The body returns to the earth,
the scripture says, the soul, the person, the God who gave
it. When our Lord condemned the covetousness of the young man,
he said, tonight, your soul will be required of you. The very
first time that the word soul is mentioned in the Bible gives
us the key. Genesis chapter 2. I'll tell
you about the law of first mention, and it's very important. But
here in Genesis 2 verse 7, And the Lord God formed man out of
the dust of the ground. There he is, made, created, the
man's body. But he's got no life. That's
what happens when we die. We leave this body. The body's
still here, but we're gone. The person's gone. Now look at
it. The Lord God formed man out of
the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath
of life and man became, right then, a living soul. Sometimes I write to people and
I put a verse of scripture down on the bottom of the page. I
often use this scripture over here in 3 John, 3 John chapter
1. Chapter 1 is just one chapter
and a third, John, verses 1 and 2. When I write to a true believer,
a person I know to be one who knows God, whose soul is prospering
in grace and faith, I use this. The elder, that's John, unto
the well-beloved Gaius, he's writing to his friend Gaius,
whom I love in the truth. I wish, now this is not God speaking
to us, that he wishes us to be in health and wealth and prosper.
This is John speaking to a friend. That which involves us and God
is the prosperity and good health of our souls, of our persons.
But the body is important to us. So John says, Beloved, I
wish above all things that you may prosper and be in health
as your soul prospers. I want you to know God and love
God, which you do. But I'd like for your body to
be in good health, and I'd like for you to be in prosperity. But if you can't be in good health
and prosperity in body, above all things, I want your soul
to be in good health. to know God, because that's who
you are. This body is not me. It's the house in which I live
temporarily, and this body will perish. It's dying now. It's
perishing now. It's getting weaker and weaker.
But my soul is me. Now, when Adam fell, when he
sinned, it wasn't his body that died. When Adam fell, God said
in the day you eat the forbidden fruit, you'll die. But Adam lived
800 years after that, his body did. But his soul died, spirit. His relationship with God, spiritual
life left him. He had a living, natural soul,
but a spiritual life left him. That's what Paul says in Romans
5. If you turn to Romans 5, it tells
us what happened to us in Adam. See, when Adam walked with God,
Adam knew no sin. He had no sin. His soul didn't
need saving. But when he sinned, he became
a condemned soul, a lost soul, a soul without spiritual life,
a soul with natural life but no spiritual life. And here in
Romans 5 verse 12, Paul says, Wherefore, as by one man sin
entered this world, by Adam. And what entered with it? Death
by sin. Death to the trees and to the plants, and death to man,
death to the animals, death. Death came by sin. And so death
passed upon all men for all sin. We died in Adam. We lost spiritual
life. We lost our relationship with
God. Our Lord Jesus said, I'm the
way, the truth, and the life. And that's the three things Adam
lost. He lost the truth. He believed the lie. He believed
Satan's lies. And he lost life, spiritual life,
and then he lost the way to God. God put him out, out of the garden,
out of his presence. And Christ said, now I'm the
way back to God, and I'm the truth of God, and I'm the life
of God. And that's what our souls need. They need to be saved.
That's what we're talking about in this message tonight, and
that's what he's talking about in verse 9. Receiving the end
of your faith, the salvation of your soul. salvation of your
person, your salvation. Again and again the scripture
declares in Jeremiah, in Ezekiel, the soul that sinneth shall die.
And Adam sinned, and in him we sinned, and we spiritually died. We've been separated from God.
Your sins have separated you and your God. You've lost the
truth of God. You've lost the life of God.
You've lost the way to God. You're a condemned soul, a lost
soul. And my interest primarily is not in the well-being or preservation
of my body. I'm like John writing to Gaius.
I'd like for my body to be in health and prosper. But my body's
dying. It's got to go back to the dust.
But this is what I want. I want the salvation of my soul.
And now that's what we're dealing with here tonight. Receiving
the end of your faith. It's the restoration. of your
soul. He restored my soul. It's the
salvation of your soul. It's spiritual life coming back
to your soul. That's what our Lord told Nicodemus,
you've got to be born again. You see, you're born the first
time, that which is born of the flesh is flesh. But you've got
to be born again. Spiritual life has got to come
back. See, there are several forms of life. There's mineral
life. That's the reason that oil burns. It's because it's got energy
and life. There's mineral life. And there's plant life. The plants
grow. They live. And there's animal
life. And animal life is far above plant life. But then there's
human life. It's far above plant life. It's
far above animal life. There's animal life above plant
life. There's life all about it. But then there's spiritual
life. It's divine life. It's the life
of God. And see, when God made Adam and
breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, he lived naturally,
physically, and he lived spiritually. He was naked and didn't even
know it. He'd never lied, he'd never sinned, he'd never had
a wicked thought. He's perfect. God made man upright,
but he sought out inventions. He was perfect. He didn't know
he was naked. He had no fear, he had no guilt,
he had no shame, he had no understanding at all of sin. He walked with
God. And the Lord told him, of all the trees of the garden,
you're welcome to them. But the tree in the midst of
the garden, don't touch it, don't eat it, or you die. And Adam's
wife, Eve, she was deceived in this thing. appeared to them and tempted
her, and Adam took the fruit, and immediately something happened.
Immediately. What did Adam try to do? He got
some leaves and tried to cover his nakedness. What's happened to this man?
He doesn't know what nakedness is. He does now. He's lost divine
life. He's lost spiritual life. He's
lost God. And all he is is a carnal, natural
man with physical life. And then he tried to hide from
God. He's never had any reason to hide. He's never feared God.
He's walked with God and talked with God. Now he runs over there
behind the bushes. And now he's stupid. How can
you hide from God behind the bushes? Where could you go to
get away from God? But he's not thinking. Something's
happened to this fellow. He's got life, but it's natural
life. God says, where are you? And
he said, I heard you coming and I hid myself. Why'd you hide
yourself? I'm naked. How'd you know he
was naked? The woman gave me the... Now he's mad at her. He
thought she was the greatest thing in the world until he,
until this happened. And he tried to blame her for
his fault. He was willing for God to punish
her and let him go free. This is, this man's wicked. This
man's like us by nature. And Peter said, really, it's
your fault. He said, God, it's your fault. If you hadn't given
me this woman, this would never have happened. You see, he's a lost soul. He's
a condemned soul. He's a lifeless soul, spiritualized. And then here, Peter comes along
and talks about the salvation out of this mess, the restoration
of our soul back into fellowship with God, back into a relationship
with God. back on good terms with God,
peace, enmity, reconciled to God. Wouldn't that be something?
Well, that's what we're talking about here, receiving the end
of your faith. All right, what is faith? We're
saved by faith. What is faith? Well, I've described
what a soul is. That's us. And we are lost souls,
condemned souls. Now, what is faith? Well, there
are not several faiths. I hear people say, you're not
the same faith I am. There are not several faiths, there is
only one faith. It says four times in the scripture, the just
shall live by faith. The just shall live by faith. The justified live by faith.
There are not several kinds of faith, there is only one. Ephesians
4 says there is one Lord, we know that. There is one body,
one body of Christ, one church. There are a whole lot of churches,
but there is one church, the church of the firstborn, whose
names are written in heaven. The church that Christ said,
I'll build, I'll build my church, and the gates of hell will not
prevail against it, this one church. And there is one hope
of your calling, one hope. What is that hope? To be like
Christ. It says, now we are sons of God,
it does not appear what we shall be, but when he shall appear,
we'll see him and be like him. And he that hath this hope in
him purifies himself. What hope? To be like Christ.
It's just one hope, to be like Christ. There's one God and Father,
is that correct? One God and Father. Well, the
same scripture that says there's one Lord, one Church, one God
and Father, one hope, says there's one faith. One faith. And let me tell you what it is.
It's the faith of Abraham. That's what it is. Now, turn
to Galatians 3. Now, I'll make good on that if you'll turn to
Galatians 3. That one faith is the faith of Abraham, the same
faith Abraham had. That's right. It says here in
Galatians 3, now listen, verse 7, now you look at it.
Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, every single blessed
one of them, the same are children of Abraham. Everyone who is of
faith is a child of Abraham. Look at verse 9. So then, they
that be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. Look at
verse 11. No man is justified by the law
in the sight of God. It is evident that the just shall
live by faith. Verse 13. Christ hath redeemed
us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us. For
it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree, that
the blessings of Abraham might come on us Gentiles through Jesus
Christ, that we might receive the promise You'll get that word,
the promise. Remember, the promise of the
Spirit through faith. Now look at the last verse in
that chapter, verse 29. And if you be Christ, if you
belong to him, you're Abraham's seed, and you're heirs according
to the promise. So one faith, and it's the faith
of Abraham, the faith he had. What was the faith he had? Turn
to Romans 4. I'm sure interested in Abraham's
faith. Because everybody that's a faith
is a son of Abraham. Romans chapter 4, and an heir
of Abraham are the promise, and there's just one big promise
under which everything is contained. Romans 4, verse 1. Well, what
shall we say? The end that Abraham our father
is pertaining to the flesh hath found. Now, if he's justified
by works, he hath whereof the glory, but not before God, because
God knows that fellow. But what does the scripture say?
Abraham believed God. Abraham believed God. And it was counted to him for
righteousness. Abraham believed God. It was counted to him for righteousness.
Romans 4, verse 3. He believed God. He didn't say
he believed in God, though he did. He didn't say he believed
there is a God. He said he believed it. He believed
his word. He believed what God said. That's faith, it's believing
God. It's not believing there is a God, even the devil knows
that. The devil knows that. When the
devil spoke to Adam and Eve, the devil said, hath not God
said? There's a God. But Abraham didn't
believe there is a God, he believed God. Go on down to verse 20 of
that same chapter 4. Chapter 4 of Romans, verse 20. Abraham staggered not at the
promise. Oh, boy, you see, there's that
word again, the promise. Abraham staggered not at the
promise of God through unbelief, strong in faith, giving glory
to God. And he was fully persuaded of
what God promised. I believe God, Abraham. He didn't
know near as much as you know about the gospel. He didn't know
near as much as you know about the Bible. He didn't have a Bible. He didn't have a Bible. It wasn't
a word written at this time. It wasn't a verse. Moses hadn't
even started Genesis. This man believed God. And he
was righteous. God counted him as righteous. He never heard a preacher, he
never saw a Bible, but he heard from God and he believed him.
With what God promised, God was able to perform. And therefore,
God imputed it. What's that word mean? Reckoned
it, judged it, committed it, counted it to him for purity,
holiness, righteousness and the restoration of his soul. God
called him my friend. He said, have you heard of Abraham,
my friend? Boy, I'd love to have that said
about me. My God says he's my friend. You
don't need anything else. But he believed God. Well, what's
the promise? Galatians 3 again. Let's see
what the promise is. Galatians 3. Abraham believed the promise,
the promise, the promise. And here in Galatians 3, now
to Abraham and his seed, now listen carefully, to Abraham
and his seed where the promise is made. He said not unto seeds
as of many, but as of one, to thy seed which is Christ. The
promise is made to Christ and through Christ and to us in Christ. Well, what is the promise? All
right, got to turn to another scripture, Acts 13. And here
it is so clearly identified by the Apostle Paul, the promise.
Acts 13. You've got to read this with
me. This is just such a blessing. Acts 13, verse 26. The Apostle Paul is speaking
at Antioch. Acts 13, verse 26. All right,
you have it? Men and brethren, children of the stock of Abraham,
whosoever among you feareth God, To you is this word of salvation
sent, the salvation of your souls. For those that dwelt at Jerusalem
and their rulers, because they didn't know him, they knew not
through him not, knew Christ not, nor yet the voices of the
prophets that are read every day, every Sabbath day, they
fulfilled all of these prophecies in the Old Testament concerning
Christ. And though they found no cause
of death in him, they desired They desired a pilot that he
should be slain. And when they had fulfilled all
that was written of Christ, they took him down from the cross,
laid him in a sepulchre. But God raised him from the dead.
And he was seen many days of them which came up with him from
Galilee to Jerusalem, his apostles, who are his witnesses to the
people. And we, apostles, declare unto you good news, glad tidings,
how that the promise which was made unto the fathers, Abraham,
Moses, Jacob, that promise made to the fathers, God hath fulfilled
that same promise unto us, their children, in that he raised up
Jesus Christ again, as it is also written in the 2nd Psalm,
Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. And it is concerning
that he raised him up from the dead, now no more to return to
corruption. He said on this wise, I'll give
you the sure mercies of David in Christ." That's the promise.
Read on. Now, he's not talking about David
here, because, well, he said in another psalm, I shall not
suffer thy holy one to see corruption. But David, after he'd served
his generation by the will of God, he died, fell asleep, was
laid into his father's, and he saw corruption. But he, the promise,
Christ Jesus, the Lamb of God, Christ Jesus, the God-man, whom
God raised again, saw no corruption. He had no sin. So be it known
unto you, therefore, men and brethren, that through this man,
Jesus Christ, is preached to you the forgiveness of sin. And by him who is the promise,
all who believe, all who have faith, all who believe God, not
all who run up and down the aisle and carry on and get water sprinkled
on them and do all this thing you're supposed to do today,
you know, to be religious, just believe. And yes. Believe God. Believe God. All who believe
are justified, just as if you'd never seen, from all things,
right and down, past, present and future, all seen, from which
you could never be justified by the law of Moses. Now beware,
beware therefore, lest that come upon you which is spoken of the
prophets. Behold, you despisers of wonder and perish. I work
the work in your days, the work which you and no wiser believe,
though a man declares it to you." There's some people like that.
I've declared it. God made man, living self. He
died. He condemned. He lost God. He's out yonder somewhere, lost.
under condemnation and judgment. But there's salvation. God promised
it way back then. Promised it to the prophets.
They wrote about the promise. They believed the promise. Abraham
believed the promise. And there Paul tells these folks
what the promise is. It's Christ. It's life in Christ.
Be it known to you, brethren, that through this man there is
none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must
be saved. None other name. I'm the way, the truth, the life,"
he said, no man comes to the Father but by me. But you come
by believing. Abraham believed. Let's go back
to Romans 4 and pick up where I left off. Romans 4, verse 20, remember
we read this? Abraham, he's the father of faith. Our faith has got to be like
his. I'm not talking about the strength
of your faith, I'm talking about the object of your faith. He
staggered not at that promise of God through unbelief, but
he was strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully
persuaded of what God had promised. What did God promise? God promised
the God-man that God would come to earth in human flesh. And
he would do for us what we couldn't do for ourselves, keep the law,
obey God, work out a perfect righteousness, take our sins,
go to the cross, pay for them, be buried, escape, go, rise from
the dead, ascend to glory, stand in the presence of God and intercede
for us as a high priest with his own blood. That's the promise
of Christ. What God said he'd do, he's able
to perform. Therefore it was charged to him
for righteousness. Now then, what's that got to
do with me? Now, let's read the next verse. Now, this wasn't
written for Abraham's sake alone, that righteousness was charged
to him. Now listen, but for us also, to whom that same righteousness
shall be imputed. I can be a friend of God. It
can be said about me I'm a friend of God. I can be holy, I can
be righteous, I can be forgiven, I can be justified, I can be
sanctified. It's for us also if we join the
Church, if we work hard for Jesus, if
we tire of our income, if we keep a Sabbath, if we apologize
for all things. I don't say that here. It says
it will be imputed if I believe on him, in God, if I believe
God, who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered
by our fences and raised by justification. Brother, I can do that if I believe
God. Seventy-four years old, been
preaching here fifty years now, and I believe it more strongly
now than I did when I started. Message hadn't changed. Not one
iota, not one atom. The same message. Believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ and you'll be saved. Now this is faith. This is faith. And you see the
testimonies of those who believe. Listen to Peter. Christ said
one day, whom do you say that I am? And Peter said, you're
the Christ, the Son of the living God. And our Lord said, blessed
are you. On that rock, I'll build my church.
That's the faith on which my church is built. In John chapter 6, our Lord preached,
and some of these folks said, that's a hard saying. Who can
hear it? He said, I'm the bread of life.
I'm the water of life. They said, that's a hard saying.
Who can hear it? Who can't hear it? So they left. And our Lord turned to the disciples
and said, would you also go away? And one of them said, Lord, listen
to this testimony. To whom shall we go? We believe
and assure you that you're the Christ, the Son of the living
God. Blessed are your ears, they hear,
your eyes they see." There was a eunuch that heard the gospel
from Philip. And when he heard the gospel
from Philip, he said, I want to be baptized. I want to be
baptized. I want to make a confession.
And Philip said, well, you may. If you believe with all your
heart, you may. That's the only thing that Philip
used to hedge baptism around with, if you believe. Baptisms
for believers, confessions for believers. He said, I believe
that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And Philip baptized him. Paul said this, I know whom I
have believed, and I am persuaded that he's able to keep I committed
to him. I know whom I have believed.
I read about him all the way through the book. It's Christ.
And I believe. And I believe he's able. He's
able to keep. He's able to perform. He's able
to save. He's able to save to the uttermost
them that come to God by him. He's able Jude says to keep us
from falling. He's able to present us faultless
before his glory with exceeding joy. And he's able to raise our
vile bodies and make them like his holy body. I believe he's
able to keep that which I've committed to him. I've committed
it to Christ. Now back to my text. Here's the summary. Here's the
conclusion. That verse 9, receiving the end
of your faith, the end of your faith. What does that mean, the
word end? Well, you know, I've got the
time to do it. Some of you don't have the time,
I guess. But if you look up these words in the Greek and Hebrew
lexicon, This word, in, receiving the end of your faith, the salvation
of your soul, this word, in, has several meanings. It means to set out as a definite
goal. The goal of faith is the salvation
of your soul. It means the point aimed at.
The point aimed at of faith is the salvation of your soul. It
means the conclusion of the act or the state. It's the conclusion.
That's what faith's all about. It's the conclusion of it. salvation
of my soul. That's what faith's all about.
And last of all, it's the ultimate purpose for which God gave it,
to save my soul. For by grace are you saved through
faith, that not of yourselves. It's the gift of God, not of
works, lest any man should boast. So if you believe him, your soul
is saved. Let's read Romans 3. Romans 3,
just a few verses here. If we believe, if we believe. Abraham believed God, counted
to him for righteousness, one written for his sake alone, but
for us also, to whom it shall be imputed if we believe. Let's read Romans 3.25. Let's go back to verse 23 and
see who we are talking about here. Verse 23 of Romans 3 says,
For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, being
justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is
in Christ Jesus, whom God has set forth. He set him forth in
promise, he set him forth in picture, he set him forth in
prophecy, he set him forth in person one day, to be a propitiation
through faith in his blood. Through what? Faith in his blood.
To declare God's righteousness, even for the remission of sins
of the past, that's the Old Testament saints, their sins, before the
cross, through the forbearance of God. To declare, I say, at
this time, God's holiness, that he might be just, and the justifier
of him that what? Believes in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Where is boasting then? What do I have to boast about?
I'm saved, my soul is saved. I have righteousness. I'm justified
before God. What have I got to boast about?
My glory is in Him, not in myself. I didn't do it. He did it by
His grace. Well, is boasting then excluded by what law of
works? No. It's by the law of faith. Faith excludes boasting. Faith
gives God the glory and the praise. Now listen to the next verse.
Therefore, Paul says, we conclude. that a man is justified before
God by faith without the deeds of the law. Now, as I preached
this morning on television, when a man is justified, that faith
produces words. It produces love. It produces
humility. It produces generosity. It produces
godliness. But that's not how we're saved.
We're saved by faith. Abraham believed God. I believe
God. All who are redeemed believe
God. Believe His Word. But when we are redeemed, God
restores that life. We walk with God. We enjoy Him. We enjoy His Word. We don't run
from Him. We live in praise to His glorious grace that found
us and called us and redeemed us. I hope that's a blessing.