your Bibles with me to Romans
chapter 4. Romans chapter 4. As you're turning,
let me tell you what a joy it is to be able to be with you
and worship together. I do wish it were under better
circumstances. Todd, if you're watching, I hope
the Lord restores you to strength soon. I pray you'll be better
and back here very soon. I've entitled the message this
evening, A Message on Faith, A Message on Faith. You know,
we preach the gospel. We make much of faith. If you
attend here regularly, you hear the gospel preached very often. You hear about faith often, and
that's with good reason. Faith in Christ is very important. We can only be saved by faith,
what saith the scripture. By grace are you saved through
faith. And that not of yourselves, it's
the gift of God. We can only have spiritual life
by faith. We're born dead in sin. If we would have life, we would
receive life by faith. The just shall live how? By faith. We can only be justified, made
without sin, by faith. Look across the page here, Romans
chapter 3 verse 28. Therefore we conclude that a
man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. We can
only be made righteous by faith, Romans 4 verse 5. But him that
worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly,
his faith is counted for righteousness. We can only please God by faith. Without faith, it's impossible
to please Him. And there's only one saving faith,
just one, and every saved person has it. There's one Lord, one
faith, and one baptism. Isn't it obvious? Is it obvious
to us? Faith is very important. We need
to be saved. We need to be justified. We need for God to give us a
righteousness, because we can't earn it. We can't please God. We must have this faith. So it's obvious. Saving faith
is very important. That's not really up for debate,
is it? My question is this. What is saving faith? And more
importantly, I want to know this. Do I have it? That's the question
I want to answer for myself tonight. I hope you can answer that question
for yourself. What is saving faith, and do I have it? I don't
want to leave here this evening without saving faith. Now, we
learn a lot about faith, the nature of faith, from the life
of Abraham. Abraham's called the father of
the faithful. Now, everybody who has ever been saved has been
saved by faith, even those people who lived before Abraham. But
Abraham's called the father of the faithful because God gave
Abraham as an example of saving faith. And there's several things
we can learn about faith from the life of Abraham. First, we
learn this. Faith is given to people who
do not deserve it. You know, we think of Abraham
as this giant into faith. Where was Abraham when God found
him? He had bound down to a stone statue. He's an idolater. That
tells me I don't have to be good enough to have saving faith.
Matter of fact, if you think you're good enough for God, you
deserve for God to give you faith, you're not a candidate for saving
faith. But if you're such a horrible sinner and you know the only
thing you deserve from God is His wrath, you're a candidate
for saving faith. Faith is only given to people
who don't deserve it. Second, we learn this about faith
from Abraham. Faith will be tried. They say Abraham had 10 great
trials, and they were severe, weren't they? You know what those
trials revealed? Those trials revealed that Abraham's
faith was the real McCoy. Trials do not produce faith.
Trials reveal and strengthen genuine faith. So that comforts
me, that when I'm tried, it's not because God's quit loving
me. No, it's because He does love me. He sends trials to reveal
and strengthen genuine faith. The third thing we learn about
faith from Abraham is this. Faith never looks to the things
of this life, the blessings of this life, as evidence of God's
blessing. Faith always and only looks to
Christ. Abraham believed God, and he
rested in God's promise that his seed would own the whole
land of Canaan. He believed that, even though
Abraham never owned a foot of it, except for Sarah's grave
plot. Saving faith just believes God
regardless of the circumstances of this life. Now our text is
teaches us several other things about the nature of saving faith. And if we have saving faith,
we'll find this is the nature of our faith, because there's
only one faith. God always gives his people one faith, one Lord,
one faith, one baptism. The foundation of saving faith
is the Word of God. Romans 4, verse 17 begins, as
it is written, Abraham's faith was in the Word of God. what
was written. Now, to Abraham, that word often
was spoken, wasn't it? In verse 18, we read, who against
hope believed in hope that he might become the father of many
nations according to that which was spoken. Abraham believed
the word of God that was spoken to him. He believed the spoken
promise of God. And I'll tell you why he believed
that promise. It's because who made the promise? Because God
promised him. He staggered not at the promise
of God through unbelief. He believed the promise, the
spoken word of God. God's promise to Abraham was,
Abraham, you're going to have a seed, and your seed's going
to inherit this entire land of Canaan. And like I said, Abraham
never owned a foot of it. He lived on it in tents with
Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of this promise. Abraham never
owned a deed to the land, but he believed his seed would inherit
this land that's inhabited by giants, that's filled with giant,
well-defended, walled cities. Why on earth would a fellow living
in tents believe his seed's gonna own this land? He believed God. He just believed God. God promised
Abraham, Abraham, you're gonna have a son. And when it was physically
impossible for both Abraham and Sarah to have a son, Abraham
still believed he'd have a son. Now, why on earth would a 100-year-old
man who's married to a 90-year-old woman who quit, and she'd already
gone through menopause, why in this world would that old man
believe he's going to have a son? Simply because he believed the
Word of God. The foundation of faith is what
God says. And if you and I have saving
faith, the foundation of everything we believe is found in this book,
found in the Word of God. Now, the Bible is not hard to
understand. People say, well, I can't understand
the King James Version. Understanding is not our problem.
We understand what it's saying. I tell you what our problem is,
unbelief. We do not believe by nature what's
written. And the only way we'll ever believe
the Bible, and when I say believe the word of God, this is what
I mean. The only way we will hang the entirety of our soul
upon the message of this book is if God gives us faith to believe
it. And that's, the God-given faith always believes God's word. If you believe this book, even
though you don't understand how something might be, but you believe
it, just because God's Word says it, you have saving faith, because
the foundation of faith is the Word of God. Now, if we would
be saved, we must know God. We know that, right? Well, if
you have saving faith, you believe who God says He is in this book.
The only way we can know who God is is find out who He says
He is. God is three persons, Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit, but He's one God. That's the Trinity.
The only place we'll ever find that out is the Word of God.
We can't understand it, but we believe it, don't we? Because
that's what God's Word says. God is just and God is merciful
at the same time. Now, only place you'll ever find
that out is in the Word of God. That's the only way God can save
a sinner, by being just and at the same time being merciful.
The only place we find out who God is is in His Word that tells
us who He is. If we would be saved, we gotta
know this, we gotta know who we are. If we have saving faith,
we believe exactly what this book says about us. I was talking
to Brother Bruce Crabtree a few weeks ago. He told me he was
at a conference in Cottageville, West Virginia, and that Sunday
morning, he heard Brother Mike Walker preach on the radio. And
he got to service, and he looked at Mike, he said, you don't think
much of us, do you? No, I don't think much of us,
because I believe what this book says about you and me. You and
me, every one of us, every man, woman, boy and girl ever born
in this world is lost in sin. We're dead in sin. We are unable
to do anything for ourselves because we're dead. We can't
do anything to make ourselves righteous. We can't do anything
to get God to save us. We're dead and we're offensive
in God's sight. That's who we are by nature.
The only way we'll ever find out that about ourselves is what
God's word says. Our mama's not gonna tell us
that, not unless she's faithful. The place we find out who we
are is in the word of God, and it's disgusting, but that's who
we are by nature. If we would be saved, we must
know the way that God saves sinners. It's God saves sinners how He
says He saves sinners. Not how we think He should do
it, but how God says He does it. And God gave us a whole book
to tell us how He saves sinners. This book is the only place we'll
find out how God saves a sinner. God the Father elected a people
to save. He chose them to save, not because
of any good in them, because God's good, because God is gracious,
because God has the capacity to love sinners. He chose a people
to save. And He sent His Son in this world
to save them. He sent His Son to produce a
perfect obedience, to make His people righteous. He sent His
Son to Calvary's tree to shed His blood through the sacrifice
of Himself to put away the sin of His people and to satisfy
God's justice for them. And God the Holy Spirit comes
and gives life and gives faith in Christ to everyone that Christ
died for. And God's going to keep them
by the power of His mercy and grace. He's going to keep them
to the end. You want to argue about once saved, always saved?
Not if you've seen God's salvation you own. He's going to keep His
people. He's going to preserve them to the end. That's how God
saves sinners. I know that so because that's
what His Word says. The Holy Spirit comes. He gives to His
people a new birth. For there's a new man born who's
never existed before. That man has got a new nature.
His nature is holy because he's got the nature of his new father.
He's a partaker of the divine nature. That's what God's Word
says. God's Word says that I'm righteous. And when I look at myself, I
don't see it. All I see is unrighteousness.
All I see is sin. Can I understand that? Can I
understand how that's so? No, I can't. Do I believe it? With all my heart I believe that. Why? Because that's what God's
Word says. The foundation of faith is the
Word of God. Faith goes to the scriptures
to find out what do I believe. I don't go to church history.
I don't go to the great reformers and writers of the past. I go
to God's Word and find out what does God's Word say. And whatever
it says, I believe it. God said it. That settles it. And I believe it. That's what
God-given faith does. And we've got to hear the Word
preached. If we would be saved, we've got
to hear, thus saith the Lord. What's the message of this book?
Look over at a few pages of Romans chapter 10. The only way we can
receive saving faith is through the Word of God. Romans 10 verse
17. So then, faith cometh by hearing,
and hearing by the Word of God. That's why we make so much of
the Word of God, because the foundation of everything faith
believes is the Word of God. All right, here's the second
thing about the nature of faith. The object of saving faith is
God Himself. Verse 17, back in our text, Romans
4. As it's written, I've made thee a father of many nations,
before him whom he believed, even God. Abraham believed God. That's what verse 3 says of Romans
4, for what saith the scripture. Abraham believed God, and it
was counted unto him for righteousness. Now you notice this doesn't say
Abraham believed there is a God, does it? Only a fool would say,
I don't believe God is. The devils believe God is. They're
not saved. This doesn't say Abraham believed
there is a God. It doesn't say even that Abraham
believed in God or he believed on God. It doesn't say Abraham
believed the doctrines of grace. Abraham believed a person. Abraham
believed God. Saving faith never believes what? Saving faith always believes
who? Always believes a person. If
we have saving faith, we don't believe just what our favorite
preachers, you know, the preachers that we love, we don't just believe
what they say. It's not believing what our parents or our friends
say. Saving faith rests in a person, and it's always one person. It's
always the same person, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Apostle Paul,
You reckon he knew a lot of what? Oh, what he knew. Brilliant man. But when it came to saving faith,
he said, I know whom I have believed. Whom? And because I believe Christ,
this is what I'm confident of. He gonna keep me to the end.
Everything I've committed to him, he gonna keep. I know he's
a successful savior because I know him. I believe him. I trust him. Saving faith is a person. I don't
know a lot of the hows and wherefores. When I look at myself, I don't
know how it can be that I'm saved. When I look at myself, I don't
have the slightest idea how it is that I can be holy and unblameable
in God's sight. I don't see it when I look at
myself. But by God's grace, this is the honest truth, by God's
grace, Dwayne, I believe Christ. And since I believe him, I believe
he's made me righteous, he's made me holy, he's made me unbelievable
because that's who he is. And by faith, I'm one with him.
Faith all has to do with believing the person of Christ. And because
of who he is, I know he did what he came to do. Abraham believed
God, so he believed that God would do what he said he'd do.
Look here at the end of verse 17. Abraham believed God, who
calleth those things which be not as though they were. When
God told Abraham what he was going to do out there in the
future, God spoke in the past tense. It hadn't even happened
in human time yet, but God spoke of it in the past tense. I'll
tell you the reason for that. The promise of God is so sure. God speaks of it as having already
been done. In verse 17, he says, I have
made thee the father of many nations. He spoke of Abraham's
children before Abraham even had one. He spoke of all his
children because the promise of God is so sure. It's as good
as if it has already been done. And saving faith rests right
there. Look over at Romans chapter 8. Verse 28, And we know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are the
called according to His purpose. For whom He did foreknow, He
also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that
He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom
He did predestinate, them He also called. And whom He called,
them He also justified, and whom He justified, them He also glorified. You see how that's all in the
past tense? We look at ourselves, we don't see ourselves as glorified,
do we? We see ourselves in corrupt flesh, but God speaks of it in
the past tense. It's done, and saving faith believes
that. Now, what are we going to say
to that? Our God is sovereign. Whatever He's purposed, whatever
He's promised, it's going to happen. Now, what are we going
to say to that? Well, I'll tell you what saving
faith says. Look at verse 31. What should
we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be
against us? Saving faith rests right there
in a person, the Lord Jesus Christ. Of course he's the successful
Savior. All you gotta do to know that is look at him, believe
him. All right, here's the third thing about saving faith. Saving
faith believes God, who gives spiritual life to the dead. Back
in our text, verse 17, As it's written, I've made thee a father
of many nations, before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth
the dead. Now salvation has got to involve
a new birth. It's the birth of a new man with
a new nature that's different from Adam's nature in every way.
Salvation is not this flesh getting some spiritual light and spiritual
understanding. No, there's no hope for this
flesh. The flesh is darkness and it can't get any spiritual
light or spiritual understanding. Salvation is not in this flesh
starting to act better or getting religious. Paul has made this
so plain. Go back and read this book of
Romans from the beginning up through here in chapter 4. This
is so plain. Sinners are justified without
any of our works, without any of our religious background being
added to it. were justified by faith in Christ.
Salvation is not in the flesh learning some true things. If
you give us a child, we start him in Sunday school about three
years old. By the time they're four or five, I can make them
a Calvinist, I guarantee it. But salvation is not getting
a head knowledge of some facts and true things. Satan knows
all those true things about God. He's seen God face to face. He
knows those things are true. So saving face is not knowledge,
is it? Or the new birth is not knowledge. Salvation is the birth
of a new man. That's why our Lord told Nicodemus,
you must be born again. You've got to receive a new nature.
Salvation is impossible without it. Well, who gives this life
to the dead? The same one who gave life to
Sarah's dead womb. God Almighty. God, when he made
this promise, he told Abraham, I'm going to return. And according
to the time of life, Sarah's going to have a son. Sarah's
dead womb is going to have life when I return and give life. And he did just exactly what
he promised he'd do. And nine months later, Isaac
came forth. And years later, the Savior would
descend from that line of Isaac. That's a picture of the new birth.
God, the Holy Spirit, gives life to his people. It's much more
miraculous than the birth of Isaac. The Holy Spirit gives
spiritual life. He gives eternal life to those
who are dead in trespasses and sins, and the only way that life
is had is through faith in Christ. Look back at John chapter 17.
This life comes through faith in Christ. This is what our Lord
says in His great high priestly prayer. Verse 1, John 17. These words spake Jesus and lifted
up His eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour has come. Glorify
Thy Son, that Thy Son also may glorify Thee, as Thou hast given
Him power over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to
as many as Thou hast given Him. And this is life eternal, that
they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom
thou hast sent. The only way we can know God
is through faith in Christ. This life is received through
faith in Christ. All right, and here's the fourth
thing about the nature of saving faith. I want us to see faith's
strength, and not necessarily the strength of our faith, but
where is the strength of faith found? Now, you know, it's not
the strength of our faith that saves. It's the object of our
faith that saves. But, you know, there's no excuse
for weak faith, is there? Our faith ought to be strong.
It's based upon the Word of God that cannot be in error. Our
faith is in God Himself, the Almighty. Our faith ought to
be strong. It's obvious God cannot fail
to do what He promised He'd do. But this is the sad truth. Our
faith ebbs and flows, doesn't it? Abraham, the father of the
faithful, his faith went up and down, up and down. Abraham believed
God. And there were times Abraham
would go into a lane and see a mighty king and he'd tell Sarah,
tell him you're my sister. You know, they're going to kill
me. You know, they want to marry you. They're going to kill me.
Tell them you're my sister. Acted like he didn't trust God at all,
didn't he? I understand, don't you? I've
been there. No excuse for it, but I've been there. The weakness
of our faith comes from unbelief. But thankfully, thankfully, we're
not saved because of the strength of our faith at any given moment.
We're always saved because of the object of our faith. And
that's where the strength of faith is found, in the object
of our faith. And because Abraham knew God,
because he believed God, he believed. when there were no human reasons
for hope. Look at verse 18. Who against
hope, against all human reasons for hope, believed in hope that
he might become the father of many nations according to that
which was spoken, so shall thy seed be. You know, saving faith
is not believing human logic. The gospel's logical. I mean,
you listen to all these nut job preachers out there. The gospel
is the only message that makes any sense. It's the only logical
message. But that's not why we believe it, is it? Saving faith
is not human understanding. You can just never understand
how these things can be. We can't understand. How is it
God made me righteous because Christ has made sin for me? I
can't understand that. I don't understand. How can it
be that there's two opposite natures in me and both of them
are me? That old man of Adam is rebellious
and sinful and corrupt and just awful. That's me. And yet that man who loves God,
who believes God, who repents of my sin and trusts Christ,
that man's really me too. I don't understand that. I don't have to understand it.
Saving faith is supernatural. It's the supernatural gift of
God to believe things that are humanly impossible. With men,
all these things are impossible. But with God, all things are
possible. So we believe. Abraham didn't think about what
can I do, you know, what things can I do, am I able to do, what
things am I unable to do, before he decided to believe this promise.
He didn't look at himself. He just believed God. Verse 19. And being not weak in faith,
he considered not his own body now dead when he was about a
hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb.
Now we should learn this. The promise of God Never depends
on what you and I can do. Never. You know, we can't say,
well, I better make myself righteous. I better clean up my act. I better
get rid of my sin. I better do some penance, you
know, to make up for some of my sin. Don't look at that. We can't do it. But saving faith
never considers what I can't do. Saving faith rests in Christ. He promised to get the job done,
and I rest in Him to do it. The promise of God doesn't depend
on you and me. The promise and purpose of God
always depends on the strength of Almighty God to do exactly
what He promised to do for His people. The strength of saving
faith is found in looking away from ourselves and looking to
Christ. If I look in me, I'm not going
to find any hint of a reason for salvation. Are you? If I
look inside of me, I don't see any hint of righteousness or
sanctification. If I look at this body, I don't
see not one hint that this body could ever be resurrected from
the grave. I see a lot of reasons it's going to die, but I can't
see any reason that it would ever be raised from the grave.
But yet, with all of my heart, I believe those things. How can
I believe those things? Because I believe Christ my salvation. Because I believe Christ my righteousness. Because I believe Christ my sanctification. Because I believe Christ my resurrection. It doesn't have anything to do
with what I can't do. It all rests in Him. Now look
at verse 20. Abraham staggered not at the
promise of God through unbelief. but was strong in faith, giving
glory to God. Abraham didn't stagger at the
promise of God, even though he didn't have the first clue. How
is it God's going to do what he promised to do? Abraham didn't
have any problem not understanding how. All he did was believe God,
and the rest was obvious. If we believe God, we know there's
nothing too hard for God. He'll do what he promised. You
know, be careful of wannabe theologians. You can identify them. They always
want to talk about how and when, how and when, how and when. Well,
how did Christ put away sin? And they want to discuss all
the mechanics of how they think that might be possible. And when
they do that, they just twist themselves up and they cause
themselves and others to stagger. Faith doesn't stagger. Faith
says, Christ took my sin away, and he put it away under his
blood, and because it's his blood that was sacrificed, my sin's
gone. Faith doesn't stagger at that
one bit. Wannabe theologians love to talk about what the new
birth is. Well, they say, is it a principle?
Is it light? Is it understanding? Is it something
God promised that we're really not going to have until we get
to Gloria? What is it? They try to look for evidence
of the new birth by looking way down inside of them, you know,
or maybe they try to look for evidence of the new birth in
their actions. And when they do that, they just twist themselves
up in knots and they cause themselves and others to stagger. Faith
doesn't stagger at that. Faith says, I know I've been
born again because God said it. You know, there's a man in me
who loves God. At one time, that wasn't so.
There's a man in me who believes God. There's a man in me that
wants to pray. There's a man in me who wants
to worship. There was a time that wasn't
so, but now there's a man in me that wants to worship. There's
a man in me who repents of my sin and trusts Christ as all
my salvation. That didn't come from me. That's
not of me. That's not of my flesh, but he's
in me. He's in me because God caused
him to be born in me. The new birth, very simple, if
you've been born again. I don't have any concept of how
it was that physically I was born into this world. I have
no memory of it. I don't even remember being born. I don't even remember really
growing. Life is its own evidence, isn't it? New birth is the same
way. Faith doesn't stagger at that. And listen to this one. Faith
doesn't stagger. Even trials, trials, tribulation,
that word tribulation is used in the next chapter, means pressure,
pressure, anguish. Even being in that pressure a
long time, being in that pressure cooker a long time, waiting on
God a long time to fulfill His promise does not stagger faith. Faith doesn't have to do with
time and circumstances. Faith has to do with believing
God, believing Him. So faith doesn't stagger because
it looks to Christ and He never changes. I'll show you an example
of that in Matthew chapter 9. Matthew chapter 9, verse 27. And when Jesus departed thence,
two blind men followed him, crying and saying, Thou son of David,
have mercy on us. And when he was come into the
house, the blind men came to him. And Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye, do you believe that
I am able to do this? And they said unto him, Yea,
Lord. And he touched their eyes, saying, According to your faith,
be it unto you. And their eyes were opened. And
Jesus straightly charged them, saying, See that no man knoweth,
but they, when they were departed, spread abroad his fame in all
that country. How could they not? They were
blind, and he gave them sight. And they didn't stagger one bit
at being blind, did they? They kept following the Lord,
saying, Thou son of David, have mercy on us. Have mercy on us.
They didn't even offer the Lord any suggestions. They just said,
Have mercy on me. Have mercy. And they didn't stagger
one bit when they said, you believe I'm able to do this? They didn't
know how he'd give them sight, but they didn't stagger. They
believed that he was able and he gave them sight. I read that
and that makes me cry with that poor father. Lord, I believe. Lord, you know all things. My faith just seems like a, fishing
line. You almost can't even see it
sometimes. But Lord, you know all things. You know I believe.
Help thou mine unbelief. Oh, help me believe. Then saving
faith is fully persuaded, confident that God will do what he promised.
Back in our text, verse 21. And being fully persuaded that
what he had promised He was able also to perform. You know, Abraham
had the exact same faith the Apostle Paul had, didn't he?
Both of them were fully persuaded because both of them looked to
Christ. And if you and I have saving faith, we are fully persuaded
about this. Christ is all I need. Period. He's all I need. He's
all I need to be saved. He's all I need to be righteous.
He's all I need to be justified. Christ is all I need. And I don't have a backup plan.
I don't have a plan B. I don't have an escape hatch.
Christ is all of my salvation or I'll be damned. That's how
strong saving faith is because we trust Christ. We believe Christ.
Then last, I want us to see this, I want us to see the results
of saving faith, is righteousness. Verse 22, therefore it was imputed
to him for righteousness. Now Paul has spent four whole
chapters teaching us this, that salvation is through faith, without
any of our works. We're justified by faith in Christ,
without any of our religious doings. It doesn't have anything
to do with what we do or don't do. Sinners are made righteous
through faith in Christ, through Christ our righteousness. When
we believe, the righteousness of Christ, the obedience of Christ
actually becomes our righteousness and our obedience, made perfect
in Him. Now, if you and I are going to
be made righteous, if we're going to be saved, It's going to be
the exact same way Abraham was made righteous. It's through
faith. Look here at verse 23. Now, it
was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to
him, but for us also, to whom it shall be imputed if we believe
on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered
for our offenses and was raised again for our justification. Now right there is salvation. And that's everything faith believes.
The Lord Jesus Christ was delivered to God's justice. He was delivered
to death for our sins laid upon Him. And the sins of God's elect,
at Calvary, they were imputed to Christ so that they became
His. That's the only way the Father
could have put His Son to death in justice if He'd been made
guilty by imputation. And by His substitutionary death,
Christ put away the sin of his people. The blood of his sacrifice
blotted out their sin. So my brother, my sister, if
Christ died for you, you have no sin. No sin. He put it away by his blood.
It's gone. The death of Christ satisfied
the justice of God. So if Christ died for you, don't
you worry about God's justice. God's justice is not looking
for you. Christ already satisfied it. God's justice wants nothing
to do with you if Christ died for you, because he satisfied
God's justice for you. That's why Christ rose again
from the dead. Not in order to justify his people,
but because his sacrifice did justify his people. The sin laid
on him is gone. Death couldn't hold him. There's
no sin, it's gone. And he was raised from the dead
because his sacrifice got the job done. And saving faith rests
right there. That's all I need. Now, that's
the nature of saving faith. Now, what shall we say to these
things? I want this to apply to our hearts
right here tonight. That's the doctrine of saving
faith. Now, what shall we say to them? Well, I'll tell you
what I say. I say quit. Quit your fill-in-the-blank. Whatever it is. Whatever it is
you're doing that you think makes God more happy with you than
somebody else. If you're doing something you think, well, this
makes me more savable, you know, than this rebel over here, this
heathen, you know. Whatever it is about you that
makes you think you're good enough for God to accept you, quit.
Quit. Quit. Quit. You parents, you
ever tell your kids quit? Did you ever tell him one time,
no? You kids, have your mom and dad ever told you quit? Just
quit it. Why don't we? Quit. Just quit and rest in Christ
alone. Just look to him. He's all you
need. Just quit and rest in him. Saving faith says amen to that.
Amen. All right. Let's bow and pray. Father, how we thank you for
this precious portion of your word, this precious promise of
salvation in our Lord Jesus Christ. Father, we know salvation, faith
is the gift of God. We beg of thee that you'd give
us this faith to look to Christ, to rest in him and him alone. He's worthy. He is worthy. Give us faith to rest in Him,
completely and wholly in Him. For it's in His precious name
we pray and ask this great blessing.