Faith

Q: What does the Bible say about the importance of faith?

The Bible emphasizes that without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). The Word of God firmly establishes the importance of faith. In Hebrews 11:6, it is stated that without faith it is impossible to please God, underscoring that faith is not merely important but absolutely essential for a relationship with Him. The Scriptures also affirm this beyond Hebrews; in Habakkuk, Romans, and Galatians, we read that 'the just shall live by faith,' reinforcing that faith is the very foundation of the believer's life. The acts and trust of figures like Abraham further illuminate the significance of faith, as it was his faith that was counted to him as righteousness (Romans 4).

Q: How do we know salvation by faith is true?

Salvation by faith is validated through the character of God and His promises. Salvation by faith is affirmed through the promises of God and the character of Christ. The Bible teaches that Christ is the ultimate object of faith; He is not only a figure of belief but our Redeemer and Savior. When we place our faith in Christ, we acknowledge that He fulfills the requirements of justice and mercy on our behalf. The assurance of our salvation rests on the unchanging nature of God, who cannot lie or contradict Himself. As stated in Romans 3:26, Christ is both just and the justifier of those who believe, making our faith not only valid but vital.

Q: Why is the object of our faith important?

The object of our faith, Jesus Christ, determines the effectiveness of our faith. The object of our faith is paramount because it defines the nature and outcome of that faith. While many may claim to believe in God, true saving faith must focus on Jesus Christ as the Redeemer. The Apostle Paul articulated this when he said, 'I know whom I have believed' (2 Timothy 1:12). Faith is not simply believing in a deity; it involves trusting in Christ’s ability to save and His redemptive work on the cross. A faith that rests solely on Christ and His righteousness is the faith that produces salvation and spiritual life, as highlighted in John 14:6, where Jesus proclaims Himself as the way, the truth, and the life.

Q: How does God work faith in a sinner's heart?

God works faith in a sinner's heart through the conviction of sin and revelation of Christ. Typically, God initiates faith in a sinner’s heart by first convicting them of their sinfulness, making them aware of their need for a Savior. This aligns with Christ's purpose to call sinners to repentance. Once a sinner recognizes their need, God often shuts every door of hope apart from His mercy, demonstrating that salvation cannot be earned through works but is a gift of grace. Finally, God reveals Christ’s glory and excellency, allowing the sinner to see Jesus as the answer to their dire condition, thus producing genuine faith in the heart.

Q: What is the foundation of saving faith?

The foundation of saving faith is rooted in the character and promises of God. The foundation of saving faith is not only in the Word of God but in the nature and attributes of God Himself. In Hebrews, we are encouraged that faith is the assurance of things hoped for, grounded in God's true and faithful character. The attributes of God—His almightiness, justice, mercy, and faithfulness—provide the support system for our faith. For instance, because God is just, we can trust that He will fulfill His promises to us, as displayed through Christ's atoning work. Therefore, the strength of our faith lies in knowing who God is and what He has declared.

Now then, if there's anything
that, any one thing that's established beyond doubt in the Word of God,
for you and me it is the importance of faith. That's why I've chosen
this subject today. A study of faith, the importance
of faith, or just the word faith. I read the text. You don't need
to turn to it, but if you're taking notes, Hebrews 11, 6,
which says, without faith it's impossible to please God. Impossible. Not difficult, impossible. Got
to have faith. And four times the scripture
says, the just shall live by faith. It's in Habakkuk, it's
in Romans, it's in Galatians, it's here in Hebrews. shall live
by faith. And can anything be clearer than
the words of our Lord when he had risen from the grave and
gathered his apostles about him, and he said, Now all authority
is given unto me in heaven and earth. You go and preach the
gospel to every creature. And he that believeth and is
baptized shall be saved. And he that believeth not shall
be damned. Can anything be clearer than
that? The importance of faith. And if I get into Romans 4, I'm
not going to turn over there, because if I get there, I won't
get out. Romans 4, Abraham. What shall
we say? That Abraham, our father, as
pertaining to the flesh, hath found. The sum and substance
of it is Abraham believed God. He believed God and it was counted
to him for righteousness. Abraham, what are you going to
say about Abraham? Sum up the life of Abraham, a man great
like Abraham, the father of believers everywhere, every generation,
every nationality. What are you going to say about
him? Three words, Abraham believed God. That's his life story. And he was persuaded that what
God had promised God would do, and that was counted to him for
righteousness. His holiness is in his faith. And in Luke 17, 5, don't turn
to that, jot it down, the disciples looked at our Lord one day and
they said, Lord, increase our faith. Now I ask myself, and I ask you, the question that our Lord asked
that father of the sick boy. He said, do you believe? Do you
believe? All things are possible to them
that believe. Now I'm going to kill a fly.
I need my son-in-law up here. I got it, Bob. about in a thousand. This is
amazing. I said this years ago, but if
there's one fly in the house, he'll come up here. Isn't that
amazing? That's amazing. I know all of
you want me to turn that handkerchief around where I hit that fly.
I want everything clear while we talk about faith. I don't
want you to think about anything else. So I got the clean side out,
colon. All right. So I ask this question, I ask
myself this. Dost thou believe all things
are possible to them that believe? All things. All right, here we
go. The first question, what is faith?
What is faith? And I will ask you to turn to
2 Timothy chapter 1. And I'm not the only one that
thinks this. Charles Spurgeon felt like this was the best definition
of faith, single definition of faith to be found in the scriptures.
He went over several and he came down to this one. In 2 Timothy
1 verse 12, the Apostle Paul speaking here, and he said in
verse 12, For the witch cause I also suffer these things, nevertheless
I am not ashamed. For I know whom I have believed. I know whom. That's not I know
what I believe. I know when I believe. I know
whom. That's the knowledge of Christ,
who he is, what he did, why he did it, where he is now. I know
whom I have believed. That's knowledge. You can't trust
an unrevealed Savior. How shall they call on him in
whom they've not believed? And how shall they believe in
him of whom they've not heard? And how shall they hear without
a preacher?" So Paul said, I know whom I have believed. I know
who he is. I know where he came from. I know what he came to
do. I know what he did, and I know where he is now. I know whom. All right? Secondly, and I'm
persuaded, confident, that he's able. He is able. I'm confident, beyond a shadow
of a doubt, he's not only willing, but he's able. He's able to keep. And that word is used through
the Bible so many times, too. He's able. Abraham believed that
he was able to do all that he promised. He said he was able
to say to the uttermost all that come to God by him. He said he's
able to raise our vile bodies and make them like his own. And
he's able to keep us from falling. He's able. He's able, I'm confident, authority
to keep that which I've committed to Him. Now listen to me a moment. Faith is not just to believe
about our Lord, it's to believe Him. That's right. It's not just to acknowledge
Him, His existence, acknowledge His power. How about everybody will say,
I heard a preacher this morning say on television, he said, God's
on the throne, God's almighty, God's able to save anybody, God's
able to heal anybody, God's able, he went on, and he stopped and
said, if you'll let him. Well, see, a lot of people, faith
is not to acknowledge his power. Faith is to rely upon it and
trust him. I know there can be no faith
without knowledge, and I know there can be no faith without
confidence, but I do know there can be knowledge and confidence
without committal. Is that right, Bob? I know there
can be no faith without knowledge. Paul said, I know whom I have
believed. I'm persuaded he's able to keep
that which what? I've committed to him. Now, there's
your faith. That's what James deals with.
Faith justifies the soul. But that committal justifies
the faith. That surrender justifies the
faith. That trust, that reliance, that
commitment, that's what justifies the faith. That's the reason
Paul said to the Galatians, I prevail till Christ be formed in you. So to believe Christ is to come
to him. I mean, actually, come to Christ. Come unto me, all you that labor
and have it ain't. I'll give you rest. In reference to our Lord Jesus,
it's like Ruth's testimony. She said, entreat me not to leave
thee, nor to keep from following after
thee. Where you go, I go. Where you lodge, I lodge. Your
people are my people. Where you die, I die. Where you're
buried, that's where I'm buried. That's commitment, isn't it?
That's faith in Christ, coming to Christ. To believe Christ
is to trust Him, to lean upon Him, to rest upon Him. To believe
Christ is to continue to cleave to Him, continue to rest upon
Him. Here's a man whose boat has overturned out in a terrible
storm on the large lake, and the boat sinks, and he's there
to the mercy of the waves except for one large board, one large
plank, How will he cleave to it? How long will he cleave to
it? I'll tell you how you'll cleave to it and how long you'll
cleave to it till his feet touch the ground and he walks out of
that lake. And that's how we'll cleave to
Christ and rely on Christ and trust Christ and believe Christ
till we're safe on that other side. To come to Christ, to trust
Christ, to continue to trust Him, to cleave to Him, to receive
Him. David Clarkson said this, faith is the hand of the soul
that receives the gift of God. Our Lord said to the woman at
the well, if thou knewest who said unto you, give me a drink,
you ask of me, and I give you living water. For faith is the
hand that receives the living water. Faith is the arm of the
soul that embraces Christ. Psalm of Solomon, she said, I
held him and would not let him go. Faith is the eye of the soul
that looks to Christ like the Israelites look to the serpent
on the pole. Faith is the mouth of the soul
that eats his flesh and drinks his blood. Faith is the lips
of the soul that kisses the sun. The hymn writer said, Out of
my bondage, my sorrow and night, Jesus, I come to thee. Into thy
freedom, gladness and light, Jesus, I come to thee. Out of
my sickness, into thy health, out of my want, into thy wealth,
out of my sin, into thyself, Jesus, I come to thee. That's
faith. So I know it's knowledge. I know whom I have believed,
and I've preached. I've preached the gospel of Christ
here so many times, so often, other men have. And you know
of whom we speak, don't you? And secondly, you're confident
of his power to save, aren't you? Totally confident? Well,
have you committed? He's my Lord. He's my Savior. He's my Shepherd. That's what
I'm saying. There can be knowledge and confidence with no committal.
I know there can be no committal without knowledge and confidence.
I know that. But there has to be a submission coming to me. I know God enables us. I know
it's the work of the Holy Spirit. I know all that. But I'll tell
you this, those who come to Christ, They come so lovingly and so
willingly as if they're doing it all on their own. That's what
I call them. They come so lovingly, so willingly,
so deliberately. They come as if they did it all
by themselves. One day our Lord said to his
disciples, after all these people went away, they said, Would you
also go? And they said, To whom shall
we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. I like what John
Newton said, well, Lord, if I never have believed you before, I believe
you right now. All right, secondly, now it's
important in any message or study on faith to make much of the
object of faith. My first point was what is faith?
Secondly, the object of faith. Now, I know in general there
are things which can be called objects of faith. Now, stay with
me. You say there's one object of faith. I know that. But in
general, there are several objects of faith. You believe the Word
of God, don't you? That's an object of faith. The
Word of God. A saving faith believes the Word
of God. I believe the histories. I believe
the promises. I believe the pictures. I believe
the threats. I believe the word of God. Yes,
I do. Secondly, I believe the mercy of God. The mercy of God
is an object of faith. David said, Lord, have mercy
upon me according to thy lovingkindness. He said, if thou, Lord, shouldest
mark iniquity, who would stand but this forgiveness with thee?
So that's an object of faith. Also the promises of God, they're
called precious promises. Abraham believed what God had
promised he could do, so that's an object of faith. The word
of God, the mercy of God, the promises of God. But the grand
and glorious and worthy, single, unexplainable, unspeakable object
of faith is the Lord Jesus Christ. That's right. Now note carefully,
please note this very carefully. This helped me so much when I
found this. And it's not just the person
of Christ as God, but it's the person of Christ as the Redeemer, the God-man. I hear people say, well, I believe
in God. Well, I have to be careful here
now, but that won't save you. Is that
wrong to say that? Saul of Tarsus believed in God. Nicodemus believed in God. So
Christ and Jesus Christ is God. Is He not? He's God. By him all
things were made that are made. Now listen to me. So my object
of faith is not just Jesus as God, but Jesus Christ, Jesus
the Christ, Jesus the Savior, Jesus Christ the Mediator, Jesus
Christ the Redeemer. That's how I believe on him.
Jehovah, God my Savior. In other words, I believe him
as my surety, my everlasting priest, my representative. Jesus
Christ became a man. He's my representative. He's
my brother, made like unto his brethren. He's my righteousness. I have none of my own. No matter
how hard I work, I can't secure one, but he came down here, and
in the flesh, obeyed the law, wrote out a perfect holiness,
a perfect righteousness, the God-man, and he's my righteousness,
he's my sin offering. By one offering, he hath perfected
forever them that are sanctified. So my object of faith is not
just God, is not just the mercy of God, but it's the God and
his mercy in Christ Jesus. who enables God to be both just
and justified. Christ is my atonement. Jesus,
thy blood and righteousness, my beauty are, my glorious dress. Mid flaming worlds in these arrayed
with joy shall I lift up my head. Other refuge have I none, hangs
my helpless soul on thee. Who is he? Leave on leave me not alone,
still support and comfort me." How can he support me? He has
what I have to offer. He's a faithful high priest,
a merciful and faithful high priest. It became him to be made
like unto his brethren that he could be a merciful, faithful
high priest. For us in things pertaining to
God, that's how I've got to believe on him. All my trust on thee is stayed.
All my help from thee I bring. Cover my defenseless head with
the shadow of thy wings. Listen carefully to me. What
is faith? Knowledge. Who is he? Confidence. Committal. But that knowledge, that object
of faith, I know whom I have believed. I know whom. Who do
you believe? I believe in God. The devils believe in God and
tremble. Isn't that right? The devils believe in God. I
believe in God too. Maybe a fool has said no God.
But the object of saving faith, that object of saving faith that
gives us confidence and calls for that committal
is that God-man, one with God and one with men, the God-man
who came to this earth the second Adam, as in Adam we die and Christ
we're made alive. That's what I'm saying, and that's
so vital. The Son of God hath come and
given us an understanding that we may know him that is true,
and that we might be in him that is true. And this is life, this
is salvation, this is eternal life, this is the knowledge of
God, this is it! He that hath the Son hath life.
Are you with me? That's so very, very important.
I hope you do lay hold of that. That's the reason a man must
hear the gospel to be saved. is because the gospel is concerning
his son. Now watch it. Who was made of
the seed of David and declared to be the son of God. That's
the gospel concerning that person. And that's the one I know. This
is the record. God has given us eternal life.
This life's in his son. All right, thirdly, how does
God ordinarily work faith in a sinner's heart? How does God
ordinarily work faith? Now remember that God will work
as he will, when he will, with whom he will. He can't be tied
to one track, I know that. But generally, ordinarily, how
does God work in a sinner's heart? Well, ordinarily, people whom
God saves, number one, he'll convict them of sin. Christ said
he didn't come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. He
came to seek and to save the lost. And a man must discover
that he's a sinner before he'll sue for mercy, isn't that right?
Everybody who came to Christ had one thing in common. They
needed him. They needed him. And he was the
only one who could help them. In fact, all who came to him
needed him. Desperately needed him. So that's the first thing,
to discover who we are. who we are. Secondly, God ordinarily,
working faith, will shut a person up to his mercy, closing every
other door of hope. He said, by the deeds of the
law shall no flesh be justified. He takes that away from us. It's
not by works of righteousness which we have done. He takes
that away from us. He said, except your righteousness exceed that
of the scribes and Pharisees, he takes that away from us. He
says, in the flesh no man can please God, he takes that away
from us. We shut up to Christ. We shut up to mercy. Like that
woman with the issue of blood, she tried many things of many
physicians and with no better, she said, if I can get to him. And then thirdly, when God shows
us who we are and what we are and shuts us up to his sovereign
mercy like the leper who said, if you will, you can make me
clean, then he's pleased to reveal the Lord Jesus Christ and shows
us the glory and excellency of Christ. I hope you'll read that
little article I have in the bulletin this morning about the
robe. Did you read that? Did you read
that? If you had a friend who was planning
to go before the king in his dirty, ragged, offensive robe
and you knew that he'd be forever rejected, wouldn't you warn him?
Suppose, too, that you knew where he could secure absolutely free
a beautiful, spotless robe with which the king would not only
be satisfied, but one which he provided. Would you not tell
him? That's good news. But which robe
would you talk the most about? The offensive garment or the
beautiful one the king provides? Which one did you talk most about?
Boy, you got a scroungy robe on there. That just won't do.
Show him something better. Boy, that thing stinks. He may
be aware of it, but he hasn't seen anything to improve on it
yet. I believe, I would think that
the more he heard about the king's robe, the more he'd be aware
and made aware of the glory of the King's road, the more he'd
be made aware of his offensive road, don't you think so? And that's what the Lord shows
us, the glory and beauty of Christ. I tell you, the necessity of
Christ, the righteousness of Christ, the sufficiency of Christ,
the certainty of Christ's work, oh, the more you see of Him,
the more shoddy these things that other men trust, like church
membership, or good deeds, or baptism, or praying through,
or experiences, or sprinkling when I was a baby, or confirmation.
You know, those things, as you talk about them and look at them
and look at your experience, those things may generate just
a little bit of interest, a little bit of confidence, a little bit
of pride. But boy, when you look on His glory, those things just
fade away. They're not even toys. That's
right. They're not even toys. They're
frivolous, foolish things. And that's what God shows us
when he brings a man to see what he is and his inability. He keeps showing him the beauty
of Christ, the excellence of Christ, who he is, his redemptive
work, the necessity of Christ, what he did, why he did it, the
sufficiency of Christ, where he is now. And you know that
man continues. God continues to reveal Christ
to that man. Just keeps on revealing Christ.
And keeps on making him more precious. Now here's the fourth
thing. The fourth thing, the support
of saving faith. Now this is an important point
right here. An important point, the support
of saving faith. And I've done this so many times,
and it's true, it's not, you know, we don't go to the sixth
grade until we finish the fifth grade. But so often we generally
just say, well, the foundation of faith, the support of faith
is the Word of God. And it is. No question about
it. This is absolutely true. But
to be more specific, The greatest strength and support of faith,
and it can't be separated from the Word of God, I know that.
The greatest strength and support of faith is the character and
attributes of God. Now let me show you that. Who
God is gives me confidence in God's promises. Who He is. Now
watch this. I'm saying the support of faith,
the strong Confidence, foundation, support of faith is who he is.
Number one, he's almighty. And Abraham believed God and
fully persuaded because he's almighty that what he said, what
he promised, he could do. What was Abraham resting in?
In his promise, yes, but in his power. His promise ain't worth
a plug nickel without his power. His promise means nothing without
his power. And that's the reason that today's
gospel is impotent. They got an impotent
God. I couldn't believe what these
fellows are saying. God can and will if you let him. If I've
got to let him, I don't believe he can. Abraham believed that what God
promised, God could do, because who God is, he's almighty. Secondly,
God's just. Do you believe God's just? I
know He is. And if He spared not His own
Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not, being
just and holy, freely give us all things in Christ? Now, what's
your hope? I'll tell you this, if Jesus
Christ died for my sins, If the Son of God bore my sins in his
body on the tree, I'm a saved man, because God's just. I wouldn't trust me or you in
that position not one second, because you might fall out with
me and take it all away from me. But God is holy and just
and unchangeable. That's right. He's going to do
right. And he that spared not his own
son, but delivered him up for us all, And find out who that
all is now. How shall he not with him freely
give us all things? God's just. That's the support
of my faith. He says all these things, and
he gave Christ to secure these things. What promise do I have
that he'll fulfill these things? He's just. That's my assurance. And thirdly, he's merciful. He just delights to show mercy. Now, we're not very loving and
we're not very merciful. But I'll tell you this. I'll
tell you this. That's what David said in Psalm
130. He said, Lord, if you should mark iniquity, who would stand?
But there's mercy with thee. There's forgiveness with thee,
that thou mightest be feared. The Lord delights to show mercy. You find me, and people, I don't
know why we say, well I believe God and I trust God, but I'm
just so wicked. We measure our ability to forgive,
we measure his ability to forgive by ours. But you find me the
raggedest, dirtiest, rottenest, sinfullest, fallen mass of flesh. And my God is able and willing
and delights to lift the beggar from the dunghill. He delights
to do that. He takes great pleasure and joy
in forgiving. And that's the way a believer
is, too. A believer can find some little rag muffin in the
gutter, and he just delights to wash him and cleanse him and
feed him, don't you? Wouldn't you just delight to
lift up that little varmint and put your arms around him and
kiss him and cleanse him and dress him up, make somebody out
of him, wouldn't you? My God loves to do that. He delights
to do that. He absolutely delights to show
mercy. God's not reluctant to show mercy.
You don't have to beg too long. One of my children came to me
and put his arm around me and said, I'm sorry I said what I
said and did what I did. Boy, forget it. Well, my God's better than that.
He forgets it too. Yeah, alright, he's unchangeable.
He said, I'm the Lord, I change not. That's, you see, here's
what I'm saying. Here's what I'm saying, Cecil.
The foundation of faith, I know in general it's the Word of God,
but His Word packs its power because of His character. He's
almighty, He's just, He's merciful, and He can't change. The gifts
and calling of God are without change. He said, I'm the Lord,
I change not. If I said it to you, I'll do
it. He can't change. If I promised it, I'll give it.
He's keeping covenant mercies with thousands. He cannot and
will not change. That's right. That's the only
reason. He said, that's the reason you sons of Jacob are not consumed,
because I don't change. You change. Oh, we do, don't
we? He doesn't. And then, fifthly,
he's omniscient. He knows our hearts. Folks around
us, they know our words. And sometimes we're embarrassed
by those. Shoot, sometimes, most of the
time. Folks around us see us fly off
the handle, they see us. But Peter sat there with his
Lord around that fire, and he appealed to one thing. He said,
You know all things. You know I love you. And we're
going to leave it right there. And he did know it too. And that's
what it does. You know, you can walk the aisle,
shake the hand, go in the pool, get your name on the roll, pop
off, read Bibles, stick books on your shelves and all that
and impress a whole lot of people when God looks on the heart. God looks on the heart. And that
which is highly esteemed among men don't mount a hill of beans
to God. He looks on the high. And that's
my confidence. He knows I believe. I don't have
anybody else to believe. He knows I know who I am. And he knows I know who he is. And he knows that I know that
he's my only hope. And he knows that I'm trusting
him. And that's all that matters.
And last of all, he's faithful. I want you to turn to Habakkuk.
Habakkuk. I'll give you a few minutes to
find it, because it's going to take me a while, too. You know,
we get over these Old Testament books, and they're small, and
we may recite them, but sometimes they're hard to find. Habakkuk
chapter 3. Watch this. This I love. Put
this on your refrigerator. You ladies that have those little
reminders on the refrigerator. Hebrew, Habakkuk 3. And I'm telling
you, this is good. You read verse 17. Although the
fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines,
and the labor of the olive tree shall fail. No figs, no grapes,
no olive oil. And the fields yield no meat,
no corn, no wheat, no barley. And the flock shall be cut off
from the foe, no cattle, no sheep, no horses, no oxen, no herd in
the stables. That's kind of low end. Yet,
I'll rejoice in the Lord. I will joy in the God of my salvation,
for the Lord God is my strength. And he will, in his own time,
make my feet like hinds' feet, he'll make me to walk upon high
places in his own time. He's faithful. David believed
that. When he came to die, he said,
well, the Lord's made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered
in all things and sure, this is my salvation. This is my desire. Think about that. What is faith,
2 Timothy 1, 12? What's the object of faith? Not
just God. And yet it is, but the God-man
in all his person and work. How does God work faith? He reveals
Christ. And what's the foundation of
faith? Word of God, yes. But I'll tell you what this word
got behind it. got the character of an almighty God who is almighty,
just, unchangeable, merciful, faithful in all things. Trust Him.

Faith

What does the Bible say about the importance of faith?

How do we know salvation by faith is true?

Why is the object of our faith important?

How does God work faith in a sinner's heart?

What is the foundation of saving faith?

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Faith

What does the Bible say about the importance of faith?

How do we know salvation by faith is true?

Why is the object of our faith important?

How does God work faith in a sinner's heart?

What is the foundation of saving faith?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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