There was a young, young man
who prayed this prayer at the family's prayer time one Saturday
night. He said, Lord, I pray that the pastor will say
something tomorrow morning in the message that I can understand. Spurgeon once commented, many preachers dwell on high
Olympus among the clouds and never get to Calvary. Paul said that. He said, I fear lest by any means, as
the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, that your mind
should be taken from the simplicity of Christ, from the simplicity
of Christ, from the singleness of Christ. I pray this morning
that this message that the Lord has laid upon my heart will not
only be understood, but that it will be believed. I want you
to turn in your Bibles to the book of Titus, chapter one of Titus' epistle,
epistle of Paul to Titus. Let's read the first four verses. Paul, a servant of God, and an
apostle of Jesus Christ according to the faith of God's elect. That's my subject this morning,
the faith of God's elect, the faith of God's elect. And the
acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness in hope of
eternal life, which God that cannot lie promised before the
world began, but hath in these in due times manifested his word
through preaching which is committed unto me according to the commandment
of God our Savior." Paul's writing to Titus, my own son after the
common faith, grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and
the Lord Jesus Christ. The faith of God's elect. What
is the faith of God's elect? In all simplicity, the faith
of God's elect is the gift of God. What manner of love the Father
hath bestowed upon us that we should be called His sons in
Christ Jesus. 1 John chapter 5 verse 11 says,
this is the record. God has given us eternal life,
and this life is in His Son. It's the gift of God. The faith
of God's elect is the gift of God. Secondly, the faith of God's
elect is genuine. It's real. People used to say
it's bona fide. It's authentic. One day our Lord
said to His disciples, Will you also go away? And Peter replied,
To whom? To whom shall we go? Thou hast
the words of life, and we believe and are sure that thou art the
Christ, the Son of the living God. The faith of God's elect
is the gift of God. The faith of God's elect is real,
it's sincere. It's genuine. It's authentic. It is bona fide. And thirdly,
the faith of God's elect. Now listen. It will enable a
person, if need be, to turn from children, from family, from friends,
from homeland, and even give his life for the gospel of Jesus
Christ. If any man loved father, mother,
brother, sister, husband and wife, our Lord said, more than
me, he just cannot be my disciple. So this faith of God's elect
will enable a person to turn from whomever and whatever gets
in competition with his master. And then the faith of God's elect
will enable a person to truly rejoice, truly rejoice on his
deathbed. Paul said that. The time of my
departure is at hand. I fought a good fight. I kept
the faith henceforth that laid up for me. a crown of righteousness,
which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me in that
day, and not to me only, but to all them that love his appearing.
And I know for me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. I'm in a straight betwixt the
two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is
far better. For I've seen believers die.
I'm an old preacher now, and I've been pastoring a long time,
and I've watched believers die. I've watched them die. I've watched
them go to meet the Lord with a smile on their face, with joy
in their hearts, and rejoicing over the prospect and blessed
hope of eternal life. We are taught of God to know
that we are God's elect. The faith of God's elect gives
us an assurance and a confidence that we are His. Paul said, examine
yourselves, whether you be in the faith. Prove yourself. Know ye not your own selves?
How that Christ dwells in you, except you be a reprobate? Peter
said, give diligence to make your calling and election sure. But if you do these things, you'll
never fail. God has taught us to know that
we're his children. We know that we're sons of God.
We know him. Back years ago, back in the early
fifties, when I was pastoring Pauline Baptist Church, after
World War II, there was a young man A young married man with
children who lived in our community just a couple blocks from where
I lived. And he stayed in the army after
the war and was stationed in Germany. And he had a heart attack,
a very serious heart attack. And the chaplain came to visit
with him and talked him into a profession of religion. And
he made a profession of faith. And the chaplain wrote to me
and told me that he'd baptized the boy and for us to receive
him into our church, which I did. And the young man, Sergeant Charles
Eaton, came home from the service and received a medical discharge. And he started attending church.
He started out on the front row. And gradually he moved farther
back, farther back, farther back, until after a while he didn't
attend at all. And I understood that Charles
had made that profession of religion under duress and under the chaplain
talking to him about professing Christ and being saved before
he died. And I understood that. And I
loved him. He loved me. I was in the service,
he was, so we had a lot in common. We talked about things, but he
didn't come to hear me preach. But he used to listen to me on
the radio. I was on the radio every morning,
Monday through Friday at 8.15, and I preached the gospel, and
he listened to me. And one morning after I finished
the broadcast, the announcer said, Brother May, you've got
a phone call. So I went to the phone, and I
picked it up, and it was Charlie. He was weeping. He said, would
you come by my house on your way home from the station and
talk to me? Well, man, I'm lost. I said,
that's good. He said, that's good. I said,
that's good. Man can never be found if he's
lost. So I came by the house, and I never will forget, he was
weeping. His wife worked at the school,
worked in the cafeteria, so he was home by himself. I never
will forget he was just weeping and tears were dropping down
on the floor. And I went and sat down beside
him and put my arm around him. We talked a while and I sat down
and talked to him about Christ and the gospel. I didn't talk
him into a profession like the chaplain did. I told him about
Christ and prayed for him and asked the Lord to do a work of
grace in his heart. Well, the Lord did. It wasn't
long until Charlie professed faith. And he always sat on the
front row at Powdered Baptist Church. And he loved the gospel. He played the piano. He played
by ear. Didn't know it. Not a note of
music. But he played by ear. And he
used to come to the Wednesday night service early so he could
play the piano. And I was sitting in my study
getting my message finished for that night, and he came running
into the study. He said, Pastor, he said, do
you know this song? I said, what is it, Charlie?
He said, Only a sinner saved by grace. Listen to these words.
Suffer a sinner whose heart overflows, loving his Savior to tell what
he knows. Once more attended would I embrace.
I'm just a sinner saved by grace. I said, that's it, Charlie. He
said, would you sing that and let me go in here and play it? That's my song. That's my song,
Only a sinner saved by grace. So I went in and sang it, and
he played it. And I got a dose of Only a sinner
saved by grace every Wednesday night while I was studying, you
know. He wanted me to play and sing that song. Well, we had
a meeting at the church in May 1954. And as usual, Charlie was sitting
down on the front. And when I introduced the visiting
speaker, who was Brother Shelton from Louisiana, I sat down beside
him. And Brother Shelton preached. And then when he got through
preaching, he walked down from the platform down to the front
row. And he stood and looked at me and with Charlie, and Charlie,
and he said, preacher, you know Christ? I said, yes, sir. He said, young man, do you know
Christ? And Charlie, I never will forget
this. I'll tell you why I never will forget it. He said, I didn't
used to, but I do now. I know Christ. He's my Lord and
Savior. Well, the preacher turned and
finished what he was going to say, and we sang and lived. And
my wife and I and Don Fitzer and his wife went over across
the street to Brother William's house to have Sunday dinner.
We'd finished our dinner, and the phone rang, and Paul said,
it's for you, preacher. I picked the phone up. It was
Charlie's wife, Edith. She said, Brother, me and Charlie's
Terrible heart attack. He's lying here on the floor.
Would you come right away? So Don and I left and went, just
lay a crippled box down the street. I got there, he was still on
the floor. The ambulance was coming. And we got him up in
the bed. I knew it was a terrible, terrible
experience. And he was unconscious. And we put him in the ambulance
and I got in the ambulance with Don and we drove to the hospital.
They took him in and they said, he's gone. And I turned to Brother Fitz,
and I said, Brother Don, do you remember the last words you ever
heard this man say? The very last words you ever
heard him say, on this earth? He said, I do. The preacher asked
him if he knew Christ, and he said, I used to not know Him, but I
know Him now. He's my Lord and my Savior. What
a way to know me, God. That's what I'm talking about.
We know. Knowing, brethren, beloved, your
election of God. Knowing your election. You know,
these Old Testament believers, they knew Christ. They knew they
knew Christ. They had a full assurance that
they knew Christ. You know what Job said? I know
my Redeemer liveth. I know my Redeemer liveth. And
on the last day, in the last day, He'll stand on this earth.
And I shall see Him. I shall see Him myself and not
another. I know my Redeemer. Isaiah said
this. He was wounded for our transgressions.
He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon Him by His stripes. We're healed. David said this,
although it be not so at my house, God hath made with me an everlasting
covenant, ordered in all things, ensured, and this is all my salvation
and all my desire, even though He make it not to grow. You could
all quote this one. Paul said, I know, I know whom
I have to leave. I am persuaded he's able to keep
that which I've committed to him against that day. And this, the faith of God's
elect and the confidence of our faith in him will lead a person
to do three things. The faith of God's elect will
lead an individual to do three things. First of all, to confess
Christ. If you confess me before men,
I'll confess you before the Father which is in heaven. You deny
me before men, I'll deny you before the angels of God. It
will lead a believer to confess Christ. He, just like Charlie,
he's my Lord and my Savior, my God. As Thomas said, my Lord
and my God, confess Christ. Secondly, it will lead a person
to forsake all that's contrary to Christ. Just forsake all that's contrary
to Christ. And thirdly, it will lead that
person to follow the Lord Jesus Christ, whatever the cost. I love that confession of Job. All of his children were dead,
ten of them slain. He was forsaken by his friends.
His body was in pain and suffering. His wife urged him to curse God
and die. Why don't you just curse God
and die? You know what he said? He said, though he slay me, yet
will I trust him." That's it. He'll confess Christ, he'll forsake
those things that are contrary to Christ, and that faith of
God's elect will follow Christ whatever the cost. Now, I'm going to give you three
things that I want you to listen very carefully and consider these
things thoughtfully and practically. Three things, three statements,
personal and I believe, I'm sure, personal to you. And here they
are. First of all, our saving interest in the Lord Jesus Christ
is the only really necessary, important thing in my life, in
this life, or in the life to come. I know there are a lot
of very important things, a lot of very important people, important
to us and things that we want to do and desire to do and must
do in work and play and all these things. But the only, the only
really necessary important thing in my life or your life and in
the life is to know Christ and be found in Him, not having my
own righteousness, but His. That's the really important thing. Let me show you a scripture.
Turn to Mark chapter 8. Mark chapter 8. The really, really
necessary, most important thing in this life and the life to
come is to know Christ. Mark chapter 8. Now listen to
this. Mark 8 verse 34. And when he
had called the people unto him with his disciples, he said to
them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, take
up his cross and follow me. For whosoever will save his life
shall lose it, and whosoever shall lose his life for my sake
and for the gospel, the same shall save it. For what should
it profit a man if he gain the whole world, gain the whole world
and lose his own soul. What shall a man give in exchange
for his soul? Whosoever therefore shall be
ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful
generation, of him shall the Son of Man be ashamed when he
cometh in the glory of the heavenly Father and the holy angels. The Scriptures are very clear. The only way of life is Christ. I am the way, the truth, and
the life. And he that believeth on the
Son has life, eternal life. And he that believeth not the
Son shall not see life. The wrath of God abideth on him.
Well, what must I do to be saved? What must I? I'm going to work
on that word, must, a minute. What must I do to be saved? Honestly, actually. Here it is,
five things. Listen. Our Lord said, marvel
not, I say unto you, you must be born again. What must I do
to be saved? I must be born again. That which
is born of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of the Spirit
is Spirit. Marvel not, I say unto you, You
must give on to Him. Here's the second. Our Lord said
to the woman at the well, she talked about where she worshiped
in this mountain and you worshiped Jerusalem. He said, you don't
know what you worship. You don't know what you worship.
Listen, God is a spirit. You must worship Him in spirit
and truth. What must I do to be saved? Worship
God. Worship God in spirit and truth. Not play at worship. Worship
God. Respect, love, cherish, hold
Him dear. Thirdly, our Lord said this. Peter wrote this. There is none
other name unto heaven, none, given among men, whereby I must
be saved. Whoso shall call on the name
of the Lord shall be saved. I must be born again. I must
worship God. I must go. Seek ye the Lord while
he may be found. Call on him while he's near. If you call on him. A lady was
sitting in my study one day. She said, I believe everything
you preach. I believe that ever since I met
a girl attending church here, I believe these things, but I'm
not saved. The Lord hasn't saved me. I said
to her, have you ever asked Him to save you? She looked like
I slapped her. Have you ever asked Him? She
said, well, no. I said, why don't you? Ask and
it shall be given to you. Seek and you shall find. Knock
and it shall be opened to you. She said, I believe I will. You
know, she found assurance. Ask Him. Ask Him. There's none other name under
heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. Ask Him. And
here's the fourth one. Acts 4, verse 22. Listen. I must. I must. I must, through much
tribulation, enter into the kingdom of God. No trial, no faith. That's exactly right. God chastens every son, every
son, every daughter. You'd be without chastisement
if you're not a son. Marvel not, when these prior
trials come upon you, they try your faith. And faith got to
be tried. Got to be. I must. through much tribulation, enter
into the kingdom of God. And fifthly, oh, listen to this,
listen to Paul. He that cometh to God, he must
believe that God is. He must. And that he's the rewarder
of them that diligently seek him. What must I do to be saved? I must be born again. I must
worship God. I must call on His name. I must
be tried. Got to be tried. And he that
cometh to God must believe that He is, that He's a reward of
them that diligently, diligently, sincerely seek Him. Here's my
second statement. Of great personal interest to
me, and I'm sure to you, Our saving interest in Christ is
determined and established and proven one way, by the Word of
God. By the Word of God. Faith cometh
by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. A man's salvation
and the gospel enters not the eye gate, but the ear gate. He that heareth my word, and
believeth on him that sent me. I was in a meeting in Louisiana,
in Hudson, Louisiana, preaching. And a man came up
to me and introduced me to a young woman who had two small children. And he introduced this woman
to me with this comment, Preacher, this little woman comes to church
with her two children, by herself, faithfully, every Sunday. This
preacher is living proof that she's a child of God. You know, I don't correct people
with things like that, you know, but they need to be. I just walked
away. This is living proof. Her obedience
to go to church, take her children, that's what she ought to do.
Get her husband to take him too, but that doesn't save a person.
The Word of God, listen to me, the Word of God is the only proof
and foundation of faith. The Word of God. Take away the
infallibility of the scriptures. Take away the scriptures, the
truth of the scriptures, and you have no reason No foundation
and no right to believe anything about God. That's exactly right. Feelings come and feelings go
and feelings are deceived. Our warrant is the Word of God. Nothing else is worth believing.
How do I know God will save sinners? His Word. How do I know that
God will forgive sin? His Word. How'd I know that Christ
was made flesh and dwelt among us and died for our transgressions
on Calvary's cross? The Word of God. That's how I
know. How'd I know that Christ died
and rose again and ascended to the right hand of God where he
ever lived to make intercession for me? I read it in the Word. The Word of God. That's my proof. That's my confidence. How do I know that he's the only
mediator between God and me? Because God said so. There's
one God and one mediator between God and me, and that's the man
Christ Jesus. And if any man sin, we have an
advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. So, I'll
trust God's unchanging Word till soul and body sever. The words
of men fade away. God's Word abides forever. The Word of God, that's our foundation, that's
our proof. He has said, I'll never leave
you nor forsake you, so that I can boldly say, the Lord is
my helper. He said it first. He said, I'll
never leave you. I'll never forsake you. So I
can boldly say, confidently say, He's my helper. He's my shepherd,
and I shall not walk. He maketh me lie down in green
pastures. He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul. Surely goodness and mercy shall
follow me all the days of my life. Why? He said so. That's
how I put it. You don't want anything. I read
all these different books on how to have faith, how to do
this, how to do that. Read the Word. Study the Word. Bathe your soul in the Word of
God. That's the blessed hope. It's true. Thirdly, this faith of God's elect, what
is it? Two things. Number one is looking
to Christ. Get your bulletin out. The pastor
has an article here in the bulletin this morning. Faith is looking
to Christ. You know that's what, while you're
getting it, I want to mention a scripture. Isaiah 45 said this,
the Lord said, look unto me and be ye saved. I'm God, there's
none else. Look unto me and be ye saved.
All the ends are there. I'm God, there is none else. Now listen to this article. Faith
is looking to Christ. Not to how much faith I have.
It's not faith that saves. It's Christ who saves. Faith is looking to Christ. Not
to my prayer, my worship, or my meditations. Faith is looking
to Christ. Not to the name I wear, nor the
doctrines I hold. It's not what, but whom we believe. I know whom I believe. Faith
is looking to Christ, not to the law. The law wounds, but
the law never heals. It kills. It never gives life.
Faith is looking to Christ, not to his mother, not to his apostles,
not to his cross. There's one God, one mediator. Faith is looking to Christ, not
to my brethren, neither the best of them or the worst of them.
I have no confidence in the flesh. Faith is looking to Christ, not
to my strength, not to my weakness. All grace or strength we have
is by His grace. And when I am weak, that's when
I'm strong. Faith is looking to Christ, not
to my works. Without Him, my righteousness
is filthy rags. Faith is looking to Christ yesterday,
today, tomorrow, always. Faith is looking to Christ at
all times and will never stop coming looking, resting, trusting,
believing, depending, or leaning on the Lord Jesus Christ. And
when clouds of death around me roll, and angels come for my
soul, no need to remind me of His grace. I will then be looking
to Christ face to face. Face to face. Charles Spurgeon
I guess they called him the Prince of Preachers. He's my favorite
preacher. Past, present, and future, except
for Christ I love. But he was raised by his grandfather. His grandfather was a Presbyterian
preacher. And he spent much of his young
life with his grandparents. And his grandmother taught him
all these great old hymns. He had such a brilliant mind.
Somebody said photographic memory or photostatic, photographic
memory. But she told him one time, said,
if you learn, if you learn a verse in the song, I'll give you a
pinch. Well, he was so smart. He learned
several songs, and the old lady had to give him a pinch for every
song he learned, not the verse, you know. He was so brilliant.
But anyway, he couldn't find any assurance. He was brilliant
and read, and his grandfather preached, and his mother and
father were very dear to him. But he just couldn't find any. He said, I was just not saved.
Didn't know God. And he said he was going to church
one morning. It was snowing. Snow outside.
He saw he wasn't going to get to church on time. This is a
true story. I've read it. I've been to the
church where he professed faith in England. Anyway, he was on
his way to church and he realized he was going to be late, so he
wouldn't go to his church and walk in late. So he stopped. God's providence is so beautiful.
He stopped at a little primitive Methodist church, just a small
little church, and he stopped there to worship, to be on time. And the pastor didn't make it
to the service. The pastor was snowed in. And
there was an elder who preached that morning. And just a few
people there and a small congregation. And Spurgeon was sitting back
on the left side. I sat in that same little pew
where he was sitting that time. Sixteen-year-old boy, troubled,
distressed, no assurance, no confidence in Christ, just sat
there. And the preacher got up to preach, and he quoted Isaiah
45, 22. That's what it says. Look unto
me, and be ye saved. All the ends of the earth, I'm
God. Look, look to Christ. And Spurgeon
said, that preacher looked out over the congregation and saw
my face, and saw how distressed I was, and he said to me, in
front of all those people, young man, you look so distressed and
troubled, why don't you look to Christ? That's the only way
God saved sinners, by looking to Christ. He said, it was like
light came into my soul. I've been studying, memorizing
the creeds, the catechism, I never have just looked to Christ. That's
what he said. And he wrote this word, his experience. He said, when I looked to Christ,
I had no personal knowledge that Christ died for my sins. He said,
I'd read it in the book. I just knew I was a sinner. And
I knew that God said in his word that Christ came into the world
to save sinners of whom I'm cheap. I knew in God's Word that He
said He was made sin for us who knew no sin that we might be
made the righteousness of God in Him. And I heard that preacher
that morning say, look unto me and be ye safe. And I looked. I looked. On the strength and
authority of God's Word, I looked and I knew it was sink or swim. I must look to Him. For he that
believeth on the Son hath life." God made of that man a powerful,
powerful preacher for thirty-eight years, to declare his glorious
gospel preached to thousands of people. But he was saved by
Luke, looking to Christ. But here's the second word. What
is it? What is the faith of God's elect?
It's looking to Christ, and it's Trusting Him. Trusting Him. I know whom I have believed. And I'm persuaded. I'm persuaded. He's able to keep that which
I've, what? Committed. Committed to Christ. My life, my hope, my trust is
all in Him. Trust in the Lord. Lean not to
your own understanding. Charles Wesley, a great hymn
writer, 1740 or 1750, but he was one of the greatest hymn
writers. And he was sitting in his study, upstairs in his home
in his study, and he said he had a robe, a lounging robe. It was a heavy robe. Wintertime,
sitting there in that robe and studying. And a storm came up. And the wind was strong. And the rain started falling.
And the shutters of the window were flapping out, out, back
and forth. And he said, I stood up and I
walked to the window and reached out to pull the shutter to, and
a little bird flew through that window into my roof, right into
the poles of that big roof. And I looked down at it. He was
seeking a shelter in a time of storm, and he found the shelter
and trusted it. And he went over and sat down
and wrote this song. Jesus, lover of my soul, let
me to thy bosom fly. Let me, while the storms of life
have passed, let me hide in thee. I want you to sing that song
closing this morning. Jesus, lover of my soul, let
me to thy bosom fly. While the winter storm is howling,
I'm going to find a refuge in my Lord, trust in Him. I sing
that song, brother. Brother Paul, if you'll come
and lead us, we'll...