I received a letter early in
the week from Brother Mahan that was such a tremendous blessing
to me. He made several statements about
faith in Christ that I want to expand on just a little bit this
morning. I want to be talking to you about faiths because. In 2 Corinthians 5.14, the Apostle
Paul declares that all who are born of God are constrained ruled,
motivated, guided, governed by the love of Christ, by the knowledge
of his love for us, shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.
The love of Christ rules us, he tells us in verse 15, because
we have been born again. We've been born of God because
Christ died for us. His death as our substitute,
when the Lord Jesus laid down his life at Calvary, secured
and guaranteed our new birth, our being born again, for he
obtained eternal redemption for us. And being born of God, we
live not unto ourselves, but unto Christ who loved us and
gave himself for us. And then in verse 16, The inspired
writer tells us that our knowledge of Christ, the knowledge we have
as believers, is not a carnal apprehension of the intellect,
but rather it is a revelation, a gift of God the Holy Spirit. Read verse 16 with me. Be sure
you get this. Our knowledge of Christ is not
a carnal apprehension of the intellect, but rather it is the
gift and revelation of God's grace. 2 Corinthians 5.16 Wherefore,
henceforth, know we no man after the flesh. Yea, though we have
known Christ after the flesh. Before he was converted, Saul
of Tarsus knew Christ after the flesh. He knew who he was, he
knew what he professed, he knew what he taught, and he hated
him for it. Yet now, henceforth, know we
him no more. being born of God by the omnipotent
grace and irresistible mercy of God the Holy Spirit, all who
are taught of God know Christ after the Spirit and not after
the flesh. Because we know Him after the
Spirit by the revelation of God's grace, we know that all who are
in Him, and this is something we know only by the revelation
of grace, all who are in Him are new creatures, because Jesus
Christ, by his finished work as our substitute, has made all
things old to pass away, and makes all things become new.
Verse 17, Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold,
all things are become new. I remind you that is not talking
about the new birth. None of you here I am certain,
would dare presume to think, much less say, that all things
regarding your old nature have passed away. They have not. They
have not. The old nature is just exactly
what it was before God saved us, and just gets worse. Nor would we dare presume to
say that all things have become new with regard to our personal
nature and our personal character. This passage is talking about
that reconciliation which Christ accomplished at Calvary. He put
away the old record of our sin and made us new before God altogether. And then in the new birth, he
comes and puts a new nature in us. Now, before I get to my message, I feel constrained to say a few
things about a very subtle heresy. A heresy with which I am sure,
sooner or later, you will all be confronted. When I talk about
heresy, now understand me. If I use the word heresy, I'm
not talking about insignificant doctrinal error. I'm not talking
about whether a person is pre-millennialist or not. I'm not talking about
whether a person believes in the restoration of Israel or
not. I'm not talking about insignificant doctrinal error. When I use the
word heresy, I'm talking about that doctrine, any doctrine,
that is damning to all who are deceived by it, damning to all
who embrace it, that which is subversive and seditious to the
gospel of God's free grace in Christ, that which subtly, craftily
Satan uses to corrupt people from the simplicity that is in
Christ Jesus. Now, you probably have recognized
in these years, I don't spend much time talking about heresy.
I don't chase rabbits. I know a lot of things come to
my attention in the religious world that I never mention from
this pulpit or in anything I write because why mention them? You're not confronted with them. They're not things likely to
be difficult for you or me. But when I am confident that
you will be confronted by that which is damning to the souls
of men. I am duty-bound as your pastor to deal with it and deal
with it plainly and deal with it with all the clarity that
God will give me so that you are warned beforehand. In the
1600s, John Owen, he was a very, very famous theologian in the
1600s in England. He was the chaplain to Oliver
Cromwell, whose name you may know in history. He 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 is no part that is more pernicious than this
one perverse imagination that to believe in Christ is nothing
at all but to believe the doctrine of Christ." Now that is a tremendous
statement. that horrible, horrible Gnostic
heresy. The idea that salvation comes
merely by believing doctrine is promoted by many today. For
many years, Arminians, will-worshippers, free-willers, fundamentalists,
have been guilty of teaching that faith in Christ is nothing
but an act of the will. by which we agree with certain
facts revealed in the Word of God, facts that are irrefutable. Let me give you an example from
personal experience. When I was seven years old, I
was conned into a profession of faith in a religious service.
Everybody was scared of going to hell, and folks were making
professions of faith, and I came to the front of the church and
knelt down at an altar in a Baptist church. I might as well have
been Catholic. A well-meaning man, I've known him all my life,
a well-meaning man, deceived but well-meaning, with great
compassion and tenderness, came up to the front and took me down
what was called the Roman's Road of Salvation, telling us that
all sin comes short of the glory of God, wages of sin is death,
and then declaring that if I would believe on the Son of God, If
I would believe these things that he had just gone over with
me, then I would be born again, and I would have salvation and
everlasting life. And after some manipulation with
great fear, I consented, and I said, I believe those things
are so. And he put his arms around my
shoulders and hugged me real tight, tears running down his
cheeks, and he said, Bless the Lord, son, you're saved. You've been born again. And I
didn't know God from a gourd. I didn't have a clue what sin
was or what sin is. What I was and what I am. I sure didn't have a clue who
Christ was or what he had done. Such deception is common among
modern fundamentalists. But today there are a good many
who claim to believe the gospel. that which we call the doctrines
of grace, who teach the very same heresy, utterly denying
the gospel of God's grace in Christ, denying His sovereignty,
and asserting that salvation is obtained by simply agreeing
to certain doctrinal truths revealed in the Scripture. It is the word
Gnosticism you've heard all your life. Well, that's the word that
was used in the early days of the Church and is something that
continues through to this day. It is the teaching that man arrives
at salvation. He arrives at acceptance with
God by the mere knowledge of his intellect, by simply assenting
to the truths revealed in Scripture. And of course, The idea is that
we who can achieve this great learning, we are mentally better. I recall years ago, I was 21
years old, preaching a Bible conference in Charleston, West
Virginia. And a fellow got up and preached
in front of me, who was much my senior. He was probably 50,
55 years old. And he started talking about
you know, to believe these things, talking about Calvinism, doctrines
of grace. He said it requires some thinking.
It requires some study, some research. It requires a little
bit of mental power. And I sat with, biting my tongue,
gritting my teeth, and just as soon as I got up, I said, I don't
know anything about mental powers. I don't have any. And I don't
know anything about intellectual abilities. I don't have any.
And I sure don't know anything about learning. But I do know
this, to know the gospel of God's free grace requires a sinner
in need of mercy. Nothing else. And that is the
gift of God. That is the gift of God. Let
me give you a current example of what I'm talking about. Last
week I received an article written by a modern self-appointed theologian. He likes to describe himself
as The Pitbull Guardian of Truth. Pretty good description of it.
This is what it said. Mental assent itself is equal
to faith. Did you hear that? Mental assent
itself is equal to faith. Let me put that to you in another
word. Free will choice. is equal to faith. Your learning is equal to faith. Your works are equal to faith. In that statement, mental ascent
is equal to faith. This man denies the necessity
of the new birth, denies the necessity of God the Holy Spirit
giving you a new nature, denies that man is dead in trespasses
and in sins, denies man's depravity and inability, all the while
he would fight you tooth and toenail over those terms and
over what we believe concerning those things. Faith is not the
result of knowledge. I chose my words deliberately.
Folks tell us faith is the result of knowledge. Knowledge is the
basis of faith. That's human language. Let me
show you. Turn to Hebrews chapter 11. Hebrews
chapter 11. There are four words in verse
3 that flatly deny the idea that the basis of faith is knowledge. Through faith we understand. Did you see that? Through faith
we understand. Everything revealed in this book
is understood through faith. Everything spiritual is understood
through faith. Everything that will do your
soul good is understood through faith and in no other way. Through
faith we understand all things, see all things, perceive all
things, comprehend all things spiritual. And that faith which
gives spiritual understanding is the result of the new birth,
without which no man can see the kingdom of God. Faith in
Christ is the basis of spiritual knowledge and understanding.
Spiritual knowledge is the result of faith in Christ. When I was
much younger, I used to hear Brother Mahan make a statement.
I've heard him make it hundreds of times. And frankly, I used
to kind of think, what does he mean by that? He often said,
you don't get to Christ by doctrine. You get to doctrine by Christ.
You remember that doctrine? How many times have you heard
him say that? And I thought, what do you mean by that? That's
exactly what he meant by that. Faith gives knowledge. Knowledge does not give faith. If I say nothing else, be sure
you get that. Well, enough about that. Let
me get to the good stuff. I'm not interested in straightening
out heretics. I'm happy to leave the little
imps fight for themselves and fight among themselves. But I
am interested in yourself. I want to know God, and I want
you to know Him. I want to trust Him, and I want
you to trust Him. I don't need faith to stop the
mouths of lions. What I need is faith to set a
watch before my mouth and keep the doors of my lips to prevent
me from murmuring and complaining against my God. I don't need
faith to move mountains. That's not my great concern.
What I need is daily faith to cope with the little heels of
my own doubts, unbeliefs, and fears. It's not faith to build
an ark that's significant to us. but faith to enter the ark
God has built for us, Christ Jesus the Lord, and rest in Him."
Now, I'm talking to you about faith. What our Lord Jesus spoke
of when He said to that woman who anointed Him for His burial,
saving faith. He said, Thy faith hath saved
thee. It was her faith that was exercised. And her faith saved her. Oh,
you can't say that. That just doesn't fit. Good.
Good. God gave her the faith, but it
was her faith. If He gives you faith, it's your
faith. And her faith saved her. She
could not have been saved without it. And you who believe your
faith saves you, you can't be saved without it. Just as important,
just as necessary, just as vital as election, redemption, and
effectual calling. Faith saves in this sense. It is by faith that we lay hold
of the Son of God. It is by faith that we come to
Him. It is by faith that we look to
Him. It is by faith that we receive
all the blessings of grace from Him. Now, in the Word of God,
the Scriptures describe certain things as being characteristics
of all true saving faith. Let me show you a few of them.
We'll look at a few passages of scripture and a few of them
I'll just ask you to jot down and look at later. First in Hebrews
chapter 11. Hebrews chapter 11 verse 4. Here's
something faith always has. Faith has a sacrifice. By faith Abel offered unto God
a more excellent sacrifice than Cain. The only way any sinner
can ever approach God, the only way a sinner can come to God
Almighty and find acceptance with Him is through the sacrifice
God has appointed. We can't worship God except by
the sacrifice He Himself has appointed and accepted, Christ
Jesus the Lord. I must needs go whole. by the
way of the cross. There's no other way but this.
I shall ne'er get sight of the gates of light if the way of
the cross I miss. When the cold sweat of death
is on your brow, and you're about to go out to eternity to meet
God Almighty in judgment, all the knowledge in the world will
give you nothing to hang on to. Nothing. All the works you can
perform will give you nothing to give peace to your soul. All
the religious performances you've experienced will give you no
comfort in that day. Nothing will do your soul good
in that day except the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I'm told that when Voltaire,
the great atheist. When his son was dying,
Paul Terry was just crushed. Sitting by the bedside of his
son as his son was gasping for his last breaths and he said,
hang on, son, hang on. And his son looked his daddy
in the eye and he said, daddy, there ain't nothing to hang on
to. And I'm reminded every time I
think of that of Brother Darrell McClung. Last time I saw him,
when he was anxiously awaiting departing this world. He said,
thank God for the blood. Thank God for the blood. Faith
as a sacrifice. I'll tell you something else.
Turn to Ecclesiastes chapter 1. Faith as an experience. Now, we don't trust in experience.
We don't believe in experience. Our salvation is in Christ Jesus.
But don't let anyone ever tell you that salvation is not an
experience. When God Almighty steps into your life, brother,
that's an experience. And when He continues stepping
into your life, that's an experience. Listen to what this wise man
Solomon says. I've communed with mine own heart, saying, Lo, I
am come to great estate. and have gotten more wisdom than
all they that had been before me in Jerusalem. Yea, my heart
had great experience of wisdom and knowledge. Turn to Romans
chapter 5, let me show you that experience. Brother Darwin read
this to us a Tuesday night in the office. Paul tells us that
Christ accomplished our justification in verse 24, or 25 of chapter
4. Then in Romans 5, he says, "...therefore being justified,"
and the comma ought to be right there. By faith we have peace
with God, with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom also
we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand and
rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but
we glory in tribulations also, knowing that tribulation worketh
patience, and patience experience, and experience hope. and hope
maketh not ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in
our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given to us." Faith doesn't justify us. Christ
did that at Calvary, but faith experiences justification. Faith
doesn't reconcile us to God. Christ did that when he died
as our substitute, but faith experiences reconciliation. Faith
doesn't give us a standing in grace. We had that in Christ
from eternity. But faith experiences the standing
and draws nigh to God having access by the blood of Christ.
Faith does nothing to make atonement and put away sin. It does nothing
to that. Christ did that at Calvary. But
faith receives the atonement. And that, my friends, is the
experience of grace. I'll tell you a third thing.
Paul tells us in Romans chapter 4, just listen, we walk in the
steps of that faith of our father Abraham. He says in 2 Corinthians
chapter 5, we walk by faith, not by sight. Faith is the eye
of the soul by which we look to Christ. Faith is the hand
by which we lay hold of and receive Christ. Faith is the foot by
which we come to Christ. and walk with him. As you have
received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him." Walk. That implies something
that's continual. That implies an ongoing thing. Believers are men and women,
not men and women who have experienced faith, but men and women who
are experiencing faith. Faith is not an event of life. Faith is a way of life. Faith
is not something in the past or even something that was exercised
this morning. Faith is the way we live. How do we live by faith? Well,
I need a new car. I'm going to just trust God for
it. That's not living by faith. How do we live by faith? I've got a sickness here in the
family, I want to trust God to take care of it. That's not living
by faith. That's not it. Living by faith
is walking before God, confidently resigning your whole self to
Jesus Christ the Lord, trusting Him as a sinner in need of mercy. As ye have received Christ Jesus
the Lord, so walk ye in Him. The scriptures speak of the obedience
of faith. You can see it in Romans chapter
16, the last verses of that chapter. Paul speaks of this revelation
of God in the gospel for the obedience of faith. You remember
when Paul stood before Agrippa and he was telling Agrippa about
his Damascus Road experience, how the Lord Jesus revealed himself
to him? And then Paul said to the king,
I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision. But what is this obedience of
faith? I try to do a little bit of research
when I preach, and frankly, sometimes I run across something like this
and I think, is everybody confused with works? What is the obedience
of faith? What is it? This is His commandment. that we should believe on his
side and love one another as he gave us commandment. The obedience
of faith is that by which we fulfill the whole law of God,
honoring God's law, trusting Jesus Christ, the Lord in whom
alone is righteousness, walking before him in love one for another. Everywhere in this book, when
you find the scriptures talking about good works, Everywhere
in this book, there are works connected with faith in Christ
and works connected with loving your brethren. Everywhere. And
faith has its trial, if needs be. Ye in great heaviness through
manifold temptations. Peter tells us the trial of your
faith is much more precious than gold that perishes. If God's given us faith, he's
going to try it. He's going to try it by inward
temptations and outward. He's going to try it by using
Satan to run us through his sieve as he did Peter. He's going to
try it by heartache and suffering and sorrow. He's going to try
your faith. Because by trying your faith,
he weans you of this world and sets you upon that world yet
to come. Weans you of things here and
sets your heart upon Christ. And by the trial of your faith
causes you to grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord
Jesus Christ. What father doesn't subject his
children whom he loves to discipline and to pain and to trouble? little by little as he's able
to bear it so that he can learn to bear it and grow into a man. That's what God does by the trial
of our faith. And faith always has its joy. Philippians 1, Paul speaks in
verse 25 of the joy of faith. Even in the midst of trial, oh,
what joy! Joy is ours because of what we
have received by faith. all the grace of God. Joy is
ours because Christ is ours by faith. Joy is ours because of
the confident hope we have set before us. Now let me show you
one more thing. Turn to Romans chapter 8. Get down to verse 27. He that searcheth the hearts
knoweth what is the mind of the because he maketh intercession
for the saints according to the will of God. Faith has a because. Why believe God? Because Christ
intercedes for me. Because God's purpose is for
me. Because God's providence is for me. Because Christ has
fixed it so that no charge shall be laid against me, no condemnation
can come to me, and nothing good shall be withheld from me, because
God who gave His Son for me and to me with Him will freely give
us all good things. And we have a because. Knowing that nothing shall be
able to separate you from the love of God that is in Christ
Jesus our Lord. Oh, what blessedness is contained
in those words Paul wrote to the Philippians while he was
a prisoner at Rome and said, unto you it is given in the behalf
of Christ to believe on him. God give you such faith. Amen.