My subject this morning is faith. I want you to turn with me to
Hebrews, the 10th chapter. Faith. Hebrews 10 in verse 38, Paul
says, Now the just shall live by faith. We live, if we are
justified before God, by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We
who believe unto the saving of the soul are justified, as we
walk before God, simply trusting Christ. The just do not simply
act in faith, but they live by faith. The just do not simply
experience faith, they live by faith. Abraham lived by faith. He believed God, and his belief
in God determined his action, his conduct, his character. He lived by faith. And all who
are like Abraham, justified by grace, by the imputed righteousness
of Jesus Christ, lived before God Now, when Paul says that
the just shall live by faith, and in verse 39 that we believe
under the saving of the soul, he then both explains and exemplifies
this faith. In verse 1 of chapter 11, now
faith, faith, what's he talking about? He's talking about that
faith by which the justified live. He's talking about that
faith which is believing under the saving of the soul. Faith
is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things
not seen. What Paul is saying is that our
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is the basis of our confident
hope of eternal life and salvation in Christ. It is our believing
God that gives us confidence before God. It is our believing
God that causes us to walk in this world with confidence and
assurance of everlasting salvation. People talk about assurance.
Assurance is the result of faith. If we believe God, we walk before
Him with confidence. And if we do not walk before
God with confidence, it is because we do not believe God as we ought
to believe Him. The believing of God breeds assurance. It breeds confidence before Him. Faith is the substance. That
is the ground or the confidence of things hoped for. Why is it
that you hope to have eternal life? Why is it that you hope
for eternal acceptance with God? Why is it that you hope that
God Almighty will not cast you out, but rather will receive
you graciously into His heavenly kingdom? It is because I believe
God. That's all. It is because I believe
God, because I trust Jesus Christ alone as my Lord and my Savior. Not only that, but faith is the
evidence, the evidence of things not seen. That is, by faith we
understand and we have proof of Those things which cannot
be seen by natural reason or with natural intellect or by
natural ability. You remember our Lord said to
Nicodemus, Nicodemus, except you're born again, you cannot
see the kingdom of God. Well, we have evidence of the
kingdom of God because we believe. Do you understand that? Believe
in God, we see. Believing God, we understand. Believing God, we grasp the reality
of eternal and unseen things. Those who do not believe don't
understand. No point trying to make them understand. They do
not have the capacity to understand the things of God. And Paul illustrates
this. He says in verse 2, for by it,
that is by this faith, this faith which is the substance of our
hope and the evidence of the, that is the proof of things not
seen. By this faith, the elders obtained a good report. Through
faith, we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word
of God. We understand that. Do you understand
that? I don't have any problem with
that. I understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God. Now you can't prove that by science.
You can't prove that by logic. You can't prove that by reason.
You can't prove that by any kind of scientific investigation or
by any kind of argument or by any kind of logic. Now I understand
that there are people who go around the world and spend their
lives debating and writing books about creation versus evolution.
I wouldn't give a flip of the nickel for all the books and
all the debates. We understand these things by
faith. And I'm saying to you, I'm saying
to you and everybody who hears my voice, you will either bow
to the revelation of God in His Word and receive what God says
by faith or you will never receive what God says. You'll either
receive what God says based on this fact alone, God said it,
or you'll never be saved. You'll receive the testimony
of God based simply upon the revelation of God Himself or
you cannot be saved. We're not We're not brought into
the Kingdom of God by subjecting the Word of God to our criticism,
and subjecting the Word of God to our experience, and subjecting
the Word of God to our scientific investigation, and subjecting
the Word of God to our logic, and subjecting the Word of God
to our preconceived notions of theology. We are saved when we
receive the testimony of God as it is the testimony of God. And when you receive it, you
understand. You understand? How do you understand the creation? How can you grasp that God spoke
and there was light? How can you grasp that God poured
man out of the dust of the earth and breathed into his nostrils
the breath of life? Science cannot explain it away,
but science cannot explain it either. Science cannot bring
any arguments to bear that make any sense, whatever, even to
them. Their arguments change every ten years. You pick up
a book on evolution that was written yesterday and pick up
one that was written when we were in school, and my soul,
you'd think he was talking about two different things all together.
Science has no argument. They have no basis of any kind
of interpretation of the universe. But at the same time, while science
cannot explain it away, science can prove it. God formed Adam. He formed him out of the dust
of the earth. And breathed life into that piece
of dust. That's what you are. That's what
you are. Dust that God breathed life into. Now I understand that. I understand
it because I believe God. And if you believe God, you understand
things of God. If you believe God, you understand
the worlds were framed by the Word of God so that the things
which are seen were not made of things which do appear. There
was nothing but God and everything that is came from Him. There
was nothing but God and everything that is, God made by His Word. The worlds were framed by the
Word of God. Now, in this passage here in
Hebrews 11, Paul then begins to exemplify this faith and illustrate
it in the lives of men. By faith, Abel understood. Look at it, verse 4. Abel offered
unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain. Abel understood by
faith that God could only be approached by guilty men through
a blood atonement. Abel understood something that
his brother Cain could not grasp. Cain and Abel, here are two boys.
Now they've grown up, they're grown men. And both of these
men have been taught by Adam. They've been instructed by their
father Adam. They've heard Adam describe having
in the garden the serpent came and beguiled Mama. And then Adam,
out of his own will, out of his own determination, he chose his
wife, his companion. He chose to endure death with
his companion than to enjoy life with his God. And Adam sinned
against God and he fell in the garden. And when he did, the
whole race died in him. And the reason those boys had
fusses and fought when they were boys is because of sin that Adam
committed. The reason they had the nature
they had is because Adam gave them that nature. And Adam explained
it to them. He told them these things that
happened. And he said, when we were naked and hiding from God,
we made fig leaves and we tried to hide from God. We tried to
cover up our guilt. Our hearts were blushing with
shame and our bodies were blushing with shame. So we tried to cover
ourselves up. And then the Lord God came. He
said, Adam, where are you? And when he spoke, we trembled. But we knew we were guilty. When
he spoke, we feared for God said, in the day you eat, you shall
surely die. But God spoke a word. And he said, son, there's a man
child coming who shall be the seed of the woman. And he crushed
the serpent's head and he'll redeem you from this fall. He'll
redeem you from this fall. And then Adam must have shown
Cain and Abel how the Lord illustrated it. He took a lamb. And he killed
that lamb, and he made robes for us. And he said, now that's
a picture of Christ. Now boys, the only way you can
ever approach God is through the blood of that sacrifice.
The only way you can ever draw near to God is by faith in Him
who is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of God's elect.
Only by faith in Him will God accept you. Well, Cain and Abel
came one day to worship God. Here's Cain's altar. Here's Abel's
altar. They both erected altars to God.
They both bring their sacrifices. And Cain brought a costly sacrifice.
He brought the best he had. He brought the first fruits of
his garden. He brought the work of his hands,
the very best that he could do. And he came and brought this
costly sacrifice to the Lord God and there it lay. Abel came
and he brought the best of his flock. And he slit the lamb's
neck and he laid it on the altar. God consumed the sacrifice with
his fire. The Lord had respect to the blood.
He had no respect to Cain's works. And Abel understood. You can't
get to God without blood. Cain couldn't understand it.
Why? Because Abel had faith and Cain didn't have any faith. Abel
believed God, and Cain didn't believe God. You see, when a
man doesn't believe God, he's foolish enough to suppose that
since works impress me, works will impress God. Since I'm impressed
with costliness, God will be impressed with costliness. Since
I'm impressed with diligence, God will be impressed with diligence.
Since I'm impressed with sincerity, God will be impressed with sincerity.
Cain couldn't understand. You've got to have blood. You've
got to have atonement. You can't approach God without
it. And then Paul goes on and describes this man Enoch in verse
5. By faith, Enoch was translated
that he should not see death and was not found because God
had translated him. Before his translation, he had
this testimony that he pleased God. He pleased God. Now I've heard a lot of sermons
preached about this old boy Enoch. And most of the fellas, when
they'd approach the text and talk about Enoch walking and
pleasing God, they'd talk about, you know, Enoch wasn't a profane
man and he wasn't a drunkard and he didn't have long hair
and he didn't wear shorts and he didn't go to the picture show
and all those things, you know, as though Enoch had the choice. Those things weren't even around
and certainly they wouldn't have mattered one way or the other
insofar as Enoch is concerned. Well how did he please God? He
believed Him. He believed God. He did not please
God by his works. That's not possible. He believed
God and believing God he pleased God. How do you know that? Look
at the next line. But without faith it's impossible
to please God. Without faith, it's impossible
to please God. How did Enoch walk with God?
David walked with him by faith. How did Enoch please God? He
pleased him by faith. How did Enoch honor God? He honored
him by faith. He believed God and he had this
testimony that he pleased God. He had testimony that he pleased
God because believing him, he was confident God was pleased
with him. Believing him, he was confident God accepted him. Believing
him, he was confident that God received him. Believing him,
he was confident of everlasting salvation. He believed God. And
everybody who knew Enoch said, that man believes God. Enoch
believes God. I can't tell you much about old
Enoch, but I can tell you this, he believes God. I don't understand him.
I don't understand why he does what he does. I don't understand
why he has so little attachment for this world. I don't understand
why it is that the troubles of this world don't disturb him.
I don't understand. I don't understand all about
it, but I know this. He believes God. He believes God. He walks
before God. Oh God, give me that faith. Now
Paul is telling us that the only way to be safe The only way to
be accepted of God, the only way to walk with God, the only
way to please God is by faith, by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at verse six. But without
faith, it is impossible to please him. For he that cometh to God
must believe that he is and that he is the rewarder of them that
diligently seek him. Now this morning I want to answer
three or four questions concerning this matter of faith. I'm going
to be as simple as I possibly can. I'm going to try to be crystal
clear. I want every child here to understand
what I'm saying about faith. What is faith? What is faith? You boys and girls watch television
and you You see the religious commotions that go on on television
and when Mr. Graham gets done with his little
lecture on morality, he gives an invitation and hundreds of
people come forward and they say we're making a decision for
Christ. They come to the front of the auditorium. They're coming
to the altar. They're coming to the preacher.
They think by doing so they're coming to God. And folks say
that's faith. No, that's not faith. If, well, just a little while
ago, Buddy and Merle got up and walked down here in front of
the auditorium, that's not faith. That's walking to the front of
the auditorium. And there are people who do lots of things
and think it's faith and call it faith. You see, there are
many forms of false faith by which the souls of men are deluded.
Judas, Demas, and Diotrephes all had faith. But theirs was
a false faith, and they were damned in their faith. Many people
have a denominational faith. Somebody says, what faith are
you? Well, I'm of the Baptist faith, or I'm of the Catholic
faith, or I'm of the Methodist faith. They have a denominational
faith, and I don't say that their faith is without sincerity. I
don't say that their faith is without devotion and zeal. I
don't even say that their faith is without costly sacrifice.
But unless they have the faith which is described in the Word
of God, their faith is damning to their souls. As we saw just
a couple of weeks ago, even the devils of hell have faith. Faith
alone, just to say, I have faith, is nothing. I heard Norman Vincent
Peale the other night on television, some advertisement for Guideposts. He says, he says, believe. Well, it's nothing to believe.
Believing is nothing. Believing yourself, believing
the government, believing the American way, believing this,
that's nothing. What's important is believe God. Believe God as he's revealed
in the scriptures. Believe God as he set forth in
Jesus Christ his son. Believe God. Now you're talking
about faith. There was and is but one true
faith. And you and I must examine ourselves. Let's bring our faith to the
Word. Will you do that? Bring your faith this morning
to the Word of God and let's examine ourselves and prove ourselves. Now, Don don't examine Shelby
and Shelby don't examine Merle. Let's examine ourselves. We'll
examine ourselves and prove our own selves whether we be in the
faith. Now, that's the one issue. Bob
Pottser, we must know if we are in the faith. That's what Paul
says. Examine yourselves on this point.
Whether you be in the faith. Not in a faith. Not even in faith. But whether you be in the faith.
Because there are many forms of faith, but only one true faith. And we must know whether we be
in the faith. Now in this matter of faith,
true saving faith consists of three things. Knowledge, assent,
and trust. If we would be pleasing to God,
if we would come to him and be saved by him, we must know the
revelation of God in the gospel. We must give a sense that God's
revelation is the truth and we must trust him whom God reveals. The first aspect of faith then
is knowledge. Now, I know that faith is a hard
work, but Paul says, he that cometh to God must believe that
he is and that he is the rewarder of them that diligently seek
him. So the text clearly shows us that faith in Christ involves
the necessity of knowledge. You cannot trust Christ apart
from knowledge. It's not possible. You cannot
trust the Lord Jesus Christ if you do not know the Lord Jesus
Christ. Don't misunderstand me. Knowing
is not in itself faith. But apart from knowledge, there
is no faith. People talk about believing. And you go down, walk the streets
today and catch folks as they come out of church buildings
and say, what do you believe? Well, I don't know. Well, you believe,
don't you? Well, yeah. You're a Christian,
aren't you? Yeah, I'm a Christian. Well,
what do you believe? Well, I don't know. God's people
know whom they believe. They know. God's people know
what they believe, why they believe, whom they believe. They know.
Now, faith without knowledge is nothing but a leap in the
dark. Faith without knowledge is nothing
but an absent-minded grasp of the air. Faith without knowledge
is nothing but a delusion to a man's soul. Faith is a heart
work, but God gives faith through the head. Now you can bank on
it, he'll do it. Without the knowledge of the
living God, there is no saving faith. Paul says, he that cometh
to God must believe that he is. We must know something concerning
God if we would be saved. Paul tells us here plainly that
two things must be known. He says that you must believe
that God is and that he is the rewarder of them that diligently
seek him. Now let me show you some scripture. Turn over to
Isaiah 53. Isaiah chapter 53. Is knowledge
really necessary? Is knowledge really necessary?
Can you not isolate faith from knowledge? Let's suppose that
I take Amy Coleman this morning and call her up here and get
her to believe in Jesus. Get her to say, I believe in
Jesus. Amy is a sweet, darling child. I love the child. She's
a beautiful girl. She's starting in school. But
it's foolish for me to talk to that five-year-old girl about
believing in Jesus. She doesn't know anything about
Him, David. She doesn't know who He is. She
doesn't know His character. She doesn't know His life, His
work. She does not know Him. Before
she can believe in Him, she must know Him. Now look at Isaiah
53 and verse 11. He shall see of the travail of
his soul and shall be satisfied. Now look at this word. By his
knowledge. Do you see that? By his knowledge. That is by the knowledge of Jesus
Christ the suffering servant Messiah whom God has sent. By
his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many for he shall
bear their iniquity. And in John chapter 17 in verse
3, our Lord said, this is life eternal, that they might know
thee, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. Now
this is the reason why I don't press people to make decisions
and get folks to come and say, I have faith and say, I believe
in Jesus. I want God to show you who Jesus Christ is. And
if God makes you to know him, God will give you faith in him.
but you will never have faith in him apart from knowledge of
him. What must we know? In order for
anyone to have faith, he must know the Lord God as he is revealed
in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn to John
chapter 14. John 14. What do you mean when
you say a person must know God? I know people argue and they
say, How much do you have to know? Well, you've got to know
God. You've got to know that. I had
a fellow ask me one time, he said, suppose that you were traveling
in a foreign country and you ran up on a man who had never
heard, never heard of Jesus Christ and never heard of God and never
heard the gospel. You ran up on that fellow and
he had been run over by a car. and he's dying in two minutes.
Could you tell him how to be saved? Well, that's kind of dumb. Of course not. Of course not. A man who's ignorant cannot be
saved. A man who's ignorant of truth
cannot know the living God. In order for a man to be saved,
we must instruct men in divine truth and without instruction
in divine truth, nobody is saved. I don't care whether they're
in Africa or whether they're in Jamaica or whether they're
in Danville, Kentucky. Without knowledge of divine truth,
nobody is saved. Nobody. Nobody. Not your mama,
not my mama, not you, not me. Nobody's saved without knowledge
of divine truth. Look here in John chapter 14.
Our Lord is speaking. He says in verse 6, Jesus saith
unto them, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh
unto the Father, but by me. If ye had known me, ye should
have known my Father also. And from henceforth You know
him and have seen him. Philip saith unto him, Lord,
show us the father, that be enough. Lord, show us the father, that
be sufficient. And our Lord said, Jesus saith unto him, have I
been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen
the father. How sayest thou then, show us
the father? Our Lord is standing in front of Philip. And he said,
look here, look here, look at this face, look at these hands,
look at this body, look here. Looking at me, you're looking
at God and all that God is. Jesus Christ. is the embodiment
of divinity. Jesus Christ is the incarnation
of God. Jesus Christ possesses all the
fullness of the Godhead in his body. And the only way a man
can know God is to know God as he is revealed in Jesus Christ
as Jesus Christ reveals himself in the gospel of his grace. We've
seen the glory of God only in the face of Christ. So in order
that we be saved, in order that we have faith, you must know
that God is, and you must know that God is who he says he is,
and that God is what he says he is. You must know that God
is. You remember when Moses prayed,
he said, Lord, I beseech thee, show me thy glory. The Lord said,
all right, Moses, I'll tell you what I am. I'll tell you what
my glory is. I'll show you myself. I will
be gracious to whom I will be gracious. And I will be merciful
to whom I will be merciful. And I will have compassion on
whom I will have compassion. The Lord said, I see it. Or Moses
said, I see it. God is sovereign. He's sovereign,
but he's gracious. God's sovereign. He saves whom
He will. He's gracious to whom He will
be gracious. He loves whom He will love. He has compassion
on whom He will have compassion. He shows mercy to whom He will
be merciful. But He does show mercy. He does
have compassion. He is gracious. He does love. Moses says, I see that. That's
God. That's God. Now, if you're going to know
the living God, You're going to know something about his character.
You're going to know something about his character. And I'm
telling you, I don't know how on earth I'd make it any plainer. I'm telling you that a God that's
helpless and frustrated and defeated, the God of our many and fundamentalist
free will religion, and I'm clear now, aren't I? The God of this
religious world, I don't care whether you call the name Baptist
or Papist, it doesn't matter. The God of this world who wants
to save and cannot save. The God of this world who has
a will but is frustrated. The God of this world who plans
but cannot carry out his plans. The God of this world who desires
but cannot accomplish his desires. The God of this world who wants
to save but cannot save. I'm telling you that God is a
useless figment of man's imagination. A useless idol carved out in
your mind. That's all he is. And to believe
that God is to believe a lie to the damning of your soul and
you might just as well worship that penknife right there. You
might just as well worship it. Call that thing God. Worship
it. Pay your sacrifices to it. Make your allegiance to it. Proclaim
its name. Proclaim its honor. Proclaim
its fame. Praise it. Honor it. Do whatever
you will. It's nothing but idolatry. Nothing else. That's all. Now,
if you would believe God, you must believe that God is. That
God is who he says he is. And to believe a lie is not to
believe God. God declares himself to be just
and gracious. He says, I'm a just God and a
Savior. God declares himself to be holy,
holy and merciful. Holy, holy, holy. Lord God of Sabaoth, the angels
before him hide their faces and they hide their bodies and they
hide their upper parts and their lower parts and they fly swiftly
to do his will and they cry continually, holy, holy, holy, Lord God of
Sabaoth. When a man sees that, he cries,
woe is me. If you ever see it, you'll cry
out, I'm undone. If you ever see that, you'll
not be popping your suspenders and strutting before God. You'll
cry out, I have seen thee with mine eye, and now I abhor myself. But this same God is merciful. He sent one of his messengers
with tongues from off the altar, hot, quite hot, with burning
fervency of divine justice, white heart with the love of God's
own heart. And that burning coal represents
nothing but the blood of Jesus Christ, the sacrifice of atonement
which God has accepted, that sacrifice which satisfied divine
justice. And he touched the prophet's
lips and he said, now your sin's taken away. Your sin is purged. But you're going to have to see
that God's hold that. You're going to have to see that
God's hold that. That God is merciful, yes, but
he is holy. And in order for a holy God to
be merciful, there's got to be an atonement. What I'm saying is this. The
only way a man can know God is by the revelation of God in Jesus
Christ, the God-man. Oh, that God who calls the light
to shine out of darkness, may cause the light of the glory
of God to shine forth in the hearts of you today by the revelation
of Jesus Christ in your soul, in your heart, that you may know
Him. Not only is it true that you
must know that God is, but notice the next line in the text. Now
this is just the Word of God. He must believe that God is and
that He is the rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. You mean a man must understand?
He must understand both that God is, that God's true in what
he says he is, and that God rewards everybody who seeks him? That's
what the apostle says. He that cometh to God, would
you come to God? Would you come to God? If you
would come to God, you must know who he is. You can't come to
somebody you don't know. You must know that he is, and you
must know that he's the rewarder. of them that diligently seek
him. Over in Isaiah chapter 55, look at a few verses of scripture
there. Isaiah 55 and verse 3, the Lord
God speaks. And he says, incline your ear
and come unto me. Here in your soul shall live
And I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure
mercies of David. Behold, I have given him, the
Lord Jesus Christ, for a witness to the people, a leader and a
commander to the people. Behold, thou shalt call a nation
that thou knowest not. Verse six, seek you the Lord
while he may be found. Call ye upon him while he's near.
Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts,
and let him return to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him.
And to our God, for he will abundantly pardon." The Lord God says, I'll
be found of them that seek me. I'll be found to them that seek
me. So that Paul says, in coming to God, we must believe him. Believe that he is. and believe
that he rewards every sinner who seeks him. All who seek the
Lord, all who come to God by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ
shall be rewarded, rewarded with eternal life and everlasting
salvation. This too must be known. But the
question arises, how can we know that God will reward every believer? that God will reward every sinner
who comes to Him by faith in Christ, that God will reward
every believer with eternal life. Now, how can you know that? How
can you know that? We must believe that He is, and
we must believe that He'll reward faith. He'll reward it. He'll
reward faith with eternal life. Now, how do you know that? How
do you know that? There's only one way. There's only one way
you can know that, and that's by the gospel. I delivered unto
you first of all that which also I believe, or that which I received,
how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures.
God hath sent him forth to be a propitiation through faith
in his blood that God might be just and the justifier of all
who believe. I know that God rewards faith. I know that God rewards every
believer with eternal life because the Lord Jesus Christ by his
obedience earned eternal life for us. He earned it. The Lord
Jesus Christ earned for us perfect righteousness. He earned it.
So that when God bestows righteousness, and God bestows life, and God
bestows salvation, God is simply bestowing what God is honor bound
to bestow. He's bestowing what God in justice
must bestow. For Christ has obeyed in the
place of all who believe. How do you know that God will
reward faith with eternal life? Because the Lord Jesus purchased
it. He bought it. He bought it. The Lord Jesus
Christ, God's dear son, paid the price of our ransom. He purchased
us out from under the curse of God's holy law. And God must,
now hear me, God must, he must in justice save every sinner
for whom Christ died. He must. I know that because
He's holy. He says so. He's just. He says
so. He's righteous. He says so. And
a holy, just, and righteous God cannot punish sin twice. He can't
do it. He cannot punish sin in the substitute
and punish sin in the center. He can't do it. He can't do it.
The justice of God pleads as loudly as His mercy for the salvation
of those for whom Christ died. I know that Jesus Christ shall
reward all who believe him with eternal life because God promised
it in his word. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. Believe it. Believe it. Do you trust it? Do you believe
on the Son of God? You have everlasting life. You
have everlasting life. You see, this is the point. Gospel
knowledge is essential to saving faith. And the matter of paramount
importance in the knowledge of the gospel is the redemptive
work of Christ. That's the matter of paramount
importance. Now, you listen to me and listen carefully and hear
what I say. Hear what I say. There is not the slightest possibility
that anyone in this world is saved believing in a helpless
Redeemer. There's not the slightest possibility
in this world that anyone is saved believing in an atonement
that doesn't atone. They're not the slightest possibility
in this world that anyone in the world is saved believing
the Jesus that's preached and worshipped in most churches,
most conservative, fundamentalist, Baptist churches or otherwise
in this world. They're not the slightest possibility.
For they preach a Jesus who died, but can't save. A Jesus who shed
his blood, but the price wasn't paid. A Jesus who tries to redeem,
but does not redeem. A Jesus who's in heaven, hoping
that somehow somebody might come along and make his blood to be
of some value to God, but he cannot guarantee a thing. I'm
telling you such a Jesus is a mockery, Wes. It's an idol, a figment
of man's imagination. Pastor, are you saying that all
these folks in all these churches are lost? No, God is. God is. You can't say that. You can't say that. I'm not prepared
to say that. Do you suppose that worshiping
Baal is all right? Huh? Do you reckon it'd be all
right? Do you reckon God, he'd accept
the fellow? If he's sincere, and he goes
out and cuts him down a tree, and whittles him out a figure
of what he thinks Jesus was supposed to look like, and he worships
it, doesn't that be all right? Surely God will accept that.
Surely God will. That's a God that can't say.
That's a God that can't say. That's a helpless God. That God
can't even dust himself off. You got to dust him off. He can't
even give himself a bath. You got to go wash him every
now and then. You got to spit shine that kind of God. That's a good spit shine. That's
a good spit shine. That's what you do with that
kind of God. You spit on him and you shine him up. You spit
on him and you shine him up. And that's what the religious
world does Sunday after Sunday after Sunday with what they call
Jesus. That's right. They spit on him
and they shine him up. No, sir, not the slightest possibility
that anybody in the world is saved apart from the knowledge
of the redemptive work of Jesus Christ, for therein is the very
character of God's glory set forth. Is that right, Lindsay?
Now, you know that's right. Well, why don't you acknowledge
it? I don't everybody, I don't everybody
believe that. I don't everybody just come right
out and say that. I think I know why. I think I
know why. I remember a few weeks ago we was
talking about this the other night. I was preaching to you
about the faith of the devils and then the next week I preached
to you about who is on the Lord's side. and those golden calves. Somebody says, well, I believe
what you're saying, but they stay in these pagan temples and
worship their pagan Jesus. I know why. I know why. I sure
do. Well, I believe in God's sovereignty.
Yeah, I believe what you're saying. I believe it. I believe this
free will stuff is wrong. I believe it's wrong. But why
on earth do you stay in there paying your dollars to it? Why
do you stay in there promoting it? Why are you supporting a
false prophet who preaches it? I know why. I know why. Because
that's my gold in those casks. And I ain't about to give up
my gold. I know why. Because my mama buried there. And I ain't about to leave that. My mama was a woman of good reputation. And I'd rather sacrifice the
glory of God on my mama's grave than sacrifice my mama's reputation
on the altar of God's glory. I'm sorry, but that's just the
way it is. That's just the way it is. You see, our Lord Jesus Christ
is an able Redeemer, for He's the God-man Redeemer. Our Lord
Jesus is a willing Redeemer, for He came here to get the job
done. And our Lord Jesus is an effectual
Redeemer. Unless a person knows these things,
he cannot have faith. He cannot please God. He cannot
be saved. But merely knowing these things,
and this is the thing you've got to see, merely knowing these
things is not faith. No, it's not fake. You can know
all those things and still perish in your sins. You see, along
with that knowledge, our hearts must give a scent that these
things are so, that these things are true. Many people know the
truth. They've heard it for years. They've
been catechized and trained in gospel truth from their infancy. When my daughter was Three years
old, she could recite the catechism cover to cover. She knew it.
She knew it well. We instruct them. We teach them. We teach them the facts, and
we teach them the systems, and we teach them the doctrine. But
saving faith involves more than mere knowledge. Saving faith
involves a willing, voluntary, deliberate, considered assent
to the truth of God. Faith simply embraces the revelation
of God as the revelation of God. Today, you're being confronted
with truth. You're being confronted with
the truth of God upon the authority of God. You're being confronted
with the truth of God, I believe, by God Himself. And you're going
to have to make a decision. You are going to make a decision.
I don't have any question about it. Everybody here is going to
make a decision. Before you leave this place,
You will either embrace the testimony of God as the truth. You'll look
at it. You say, that's true. That's
true. If a man would be saved, he must
believe that God is. And he must believe that God
rewards all who believe on the basis of Christ's atonement.
He must believe it. That's the truth. All right,
what you gonna say? God's a liar. That's all. Now, you're going
to make that decision. Everybody here is going to make
that decision. You're either going to say in your heart, that's
the truth, or you're going to say, no, God's a liar. I believe
what mama said. I believe what daddy said. I
believe my notions. This book says this. He that cometh to
God must believe that he is and that he's the rewarder of them
that diligently seek him. Now, have you embraced this gospel
of God's free and sovereign grace in Christ Jesus? Embraced it
as the truth. If you have, you're not far from
the kingdom of God, but still there's something else necessary. Faith knows the gospel and faith
gives a scent to the gospel as the truth. But there's more. Saving faith trusts the Lord
Jesus Christ. A man acts upon what he believes,
and an act of faith, the act of faith, is trusting Christ. I trust Christ for my righteousness,
all my righteousness, all of it. I trust Christ for the atonement
of my sins. I have testimony. I have testimony
in my own conscience. I have testimony in my own heart.
Jay, I have testimony in God's word that I please God. I do. I do. I've got testimony. I please God. I know I do. I know I do. In spite of my sins,
in spite of all that I know of myself, I please God. I know
I do. I know I do. I have this testimony. For I trust Christ. I trust him. That's it. That's it. I trust
him. Now how can I possibly illustrate
that and make you see it? trapped in a burning building. The child's father runs up and
sees the house engulfed in flames. And there's his little girl standing
at the window ledge, squalling, hysterical, her body about to be consumed
in flames. And here's this big, strong daddy.
He says, jump, honey, I'll catch you. And she holds on to that
window sill, just hysterical. And he says, come on, honey,
I'll catch you. Come on, jump, I'll catch you. I'll catch you.
Daddy won't let anything happen to you. I'll catch you. Come
on, jump. Jump. She knows her daddy loves her.
She knows he does. She's convinced he loves her.
She knows he's strong enough to hold her. Why, he's tossed
her up all her life. Tossed her up, tossed her up,
tossed her up. Pick her up, play with her, and
toss her up and catch her. Toss her up and catch her. She knows
he's strong enough. She knows he's willing. She knows
he's willing to catch her. That's not faith, is it? That's
not faith. She looked down her daddy's eyes, and feeling the fire around her,
she simply falls into the strong arms of her father. That's it. That's it. Somebody says, it's
a leap in the dark. Oh, no, it's a leap in the light. That's my daddy down there. I
felt his strong arms. I know his love, and I know I'm
going to die if I stay right here. He said he'd catch me,
I believe him. I believe him. Here we go. That's faith. Will you or will
you not fall into the arms of Jesus Christ, the Son of God? Do I have this faith? I know this, if I have this faith,
I renounce all personal righteousness. I have none. I renounce it all.
I renounce it all. I renounce everything. I forget
everything behind. Everything in the past, I forget
it. Forget it. I had good religion yesterday.
Yesterday is gone! I trust Christ. I trust Christ. That's all. That's all. If I
have this faith, I love Jesus Christ and love Oscar Bailey
and his wife, Nancy, and his boy, Osia. I love Christ and
I love his people. I love them. Love them. If I have this faith, I voluntarily yield up myself to the claims the dominion and
the rule of Jesus Christ, my sovereign Lord. Now, this is God's word to you.
This is God's word to you. He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved. He that believeth not shall be
damned. I wonder why he said it that
way. Why didn't he just say, he that
believeth shall be saved? Or why didn't he say, he that
believeth and is baptized shall be saved, and he that believeth
not and is not baptized shall be damned. Why didn't he say
that? Because baptism got nothing to do with salvation. Don't everything
do with salvation. But it does have something to
do with the evidence of salvation. It does have something to do
with the proof of salvation. He that believeth and is baptized,
confessing Christ as his Lord, shall be saved. He that believeth
not, it don't matter how often he's baptized, he shall be damned. Baptism doesn't have a thing
to do with accomplishing salvation and grace and eternal life. Baptism
is the believer's confession of faith in Christ Jesus. Now,
if you believe and you would confess Christ in baptism, we're
going to observe that ordinance in just a few moments. Are we
seeing you come? Let us know. We'll be delighted
that you confess him as well. Or anytime in the next few days
if you want to confess our Lord, you let me know. We'll be happy
to give you that opportunity. He that cometh to God must believe
that he is and that he's the rewarder of them that diligently
seek him. Diligently seek him. You diligently seek Him, you'll
find Him. Half-heartedly seek Him, flippantly
seek Him, set your heart and mind and time and energy to seeking
everything else, you'll never find God. But diligently seek
Him, you'll find Him. But without faith, without faith,
it's impossible to please God. It's impossible. You just can't
do it. Now, I say to you who believe, honor God. Honor Him. Give praise to Him. I believe. Believe. Lord God, help us to
believe. To believe God as He set forth
in Christ. Amen.