I want to read beginning with
verse 14. Verse 14. Afterward, you see our Lord Jesus
Christ had been raised from the dead on the first day of the
week, and he had appeared unto his disciples. And afterward,
it says, he appeared to the leaven as they sat at meat, and abraded
them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they
believed not them which had seen him after he was risen. And he said unto them, Go ye
into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth
not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow
them that believe. In my name shall they cast out
devils, they shall speak with new tongues, they shall take
up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not
hurt them. They shall lay hands on the sick,
and they shall recover. So then, after the Lord had spoken
unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right
hand of God. And they went forth and preached
everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the
word with signs following. Amen. At the very outset this
morning, my text is verse 16, but at the outset I wanted to
say a few words about these signs that shall follow them that believe.
Verse 17 and 18. These words sometimes have been
quite confusing in our day and time as to whether or not these
are still being experienced by the people of God and by believers
in our day. But as we look at the Word of
God and study the Word of God carefully, we see that, like
for an example, in the 13th chapter of the book of 1 Corinthians,
I offer this as a word of explanation It says in verse 8 that charity
never faileth, but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail. They shall fail. There will come
a time when there will not be the gift of prophecy and these
other gifts that are referred to in the latter part there of
the 16th chapter of Mark. Whether there be tongues, they
shall cease. Whether there be knowledge, it
shall vanish away. Knowledge meaning that an individual
in the church would have a gift of knowledge and would stand
and instruct as the Spirit of God would instruct him, instruct
the congregation. And this gift of knowledge would
pass away, it shall vanish away. For now, he says, for we know
in part, and we prophesy in part. We must understand that the church
was in its infancy, and it was in a progressive state, and the
church was passing through this state where they had these various
gifts. that God blessed them with when
that which is perfect had not come as yet. But when that which
is perfect is come, in verse 10, then that which is in part
shall be done away. And what he means by that which
is perfect, he means the perfect revelation of God, the revelation
of God that we have, the Holy Bible, the Scriptures that we
have been given. This is that perfect revelation. God is spoken and He will not
speak again. He is not now speaking to anybody. In other words, there's no new
scripture being written. None whatever. The scripture
body is full and it says that when that which is perfect is
come, then that which is in part, like these various and sundry
gifts, that were given to the church in its infancy, he said,
when that which is perfect is cut, then that which is in part
shall be done away. And he explains it like this,
he says, when I was a child, like the church was when it was
in its infancy. He says, I speak as a child.
In other words, I talk like a child. And the church acted like a child
when it was in its infancy. He said, I understood as a child. He said, I thought as a child. But when I became a man, in other
words, when I grew up, when I came to maturity, when the church
came to a state of maturity, Having the complete revelation
of God, he said, but when I became a man, I put away childish things. I put away childish things. So
these things are no more being, the people of God are no longer
being blessed with these particular gifts because there's no room
for it, no need for it. because the church is matured
and these childish things have been put away. For now we see
through a glass darkly, but then face to face, now I know in part,
but then shall I know even as also I am known. And now abideth
faith, hope, and charity, these three, But the greatest of these
is charity. So I offer that word of explanation
in regards to these signs that follow. They did follow in the
New Testament age in the early church. They had these gifts. But these gifts have been done
away with as the church received all of the scriptures, the complete
body of Holy Scripture. Now then, we come back this morning
in our text to verse 16, where the Word of God says, He that
believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth
not shall be damned. Now these words in verse 16 deserve
our very serious consideration. They're some of the most important
words, I believe, that were ever spoken into the ears of the sons,
the fallen sons of Adam. Let me give you a few reasons
why that I believe this. I will not try to stay very long
on these reasons, but I want you to understand why I believe
these are some of the most important words that were ever spoken to
men in this world. First of all, the first reason
is that these are the words of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Now this is very important for
us to understand because the Bible says that He had all authority
in heaven and in earth. The Lord Jesus Christ spoke with
authority. The Bible says that men, as they
listen to Him, they come away saying, never a man spoke like
this man. This man spoke in an unusual
manner. He spoke as one having authority. These are the words of the Master
Himself. Now I invite you to hold your
finger in your Bible there in Mark 16 and turn over with me,
if you will, to Hebrews chapter 1 and listen to what these verses
here have to say about the Lord Jesus Christ and Him being the
Speaker to men in our day. It says in chapter 1 in verse
1 and 2, 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 who being the brightness
of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding
all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself
purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the majesty
on high. Now these verses tell us that
God spoke in times past, in Old Testament times, He spoke to
the fathers by the prophets, but in these last days, He has
spoken unto us by His glorious Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. He has spoken to us, so these
are the words, the words of our Lord Jesus in Mark chapter 16
and verse 16, where He has spoken. The Lord Jesus has spoken. And then in the second chapter,
we read these words. concerning the Lord speaking. Therefore we ought to give the
more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at
any time we should let them slip. For if the word spoken by angels
was steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just
recompense of reward, how shall we escape if we neglect, so great
salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord,
and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him. God also
bearing them witnessed both with signs and wonders, and with different
miracles and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will. Now here the writer of Hebrews
tells us that if the word of angels was steadfast and everyone
who transgressed their word and was disobedient received a recompense
of reward worthy of what they had done, then how shall we escape
How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation which at the
first began to be spoken by the Lord? By the Lord. And so these
words are to be listened to, they're to be paid attention
to, because they're His words. Now we know that the Bible, I
believe, is is quite a large book. I believe it is. It's one
book with 66 books in it. But you know, when you begin
to think about the actual words spoken by our Lord Jesus Christ
while here on earth, His recorded words, they're actually few. They're actually few compared
with all of the others that we have speaking in the Word of
God. But these words are among those
that the Spirit of God has been pleased to preserve for us recorded,
written words of our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ Himself. He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be damned. Now the
second reason I offer is that these were the last words spoken
by our Lord before He went back to glory. After His resurrection,
these were His last words unto His disciples. And we know that
the last words that are spoken by loved ones are often remembered
and often treasured. Now, beloved, we need to hear
these words because they're the last words that our Master spoke
on earth before He went back to heaven. And so these are to
be valued, just like you would value the last words of your
mother or your father or your wife or your husband when they
left this world. You would value their words,
know how much more. should we value the last words
of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now the third reason is because
I believe they concern such great issues that we need to pay attention. He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved. He that believeth not shall be
damned. Now our Lord here is not talking about comfort and
rest or happiness and peace. He's talking about life or death.
He's talking about salvation or damnation. Beloved, could
there be any more serious words than these that are for us in
this text this morning? Now the fourth reason is why
these words are of such vast and vital importance to us is
that these words consider the terms And we often talk about
terms. In what terms will God save a
sinner? On what terms will God receive
a man? On what terms will God do business
with a sinner? What terms? What are the terms?
Well, Beloved, here they are. Here are the terms upon which
God will accept, upon which God will save, upon which God will
deliver a poor sinner. These are the terms. He that
believeth and is baptized shall be saved. Now, Beloved, you think
on these terms. This is very important that we
understand these words that they speak of the terms which our
Lord will receive a sinner. Now the fifth reason is that
these words are so important is because they apply to every
man. To every man in this world. Every man, woman, boy or girl
who comes into this world. These words apply to all. Now, no one is excluded. He said,
you go into all the world. The Lord Jesus said to His disciples,
you go into all the world and you preach the gospel, and you
preach the gospel to every creature. Go and preach the gospel to every
creature. Now, beloved, if we understand
that these words apply to us, these are the words of our Lord.
They speak to us. They're His last words. And these
words certainly are words that speak forth the terms upon which
God will save a sinner. And these words, my friend, are
so important, we need to take heed. And I hope that I have
your ear this morning. Now, beloved, whatever faith
is, it is evident that it is necessary. The Lord Jesus Christ
said, have faith in God. Now whatever faith is, it is
absolutely necessary. Now I wanted to say just a word
here, insert just a word here about baptism. It is mentioned
in verse 16, he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved,
but he that believeth not shall be damned. Now, baptism is a
confession. He that believeth with faith
that confesseth is what the writer of scripture, what the Lord Jesus
is saying here. True faith identifies itself
with the gospel that one believes when they're saved. A man can
believe and not be baptized, the thief on the cross. You know,
he believed and he was not baptized, but he was just one case in all
of the Word of God. In all of the Word of God, it
is certainly the rule instead of the exception that all those
who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, that they are to be baptized,
that they will follow the Lord and will confess their faith
through baptism. Now a man can be baptized and
not believe, and we know that there are many cases where that
has happened. But the text is talking about
a particular kind of faith. One that must confess its hope
in the gospel. This is done by baptism. By this we identify ourselves
with a crucified Christ. Now baptism is not just a form
or a ritual. The Greek word for baptism is
baptizo, and the word means to plunge, to dip, to immerse. The word means to bury. And so
baptism is a picture. It's not a ritual, and it's not
a formality. It preaches the gospel. It is
a preaching ordinance. When an individual who says,
I believe the gospel, submits himself for a believer's baptism,
that individual is saying, I want to identify myself publicly with
the gospel. I want to tell everybody that
I believe that Christ died for me, that He was buried, and that
God raised Him from the dead. Now, beloved, the only way this
can be done is by a burial in water. And this is the way that
we confess. And this is the way that faith
confesses itself, is by submitting itself unto water baptism. It is a burial in water. Now, beloved, let us understand
that faith is the principle saving grace. Unbelief is the chief
damning sin. There is no sin which can dam
a man to hell without unbelief. He that believeth not, it says,
shall be damned. It does not say, he that stealeth
watermelons shall be damned. It says, he that believeth not
shall be damned. John 3 and 18, it 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. Unbelief is the granddaddy of
all sin. Unbelief is the foundation of
all sin. Unbelief is the very heart of
all sin. Unbelief is the chief damning
sin. Now, we must be interested in
this. If faith is the principle saving
grace, and the Bible says, he that believeth on the Son hath
everlasting life, surely we're interested. We want to have everlasting
life. We do not want to be damned when
we leave this world. We want that our never-dying
soul would live in peaceful habitation with God for all eternity. That's
what we want. That's what we desire. No one
here surely wants to go to hell. No one here wants to stand before
a thrice holy God at the judgment and to have to say, I lived in
unbelief and I died in unbelief. If you die in unbelief, you will
die, my friend, in your sins. Faith, we're to understand, Jesus
said it in John 6 and 47. He said, truly, truly, I say
unto you, he that believeth on me hath everlasting life. If you believe on me, Jesus said,
you have everlasting life. You got it now, as a present
possession, because through faith in me, you're in union with me,
and because I live, you shall live also. Now let me say that
faith is the evidence of spiritual life. It's the evidence of it. If a man believes on the Lord
Jesus Christ, that is evidence that he is alive spiritually. Jesus said, Verily, verily, I
say unto you, He that heareth my word And believeth on him
that sent me, hath everlasting life, shall not come into the
judgment, but is passed from death unto life. Somebody said,
well, I don't know whether I'm one of the elect or not. Therefore,
I don't know whether I'm saved. I don't know whether I can be
saved or not. Beloved, nobody ever knows that
they're one of God's elect until they have received the gift of
faith from God in their soul. And when they are able to believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ, then they know that God has chosen
them. They know that something happened. They know that the
faith in them has come from God. It's a gift. And they know that
the Lord has chosen them. Faith is the evidence of life. Are you a believer on the Lord
Jesus Christ? Now, my friend, you say, I'd
love to know whether or not I'm saved before I leave this world.
Well, faith is the evidence of life. Do you believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ? Has God been pleased to drop
the gift of faith into your poor soul so that you could embrace
the Son of God with all of your heart and your soul? Well, If
faith is the evidence of life, unbelief is proof of spiritual
death. If you're in a state of unbelief
this morning, if you believe not the testimony of the Word
of God, if you believe not the Scriptures concerning our Lord
Jesus Christ and His sacrificial death, on our behalf, then my
friend that's proof of spiritual death. You're dead in sin and
you're alienated from the life that's in God. You're cut off
from it and you cannot share in eternal bliss and eternal
glory. You cannot share in communion
and fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ because of unbelief. The Bible says in John 3, 14
and 15, And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,
even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth
in him should not perish, but have eternal life. So the Lord
Jesus Christ was lifted up, and through faith in the Lord Jesus
Christ, we have eternal life. John 20 and verse 31, Says, but
these are written, talking about the many things in the verse
prior to this, that should have been written maybe, that our
Lord did and said, but these are written that you may believe,
that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God,
and that believing you might have life through His name. Believing you might have life
through His name. Well, you know, when we have
considered the importance of faith and looked at it as we
have already this morning, the question is to be asked, what
is it really to believe on Christ? What is it really to believe
on Christ? If faith is so necessary, and
if unbelief is so fatal, then what is it really, preacher,
to believe on Christ? Well, I believe it is wise for
us to first of all to determine what faith really is in the light
of the Scripture. You know, today, and one of the
faults that I have with many preachers is, their message is,
believe, believe, believe! But they never tell us what to
believe. Now, in studying and examining
the writings of the old forefathers of the faith, they seem to come
up with a three-fold definition of faith. They explained it like
this. First of all, they say that faith
includes knowledge. It includes knowledge. Beloved,
there can be no faith without knowledge. Yet knowledge itself
is not faith. You can have a lot of knowledge
and not have any faith at all. Now when God created this world,
He said, let there be light. Let there be light in the soul. Let there be light in our hearts. Let there be light in our understanding. Let us know some things and understand
some things so that we might believe. In 2 Timothy 1 and verse
12, Paul said, I know whom I have believed. I know whom I have
believed. He's not like those that in Acts
chapter 17 went about worshiping a God that they didn't know.
And Paul said, the God that you ignorantly worship, Him declare
I unto you. Do you know the Lord? Do you
have knowledge of who He is? What He did when He was in the
world? and where He is now, and what He is doing now. Do you
know anything about the Lord Jesus Christ? You cannot trust
an unrevealed Christ. You must know Him by the Spirit's
revelation. Now in John 17 and 3, the Lord
Jesus said, this is eternal life, that they might know thee the
only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. You want
to know what eternal life is? Jesus said, it's knowing me. It's knowing me, and it's knowing
the only true God, the Heavenly Father. It's knowing Him. And
we know in 1 John 5 and 20 that the Son of God is come and hath
given us an understanding that we may know Him that is true. So we are given an understanding
by the Lord Jesus Christ that we might understand and may know
Him that is true. James 1 and 18, there can be
no faith, it is said, without the Word. of his own will begat
he us with the word of truth. Now in 1 Peter 1 and 23 it says
being born again not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible by
the word of God which liveth and abideth forever for all flesh
is grass and all the glory of man is the flower of the grass
and the grass withereth and the flower thereof falleth away but
The Word of the Lord endureth forever, and this is the Word
which by the Gospel is preached unto you. What I'm saying is
the Word is the foundation of our faith. We must know something
about what the Word of God says about the Lord Jesus Christ and
the work He came to do on our behalf. If you would turn with
me in your Bibles to the book of Romans, chapter 10, I would
further illustrate this to you in the book of Romans chapter
10. And in verse 13, the writer Paul says, for whosoever shall
call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Whosoever shall
call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall
they call on him whom they have not believed? How can an individual
intelligently call upon a God in whom he has no faith, in whom
he has not believed? How can he do that? Well, he
cannot do it. Paul said he cannot do it. How
are they going to call on Him whom they've not believed? And
how shall they believe in Him? How are they going to believe
in Him of whom they have not heard? If they have not heard
about Him, how are they going to believe on Him? If they don't
know anything about Him? If it's not been revealed to
their hearts what He did, who He is, and where He is now? If it's not been revealed to
them, how can they believe on Him? And how shall they hear
without a preacher preaching the word of God to them? How
are they going to hear without the word of God being declared?
Without it being manifested? Without it being sent forth?
Without it being heralded out and proclaimed? How are they
going to hear? They must hear the Word of God, because the
Word of God is the foundation of our faith. And we go on down
further in verse 17, so then Paul sums it up, so then faith
cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. Faith is,
as we said, the foundation of our faith. It comes by hearing. Faith comes as you hear the Word
of God, as knowledge is imparted unto you. Then the Word declares
the sinfulness of man. Why would I call on God for mercy
Your condition as you come into this world, and you need salvation,
you need cleansing, and the only way you can know it is by hearing
the Word of God. And what I'm saying is that a
man cannot intelligently call on Christ with saving faith without
knowing why it is that he must call. Why it is he must ask. the Lord to save him. If he does
not know who Christ is or what He did, that enables God to be
a just and a justifier of those who believe in Him, then, my
friend, He cannot call. Somebody says, well, preacher,
that's a lot of doctrine. That's a lot of doctrine, and
that's sobering. It's so sobering to hear somebody
get up and say, I need to know who Christ is. It's so sobering
to have somebody stand in my face and tell me that I must
know and understand my need and the sufficiency, the ableness
of Christ in order to be saved. That's too solemn, and I really
don't want to hear it. Well, my friend, listen to me.
We can be happy when we find out what we've got to be happy
about. If you understand who the Lord Jesus is, and you understand
that He came to save poor sinners like you, and you understand
that He's sufficiently able to deliver your soul from everlasting
judgment and eternal hell, then you got something to be happy
about. Then we can rejoice and praise God together. These words
are sobering words to the soul. Now we can shout when we find
out what we got to shout about. Amen? We can shout, we can praise
the Lord when we understand who He is, what He did, and where
He is. We can understand those things.
And so, knowledge, we must have. We must have. You've got to know
some things. And you say, well, preacher,
how am I going to find out? Get your Bible down, wipe the dust
off of it, and begin to read it. Oh, that's the most important
thing you could do. You say, I've got lots to do,
preacher. You don't have anything more important than to wipe the
dust off your Bible and begin to read it. And you say, well,
how else could I find out? You can attend services just
like this right here, and hear the Word of God expounded, hear
it preached, have it set before you so that you can come to understand. By our friend, we're close to
eternity. We're in the vestibule of eternity.
We're in the hallway that leads to everlasting life or everlasting
death. And we must be aware of that.
And it ought to sober our souls. We need to know. We need to know
something that we can find out. And it's found in the Word of
God, and you can discover it as you hear it preached. Now
there's a second thing that is included in faith, and we'll
hurry along here. Faith includes not only knowledge,
but it includes a confidence, a persuasion. Not only of his
willingness, but of his ability to save. A persuasion. Paul said, I know whom I have
believed and persuaded that he is able to keep that which I
have committed unto him against that day. I'm persuaded. There
was another individual who was persuaded, and this is a clear
testimony, is what we're talking about, in Romans 4 and verse
21, about Abraham. You remember the story, Abraham
was 100 years old, his wife Sarah was 90, God told him, you're
going to have a child. And Abraham, it said, was fully
persuaded that what he had promised, he was able to perform. And here's a man a hundred, and
his wife ninety, God said, you're going to have a child, and you're
going to have a seed after you, and Abraham believed it. He was
persuaded. He was confident that whatever
God promised to one of his elect, that it would come to pass. That
he could believe that it was going to happen just like God
said that it would. And so Paul and Abraham both
were persuaded. They were persuaded. Are you
persuaded? Well, when you get persuaded,
my friend, you'll get up and say, I believe that Jesus Christ
is the Son of the Eternal God, and I believe that He died on
Calvary in my place, in my room instead, and I want to be buried
in water baptism to declare to everybody that I'm identified
with Him, and when I go out of this world, my confidence will
be in Him, in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, faith, beloved,
does not tremble. Faith is not amazed. Faith is
not shocked. Faith is not staggered. Faith
believes it is persuaded. And so this is an element of
true faith. Confidence and faith and persuasion. Now the third thing is, faith
is not only knowledge and persuasion, but it is committal. Committal. Now this is a word that is very
interesting to me because the Apostle Paul used that in the
very text that we have mentioned a couple times. Paul says, let
me read it very slowly. I know whom I have believed and
am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed
unto him against that day. Committal. Paul had committed
himself unto the Lord, Jesus Christ, and said, I know that
what I've committed to you, my never-dying soul, that it's in
your merciful and gracious hands, and I know that at the last day
that you'll speak for me. I know that in the last day you
will stand for me. When my name is called, you will
stand for me. You will stand up and say, Father,
I died for that soul. Father, I redeemed that soul.
Father, I suffered death on that cruel cross of Calvary, shedding
my blood in order that that soul might be saved and that soul
is indeed saved because of Christ and because of what He did. Paul
said, I've committed it to Him. Have you committed your soul
unto the Lord Jesus Christ? Now, it is not to believe about
Christ that we're talking. It is to believe Christ Himself. It is to believe Christ. Faith
is not just to respect Christ or honor Christ. You say, well,
I do that. I do that. But that's not what
faith is. But it's to come to the Lord
Jesus Christ. Jesus said, all that the Father
giveth me shall come to me, and they that come to me I will in
no wise cast out. They that come to me. Now, beloved,
it's not to try Christ. It's not to try Him. I hear preachers
say all the time, try Christ. Try Christ. You tried everything
else? Now try Christ. You can't do
it, my friend. It's all or nothing. I'm talking
about committal. Committal unto the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now, it's not like you try to
sip a drink. You can't do that. You can't
try Christ like you take a bite out of an apple. It's all or
nothing. You commit yourself to Him, and
you stand, and you ask for a home in the church, and ask the church
to baptize you, and that is your committal unto Christ. And you
testify by your baptism that you believe what Jesus Christ
did on your behalf. I say it is all or nothing. I realize that we're living in
a time when the world is full of religion and that all preachers,
they have all different kinds of ideas about how you can get
yourself to heaven. But I'm here to tell you this
morning that what I'm saying to you is the Word of God. I'm testifying to you what the
Scripture says. I'm telling you what God is going
to show you and as He judges you in eternity, the Word of
God will be there. And the Word of God will judge
you. Now, I want to illustrate this
just a little bit more, if you'll bear with me. Turn to Hebrews
chapter 4. And let me give this illustration
here, and we'll move on. We'll be through here in a few
minutes. But in the book of Hebrews chapter 4, beginning with verse
9, we're talking about this committal, and we're talking about what
it means to believe Christ. Believe Christ. Now, we admitted
that you probably respect Christ. You probably would honor Him
if you knew how. But my friend, we're talking
about you believing Him. Him. Him. Trusting Him. Now look at this. In Hebrews
4 verse 9. There remaineth therefore a Sabbath
rest to the people of God. A rest to the Lord's people. For he that is entered into his
rest, For he that is entered into his rest, into Christ's
rest, it's Christ's rest that we want to enter into. We want
to enter into the rest that he is the author of. We want to
enter into him and into all that he has to give to poor sinners. And so for he that is entered
into his rest, he also ceases from his own works. He gives
up on trying to save himself. Oh, there's people around everywhere
we go that's trying to save themselves. They've been working on it all
their lives. They've really been trying desperately hard, quit
this and start something else and get on this program or that
program. But no, no, no. What we need
to see here is our identification with Christ here Because what
He did, we did too. Where He is, what He's doing,
we're doing it also. If He's seated at the right hand
of God, Paul said in Ephesians, we're there with Him. We're there
with Him. And when He died on the cross, that was our death
to sin. We were in Him when He died. In Him when He was buried.
In Him when He was raised from the dead. We are in Christ. We are identified with Him. He
also has ceased from His own works as God did from His. We
give it up. We abandon the project of being
saved. We give it up. It's Christ's
work. Christ alone is salvation. Saving faith is to be in Christ,
the chief object of faith. Christ is the Savior. Okay? In verse 11, let us labor
therefore to enter into that rest. Somebody say, give me something
to do, preacher. Enter into that rest. Labor to
enter into that rest. That rest. The rest of Christ. Labor to quit laboring yourself.
Labor to give it up and leave it in the hands of that one who
is able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by Him.
Give it up and give it into the hands. Committal unto the Lord
Jesus Christ. Turn loose of it. Leave your
hands off of salvation. It's God's work from the beginning
to the end. And salvation is not a human
project in any sense of the word. It's salvation is His work, His
work. So let us labor therefore to
enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example
of unbelief. You go out of here and try to
do one thing that you think is going to bring favor for your
soul with God, and you're in unbelief. You're in unbelief. My friend, the only salvation
there is, is in God's Son. He that hath the Son hath life,
and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. I know
that's not what Grandpa Spukendijk says. I know that's not what
Uncle Fred says, but that's what the Word of God says. And we
must believe what the Word of God said. We didn't read that
on a bumper sticker. We're not saved by what we read
on a bumper sticker. We're saved by what God says
in His Word. And what He says about His Son,
the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, this is My Son. You
believe on Him. You trust Him. And if you trust
Him, you'll have everlasting life. The moment you're able
to believe on Him. The moment you're able to trust
Him. All right, so lest any man fall
after the same example of unbelief as those did to whom the Word
of God was preached in the days of the apostles. Now, this is
very important. Christ is my portion and I cast
my lot with Him. I cast my lot with Him. Can you do that? You say, Preacher,
you mean to tell me I'm to trust everything to Him? That's right.
That's right. Committal. You can't be saved
apart from trusting everything to Him. He's the Savior. You
say, He gets all the glory. Amen. He gets all the glory. And He's the one that deserves
it. He did all the doing and dying. He did it all. And therefore,
He gets the glory. He gets all of the glory. Give
Him praise. Give Him glory. Give Him honor.
He gets it all. Alright, there's one other illustration
if you'll bear with me in the Song of Solomon, and I invite
you to turn there with me. The Song of Solomon, if you can
find it in your Bible. Chapter 3, and I'm going to hurry
on, and I'll dismiss you in just a few moments. Now this Song
of Solomon, you know the Jewish fathers wouldn't let their boys
read this book until they were 30 years old. They had funny
ideas. They said, you can't read this
book, son, until you're 30 years old. Now this book is not talking
about Solomon and Pharaoh's daughter, as some people believe that it
was. This church is talking about
Christ and the church. But here in the third chapter,
let's look at a few things here, about five verses. By night on
my bed I sought Him whom my soul loved. I sought him, but I found
him not. I will rise now and go about
the city in the streets and in the broadways, and I will seek
him whom my soul loveth. I sought him, but I found him
not. The watchman that go about the city found me, to whom I
said, Saw ye him whom my soul loveth? It was but a little that
I passed from them, but I found Him whom my soul loveth. I held
Him and would not let Him go until I had brought Him into
my mother's house and into the chamber of her that conceived
me. Now those are four verses. I'll
restrict myself to those. Quickly let us notice some things
here. What does this bride say? First
of all, she's speaking. And she says, I love Him. She
says, I sought him whom my soul loveth. That's the first thing.
She loved her bridegroom. She loved Him. My soul loveth
whom my soul loveth. I sought Him, but it said it
found Him not. She sought Him every place. She
said, I sought Him. Him. Not His benefits, but Him. Sought Him. Now this is a picture
of how soul comes into the reception of the Lord Jesus Christ. I love
Him. I think that we come to love
Him. And you know the Bible says we love Him because He first
loved us? We come to love Him. The Bible says, let him that
loves not our Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema maranatha. Let him go to hell when the Lord
comes. Do you love Christ? Do you love Him? Well, you will
seek Him if you love Him. You will seek Him and desire
Him above all things. Okay? Not His blessings, but
Him. Him. Second, she says, I sought
Him wherever He's to be found. I sought Him. She sought Him
in various places. And you might have been seeking
Him a long time. You may be 50, 60 years old, never found Him. You might have been seeking all
along. But I'm telling you, He can be found, and you need to
seek Him where He can be found. And where He can be found is
in the house of God, into the preaching of the gospel of redeeming
grace. You can find Him through the
reading of the Word of God and the Scriptures. Yes, she can.
Okay, but she sought Him. And thirdly, she said, I found
Him, whom my soul loveth. I found Him. And then fourthly,
she said, I held Him, and I wouldn't let Him go. I held him, and I
wouldn't let him go. Hallelujah. Those that come to
know the Lord Jesus Christ, when they find Him, no way, shape,
or form are you ever going to separate their soul from Him. No way. No way. She said, I found
Him, and I would not let Him go. I held Him, and I would not
let Him go. And that's what faith is. Faith
holds Him. And faith latches on and will
not be denied. And then, fifthly, she said,
I brought him into my mother's house. And some say this is the
church, but it also is said by many of those that I've read
after that it's the heart. It's the heart. She brought Him
in as it were into her heart. And we know, of course, that
God has the key to a man's heart. It's the Lord that opens the
heart. But this is a picture here of what happens when somebody
finds Christ, loves Christ, finds Christ, and finds Him and holds
on to Him, and He's in their heart. There's one spirit and
union between them. the Lord Jesus Christ. Now then,
let me hurry to a conclusion here, and I'll let you go. So faith then, let me just reiterate
quickly, is these three things that we mentioned, knowledge,
knowledge of the loveliness of Christ, the sufficiency of Christ,
the beauty of Christ, the glory of Christ, the excellency of
Christ. All these things I know. I know
my need of Christ. I know His ability to save. That's
what's involved. And secondly, I'm confident and
persuaded. I'm found in Him. I'm saved,
accepted. I'm kept. All He promised, He
will perform toward me and toward all of His elect people. I found
Him in His Word among His people. I found Him in His Gospel. I
found Him in His creation. I found Him in His presence.
And I will not let Him go. None can take His place. None
are comparable to Him. None can with Him, the songwriter
said, compare. He is altogether lovely. He's
the fairest among ten thousand. He's the lily of the valley,
the rose of Sharon. He's the bright and morning star.
He is all and in all. He is in Him. He is Him who my
soul loveth. Christ alone is the object of
my faith. Christ, the primary supreme,
the grand object of faith, He that believeth on the Son, don't
forget it. The principal object of faith
is not a precept or a promise, but a person, the Lord Jesus
Christ. And by these remarks I'm done.
Faith is the eye that sees Christ. Faith is the ear that hears His
voice. Faith is the mouth that confesses
Him before men. Faith is the arms that will not
let Him go. Faith is the feet that brings
me to Christ. I hope this morning that the
Lord has sobered our hearts somewhat, but at the same time give us
the spirit of rejoicing and joy that such a one as our Redeemer,
the Lord Jesus Christ, That He would come and reconcile us poor
sinners unto Himself. Come and give us an everlasting
hope. Come and give us His grace and His everlasting consolation.
That He would come and give that to us, that we may have hope
of eternal life. Father, in the name of Jesus,
we ask that you would take the message