. Don't believe this lie now. You accept Jesus and everything's
going to be just wonderful from now on. No, it won't. Now the
battle's going to begin. Saving faith must be tried. Tried
by fire. So that it proves its worth.
So it proves to you that's saving faith. If I say I believe Christ
and I'm tried by fire, I leave. I run away. Well, that's false
faith. If I say I believe Christ and
God puts me in the furnace and it hurts, I'm telling you it
hurts. That fiery trial was just a trial. It hurts. And it causes
you to cry out to God, to cling to Him, to look to Him more tightly
than you ever did before. That's saving faith. It proves
to you that's saving faith. It's going to burn off the dross.
I've got a lot of dross that needs to be burned off. So I
trust Christ more fully. Saving faith must be tried. Now
look in 1 Timothy chapter 1. I want you to look at two scriptures
and I'm going to close. 1 Timothy chapter 1. Here
is an example. I'm sorry, 2 Timothy. 2 Timothy
1. An example of saving faith. 2 Timothy 1 verse 12. For the which
cause I also suffer these things. Nevertheless, I am not ashamed,
for I know whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that he is
able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that
day." That's saving faith. That's knowledge. I know. I know. That's belief in Christ. I know
whom I have believed. That's trust. I'm persuaded. I trust him. It's commitment.
He's going to keep everything I've committed unto Him against
that day, and it's a trial of faith. I suffer these things,
but I'm not ashamed. That's an example of saving faith.
And how I pray that the Lord would give you and me this kind
of faith. Saving faith. Brethren, it's
too important this. It's too important. We need to
find this out because it's too important. There's no eternal
life without saving faith in Christ. So Hebrews chapter 2
will close. I hope we leave here understanding
the importance of faith and understanding the danger in not believing on
Christ. I'm not trying to scare anybody,
but now there's a danger involved in not believing Christ. Hebrews
2 verse 1. We ought to give the more earnest
heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should
let them slip. For if the word spoken by angels
was steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just
recompense of reward, how shall we escape? If they had a certain
amount of life, we've got more. How shall we escape? If we neglect,
if we thrust away, if we reject, so great salvation, which at
first began to be spoken by the Lord. and was confirmed unto
us that heard him. so many times to this congregation
over the past. You've saved your people. You've
called your people out and gathered them together from this tri-state
area. And we're thankful. We're thankful
for your mercy and your grace. We're thankful that you've preserved
your gospel and enabled it to be preached in this town for
all these years. And Father, we humbly ask you
that you continue to bring glory to your name by saving your people. if you continue to give this
gift of faith to those here this morning who are without it. It's
a gift of your mercy. We're completely dependent upon
you. But if you give it, they'll see. They'll believe. They'll
commit all to the Lord Jesus Christ. They'll trust Him. Finally
rest from all their labors because they trust Christ. They'll confess
Him. Even when that trial, that faith
is tried by fire, It is genuine. It will shine more brightly and
become more precious and valuable. Cling ever more strongly to the
Lord Jesus Christ. What a gift. We thank you for
it. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, for his sake we pray.