In the last part of Romans chapter
1 verse 17, there is a statement made that's repeated four times
in Holy Scripture. Shelby and I were laying in bed
this morning having our first cup of coffee and discussing
this passage of Scripture. And I asked her if she could
think of any place where there's another statement that is repeated
exactly the same in four different places in scripture. I'm not
certain, I haven't studied it out carefully, but I don't think
there is another place. The statement is given four times
in the Word of God, four times by divine inspiration. It was
written first in Habakkuk chapter 2 verse 4, then here in Romans
1 verse 17, then in Galatians chapter 3 verse 11, And then
in Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 38. Four times the same statement. Look at it with me here in Romans
1 verse 17. The just shall live by faith. The just shall live by faith. That's my subject this morning.
The just shall live by faith. God's people in this world live
by faith. They live by trusting him, believing
him, believing his word. That has always been the case
and shall always be the case until time is no more. All who
know God live by faith. They live continually by faith. Benjamin Bedham captured what
the Prophet tells us and the Apostle tells us in one of his
hymns. "'Tis faith supports my feeble
soul in times of deep distress. When storms arise and billows
roll, great God, I trust thy grace. Thy powerful arm still
bears me up whatever griefs befall. Thou art my life. my joy, my
hope, and thou my all in all. Bereft of friends, beset with
foes, with dangers all around, to thee I all my fears disclose,
in thee my hope is found. In every want, in every strait,
to thee alone I fly. When other comforters depart,
thou art forever die. The just shall live by faith. Now, if we would understand Habakkuk's
prophecy, we must understand it in the light of the New Testament
quotations that the Apostle Paul gives in Romans, Galatians, and
Hebrews. And if we would understand what
Paul is talking about in Romans, Galatians, and Hebrews, we must
understand Habakkuk's prophecy given in the Old Testament. Habakkuk
speaks concerning the Chaldeans invading Jerusalem and Judea,
taking God's people captive, the ungodly, the wicked, the
idolatrous people, taking them captive, oppressing and ruling
over God's chosen nation, God's people being brought in subjection
under the rule of Babylonian idolaters. And Habakkuk was overwhelmed
with the thought of this. And the Lord told him, I'm going
to do a wondrous thing, a wondrous thing. And that wondrous thing
we find in Matthew 21 has reference to the coming and accomplishments
of the Lord Jesus Christ, our Redeemer. So the Babylonian captivity
and Israel's deliverance out of Babylon was that which portrayed
something spiritual. It portrayed God's salvation,
God's deliverance of his people out of the captivity of sin and
Satan and the curse and bondage of his own holy law. In Romans
chapter 1 and Galatians chapter 3 and Hebrews chapter 10, the
Apostle Paul writes by divine inspiration and makes this same
statement, the just shall live by faith in connection with three
distinct aspects of God's salvation as it is experienced by us in
this world. In Romans 1, the apostle is talking
about our free justification by the grace of God through the
blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. In Galatians 3, the apostle speaks
concerning our sanctification, our holiness, our life in this
world in the grace of God. And then in Hebrews 10, he speaks
about perseverance, the sure perseverance of God's elect.
And in all these things, the declaration of God to us is this,
the just, those who are justified by the free grace of God, those
who are just before God, righteous before God, all of them, while
they live in this world, live by faith. David, that means we
who are God's, live in the continual experience of God's grace and
God's salvation by faith in Christ. Now that's the message of these
four passages that give this declaration, the just shall live
by faith. Let's look at all four of them
in succession. Turn back to Habakkuk chapter
two. Habakkuk chapter two. The quotations given in Romans,
Galatians, and Hebrews are taken from Habakkuk's prophecy here
in chapter 2 and verse 4. Both Habakkuk and Paul, I remind
you, are talking about God's salvation, the entirety of it. The entirety of it. The whole
experience of grace. The whole experience of salvation
is that which we know and enjoy and experience by faith in Jesus
Christ the Lord. The just shall live by faith. The Spirit of God here and throughout
the scriptures teaches us that faith is the distinctive thing
about a believer's life. By faith, we embrace our savior,
the Lord Jesus. By faith, we live upon him. In Habakkuk chapter 1, verses
2 and 3, we read the prophet as he cried out beneath the heavy
weight of his burden. Oh, Lord, how long shall I cry
and thou wilt not hear? Why dost thou show me iniquity
and cause me to behold grievance? And then at the end of this first
chapter, in verses 13 through 17, he asked the Lord to explain
himself. He said, Lord, show me what you're
doing. Show me what you're doing. He asked the Lord to explain
to him why he would choose to use the Chaldeans as rods of
correction for his chosen people Judah. His question is really
this. I'll summarize it for you. I'll
give it paraphrase. This is Fortner's paraphrase.
How is it that you, O Lord God, you who is of purer eyes than
to behold iniquity, how is it that you will execute your judgment
upon your people by a people worse than we are? How will you
do that? How is it that you correct your
church by causing wicked men to oppress her? How is it that
you correct us for our evils by causing men who are base idolaters
to oppress your people? Now, these are not questions
of a rebel. They're not questions of a reprobate unbeliever. They're
the questions of a faithful prophet of God, a man who believed God,
but a man who in the midst of the life as he saw it in this
world, the life he experienced in the day in which he lived,
he looks around him. And it sees wickedness everywhere.
Wickedness in high places and in low places. Wickedness in
the ruler's house, and wickedness in the prophet's house, and wickedness
among priests, and wickedness among people. He sees it everywhere.
And he's going, what are you doing? What are you doing? What are you doing? Now, we would
never use exactly the same language Habakkuk used. because we're
not that honest. But the fact is, in our own minds
and hearts, we often struggle with the very same questions.
Much like David in Psalm 73, he cried as he looked out and
saw the wicked prospering. And he said, I've washed my hands
in innocence here. I've served God and look what's
gotten me. I've got a house full of rebels,
that man over there who hates God, got a house full of children
who adore him. But what's the point in serving
God? We must admit we struggle with those questions. The earth
is filled with glaring iniquity. The wicked do prosper all around
us. The righteous, for the most part,
suffer. After raising these questions,
Habakkuk says, I'll wait for God to answer. We would be wise
to do the same and to lay God's answer to our hearts. We wonder
what the Lord's doing. You read the newspaper, and you
ask God, what are you doing? You see the painful things folks
experience who worship and serve God, and you wonder, God, what
are you doing? What are you doing? Wait for
God to answer Wait for God dancer. He has answered in his word Let
us lay the answer to heart Let us lay the answer to heart Here
in the second chapter of Habakkuk the prophet stands upon his watchtower
as God's prophet Awaiting God's answer and the Lord gives it
to him in a vision But Habakkuk doesn't tell us exactly what
he saw It has to be assumed that the rest of his prophecy is the
result of this vision God gave him. I say that because God commanded
him in verses two and three of chapter two to write out the
vision and make it play. And the declaration of God's
vision was first and foremost a word of instruction and reproof
as well as assurance to the prophet. This is what God said when he
gave him his vision. He said, he said, this is what
I've learned. This is what I've learned. The
just does not live by what he sees. The just does not live
by what he experiences. The just does not live by what
he feels. The just lives by his faith. The just shall live by his faith. The just man, the righteous man,
the just woman, the righteous woman walks through this world. Through the various experiences
of this world, the ups and the downs, the profits and the losses,
the pleasure and the pain, the just lives in this world by faith. Looking ever to God our Savior,
the Lord Jesus Christ in all things and for all things. So
the first thing we learn in Habakkuk's revelation here is that God is
running things in this world. And he's running them right on
schedule. Look at verse 3, Habakkuk 2. The vision is yet for an appointed
time. The vision is yet for an appointed
time. What vision is he talking about? The vision God gave him
in answer to his prayer. As he waits for God's answer.
He asks God, why do you call me to see iniquity? Why is it
that you will take wicked men to punish a righteous man? And
Habakkuk says, this is what God answers. The vision is yet for
an appointed time. It is yet for something else
to come. It's not, it's not about the Babylonians and the Calvians.
And it's not, it's not about, it's not about your struggles
with the Babylonians and Calvians. It's not about your struggles
in this world. This vision is about the crucifying of the son
of God, the righteous man by the hands of wicked man. This
vision is about the coming of him who is our crucified savior
to set all things right. The vision is for an appointed
time. But at the end it shall speak this vision shall speak. It's talking about a person and
shall not lie Though it although he the one revealed in this vision
shall tarry wait for it wait for him Because it he will surely
come and will not tarry the fact is God is ruling this world and
always has for the accomplishment of our salvation by Jesus Christ
the Lord to the everlasting praise of his glory in all his creation. And he's going to do it. He's
going to do it. He's going to do it. Throughout
the Old Testament, the Jews, being given the word of God,
sacrificed morning and evening. They sacrificed, sacrifices hundreds
and hundreds and hundreds and hundreds and thousands and thousands
and thousands of sacrifices throughout those 2,000 years after God gave
them the law. They did this, those who believed,
in anticipation of Him who was to come, God's great sacrifice
for sin. And then in due time, Christ
died for the ungodly. Seemed like such a long time.
The Jews, for the most part, began to forsake God and turned
to idolatry. They maintained their sacrifices,
but they sacrificed to Baal. They maintained their pretense
of worshiping Jehovah, but they were worshiping idols, the works
of their own hands. But there were still an elect
remnant, or there was still an elect remnant among the Jews
who continually looked for the coming of the Lord Jesus. And
at the appointed time, Christ Jesus came. God's answer to all
Habakkuk's questions God's answer to all our questions is just
this the just Shall live by his faith the life that I now live
in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me
and gave himself for me God's time is not our time. How often have you thought or
said or heard others say? We must be we must be in the
last days. Look what's happening And we
are in the last days. There's no question about that.
The last days began with the coming of our Lord Jesus to accomplish
redemption for us. John said it is the last time.
We're living in the last days. Well, brother Don, but that's
been 2,000 years. What's that? What's that? A thousand years with God are
but as a day. And a day but as a thousand years. We become so impatient, so very
impatient, wanting God to do things right now. God to accomplish
things right now. The just live by faith. By faith. The Lord God turns
your world upside down. Just turns your world upside
down. Your hearts have, everything you worked for is gone. Everything
you worked for is gone. Watching a movie about, what
was his name, Jim Fraddock. Championship boxer who beat Max
Barry back in 1935 the other night. The Great Depression.
What a horrible time. What a horrible, men lost everything.
Men lost everything. Everything. No, they didn't. No, they didn't. They only lost
stuff. They only lost stuff. They only lost stuff. God's people among them didn't
lose anything. And so it is to this day. So
it is to this day. How can you live in the midst
of such things? By faith. How can you live when you bury
that child? By faith. How can you live when that rebel
son would plot your death? By faith. How can you endure
the difficulties and trials? By faith. The just live by faith. That doesn't mean things don't
hurt. That doesn't mean you don't feel them. That doesn't mean
things don't crush your heart. Habakkuk's heart was crushed.
You think you get heavy-hearted over the political and economic
and social affairs of our day, try to put yourself back here
in Habakkuk's position. Try to put yourself in Paul's
position in Rome. You think the world's bad now?
Read about Roman society sometime. Read about it sometime. And yet,
Merle, Habakkuk and Paul, in the midst of far worse circumstances
than you and I have ever experienced or seen, said the just shall
live by faith. The just shall live by faith.
You see, we live trusting our God to do all things well for
the glory of his name and the saving of his people until the
earth is filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover
the sea. And so it shall be. Now, look
at Romans 1. Romans 1 17. The first New Testament
quotation. It's found here in Romans 117.
It follows Paul's declaration when he said, I'm not ashamed
of the gospel of Christ. For it's the power of God unto
salvation to everyone that believeth. And then he says, for therein,
in this gospel, that's the power of God unto salvation, is the
righteousness of God revealed. The righteousness of God, the
righteousness of him of whom Habakkuk spoke in the vision,
that one who was to come. The righteousness accomplished
by him in his obedience unto death. The righteousness of God
in Christ is revealed from faith to faith. So that as the believer
walks through the world, walks through time, walks through dark
valleys, walks across high mountains, walks in the troubled sea, walks
through heavy times. He walks, living by faith, trusting
the Redeemer, leaning on the Good Shepherd all the time, trusting
Him, living for Him. Shelby asked me this morning,
she said, in the scriptures, Do believers always grow in faith? And continue growing in faith?
And I couldn't help but to think about a fellow by the name of
Caleb. You can read about him in Joshua
chapter 14. God had promised the children
of Israel Kadesh Barnea. And this fellow Caleb said to
Joshua, give me this mountain. I'll take it. I'll take it. Caleb was 85 years old. He was 85 years old. And you might say, well, 85 in
those days isn't the same as 85 today. I beg your pardon.
When Sarah was an old woman in her day, long before this, she
was well past bearing children. 85 is 85. He was 85 years old. And he said, my strength is just
as strong as it was in the day when I went in and spied out
this land, Cadiz, Barnea. I'm just as strong. My vision
is just as clear. What's he saying? God has preserved
me and kept me miraculously for this day. Give me this mountain. I'll take it. Yes, God's people
grow in grace. And as they grow from faith to
faith, More and more clearly, the righteousness of God by which
we prevail over sin, death, and hell is revealed to faith. The just shall live by his faith. Paul is standing here, as it
were, on the threshold of his great epistle about justification. He's talking to us about justification
through Jesus Christ, our Lord, by the obedience and death of
Christ Jesus. Faith does not give us life. Faith does not make us righteous.
Christ made us righteous by His obedience. Christ made us righteous
by His death. God the Holy Spirit gives us
life. But faith receives that life. And faith experiences that life. And faith is the fruit of that
life. This time of the year, We start to see the jonquils
popping up and tulips and soon the roses being bloom and you
look at them and you smell the fragrance and you admire their
beauty and you look at it and say, well, the plants have come
to life. No, no, no, no, no. The reason the rose blooms and
has that fragrant smell is because there's life in the plant. And
so it is with the believer. Faith is the fruit of the life
that God gives us. Faith leaning on Christ, faith
looking to Christ, faith living upon Christ. That's the fruit
of life given by God. Like our brother Abel, believing
God, offering God the blood of his own darling son, we obtain
witness that we are righteous by faith in Christ Jesus. Now
turn to Galatians chapter three. Here's the second place where
Paul quotes Habakkuk, Galatians 3, verse 11. Remember, in chapter 1, he's
talking about justification, us being righteous before God.
The believer is a person who receives testimony from God in
his own heart, mind, and conscience. You're righteous. You're righteous. You're righteous. I give you plenty of reason to
doubt that. I wish it weren't so, Frank,
but if you hang around me, I'll give you plenty of reason to
doubt whether or not I'm righteous. I give myself plenty of reason
to doubt my righteousness when I look at myself. Plenty of reason. But before God, I have no question. I'm righteous. I'm righteous. God has sprinkled my heart with
the blood of his son and says, you're clean. And I'm clean before
God. That comes in the experience
of sanctification in the new birth. Here, Paul is talking
about the believer being holy, holy. Now we know this because
you look up at verse 3, he said, having begun in the spirit, are
you now made perfect in the flesh? In chapter 2, he talked about
justification. But in chapter 3, he comes to
talk about sanctification. And watch what he says in verse
11. He says, no man is justified by the law in the sight of God.
It is evident, for the just shall live by his faith. But in the
context of this third chapter, he's talking about believers
walking before God in sanctification. We're justified by Christ Jesus,
and we're sanctified by Christ. We receive justification by faith,
and we know sanctification and experience it by faith in Christ
Jesus. carefully read the context from
which this quotation is taken. Paul was inspired of God to use
it here to teach us the intention of God the Holy Spirit. By faith
in Christ Jesus, all who are justified experience sanctification. That faith by which we live is
the gift and operation of God's Spirit within us. Galatians chapter
3 look up verse 10 Paul is saying much the same thing as he said
in Colossians 2 6 as you have therefore received Christ Jesus
the Lord so walk ye in him walk in sanctification believing God
Walk in holiness believing God Back up to chapter 3 verse 1.
Oh foolish Galatians Who have bewitched you? that you should
not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently
set forth crucified among you. This only would I learn of you.
Receive you the Spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing
of faith. How was it, Lindsay, that you first received the Spirit
of God? By something you did? Or was it by faith, faith in
Christ Jesus? You received Him by faith. Look
at verse 3. Are you so foolish having begun in the spirit? Are
you now made perfect in the flesh skip down to verse 10? For as
many as are of the works of the law under the curse For it is
written cursed is everyone that continueth not in all things
which are written in the book of the law to do them You you
claim to to be saved by grace and justified by grace But now
you're made holy made perfect by something you do only if you
keep the law Perfectly perfectly and that can't be done This is
where it speaks in verse 11 But that no man is justified by the
law in the sight of god is evident for the just shall live by faith
Now watch what it says The law is not a faith But the man that
doeth them shall live by them verse 13 christ hath redeemed
us from the curse of the law Being made a curse for us for
it is written cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree But that's
not all he says the sentence goes on you see that verse 14
Christ died Christ redeemed us by his death on the cross that
the blessing of Abraham the blessing of Abraham What blessing the
blessing of life? the blessing of life, the blessing
of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ,
that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. Now, look at Hebrews chapter
10. Hebrews chapter 10. Here the apostle continues to
speak about God's salvation, justification. We experience
that by faith without works. We're not justified by something
we do. We're not justified by something we experience. We're
not justified by something we feel. We're justified before
God by Christ whom we trust. We receive free justification
believing on him. Believing him, our consciences
are clear before God. We're sanctified, not by works,
not by something we do, not by something we feel, not by something
we experience. We're sanctified by the same
grace of God that we receive by the same faith as we walk
before God, trusting Christ. What is your holiness? Christ
is. I trust him. That's all. That's all. What
is your righteousness? Christ is. I trust him. That's
all. And what about perseverance?
What about perseverance? Reckon we'll hold out, hold on,
hang on? Reckon we'll continue in the
faith? If we're gods, we will. I give to them eternal life and
they shall, what does the book say? Never perish. They shall never perish. No possibility. No possibility. No matter what. Aren't you thankful? Your security. Your preservation, your being
kept of God does not hinge on your obedience, your faithfulness,
your goodness, your righteousness, your holiness. You don't have
any. They shall never perish, but
rather they shall continue to look to Christ. Hebrews 10, verse
37. For yet a little while, and he
that shall come will come. Remember I told you back in Habakkuk
2, verse 3, this is talking about Christ coming. And will not tarry. Now the just
shall live by faith. But if any man draw back, my
soul shall have no pleasure in him. They went out from us, the
Antichrist, John describes, because they were not of us. For if they
had been of us, they no doubt would have continued with us
to this day. But you are not of them that draw back unto perdition,
but of them which believe unto the saving of the soul. When
the night is darkest, faith pierces darkness. And seeing the light
of God's promise and grace in Christ, faith refuses to quit. Faith continues clinging to Christ,
embracing Christ. Back in Habakkuk, the prophet
of God told us that judgment is coming and every proud rebel
shall be destroyed. But even in the midst of that
providential calamity that God brought upon them by his providential
judgment, even in the midst of the providential calamities that
come upon you and me by God's providential judgments, and even
in the midst of that divine judgment that comes in the day of wrath,
those who live by faith have their eyes fixed upon one who
is the anchor of their souls. Habakkuk 2, 14, for the earth
shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the
waters cover the sea. Verse 14, verse 20, the Lord
is in his holy temple. Let the earth keep silence before
him. Without question, Habakkuk's
vision reaches to the end when God has made all things
new. and the earth is filled with the knowledge of the Lord.
The knowledge of the glory of the Lord. That means Skip Gladfelter,
everybody who's ever drawn breath on God's earth, rebel and believer
alike, reprobate and elect alike, everybody is going to see the
glory of God in all he's done in the accomplishment of our
salvation. Everybody. But Habakkuk's vision includes
this gospel age. in which by the preaching of
the gospel, God diffuses the knowledge of the glory of the
Lord, the glory of God and the salvation of his people. Are
you listening? The glory of God and the salvation
of his people are one in the same. Larry Brown, God's glory hangs
on your everlasting salvation and your everlasting salvation
hangs on God's glory. What? What? We see the glory
of God in the face of Jesus Christ crucified, by whom and by whom
alone we have life eternal. Even when God marches through
the earth in wrath, With his glittering sword drawn, he is
riding upon the chariots of salvation, he tells us in Habakkuk 3 verse
8. And goes forth for the salvation of his people by Christ Jesus
the Lord. What's God doing? What's God
doing? If you haven't read today's paper
and you want to, go home and get you one and read it. And
read about everything going on last week. And yes, so what's
God doing? What's God doing? Let me tell
you what God's doing. With every law passed in Congress,
with every action taken by the President, with every deed performed
by the Russians, with every calamity in the Middle East, with every
terroristic act of the barbaric Islamic folks, I've chosen my
words deliberately. With all of it, what's God doing?
He's riding upon the chariots of salvation for his people. God, ride on. Ride on, majesty. Ride on in your glory until the
earth is filled with the knowledge of the glory of God. The just
shall live by faith. What is that faith by which we
live? Look at Hebrews chapter 11. What is true saving faith in
Christ? What is it to believe God, to
trust the Almighty? Do the scriptures tell us? Indeed
they do. Hebrews 11 verse 6. Without faith,
it's impossible to please God. For he that cometh to God, notice
the language, cometh. Not, you came to God when you
were 14. No, no, he that cometh to God, he who continually comes
to God must believe that he is and that he is the rewarder of
them that diligently seek him. Faith, true saving faith is believing
God. It is not believing in God. Folks, I believe in God. The
devils believe in God. That didn't do you any good.
Every rebel believes in God. Every atheist believes in God.
He says he doesn't, but he does. God has stamped his image on
his conscience and it can't escape it. Everybody believes in God.
Faith is believing God. Believing God. Faith is not believing
the truth about God. Lots of folks believe the truth
about God. The devil said to the Lord Jesus,
thou art the Christ, the son of the living God. They believe
the truth about God. That's not faith. Faith is believing
God, believing God, trusting him. Here are three things, at
least these three things, vital to faith. Faith is coming to
God. Coming to God. Coming to God
through Christ Jesus the Lord. Coming to Him. Not coming to
a morning's bench, or coming to a confessional booth, or coming
to some man dressed up like a woman and confessing your sins to him.
Faith is not coming to the waters of baptism. Faith is coming to
God. It is the continual coming of
my heart, the continual coming of my soul, to God Himself through
Christ the Lord. You don't do that by moving a
muscle. You don't do that by raising
your hand and coming while the choir sings softly in the background. You come to God right where you
are with your heart. Faith is a heart act. Faith is
a heart experience. It's coming to God. Number two,
faith is believing God. Not just that there is a God,
but believing God, believing that God is who he says he is,
and that God has revealed himself, believing God as he has revealed
himself in his son, in the word. God, sovereign, omnipotent, omniscient,
holy, God, the great creator, our redeemer. Faith is confidence
in God. Confidence in God as the rewarder,
Them that diligently seek it Somebody says I believe God I
believe God can do anything that's not faith That's not faith Faith
is not believing. God can do anything Faith is
believing. God will do everything. He said
he would do What a difference faith is believing
God will do everything he said he would do in his word Everything
he said he would do in his covenant Faith you see is always connected
with the Word of God We believe that God will fulfill all his
promises toward all his people in Christ Jesus faith actually
believes and is confident and that God will give us all that
Christ has purchased for us. Faith is confident. God will
give us all that Christ Jesus the Lord has purchased for us.
Well, how is it that we live in this world by faith? Let me
give you six or seven statements. I'll be very brief and I'll wrap
this up. Faith lives upon the name of
Christ. Neither is there salvation in
any other name, for there's none other name unto heaven given
among men, whereby we must be saved. The Savior said, whatsoever
you shall ask in my name, that will I do. If you ask anything
in my name, I'll do it. What's he talking about? What's
he talking about? You go to God and find access with God and
acceptance with God through Christ the Lord. My only hope with God
is Christ the Lord. When Don and Denise moved here,
they didn't have a doctor needing one. And I highly recommend my
doctor, Dr. Finley Hendrickson. Many of you
I've recommended him to. And Dr. Hendrickson is getting
up in years, and he's not taking any patients. You call him, his
folks, he's not taking any patients. And Don Ernest told me that,
and I said, you tell him Don Fortner said call. I've got a
little clout sometimes. And you know what? He's never
turned anybody down who's used my name. Never, never turned
down. He didn't know you from Adam, but he knows me. He knows
me. And he accepts the patients in
my name, in my name. Hear me now. God accepts us in
the name of his son. to a mediator, to a representative. Number two, faith lives upon
the flesh and blood of Christ. The Savior said, I'm the bread
from heaven, the living bread. I came down from heaven. If any
man eat this bread and drink my blood, he will live forever. What's he talking about? Faith
lives trusting the incarnate God, Jesus Christ, God in our
nature. I trust a man who sits upon the
throne of the universe, who is God in my nature, the God man. Number three, faith lives upon
the righteousness of Christ, the obedience of Christ, by which
he brought in everlasting righteousness. We became sinners by one man's
disobedience, by the obedience of another man, Christ Jesus,
the Lord, we're made righteous. Number four, Faith lives upon
the blood of Christ. This is God's word. It is the
blood that maketh atonement for the soul. Mark was asking me
a few weeks ago about propitiation. It's atonement. It is the blood
that is propitiation unto God for the soul. It is blood that
makes atonement for the soul the blood on the mercy seat In
fact, the very word mercy seat is translated propitiation and
mercy seat in the new testament It's the blood on the mercy seat
christ jesus the lord that makes atonement for the soul number
five faith Lives upon the word of god David said I hope in thy
word I believe this book. I believe
what God said. Do you? I don't care what the
scientists come up with tomorrow. I don't care what historic document
archaeologists find tomorrow. I don't care what facts folks
think they have discovered tomorrow. Nothing changes what God's written
in this book. And this is what God says in
his word. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be
saved. Believe him and salvation is
yours. He that hath the Son hath life.
He that hath not the Son of God hath not life. I believe I have
life. Number six. Faith lives upon
the intercession of Christ. We have an advocate with the
Father. I live in the continual confidence
that Jesus Christ, God's Son, the God-man in glory, intercedes
for me and my Savior is an acceptable advocate, having been accepted
of the Father. Faith, number seven. Lives upon
the dominion of Christ. Come back to Habakkuk now. We'll
wrap this up. Faith lives upon the dominion
of Christ. Trusting Christ rule. Trusting Christ rule. Faith says, He hath done all
things well. He is doing all things well.
He shall do all things well. Everything was right yesterday.
Everything's right today. Everything will be right tomorrow.
Everything that has been, is, and shall hereafter be, is but
the doing of God's wonder in the world. The showing forth of God's glory
in the salvation of his people. This is how Habakkuk concludes
his prophecy. Chapter 3, verse 17. He says,
the just shall live by his faith. I'll write just what that means.
Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall the fruit
be in the vines. The labor of the olive shall
fail, and the field shall yield no meat. The flock shall be cut
off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls. Joe, that's just about as bad
as things get. That's just about as bad as they get. Yet, yet,
yet, when I don't have anything to eat today and don't know how
I'll get any tomorrow, yet, I will rejoice in the Lord. I will joy
in the God of my salvation. The Lord is my strength and he
will make my feet like hinds feet. He will make me to walk
upon mine high places, to the chief musician, to the chief
singer on my stringed instruments, this is what I'll sing. That's
what's meant by these words, the just shall live by faith. Oh, Spirit of God, ever give
us faith, faith to live upon Christ, our Redeemer, our Savior,
our God. Amen.