All right, let's look then, 1
Timothy, chapter 3, and let's look at verse 16. I want to say
some things this evening about the mystery of faith, the mystery
of believing. And without controversy, grace
is the mystery of Godliness. God was manifest in the flesh,
justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the
Gentiles, believed on in the world, and received unto the
glory. That's the mystery, the mystery
of God in those things. God was manifested, that is,
he was revealed, he was seen. John said, we handled him. Real
flesh. The eternal God was made flesh. Real flesh. A virgin shall conceive
and bring forth a son. And to us, a child is born that
never existed before. A son was given, but then a child
was born. Never existed before. Mary brought
forth her firstborn son. And remember what she named him?
Emmanuel. God with us. Paul said, this
is a mystery. The everlasting God actually
took to himself our humanity. That's a mystery. What Brother
Larry Lee tells us about several sons. Jesus Christ, the Son of
God. God in the flesh. He was justified
in the Spirit. Everything that Jesus Christ
did was holy, because He was holy. Every motive He had was
pure. Every thought He had was holy.
Every word He spake was God-honoring. He went about doing good, perfectly
good, continually good. He was justified because everything
He did, He did in the Spirit. He was filled with the Spirit.
The Father gave not the Spirit my measure unto Him. He was energized
by that Spirit. He was led by that Spirit. He
was justified in the Spirit or by the Spirit of God. As the
man, the God man, God in our life. And look here what He said. He was seen of angels. Now the Apostle Paul counted
this a great mystery, that he was seen of angels. And I imagine
that was a great mystery, because when he came into this world
as a little baby, 6 pound, 20 inches long, laying there in
that manger, the scripture says the angels of God came down and
worshipped him. Let all the angels of God worship
Him. And there He lay in a manger,
their Creator and their Sustainer. And there He hanged upon His
mother's breast. And they saw that. They saw Him. And you better bet they thought
that was a mystery. They just aren't looking at that. He was seen of angels. Do you
remember the time? that the Scripture says our Lord
was laid out into the wilderness, 40 days and 40 nights. He was
tempted to the death. Fasted for 40 days and 40 nights. And Satan departed from Him,
and the Scripture says angels came. Angels came. And they looked upon Him. Can
you imagine how He looked? 40 days and 40 nights without
bread, without water? How weak He was? And the scripture
says they ministered unto him. They saw him. In the garden of
Gethsemane, when he was in an agony, he said, My soul is exceeding
sorrowful, even unto death. And there he lay on his face,
saying, Father, not my will, but thine, be done. The scripture
says angels saw him. Saw him on his face. They came and ministered unto
him, God. The angel of the Lord came and strengthened him. That's
a mystery. That's a mystery. Angels saw
him. A great mystery. I imagine that it was a mystery
because they knew who he was. They'd been with him thousands
of years before he came to this earth. They worshipped him in
heaven. They looked upon him. Holy, holy,
holy is the Lord of hosts. And now here He is in our humanity. They're God. They're Creator.
God manifested in the flesh. I tell you, it's a mystery to
them. A Jehovah's Witness came to my house one time and I was
talking to him about this, what the great mystery was. He said,
ain't no mystery of that to me. Well, it's a mystery to angels.
It's a mystery to them. He was seen of angels. And look
at this. Here's another mystery. He preached
unto the Gentiles. He was preached unto the Gentiles. Look over here with me in the
book of Acts. At one of Paul's messages, Acts chapter 13, he
was preached unto the Gentiles. Look here in Acts chapter 13. God was preached unto the Gentiles. But what's the mystery about
that? Well, the God of salvation was preached to the Gentiles.
You and I were without any hope. We were without God and without
Christ in this world. We weren't Jews. We didn't have
the promises made to us. We didn't have the covenants.
We were dogs, Gentile dogs, led away into these dumb isles, deceived
in them darkness. But God was preached to us. The
God of salvation. The God of hope. The God of all
grace, the Father of mercies. He was preached to the Gentiles.
Now that's a mystery, Paul said. It's a mystery. And look here
at Paul's message. Paul never preached a very long
message. Let me read one of them to you. And look at this. Look
back up here in verse 26 before you begin to preach. Usually
when Paul preached, he never preached the long message. Somebody
usually interrupted him. Somebody mad at him or something.
But look here in verse 26 of Acts 13. He was speaking here
to the Jewish nation. Men and brethren, Children of
the stock of Abraham, you Jews, and whosoever among you that
feareth God, to you is the word, to you is the word of this salvation."
Isn't that a blessing? To you is the word of this salvation. For they that dwell at Jerusalem,
and the rulers, because they knew him not, nor yet the voices
of the prophets, which were read every Sabbath day, they have
fulfilled them in condemning him. And though they found no
cause of death in him, yet desired they Pilate that he should be
slain. And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him,
they took him down from the tree and laid him in a sepulcher,
but God raised him from the dead. And he was seen many days of
them that came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are
witnesses unto the people. And we declare unto you glad
tidings. How that the promise which was
made to the fathers, God hath fulfilled the same unto us, their
children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again, as it is also
written in the second Psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have
I begotten thee. And concerning that he raised
him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption,
he said on this life, I will give you the sure mercies of
David. Wherefore he said also in another
psalm, Thou shalt not suffer thy holy one to seek corruption.
For David, after he had served his own generation by the will
of God, he fell asleep, he died, and was laid unto his father,
and saw corruption. But he whom God raised again
saw no corruption. Be it known unto you, therefore,
men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you
the forgiveness of sins. And by him all that believe are
justified from all things from which ye could not be justified
by the law of Moses. Beware therefore lest that come
upon you which was spoken of in the prophets. Behold, ye despisers,
and wander and perish. For I work your work in your
days, and work with you shall in no wise believe, though a
man declare them to you." And when the Jews were going out
of the synagogue, look at this, the Jews besought that these
words might be preached to them the next Sabbath. Words of salvation. Words of
life. Preach God to us. Preach this
God that saves sinners. Preach this God that forgives
sins to us. Read on. Read on. Now, when the congregation was
broken up, many of the Jews and religious proselytes, they followed
Paul and Barnabas, who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue
in the grace of God. And now here's the next Sabbath.
Can you preach this? They said to us the next Sabbath.
I don't know why they said we're going to wait until the next
Sabbath. It's probably doubtful he didn't
preach to them. Salvation was to the Jews first, you know.
It's a mystery that God turned to the Gentiles. But here it
is the next Sabbath, and the whole city, including the Gentiles,
came together to hear the word of God. But when the Jews saw
the multitude, they were filled with envy and spake against those
things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming.
Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold and said, It was necessary
that the word of God should first have been spoken to you. But
seeing you put it from you, and judge yourself unworthy of everlasting
life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles. For so hath the Lord commanded
us, saying, We have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles,
that thou shouldest be for salvation to the ends of the earth. And
when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified
the word of the Lord, and as many as were ordained to eternal
life believed." That's a mystery, Paul said. God, the God of salvation,
the God of mercy, the God of hope, the giver of life, is preached
to the Gentiles. A mystery. Look back over here
at what else he says in our text. Look in 1 Timothy chapter 3 and
verse 16. Believed on in the world. And
I want to look at that in just a minute. But look here at the
sixth fact. He was received up into glory. That's a mystery.
That's a mystery. Now what's a mystery about that?
Any. And Elijah was received up into
glory when? What's such a mystery? when it
says He was received up in the glory. Well, here's the mystery
about that. Jesus Christ died. Enoch never died. Elijah never
died. God was manifested in the flesh.
And in that body, He died. They took Him down from the cross
and laid Him in a sepulcher. He was dead. But now he's in
glory in that same body. That's a mystery, ain't it? That's
a mystery. And here's a mystery. No man
ever died like he died. No man ever died for the cause
for which he died. He died under the curse of God. Now that's a mystery, ain't it?
God dying under the curse of God. Cursed is every man who
hangeth on a tree. You know how Moses wrote that?
Every man who hangeth on a tree is cursed with God. Here's a
man who was cursed with God. He died with our sins in his
own body on the tree. He died for our sins. And here
he is now in heaven. That's a mystery, isn't it? That's
a mystery. No man ever died with sin in
him, with the curse of God on him, and wound up in heaven.
But this meant it. This man. And think about this. But here's the greatest mystery
of all. Here's the mystery about this.
Who was received up into God? Who was received up into God?
God in our humanity. That's the mystery of it. He
went back to heaven, Larry, in a way that he never came. He's
seated there in heaven, the God-man in our humanity. And He'll never
be separated from our humanity again. Now that's the mystery
of it. The angels know that. They saw Him leave that place.
God the Holy Spirit, the Eternal Spirit, left that place as Spirit. And when He come back, He come
back as the man. Christ Jesus. That's the mystery.
That's the mystery. He was believed on in the world. First thing that we see about
this this evening, our faith is in God. Our faith is in God. He was believed on in the world. Saving faith is in God. That your faith and hope might
be in God. Abraham believed in the Lord. He believed in Jehovah. He believed
in God. And it was counted to him for
righteousness. Our faith is in God, our Creator,
and our Sustainer. Saving faith is in God, our Creator. I'll lift up my eyes unto the
hills from which comes my help. I'm going to look to Him by faith.
Who's He looking to? The Lord who made heaven and
earth. It's He who made us and not we ourselves. Our faith is
in God our Creator and God our Sustainer. Our faith is in God
our Saviour. Listen to Isaiah 45, 21. There
is no God else besides me, a just God and a Saviour. There is none beside me. Look
unto me. Believe in me. Look in His believing
hand. Believe in me. all ye ends of earth, and be
saved." Looking to God is saving faith. God our Savior. Our faith is in our Creator,
our Sustainer. It's in God, our Savior. And
that brings us here to our text, doesn't it? Who is God, our Creator? Who is God, our Sustainer? Who
is God, our Savior? It's this triune God. It's this
God who was manifested in the flesh. It's this God who was
seen of angels. It's this God who preached unto
the Gentiles and was received up in the glory. Our faith, if
it's a saving faith, is in this God-made flesh. Now I know that
eliminates a lot of people, don't it? And I'm sorry about that.
But that includes a lot of people too, doesn't it? That includes
us, doesn't it? That's where my faith is, isn't yours? That's
who we believe in, ain't it? God in Christ. This incarnate
God. That's who our faith is. The
mystery of it. He was believed on in the world. Now let's look at some mysteries
right quick of faith. The mysteries of faith. It's
a mystery Our faith begins in the heart. We get a lot of facts
from the Scriptures, and we ought to study them, even memorize
these verses. Brother Larry has been telling
us about some of them. He gave us two or three, I think, this
morning. Faith is a gift of God. By grace are you saved through
faith, that not of yourself. It's a gift of God. It's given
unto you in the behalf of Christ to believe on Him. What is the
work of God? This is the work of God that
you believe. It's a gift of God. We know that.
That's a fact that we can learn from the Scripture. We know that
the heart believes. It's the heart that believeth
unto righteousness. These are facts that we learn
concerning faith. But the greatest mystery here is how we experience this beginning
of faith. It's not a mystery just for looking
here at these facts and learning them, but here's the mystery.
Faith actually beginning, experiencing believing in our own hearts.
There was a time when you and I did not believe. We were unbelievers. But now we do believe. But how
all that came to pass, we know not how, do we? We know not how. I know not how the saving faith,
to me He did impart, nor how believing in His Word brought
peace within my heart. But I know whom I have believed.
I know that. Look over here with me. Hold
that scripture. And look over here with me in
Mark, in Mark's gospel. I tell you, it's a mystery how
that one dime were unbelievers and then were believers. How
this faith gets started in a man's heart. You can ask me, Ruth,
when did you first believe? I can tell you this. I know when
it was made real to me when I first believed. But I am not for sure
actually when at the precise moment I believed. Now, dear Newton, know how precious
did that grace appear the hour I first believed. And some people
do. And some people do. But boy,
I see a mystery in this. I see a mystery in this. And
look what the Lord Jesus said here in Mark's gospel, in this
parable. Look at verse 26. Look at verse 26 in Mark chapter
4. And so is the kingdom of God. Mark chapter 4 and verse 26.
And so is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed
unto the ground, and should sleep and rise night
and day, and the seed should spring up and grow. Look at this,
he knoweth not how. That's the mystery about seeds,
ain't it? You put it down underneath the ground, and it's dead. Basically, the life is in itself,
but you can't see it. And then suddenly, or slowly,
or something, it germinates. You can't see it. It's working
there. And you can't see it until it actually comes up through
the ground. There's a little green sprout. That's the way
faith is, ain't it? It comes by hearing, and hearing
from the Word of God. But I tell you, there's a mystery
of it. Paul said there was a mystery of it. He was believed on in
the Word. Well, that's a mystery. And secondly, and along that
same line, is this. Turn over here with me to Psalms
107. Along the same line, there's
another mystery about faith, and it's this. Our faith is born in our heart.
How it comes to us. How it's born in our soul. That's a great mystery. And it's
out of adversity. It's out of trouble. Success in this world. You can
talk to people, and this is probably so. We talk about success in
this world. It comes usually after we've
grown up, we've learned to trade, got some education, got a good
job with some good benefits, and we've worked hard, laid aside
a little money, everything's went well. Well, I've had a good
40 years. I have. Good 40 years in the
shop, made good money. I've been successful. I'm thankful
for it. Everything went just right. But you know faith's not born
that way. Faith don't come that way. Faith
comes this way. Faith comes out of trouble. Faith
comes out of trials. Faith comes out of weakness and
difficulty. Faith comes like this. Faith
comes when you have an issue of blood. And you try all of
the positions, and you get worse and worse, and you're going to
die. That's when faith comes. That's
when you say, I've got to touch the hem of this garment. Faith
comes when you've got down in a far country, and you've spent
all your living with harlots, And you're there feeding the
swine and starving to death yourself, and you come to yourself and
you say, I perish. That's where faith is born. Because
it's there you say, I know what I've got to do. I'm going home
to my father's house. Faith is born out of difficulty. It's born out of trouble. It's
born when we come to the end of ourselves. It's born when
we fail. Not when we succeed. It's different
than everything else, ain't it? Look here what he says in Psalms
107. Look here in verse 1. Oh, give thanks unto the Lord,
for he is good. His mercy endures forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord
say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy. And
gathered out of the lands from the east and from the west and
north and from the south, they wandered in the wilderness in
a solitary way. They found no city to dwell in. Hungry and thirsty, their soul
fainted in them." Boy, they weren't successful with it. They'd come
to the end of their ship, starving to death. Then they cried unto
the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their
distresses, and he led them forth by the right way, that they might
go to a city of habitation. Oh, that men would praise the
Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the children
of men, for he satisfied the longing soul. And he fills the
hungry soul with goodness, such as sat in darkness and in the
shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron, because
they rebelled against the words of God, and contempt the counsel
of the Most High. Therefore he brought down their
heart with labor. They fell down, and there was
none to help them. And then faith was born. And
then faith came to the heart. Then they cried unto the Lord
in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses.
He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and
broke their bands of sin." Do you see that? You come to Christ
when you have no place else to go. You look to Christ when you are
unable to look away from yourself. And I tell you, as long as we're
happy with self, as long as we're successful, as long as things
are going well, we'll never look away from self-willing. Don't
you thank God that he just brought you down, made you so dissatisfied
with yourself. Because it's there that this
mystery of faith comes. You've got no choice, have you?
When a man ain't got any choice, I love to see it happen this
way. When this, make a decision for Jesus, you know, I don't
believe anybody, you're dung up by all that, except in Christ
as your personal Savior. You've got to have Him or you're
going to die. You're going to die. Old Sturgeon
told a story one time about Captain. Back when they used to sail the
old ships with the big sails and they had the big place up
there on the top of the mast where they climbed up there and
watched for other ships and pirate ships and so on. Used to take
their kids with them, young kids. And this captain of this ship
had taken one of his young sons with him. And they got in a storm,
wave, the ship was rocking, and somebody ran and got the captain,
and they said, Captain, Captain, your son is out on the mast,
he fell out of the basket up there, and he's out on, he's
ready to fall off to his death. And the captain ran out and they
looked up way up there. where they get out in that little
basket to look out, and the ship had leaned and he had fell out.
He was just hanging up there to those sails. He was going
to drop off and kill himself, crush himself upon the deck.
And his dad got the horn and hollered up at him. He said,
Son, when this ship leans to the right, you let go and fall
into the water, and we'll save you. The ship leaned to the right. And the kid hung on for dear
life. Come straightened back up. And the captain said to his helper,
said, run and get my rifle. And he got his rifle and he pointed
it up at his son and said, son, the next time this ship leans
to the right, you let loose or I'll shoot you loose. I'll shoot
you loose. The ship leaned to the right,
and he turned loose. And he fell into the waters.
And Spurgeon said they got him out of the waters and got him
up on the shore. And they asked that little boy,
why did you turn loose? He said, I had no choice. I had
no choice. There's when we come to Christ.
There's when we believe in Christ. We've got to believe in Him or
die. Faith is born out of desperation. It's born out of adversity. That's
the mystery of it. That's what the world can't understand
about it. You see these evangelists, you know, they have these big
mediums and these big auditoriums, and they give this invitation
for people to come up front, and you see this young man and
young girl, and they're holding hands and smiling, and they're
blowing bubble gum. I doubt if that's the way faith
comes. It's a broken soul, and not a
whole, who truly trusts the Savior. It's a mystery, but that's the
way it comes. That's the way it comes. And you know you and
I are still able to do this, aren't we? We're still able to
do this. Every time we get in trouble.
Every time we get burned. Every time we face difficulty
and trials. Oh, this is awful. But the same
faith that's barred out of adversity is strengthened by adversity. We first believe in our trouble,
and trouble doesn't hinder our faith, it makes it stronger.
The trial of your faith makes faith stronger. The third thing about this mystery
of faith is this. It purifies the heart. Believe
in it. It purifies the heart. Look here
with me in Acts chapter 15. I want you to mark these scriptures. Look in Acts chapter 15 and verse
9. This is that great council there
at Jerusalem. where there were some Pharisees
who were saying it was necessary, not only to believe in Christ,
but to keep the Law of Moses. They thought that's the way it
was going to be sanctified, you know, by keeping the Law of Moses.
Well, here's what Peter said, look here in verse 9, in Acts
chapter 15, in verse 9. And look in verse 8, here's what
Peter said to that council. You're not saved by law, by law
keeping, but here's the way you're saved. Here's the way your heart
is purified. And God which knoweth the hearts,
bear them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as He did
unto us, and put no difference between us and them, purifying
their hearts by faith. Faith purifies the heart. It
has this effect upon the heart that hope has. These are two
graces that are given to us in our hearts, and they have a purifying
effect. It don't yet appear what we shall
be, but we know when Christ appears, we're going to be like Him. Boy,
that's a hope, ain't it? You know what effect that hope
has upon a man? It purifies him. It purifies him, even as Christ
is purified. And faith does the same thing.
It has a purifying effect. Brothers and sisters, I love
the law of God. I love the Ten Commandments. But after the life of me, I've
never gotten any strength from it. Never have I. And every time
I've taken my eye off of the Lord Jesus, and looked to that
law, all I find it is, is a ministration of death, and a killing lamp.
But I'll tell you one thing else I find. The more I keep my eye
upon the Lord Jesus, and find myself accepted in Him, the more
I love this law. I find I only love this law as
I realize I'm free from it. The law does not sanctify you.
It does not purify you. But failure has that effect upon
you. You say, Bruce, I sure don't
feel pure this evening. Well, what is it? What is it
to be pure anyway? What is it to be pure? I wish
some of you sometime would get a little pad and pencil and go
around through the neighborhood, maybe the neighborhood you live
in or this neighborhood, and just go from door to door and
ask people that question. And don't dig into the response,
just ask them this question, what do you think it is to be
pure? And write down their response. I wish some of you would try
it and see what responds you. What is it to be pure? Faith
purifies the heart. Well, one thing about it is to
be holy and totally without sin. We know that. That's what somebody
said, and I can't disagree with that. It's not to have a speck
of sin upon you. But here's the question about
that, in whose eyes? In whose eyes? In your eyes? Or God's eyes? Purity is not what we think of
ourselves, it's what God knows about. And it's what we believe
God knows about. Purity is to walk in agreement
with God. How can two walk together except
they be agreed? If we're not in agreement with
God, we can't walk with Him. If we walk in the light as He
is in the light, we have fellowship one with another. The heart is
purified when it's in agreement with God concerning self and
sin, and the way that sin is forgiven. That's when the heart's
purified. And it's only faith that lays
hold upon these things. The heart is not purified when
it thinks highly of itself and boasts in its achievement, but
the heart is pure when it abhors itself and cleaves to the Lord
Jesus as its holiness. How do we know that? Because
Job was a holy man. He was a pure man. And you remember
what he said about himself? I see God, he said. I see Him. How do you see God? The only
way to see Him is by the eye of faith. I see Him, he said,
and I abhor myself. Boy, he wasn't pure, was he?
He wasn't pure. Well, it depends on whose eyes
you're looking through. That's what purity is. If a man thinks
himself to be something when he's nothing, he's not pure. A heart is not purified by washing
the outside of the platter. Long dresses and short hair.
I don't smoke and I don't chew and I don't run with them that
do. Remember that one? But the heart is purified when
it hates sin, and it abhors itself because of its sin. Ye that love
the Lord hate evil, and the heart cannot hate sin, but as it has
an eye to that fountain that is open for sin and uncleanness. A man said, I hate myself, I
abhor my sin. I'll tell you when you will,
when you see that fountain open for your sin. An unforgiven man
cannot abhor himself. An unforgiven man cannot hate
sin. But let him see his sins put
away in the blood of the crucified one, then he'll hate sin. He'll
hate sin. That's the way faith purifies
the heart. There is forgiveness with the
Lord that he may be feared. Fear the Lord and hate evil.
It's faith that lays hold of these things and secretly and
gradually and continually purifies the heart. Faith will do for
us what the law cannot do. Faith purifies the heart. Look
at another one. Look here at the fourth string.
Look in Romans. Look in Romans chapter 10. And as I read this,
I thought, whoa, that's the simplicity of faith. Or the effortlessness
of faith. Look at this. Look here in Romans
chapter 10. Look here in verse 5. The effortlessness
of believing. I just told you a minute ago
that faith was born out of trouble and difficulty. Now I'm going
to tell you, believing is the easiest thing in this world.
It's the easiest thing in this world. Look here what he says in verse
5 of chapter 10. Moses describing the righteousness
which is of the Lord, that the man which doeth those things
shall have in them a brother and sister. That's a difficult
passage. Easy to say, but impossible to do. Those things which are
written in the book of the law. But the righteousness which is
of faith speaketh on this wise. Say not in thy heart, who shall
ascend unto heaven? Well, that's a difficult task,
isn't it? Can you do that? Can you ascend up there to heaven?
And he said here, and bring Christ down to teach us? No, you can't. That's a difficult task. Forget
about doing that. If that's what it means to believe,
then forget about it. You can't do it. And here's something
else that's impossible. Look in verse 7. And don't say
this. Who shall ascend unto the deep? That is, to bring Christ up from
the dead. If you could ascend there, it
would do us no good because He's not there. He's already risen.
He's in heaven. There are some things that's
impossible. But look here at faith now. Look here at faith.
Faith is not keeping the law. Faith is not ascending up to
heaven and having Christ to teach us. Faith is not bringing Christ
up again from the dead so we can see Him. Those things are
impossible. But here's what faith is in verse
11. What say of faith? The Word is my being. Even in thy mouth and in thy
heart, that is the word of faith which we preach." You know what
the Apostle Paul said? Faith is this. It's not doing
it all. It's not seeing it all. It's
not a bunch of difficult accomplishments at all. Here it is in the Word
of God. To do is done. Believe His Word. Believe His Word. It's now you. You've heard it. You can read
it. You can get a hold of it on your
hands. Believe it. Not too simple, ain't it? But
that's how simple it is. It's like sitting down and resting.
A lot of times we sit down, but
we don't rest, do we? And Joel gets up almost every morning
now, I got in the habit of asking her, did you rest last night?
Well, we get to bed at 10.30, get up 5.30 or 6, well yeah,
I got plenty of rest. No, a lot of times we just lay
there and can't rest. When I was young, I could lay
down at any time of the day. Just sit down and immediately
I could put everything out of my mind and boy, I could just
go to sleep in a second. I'll lay there now some time
for hours. I'm laying around, but I'm not resting. Sit down and rest. Rest. What is it to believe? It's just
like resting. It's just like resting. Believe
God's Word. Believe what He said. It's that
simple, it's that easy. Don't make it difficult. The
Word is now you, in your mouth, in your heart. The Word of faith
which we preach. Listen to this. Here's where Thomas wanted to
put his hands in the Lord's side and feel his wounds in his hands. And the Lord Jesus appeared to
him, and Thomas said, My Lord and my God. And the Lord Jesus
said unto him, Thomas, because you have seen me, you have believed. But blessed are those who have
not seen and yet believed. If we ain't seen, then how are
we going to believe? How do we know what to believe?
Well, look here. And other signs truly did Jesus
in the presence of disciples, which are not written in this
book. But these are written that you
might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and believe
Him. You might have life through His
name. What is faith? It's to believe the Word of God. It's to believe the Word of God.
I had a fellow tell me one time, he said, what bothers me most
is what I'm so afraid of. I believe God. I believe the
Word of God, but I don't believe God. I said, that's the silliest
thing I've ever heard in my life. How do you believe the Word of
God without believing God? This is God incarnate. This is God
in His Word, ain't it? This is what he said. If he stood
here before you this evening, brothers and sisters, he'd have
seen no more than what I've seen. believe His Word. That's why
this is written. And sometimes we make it difficult,
but it's simple. And that's the mystery of faith.
The effortlessness of it. Believe it. Believe it. And lastly is this. Look over
here in 1 Peter 1 verse 9. The end of our faith, 1 Peter
1 and verse 9. Look here in verse 8, whom have
you not seen? He's received up into glory.
Now we don't see him, but we love him. In whom though now
ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable,
and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith." What's
that going to be like? You ain't going to ever quit
believing, are you? Because he started to work in
you. And you ain't going to quit it.
You're going to keep believing. You're not of them who draw back.
You're going to believe all the days of your life. But there
is coming a time when your faith is going to come to an end. And
then what's going to happen? Even the salvation of your soul. Faith is going to end in the
salvation of your soul. You say, Bruce, I thought our
soul was already saved. Brother Larry told us this morning,
we have been saved, we are being saved, and we shall be saved.
That's what he said down here in verse 13, look at that. Look what he said, work hard,
gird up the warrants in your mind, be sober and hope to the
end. The end. For the grace that is
to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Now this is such a blessing when
we see the end of faith. And I'll tell you what a blessing.
He tells us what's going to happen when our faith ends. If your
faith is saved in faith, you know what's going to happen when
it ends? You're going to be saved. Aren't you glad he didn't say,
when your faith ends, you're going to be condemned? When your
faith ends, you may be damned? No. Look into the end of your
faith. What's going to happen? You're
going to be saved. Your faith is going to end in sight. Boy,
that's a mystery, ain't it? Because we've never experienced
it. I'm talking about experience. What you and I experienced from
the time we first believed until the time our faith ends. It's
a mystery. And sometimes you have to examine
yourself to see if you've got it. This grace of faith. And boy, I tell you, sometimes
through trials, it gets so dim and so weak, sometimes you wonder,
do I really live? Boy, this grace, it may
get weak, may grow so dim, has nothing but a little flicker
about it, but it'll never be destroyed. It'll never die. It's the work of God in our hearts.
The devil assaults us. The flesh hinders it, the world
tempts it, but it will never die. It will end, but it will
never die. Spurgeon told a story years ago,
not Spurgeon, but Mr. Bundy, in Pilgrim's Progress, told a
story about taking a Christian up to the
house and let the interpreter teach him some things. And he
was teaching him concerning faith. How faith is kept lively in the
heart. How faith works in the heart.
Works so secretly. And the interpreter took Christian
America to a big fireplace. And logs were burning. And there
was a man there dressed in black and he was dipping water out
of this big barrel and throwing it on the fireplace. But the
fire wasn't going out. And he said, would you tell me
what's going on here? Would you interpret this for
me? What's keeping the fire going? And he said, I'm going to reveal
something to you. So he turned him around behind
the fireplace where he couldn't see it. And there was a man behind
the fireplace dressed in white. And he was pouring in this pure
oil into the fireplace. And that's why the fire kept
burning. You ain't going to ever quit believing. Because Christ,
Jesus the Lord, who began this faith in you, He'll finish it.
He'll finish it. You may be afraid sometime, but
you're going to quit believing. But sometimes He lets you experience
that fear so you won't believe Him. But when that faith ends, it'll
end in sight. And you'll never need it again.
You'll never need it again. A glorious ending. Oh Lord, thank
You for faith. Thank You for grace. Thank You. Lord, we bow this evening. Gracious
Father, Holy and wise Father, oh, how you've blessed us, how
good you are to us. We could be in this world this
evening if you'd let us go in our rebellion, ignorance and
darkness, in the same world that tonight is ready to perish. Perishing
with fangs of clay, born for one brief day. But in your good
pleasure and your great grace, and for the sake of your dear
son, you've called us out this evening and put it in our hearts
to gather here, to assemble here as we are, to worship you, to read of these precious truths
that you've given us in your Word, how you've blessed us. We bless you for it. Faith just
to believe, just to rest in you, just to cleave to you, to depend
upon you. Thank you for this. And help
us all this coming week to continue to cleave. Convert us from ourselves, our
sins, this world. Convert our hearts. Bless your
word, bless those that aren't here this evening. Be merciful
to the poor lost among us. O our Lord, be merciful, be pitiful. For your sake we ask. Amen.