I invite you to turn in your
Bibles with me this morning to Hebrews chapter 10. And I want to focus on the last
two verses of that chapter. There's not a clearer summation
of the divinity, the majesty, and the sufficiency of the Lord
Jesus Christ than right here in Hebrews chapter 10. Paul's
been showing to the Jews his kinsmen, those in whose hands
God set his oracles, all of the law of God, all the prophecies
of God, all of the revelation of Christ,
the promises of Christ. And they never saw it as a whole. There was men among them that
did, but as a whole, the nation itself never saw these things
for what they were. And Paul writes this to them,
showing them about Christ, and then when he gets to chapter
10, he begins a summation of all of the things that he'd showed
them. He tells us that this man, Jesus of Nazareth, was pictured
and prophesied throughout the Old Testament scriptures, and
that in the volume of the book, it was written of him that he
came to do God's will. What will? What will? The redemptive will of God. That's
the will that he reveals to us in the gospel, his redemptive
will. Everything that is is a result
of God's redemptive will. He worketh all things after the
counsel of his own will. He said, I come not to do my
own will. That's what Christ said back
in John chapter six, but the will of him that sent me, and
this is the Father's will which has sent me, that of all which
he hath given me I should lose nothing, but raise it up again
at the last day. This is God's redemptive will.
He created this world because he has a redemptive will. Jesus Christ came into this world,
he said, to save sinners. Paul said, of whom I'm chief.
That's why he came into this world. He came to save. He didn't
come to judge. He came to save. Everything that is, is geared
to this. And he didn't come to make world
peace. That's what religion preaches
all the time. That's why he came. He wants
everybody to be at peace. He said, I didn't come for that.
He told them flat out, didn't he? Matthew 10, 34, think not
that I'm come to send peace on earth. I'm not come to send peace,
but a sword. Verse 35, for I am come to set
a man at variance against his father, and a daughter against
her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, and
a man's foes shall be they of his own household. He came into this world to accomplish
and fulfill the word of God. Hebrews 10.10, by the witch will
we are sanctified, made holy, set apart forever through the
offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Where sin
is put away by the sacrifice of Christ, there is no more conscience
of sin. When that blood is applied to
your conscience, it's effectual. It's effectual. After he'd offered one sacrifice
for sins forever, he sat down at the right hand of God expecting
to his enemies be made his footstool. His work was done. It was done. For by one offering, now listen
to this, He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. We're
sanctified through the blood of Christ, through the death
of Christ on that cross, and perfected forever by the same
sacrifice. And the covenant of grace that
God establishes in the hearts of His elect with the Holy Spirit
is based on this offering based on this accomplishing of God's
will. On the basis of his sufficiency,
God says, verse 17, their sins and iniquities will I remember
no more. On the basis of God's redemptive
will being accomplished, he tells us in verse 18, there is no more
offering for sin. On the basis of our eternal representative
and substitute, He says, we now have boldness to enter into the
holiest by the blood of Jesus Christ. Which he has consecrated for
us through the veil. What is that veil? That old veil,
that old heavy veil that hang down in the temple. What is that?
That's his body, his flesh. On the basis of this God-man
mediator, we have a high priest over the house of God. And these
things being so, verse 22, he said, let us draw near with a
true heart and full assurance of faith, having this knowledge
of Christ, who he really is, what he really did, where he
really is. In full assurance of faith, having
our hearts sprinkled, that is his blood applied to the heart
by the Holy Ghost through the preaching of the gospel. having
our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies
washed with pure water. That water is the water of His
Word. Let us hold fast the profession
of our faith without wavering, for He is faithful, the promised. And let us consider one another
to provoke unto love and good works. Whatever I do toward you, be
it a gift, a conversation, the preaching of the gospel, whatever
I do, it is to establish good works
on your part. I want to be a motivation to
you. I want to be a help to you. And
that's the way we're to look at one another with everything
we do and say. Now watch this, verse 25. Not
forsaking the assembling of yourselves together. You know what you're
gonna accomplish when you forsake the assembling of yourselves
together? Nothing. Nothing. Well, it'll be a help
to me. No it won't. No it won't. The only help you're ever gonna
get is with this man and the knowledge that you gain from
him. And the only place you're going to get that is here. That's
it. Now watch this. Not forsaking
the assembling yourselves together as the manner of some is, but
exhorting one another and so much the more as you see that
day approaching. Exhorting. Teaching. That's why
we come here to be taught. If we sin willfully, after that
we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth
no more sacrifice for sins. Now, lots of people have had
trouble and wrestled with this verse, including myself for years. Until a man told me one day what
it meant. He'd been talking to us about
that one sacrifice of Christ. The person and work of Christ.
Purpose from all eternity by God, shadowed and pictured throughout
the Old Testament. And He's come, and that's what
we hear. And we go to Him, not to a preacher, not to a denomination. We come to Christ. All that the
Father has given me shall come to me. Whatever I preach here
today, it's not to get you to come to me. It's not for me to
get you to come here. It's to get you to come to Christ.
That's where I want you to come. If you come to Christ, you'll
come here. The only place I know of anywhere around here where
Christ is being preached. You come to him. And that's what
he's saying, but if we reject these things, if we reject Christ, if we reject that good
news that God has given to us, Now we already know the means.
I've been over this many times. You'd have to be deaf to tell
me you didn't hear what I had to say about that. I've showed
you throughout the scriptures where this is the means, the
preaching of the gospel. It's the means that God has ordained.
And if we sin willfully after we've received the knowledge
of the truth, after we've heard everything he had to say concerning
Christ, And Christ being rejected. Walked away from, counted with
indifference. Rejecting the blood and righteousness
of Christ. Or rejecting that knowledge that
Jesus is the Christ. You walked away from the only
sacrifice for sins that ever was or ever will be. That's what
you've done. And so there remaineth no more
sacrifice for sin. Verse 27, but a certain fearful
looking for judgment and fiery indignation which shall devour
the adversaries. He that despised Moses' law died
without mercy under two or three witnesses of how much sore punishment. Verse 29, suppose ye shall he
be thought worthy who have trodden underfoot the Son of God. counted
the blood of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy
thing I have done despite under the spirit of grace. Oh, my soul. Oh, but call to remembrance,
he said, verse 32, the former days in which after you were
illuminated, after that light shined in your heart, You endured
a great fight of afflictions. Now cash not away, therefore,
your competence, which hath great recompense of reward. And here's
my text. Now, having said everything,
having written from chapter 1, chapter 10, having said all these
things, having summed them all up, now the just, shall live
by faith. What's that mean? Faith in Christ.
That's how you're gonna live. The life that I now live in the
flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God. Loved me and
gave himself for me. A just shall live by faith, but
if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But, We are not of them who draw
back unto perdition, but of them that believe to the saving of
the soul. And what's on my heart and my
mind this morning is a faith that just won't quit. It's not
gonna quit. We have examples in the scripture
of men like Judas who walked a lifetime with the Lord, been
taught by him personally, spent years in his company, was recognized
as his disciple, who fell, who fell from grace, who never had
faith, never did. He had the name of it, he had
the respect of it, Men, nobody, when the Lord said, one of you
is a devil, they all looked at each other and said, is it I? Everybody but Judas. Nobody said,
well, it's probably Judas. No, nobody even suspected Judas. Oh, a faith that just won't quit.
Now, let there be no doubt as to the biblical doctrine of perseverance. All God's saints persevered.
In Hebrews chapter 11, which is the faith chapter out of which
I quoted earlier, it says this, of all those that he set forth
as an example, he said, these all died in faith. They died
in faith. And I'll tell you this, nothing
was more repulsive to the apostles or even as far as that goes to
the Holy Spirit who inspired them to write, than a wavering
faith. Listen to how he talks. James
said, if any one of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who
giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not, and it shall
be given to him. It'll be given to him. You lack
knowledge about something? Ask of God. It'll be given to
you. Be given to you. Verse six, James 1, six. But
let him ask in faith, now watch this, nothing wavering. For he
that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind
and tossed. Let not that man think that he
shall receive anything of the Lord. Paul tells us in Ephesians
four of his ascension gifts to Christ, apostles, prophets, evangelists,
pastor-teachers, and he tells us why they were given. To reveal
Christ to us. Verse 14, and that we henceforth
be no more children tossed to and fro and carried about by
every wind of doctrine by the sleight of men and cunning craftiness
whereby they lie in wait to deceive. The faith of God's elect is a
faith that comes from God and it will endure because it is
the work of God. He gave it, he'll maintain it. And as I said before, these all died,
all of them, all of them. Now here's the question. How
do I know if I have a faith that will not quit? And not anybody in here who hadn't
questioned their own standing with God. How do I know? Scripture said I can know, but
how can I know? How can I know if I have a faith
that will not quit? Well, this faith that God gives
is described throughout the scriptures and so much so that it leaves
us without an excuse of being satisfied with anything less. Now, let's look at some of God's
descriptions of this faith and let us all examine ourselves,
see if we have this. Man, I don't want you to leave
here with a false faith. I don't want you to leave here
I'm not saying these things to scare you, I'm saying these things
bless you. No comfort in a false faith.
No lasting comfort. So let's look at some of these
descriptions that God gives of this faith. First of all, this
faith that just won't quit comes by hearing the gospel of Jesus
Christ preached. Turn with me to Romans chapter
10. Quote this all the time to you, but this morning I want
you to read it. There's something about reading
these promises and reading these things in the Word of God. Romans
chapter 10 is talking about the revelation of God's righteousness,
which we receive by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And it
speaks this faith speaks or confesses what it hears. Verse eight, what does this faith
say? It tells you what it don't say.
But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in
thy mouth and in thine heart, that is the word of faith which
we preach. That's what faith, faith confesses
what it hears. God equips a man and sends a man
and then in his providence draws you to hear that man and if he
gives you faith, you'll keep right on looking to that man.
You'll keep right on learning from that man. And that man will
keep on learning. And you'll grow together in the
kingdom of God. He'll establish you through these
men. The word's nigh thee, that is
the word of faith which we preach. Well, what do we preach? Well,
we preach that thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus,
not poor little Jesus boy, the Lord Jesus. God come into the
flesh. and shalt believe in thine heart
that God hath raised him from the dead. We know why he killed
him. He bore our sins in his own body on the tree. He had
to die. The soul that sinneth shall surely
die. But he didn't stay dead. God
raised him from the dead. It was for our offenses that
he was delivered, but he's raised again. Now listen to this, Larry,
for our justification. Thou shalt believe in thine heart,
that God hath raised him from the dead. Thou shalt be saved,
for with the heart man believeth under righteousness, and with
the mouth confession is made unto salvation. That is, he's
our righteousness. You remember back there in verse
four of Hebrews 10? Christ is the end of the law
for righteousness to everyone that believeth. For the scripture saith, verse
11, whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For, verse
13, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be
saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they had not believed?
I believed in some kind of a God since as far back as I can remember
because that's what my parents believed and taught me and carried
a Bible and read out of it and so on, prayed at the dinner table. But I know who he was, God. Heard that word God over and
over and over the whole time I was growing up but it didn't
have any effect on me because I didn't know who he was. How you gonna call on him in
whom you have not believed? How you gonna believe in him
of whom you have not heard? And how shall you hear without a
preacher? And how they gonna preach except
they be sent as it is written. How beautiful are the feet of
them that preach the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings
of good things. But they have not all obeyed
the gospel, for Isaiah said, Lord, who hath believed our report?
Now, are you listening? We're talking about this faith,
this faith that just won't quit, this faith that's a gift of God.
So then, faith cometh by hearing. Ain't that what that says? Didn't
say it came by hearing, it says it cometh. Faith is a living
principle of God established in you, and that faith feeds
on the gospel of Jesus Christ. It feeds on the word of God.
Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. True faith, it just won't quit.
It comes by way of gospel preaching. Continues to come that way. And then secondly, the faith
that just won't quit is a gift of God's sovereign grace. You
didn't earn it. You didn't decide to have it.
God gave it to you. He gave it to you. It's not you
stumbling upon the truth. I've heard people say that so
many times. Well, I just stumbled on that scripture. Oh, you didn't.
No, you didn't. It's not your stumbling upon
the truth or hearing some voice in your closet or listening to
some free will preacher telling you to accept Jesus as your personal
savior. Faith is the gift of God and
it is in fact God enabling you to see and hear and willingly
receive his gospel. This is the work of God. That's
what our Lord said. This is the work of God that
you believe in him who sent me. That's the work of God. As many, John said, as received
him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even
to them that believe on his name, who were born. When are you going
to believe on him? When you're born. What do you
mean? Not of blood. Not because you're
a whitehead or a Pruett. Huh? Not of blood. Not of the will of the flesh. Well, everybody's got a free
will. No, it's not of the will of the flesh. Not of him that
willeth, period. And it's not of the will of man.
It's not my will. I'm going to push my will on
you. I'm going to get you to be in
the mind. No, it ain't of the will of man. It's of God. It's of God. Thirdly, this faith
that endures to the end is a faith that is established on the word
of God alone, period. It ain't the word of God and
then your feelings. Uh-huh, no, it's the word of
God. It's the word of God. I'll tell
you what you're gonna find, the older you get, the longer that
this faith dwells in your heart, the longer that you mature under
the preaching of the gospel, the more confidence and rest
that you're gonna have in the Word of God alone. Feelings come and feelings go
and feelings are deceiving. Comfort doesn't come from feelings,
it comes from believing. I'm believing. It's established on the word
of God. Paul told Timothy, preach the word. Be instant, in season,
out of season. We're built upon the foundation
of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the
chief cornerstone. To him, give all the prophets
witness. And then here's what Isaiah said,
to the law and to the testament, or to the testimony, if they
speak not according to this word, it's because there's no light
in them. No light. Saving faith, it takes
God at His word. And those who rest their souls
in the Savior do so, Peter said, as they by Him do believe in
God that raised Him from the dead. He said, we're born again, not
of corruptible seed, but incorruptible by the word of God. And this
is the word, verse 25, 1 Peter 1. This is the word which by
the gospel is preached unto you. And then fourthly, the faith
that just won't quit is an effectual faith. Saving faith always succeeds. It never fails. It never fails. It comes not in word only, Paul
said, but in power and in the Holy Ghost and in much assurance.
It's always effectual. In John 5, 24, our Lord said,
he that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting
life, now watch this, and shall not come into condemnation, but
is passed from death unto life. That sound like some wishy-washy
faith to you? No, sir. He's passed. He ain't
dead anymore. You reckon blind Bartimaeus knew
that he had vision? How would he know? He's been
blinded because he sees. When God gives a man faith, he
gives him life. He's alive. He's not dead anymore. He's not blind anymore. You remember I gave you that
illustration one time about that preacher, he's talking to a grace
preacher, this Armenian is, and he's trying his best to convince
him that he's wrong in his doctrine. And he said, let me see if I
can illustrate what I'm telling you, the Armenian said. He said,
salvation's like a large gray elephant. And he said, and we're
all blind. And he said, one of us got to
hold the trunk, and we're rubbing them hands up and down that big
trunk, and we're trying to tell everybody what it is we feel,
this big trunk. Another one has a hold of his
leg. barely getting arms around him, and he's describing what
he's feeling. And he said, you see what I'm
saying? And the grace preacher said,
well, he said, I got some problems with your illustration. He said,
first of all, salvation got nothing in common with a large gray elephant.
Nothing. And secondly, we're not blind.
We can see. We can see. It comes not in word only, it
comes in the Holy Ghost, it comes in power, life-changing power. We pass from death unto life.
Paul said, for this cause also thank we God without ceasing,
because when you receive the word of God which you heard of
us, You received it not as the word of men, but as it is in
truth the word of God, now watch this, which effectually worketh
also in you that believe. This faith that won't quit is
an effectual faith. It doesn't leave a man like it
found him. He's changed. He's convinced. He has hope, he has eyes, he
has ears, he can hear. He's willing, my people shall
be willing in the day of my power. It's an effectual faith. And
then fifthly, true saving faith is not ignorance of God's presence
and hope. Oh, how many times have I heard
that over the years? I just don't feel God's presence
anymore. 2 Corinthians 13 five. examine yourselves, whether you
be in the faith, because there's just one faith. Prove your own selves. Know ye
not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except
you be reprobate? How do chosen sinners know how
that Christ is in them? He tells you here that you do,
unless you're reprobate. Well, how does a chosen sinner
know that Christ is in them? Well, first of all, by revelation.
By revelation. Paul said in Galatians 1.15,
when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb and
called me by his grace, are you listening? to reveal his son
in me. I know who he is. Do you? I've been telling you
now for 11 years. Do you know who he is? Who is
this man, Jesus Christ? He's the Son of God. He's the
eternal Savior. He's the surety of the everlasting
covenant. I know him. I know who he is. Well, how do I Because that revelation
is in me. I'm going to tell you something.
People without faith don't know who He is. That's why they talk
about everything else but Him. They talk about your commitment.
They talk about your decision. They talk about your will. They
talk about everything in the world except Christ. But to a
believer, Christ is all. I know Christ is in me because
I have His revelation. Paul talked to the Colossians
about his being a steward of the mysteries of God that had
been hid from ages and generations. But he said, now it is made manifest
to the saints to whom God would make known what is the riches
of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles. Now watch
this, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Only you know if Christ is your
hope. I can't look at you and know
that, only you can know that. But if he's your hope, you know
it. If you were to die and go out
today and meet God, what's your hope before holy God? I don't
have any hope except Christ. Of God are you in Christ Jesus,
who of God is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption. And then sixthly, the faith of
God's elect is a faith that worketh by love. You cannot have received
this blessed revelation of God, have your sins put away, have
knowledge that God has chosen you from all eternity and gave
his son for you and not love him in return. You cannot have
this and be ignorant of the love of God. He that loveth not, listen,
he don't know God. Because God is love. He's love. And then lastly, that faith that
believes to the saving of the soul, it rests in the full sufficiency
of Christ. This faith that just will not
quit. rest all its eggs in one basket. I don't have anything but Christ.
That's it. The only way for me to lose my
soul is for Christ to fail because I rest in him. And that ain't
gonna happen. Huh? In him, Paul said, dwelleth all
the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and ye are complete in him. That
sounds like full sufficiency to me. He talks about this also in Colossians,
putting on that new man. And he said, in him there's neither
Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian,
bond nor free. But Christ is all. All what? All. What about my sanctification? He's all. He's all. What about my righteousness?
He's all. What about my sin? He's all.
What about my future? He's all. Now watch this, and
in all. That one who is all is in all
his elect. He's all and in all. He that hath the Son hath life. Now how do we know we have that
faith that just won't quit? We heard the gospel and we believed
what we heard. We saw it in the word of God.
We received this precious gift of faith Now if somebody comes
up and hands you a gift, you know it, don't you? You know
it. We took God at his word. Your
faith got any other evidence? I don't. I have his word. And I tell you this, if you got
this faith, his word affectionately works in you. We have the witness in us, God's
revelation of his son. And this faith works in us by
love. I love what Henry Mahan told
old Gabe Starnaker when he sent him down to preach down in Kingsport. He gave him a big hug and he
said, when you get there, love them to Christ. Love them to
Christ. And it leaves us resting in the
full sufficiency of Christ. All them that believe, he said,
shall.