Faith

I invite you now to turn to the
book of Hebrews, chapter 11. The book of Hebrews, chapter 11.
And I want this morning to read the
first six verses. of this chapter. I'm sure that
many of you, or most of you, probably are familiar with this
chapter, very familiar with it. And so I'll just read the first
six verses. Now faith is the substance of
things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. For by it
the elders obtained a good report. Through faith we understand that
the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which
are seen were not made. by the things which do appear.
By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than
Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying
of his gifts, and by it he being dead yet speaking. By faith Eden
was translated that he should not see death, and was not found
before God had translated him. For before his translation he
had this testimony, that he pleased God. But without faith it is
impossible to please him. For he that cometh to God must
believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that
diligently seek him. And our message this morning
will be on verse 6. But without faith it is impossible
impossible to please him for he that cometh to God must believe
that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek
him. Then he opened my remarks this morning by saying that men
have lived upon the face of this earth who have pleased God. Now that is a tremendous statement
to say that after we understand and know something about the
fall in the garden of Eden to be able to say that men since
the fall have lived in this world and have pleased God. Now the
Bible tells us here in verse 5 that Enoch had this testimony
that he pleased God. He walked with God and he pleased
God. Now, I believe that not only
did evening walk with God and please God, but many have lived
and pleased God. We find in this chapter, of course,
many examples of faith, and certainly it is the people's faith that
pleased God. Now, it ought to be our aim,
every one of us, to please God. Now, that ought to be our aim.
Now, I recognize that you may say, well, it's just almost,
it is impossible as far as I view it to ever please God. Well, brothers and sisters of
the Lord, this morning, I want to encourage you to believe that
it is possible that every one of us here can please the Lord. We can please God. And I want
us to see how we can do that this morning, and I trust everyone
else will set our hearts to doing so. Now, it is possible, notwithstanding
all our imperfections and infirmities, by the power of the Holy Spirit
of God, to live so as that God Almighty will be pleased with
our woken conduct. Now we're told in verse 38 of
the 10th chapter, now the just shall live by faith. The just
shall live by faith. It is impossible, I say, for
us to please God apart from faith. That's what the verse tells us,
verse 6 here, but with faith. We can please God in spite of
all our imperfections and our infirmities. Now I realize that
there's many who sit out. to please God in other ways besides
the way specified in this text this morning. We'll have something
to say about that. But the point I want to try to emphasize at
this point in the message is that we can please God, and if
we live to please God, this is as it should be as the people
of God, because He loved us and gave Himself for us. He washed
us from our sins in His own blood, and He sustains us and maintains
our lives. It's what we should do. We should
please God. We should seek to do it. If there
is a way whereby I can please my Creator, if there is a way
whereby I can live for His honor and glory, I should seek to do
that with all of my heart. I owe it to Him. I owe it to
Him. It's my duty. I owe it to Him
because of what He is to me. Now, obedience to Him is the
highest law of our being. Obedience to Him. Do what He
tells us to do. And do the thing that He tells
us is pleasing to Him. That's our highest law, the highest
law of our being. Now, the approbation of our fellow
men is pleasant in its way, but they are always imperfect. Man's
always imperfect. And he's often mistaken. And
he might approve of us, And we might please those around us,
and they might just always heap upon us praise and tell us how
pleasing we are to them. But at the same time, when we're
pleasing men and women around us and pleasing our family, we
may be displeasing God. But now I want to say this, but
God makes no mistakes. And He knows no imperfections,
and He says that we can please Him by faith. We can please Him
by faith. And we must keep that in mind
that God knows how he's pleased. He knows how he's pleased. Now
this may sound elementary to you, but I want you to get it
well fixed in your mind. God knows what pleases him. And
I know that people got all kinds of ideas about what pleases them.
Some say, well, I believe if you keep the commandments, it
pleases God. Well, you can keep the commandments. You can do
whatever you please to do and invent anything that you want
to invent. You can be as clever and wise
as Solomon of old and come up with any manner of things that
you think will please God, and you're mistaken. You're mistaken,
friend. The thing that pleases God is
what God said pleases Him, and that's faith. because that's
what the scripture tells us here in this text. And so get everything
else out of your mind and get it well fixed this morning as
to what it is that pleases God. It's faith that pleases God.
Confidence and trust in the Lord that pleases Him. And we've got
to remember that. Now it is written concerning
all things for His pleasure they are and were created. Now if
we please God, we realize the object then of our being. Because
everything was created to that end. For His pleasure, there
are and were created. And so I want you to see this
morning, to fulfill God's end in our creation is to obtain
the highest joy. To fulfill God's end. To do what
God would have us to do, and that's to please Him. has to
please him. And so then, you see, the reason
why that I feel this morning liberty in preaching this is
because it's helped me a great deal. Because I often look at,
and I think it's right to do so, to survey somebody and just
take up overall view of how I'm doing as a child of God, how
I'm doing as a believer, and I see so much imperfection, and
I see so much infirmity, and I see so many things that are
wrong with me, that I hardly can come up with any joy, and
can hardly deserve much attainment in my life. But, but, you hear
me now, if I can understand what it is that pleases God, and if
I got that, then brother, sister, I've made some progress. I've
made some progress. And this is, as we pointed out,
this is the highest law of our being, is to please God. And this is the thing we want
to do. We want, regardless of what those
around us have to say about us, regardless of their insinuations,
regardless of what they think we ought to be doing, that we're
not doing, regardless of what this flesh thinks I ought to
be, that I'm not, and so on and so forth, if God who makes no
mistakes, and who by the infallible scriptures, by inspiration said
that with faith you could please Him, then I think I'll make a
little progress if I believe God, if I trust God. If I rely
on Him, if I trust Him, if I want to be in faith, and none of us
are exactly what we ought to be. But I want to tell you something,
you're making some progress if you can trust the Lord, if you
can believe Him. Alright then, Paul asserts that
faith is absolutely, absolutely essential. It's not, it is not
What we would say Optional It is absolutely essential. It is
a necessity To the pleasing of God you have everything else
that you might think will please God in your life And if faith
is not there you are not pleasing to God Everything's got to be
mixed with faith Or it doesn't please the Lord now. He said
impossible Without faith it is impossible. Now I want you to
get that. Now he didn't mean that it's
difficult to please God without faith. He didn't mean that. And
he did not mean that it's very possible to please God without
faith. Just very. But he said it's impossible. You can't do it. You can't do
it. No way you can do it. Now then, by no inventions of
our own however clever, nor by any labor of our own, since impalpable
inspiration declares without faith it is impossible to please
God, that's the way it is. And we've got to get that fixed
in our minds. All right, now without faith
there is no capacity for communion with God. No man can commune
with God without faith. You can't do it. Because the
things of God are spiritual and they're invisible, And faith
is the eye which sees, and nobody can lay hold of the things of
God with the natural mind. The Bible says the eye hath not
seen the ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of
man. The things which God hath revealed unto us, but by the
Spirit he's revealed them unto us. The things which He's prepared
for those that love Him. But by the Spirit He hath revealed
unto us. God is Spirit and they that worship
Him must worship Him in Spirit and in truth. Faith is the hand
of the soul and without it we have no grasp of eternal things. No man can lay hold of the things
of God apart from believing God and lay hold of these things
by faith. And so you have no communion
with God if you don't believe Him, if you don't trust Him.
That's the only way you can fellowship with Him. It's the only way you
can seek Him and cry out to Him. It's the only way you can touch
Him. God's not in this room where you can reach out and touch Him
with your hand. He's just not here that way, that's all. He's
not here that way. But you can touch Him with the
hand of faith. And faith is the hand of the
soul. Faith is the way we touch the Lord. Now let me say in the
next place that in human associations there must be confidence in one
another for us to please one another. Now I want to ask you
this question. How pleased would you be as a wife if your husband
had no faith in you and if he had no confidence in you? How
pleased would you be with him? You wouldn't have any pleasure
in him at all if he had no confidence in you. How pleased would a husband
be with a wife if the wife said, I have no confidence in you.
I don't trust you. I don't have any confidence at
all. I don't have any faith in you. Well, how would that make
you feel? Well, I want to tell you how to make you feel. You'd
absolutely be at a point where in your association with that
individual, there just wouldn't be any more communion. You wouldn't
be able to continue to function and operate. You'd just be completely
cut off from that individual. The same way as with our children.
If our children in our homes, if they had no confidence in
us, if they had no faith in us, And they was to say to us everything
we'd say, well, I just don't believe it. I don't believe that.
I can't depend on it. Well, you send the child off
to school in the morning and say, well, tonight we'll see
you this evening. Well, I don't believe you're going to be here.
I don't believe you're going to be here tonight when I come
home. Well, I mean, I want you to go over here and stay with
so-and-so and we're going to be gone for two days. We got to go over
here somewhere. Your mother and dad got to go leave and be gone,
you know, for a few days and we'll be back. Oh, no, you ain't
coming back. I know you're not coming back. You're leaving.
You're not going to come back. You'll never come back. Well now, what
kind of situation would that create? But I want to tell you
something. There's a lot of the people that profess to know God
and the truth of God in the Bible just exactly that way. They've
got no confidence in Him at all. Whatever He says, His word, His
promises mean nothing more to them than what if you pour a
drink of water down a corpse in a casket would mean anymore
to them because they don't believe what God says. You've got to
believe what God says. You've got to trust Him. There's
got to be this This is this thing between us and God. It's impossible
to please Him apart from that. Now, unbelief takes away the
common ground upon which God and man can meet. Takes it away. Now, two persons who are pleasant
to one another must have certain common views and objects in mind. They must share these things.
Now, let's see if we share the same common views and objects
that God does. Now, God's great object, I think,
in creation, and I think in regeneration, redemption, and I think in the
re-creation. Whenever the heavens and the
earth come down, the earth is renovated by fire, and the heavenly
city of Jerusalem comes down to be to sit upon that new creation. I think that all of this, every
bit of it, was in honor of the Son. That's what I believe. I
think everything God ever has done has been in honor of His
Son. Now, is that your object? The
Lord said, there was a voice that came from heaven during
the days of the Lord's ministry on earth that said, this is my
beloved Son in whom I dwell pleased. This is my beloved son. Hear
ye him! Now, beloved, how can two walk
together, sayeth the scripture, except they be agreed? If the
Lord Jesus Christ, and He is precious unto the Father, that
name Jesus was given by the father and that name is the scripture
says that that is how Philippians put it there is no name on earth
that is higher than this name the name which is above every
name the name of Jesus and the sacrifice of Jesus the life of
Jesus the obedience of Jesus what does that mean to the father
he said it's a sweet smelling fragrance and it's in my nostrils. God says this, he's well pleasing
to me in all things. Now, if Jesus be despised and
rejected and if he be distrusted or neglected, How can we be pleasing
to God while we're doing that? We can't do it. Jesus Christ
must be believed upon. He must be trusted. We must rest
our souls and our whole soul's case in the Son of God. We must
depend upon His shed blood to watch us and we must depend upon
His righteous merit to make us stand complete and accepted before
God. We cannot ignore Jesus Christ
and please God. We cannot do it. We must trust
in the Lord Jesus Christ and depend upon Him with all of our
heart. Alright? And then the walk of
faith destroys all prospects of love. Now this is very important
to me, and I see this a little bit more now than I used to see
it. And you may not see it, but listen
to this. There lies at the bottom of all love a belief in the object
love as to its loveliness, its merit, or its capacity to make
us happy. Now, what do I mean by that?
Well, I mean this. If I cannot trust God, if I cannot
believe Him, then I cannot love Him. You cannot love a God that
you don't trust. You can't. And I want to tell
you something that when you don't have the faith that Paul's talking
about here when he says, without faith it's impossible to please
God, you do not love God like you ought to and you do not love
God as you should love Him. Now what do I mean? Or how does
this work? Well, let me say it this way.
The Lord's chief demand of man is that we love Him with all
of our heart, with all of our soul, with all of our mind, and
with all of our strength. And if I love God, and if I love
Him and trust Him, like I ought to, then I can submit myself
unto Him. And when He disciplines me and
He chastens me, I can agree that what He's doing is right. I can agree whatever medicine
He gives to me, I can agree that the thing that He's doing is
proper right if I trust Him. If I trust Him and love Him,
I know that what He does is right. Now, if a man cannot trust the
parent, or if a child doesn't trust the parent, then of course
he thinks that the parent is being cruel, and he thinks the
parent is being unkind. love in which there's perfect
trust and wherein we find the ability to rest ourselves in
His work in our lives. And so whenever I love, trust
and love the Lord, then I think then, then I say is when I'll
submit myself unto Him. And so if you've got a problem
in your life, and I don't know if anybody don't have some problem
in this area, of submitting yourself to the hand of God in all things
and waiting upon the Lord and trusting in the Lord and depending
upon His wisdom to guide you and to direct your steps and
to rule and overrule in your life what's good for you and
what is glorified to Himself, if you can't do this, Then you've
got a problem right here in this business of faith. That's where
your problem is. And that destroys your love and your ability to
submit yourself to God. And you need to examine that
carefully and think upon that a whole lot. Because if my God
loves me like He says that He does, then I'm sure, I'm sure
that He is going to look out for my best interest in everything,
and I'm sure that he knows exactly my state and my situation, and
I'm sure that he is not going to in any way, shape, or form
leave me to chance. I'm sure that he's going to undertake
for me. And I think every child of God,
when they believe in the love of God like that, and trust God,
that they can rest and submit themselves to whatever comes
into their life. Now I say that in faith, and
I believe that. Alright, now there's two essential
points in this text, as we go further into it, that I think
that we need to mention. And that is this, for he that
cometh to God must believe that he is. You must believe that
He is. Now that's the point I want to
make first, and that is this, that Jehovah is God, and God
alone. He is God alone, and you, when
you come to Him, and you, you're, by nature, you're a way off from
God, you're, you're a, you're a separated from God for your
sin, and you must come to God, and there's a way to come to
God, and that is the way in which He has revealed the way of approach. He's revealed the way of approach,
and that's the way we've got to come to Him. Jesus said in
John 14, 6, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man can
come unto the Father except by me. That's the way of approach
unto God. But now we must accept God as
He reveals Himself. Because they that come to Him
must believe that He is. So how has God revealed Himself
in the Bible? What is the chief attribute of
God? Well, the chief attribute of
God is His holiness. God is holy. He's holy. Do you
believe in a holy God? Now, let me tell you this. All the people who reject the
doctrine of hell, they are rejecting the chief attribute of God, and
that's the holiness of God. If you don't believe in future
punishment for sinners, if you don't believe in the doctrine
of eternal judgment, then you're rejecting the doctrine of God's
holiness. God is holy. And because He's
holy, He must punish sin. He must. And when you come to
God, you say, well now wait a minute, Preacher, I don't know that I
want to believe in a God that punishes sin. You've not come
to God because you must believe that He is Jehovah, God the Lord,
and you must believe Him as He revealed Himself. He is the Word.
He's holy. He's righteous. Righteous in
all of His works. He's always done right. Ah, was
the Lord righteous when He drove all those Canaanites out of the
land of Canaan? Was He righteous whenever He
strengthened the arm of the Israelites to destroy? Was he righteous
when he told old Saul, you go down there and you slay them
Ammonites and you slay every one of them? I don't want one
of them left, you slay every one of them. I want them every
one. The God of the Bible, the Old Testament, the bully God,
somebody said, the modernistic preacher says, he's the bully
God and he's that slaughterhouse. religion, that killing people,
that like was carried on in the Old Testament. A God who can
cause a flood to come and waters to come up and every living thing
to be drowned except what was in that ark? What kind of a God
is that? My friend, the Bible says that
when you come to Him, you must believe that He is. That means
that you've got to believe He's the God that revealed Himself
to be holy, righteous, He's righteous. He don't make no mistakes. And
when he does something that's right, you gotta bow to it. Can you do that? Well, that's
what this is all about. When you talk about faith, without
faith you come to him, you must believe that he is. That he is. Alright? Just in all of his ways. You cannot, you cannot, let me
tell you this now, have a God if you don't make it. and your
own setting up. You cannot have that kind of
a God. You just can't. You don't have an option to do
that. You've got to believe in the God that has revealed Himself
in this book. Now, the devils believe and they
tremble. But there's more wanting in the
child of God than the faith that devils have. There's more wanting
to the man that comes unto God than just believing and trembling.
There's more wanting than that. You've got to believe that God
is in reference to yourself. You've got to believe that He
has to do with your life. You've got to believe that He
has to do with your ways. You've got to believe that you're
in His hands, in His love, and in His care. And that He's God
over you. That He's your God. Your own
personal God. He's your God. That you're His
child. And that you live because of
Him. The Bible says, by His own will, James 1.18, He begat us
with the Word of Truth. I live the cause and the spiritual
life of me because of God's will. And I continue to live because
of God's will and God's purpose. He's predestinated everything
and working all things out from the counsel of His own will,
every breath I have. Every breath I continue to take
and receive from the hand of the Lord is because of the will
and purpose of Almighty God. God is a sovereign God and He's
working everything out according to His own will and purpose.
Are you willing for it to be that way? In reference to you,
friend, when you come to Him, you must believe that He is in
reference to yourself! That He's got something to do
with you! Your ways and your person and
your life His purpose. What does that verse
say, Romans 8, 28? And we know that all things work
together for the good of that beloved God to them who are being
called according to His purpose. His purpose. That's where it
all is, brothers and sisters. It's His purpose. I believe a man grows up along
the ways of the Lord when he understands that the God of the
Bible is God's purpose. And he just didn't sit out on
some big old, you know, They said, well, we're just going
to get in this thing together and see what happens. No, no. No, no. Wise and holy counsel
ordered all things. And God's purpose is behind everything. And He, His purpose will never
be forgotten. Now then, have we come to this
God? Do we believe? Now, did you get what it said?
You must believe that He is. He that cometh to Him, we must
believe that He is. Must believe. Have you believed? Have you believed that God is? Nah, it's not like this, like
the fellow said, it's not the God that somebody got after talking
out and whittling them out a little God like they want. It's not
the God of your imagination. It's the God of the mind. You
must believe that He is. And that He, the next thing is,
that He is the reward of them that diligently seek Him. Now
I don't know, what do you think about this? But the scripture
says that you must believe that He is, and that He is, a rewarder
of them that diligently seek Him. And I understand the Greek
there, and that word seek is seek Him out. Those that diligently
seek Him out. And not only just seek Him out,
but they advise the finding of Him. Finding of Him. An individual, like the scripture
says in Matthew 6, seek Him. You seek Him first. Seek first
the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. Seek Him first. How do you seek
Him? Seek Him first by trusting in
the Lord Jesus. The way to life and the way to
pleasing God is to believe on the Lord Jesus and have your
sins put away and through trusting and faith in Christ. be reconciled
to God through him, trusting the Lord Jesus, repenting of
your sins, and believing savorily on Christ. Whosoever shall call
on him, the name of the Lord shall be heard. And then, I think,
secondly, you seek Him by aiming at His glory. Aiming at His glory. What is your aim in life? Is
it to glorify God? Well, I think true believers,
that's their aim, that's their desire. They want to glorify
the Lord. Now listen to me now. He rewards them. Now what is
the reward? Well, somebody wrote this and
I think it's alright. The reward is free pardon graciously
bestowed, a change of heart graciously brought, perseverance graciously
maintained, comfort graciously poured in, and privilege graciously
awarded. that God does give a war. Now
I don't know, I know that it's all sovereign grace and I know
that everything that God does for His people, that it's all
through grace. I know it is. I know that there's
not a man here that's earned anything from God other than
has judged for his sin. I know that whatever God bestows
upon me is through free grace. And I don't look for anything
in eternity except what God has given me. And I don't look that
my association with the Baptist church is going to put me in
a position that other people are not in. I don't look for
that. I know there's a lot of people who believe in the Baptist
pride. I don't believe in any such thing because I believe
that everything that's bestowed upon me is my grace. Everything
that's bestowed upon me. I don't deserve anything from
God's hand. I've earned anything except the wrath of God, and
that fell off a substitute, and He took care of that. And so
therefore God says if I diligently seek Him out with all of my heart,
there's going to be a reward. And I think there's a great reward
for godliness in this life, and I think there's a great reward
in the life to come. But I don't think any man ought
to ever get his eyes on his own situation and say, well, it's
because I'm a member of this denomination or that denomination.
I think everybody ought to be a Baptist. That's what I think.
I don't think anybody ought to be anything else but a Baptist.
I am one by conviction. I couldn't be anything else.
But I don't think that I, in that position, ought to say I've
got something coming somebody else hasn't got. I don't believe
I ought to say that. I believe it's wrong. And I believe
it's sin to do that. And I think it's little. And
I think it's babies. And I think it shows how little you are as
far as understanding of the Word of God. And I think it shows
you don't know a firm thing about the grace of God. And there's
a whole lot of Baptists in this country, they claim to be great
believers in the sovereign grace of Almighty God, and they turn
right around and believe that there's something that somebody
else is not, and believe they've got something coming that somebody
else hasn't got. Everything God gives to men and women, He gives
it to them through grace. Now, they don't take away from
Believers Baptist, and I believe in Believers Baptist, and I think
you ought to be baptized if you're a child of God. And I think it
ought to be with Believers Baptist, and I think it ought to be in
the hands of a Baptist church. That's what I think. That's where
I stand. I believe that. But I don't think
that there's going to be any reward in heaven just because
we're baptized. Some special reward. I just don't
believe there is going to be. Now, if there is some special
reward for somebody being this or that or something else, the
Word of God don't say anything about it. I can't find it in
the book. I just can't find it. And that's
why I haven't given up. See, I used to go down those
lines. I know about that. And I'll tell you what, I used
to give all that up because I don't see that in the book. But I will
tell you, there's a life of warmth, there's a warmth that's faithful
to God, and that warmth, I think, will lead you into the right
relationship with the Lord's Church. walk as God teaches you
to walk in the Word as far as the ordinances, baptism in the
Lord's Supper, these truths. I think all this is in the Bible.
But I just think that what we need to do is recognize that
this reward for seeking it diligently, that it's all of grace, all of
grace, all of grace, keep that in mind, from the very first
The motion of the Spirit of God in your life drawing you to the
Savior is the last step over the threshold into glory. It's
all of grace. All of grace every minute. Now,
and what are some of the lessons we've learned here? I think some
of the lessons that I've learned from this is, first of all, that
God is pleased with those who have faith. God's pleased with
those who have faith. Brethren, I don't know anything
about how much faith I got. I don't know nothing about it.
But I don't know how much you got either. But I want you to
know that when faith is tried and tested, then you know you
got something. When you're able to exercise
a little more, then you know you got something. And then you
know that you please God. Sometimes the negative is very
important. And he says, without faith it's
impossible to please God, so be guided. I think that means
that you do please Him. Because He had it, and He pleased
Him. Now brethren, sisters in the
Lord, think of that prodigal son down
there in the hall of fame. And he said this, he said in
my father's house there is bread enough and a sparrow. That's what he said. In my father's
house there is bread enough and a sparrow. He said I will rise
and go to my father. Now the man who's got faith says
God's at it. God will meet my needs. God will
do for me. He's got more than enough to
spare. He's got enough. And He'll take care of me. He'll
care for me. I'll cast myself before the Lord.
I'll trust the Lord. I'll wait before the Lord. And
I'll depend upon Him. Whatever's needful and necessary
for my life, it'll come. It'll come. God will do it. Now,
how would you know you had any faith if you didn't have some
trouble, if you didn't have some problems? How would you know
you got it? How would you ever know when you had it? If you didn't get into situations
where you had to exercise, how would you know? If the boat's
out on the water and the sails are there hanging in the wind,
there ain't no wind, is there? There's no wind. When that wind
comes up, them sails come out. That ship starts moving. I want
to tell you, every child of God I believe has faith. They have
the faith of God's elect. But there's many who it seems
like they're just sitting there like that ship on that water,
and them sails just hanging there all in. They're not going nowhere.
They're not moving. Nothing seems to be happening.
They're just drifting along. But then here comes some trouble.
Here comes some problems. Here's some circumstances that
they can't handle. Here's some things that just like the waves
seem to overcome. And they seem then to begin to
exercise a little faith. It's like that wind, boy, it
catches them sails, and then they begin to move. They begin
to move. They begin to come to God more. They begin to pray
more. They begin to seek God more. They begin to cry out to
God more. And faith begins to move in their hearts. And they
begin to say, well, I just trust in the Lord. And whenever they're
talked to, they're humble, more humble. And their attitude is
different, you see. And you can see that faith is
moving. I want to read this poem right
here before I give you the rest of what I think some of the lessons
that I've learned here. I want you to listen to this.
It's real good. My wife found this the other
day and read it to me and I just fell in love with it right off.
I want you to listen to these words. When is the time to trust? Is it when all is calm, when
waves the victors palm, and life is one glad song of joy and praise? Nay, but the time to trust is
when the waves beat high, when the storm clouds fill the sky,
and prayer is one long cry, O help and save. When is the time to
trust? Is it when friends are true?
Is it when comforts move? And in all we say and do, we
meet with but praise? Nay, but the time to trust is
when we stand alone, and summer birds have flown, and every prop
is gone, all else but God. What is the time to trust? Is
it some future day when you have tried your way and learned to
trust and pray by bitter war? Nay, but the time to trust is
in this moment's need. Poor broken, bruised reed, poor
troubled soul, make speed to trust thy God. What is the time
to trust? Is it when hopes beat high, when
sunshine yields the sky, and joy and ecstasy fill all the
heart? Nay, for the time to trust is
when our joy is fled, when sorrow bows the head, and all is cold
and dead, all else but God. I want to tell you something
right now, if you've never been there, you'll be there sometime. You'll be there sometime. And
you'll know what we're talking about. When we're talking about
God's pleas. He knows you have things. I don't
care how old you are. I don't care what your problems
are. I don't care how difficult things are with you. Brother
and sister, I know something about it. I know something about
it. I know something about angry people. I know something about
it. And I want to tell you something. If you just trust the Lord, God
will be pleased with that. He'll be pleased. Just trust Him. And whenever
you can't raise a nickel, when you can't do a thing, Just trust. Just trust in Him. Cast yourself
on Him. Believe in Him. Alright? In God's
name. Alright? And then this, I'll
hurry on. I got to hurry on here. Those that have faith, I think
will agree with Paul. Now, without faith it's impossible
to please God. You know that that's the way
to please the Lord. You want to please God. If you've got
faith, you want it. You want it. You desire to do
that. Alright? And then, they that
have faith, I think I see this here in the text, are always
coming to God. They always are. You just can't keep them away.
You say, well, I just got to have a little time with the Lord.
I got to pray. I've got to read the word. Somebody
come and read me a psalm. Somebody come and read me a scripture.
Somebody talk about the word of God a little bit to me. Somebody
lead us in prayer. And there's a constant cry on
my heart, Master, help. Master, help. Somebody say that
to Fr. Murray McShane, that he was constantly,
when he was preaching, that that was, he was just constantly saying,
Master, help. Master, help. Coming to God.
Coming to God. Coming to God. The believer you
can't keep away. Child of faith, he's going to
be coming to God. Always coming. And I see that
mistake. Alright, and then God will see
to it that those who believe will have a reward. Now, I mean,
like I said, I can't answer all the questions that people have
got about that reward, but God will see to it that those who
believe Him, if they ain't got nothing else, will have a reward.
They'll have it. They'll have a reward. And then I think also I see this
in the text, and we'll close with this. And that is, those
who have no faith are in a terrible state. We're in a terrible state. If you're here this morning and
you know not the Lord Jesus Christ, and you've had no faith in Him,
and you've never come unto God by Him, You have no faith. Then you're
lost. And you're separated from God.
And you have no life, no spiritual life. You're a sinner dead. Sinner
lost. Sinner doomed. A sinner faces
the judgment of Almighty God forever and ever. Outside of
Christ. Outside of the mercy of God. You're in a terrible state if
you have no faith in God Almighty, no faith in yourself. Now those
are just some of the things that just seem to stand out to me
here in this scripture. May the Lord bless these things
with our hearts and the Lord give us understanding that we
may quit looking so much And whether or not we kept all the
commandments, whether or not we full of love, clear up our,
you know, eyebrows, whether or not we're this, whether or not
we're that, whether or not we're doing everything that we ought
to be doing. Just think a little bit more today. If we can just
do it just today, whether or not we trust the Lord, whether
or not we believe in God, whether we just believe, whether we're
resting, Why don't we just cast everything into his hands? Why
don't we just lay him down at his feet? Worship him at his
footstool and say, Lord, just take me, do with me as you will.
Just make me what you want me to be. I just trust you, Lord.
I just trust you. I love you. I trust you. Just,
why don't we do it now? I just think that's important
to worship that way. And I think if we can do that,
I just think we just, I just think we just, the whole bunch
of us today, wouldn't it be wonderful if they turned and we found out
that we all just please God today. And we went much, never done
much around here, but they did please God. I thank the Lord. You know there's a verse there
in the 6th chapter of Hebrews. And I want you to look at that
verse. I'm going to leave that with
you and then we're done. I'm not going to preach on it. All
I want to do is read. Hebrews 6 and verse 10. I want
you to listen to these words. Just listen to it. And in connection
with this fact that God's going to give His people that believe
Him a reward. You just listen to that verse. is not unrighteous
to forget your work and labor of love which he hath shewed
toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and
do minister." God is not going to forget what we're doing. He's
not going to forget. He's going to remember. He's
not unrighteous to forget. And I'm glad that the Lord will never
forget what's going on. Now, Heather Chen, I suppose
you have a song, and if you would, please.

Faith

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