The Just Shall Live By Faith

Q: What does the Bible say about living by faith?

The Bible teaches that the just shall live by faith, relying on Christ's righteousness and grace. The phrase 'the just shall live by faith' appears prominently in scripture, signifying that those declared righteous by God rely not on their own works, but entirely on faith in Christ. Romans 1:17 emphasizes that it is through the gospel that God's righteousness is revealed from faith to faith. This means that the believer's life is sustained by faith that rests upon the character and work of Christ, not on their own capacity for faith. As stated in Galatians 2:20, 'I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.' Thus, faith is the means by which believers access God's grace, establish their relationship with Him, and navigate their spiritual journey.

Q: How do we know the doctrine of justification by faith is true?

The doctrine of justification by faith is grounded in Romans 3:28, which states that we are justified by faith apart from works of the law. The doctrine of justification by faith is firmly rooted in the scripture, specifically in Romans 3:28, which proclaims, 'For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.' This teaching is central to the Reformed faith, emphasizing that salvation is a gift from God, not achieved through human effort. Historic Reformed theology asserts that believers are declared righteous before God solely because of Christ's imputed righteousness. It is through faith that we appropriate this righteousness, as affirmed in Romans 5:1, 'Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.' Therefore, our confidence in this doctrine rests upon the clear declarations of scripture.

Q: Why is it important for Christians to understand the concept of living by faith?

Understanding living by faith is crucial for Christians as it anchors their hope and assurance in God's promises rather than in their performance. For Christians, living by faith is not merely a principle but a necessity for spiritual sustenance. In a world filled with uncertainty and tribulation, faith serves as the believer's anchor, ensuring they trust not in their strength but in God's power. As stated in Hebrews 11:1, 'Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.' This assurance is vital, as it influences how believers engage with their trials and the assurance of God's promises. Moreover, living by faith compels Christians to continually seek a deeper relationship with Christ, recognizing that true life comes from feeding on Him and His word, as Jesus declared in John 6:57, 'He who feeds on me will live because of me.' Thus, this understanding shapes not only personal faith but also the collective witness of the Church.

Now, just hold that scripture
there, Romans 1. I'm sure, I'm quite sure, that like you and like me, the
Apostle Paul grew weary of the journey. I'm just sure that he
did. On more than one occasion, Paul
was heard to say this, I have a desire to depart and be with
Christ. In fact, he said, I am torn between
the two, whether to remain here or depart and be with Christ,
which is far better. He said, for me to live is Christ,
but to die is gain. He got weary with the journey. There were several things, I'm
sure, that wearied him, and I can identify with some of them. Paul
grew weary of traveling. I know that he did. I'm sure
that he would have enjoyed a quiet home somewhere where he could
study and rest and receive his friends and a small group of
believers where he could meet and just talk about the things
of Christ. Don't you imagine that he would
have enjoyed that instead of always being on the road And
I believe he must have grown weary of the hatred and enmity
of the world. Of course, our Lord said, marvel
not, my brethren, if the world hate you. It hated me before
it hated you, and it hated me without a cause. But the world
despises, literally despises the grace of God and the message
of grace. They hate it. And I know the
people, many of the people with whom you work and in the neighborhood
where you live, they don't like what you believe. They don't
like this gospel that gives God all the glory and shuts man up
to sovereign mercy. They don't like that. And it's
just wearisome having all the time to deal with unsaved relatives
rebellious friends, and I'm sure Paul was wearied of it. And I'll
tell you something else I'm sure that he was wearied of, and that
was division and strife and envy among believers. He spent quite
a bit of the book of 1 Corinthians talking about envy and strife
and division among churches and those who profess the name of
Christ. He said it even exists between preachers. Some preach
Christ out of envy. strife, contention, Philippians. On one occasion he said, he said,
only Luke is with me. He said, at my first trial nobody
stood with me. But now he said only Luke's with
me. That must have been discouraging to him and he'd like to just
go on and leave it. I'm sure that he did. I'm sure
he grew weary of the pressure. the pressure of the minister,
the responsibility of the minister, the responsibility of leadership
and preparation and missionary work. And he said, the care of
the churches is upon me. But here he is in verse 13 talking
about keeping on. Look at him in verse 13. Now,
he writes to this church in Rome and he said, I would not have
you ignorant brethren that oftentimes I purpose to come to you. Make
another trip. Go on another journey. I purposed
to come to you, but I was prevented. I wasn't let hitherto. And I
wanted to come among you to have some fruit among you, as I have
among other Gentiles here. Church at Ephesus, church at
Galatia, and other churches. I'd like to come to Rome and
preach to you, that I might have some fruit among you. And I think
the chief reason As I say, I think he grew weary and tired of the
way. But here he is talking about
going again, going again. The chief reason is given in
verse 14. He says, because I'm a debtor. That's the reason. I'm a debtor.
I'm a debtor. I'm a debtor to God because of
the mercy and grace that He has revealed in me and to me. He said, I obtained mercy. I
was injurious, I was a blasphemer, but I obtained mercy. I'm a debtor.
And he said, because of the gift that God has given me to preach
the gospel. He said, I'm less than the least
of all the saints to whom this grace is given, but He's given
me a gift. And so I'm a debtor to share
it. I'm a debtor to keep on preaching because He's given me that gift.
He's given me that ability to preach. And not only that, but
he put me in the ministry. He put me in the ministry and
has opened doors for me to preach, therefore I'm a debtor. I may
grow weary of the way, I may long to go home to be with Christ,
but as long as he leaves me here, I have an obligation to fulfill.
I have a ministry to complete. And that's not only so, Paul,
that's so of you and me. We have a dispensation of the
gospel, a duty to perform, an obligation to fulfill, and a
debt to pay to the wise and the unwise. That's what he said.
I'm a debtor. I'm a debtor to the Greeks. I'm a debtor to the
barbarians. I'm a debtor to the wise. I'm
a debtor to the unwise. I'm in debt, and I've got an
obligation, and I've got to fulfill it. Bridget sings that song,
Chosen. not for good in me, wakened up
from wrath to flee, hidden in my Savior's side and by His Spirit
sanctified. Teach me, Lord, on this earth
to show by my love, faithfulness, how much I owe. Teach me, Lord,
on this earth to show I'm a debtor. And when I stand before your
throne dressed in beauty, not my own, and when I see thee as
thou art, and love thee with an unsinning heart, then, Lord,
shall I fully know, and not till then, how much I owe. So, verse 15, so, I'm a debtor,
so, as much as in me is. As much strength as I have and
as much opportunity as God gives me, as much as in me is, I'm
ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome. And when
he said Rome, that's the headquarters of pagan, heathenistic, militarism,
name it. Headquarters of the pagan Roman
Empire, seat of Satan. where the heat of persecution
raged, Rome. But I'm a debtor, and so much
as in me is, I'm ready to preach the gospel at Rome also." They
said, if you go up there, you're going to die, Paul. Well, I'm
ready to do that too. That's what he said. Because,
verse 16, for, because, I tell you, I'm a debtor and I'm ready
to preach the gospel at Rome because I'm not ashamed of the
Gospel. It's the Gospel I'm going to
preach at Rome. It didn't matter where he preached or to whom
he preached, he was going to preach the Gospel. It's the same
Gospel for all men. I'm ready to preach. I'm not
ready to match wits with them. I'm not ready to show them my
gifts and abilities or show off. I'm ready to preach the Gospel
at Rome. That's why I go to Rome to preach. Because I'm not ashamed
of the Gospel. I'm not ashamed of the Gospel
of God. I'm not ashamed of the gospel of His sovereign grace.
I'm not ashamed of the gospel of His crucified, maligned, suffering substitute Son. I'm not ashamed of the risen
Redeemer, the exalted Mediator. I'm not ashamed of sovereign
mercy. I'm not ashamed. I'm not ashamed of it. Because,
I'm not ashamed because, why? That gospel is the power of God. God has chosen or pleased God
with the foolishness of preaching the gospel to save them that
believe. That's how man is saved, by hearing and believing the
gospel. That gospel is literally the very power of God to salvation. It enables God to be just and
justified. That's how powerful the gospel
is. It puts away all sin of all believers. That's how powerful
the gospel is. It redeems, it justifies, it
sanctifies, it keeps all who believe. That's how powerful
this gospel is. You talk about those watching
television news today and talk about that bomb that went through
14 feet of concrete like it was butter. That's what the announcers
say. The general said, it went through
that 14 feet of concrete like it was butter. My gospel can
slide through even faster than that. It can reach to the dividing
of the soul and the spirit, to the bone and the marrow. You
talk about radar gospel. If God Almighty is pleased to
touch your heart with the gospel, it will find you where you are.
That's why it pierced the hardest armor and the hardest heart. It's the power of God. The power
of God. Now this compromising gospel,
there is no power in it. If you want the power of God
on your ministry, on your preaching, on your church, then preach the
gospel of God's grace. That is where the power of God
is. You can carry on a show with this other gospel, but there
is no power in it. But this is the power of God
to salvation to everyone that believes it. To the Jew first
and also to the Greek. Why? He keeps giving us, he says,
I'm ready to preach the gospel at Rome because I'm a debtor.
And I'm ready to go to Rome because I'm not ashamed of the gospel.
And I'm not ashamed of the gospel because it's the power of God
to salvation. It's the power of God to salvation
because in that gospel, verse 17, is the righteousness of God
revealed. That's where you find out who
God is. and what you are and how God
saves sinners in that gospel. Man doesn't know anything about
God until he knows the gospel. That gospel is the power of God
to salvation to whomever because therein, therein, in that gospel
of Christ, in that gospel concerning His Son, which Charlie read about,
there is the very righteousness and holiness of God revealed. From one degree of faith to the
other. From faith to faith. From one
degree of faith to the other. As you grow in faith, you'll
have a clearer view of that righteousness. That's what he's saying. The
more you read this Word, the more you hear that Gospel, the
clearer view you're going to have of that righteousness. That's
what the Gospel keeps revealing you. It doesn't reveal your goodness. It reveals your sin. But it keeps
revealing His goodness. and His power, and His grace,
and His righteousness, for as it is written, and how many times
is it written, the just shall live by faith? Four times. That's
right. Four times in the Bible. Habakkuk
2, Romans 1, Galatians 3, Hebrews 10, And as Charlie said, that's the
justified. That's those that have seen the
just one. That's the ones for whom Christ
came, the just for the unjust, that he might make us just. He
became what we are that we might become what he is, that he might
bring us to God. So the justified, the sanctified,
the righteous shall live by faith. What does that mean? The just
shall live by faith. What does that mean? That's what
I want to talk about tonight. The just shall live by faith. Now here's the key. Here's the
key. Here's the key to the whole message.
It doesn't say the just shall live upon his faith. Faith is
not some magic potion. Faith is not some positive mental
attitude. Faith is not some hocus-pocus. It says the just shall live by
faith upon Christ. We live upon Christ. We feed
upon Christ by faith. See, it doesn't say the just
shall live upon his faith. It says the just shall live by
faith upon Christ. My soul lives and feeds upon
Christ. Paul said, I'm crucified with
Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but what? Christ lives
in me. And the life which I now live,
I live by the faith of the Son of God. I live by feeding on
Him. That's what that's talking about.
I live by the faith of the Son of God. I don't live by my faith.
I live by faith upon Him, upon Christ. Now would you allow me
to show you seven things, that's what I want to give you tonight,
seven things that show us how faith lives upon Christ, feeds
upon Christ, draws from Christ. This faith, and it doesn't matter
whether faith is strong or weak, it doesn't matter whether you
enjoy or sorrow, this faith always lives and feeds upon Christ. Alright, first of all, here's
seven things. First of all, faith lives upon the name of Christ. The name of Christ. Oh, how sweet. The name of Christ. Did you ever
have a door open to you in the name of someone else? Did you
ever? You're a nobody, you're unknown,
you're in a town, or in a place, and you're a stranger. You're
nobody. You're unknown. And a friend
stops by and says, now you go over here. You don't know these
people. They don't know you. They don't
trust you. But you tell them I sent you. You give them my
name. And they'll let you in. And my
friends, that's the way it is with the believer. This is the
way we have all we have. This is the way we do all we
do. This is the way we'll ever be anything. And that's in His
His name. In His name. The Father loveth
the Son. And if I want to have anything
to do with the Father, I've got to have that name. His name. He said, whatsoever you ask my
Father in my name, you ain't nobody. We got no pull with God. We've got no right to call upon
God. Whatsoever you ask the Father
in my name, He'll do it, because there's none other name under
heaven given among men whereby we must be saved." Peter came to the gate, beautiful,
and there was that cripple sitting at the gate, all lame and broken. And Peter stood in front of that
cripple and he said, of the Lord Jesus Christ, you
rise up and walk." And immediately his feet and ankle bones received
strength and he rose up and walked. And I tell you this, that's my
strength, and that's my confidence, and that's my access into this
grace, that name, the Lord Jesus Christ said, use my name. Use my name. If you go in my
name, The door will open. The door will open. And that
name is above every name. Exalted above exaltation. So
we live on the name of Christ. A while ago he prayed, and how
did you close? In the name of Jesus Christ. Because you knew why. Why did
you do that? You knew you got no business
calling on God without that name. The door won't open. Lord, we prophesied, did all
these things, but our Lord said, I never knew you by name. Alright, secondly, faith lives
on the name of Christ. Secondly, faith lives on the
blood of Christ. Turn with me to Hebrews 10. Faith
lives upon the blood of Christ. Hebrews chapter 10. Hebrews 10 verse 19. Listen to
this. Having therefore, brethren, boldness,
confidence, liberty to enter into the holiest, right into
the presence of God. How? By the blood of Jesus Christ. That says it all. Do I dare to
stand in God's presence? Do I dare to stand in God's presence? Do I dare to look God in the
face? Do I dare to come into the holiest
into the presence of God. Do I dare do that? I can go to
God through the blood of Christ. And I can ask anything and expect
to receive anything, listen, anything within the testament
and covenant that was made with Christ, for all that is in that
testament and covenant is mine by the purchase of His blood.
I can claim it by the blood of Christ. That's how I claim. forgiveness
of sin. The blood of Christ cleanseth
us from all sin. That's how I claim the right
to call Him my Father, because having boldness to come into
the holiest by the blood of Jesus. That's how I claim peace, because
He made peace by the blood of His cross. I live on that. You
see what I'm saying? He that spared not His own Son,
how shall He not with Him freely give us what He purchased with
His blood? Peace, pardon, life, light, grace,
glory, it's the blood. So I feed on the blood of Christ.
Faith lives on the blood. It's the blood that gives us
access to the presence of God. It's the blood that cleanses
us from sin. It's the blood that maketh atonement
for the soul. It's the blood. We feed on the
blood. Thirdly, Faith feeds on the flesh of Christ. Turn to
John 6. What I'm trying to say, and I
hope that I'm getting it across, we don't live upon faith. We
live by faith upon Christ. His name. We use that name. We
love that name. We revere that name. We know
the value of that name. And I'll know more about it every
day. I live on the blood of Christ. I value the blood of Christ.
I claim what I claim through the blood of Christ, no other
reason. And then I feed on the flesh of Christ, my faith does.
John 6, 55, listen. John 6, 55, For my flesh is meat
indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh
and drinketh my blood dwelleth in me, and I in him. As the living
Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father, so he that eateth
me, even he shall live by me. The just shall live by me. This is that bread which came
down from heaven, not as your fathers did eat manna, and are
dead. He that eateth this bread shall
live forever. Now how am I going to illustrate
that? He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood. How am
I going to illustrate that? I'll illustrate it as he did. just
exactly as he did, using Israel. Israel was in the wilderness.
Israel is a type and shadow and picture of true Israel, is it
not? Israel back there in the wilderness
is a picture of true Israel in our wilderness, in the world.
They were there 40 years in that wilderness. How did they survive?
How did they live? How did they eat? What did they
drink? I'll tell you how they survived. The only way they survived,
the wilderness afforded them nothing. The wilderness provided
them nothing. They ate the bread that came
from heaven, and they drank the water out of the rock. And I'll
tell you, and I'll tell me this, in our journey through this world,
this world affords us absolutely nothing spiritually. This world
can make no contribution to your spiritual life. This world, rather,
would see you die. So if you're going to survive
spiritually the true Israel of God, you're going to eat that
bread from heaven. The Son of God came into this
world and lived in the flesh and died on the cross, was buried
and rose again. You're going to live on that
flesh. And we're going to drink that blood. And that's what he's
talking about there. Just like Israel of old, freely,
without working, received the bread from heaven. And he said,
I'm the bread from heaven. He that eateth this bread shall
live forever. And I'm the water. He that drinketh
of me shall live forever. And the hymn writer put it this
way, bread of heaven on thee I feed. For thy flesh is my meat
indeed. Ever may my soul be fed with
this true and living bread." Everything here is death and
dying. And so the believer, living by
faith upon Christ, bread and water, bread and drink. Alright,
fourthly, now faith lives on the name of Christ. Faith lives
on the blood of Christ. Faith lives on the flesh of Christ. He is my daily bread. Give us
this day our daily bread, not only physically but spiritually.
Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds
from the mouth of God. Faith lives on the righteousness
of Christ. That's how faith lives. That's
how it survives, on the righteousness of Christ. I was brought to realize that
by my birth and my nature, I'm an enemy of God. He said in Ephesians
2.12, you're without God, without hope, and without Christ in this
world. And I also realized, secondly,
that my deeds and the sinful motions within me actually separated
me from God. My birth and my nature made me
an enemy of God, and my deeds and thoughts literally separated
me from God. And I found out that God is so
holy that even my goodness and even my righteousness was His
filthy rags in God's sight. Oh, woe is me! Paul said, Oh,
wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from this
body of death? What shall I do? What shall I
say? Where shall my sinful soul be
hid? Turn to Isaiah 45 and let's see.
Isaiah 45. Verse 22. Isaiah 45, 22. Look unto me. Look unto me. Be ye saved, all the ends of
the earth, for I am God, and there is none else. I have sworn
by myself, and the word has gone out of my mouth, in righteousness
and shall not return, that unto me every knee shall bow, every
tongue shall swear. So surely shall one say, in the
Lord have I righteousness and strength. There is my righteousness. There is my strength. I will
say, in the Lord I have righteousness. My faith lives upon the righteousness
of Christ. I never had any righteousness
when I met Him by nature, and I don't have any now. As far
as my own flesh is concerned, I haven't grown one cubit, have
you? Not one inch. So I look to Him,
cling to Him, Rest in Him. And I keep saying, when Satan
challenges me, I'll say, in the Lord I have righteousness. When
the law looks me in the face, I'll say, in the Lord have I
righteousness. My faith feeds on Him. Draws from Him. Depends on Him. You see what
I'm saying? Never do I say, well, I believe. No. I believe Him. Never do I say, well, I made
a decision. No! I look to Him. I feed on
Him. Can't do without Him. I feed
on His name. I use His name, Lord, in the
name of Jesus. In the name. I feed on His blood. It's what cleanses me. I feed
on His flesh. That's my daily bread. That's
how I'm sustained. That's how I'm comforted. Everything's
in Christ. And I feed on His righteousness.
And then fifthly, faith feeds on the Word of God. I tell you,
well, listen, faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word
of God. He said, "...desire that sends
here milk of the Word that you may grow thereby." Here's where
it all is. I tell you, other than Christ.
Now listen, I thought about this when I put it down, and I mean
it. Other than Christ. There's nothing more precious
to a believer than the Word of God. Nothing. I mean nothing. He's exalted His Word above His
name. That's right. Faith feeds on
the Word of God. It feeds on the Word of God.
Turn to Psalm 119. I'll show you this. Just take
your pen there and put a little check by each one of these verses.
I'm going to run rapidly through several verses. Psalm 119. Listen
to David. This is a psalm about the Word
of God. How firm a foundation, ye saints
of the Lord, is laid for your faith in what? In His excellent
Word. Faith feeds on the Word. You
can't separate the incarnate Word from the written Word. Psalm
119, verse 9. Wherewithal shall a young man
cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according
to thy word. Verse 16, I will delight myself
in thy statutes. I will not forget thy word. Verse 41, let thy mercies come
also upon me, unto me, O Lord, even thy salvation, according
to thy word. Verse 49, remember the word. Remember the Word unto thy servant,
upon which thou hast caused me to hope." Hope on the Word. Verse 74, "...they that fear
thee will be glad when they see me, because I have hoped in thy
Word." Yeah, I'm always glad to see you when you've got a
Word from Him. Isn't that right? Glad to see. Welcome. Don't bring
me any of this human trash. Bring me His Word. And they'll
be glad to see me. Verse 89, For ever, O Lord, thy
Word is settled in heaven. Verse 99, I have more understanding
than all my teachers for thy Word, thy testimonies of my meditation. Verse 113 and 114, listen, I
hate vain thoughts, but thy Law, thy Word do I love. Thou art
my hiding place and my shield. I hope in Thy Word. Verse 130,
the entrance of Thy words giveth light. It giveth understanding
to the simple. Want faith to grow? Want confidence
to grow? Assurance to grow? Look into the precious Word.
Verse 161, look at this one. The princes have persecuted me
without a cause, but my heart standeth in awe of thy word. Now verse 169, let my cry come
near before thee, O Lord, give me understanding according to
thy word. Let my supplications come before
thee, deliver me according to thy word. I never will forget
I brought a message one time. It was a blessing to me. Peter,
the disciples had been out there fishing all night. They had fished
that place many times. They knew that lake like the
back of your hand. They were professional fishermen.
And they had toiled all night and caught nothing. And they
had come in in the morning and they were washing their nets
and packing them away. And I guess they had a lot of
them already packed away. He was cleaning out the boats
and the master walked up and he said, children, do you have
any meat? They said, no, Lord, we've fished all night and caught
nothing. He said, get back in the boats and take your nets
and cast off from shore and put your nets right over here. And Peter said, Lord, like we
told you, we've fished all night and caught nothing. Nevertheless,
I like that time. Nevertheless, at Your Word, I'll
put down my net. That's what faith lives on. And
that's what, isn't that true? Lives on the Word. Not human
reason. The Word of God. Not human logic. The Word of God. That's what
faith lives on. The Word of God. I don't have
any human reason or logic to believe half I believe. I just got to live with it. And
that's enough. That's sufficient. It lives on
the Word. Not by feeling or emotion. And then in the sixth place,
faith feeds and lives on the intercession of Christ. My little
children, John said, these things write I unto you that you sin
not. Wouldn't that be wonderful? Wouldn't
that be wonderful? that you sin not. But we do. And I'm glad he adds, and if
or when any man sins, we have an advocate with the Father.
So, here my soul rests, and this is what my soul feeds upon. I
may be condemned by the world and have a right to be. I may
be condemned by the law and have a right to be. I may be condemned
by my own conscience and have a right to be. And yet, I'm going
to carry the day. I'm going to carry the day in
the court of heaven. I'm going to be acquitted. I'm
going to be justified because my advocate's there as the lamb
slain in the midst of the throne. He has the Father's ear and he's
never lost a case. In fact, in that higher court,
his will is law. I feed on that. I literally, faith literally
feeds on the intercession of Christ. It feeds on it. It derives its happiness and
strength and strength to go on and comfort and whatever. It
feeds. You see what I'm saying? Faith's
not so well, I believe, so I must be alright. He's at the right hand of God,
so I am alright. I have an advocate. That's what faith feeds on, the
intercession of Christ. And then last of all, number
seven, faith lives and feeds on the offices of Christ, the
attributes and offices of Christ. Turn to Hebrews 5. In this verse
here, Hebrews 5 plainly declares, that in this office of high priest,
mediator, representative, no man takes that office on himself
but he that's appointed of God. So these offices I'm going to
mention that he holds are God-given. Hebrews 5 verse 3, and by reason
hereof, or verse 4, and no man taketh this office this honor
unto himself, but he that is called of God, as Aaron was,
so also Christ glorified not himself to be made a high priest,
but he that said unto him, Thou art my son, this day have I begotten
thee, and as he said also in another place, Thou art a priest
forever after the order of Melchizedek. Jesus Christ has given to him
on behalf of his people sacred, solemn offices. ordained of God,
and he shall be faithful in all things in his house. He is my
prophet." Moses promised him way back yonder, he's my prophet. And he'll reveal to me that good
and perfect will of the Father. He'll reveal unto me the mysteries
of his kingdom. My faith feeds on that. Secondly,
he's my priest. He will by his great sacrifice
purge me from all sin. He will take me as my high priest
with somewhat to offer into the very presence of the Father,
holy and unblameable. He's my King. He will conquer
all my enemies. He'll reign over them and I'll
reign with Him. My King. He's my shepherd. The
Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. God made Him my shepherd
and God gave Him a sheep. He brought again from the dead
that great shepherd of the sheep. Faith feeds on that. He is my
shepherd. I shall not want. He maketh me
to lie down in green pastures. He leads my best still waters.
God gave him that to do. He is the captain of my salvation,
who leads many sons to glory. He is my mediator. The heavenly
Father says there is one God and there is one mediator between
God and me, and that is the man that He made. Christ Jesus, and
he's my physician who heals all my diseases. So if Christ has
been appointed of the Father to fulfill these offices, if
he has come to earth and accomplished the work given him to do, it's
finished, he said, and he has ascended back to the Father,
he will indeed do for us all that he undertook, and in nothing
shall he fail. They just live. Not by hocus
pocus, not by magic words, not by feelings, not even by determined
faith. They just live by faith on Christ. And feed, never stop feeding
on Him. So it really doesn't matter how
strong my faith is, it's how strong the object of my faith
is. I may have the weakest faith known to man, but it better be
in Christ. I just feed on His name, on His
blood, on His flesh, on His intercession, on His righteousness, on His
offices. And my, my. See what I'm talking
about? Don't you feel better already?
Well, what made you feel better? I read the Word. You didn't come here expecting
me I didn't encourage you, did you? I needed it worse than you
did. But you came here and sat down
and all we did was open this book and read you a few precious
promises and boy, you feel like taking on the world now. That's
right. His Word will do that. And I'll
tell you, if you want to grow weak, stay away from it. If you
want to dry up on the vine, stay away from it. That's where it
is. I feed on the Word. And He's the Word. So faith to
just live by faith upon Christ. Alright. We're going to have
a baptismal service tonight. I preached last Sunday night
on what is it to confess Christ. And I tried to show how the first
place we confess Christ is in here. From Romans 10. With a heart, man, believe it.
under righteousness. And when we are persuaded of
the Spirit of God and convinced by the grace of God that salvation
is in the Son of God and the Son of God alone. First of all,
we confess it in here. I believe that Jesus Christ is
the Son of God. And then we confess it in baptism. That's the reason he gave baptism.
It's like he gave the Lord's table. As far as I know, there
are only two ordinances given to the church. And neither one
of them have anything to do with the birth of Christ. They both
have something to do with the death of Christ. You show my
death till I come. The Lord's Table shows his broken
body and shed blood. Baptism says, and when we take
the Lord's Table, we say, his body was broken for me and his
blood was shed for me. When we go in the waters of baptism,
we're saying to all who witness it, that I died with Christ and
was buried and rose again. And then we confess it by being
identified. with his people. Martin Luther
said this, John, that a man's not confessing Christ unless
he's confessing Christ where the name of Christ is challenged
in his day. Don't go talking about what the
old preachers say. I say, I believe what the old preachers believe.
You better believe what your present day preacher is preaching.
Be identified with him. It's no good to brag on dead
preachers and kill living preachers. That's where a man is identified
with Christ. Isn't that right? Where the name
of Christ is challenged in your community, in your day, in your
generation, that's where you identify with Christ. Even now, I told somebody this
not long ago, Brother Barnard, when he was alive, he wasn't
too famous. A lot of folks didn't care for
him too much. But they do now. He's dead now. They all just
talk about how they love Brother Barney. I say, you're dead? Where
were you when he was trying to get something to eat to preach?
Where were you hanging out? But here's in my day. In my day. That's where you confess
Christ. And you continue by conversation
and conduct. So two of our ladies are going
to follow the Lord in baptism. Mike, you come and lead our I'm
sinking. We'll go get ready.

The Just Shall Live By Faith

What does the Bible say about living by faith?

How do we know the doctrine of justification by faith is true?

Why is it important for Christians to understand the concept of living by faith?

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The Just Shall Live By Faith

What does the Bible say about living by faith?

How do we know the doctrine of justification by faith is true?

Why is it important for Christians to understand the concept of living by faith?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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