It's very common these days to
hear people refer to themselves or others as people of faith. They speak of faith as though
it were a moral virtue or a commendable characteristic that men arrive
at for themselves. Both our current president, whom
I happen to regard highly and whom I very much support in things
he has done as president. I say that as a preface to what
I'm about to say. Both our current president and
the president-elect refer to themselves as men of faith. Both
of them. Yet, the one is a liberal Methodist
and the other is a cross between a black Muslim and a Campbellite.
When I hear someone say he is a person of faith, or she is
a person of faith, I take it to mean this. They believe in
something or other, and practice some kind of religion, or more
precisely, they believe in themselves. And they very carefully try not
to allow religion to interfere too much in their lives. Whatever
the word faith means in the context used like that, faith has nothing
to do with the faith of Jesus Christ. It has nothing to do
with believing God. It has nothing to do with that
which is described as faith in this book. N. B. Magruder, when he'd preach,
he'd come to the pulpit and have a legal pad, he was trained in
that way, and he'd have one sentence written out, and he'd just keep
coming at it from every direction he could. I've got one point,
just one point, this is what I want you to get. Faith, as
it is used in the Word of God, refers to the God-given confidence
believing sinners have in Jesus Christ the Lord. Faith refers
to the God-given confidence believing sinners have in Jesus Christ
the Lord. Anything other than this, anything
less than a God-given, God-created, God-sustained confidence in Christ
the Lord is not faith, but only the delusion of men's souls. Faith, as it is set forth in
the Word of God, is a God-given confidence in Christ Jesus the
Lord. Several weeks ago, Brother Lindsey
Campbell asked me if I would seek a message from God explaining
what it is to believe God. And I've been seeking it, and
I believe he's given me the message. Turn with me to Hebrews chapter
11. What is faith? That's the question I want to
answer this evening. What is faith? There's no subject in
all the world more important and no subject about which there's
more confusion. I dare say many women in our
society are more ignorant and more confused about faith than
about any other subject they presume to understand. In this
10th chapter of Hebrews, Paul has told us the just shall live
by faith, in verse 38. In verse 39, he tells us that
those who have faith believe unto the saving of the soul.
And then in chapter 11, he tells us what faith is. Look at it,
verse 1. Now faith is the substance. Faith
is the substance, the undergirding, the foundation. the basis, the
assurance, the confidence of things hoped for. Christ in you,
the Apostle tells us in Colossians 127, is the hope of glory. Christ
dying for you doesn't give you hope. Now hear what I'm telling
you. Christ in you is the hope of
glory. Christ having redeemed you doesn't
give you hope. That's the only basis for hope. We have no hope but His death. No hope but His obedience unto
death. But the hope of glory is Christ
in you. Faith coming from Christ in you. Faith created in you by Christ
taking up residence in you. Faith is the substance. It is
the undergirding, the basis, the foundation, the ground of
hope. The evidence, not the proof,
but the evidence of things not seen. There's a difference between
evidence and proof. You can't prove something by
just saying it's so, but faith is the evidence of things not
seen. For by it, by faith, faith in Christ, the elders obtained
a good report. Through faith we understand that
the worlds were framed by the Word of God, so that the things
which are seen were not made of 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, and 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. But without faith it is
impossible to please him. For he that cometh to God must
believe that he is, and that he is the rewarder of them which
diligently seek him. the substance, the ground. The
foundation of our confident hope of eternal salvation is our faith
in Christ. And this faith is evidence of
our eternal justification, our eternal election, our eternal
work, the eternal calling of God making us His sons in Christ. It is the evidence of our being
redeemed by Christ's blood at Calvary and the evidence of our
being called by His grace. Faith, we're told, understands. Faith has understanding. It understands
what the most learned scientist can never fathom. Faith understands
that the worlds were framed by the Word of God. Faith understands
that. Doesn't guess about it. Faith
understands that. Abel understood because he believed
God. that the only way a guilty man
could ever approach God is by blood atonement. His brother
Cain didn't understand that. Cain thought that a man could
please God and win God's favor by the works of his hands. Abel
believed God. Cain didn't. Enoch understood
that the only way a man can please God, this word used in verses
5 and 6, pleased. I took the time to look it up
again just a few minutes ago. Remember our Lord was baptized
and the Father spoke from heaven and said, this is my beloved
Son in whom I am well pleased. Enoch had this testimony. Whether he had this testimony
among the men among whom he lived, I doubt. I doubt. How could they
have any idea what pleased God? But he had this testimony from
God in his conscience. This testimony, oh, Phil Simpson,
if God gives you and me faith in Christ, we have the same testimony
from God. A good conscience. Same testimony,
what? That he pleased God. Do you know
what that word means? It means to gratify completely. What a strong word. had this
testimony that he gratified God completely. Now most people look
at this and they say, he didn't please God because by doing this
and not doing that and doing this and not doing other things.
No, no, no, no, no. Read on. Verse 6, but without
faith it's impossible to please Him. How was it that he didn't
please God? Same way you and I can, by faith. Pleasing Him, offering to God
that which God has already accepted, Christ Jesus the Lord. Pleasing
Him by faith, because we come to God only in and by Christ
Jesus our Redeemer. Enoch understood that the only
way a man could please God is by faith, and he pleased Him. Then in verse 6, Paul tells us
that the only way a sinner can be saved The only way a sinner
can be accepted of God, the only way any sinner can walk with
God and please God is by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Look
at this sixth verse again. Without faith, it is impossible
to please Him. For he that cometh to God, he
that cometh to God, must believe that he is, and he must believe
something else. He that cometh to God must believe
that he is, and he must believe that God is the rewarder of them
that diligently seek him. What is faith? There are lots
of forms of things called faith. We're told in John chapter 2,
after our Lord performed the miracle in Cana of Galilee, that
many of the Jews believed on him, but Jesus did not commit
himself to them. He didn't believe on them. The
word believe and commit are the same words. He didn't commit
himself to them because he knew all men. They simply had a faith
raised up in their hearts by miracles they observed. Nothing
else. Nothing else. There are multitudes
who in the days of our Lord's earthly humanity believed on
Him because of the miracles He performed. But they didn't have
faith. And many today claim to have experienced miracles and
they believe because of miracles they performed. But miraculous
faith is not faith. There are others who have a denominational
faith. They are a part of this denomination
or that denomination, a part of this religion or that religion,
and so they have this denominational faith. What faith are you? You
go to fill out a form. Of what faith are you? I'm of
the Baptist faith. I've got shocking news for you.
There ain't no such thing. There ain't no such thing. I'm
of the Catholic faith. No such thing. No such thing.
There are Baptist denomination and Catholic denomination and
Methodist denominations and other denominations. But no such thing
as Baptist faith or Catholic faith. No. There are some who
have just a notion of doctrinal faith. They've been presented
with some things, they recognize them to be so, and they call
it faith. That's not faith in Christ. There is only one thing
called faith. Paul urges us to examine ourselves. 2 Corinthians 13, verse 5. He says, examine yourselves on
this one issue. whether you be in the faith. Not in a faith, not whether you
be a person of faith, whether you be in the faith. True saving
faith consists of these three things. I don't know how to state
it more simply, I don't know how to state it more emphatically,
and I don't know how to state anything with greater urgency.
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 assent to that revelation,
and we must trust Him whom God reveals. Faith necessarily involves
knowledge, assent, and trust. First, knowledge. Knowledge is
not faith. Be sure you get that. I can impart
knowledge to you. I study and I work at doing what
I do, and if you'll listen to me, I can impart knowledge to
you. When our daughter was just a
little shaver, I wrote a catechism specifically for her to teach
her things we believe. and taught her the catechism,
and I was able to impart knowledge to her before she started school.
Knowledge better than most of the folks I preach to regularly.
She understood clearly doctrinal principles that were taught.
But I cannot impart faith to you. Yet there is no faith without
knowledge. He that cometh to God must believe
that he is, and that he is the rewarder of them that diligently
seek him. Faith in Christ is a hard work,
but it's not a leap in the dark. It's based upon knowledge. In
order for us to trust Christ, we must know Him. I was listening
this afternoon, just briefly, Shelby and I got up and had a
cup of coffee, and flipped on the news, and the preacher was
on there, and talked about loving everybody. Isn't that wonderful? Oh, I love everybody. Lie and
fool. You can't love somebody you don't
know. Now you tell me how you do that. Explain that to me. How do you love somebody you
don't know? And people talk about trusting a Christ they don't
know. You can't trust one that you
don't know. If you would have faith in Christ,
you must know him. This is life eternal, our Lord
said, that they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus
Christ, whom Thou hast sent. Turn, if you will, to Hebrews
chapter 1. In order for anyone to have faith in Christ, he's
got to know the Lord God. He must come to God believing
that He is, and that He's the rewarder of them that diligently
seek Him. That means you've got to know God. You've got to know
God not by natural reason, not by men telling you about Him. You must simply know Him as He
is revealed in Jesus Christ the Lord. Our Lord Jesus, we're told,
is that one who declares God. No man has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son which is
in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. Our Lord said
to Philip, Philip said, Lord, show us the Father, and that'll
be good enough. And our Lord said, Philip, have I been so
long a time with you? And yet, have you not known me? He that
hath seen me hath seen the Father. If you know me, you know God.
If you know me, you know God. It is he who declares God. He defines God, He shows us God,
for He is God. And there is no knowledge of
God, any sense of knowing God, apart from the knowledge of God
in Christ Jesus the Lord. Hebrews chapter 1. God, who at
sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers
by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by His
Son, whom He hath appointed heir of all things, By whom also he
made the worlds. Now watch this. His Son, who
being the brightness of his glory. The shining forth of his glory. The shining forth of that which
Moses said, Lord show me your glory. Jesus Christ is the shining
forth of his glory. The express image of his person. the very being of his person. And upholding all things by the
word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, he
sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high. You can't have faith without
knowing who God is. You've got to know that God is,
and you've got to know that God's who he says he is. He's what
he says he is. Moses said, show me your glory.
in Exodus 33, and the Lord passed by and showed him his sovereign
goodness. Not just his sovereignty and
not just his goodness, his sovereign goodness. He said, I will be
merciful, but I'll be merciful to whom I will be merciful. He
said, I will have compassion, but I will have compassion on
whom I will have compassion. So that God passes by and shows
Moses, Moses, I am gracious and good and long-suffering and kind,
forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin, but I do it on my terms,
and I do it for whom I will. It is my sovereign goodness.
The Lord God calls nations to assemble before Him in Isaiah
45. And He says, let me show you, there's no God like me.
All these things that you think are God, all the concepts you
have of God are but varying forms of idolatry arising from the
base, depraved heart of man. I am God. There is none else. I am a just God and a Savior. I'm a Savior, but I can't save
and won't save except on the basis of justice, righteousness,
and truth. Isaiah saw Him. He saw the Lord
in his glory sitting on his throne. And he said, this one that I
saw is holy. Indescribably holy. The seraphim
sing continually, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. Constantly
declaring God's holiness. But this holy God is merciful. One of those seraphim took a
live coal from off the altar. And he flew to me, and laid that
burning coal on my lips, and said, Lo, thine iniquity is purged. The holy God did this. The holy
God you see sitting on the throne. The mercy seat. He did this,
and our Lord Jesus Christ, John chapter 12, said, Isaiah saw
me in my glory. Isaiah understood. He understood
that God, in His infinite, glorious holiness, in His sovereign justice
and goodness, is merciful to sinners, forgiving sin, on the
ground of justice satisfied by the sacrifice of God's Son. And
that's the whole testimony of the book of God, Old Testament
and New. The only way any man can know
God is by the revelation of God in Jesus Christ. Oh, my soul,
I would to God. I could get the ear of this generation.
I know people say this is bigoted, this is intolerant, you can't
talk like this, this divides men. I'm concerned for your soul. Do you understand what I'm saying?
You can't know God in any way except by Jesus Christ the Lord,
who is the brightness, the shining forth of the glory of God. The
light of the knowledge of the glory of God shines forth to
sinners in the face of Jesus Christ by the gospel. Not only
must we know that God is, we must also know that God is the
rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. What kind of language
is that? Well, God will reward you if
you do good. He'll punish you if you do bad. Our Lord Jesus,
on the day of judgment, tells us that he will say to those
on his left hand who brag about all the good they did, depart
from me you cursed, I never knew you. Now he's talking about folks
who did good. These folks, these folks cast
out demons and prophesied and did wondrous works in his name.
He said, depart from me you cursed, I never knew you. No, God doesn't
reward you for the good you do. He rewards sinners for the good
His Son did. Because you can't do good. You
can't do good. He's the rewarder of them that
diligently seek Him. Incline your ear, He says, and
come unto Me. Here, and your soul shall live. I will make an everlasting covenant
with you, even the sure mercies of David. He said, seek Me, and
you'll find Me. When you seek Me with all your
heart, then you shall find Me. All who seek the Lord, all who
come to God by faith in Christ, shall be rewarded with eternal
life, with everlasting salvation, with all the glory and bliss
of eternity. And we know this by the revelation
of the gospel. The Lord Jesus, we're told in
the gospel, earned righteousness for his people. The Son of God,
we're told in the Gospel, purchased salvation for His elect. God
has promised in the Gospel that He will save all who trust His
Son. God so loved the world that He
gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth on Him should
not perish but might have everlasting life. Not might possibly. No, he didn't just possibly obtain
eternal redemption. But rather, the only way God
can give life is through the sacrifice of his Son. And for
those for whom his Son was sacrificed, God gives life. This is the point
I'm making. Gospel knowledge is essential
to saving faith. And the matter of paramount importance
in the gospel is the accomplishment of redemption by Christ Jesus
the Lord. And yet, knowledge alone is not
faith. In the 1600s, John Owen made
this statement. Owen was the theologian to Oliver
Cromwell. The 1600s, it couldn't be more
timely if he had written it this morning. Of all the poison which
at this day is diffused in the minds of men, corrupting them
from the mystery of the gospel, there is 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. It is the common foolish notion
of men, both what's called Calvinist and those called Arminians, both
the free willers and those who oppose free willers. It is the
common notion of men that simply acknowledging doctrinal truth,
simply acknowledging doctrinal facts revealed in the scriptures
is faith in Christ. Do you believe in Jesus? Well,
you're saved. The devils have that kind of
faith. Everybody who has any knowledge
at all of the things in this book have that kind of faith.
That's not faith. Something else is necessary to
faith. There must be the ascent of our hearts to those things
revealed. We often speak of faith as a
decision, but that's not so. Unbelief is decision. Faith is
the operation of God. Faith makes a decision. Faith
receives the Son. Faith believes on the Son. But
faith itself is that which God performs in us. He that believeth
on the Son of God hath everlasting life. He that believeth not the
Son of God hath not life, but the wrath of God abideth on him.
Why? Because he makes God a liar. not believing, choosing not to
believe the record God has given of his son. There must be this
knowledge presented, but you must give assent to the knowledge,
a deliberate, willful, heartfelt assent to the knowledge revealed
in the book. How can I be more plain? I don't try to con folks into
making a profession of faith. A good many of you have come
to me, most of you at one time or another, and asked me about
these very things. And you'll verify what I'm saying.
I don't play games with you. I don't try to trick people into
believing. I don't try to get you at a sensitive moment, as
we were taught when I was in Bible college, You strike while
the iron's hot, catch folks when they're at their weakest, when
they're broken down, and get them to make a profession of
faith. I'm not interested in getting a profession of faith
from anybody. I'm interested in you knowing God. I present
you with those things revealed in the Scriptures, and I press
the claims of Christ upon you, and I leave it at that. But there's
something more, something more still. Saving faith, trust, Saving faith cast all upon Christ. Saving faith leans all on the Son of God. The leper came and fell down
before the Master and said, Lord, if you will, you can make me
whole. You see, The fact is we act upon
what we believe. Everybody does. Everybody does. Faith is not just a notion. We
act upon what we believe. And the act of faith is trusting
Christ. That woman who had the issue
of blood for 12 years, she spent all she has on physicians of
no value and is none the better, but only grew worse. She heard
that the Lord Jesus was passing through town, and she goes contrary
to tradition, contrary to law, contrary to everything she knew,
except she must have Him, and He alone can make her whole.
And this woman who is unclean by law, this woman who cannot
by law be in public company, this woman who is shunned by
all, none could touch her except they become unclean. bent and stooped, makes her way
through the crowd and touches him. And immediately she's made
whole. Coming into contact with him,
she's made whole. And the Lord Jesus said, somebody
touch me. She committed herself to him. That publican in the temple would
not so much as lift his eyes toward heaven but rather he beat
on his breast and he cried, God be merciful to me, the sinner. That's faith. Faith comes to
men by the power of God the Holy Spirit through the preaching
of the gospel. It is that which God the Holy
Spirit works in us, which he alone can work in us. Several
years ago, I read a sermon by Ebenezer Erskine, in which he
gave seven characteristics of faith. Let me give those to you
and I'll wrap this up. You might want to jot them down.
These things define faith as well as anything I know of. He
said, number one, faith is the gift of God. It is not the product of man's
free will. It's the operation of God's sovereign
spirit. This faith is the parent of all
other grace. Faith, the gift of God. Number
two. Faith has for its object Jesus
Christ, the Lord. He's our Savior. He's our Lord.
He's our mediator. He's our hope. Christ is the
bread. is the mouth that eats the bread.
Christ is the brazen serpent. Faith is the eye that looks to
the serpent. Number three. Faith is receiving
Christ. It's not just hearing about Him.
It's not just acknowledging Him. But it is commitment to Him.
First, you can ask, is Christ meat? Then eat. Is Christ living
water? Then drink. Is Christ the refuge? Then flee to Him. Is Christ Lord? Then worship Him. And I want
to tell you something about faith. I've mulled this over pretty
good. If you have it, you know you have it. You may have struggles
in your soul with your unbelief. I'm sure you will. You may have
horrible times of darkness spreading over you, I'm sure you will.
Because the Lord graciously and wisely often hides his face from
his people. But if you have faith in Christ, you know you have it. You know
you do. You can't possibly eat this bread
and not know you've eaten it. You can't possibly drink from
this fountain and not know you're drunk from this fountain. You
can't possibly pass from death to life and not know you passed
from death to life. Number four. Faith is resting
on Christ. Christ is our Sabbath. And we rest in Him. We rest from our works. We trust
the Son. Fifth, Ebenezer Erskine went
on and said, faith is resting upon Christ alone. Now that word alone is important.
It's important. Watch this here. I'm something over 300 pounds. Can that chair hold me? I'm resting there. Not quite.
I still got foot on the floor here. That's it. What do you trust? Where do you rest your soul?
On what you know, who I know. What do you trust? Where do you
rest your soul? On your experience, His experience. What do you trust? Where do you rest your soul?
Jesus Christ alone. Faith rests on Christ as he is
presented in the gospel. The God-man, our almighty, effectual
Redeemer, that one Lindsay taught us about this morning, who, after
he had suffered all the wrath of God in our room, instead cried,
It is finished, having accomplished and obtained eternal redemption
for us by the sacrifice of himself. Faith, number seven, rests upon
Christ for salvation, for sanctification, for righteousness, for full redemption. Faith, trust Christ for everything
my soul needs. Faith, trust Christ for everything
He is. Faith, trust Christ alone. For all that God requires of
me, wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption,
faith. Trust Christ alone for all. The goal of faith is the salvation
of our souls. And this goal our Lord undertook
in the everlasting covenant. And he completed it at Calvary
when he cried, it is finished. Brother Don, what does God require
of me? Nothing, either great or small,
nothing, sinner, no. Jesus did it all long, long ago. It is finished, yes indeed, finished,
every jaunt. Sinner, this is all you need. Tell me, is it not? Oh, may God
the Holy Spirit give you faith. I pray for you. I pray for your
sons and daughters as I do for my own. And I'll do nothing else. I preach to you. As God enables
me, I'll preach to your sons and daughters as I do my own.
I'll do nothing else. Why? Because I can't give faith. No church can give faith. No
mother or father can give faith. No preacher or priest can give
faith. Only God the Holy Spirit, who
raised Christ from the dead, can perform that mighty resurrection
of grace by which He operates and performs faith in the sinner. Oh, may God give you faith. And
I ask, Spirit of God, graciously, day by day, work in me that mighty
operation of your grace, which causes me to believe God, to
trust Him, and thus to please Him. He that cometh to God must believe
that He is, and that He is the rewarder of them that diligently
seek Him. But understand this, without
faith it is impossible to please God. Amen.