What is faith? What is faith? That's my subject
this evening. Most everyone professes to be
a person of faith. These days it has become politically
advantageous for the politicians to profess faith. I tried hard
this afternoon to Remember any president in my lifetime who
did not profess to be a person of faith. Maybe Harry Truman. He did live
my lifetime. I don't know about him. I'm not
saying he didn't. I just don't remember. Dwight Eisenhower,
Kennedy, Nixon, Johnson, all professed to be people of faith.
Mr. Bush, first and second. Mr. Obama all profess to be people
of faith. I don't know of a politician
in Washington who doesn't claim to have some kind of faith. The
liberals and the conservatives, they speak of being men and women
of faith. When I hear he is a person of
faith or she's a person of faith, I take that to mean they believe
something and observe some kind of religion. More precisely,
they believe in themselves and they're very careful not to let
religion interfere with anything they do. They're just people
of faith, just words, nothing else. Whatever the word faith
means as it is commonly used, whatever the word faith means
as it is commonly used by men and women, in the media, in politics,
and in religion. Whatever the word faith means,
as it is commonly used, has nothing whatever to do with the faith
that's spoken of in this book. The faith of God's elect, saving
faith in Jesus Christ our Lord. What is faith? There's no subject
in the world of greater importance and no subject about which there
is more confusion. I dare say the men and women
in our society are more ignorant and confused about faith than
about anything else which they think they understand. People
think they understand all about faith. You hear folks just casually
mention it and they will speak with great confidence concerning
faith, though they themselves obviously don't have a clue what
faith is. The word faith, as it's used
in this book, refers to the God given confidence. Underscore
in your mind that word confidence. He refers to the God-given confidence
believing sinners have in the Lord Jesus Christ. Anything other
than God-given confidence in Jesus Christ our Lord is not
faith, but rather is a delusion that's damning to the souls of
men. Anything less than God-given confidence in Jesus Christ the
Lord is a damning delusion. Call it what you may. Yet, even
when we speak of faith and speak of faith in Christ, still there
are few who understand what it is or how it's obtained. Several
weeks ago, Brother Todd Nyberg called me. We often bounce things
off of one another. He called to ask a question.
I understand he preached on this subject last Tuesday. I haven't
heard the message yet. I hope to listen to it tonight.
He asked, is there a difference between believing in Christ and
believing on Christ? I answered like this. I'm sure
there is. Many believe in Christ theoretically. They know the doctrine of Christ
and they give assent to it. They agree with it. but they
don't believe on Christ. Saving faith is not just believing
the doctrine of Christ. Saving faith is acting upon that
which we believe. Now get what I just said. Saving
faith is not just agreeing with what's written in the book. It
is acting upon what we believe. It is trusting ourselves to Christ. Committing ourselves to Him.
And my text tonight is going to be back at chapter 2, verses
3 and 4, but we're going to be a little while getting there.
Turn to John chapter 2. John chapter 2. We have a clear
example of what I'm telling you here in John 2. Our Lord Jesus
began his miracles with the turning of water into wine at the marriage
feast in Cana of Galilee. This beginning of miracles did
Jesus in Cana and began to show forth his glory. Then he came
to Jerusalem at the Passover feast and saw religious people
who had turned the house of God into a house of frivolity and
business. And he purged the temple, overturning
the money changers' table, and driving those people out of his
house, saying, my father's house should be called a house of prayer.
And then we read in John chapter 2, verse 23, about some folks
who believed on him. Now watch this. Now when he was
in Jerusalem at the Passover in the feast day, many believed
in his name. When they saw the miracles which
he did, but Jesus did not commit himself unto them because he
knew all men. And when the Holy Spirit tells
us many believed in his name, And then tells us Jesus did not
commit himself unto them. In the original language, the
words are exactly the same. They believed in him, but the
Lord Jesus did not believe himself to them. Same word, same word. The word translated believe.
And the word translated commit are exactly the same word. You
can't commit yourself to Christ without believing in him. But
multitudes like these who saw his miracles because they saw
the miracles were convinced that Joel's prophecy had come to pass
and he is the Christ. Many like these believe in him
and never commit themselves unto him. The same word is accurately
translated, either believe or commit. The proper translation
must then be determined by the way it's used. Sometimes people
like to do word studies and they think it's so scholarly to get
a concordance and find out what this word is and then start tracing
it through the scripture. So whatever it means here, this
is what it must mean there. Not hardly, not hardly. That's just about the poorest
excuse for Bible study and theology. I know of just as poor as they
come, just as poor as they come. You see, in the word of God,
it's common for us to have the same word translated in different
ways. Translated in different ways
altogether. A clear example is the words eternal and everlasting
in our English Bibles. The word eternal and the word
everlasting in the Hebrew and Greek text is the same word.
There's no difference at all between them. But the context
determines, the way it is used determines how the words to be
translated. Eternal refers obviously to that
which is without beginning and without end, without change,
without variation. We have the gift of eternal life. But in our experience of it,
we come into and come to possess everlasting life. That's something
that has a beginning and continues ever. And so the context determines
how the word is properly translated. That shouldn't surprise anyone.
Every language has words that are spelled the same and pronounced
the same but have different meanings. I'm trying to think of an illustration
and I thought, well, one that will be obvious to everybody
is light. That's a light. But you use that same word, L-I-G-H-T,
to speak of the light of the sun. Use that same word, L-I-G-H-T,
When you go to the doctor and you've lost a little weight,
and he says, well, you're a little light this time. Same word. Well, how do you determine the
context? I just got off the scales. It's not talking about illuminate.
It's talking about weight. Now, I was, however, astonished
when I looked the word up this morning. You have any idea how
many definitions Webster's dictionary gives for the word light? I read
88 definitions. Every one of them, L-I-G-H-T. 88 definitions for one word. Well,
how do you know what it means? The way it's used. That's how
you know what it means. Now, getting back to this matter
of faith in Christ. I repeat, many believe in Christ
who never believe on Christ. After my conversation with Brother
Todd, I looked up every passage in which the words believeth
in and believeth on are used in reference to our Lord Jesus.
In every single place, the two words in and on are identical
in the Greek. The Greek preposition is a primary
preposition indicating direction. Like the English words eternal
and everlasting, which I stated a minute ago are the same, but
used differently and translated differently. The translator determined
which word to use in the translation by the way it is used in the
context. Let me give you an example. John
chapter 3. John chapter 3. This very, very familiar text. Verse 14. As Moses lifted up
the serpent in the wilderness, Even so must the Son of Man be
lifted up. Now watch this. That, that is
the Son of Man must be crucified, must die as our substitute for
this purpose that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but
have eternal life. For God so loved the world that
He gave His only begotten Son for this purpose That whosoever
believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Now
look at verse 18. He that believeth on him is not
condemned. He doesn't say he that believeth
on him should not be condemned. He says he that believeth on
him is not condemned. But he that believeth not is
condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name
of the only begotten Son of God. Here the Holy Spirit gives us
a very clear distinction between two aspects of saving faith.
John 3, 15 and 16 both indicate assent to that which is revealed. When I was a boy and occasionally
went to church, I believed in Christ all my life long. Far back as I can remember, I
believed the report of this book concerning Christ. I don't ever
recall not believing in Jesus Christ, believing that which
is revealed in the book about him. I don't ever recall not
believing in him, but I didn't believe on him. There was no
commitment of my life to him. No faith in Christ as my Redeemer,
trusting him with my life, trusting him with my soul. In verse 18
of John 3. The Holy Spirit refers to the
believer's commitment to Christ by which we receive, that is,
by which we experience free justification unto eternal life in Christ.
We live by faith as we believe on, as we commit ourselves to
the Lord Jesus Christ. Let me see if I can exemplify
it another way. The devil himself believes in
Jesus. So what James tells us, even
the devils believe and have enough sense to tremble, but they don't
believe on Christ. Judas believed in Christ. He said, I betrayed innocent
blood. He was condemned by what he believed, but he didn't believe
on Christ. But on Christ, God's elect believe. We who are born of God commit
ourselves to Christ our Lord. We commit ourselves to him. With that in mind, let's look
at our text, Habakkuk chapter 2, verse 3. The vision is yet for an appointed
time, for a set time. In due time, Christ died for
the ungodly. In the fullness of time, God
sent forth his son, made of a woman made under the law. The vision
is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak
and shall not lie, though it tarry, wait for it, because it
will surely come. It will not tarry. Behold, his
soul, which is lifted up, is not upright in him, but the just
shall live by his faith. As we saw last Sunday night,
the Apostle Paul used this statement, the just shall live by faith,
three times in the New Testament, Romans 1, 17, Galatians 3, 11,
and Hebrews 10, 38. But in Hebrews 10, The Holy Spirit inspired Paul
to urge us to patience, to perseverance, in the midst of trials, in the
midst of difficulties, to continue believing Christ, urging us by
telling us of the promise that's given back here in Habakkuk chapter
2 and verse 3. The promise is the promise of
our Lord's glorious second advent. Now it seems obvious to me that
the Spirit of God has intended that Hebrews 10 and Hebrews 11
be a commentary, an inspired, divinely accurate commentary
on Habakkuk chapters 2, verses 3 and 4. So put your Bible mark
here in Habakkuk and turn over to Hebrews 10. Hebrews chapter
10. I want you to put your Bible
mark in Habakkuk. We're going to be flipping back
to it. Look at verse 35, Hebrews chapter 10. Cast not away, therefore, your
confidence. What a word for faith. What a
word for the hope of eternal life. Your confidence. That's
a strong word. Confidence. Paul said, I know
whom I had believed. We just sang it. I know whom
I had believed. Do you? That's confidence. Confidence. Cast not away, therefore,
your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward. For ye
have need of patience, that after ye have done the will of God,
that is, after you finished your course in this world. David served
his generation by the will of God. So let us serve our generation
by the will of God. And after you've done the will
of God, when you finished your course here, when your life here
is wrapped up according to God's will, that you might receive
the promise for yet a little while, and he that shall come
will come and will not tarry. That's the promise we just read
in Habakkuk chapter two, verse three. continue in the faith,
Paul says, confidently looking for Christ and you shall receive
the promise of eternal life with him in heaven. In just a little
while, the promise will be fulfilled. Christ will appear in his glory
and the promise shall be made sure to you in the experience
of your soul from everlasting. The promise of God made sure
to you unto all eternity. That promise, look at it now,
back here in Habakkuk. It's spoken of twice. Chapter
1, verse 5. Behold ye among the heathen and
regard and wonder marvelously for I will work a work in your
days which ye will not believe though it be told you. Habakkuk
chapter 2, verse 3. The vision. is yet for an appointed
time. But at the end, it shall speak
and not lie. Though it tarry, wait for it,
because it will surely come. It will not tarry. All right,
back in Hebrews 10. Paul is continuing to explain
Habakkuk's words. Verse 38. Now the just shall live by faith. But if any man draw back, My
soul shall have no pleasure in him. Any man turns aside. Any man
forsakes Christ. Any man quits believing. Any
man ceases committing himself to Christ. Any man ceases trusting
Christ. My soul shall have no pleasure
in him. But we We who are born of God,
we who are truly born of God's spirit, we are not of them who
draw back unto perdition, but of them that believe to the saving
of the soul. Paul's told us that the just
shall live by faith and that those who have faith in Christ
believe to the saving of their souls. Then in chapter 11, he
gives us examples. Here, the inspired apostle explains
to us what faith is, what it is to believe on Christ, what
it is to commit yourself to Christ. And he gives us examples of it.
Look at verse one. Now, faith is the substance of
things hoped for. You have the earnest of the spirit.
The substance of things hoped for. The substance of eternal
life. The substance of heavenly glory.
The substance of perfect reconciliation to God. The substance of perfect
conformity to our Redeemer. Faith is the substance of things
hoped for. The evidence of things not seen. The evidence of God's
election. The evidence that your name is
written in the book of life. The evidence that Christ died
for you. The evidence that you've been called by the Spirit. For
by it, by faith, the elders obtained a good report. Not a good report
from men, a good report from God. Read the chapter. This is not talking about how
men viewed them. Oh, no. Oh, no. This is talking about
how God viewed them. This is talking about the report they
had from God. This is what God convinced them of about themselves. Through faith, we understand
that the worlds were framed by the Word of God. So the things
which are seen were not made by things, are things which do
appear. By faith, Abel offered unto God
a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness
that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts, that by it he being
dead yet speaking. By faith, Enoch was translated
that he should not see death and was not found because God
had translated him. For before his translation, he
had this testimony that he pleased God. that he pleased God. Now, if you'd like to read a
lot of gobbledygook, pick up most any commentary and read
about how Enoch pleased God. Oh, Enoch, he did this and he
didn't do that and people looked at him and they could just see
a halo on his head just by the way he looked up toward heaven.
He had a devout appearance. He had a godly walk before men
so that men would look at him and praise him for being such
a good man. That sounds real good until you
read the context. Before he was translated, he
had testimony that he pleased God. How can you please God? How can I please God and have
testimony from God that we please Him? Now, what are you going
to do? Now where are you going to get
this kind of testimony? Read the next verse and you'll
find out. But without faith, it's impossible to please him.
For he that cometh to God must believe that he is and that he's
the rewarder of them that diligently seek him. The substance, the
ground, the foundation of confident hope of eternal salvation is
faith in Christ. And that faith is the evidence
of our eternal justification and our everlasting salvation.
That's what we read in verse one. Faith understands what the
most learned scientists cannot fathom. Faith understands that
the worlds were framed by the word of God. I just read a brief
article by Brother Chris Cunningham this morning. Men debate about
doctrine. I get notes by e-mail, letters
through the mail. I get e-mails every day, every
day, and letters weekly at least debating some point of doctrine.
People trying to convince themselves how to reconcile this with that,
how to fit this with that, and they're always confused. Brother
Cunningham said men will continue to debate doctrine. and try to
reconcile doctrine until they believe Christ. And when you
believe Christ, it just kind of falls in place. It just falls
in place. I don't have any difficulty believing
that God created the heavens and the earth, do you? I would
sure have a lot of difficulty convincing myself that they just
popped into being. Now, I'm not the brightest bulb
in the room, but I got better sense than that. This just happened
to be? Why, that's idiocy. The only
person who would believe such a thing is one who deliberately
refuses to bow to what is obvious God created the heavens and the
earth. And faith bows. Faith believes. Faith understands. Able. Understood that the only
way a guilty sinner can approach God is by blood atonement. He
understood that. He learned it from his daddy,
Adam, who learned it from Christ himself, who killed the first
animal and clothed his mama and daddy with the skins of that
animal and said, now at the appointed time, the woman sees going to
come crush the serpent's head and redemption will be accomplished.
Abel learned it from Adam. Cain didn't pay any attention.
Cain heard the same thing. He didn't believe it. Cain believed
that you could come to God on the basis of what you do. Bring
your works the best you've got, bring the best you've got, and
God will accept it. You listen to folks talk about
it. Glenn Beck is a real good conservative politician, but
don't forget he's a Mormon. And when he starts talking about
faith, he talks like a fool, because he is. I just heard him
last night talking about where God's put us here and we're to
serve men and serve God the best we can, and the best way we can
serve God is serve each other. And in the end, God's going to
judge us for what we do, going to be accountable for this. That's
what everybody believes about faith. That's what Cain believed.
And so he brought God the fruit of the ground, his best produce,
brought in the best he had. And God didn't do anything. God
didn't accept it. God didn't consume the sacrifice.
God didn't speak to Cain. But Abel brought blood sacrifice
and God accepted Abel's sacrifice. I suspect he accepted it manifestly,
just as he did the sacrifices in the Old Testament under the
law, the fire of God falling from heaven, consuming the sacrifice.
I don't know how he accepted it, but he accepted it in such
a way that Cain undisturbed, that God approved of Abel, accepted
Abel and his sacrifice, but God did not approve. God did not
accept Cain and his sacrifice. And Cain was enraged and murdered
his brother. Abel, believing God, trusting
the Lord Jesus, had witnessed from God in his own heart and
in his own conscience that he was righteous. He reckoned himself
righteous. Dares a man, a mortal, sinful
human being, reckon himself righteous? Abel reckoned himself righteous
because God did. And God says, likewise reckon
ye also yourselves dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God. Believe on Christ and reckon
yourself righteous. Believe on Christ and you can't
help but to reckon yourself righteous. That's what faith is. It's trusting
the Lord Jesus. Enoch. understood that the only
way a man can please God, the only way a man can be accepted
of God is by faith. So he walked with God by faith.
And before he left this world, indeed, he could not have been
translated otherwise. Before he left this world, he
had this testimony from God. That he pleased God. pleased God. I know just exactly how to please
my wife. I don't always do it. But I know
how to do it. I know what it takes. And with
a lot of work, I could do it all the time if I was just willing
to. I know exactly how to please
her. And I know exactly how to please
God. Believe in his son. And that's the only way you please
God. What did Abel bring to God? He brought God what God provided,
what God declared he would accept. He brought God a blood sacrifice. He brought God his own son. That's what faith does. Faith
brings to God Jesus Christ the Lord, trusting Him, committing
everything to Him. In verse 6, Paul tells us that
the only way to be saved, the only way to be accepted of God,
the only way to walk with God, the only way to please God is
by faith in the Lord Jesus. All right, let me try to answer
this question now. What is faith? There are many
forms of faith by which the souls of men are deluded. Judas had
faith. Demas had faith. Theophthys had
faith, and they all went to hell. Ananias and Sapphira had faith
and they went to hell. Simon the sorcerer had faith
and he went to hell. Multitudes like those who saw
the Lord's miracles in John 2 have faith who don't know God, don't
know God from a billy goat, don't have a clue who God is. There
is but one true saving faith. that by which men and women please
God. And that's faith in Jesus Christ
the Lord. We must prove ourselves and only
you can prove for yourself. I can't prove it for you and
I won't try. We must each examine and prove
for ourselves that we are in the faith that just want the
faith, not the Baptist faith or the Buddhist faith, not the
papist faith or the Protestant faith, the faith. the faith of
the gospel, the faith of Jesus Christ. True saving faith consists
of these three things. I've given this to you so many
times. Please, please, please get what I'm about to tell you. If we would be pleasing to God,
if we would come to him and be saved by him, We must know the
revelation of God in the gospel. We must give a sit to that revelation
of God. And we must trust him as he's
revealed in the gospel. Faith first involves knowledge. Knowledge is not faith. Yet there's
no faith without knowledge. Let that be understood. Paul
says, he that cometh to God must believe that he is and that he's
the rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Faith in Christ is
a hard work, but it is not, as some describe it, a leap in the
dark. In order for us to trust, there must be someone or something
known for us to trust. Two things, plainly stated here
in Hebrews 11, 6. In order for anyone to have faith,
he must know that the Lord God as he is revealed in the person
and work of Jesus Christ is God. He must know God. There's no
salvation apart from knowing God. Knowing God as he reveals
himself in this book in the person of his son. Knowing that God
is sovereign and good. That's how he revealed himself
to Moses when Moses said, show me your glory. Knowing that God
is both just and gracious. He will by no means clear the
guilty, and yet he forgives iniquity, transgression, and sin. Knowing
that God is holy to holy to look upon iniquity and yet merciful
Merciful so that he forgives iniquity and it can only be just
and good gracious and true merciful and righteous Holy and merciful
in the person of Christ who bears our sin away and fulfills all
righteousness in our stead And the only way a man can know God
is for God to reveal himself in his son, in you. When it pleased God, who separated
me from my mother's womb and called me by his grace, he revealed
his son in me, in me. And second, you must know that
God is the rewarder. of them that diligently seek
him. Turn to Jeremiah 29. Jeremiah 29. God rewards those
who seek him with mercy, grace, salvation, and eternal life.
While you turn to Jeremiah, listen, incline your ear and come unto
me. Here in your soul shall live.
And I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure
mercies of David. Seek ye the Lord while he may
be found. Call ye upon him while he's near. Let the wicked forsake
his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let him return
to the Lord and he will reward. He will have mercy upon him.
To our God, he will abundantly pardon. Jeremiah 29. Jeremiah
is talking about the captivity and the deliverance of God's
people from the captivity, being a picture of God's salvation.
Watch what he says. Jeremiah 29, 13, ye shall seek
me and find me when you shall search for me with all your heart. And I will be found of you, saith
the Lord. Thirty-five years ago, I was
preaching up in northern Michigan to some folks who had been sitting
under a ministry that was a mixture of grace and works. And a fellow
sitting across the table from me said, I've been seeking the
Lord for 20 years. And I batted my ear. I said,
what? He said, I've been seeking the Lord for 20 years. I said,
that's not so. He seemed shocked. I said, you've
been seeking him for 20 years, you'd have found him. He said, when you seek me, you'll
find me. You seek me with all your heart.
When you want me, you'll have me. When you desire me, I'm yours. Is that what he said? When you
seek me, you'll find me. And I will turn away your captivity. All who seek the Lord All who
come to God by faith in Christ Jesus shall be rewarded with
eternal life and everlasting salvation. This too must be known. But Don, how do we know that
God will reward every believer with eternal salvation? By the
gospel. That's what we preach. We declare
to men how that God is just and the justifier. What does the
book say? of everyone that believeth. He's just and the justifier of
everyone that believeth. The Lord Jesus earned righteousness
for everyone that believes. He purchased salvation for everyone
that believes. He promised salvation to all
who believe on him. And this is the point I'm making.
Gospel knowledge is essential to saving faith. And that paramount
matter of importance in the knowledge of the gospel is the redemptive
work of Christ. Unless a person knows Christ
as is revealed in the gospel, he can't have faith in Christ. He can't trust an unknown Savior.
He just can't do it. But there's more to faith than
just knowledge. John Owen, 400 years ago made
this statement. Of all the poison which at this
day is diffused in the minds of men, corrupting them from
the mystery of the gospel, there's no part that's more pernicious
than this one perverse imagination that to believe in Christ is
nothing at all but to believe the doctrine of the gospel. Oh,
no. Oh, no. Along with that knowledge,
our hearts must give a scent to the things revealed that they
are true. Many people, many know the truth. They've heard it for years. They've
been catechized, been well instructed in gospel truth from infancy.
But saving faith involves a willing, deliberate, considered agreement,
assent to gospel truth. I don't try to get these children
to make a profession of faith, nor do I try to get their grandparents
to make a profession of faith. A profession of faith won't do
you any good. A profession of faith without
Christ is only more damnation to your soul. I don't try to
get folks to do something. I don't try to get people worked
up into something. Faith is a willing, voluntary,
deliberate, considered consent to Christ, agreement with Christ,
assent to the truth of the gospel. God calls you to repentance. God calls you to faith. You must
believe on the Son of God. But like he said to Abraham,
he said, Abraham, take your only son, your only son, Isaac, whom
you love, and sacrifice him to me. Not right now. Not right now. I want you to
look that boy in the face for three long days and consider
what I'm demanding of you. And then you offer them in the
place I'll show you. God will give you a chance to back out
if you want to. And an honest preacher will too. Absolutely. Absolutely. Faith involves knowledge,
but it involves a deliberate, willing agreement with God as
to what he said in his word. Faith believes God's word. Bows
to God's word as God's word. And faith involves a third thing. Turn to Luke chapter 14. Faith involves commitment. The commitment of our souls. The commitment of our lives. The commitment of our beings
to Christ the Lord. Commitment. Ralph Barnard used
to say, we keep saying, may the Lord save your soul, or the Lord
save my soul. And he said, he ain't done any
such thing. God doesn't save your soul, Alan
Kidby, he saves you. All of you, or none of you. Everything. Everything. Or nothing. Everything. Look
in Luke chapter 14. The Lord Jesus speaks to this
one who comes professing that he wants to believe him. There
are multitudes with him. Verse 25. And he turned and said
unto them, if any man come to me and hate not his father and
mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yeah,
and his own life also. What's the next phrase? You got
it there in front of you. He cannot be my disciple. Southern
Baptist churches, and independent ones as well, every little bit
have discipleship revivals. That's wonderful, isn't it? We're
going to have a discipleship revival. That means we're going
to take folks who are on the church roll because we've talked
them into a profession of faith, who don't know God from a billy
goat, and we're going to teach them how to act like they do. No, any man comes to me and doesn't
hate his mother and his father and his wife and his children,
his own life also. He cannot be my disciple. Can't be. Can't be. That means
if Darren Duff will follow Christ, and Darren, you and I will either
follow him to glory or we'll follow our own wills to hell.
One of the two. If you'll follow Christ, that
means whatever involves following him, doesn't involve considering
those two boys or that woman that you love dearly. That's what it means. God loved
Jacob and hated Esau. What's that mean? God was just
just angry that Esau had to get him? No, no. He gave all consideration
to Jacob. And Esau didn't matter. Esau didn't matter. Rex Bartley,
if we'll follow Christ, Christ alone matters. That doesn't matter who it shuts
out or who it brings in. That's truth. Read on. Verse 27, whosoever doth not
bear his cross and come after me, that is knowing that the
Obedience to Christ is going to cost you. You still follow
it. He cannot be my disciple. Verse
28. For which of you, intending to
build a tower, sitteth not down first and counteth the cost,
whether he hath sufficient to finish it? Lest, happily, after
he hath laid the foundation and is not able to finish it, all
that behold it begin to mock him, saying, This man began to
build and was not able to finish. Or what king, going to make war
against another king, setteth not down first and considereth
whether he be able with 10,000 to meet him that cometh against
him with 20,000? Or else, while the other is yet
a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage and desireth conditions
of peace. So likewise, And I'm calling you, every last
one of you, from right here in the pulpit
to the last man in the corner, I'm calling you to believe on
the Son of God. I'm calling you to believe on
the Son of God. So likewise, whosoever he be
of you that forsaketh not All that he hath, he cannot be my
disciple. Faith in Christ is the commitment
of my life to him forever. And I trust the Lord to save
me. If I do, I trust him to save me now. I trust him to take me
to heaven when I die. If I do, I trust him to carry
me through this earth. I trust the Lord for my soul.
If I do, I'll trust him for my body. I trust the Lord to take
care of things in eternity. If I do, I trust him to take
care of things in time. Faith is the commitment of my
being to Christ my Lord. Nothing less. Nothing less. That's what it is to believe
on the Son of God. to live by faith. Last time I weighed I was, I
think, 306 pounds. I'm on my way down. Reckon that'll hold 306 pounds. I believe it will. That's nothing. That's nothing. I believe it will. Commitment of myself to Christ
is faith. Oh, God, give me such faith. Amen.