I invite you to turn back with
me this morning to the Gospel according to Mark. When you find your place there,
give me just a minute or two and see if I can introduce you
to my text. My text will be two verses, Mark
1, 14 and 15. Our religion, I'm talking about the religion
of true Israel, the religion of God's elect, the religion
of his saints, is an old religion. They said when they saw what
Christ, when they heard what he said and saw what he did,
they said, what new thing is this? It wasn't a new thing at
all. It was an old thing. An old thing. Our religion is an old religion. It dates back on the earth to
the very beginning of mankind. When Adam and Eve, when God came
to Adam and Eve in the cool of the day, after the fall, in the
Garden of Eden and demonstrated the gospel to them in the slaying
of that lamb, in the covering of their nakedness with its skins,
they worshipped Christ in gospel knowledge in the Garden. And Adam, now with an understanding
of some things, instructed his two sons, Cain and Abel, on how
God is to be worshiped. And when the day, when the designated
time for that worship came, they both come. But Cain didn't come
as he was instructed. He came according to what he
thought was right. But Abel, he did as he was instructed. He brought a lamb. He brought
a lamb. and he offered that lamb upon
an altar. And with gospel faith, he worshiped
his God. Our religion is as old as man. It's as old as man. Now I'm talking
about its manifestation. These things are eternal in God. There is no beginning. There
is no beginning. Christ was in the beginning.
He's the gospel, isn't he? Well, he was in the beginning
with God and was God. But manifested on the earth,
our religion is as old as man. I know scientists like to talk
about cavemen and they're wandering around and don't know anything
at all and discover fire and discover this and discover that.
But that's not how God pictures man. And I say this to you, you
believe what you want to. Let them throw all the evidence
they want to up there. I say let God be true and every
man a liar. I've been convinced, totally
convinced of things in my lifetime turned out to be a lie. This religion is a religion practiced
by our first parents, Adam and Eve, and by their sons. It is a religion passed down
to Abel, and then to Seth, and then to Enos, and so on, all
the way to Noah. And after Noah, God established
his religion with Abraham. And then Isaac and Jacob. It
become then the religion of Moses, and the religion of true Israel,
even to the coming of the promised Redeemer, Christ Jesus, our Lord. And in Romans chapter three,
verse 24, Paul gives us a brief outline of the gospel of ancient
Israel. This is the old gospel. This
is the old gospel. He's saying these things here
for the benefit of his kinsmen, for the benefit of the Jews who
rejected Christ and who wanted to look back to Moses, and Paul
gives us a brief description of that ancient religion. In
Romans 3 24 he said being justified freely by his grace through the
redemption that is in Christ Jesus whom God hath, that's past
tense, hath sent forth to be a propitiation through faith
in his blood to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that
are past through the forbearance of God. Now he's not talking
about men and women's past sins. All of our sins were past when
Christ died. I mean they were all future when
Christ died. He's talking about the sins of
these Old Testament saints. And this is what they understood
when they sacrificed that lamb. Those who had true saving faith
understood what that lamb represented. So much so that when John the
Baptist saw our Lord coming down that path that day, he said,
behold, the lamb. The lamb. God set forth His Son as a propitiation
for our sins through faith in His blood in the garden when
He slayed that lamb and took its skin and covered their nakedness. And God set forth His Son as
a propitiation for our sins through faith in His blood to Abel who
slayed the lamb and by faith saw it as a figure of the coming
Redeemer. By faith, the Holy Ghost testifies
that Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain,
by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, and by
these things he being dead yet speaking. That's Hebrews chapter
11, verse 4. The religion of the Old Testament
is a religion of salvation by grace through the accomplished
redemption of Christ and faith in his blood. Is that so? That's what the scriptures say.
That's what they say. To him, give all the prophets
witness. All the prophets witness. What
did they witness? That forgiveness of sins was
in him, in this coming Redeemer. And before Jesus Christ came
into this world, there was born of Mary's cousin, a man. That's how this gospel starts
off, talking about John the Baptist. There was a man who God filled
with the Holy Ghost while he was yet in his mother's womb.
His name would be called John and later on John the Baptist
because he performed an ordinance that was never seen in Israel
before. He baptized. He immersed. He walked out into the water
and those who confessed their sins and their faith in Christ
came out into that muddy Jordan and he submerged them under the
water. and they confessed their faith. John the Baptist was foretold
many years before his coming. Way back yonder in the book of
Malachi, the last book of the Old Testament, he said the prophets
spoke of God sending Elijah the prophet. Elijah the prophet's
gonna come. That's what he said. He's gonna
come in that great and dreadful day of the Lord. And then 400
years later, in Matthew chapter 11, 14, our Lord said of John,
if you will receive it, this is Elijah who was for to come,
pointing to John the Baptist. And in Luke 1, 17, he speaks
again of John, saying, he shall go before him in the spirit and
power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children,
and though disobedient to the wisdom of the just, and to make
ready a people prepared for the Lord." Well, what are you trying
to say in all this, preacher? I'm saying that man had declined
into such a mess in religion that he thought that salvation
was keeping the law. He thought that salvation was
man just surveying his old life and turning over a new leaf and
saying, I'm not going to live that way anymore. Now I'm going
to live like this. I'm not going to follow this
instruction anymore, I'm going to follow the law. It had declined
into such a place that they thought men had the power to save. And they set this priesthood,
they set this high priest way up on a pedestal, just like they
do the Pope today. And they do everything except
honor him as God. They exalt him and they kneel
down and kiss his ring. I'm not kissing anybody's ring
who wears an Easter egg on his hat and professes to be an apostle
of Christ. That's ridiculous. But that's
how man is. That's how far down man had declined. And here are these men. They
were legalists and ceremonialists and all of these type things.
And John's ministry was to come and say, hey, you missed it. Salvation's in Christ. Salvation's
in the coming Redeemer. That was John's whole purpose
in his calling. He went out and he said, make
straight the ways of the Lord. There's a way that seemeth right
unto a man, but the end thereof is destruction. Religion seemed right to me when
I was in it. It seemed right. What was wrong
with it? They weren't encouraging you
to go drink. They weren't encouraging you to go commit adultery. They
were trying to make better folks out of the people who came there,
trying to inspire them, trying to do... Yes, but they weren't
glorifying God at all. And all that stuff. And that's
the thing about religion. It's like rat poison. 99% of
it's good food. It's the 1% that gets the rat. And this is what was going on. Make ready a people prepared
for the Lord. Israel had declined in their
religion. It was a religion now of self-righteousness. That scribe came in that day
into the temple and he looked and he saw that publican up there
with his head bowed and he said, boy, I thank God I'm not like
him. No, you're worse than him. You're
worse than him. It was a religion of self-righteousness
and ceremonialism. Our Lord took his disciples and
they walked through the cornfield and they'd pluck off an ear of
corn and shuck it back. I lived up in corn country in
Ohio when I was just a young boy. And we've done that many
a time, walking through a cornfield. Just reach over and get an ear
of corn, shuck it back and eat the corn right off the cob. That's
what they were doing. And those Pharisees looked at
them and said, look, they don't even wash their hands before
they eat. And they do this, and they transgress
the Sabbath day. And they do this. It was a religion
of self-righteousness and ceremonialism and works. Our Lord said, many
are going to say unto me in that day, have not we done many wonderful
works in thy name? Have not we preached in thy name? And what's it say the Lord's
going to do? He's going to look right back at them and say, depart
from me, you workers of iniquity. Is that what it is to preach
a false gospel? It's iniquity. It's an abomination,
the scripture says. Depart from me, you workers of
iniquity. I never knew you. And it was the lot of John the
Baptist to preach the way of the Lord, the way of salvation
by grace, the way of salvation accomplished by one man when
he had by himself purged us from our sin, by himself. Oh, religion likes to talk about
giving God a hand, don't they? Let's give him a hand now. I'll
get you down the aisle, and we're going to help God all we can.
After all, God helps them that help themselves. You won't find
that in the Bible. God helps the helpless. The whole
need not a physician, it's the sick. He ain't talking about
a cold and a sniffly nose. He's talking about somebody dying
of leprosy. Dying with an issue of blood
and all the doctors in the world couldn't help her. The only thing that could help
her, she said, if I could just touch the hem of his garment.
And that's all it took. All it took. Behold, he said, the Lamb of
God that taketh away the sin of the world. Christ said this. He said, I am the way. That's
what John preached. He's the way. This ain't the
way. He's the way. And all these prophets
preached that, every one of them. But there'd been 400 silent years,
400 when not a prophet spoke in Israel. And religion had declined
the same as it is today. Nothing but works and ceremonialism
and walking down aisles and whoop-dee-doo and kids professing faith, coming
down, popping their gum, coming down. conviction of sin, there's
no faith in Christ, they can't even tell you who Christ was
or why they called him the Christ. They don't know. This is the
way it was in the day of John. John the Baptist was not a legalist. Our members of the religion I
went to, they preached John the Baptist as a legalist. He come
in and boy, he made them toe the mark. Not what John did at
all. John preached salvation by grace.
The only people he ever barked at was self-righteous people.
And to them, he called them dogs. He said, who has warned you to
flee the wrath of God? You go back and bring forth fruit,
meat for repentance. John's message was salvation
in the person of the promised Lamb of God. I remember old Isaac, the scripture
said Isaac was about 15 years old and he was going up that
mountain and he was packing the wood. Abraham laid the wood on
the back of his son and his son going up that mountain. I was
raised in Kentucky. We got mountains up there. They're
not hills, they're mountains. You can stand on them, reach
out like this and touch the ground. I mean, they're going up. And
here's this boy, and he's climbing up this mountain. He's got all
this wood on his back, and he's got some time to think about
it. He's going up that mountain, he looks over at his father,
and there's this big old knife that he used to slay the lambs
for burnt offering. And this big old knife's hanging
there on his belt. And he looks over there, and
old man Abraham, his daddy, was carrying that big torch. And
he said, Father, I've got the wood right here, And I see the
fire, but where's the lamb? That 15-year-old boy knew you
couldn't worship God without a lamb. And he said, son, God will provide
himself a lamb for a burnt offering. Isn't that the gospel? Israel
didn't know that. John preached in the power of
God's Spirit the way of substitution Covenant Union imputed righteousness
and sovereign grace. He preached him whose coming
after him was preferred before him, whose shoe-lacked he wasn't
worthy to bend over and unloose. The Lord said, John, I've come
for you to baptize me. And he said, I have need to be
baptized of you. He said, you suffer it to be
so for now. But now John's ministry had run
its course. It had run its course. And he
was down in prison. And his ministry, as great as
it was, was drawing to a close. I must decrease, he must increase. Now we come to my text here in
Mark 1.14. After John was put in prison,
what a man. What a man was John. Jesus came. That's salvation,
my friend. Jesus came. He came into Galilee
preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God. and saying the time is
fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand, repent ye and
believe the gospel. Now this is not a word by word
account of his message, but the gist of it. This is the gist
of everything that he spoke to. And there's four things that
I want you to see in our text that'll help you to understand
not only what was going on here, but also what was about to take
place in a few years when Christ went to the cross and died on
that cross and was buried and rose from the dead. First of
all, the Son of God plainly declares to us that the time is fulfilled. What time? That time purposed
of God before the world was. In Hebrews chapter 9, Paul gives
us a brief history of the religion of the Old Covenant, the religion
of the Old Testament. And he tells it that it had ordinances
of divine service. They had a priesthood. God elected
to have a priesthood and a high priest. And he gave Moses instruction
to build a tabernacle back in the book of Exodus. And Moses
built his tabernacle exactly as God showed him in the mount.
And everything in that tabernacle was a picture of Christ, everything.
And in this tabernacle there was a courtyard that surrounded
the tabernacle and the priest would go inside the courtyard
and that's where the altar, where they burnt the offerings and
so on was there and then there was a big old, looked like a
giant bird bath over here and it was a laver for cleansing. And then the common priest would
go into the first part of that tabernacle, he called it the
sanctuary. And that's how he describes it
over here in Hebrews chapter 9. These first several verses
here in Hebrews 9 He gives us all these things. It had ordinances
of divine service, certain things which they were to do daily and
weekly and monthly and yearly. And they had a visible and earthly
sanctuary. They had a place of worship.
You know men call buildings the church? Let me show you a picture
of our church. That's not the church. We're
gathered here this morning at a sanctuary. We're gathered here
within a building. But the church is its people. That's God's church. Well, under this old visible
way of worship, they had a tabernacle. You could see it. They had a
courtyard went around it. White linen hung all the way
around that courtyard. And they go inside this tabernacle.
And the common priests could go in here and they could service
the lamp that was in there and put oil in it. And they had showbread
that was laid out. All these things are a picture
of Christ. And they go in there and they do the service of God
every day. They go in there and take care
of things. And this tabernacle had two basic
divisions, what he calls the outward sanctuary and then what
they called the holy of holies. That's where the high priest
alone went in one time a year, not without blood. And he went
into that to make atonement for our sins. Into the second went the high
priest alone one time a year with the blood of the atonement
which he offered for himself and for those he represented,
whose names were not only written on his breastplate over his heart,
but also written on his shoulders to bear them up before the Lord. Now listen to this, Hebrews 9a.
The Holy Ghost, this signifying, here's the, you say, well what's
the significance of all this? Well here it is, this signifying
that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest
while as that first tabernacle was still standing, which was a figure. Isn't that
what that says there? Which was a figure for the time
then present and which were offered both gifts and sacrifices that
could never make him that did the service perfect as pertaining
to the conscience. It was a day of types and symbols,
and these things laid the groundwork for the person and work of the
coming Redeemer. And in Hebrews chapters 9 and
10, Paul calls these things figures for the time then present. He
calls them patterns of things in the heavens, figures for that
time, and shadows of good things to come. They were figures of
the truth. It was a day of outward symbolism,
a visible priesthood, illustrative ordinances and ceremonial pictures. And these things, Paul said,
were imposed. God imposed these things on men. These things didn't come back
until after the law came. And then they were imposed on
men and women until the time of Reformation. That is, everything
in the way of outward worship in the Old Testament was given
to teach us the way of salvation by grace through faith. That's
what I'm getting at. They were given to illustrate
the offices, the person, and the work of the coming Redeemer.
And as Paul tells us in Galatians 4-4, when the fullness of the
time was come. The time when that old covenant
had waxed old and was ready to be folded up When the fullness
of the time was come, God sent forth his son, made of a woman,
made under the law. Why? To redeem them who were
under the law. Why? That they might receive
their inheritance, this inheritance of God. Now Christ said the time is fulfilled. You see one of these preachers
on TV and he comes out and somebody hangs on him this big old robe
and he puts it on. The time's fulfilled. Don't need
a robe anymore. You see the Pope come out and
they put that big mitre on his head, that big Easter egg, and
he comes out. The time is fulfilled. The time ordained of God, the
time of the foundation being laid. Other foundation can no
man lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. The time
is fulfilled. The Old Testament is not a void
or a vacuum. It served a purpose, and that
purpose was to lay the foundation of Christ and of faith in Him. Paul tells us in Ephesians chapter
two, you're built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets,
Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone. And then here's the second thing
I want you to see here in our text. Our Lord came into Galilee. Now first thing he tells them,
time's up. Time's over. These old things
have grown to an end. My presence here. declares the
end of the first covenant. He came into Galilee declaring
that the kingdom of God is at hand. The kingdom of God, as
it's stated here, has to do with the authority, the government,
and the king of God's kingdom standing before them. This is talking about the gospel
age when the king shall appear and lay siege to that which belongs
to him. The promised land was given to
God, given by God to Israel. And they were shocked when they
come up there. They thought they're just going
to go in this vacant land. There wasn't going to be anybody
in there. They're just going to go into this promised land.
It's going to be a land of milk and honey. And they sent the
spies over, and they come back dragging a pot of grapes on a
pole between two men. They said, truly, this is a land
of milk and honey. But there's giants over there.
And there's walled cities. And there are people over there
who claim to own that land. And they got armies, and they're
fierce. We can't go in there. Huh? It was given of God to Israel,
but the inhabitants of the land, those who inhabited the land
must be laid siege. It had to be laid siege to. It
had to be taken. And even so, the kingdom of God
was at hand because the king himself appeared on the battlefield. He who could and would free the
captives is standing right here before you. That's what he's
telling them. He who was made unto us the wisdom of God is
standing right here before you. He who by himself shall purge
our sins is here, standing in the flesh. What a day. And then on the Sabbath, he entered
into the synagogue, and he taught, and they were astonished at his
doctrine. He said, this is the way it is,
and it's not that way. And they said, boy, you know
scribes don't teach this way. They present these things
in theory. They present these things as
possibilities. This man don't preach that way.
He preaches like one who has authority, who knows what he's
saying. My sister, before she died, told
me, she said, I don't understand why you think you can be so dogmatic
about what you preach. Because I know what I'm saying. Uh-huh. The only way you can
tell the truth is to tell the truth, isn't it? unless you don't want people
to understand what you say. Oh, he entered into the synagogue
and he taught and they were astonished at his doctrine for he taught
them as one having authority and not like the scribe. And
he called disciples and none refused. He said, you and you,
come on. What'd they do? They came on.
They were fishermen, they were in the boats. Mesquieu had lines
in the water. He said, come on. They laid the
pole down and went with him. He moved on up a little bit,
and here's two more sons and their father Zebedee sitting
in the boat. And they were cleaning out the nets and going about
the day's work. And he said, come on. They left
the old man in the boat. There he sat with his nets. Two
sons left, followed Christ. He called disciples and none
refused. He cast out demons and none resisted. Men said, what thing is this? What new doctrine is this? For with authority he commandeth
even the unclean spirits, and they obey him. They said the
same thing that day on the Sea of Galilee out there when they
were crossing it, and that storm blew up in the middle of the
night. Oh, they were going to all perish. And the Lord, they
went down and woke him up. He was asleep. And they went
down and woke him up. And they said, Lord, don't you care? We're
going to perish. Oh, yeah, little faggot. He walked
up there, he said, peace, be still. That place is like a piece
of glass. Huh? And they said, what kind of man
is it? Even the winds and the waves obey his voice. I'll tell
you what kind of man he is. This is the king. This is he
who made all things, who created all things, and all things were
made by him and for him. That's who this is. And he's
here not to make peace, he's here to lay siege on what belongs
to him. These unclean spirits obey him
and the winds and the waves obey him because he's Immanuel, God
with us. He's the king David wrote about,
which God set upon Zion and laughs at all who tries to take away
his kingdom. The kingdom of God is an invisible
power and authority that works in the hearts and minds of chosen
sinners. That's what the kingdom is. We say it don't work in me. Well,
maybe you're not one of God's elect. It works in their hearts,
and it's effectual. Paul said in 1 Thessalonians
chapter 2, he said, I thank God. When I preach to you, you didn't
receive my message as the words of men, but as it is indeed the
word of God, which affectionately worketh in you that believe. It cometh not, our Lord said
in Luke chapter 17, verse 20, with observation. Look at a church that's got 5,000
members. You say, boy, the Lord's in that,
isn't he? No, not necessarily. It cometh not with observation.
His kingdom is established, Bo, in the heart. In the heart. The kingdom of God, he said in
Luke 17, 21, is within you. It is the king's claim on what
has been promised to him. He said, if you be the Christ,
tell us plainly. He said, I told you, you believe
not, because you're not my sheep. As I said unto you, my sheep
hear my voice. My voice comes to them with effectual
power, and they hear what I say. And I call them, and they come
out, and I put them out before me, and they walk. I'm the king. Listen to this, all that the
Father giveth me shall come to me. Confidence, ain't it? He don't
preach. This wasn't in theory. It's not
saying maybe. He said all that the Father giveth
me gonna come to me. And him that cometh to me, I
will no wise cast out. I come to do the Father's will,
and he did the Father's will. And they said, well, he said
he's the bread come down from heaven. He's crazy. He said,
don't murmur. No man can come to me except
my father draw him. Huh? This is the king. You see what he's saying? The
kingdom of God is at hand. The great mystery of God's eternal
purpose of grace is that in the dispensation of the fullness
of times, He might gather together in one all things in Christ,
both which are in heaven and which are on earth, even in Him. He came preaching that the kingdom
of God was at hand. The reigning king was standing
before them, the conquering king. He's pictured in the book of
Revelations on a white horse with a drawn sword going forth
to conquer. This is the conquering king.
This is the seated king. He's seated at the right hand
of God. He's the head of the kingdom.
He's the promised king, the king of peace, the gracious and merciful
king. And the kingdom of the king,
what is his by right of office, title, covenant, purchase, and
power. The Kingdom of God is at hand.
Our Lord prayed to His Father, and He said, I pray for them,
Father. He said, I pray not for the world, but for them which
Thou hast given Me. For they are Thine, and all Mine
are Thine, and Thine are Mine, and I am glorified in them. He
came to claim what was rightfully His. Though His goods may be kept
by a strong man armed, and they were, When a stronger than he
shall come upon the scene, he's going to take away from him all
his armor wherein he trusted. He's going to take it away, and
he's going to spoil his goods. To preach that the kingdom of
God is at hand is to preach deliverance to the captives, to set at liberty
them that are bruised. He said, this day is this fulfilled
in your ears. The kingdom of God is at hand.
How could they possibly have known that? Because the power
of God attended his person and preaching and providence of God
and his commandments were obeyed. That's how. Paul said, I know your election
of God. My gospel didn't come unto you
in word only, it came in power and in the Holy Ghost. Now this is important. Our Lord
said at the when the 70 that he sent to men on his behalf
and under his authority. And he said, he that heareth
you, heareth me. All you ever gonna hear from
the king is from his ambassador's lips. And you'll hear it or die in
your sins. He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved, he that believeth not, believeth not what? His
ambassador and the gospel he brings shall be damned. And though I'm not the promised
redeemer and am not the king of glory, yet I am his ambassador
and as such I can say with all confidence to you today, the
kingdom of God is at hand. You know what he said? He said,
today is the day of salvation. He didn't say, you and you follow
me, and they said, well, we're going to think about it for a
little while. Huh? They throwed them
nets down and came running over to his side. Preaching of the gospel is the
power of God unto salvation to everyone that believe it. Power
meaning both ability and the right. To them gave he power
to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name,
which were born of God. When the gospel is preached,
the kingdom of God is at hand. Will you receive it? Huh? Will you receive it? Will you
bow to it? Will you rejoice in it or suffer the consequences? Oh, but preacher, you say, I'm
not opposed to it. You are if you don't submit to
it. Huh? Is that right? You are if you
don't submit to it. You are if you refuse to obey
it. And you are if you can hear it
and walk away in indifference. You're opposed to it. He that's
not with me is against me. Isn't that what Christ said?
And he that gathers not with me scatters abroad. There's no
gray area here. There's no vacuum here. All right,
here's the third thing. Repent ye. Now the word as it appears in
our text means this. Now you look it up in your Strong's
Concordance and see if what I'm telling you is not the truth.
This word has different, it has various meanings. Now the general
meaning of the term is to turn. That's the general meaning of
the word repentance. But in this particular place,
here's the type of turning that he's talking about. It means
to think differently. That's what he's telling them.
When he said repent, he's telling them to think differently, to
reconsider. A good example of this is found
in Peter's message at the temple. Acts 3, 14, but you denied the
Holy One and the just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto
you, and killed the Prince of Life, whom God hath raised from
the dead, whereof we're all witnesses. And his name, through faith in
his name, hath made this man strong, whom you see and know.
Yea, the faith which is by him hath given this perfect soundness
in the presence of you all. And now, brethren, I want that
through ignorance you did it, as did also your rulers. But
those things which God before had shewed by the mouth of his
prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled. Now listen, repent ye therefore. Now you think differently. You
reconsider what I'm telling you and be converted that your sins
might be blotted out when the times of refreshing should come.
Reconsider based on the truth of the gospel versus your old
traditional understanding of it. My generation has a traditional
understanding of free will and decisionism and universal atonement
and universal love. They believe that God wills for
all people to be saved if they let Him. And when I preach, I'm laboring
to tell them that the same thing that Peter did and the same thing
that our Lord's telling these people here in the light of the
truth of the gospel, reconsider and think differently. Tune your thoughts into the Word
of God and God's testimony. Let God be true in every man's
life. repent ye and believe the gospel. Well, what is it to believe
the gospel? That's my final point. Well,
it means several things. First, it means to acknowledge
what you've heard and what you've been taught as the truth of God
and the salvation of your soul. That's what it means. Peter preached
the gospel of Jesus Christ at Pentecost, saying, for the promise
is unto you and your children and to all that are far off,
even as many as the Lord our God shall call. With many other
words did he testify and exhort, saying, save yourselves from
this untoward generation. Now listen. And they that gladly
received his word were baptized. And the same day there were added
unto them about 3,000 souls. They acknowledged what God's
ambassador told them. And they did so in the light
of his word. Faith is to acknowledge what you've heard. And secondly,
it's a commitment of yourself to God based on what you've now
heard and believed. Say, I believe this. When you
do, you'll commit to it. You'll commit to it when you
do. Paul said, I know whom I have
believed. And I'm persuaded he's able to
keep that which I've committed unto him against that day. Many are the men who have acknowledged
the gospel but stop short of commitment. They stop short of commitment.
The believer commits. Just like those guys did, they
threw them nets down and committed themselves to Christ. They had
no idea where he was gonna lead them. Most of them died martyrs. They
died preaching the gospel. And then thirdly, faith trusts
him in whom it believes. Our Lord said, I am the vine,
you're the branches. He that abideth in me, and I
in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit." Now, listen to this
statement. Without me, you can do nothing. What can you do? Huh? That's what religion talks about,
what you ought to do, what you could do, what you might do,
and what they already did. He said, without me, you can
do nothing. That's what you can do. You can do nothing. What can you do without God and
without Christ? Nothing. Just continue on. Continue on in your fallen nature.
Continue on in your rebellion to God. You can't do anything.
The carnal mind's enmity against God, not subject to the law of
God, neither indeed can be. The natural man receiving not
the things of the Spirit of God, their foolishness to it. Neither
can he believe them because they're spiritually discerned. With man,
our Lord said, it's impossible. You hath equated who were dead.
What can you do without Christ? Nothing. Faith trusts God, trusts in his
word, trusts his son, trusts his ambassador whom God has sent
him. And this is what our Lord's saying to them, and He's saying
it with the authority of God. He said, repent and believe the
gospel. And faith rests in Christ as
God their Father did when He gave all things into the hands
of His Son. In Hebrews chapter 4, and I'll
quit, He sets before us three Sabbaths. There was a Sabbath
established at the conclusion of creation when it says, and
God rested from all the works of his hands. But then afterward, he speaks
of another rest, of another rest. And there was a Sabbath as it
pertained to Israel entering into their promised inheritance,
which as the first Sabbath spoke, clearly of the person and work
of the coming Redeemer. There was a Sabbath. But Joshua,
it says in Hebrews 4, could not give them that rest. Could not
give them that rest. And there's a Sabbath of faith,
which is Christ alone, for he that is entered into his rest,
his rest, he ceases from his works. and he worships God and rests
in Christ and the Sabbath is fulfilled. Which one? All of
them.