will be in the book of Titus.
If you would like to find our text, it's in Titus chapter one. Titus chapter one. Paul is writing to Titus and
he calls him his son in the faith, the same as he did Timothy. Paul
had left Titus in Crete, as we read earlier, to be the pastor
there, to be the chief bishop, is what he tells us later on,
which means pastor. And we find in the first chapter,
the purpose of him in being the pastor was to set in order all
things that are wanting. We find in this chapter and throughout
that there's some issues with men and women that are professing
to be believers, and yet they deny the Lord by adding to or
taking away from the finished work, or saying, yeah, we're
believers, but have no need of worship, or there's very different
examples that could be given by what's described here. But
he's telling him to preach the gospel. ordained bishops throughout
the city. And the Lord had a church. And it's interesting because
in Crete, it was mentioned that there's some that are unruly
and vain talkers, and they're called liars and different things.
And Paul said, well, that's a good report, but rebuke them sharply. And in doing so, he was telling
him to make certain that you're declaring Christ very clearly. if they're doing vain babblings
and things like that, that doesn't, if they're searching out theology,
but it's not leading to Christ, it's useless. And this is what
he's explaining to Titus. He said, preach the word, the
same as he told Timothy, preach the word, Timothy, be instant
in season, out of season, reprove, rebuke, and exhort. How do we
reprove rebuke and exhort. We are I'm a dying man preaching
to dying men and women. We are I'm a sinner preaching
to other centers about the Savior. That's how we reprove, rebuke
and exhort. We the gospel, it clearly corrects everything that
needs to be corrected, doesn't it? He warns Titus of these false believers
that profess they know God, but in works denying Him. And very
simply, it's just Christ plus or minus something. Brethren,
we have one job to do, don't we? Truly, when it comes to the
gospel, preach the Lord Jesus Christ alone. Don't add one thing
to Him. Don't take away one thing from
Him. Preach Him clearly and simply. The Lord does the work. He sifts
the wheat. He removes the tears. If we ever
see a situation that may arise that hasn't yet, but if it does
where it's like, well, I'm this individual that's been coming,
they, they kind of smell funny. They're causing some problems.
Well, the moment we try to take a tear and rip it up or think
that we're doing it, we'll tear the wheat up with the, with the
tears, won't we? No, the Lord does the work. Look
to him, preach him. That's what our job is. Preach
Christ. The Lord tends to his church. Aren't you glad he keeps
his people and he keeps his church? If the Lord's in something, he
proves it, doesn't he? He brings it all the way through. He keeps us. If he is in us,
he keeps us by his own power. So that's the introduction to
Titus and what's being done here. And I want to focus on the first
four verses of this chapter of this hour and seeing what the
Lord tells us in some precious promises that he says. So let's
read that together again. Paul, a servant of God and apostle
of Jesus Christ, according to 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. I've titled
this message, God That Cannot Lie. In hope of eternal life,
which God that cannot lie promised before the world began, but hath
in due times manifested his word through preaching, which is committed
unto me according to the commandment of God our Savior. to Titus,
my own son, after the common faith, grace, mercy, and peace
from God, the Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior. This hour, I hope to, hope the
Lord encourages us on us looking at the promise of the Lord. And
it's not just a promise that's not going to come to pass. Understand,
he just told us God cannot lie. Everything that we believe in,
Regarding our Lord, everything that we hope in, everything that
we cling to revolves around the absoluteness of our great God
and Savior, His absoluteness. He cannot lie. He cannot change. He cannot be
changed. Now, there's no greater comfort
to the believer than to come to the realization that God cannot
lie. So everything that he promised, everything that he said he would
do, he has done. Everything he says is going to
happen is going to happen. There's a lot of comfort in that,
isn't there? It can't be altered. It can't be changed. Now, as
being a daddy, and this is something to mention, the privilege that
we have in calling him Abba Father. This shows us the ownership that
he has of his purchased possession, his people being his children.
And how do you tend to your children? Were you being evil, know how
to give good gifts unto your kids? How much your children,
how much more should your heavenly father given to you? And so the
idea here is that the Lord is our father. We get to call him
that by the right of that Christ has bought by his own blood. Well, being a father, myself,
a daddy, I tried to set forth something very important that
I feel like most parents do to make certain they honor their
word. I wanted my children to know from the very beginning
if I said something, it needed to be done, or if I promised
something, I was committed to doing that for them. So one time
I may have said, we're going to do this, and the child does
not forget that promise, do they? If I say to my daughter, we're
going to go to Disney World, what's going to happen? Daddy,
when are we going to Disney World? Daddy, when are we going to Disney?
And there's an expectation there, isn't there, of your child. An
expectation for you and for me to honor our word to our children,
isn't there? That's how our children look
at us. Our word is our bond. Our word is our promise to our
children. I don't doubt today that that's
lost in a lot of ways in houses, but may the Lord give us the
grace to honor our word to our family, our children, keep our
word. That's a good prayer to pray. Lord, keep me, I'm not
faithful, Lord, but cause me to be found faithful unto you
and leading my family unto the Lord. But our children look to
us to keep our promises and we do the same with our heavenly
father, don't we? We look to him knowing that we're powerless.
How oftentimes are our children fearful, afraid? They need the
protection of their parent and the parent's the one that has
the power to do so, but the child's powerless. Things are so much
bigger to the child than what is to an adult. We see life different,
don't we? We're stronger than we were when
we were children. No longer are we afraid of a
big, uh, a bigger man, maybe that's not entirely true, but
you understand what I'm saying? A child sees an adult, and all adults
are huge to that child, and so they're intimidating. And you
become an adult, and our attitude changes towards that. We can
take care of ourselves, so to speak. A child can't take care
of themselves, can they? We wouldn't let our child out
on the corner of some places for them to tend to that they
can't tend to themselves. They need to be protected, don't
they? They need to be tended to. They need to be taken care
of. And that's what our Lord does. But he didn't just... He
didn't just start doing it, that's what he's always done from before
the beginning of the world. This is what Paul is talking
about here, that we have hope of eternal life promised by God
who cannot lie before time ever began. That's what he's talking
about here. The need that we have, we didn't even know we
had a need. A baby doesn't realize it has a need, it just is needy.
You and I, if we're found babes in the Lord Jesus Christ, we
don't realize we have a need, we're just needy of Him. And
over time, He reveals that He is that one thing needful, doesn't
He? He reveals that to us. We have to have Him. I've got
to have the Lord Jesus Christ. Everything that we hope in, it's
not based upon our promises, but it's His promise. Everything
that we cling to is not based upon what we have done, but what
he has done for us. It's not about us at all. It's
about him and his finished work. That's our hope. That's the rest
that we have in him being the omnipotent, all powerful God,
having promised us good, according to the finished work of Christ,
promising his people good. In my best intentions of keeping
my promises, I can still fail. Even if I keep my promise to
take my children to Disney World, and we've been there, done that,
we're not going back, probably. But if I did promise them, I'd
have to keep my word. But even if I kept my word in
taking them, I still only had the intention of taking them
there. And I could have been stopped
by some means, some way, some purpose, the Lord's purpose.
I can have the best intentions to keep my promises, but I can
still fail. God can't lie. God can't lie. What rest there is in knowing
if he promised it, it's going to happen. Believe that. He said,
I can't lie. I am the same yesterday, today
and forever. I change not. That's the reason
you sons of Jacob are not consumed. That's the reason the Lord's
people are not consumed. His compassions are never ending. His mercy endureth forever. He can't lie. He can't change. Boy, there's times whenever I've
had the best intentions as a dad. Yeah, we're going to go here.
We're going to do that. And then something happens. And it's always
brought up, isn't it? Well, dad, you said we were going
to do that. Maybe I'm too tired by the time it comes. You promised
you'd read me a book before I went to bed. I can't even hold my
eyes open right now. I can't read a book. You push through it,
don't you? You try to do it. You try to honor that promise.
And maybe sometimes I'm dozing reading the book, and I'm trying
to honor my word. The Lord delights in honoring his word. It's not
a burden unto him like it is to you and I. He delights in
showing mercy to his people. He delights in it. He can't lie.
He can't lie. It's for his glory and for his
honor. God's word cannot be changed.
Whatever he has spoken will come to pass. Whatever he has purposed
will take place. Whatever he promised will happen.
It already has happened. but it's going to come to pass,
isn't it? Isaiah 43 tells us, the Lord speaking, he says, yea,
before the day was, I am. Before the day was, I am. And there is none that can deliver
out of my hand. I will work, and who shall let
it? Who's gonna prevent him working?
He is unchangeable. His purpose is unchangeable.
All things are ordered and sure because he is the one that's
ordained it. He is the only constant. You know, we don't have any consistency
in our life very much, do we? I mean, really. I can have the
intention of getting in my car and driving. You know, we had
someone in our household had an accident just last week. She
didn't have the intention of doing that. She didn't wake up and
say, I'm going to do this. No, she wanted to get from point
A to point B safely, right? Well, we have intentions. But we're not able to be consistent
with those intentions, are we? Sometimes things happen, not
with God, not with our Lord. Something new don't just pop
up that was a disadvantage or a problem or oops. There's nothing like that with
God. He's ordained everything. He
is the only constant. I was thinking about the world
and even outer space. Everything's changing. Everything's
decaying. There's nothing constant. Now,
I understand that there's 24 hours in a day, but you understand
what I'm saying. There's nothing constant but
God. He is constant. He is consistent. He is 100% all the time. He alone
is unwavering. unchangeable, unmovable, he is
unconstrainable and unrestrainable. Because of that, not one of his
attributes ever contradict one or the other. They're in perfect
harmony, perfect harmony unto his holiness, unto his sovereignty. If he is sovereign in judgment,
he must be sovereign in grace as well. If he is sovereign in
justice being executed, then he must be sovereign in mercy
as well. If he is sovereign with perfect
hatred, he must be sovereign with perfect love as well. Every
attribute that he has is with perfection. It's consistent because
of it being his. He's all powerful. He's all powerful,
and the scripture tells us that he will not acquit the guilty. In the book of Nahum, it says,
the Lord is slow to anger. The Lord is slow to anger and
great in power. He will not acquit the wicked.
The Lord hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and
the clouds are the dust of his feet. The Lord will not acquit
the wicked, and he cannot lie. He cannot lie. He will not acquit
the guilty. What does that mean? That means
if you're in a court of law and the judge has determined that
you are guilty, being acquitted means they strike that guilt
away and you are declared justified. You're declared as innocent at
that point. Now you were guilty to begin
with. The Lord cannot do that. He cannot
acquit the guilty. Justice must be executed. Judgment
must come to pass. He tells us very clearly, the
soul that sins shall surely die. The soul that sins shall surely
die. But he also says he delights
in showing mercy unto his people. Micah chapter 7 says, But if
mercy is to be obtained, then justice must be satisfied first,
because of his character. Because of who he is. He said,
I will not acquit the wicked. That means that we can't be acquitted. We must be justified. What does
that mean? That doesn't mean just as if
I had never sinned, that's being acquitted. It means never have
sinned one time, because if the Lord sees sin upon my soul, as
he just mentioned here, the soul that sinneth shall surely die. If he sees that sin upon me,
death is the consequence. As a matter of fact, if he sees
one sin, one sin, the penalty's death. God cannot lie. Job 25 four, how then can a man
be justified with God? Everything I've said thus far
is true. So how then can a man be justified with God? Or how
can he that is clean, how can he be clean that is born of a
woman? Especially whenever Paul echoes this by saying, they that
are in the flesh cannot please God. They that are in the flesh
cannot please God. We cannot be justified of our
own doing. We cannot be justified by the
deeds of our flesh. We cannot be justified by us
at all. We must die, and there's no other
option. There's no other option. If left
to ourself, we will die. God cannot lie. God's law says
guilty. God's law demands justice. God's
law demands eternal death, eternal death. God's righteous judgment
requires full payment for every sin that you and I have ever
committed. God's righteous judgment demands just payment for every
sin that you and I have ever committed. And he cannot lie.
He cannot lie. There is no hope in ourselves
to escape this judgment. But I have good news. I have
good news. He cannot lie. That's the good
news also. He cannot lie. He says in Ezekiel
16, I will. Now we've spent some time on
this on Sunday and I just, when the Lord, I've preached a message,
I will and you shall, but when the Lord makes it afresh again,
whenever the Lord says I will, if he cannot lie, who's gonna
stop him? He can't lie, I will. He says,
I will establish my covenant with you. I will establish my
covenant with thee and thou shalt know that I am the Lord. I'm going to establish my covenant
with you and you're going to know that I am the Lord, that
I am God. And he can't lie. He can't lie. And here's the
reason why, that thou mayest remember and be confounded, that
you never open your mouth anymore because of your shame. And you
know why? Because I am pacified towards
thee. I am pleased towards thee. I have been, that's the word
he uses, pacified towards thee. For all that thou hast done,
saith the Lord, I've been pacified. Not by works of righteousness,
which we have done. Not according to what we have
thought. Not according to what we have said. We can lie. But
the Lord Jesus Christ can't lie. Why? He's God. He's God. I will establish my covenant
with thee. You'll know that I'm the Lord and you won't be confounded. That you never open your mouth
again, that you, the other word that's used there is blush. You
don't have to blush anymore because of your sin. Why? The Lord's
been pacified. This is his promise towards his
people and he can't lie. He cannot lie. God chose to redeem
every single person that he loves. In order for us to be saved from
the sin that we are, from the sin that the law demands judgment
and justice for, God entered into a covenant by his sovereign
grace. It's called the everlasting covenant.
When he spoke to Abraham, he said, I will establish the everlasting
covenant. That means it never had a beginning
and it never had an end. That means Abraham would just
let in on the covenant. Just as you and I, as the Lord's
people, we're brought to the knowledge of this covenant. This
covenant was designed by his will, by his determinant counsel.
All that he chose, all that he chose would never perish, but
have everlasting life. Is that not what the scripture
says? For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten
son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but
have everlasting life. This is part of the covenant
of grace, isn't it? This is the Lord's doing. This was implemented because
of his everlasting love. He says, I love thee with an
everlasting love. That's the point about his attributes, isn't
it? Everything is eternal. Everything is everlasting. Everything
is absolute. Everything is sovereign about
our God. And he cannot lie. He cannot lie. The Lord said,
my sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. And I give unto them eternal
life. He gave his sheep eternal life. God did that. And if he
said it, he cannot lie. He gave his sheep everlasting
life. And the good news after that, you know what he says?
They shall never, never, never perish. Neither shall any man
pluck them from my hand. God cannot lie. His people will
never perish. The Lord said, my sheep, I give
unto them eternal life, and they will never perish. Do you know
what that means? They'll never perish. They'll never perish. How do
you know? Because God said it. Faith believes God, doesn't it? Faith
believes the Lord Jesus Christ. If he said it, it's going to
happen. Men say, well, They pretend like
believing God is presumptuous. Believing him for salvation as
we do is presumptuous. They act like salvation was an
offer to man and that nobody really knows. I remember one
time we were having a garage sale and this man walked up.
He was a Seventh Day Adventist, I believe. Yeah, but no, he was
a Jehovah Witness. That's what he was, a Jehovah
Witness. He came up and he said, We started talking about the
Bible a little bit, and he brought it up. He handed a track or something
to me, and I knew he was a Jehovah Witness, and I didn't want to
talk to him, but I couldn't run away. It was my yard sale. What
am I going to do? I can't go inside. That'd be kind of rude.
hung up on the elect of God. And I was listening I was like,
ok, well that's a word I'm familiar with. Now what do you think the
definition of that word is? And he says, well that's the
144,000 that he talks about in Revelation. And the man is absolutely
right. But it's not a number that can be numbered. It's just
a number that's given. It's divisible by 12 which is
every nation, tribe, and representing the 12 tribes of Israel. Every
tongue. We know all this. But I said, how do you know who's
gonna go to heaven or not? And he said to me, God doesn't
even know. That's what he told me. I said,
me and you don't have the same God. Not only does my God know
who's gonna be there, he purposed them to be there before the world
began. He can't lie. He said, I'm going
to save my people from their sin. I'm going to call his name
Jesus. He shall save his people from
their sin. God promised that. He promised that. It's not presumptuous
to put every bit of your hope and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ
as your only hope of salvation. It's unbelief not to. It's not
presumptuous that he put away the sin of his people. Faith
knows that he put away the sin of his people. We don't presume,
we know. Paul said, I'm threatened these
things that you know. Now we're just acknowledging it.
Acknowledging what he said. It's true, isn't it? It's not
presumptuous to put all our hope and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ
alone. It's unbelief not to. God says it, and that settles
it. People used to say in religion,
God said it, I believed it, and that settles it. That's not true.
Whether you and I believe it or not doesn't settle anything.
God said it, that settles it. You can put a period at the end
of that. God said it, that's the end of it. It's over. He
cannot lie. He cannot lie. Think God in time,
he makes his people believe it. Take him at his word. used to
it would be a man's word meant something. Men would say, I'll
be there for you. I'll do this. You have my word.
They would shake hands. And that's kind of went away,
hasn't it, in our society. And even then, it could be stopped
or prevented. It wasn't a guarantee, but it
meant a lot more back then than it does now. But when the Lord
entered into this covenant of grace, that covenant was not
between you and I and Him. It was between the Father, the
Son, and the Holy Spirit, and it was a guarantee that whomsoever
was in that Lamb's Book of Life, in that covenant of grace, will
be saved from their sin. They struck hands together, the
Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. They entered into a covenant,
and it could not be changed. It could not be prevented. It
could not be thwarted in any way. It's unalterable because
of its origin. It's God's covenant. You and
I are just the benefactors of it, all by grace. All by grace. Listen to what he says in Isaiah
43. We read this on Sunday, but it was needful to hear it again. But now thus saith the Lord that
created thee. He's the first cause. He created Jacob. He says,
Oh, Jacob. He that formed thee, O Israel,
fear not, for I have redeemed thee. I have called thee by thy
name, thou art mine. What came first, the calling
or the redeeming? The redeeming did. I redeemed
you first, then I called you. You're mine, that's why. That's
the explanation to why. And he can't lie. I have redeemed
you. And he can't lie. Does that give
you rest? If he redeemed his people, would
you believe that? And I'm his and he is mine. I've been redeemed. I believe that. It's his promise. It's his promise, your hope. His promise is my only hope.
His promise is my only hope. I have no other hope outside
of his word, outside of his covenant, outside of his work. He is my
only hope. And look what he says here again
to our hope right here in verse two, in hope of eternal life. Now that word in is better translated
for my middle margin says that. So it's for hope of eternal life. The Lord created hope. That's
what he's saying here. And this is how he did it. God
that cannot lie promised before the world began. That's how he
created hope. But hath in due times, according to his purpose,
it came to pass he manifested his word through preaching, which
is committed unto me according to the commandment of God our
Savior." Before time, God promised. God promised to redeem his people. God promised to save his people
from their sin. Christ Jesus was born in the
flesh and died according to the Lord's promise. And Christ Jesus
put away every sin that he bore upon the cross of Calvary. They're
gone according to the promise of God. According to his promise,
he resurrected his son being pleased with him. And now his
son is seated as victorious in being successful as the redeemer
of his people seated at the right hand of God, according to his
promise. Matter of fact, the Lord said, sit here until I make
thy enemies thy footstool. That tells us the Lord's going
to put everything under the Lord's feet and already has. We're just
waiting for it to come to pass according to his promise. According
to his promise, you and I will hear the good news of the gospel
in time if we are his, and we will believe him as everything
and all our hope in salvation. He promised he would come back
and get us. He promised that he would never leave us nor forsake
us. He promised these things. And you know, the good news of
the gospel is this, he cannot lie. He promised. He is the only
one capable of doing everything that he promised. He is the only
one sufficient to put away the sin of his people, and he did.
He's the only one that could actually promise everything that
he promised and do it. You and I are incapable, we're
impotent, we're inadequate, but not him. He's all-powerful, he's
all-knowing, and he saved his people from their sin. But what about our requirement?
What about our requirement? I mentioned this earlier and
I intended to go back to it right now. But what about the requirement,
I said, that the soul that sinned must die? Let's answer that together. Look with me, it's 1 Peter, 1
Peter chapter two. The Lord said the soul that sinned
must die, and God cannot lie. 1 Peter two, look at verse 21. For even hereunto were ye called,
because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example,
that ye should follow his steps, who did not sin, neither was
guile found in his mouth, who when he was reviled, reviled
not again. When he suffered, he threatened
not, but committed himself. to him that judgeth righteously,
who his own self bear our sins in his own body on the tree,
that we, being dead to sin, should live unto righteousness by whose
stripes ye are healed. For ye were as sheep gone astray,
but are now returned unto the shepherd and bishop of your souls. Our Lord took Our sin and owned
those sin. And in his death, those sins
were put away. And the law is now we are seen
as dead unto the law and dead unto sin. We have been justified
by his sacrifice. Therein it is viewed by God that
we have never sinned one time. That's how miraculous salvation
is for the Lord's people. He doesn't see us as we've sinned
and then he put it away and now they're gone. We've never sinned.
The Lord Jesus Christ owned them as his own and put them away
by the successful sacrifice of himself. By his own blood, he
purged our sin. He put them away. So therefore,
God is not a liar. He's just. and the justifier
of his people. He's never lied one time. He
cannot lie. He cannot lie. And if God says
you're justified, well, what hope? If I'm justified before
him and he cannot lie, you know what that means? I'm really justified.
If I've been made the righteousness of God and Jesus Christ and he
cannot lie, do you know what that means? I've really been
made the righteousness of Jesus Christ. I don't see it, but I
believe it because he said it. He said it. The Lord Jesus said,
I'll take your sin and you shall be made the righteousness of
God in me. Because of him putting away the sin of his people, we've
died to that sin. Punishment has been executed. What the law demanded, the Lord
fulfilled. The justice that was necessary
for our salvation has been satisfied. Never to be exacted again, never
to be put into effect again, never to be executed again. The
Lord satisfied everything the father demanded. When our Lord
was judged, He was judged in our place. He owned the penalty
of our sin and thereby took our place on the cross of Calvary.
What did He just say a few moments ago? I have redeemed you. I have bought you. You are mine. You are mine. I've redeemed you. That word
redeemed is He's the only one that had the right to do that,
to bring us back to perfect oneness and unity with God. He said,
I've done this and I cannot lie. Everything he required, he fulfilled
in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. What did the Lord say
about his son? This is my beloved son in whom
I am well pleased. And he cannot lie. He's well
pleased with his son. What about everyone that's in
his son? If you're in his son, he sees the blood. And he said,
when I see the blood, I will pass by you. And he cannot lie. He cannot lie. He said, I will
pass by you. The only way we can have eternal life is to be
found in the Lord Jesus Christ. And the only way that we can
be in the Lord Jesus Christ is if he put us there. Aren't you
glad we can't get in and out? There's religions, even Baptist
religions, that believe you can be saved one minute and be lost
the next, and it's all based upon your performance. Aren't
you glad that our salvation's entirely based upon the performance
of the Lord Jesus Christ? Our salvation is entirely based
upon His work alone, not ours. Not ours, not in any way, shape
or form does it hinge upon us. Does it bear a burden upon us?
He bore the burden himself, every single bit of it. And he hath
purged his people's sin, he said. He cannot lie. What was his final
words on the cross of Calvary is our assurance, our eternal
guarantee that everything required, he successfully did. It is finished. He cannot lie. He cannot lie,
it is finished. If God said it, it's true. He cannot lie. God said we're
in Christ Jesus, then we are. Then we are. He said in Ephesians
1, 4, he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the
world that we should be holy and without blame before him
in love. God's people are blameless. He
said you're blameless, but there's nothing to blame you for. I don't. It's, I don't see it, but I believe
it. I don't, but looking to myself,
we don't see that, do we? We don't examine ourself and
say, well, I don't see, I see sin ever present. And that's
how he's designed it. But in his eyes, perfectly righteous,
blameless, not one sin ever, not one sin ever have we committed
in his sight. All because he said, I will and
you shall. I will save you and you shall
be saved. I'll put away your sin and your
sin is gonna be put away. This is the God that cannot lie.
This is what he done for his people. Now, so oftentimes we
talk a lot about him doing this for his people and we rest and
hope in that. But the closing question I have
for us tonight would be, How do I know if I'm his? How do
I know if I am his sheep? How do I know if he died for
me? How do I have assurance? Don't look to yourself in any
way. Are you looking to your promises
unto him? Or are you looking to his promises
to his father? Are you looking at your work
in anything? Or are you looking to his finished
work as your only hope in salvation? Are we looking to our promises
we made? No, I can't even keep the promise
to my kids to go to Disney World. How am I going to promise anything
to God and him? How am I going to keep promises to God? And
we're looking to Christ's promise to his father and the father's
promise to the son and the spirit's promise in the Trinity, aren't
we? We're not looking to our promises to him. Am I looking
to my word? I give you my word. No. Looking to him saying, I give
you my word. Here's my beloved son, the word
of God made flesh and dwelt among us. And we bailed his glory as
the glory of the only begotten of the father, full of grace
and truth. See, He gives us faith. His people, He gives faith. His
faith. And that's what He talks about
here. We won't turn back. That's what He's talking about,
the faith of the elect. It's the Lord Jesus Christ. Faith unto faith,
the scripture tells us. It's His faith that looks to
Him. But we own it as ours. He gives a gift of faith. It's
the gift of God to His people. He gives his faith to believe
his word, to trust his promises alone. Faith believes God. Faith trusts his promise alone.
Faith really, really believes him. So many times, our flesh,
well, all the time, our flesh, it's impossible for our flesh
to believe God. Our flesh, by nature, wants to
do things for itself, by itself, for itself. Faith really believes
God in everything. Faith really, truly believes
Him. When He said He did it all, faith
says, truth, Lord, You did it all. There is not one thing left
for the flesh to do. Do you believe that? There's
not one thing required for you or I to do in salvation that
we might be saved. Not one thing God requires. Do
you believe that? Do you believe that Christ Jesus
successfully accomplished everything given to him of the Father on
the cross of Calvary, all by the sacrifice of himself, all
by his work, all by his blood alone? Do you believe that? Do
you believe every person that he died for on the cross was
successfully redeemed? Not an offering to man, but an
offering to God, and the Father was pleased with him. Do you
believe that? Then you're a believer. Then
you're a believer of the Lord Jesus Christ. If you find yourself
completely and utterly hoping in what he has done, looking
to the Lord Jesus Christ as the only thing you have confidence
in, the only thing that you hope in, you're a believer. You're
a believer, you're a sheep. Believing the Lord Jesus Christ
is salvation according to the word of God. Believing the Lord
Jesus Christ is salvation according to the word of God. He's the
doer of it. He cannot lie. He cannot lie. If you believe
Christ is all by faith, you're a sheep. See, taking God at his
word is not presumptuous. It's the gift of God by faith
to his people. We take God at his word. We believe
God, don't we? We take him. It's not presumptuous
to take God at his word. It's unbelief not to. It's unbelief
not to. You will never read anyone, you'll
never read in this book of anyone that came to Christ begging for
mercy, begging for grace to the Lord Jesus Christ. And he cast
them aside and said, no, I will not have mercy on you. I will
not have grace on you. But to everyone that came to
him asking him. He gave mercy and he gave grace. And you know
what? The call goes out to you and I, by the Lord himself, he
said, ask, and it shall be given unto you. And he cannot lie.
Seek and you shall find. And he cannot lie. Knock. and
it shall be open unto you. For everyone that asketh, receiveth,
and him that seeketh, findeth, and him that knocketh, it will
be open. What are we asking for? What are we seeking for? What
door are we hoping he opens to the Lord Jesus Christ alone?
That's who we need. That's who we want because he
is all. He is all. Ask and you shall receive. Another
glorious promise the Lord said, come unto me. All you that are
labored and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. What
are we labored and heavy laden from? We see our sin. We see
our sin and we see our need and our convoluted nature to try
to fix it. And we're overburdened from that.
He says, come to me. Cast your weight upon me. Cast
your burden on the Lord. He said, for my yoke is easy
and my burden is light. Why? Well, a yoke represents
two oxen that are fastened together to do a job, to work. But the
work's already finished. There's nothing to be done for
the Lord's people. His yoke is easy. His burden is light. He promised he would give his
people rest. Come to him. Come to the Lord
Jesus Christ. He'll give you rest. He promised
and he cannot lie. Rest, believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. Thou shalt be saved. God said
that and he cannot lie. We have hope of eternal life.
God promised this before time ever began. And the glorious,
one of the most glorious things about our Lord is he cannot lie.
He cannot lie. He promised it and he cannot
lie.