One day our Lord was surrounded by some of the
leading religionists of that day. They had names and titles. They had places of power, positions. They had credentials and they
had degrees. And they were called the Herodians.
They were called the Sadducees. They were called the Pharisees
and the Sanhedrin. They were called the scribes
and the lawyers. moral religious leaders, men
of power and prestige and influence. And the scripture says they began
to ask him all sorts of questions having to do with their religious
customs and their religious traditions. The purpose to entangle him in
his talks They began to say, is it lawful
for God's people to pay tribute to Caesar? We're members of the
kingdom of God, should we pay any attention to the laws and
authority of men in earthly positions and authority? And someone else said, well,
suppose that a woman marries a man and he dies, and she marries
another man and he dies. who's going to be her husband
in the resurrection. And another one said, well, of
all the commandments, which is the most important? What sin
is the greatest sin? And the master looked at these
men after he had dealt with these various questions, and he summed
up their whole problem. with one statement. I want you
to turn with me to Matthew chapter 22. He summed up their whole problem
with one statement. He looked into the faces of these
important, powerful, religious leaders. And he said, in verse
29 of Matthew 22, Jesus answered and said to them,
now watch this, You do err. You err. You're off base. You're missing the mark. You don't have the answers. You
do err for two reasons. You're in confusion, ignorance,
and spiritual darkness for two reasons. One, you do not know the scriptures. You just don't know the scriptures. You don't know the message of
the scriptures. Now, he's talking to men who'd
studied the scriptures. He was talking to men who were
scribes and had translated and transcribed the scriptures. He
was talking to Pharisees and Sadducees and men who had sat
at the feet of the greatest teachers of their day and studied theology. And as he says, you do not know
the scriptures. On another occasion he said to
them, you are searching the scriptures. Your business is searching the
scriptures. For in them you think you have
life, but they are they which testify of me, and you will not
come to me that you might have life." You don't know the scriptures.
You don't have a right understanding of the message, the testimony,
and the true teaching of this word. That's your problem, he
said. You're in ignorance, you're in darkness, you're in superstition,
you're in error, you're in custom and tradition because you don't
know the book. Or you know the facts. But you
don't know the message. And the second problem, look
at the next line. He said, you do error, you're
in ignorance and darkness because you don't know the scriptures.
Nor the power of God. All these men had a God. They
quickly retorted, we have one Father, even God. God is our
father. He said your father is the devil.
He said you neither know God nor me. You have a powerless God. He
said you have a figurehead. You know nothing of the living,
absolute, infinite, immutable, almighty, ruler of heaven and
earth. That's the God you don't know. The unchangeable God. And my
friends, when I read that, I thought, this is the whole problem with
today's religion. There's no difference. Things
have not changed. Religion has not changed in 2,000
years. We have the names and titles
today. They were the Herodians, and
the Pharisees, and the Sadducees, and the Scribes, and the Sanhedrin. We are the Catholics, and the
Protestants, and the Jews. And we've got under those three
divisions of 500 different kinds of denominations. We've got Baptists,
and Methodists, and Presbyterians, and Camelites, and Church of
Christ, and Church of God, and Pentecostal, and Assembly of
God. And you just keep naming them. And then there are the
Popes, and the Cardinals, and the Bishops, and the Doctors,
and the Reverends, and the Elders, and the Priests, and the Counselors.
We've got all these titles, haven't we? And then we have all of our divisions
and arguments. These men arguing about the resurrection,
arguing about prophecy, and arguing about authority, and arguing
about paying tribute, and arguing about which law is the greatest
and which sin is the greatest. We have our divisions and arguments
too. We have the premillennialists
and the postmillennialists and the amillennialists. And we have
the free wills and the fatalists, and we have the conservatives
and the liberals, and we have the fundamentalists and we have
the intellectuals. But you can look all of it together,
and I'm not oversimplifying this thing at all. But now you look
back at the picture, here the master is standing, and all of
these men come together, these Herodians and Sadducees and Pharisees
and high priests and rulers of the temple. This is the capital
of religion. This is their core and hub of
religion. And these are the men who were
carrying on the whole charade, and show, and tradition, and
superstition, and here they've got him in the center of them,
and they begin to pop their questions at him, and he looked at them
and said, you are in darkness. Superstition and error for two
reasons. You don't know the scriptures.
You don't know the scriptures. And you don't know the power
of God. And I look at my whole religious
generation, and I've been in it long enough to know. I've been in the pulpit long
enough to know. I've traveled all over this country
and over much of the world. And I've listened to the religionists,
I've listened to the religious leaders, and I've listened to
the popular preachers. And I say to them what my Lord
said to those when he walked this earth, you do err not knowing
the scriptures, not knowing the message, the testimony of this
word, nor the power of God, nor the power of God. Religion is popular. It always
has been and always will be. Religion is much an emotion as
fear, love, and hate. The desire for a God is born
in us. That's absolutely right. You
can go to any pagan nation in the world and you'll find, like
the Indians of old, the pagan heathen panting for a happy hunting
ground, life after death. They'll talk about spirits and
sacrifices and all these things. Whether it's paganism in New
York or paganism in Ashland or paganism in Africa, the ignorance
of the scripture, ignorance of the sovereign power of God has
led men into superstitious religion, traditional religion, emotional
religion. Superstitious religion, emotional
religion. and traditional religion, something
handed down. We never examine what's handed
down. Good enough for Mohan Paul, it's
good enough for me. Yeah, but is it good enough for
God? That's the question. And I'll tell you the error.
Our Lord said you don't know the scriptures. Oh, you know
the facts and the dates and the names. And you know the traditions
and the laws. But you don't know the message.
Redemption through a person. Grace and mercy through a substitute. You don't know the message. And
furthermore, you don't know the power of God. You say, well,
God, like the preacher said on television the other day, he
said, God's sovereign. God's sovereign in all things.
But you have to let him be sovereign. Listen, I don't understand that
kind of talk. I didn't understand that until
I was in the third grade. God wants to save you, but you
won't let Him. Now God can do all things, but
why can't He save me? I like what the old mountaineer
said. The preacher told him, he said, God's tried for two
weeks to save you and you wouldn't let Him. Now He's going to send
you to hell. And the old mountaineer said, he ain't going to send
me to hell. And the preacher was aghast. He said, how can
you talk like that? Well, he said, if he tries for
two weeks to save me and I won't let him, if he tries to send
me to hell, I won't let him. Isn't that consistent? And I'll tell you this, this
ignorance of the scripture and this ignorance of the power of
God has led men and women into into error, especially on the
subject of faith. Especially on the subject of
faith. That's my subject tonight. Faith,
acceptance with God. How does a man, how does a man
come to God? How does a man come to God? How
does a man come to God Almighty? the holy, immutable, eternal
God who dwells in a light to which no man can approach. How
does he come to God? How can man be clean that's born
of a woman? The scripture says, behold, the
heavens aren't pure in God's sight. One day he'll wipe it
away. One day he'll consume it and
burn it up because it's not pure. And he'll make a new heaven and
a new earth. Well, how can man be clean that's
born of a woman? How can man be just with God? Like those men of old, they said,
well, what shall we do that we might work the works of God too?
How does a man come to God? Well, if you know the scriptures
and the power of God, you can tell him. That's right, isn't it right?
But if you listen to the average religionist today, radio preacher,
television preacher, pulpit preacher, if you listen to the average
preacher today and he's dealing with this subject, how does a
man come to God? How does a man, sinful, son of
Adam, born of woman, unclean in thought and word and deed,
how does he come to a holy, immutable, immaculate, infinite God? Well,
you come to the front. That's what they say, come to
the front. While the choir sings just as I am, come to the front.
And when you get down here, repeat this prayer after me. Yeah, but
I'm down here, but I'm not to God yet. Another will say, well, come
to the priest. Take your beads and count them, you know, and
say so many Hail Mary's, Mother of God, pray for us poor sinners,
but I got to Mary, but I didn't get to God. Well, come to the
altar. Come to the pool. Come to the
law. Straighten up your life. Come
to our position. Come to Saturday. Let's keep
Saturday. That ought to get us to God.
But it didn't get the folks that kept Saturday to God. Well, come to the church in the
Wildwood. I heard that all my life. Come
to the church in the Wildwood. Would that help me, kid? Oh,
come, come to the church in the wildwood. That's how silly we
are. That's just how silly we are. Now, I'll tell you this. Turn
to Hebrews chapter 11. If you listen to God, and if
I could get somebody somewhere to listen to God, quit listening
to me and quit listening to people. Quit listening to our own consciences.
Our own hearts are deceitful and desperately wicked. There's
a way that seems right to us, and the end is destruction. Well,
I tell you what I think, I just wouldn't be interested, because
you think just like I do. I want to know what he says.
You do err not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God. How does
a man come to God? Well, if you listen to God, Hebrews
11 verse 6, listen. He says it's by faith. It's not
walking an hour at all. You can come to God and not move
a muscle. In fact, if you come to God,
you won't move a muscle. Coming to God is not a physical
move, it's a height move. That's right. You can come to
God and never meet another human being. Be better off if you didn't. You can come to God and never
counsel with another human being, because he's the counselor. He
says in Hebrews 11, 6, listen, without faith, without faith,
it's impossible to please God, to come to God. For he that cometh to God, uh-oh,
I'm hitting on it now. For he that cometh to God, He,
son of Adam, he, fallen sinner, he, guilty sinner, he, needy
creature, he that cometh to God, not to the front, not to the
pool, not to the law, but to God. And that's where I got to
go. He's the source of mercy. He's
the fountain of mercy. He's the living stream. I've
got to get to God. So he that cometh to God must
Oh, I tell you which study that word must. He must need to go
through Samaria. That means that's where he's
going. The Son of Man must be lifted up. That means he shall
be. And it says here, he that cometh
to God must do what? One thing. Believe. He must believe. Believe. Believe. Bob prayed,
Lord, give us faith. Lord, increase our faith. That's
the best prayer a man can pray. Because without faith, it's impossible. He didn't say it was hard. It's
impossible. He didn't say it's difficult.
It's impossible to please God. He that comes to God must believe
that he is. God is who he is. Not who they say he is. Who he
is. Not who they think he is. He's
who he is, Paul. God's who he says he is. I've
got to believe God is who he says he is and who he is. as revealed in this Word, as
revealed in his Son. I've got to believe that he is,
and that not only that he is, watch this, and that he is a
rewarder, a gracious, merciful, loving rewarder of them that
diligently seek him. I've got to believe God and believe
in the mercy of God, or I cannot come. It's not a matter of taking
a chance. It's not a matter of giving God
a chance. It's not a matter of trials for a little while. This
kind of business you can't try for a little while. It's all
your eggs in one basket. That's right. Without this faith,
it doesn't say how great it is or big it is. It's just faith. You say, well,
how much faith does it take to see? Exactly the amount you have if
it's all in Him. That's all it'll take. That's all it'll take. But without
that faith, it's impossible to see. He that cometh to God, he
that cometh to God must. He's got to have a single eye
and a single heart and a willing spirit. He must believe that
that one to whom he's coming is their God of their God, the
only God, the true and living God. And he's got to believe
that when he comes, he will find mercy, that God's mercy for him,
plenty of mercy. You know, I thought about that
scripture there, and I looked at Hebrews 11. I want you to
open, keep your Bibles open there to Hebrews 11. And I thought,
well, let's see, this is the chapter of faith, and this is
sort of the central verse of this chapter. He that cometh
to God must believe without faith. Let's see if we can find out
something about this faith that pleases God. I am so much interested
in faith. You know, our Lord said to Peter,
Peter said, why, these other fellows might deny you, but I
won't. I'll die with you. And our Lord said, Peter, Simon,
Simon, before the cock crows this night, you'll deny me three
times. But I've prayed for you. That
your faith fail not. That your faith fail not. Whatever
else fails, whatever else fails, your faith fail not. Well, let's see if we can find
out something about you if you take your notes right down to
point number 1. Verse 1. Point number 1. Listen.
Faith is. That's the way chapter 11, verse
1 starts out. Now, faith is. Here's what we
have here, we have faith's definition. You want a definition of faith? Here it is. John, faith is. What is faith? Alright, listen.
Faith is the substance of things hoped for. Well, what
are the things we hope for? What are the things we hope for,
John? Well, we hope, number one, for forgiveness of sins. We hope,
number two, for acceptance with God, don't we? That's what we
hope for. That's what we long for. We hope,
number three, for deliverance from judgment. I don't want to
stand in the judgment with God. The psalmist prayed, don't bring
me in judgment with thee. And the next thing I hope for
is resurrection. I want to rise from the grave
in the first resurrection. I hope for life eternal, don't
you? Well, faith is the substance
of those things. What does that word substance
mean? It means it's the ground, the foundation, and the support
of those things for which you hope. You have a right to hope
for forgiveness, for mercy, for acceptance, for resurrection,
for no condemnation, because you believe the promises of God. And faith is the substance or
the support or the ground or the foundation of that hope.
Without faith, you wouldn't have any hope. You see, faith is not
a creed, it's an experience. Faith's not a creed. Faith is
an experience. Faith is not a position. Well,
this is my position. That's not faith. Faith, then,
is a possession of a person. You see, faith is not a doctrine
of the head, it's a hope in the heart. Look at that next slide. It says
faith, this saving faith, this faith that pleases God, is the
very foundation, it's the very ground, it's the very support
of all these things we hope for. Listen, and faith is the evidence
of things not seen. What are the things not seen?
Well, I've never seen God. I've never seen the covenant
of mercy. I've talked a lot about it. But
I've never seen it. I've never seen the Lamb's Book
of Life. Got some names that tell me. Have you seen it? I didn't see the incarnation.
I didn't see Jesus Christ walk the earth. I didn't see him die
on the cross. I didn't see any of those things.
I don't see the mediator. There is one, but I don't see
him. All of these things are unseen.
And faith is what? Faith is the evidence. That is, faith gives proof. in the heart of all those things. David said this, and Paul repeated
it, I believe, therefore I spoke. How can I speak of these things
that I've never seen? I believe. How can I speak of
these things that I've never seen? I believe. And my faith is the proof of
those things, and the evidence of those things. That's the definition
of faith. That's the definition of faith.
And he says, verse 2, and by this faith, all the elders, Abraham,
Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, David, all the elders, they all obtained
a good report card. That's right. A good report card. They believed God, and God blessed
them. They obtained a good report.
because they believe God. Well, here's the second point.
If you look at verse 3, here is faith's foundation. In verse 3 it says, through faith,
through faith, through believing God, we understand, I understand,
that the world, that is the celestial world of angels and spirits,
and the starry world of sun and moon and planets, and the watery
world of oceans and seas, and the earthly world of ground and
trees, and the physical world of men, women, boys and girls,
by faith I understand that those worlds were famed and made by
the Word of God. You see, my friends, when a man
believes God he gets some wisdom and understanding of spiritual
matters. That's right, spiritual matters,
when he believes God. And let me tell you this, without
God, now listen, and you just think about this and you'll know
I'm telling the truth, without God, without believing God, without
believing this book, any thought or any expression or opinion
about creation is pure speculation. Now come on, is that correct?
Pure speculation. Any, without, this book, without
believing God, any opinion any man has about life and death,
or life after death, is pure speculation. Is that right, kid? Got to be. What's your, what's
your What's your source? Somebody says, well, I believe
that. Well, what's your source? What's your source of material? Where'd you get
that? Any idea about glory or salvation
or God forgiving sin or God raising the dead or life, it's pure speculation
without this book. Is that correct? Without faith
in God. So that's what he's saying in
verse 3. Faith gives a man wisdom. To believe God and to believe
his word gives a man understanding. By faith we understand. I understand
where the words came from. God made them. You see, this faith says that
the words were framed by the word of God. Who's the word of
God there? Christ. In the beginning was
the word. The word was with God. The word was God. And all things
were what? Made by him. It's also the word
of God. And Christ, the Word incarnate,
can never be separated from the Word expressed, because you don't
hear God except through Christ. Faith gives understanding. Faith
gives wisdom. Faith teaches me where these
things came from, out of nothing, and who made them. And God didn't
remodel the world. He called it into existence.
He made it out of things which do not appear. That's faith's foundation, the
Word of God. Christ the Word, the living Word,
the written Word, to believe God. All right, thirdly, verse
4, faith's sacrifice. You see where I'm going? It says,
by faith. Now, this is a chapter of faith.
Verse 1 says faith is. Verse 3 says through faith we
understand. And verse 4 says by faith Abel
offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice. Here we have thirdly,
faith's sacrifice. Faith's got to have a sacrifice.
Now stay with me, don't leave me. You see, true faith knows
this. True faith knows something of
the holiness of God. Now this is something not being
preached today. Men today are hearing from the pulpit a lesser
God. We are the children of a lesser
God, a peanut God, really. But the God I preach and the
God this word preaches is the infinite, incomprehensible, listen,
unapproachable God. Holy, holy, holy. That's right. That's right. No man has seen God at any time. These television preachers that
say God told me something last night are liars. God never told
them anything. God's never spoken to us except
through his word. That's exactly right. God's not
going to speak to you. Now that little peanut God you've
got back there in the closet will, but to live in God won't. I'm telling you the truth now.
You hear from God, you'll hear through the book, or through
a preacher. And true faith knows something
about the awesomeness, the fearfulness, the awful. That's what those
old Puritans used to talk about God in his awful holiness. You read it a hundred times.
And then secondly, true faith knows something of my sinfulness.
My sinfulness, I know there's none good, no, not one. There's
none righteous. Man at his best state is altogether
vanity. We all do fade as the leaf. Our
righteousness is a filthy rag. You know that, and I know that.
There's not a good man, God said, on the face of the earth. None. And we're in trouble. What the
law saith, it saith to them who are under the law that every
mount may be stopped and all the world become guilty before
God. Faith knows that. And thirdly, faith knows this,
that in order for that holy God to be appeased, for that holy
God to be reconciled, for that holy God to be at peace with these rebels,
these traitors, these sinners, that have been set to dethrone
God. There's got to be a satisfaction
of his holy, immaculate law. And there's got to be a satisfaction and honoring of
his justice. Is that not right? What did that
God say? The soul that sinned shall surely
die. Do you believe that? He said
the soul that sinned shall what? Surely die. God, we're by no
means clearly guilty. No means. God cannot abdicate. God cannot be less than He is.
And you and I can't be any more than we are. So who's going to
get the two together? It's going to take somebody else,
isn't it? How about the God-man? How about the Son of God who
came? How about the sacrifice and sin offering? And that's
the very thing verse 4 says. Abel offered a more excellent
sacrifice than Cain. What did Abel offer? The blood
of a lamb. Well, what did Cain offer? Cain brought the fruits of his
own labors. Cain was a farmer. Cain was a
vineyard keeper. Cain was a man who had fruits
and vegetables and livestock and all these things. So he got
all this stuff together, built him a beautiful little altar,
and laid all his gifts to God on that altar. Well, pray tell
me what use God has for fruits and vegetables. God says, if
I was hungry, I wouldn't ask you. He said, the cattle on a
thousand hills of mine. You see, a holy, righteous God
has no use for the fruits and labors of your hands. He said,
I could make of these stones children unto Abraham. Almighty
God's righteousness needs an obedience. Almighty God's justice
needs a sacrifice, a sin offering, a death for sin. And so when
Abel came to the offering, he brought an innocent lamb. And
in his stead and place, cut his throat, shed his blood, and roasted
his body on that altar. What's Abel showing here? He's
showing the Son of God, the Lamb of God, who came to the earth,
the Lord Jesus Christ, the perfect, innocent, holy Son of God, who
came in human flesh and had his blood shed and his body roasted
on the horrible cross of Calvary as our sacrifice and sin offering. and blood atonement. You understand
that? Abel did. And faith does. And faith does. God said, I have
given you the blood upon the altar to make an atonement for
your soul. And I'll tell you this, it's
not going to be a crowd coming down here, or a bunch going through
there, or a bunch playing church. Each individual sinner here,
is going to come to God personally with that lamb by faith. That's right. That's exactly
right. All this mass evangelism and
psychological movements and mass psychology and getting folks
down and all this stuff is the biggest joke that religions ever
put off on the human public. I'll tell you when you come to
God, You realize how awesomely holy he is and how fallen and
sinful you are. And like the thief on the cross,
you'll cry, Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom.
Or like the publican in the temple, isolated, alone, separated, standing
by yourself before our holy God, you'll say, oh God, be merciful
to me, a sinner, and let thy blood be propitiation for me,
this old boy right here on the mercy seat. Because I believe
you. Huh? I believe you. Give us your name. He'll take
my name down, thank you. If you've accepted Jesus, write
to me. Why should I write to you? I
know why you want to brag about winning me to the Lord. He'll
take my name down. I'll do business with Him. Huh? That's where it is. That's faith
sacrifice. Let me show you something else.
And I'm not being a maverick, I'm not being any more unusual
than Martin Luther or John Calvin or Charles Spurgeon, any preacher
God ever used, or any preacher that ever preached honestly with
people. I'm just telling you the truth. Hebrews 11.5, listen,
here's faith's walk. My faith, Enoch, was translated
that he should not see death. And Enoch was not found because
God translated him, for before his translation, he had this
testimony. He pleased God. How does a man
please God? I read it. Faith pleases God. Well, where do you get this faith
from? Let me turn to it. Don't you turn. Let me read it
quickly. Genesis 5, verse 21 through 24. Listen. Old Enoch
lived 65 years. and begat Methuselah, and Enoch
walked with God." All the days of Enoch were 365 years, and
Enoch walked with God. Enoch walked with God. Describe the walk of faith for
me, preacher, all right, if I can. I know this, it's not by sight,
it's by believing God. I know sex, and it's not by law,
it's by love. I know thirdly, it's not rushing,
it's resting. It's not how much you do, it's
how much he did. I know it's not works, it's grace.
I know it's not for a little while, it's for life. But you
know when Moses wanted to give an example of this walk of faith,
he gave an example of a man who just believed God and walked
with God. He didn't walk with God. He was
a well-known man. He was a man of influence and
prestige because Moses mentioned him among these great giants
and heroes of faith. He's somebody, but he walked
with God. You can be somebody and walk
with God. He was a family man. It says here he lived 365 years
and begat sons and daughters. But even being a daddy and a
granddaddy and a great-granddaddy and a great-great-granddaddy,
Johnny walked with God. You don't have to be a hermit
to walk with God. You don't have to go to a mausoleum
to walk with God. You don't have to go to church
to walk with God. You don't have to go up that cave and sit cross-legged
like a nut to walk with God. You don't have to live on vegetables
to walk with God. You don't have to abstain from
pork to walk with God. You can just walk with God! You
believe that? Charlie, you reckon a fellow
could be in the window business and walk with God? I do, don't
you? I believe he could. I believe
a fellow could cut grass for a living and walk with God. Old
Enoch was a family man. He had sons and daughters, and
don't you know he loved them? And they'd gather around him
and wrestle with him on the floor and run out yard and play horseshoes
or something with him, but he walked with God. I like that.
Tell you something else, he was a working man. Enoch was a man
who worked for a living. With that many kids, he had to
work. This guy had a house full of kids, and the kids got married
and moved back in with him, you know? And he worked about 12
hours. You reckon Bible men work 16
hours a day and walk with God? I do. I do. I don't believe you have to put
on a black suit to walk with God. I don't believe you have
to walk around with your hands folded to walk with God. I don't
even believe you have to have a marble in your hand to walk
with God. Old Enoch walked with God so
consistently and regularly that one day he walked right on into
heaven. And he walked right on in just like he walked down here.
I believe that, Tom. But our religion today is so
phony, you got to have a certain whine to your voice. You got
to say certain silly little, you know what I'm talking about,
Daniel's in that mess for a long time. That's right, isn't it? And oh,
I'll tell you this, old Enoch lived to be an old man, and he
still walked with God. He had a stoop in his back. and
a hitch in his walk. And his steps, John, were a little
slower, weren't they? But I tell you, he was walking
with God. Either way, you know what I'm talking about. I believe
some of you do. But I'm just saying that this thing of faith
is not something you got on Sunday. It's not something you put on
when somebody's around. It's not something that makes
you live in two different worlds. It's a walking with God. Enoch
did, and ain't no reason why I can't. And I don't have to
impress you to walk with God. He knows my heart. Old Peter
said, you know I love you. Let's quit trying to impress
this old God-hating, hell-bound world and put on some kind of
religious veneer and religious front God ain't impressed. I know if
I'm not, He's not. If you can't impress me, you
have a hard time impressing Him. But I'll tell you, Christ impresses
Him, and He's my Lord. I'll tell you this, Ken, you
know what I'm talking about. Being around some of these religious
people makes me miserable. Just miserable. I'm afraid to
say something, afraid to find fault with it, you know. I'm
afraid to look a certain way, afraid to think I'm not biased. But old Enoch, well-known, family
man, working man, old man, just walked with God. I'd rather walk
with him in that outfit anyway, hadn't you? Because he knows
me, he understands me, and he loves me just like I am. He loved me before He saved me. And if He could love me then,
I know He loves me now in Christ. Alright, here's the next thing,
verse 7. Here's faith's obedience. Point
number 5, verse 7. By faith, Noah being warned of
God. God warned Noah of a flood. Noah had never seen a flood,
Noah had never seen a drop of rain. Did you know the world
had never seen rain up to that time? The world was watered by
dew and by a rising mist, wasn't it John? Something like that.
But they had never seen a drop of rain. But God said, there's
going to be such a rain that will destroy the whole world
by flood. And Noah believed him. He believed God. And he got busy
building an ark. You see, You can't separate faith
and conduct. You say, who really believes,
preacher? People believe who act on their
faith. That's who believes. You can't
separate faith and obedience. As a man thinketh in his heart,
as he believeth in his heart, so is he. Paul speaks in Romans
16 of what? The obedience of faith. If a man believes God, he'll
read God's Word, he'll worship God, he'll love God, he'll walk
with God, he'll rest in Christ, yes, if he believes God. He'll
prepare for death, he'll prepare for eternity, he'll prepare by
laying hold of the Redeemer. If he believes God, you can't
separate faith and conduct. How do I know that Noah believed
God? He built an ark. That's how I know it. See that?
See what I'm saying? Alright, verse 8, here's the
next thing, faith trials. Now here, by faith Abraham, when
he was called to go out into a place which he should have
to receive an inheritance, he obeyed, he went out, not knowing
where he was going. Let me ask you something. When
you think of Abel, what do you think of? The sacrifice, the
blood sacrifice. When you think of Noah and his
faith, what do you think of? The Ark. He obeyed God. When
you think of Abraham, what do you think of? Bob read it a while
ago. Trials. Man of faith, but oh,
how God tried him. Oh, how God tried him. Do you
know Abraham was 75 years old when he met God? Isn't that right,
Charlie? Do you know that Abraham didn't
even know God prior to that time? Do you know that Abraham was
an idolater? You know what John knows? He
was an idolater, worshiping idols in a heathen country with his
daddy. And God, isn't that right, Ken?
God revealed, 75 years old. And God told him to leave that
outfit, to leave that surroundings, his father's house, and get out.
and go to land, he'd show him. And Abraham obeyed God. That was a trial. You know, that
was tough. I'd hate to leave all y'all now. I asked Ken if he wanted to take
some of you with him. He hadn't been here for three months, and
you'd hate to leave him, don't you, Ken? But he had to leave after 75
years. and go into a wilderness, and do you know that he wandered
in the wilderness living in tents for his entire life? He never
owned a piece of ground. God promised it to him, but he
never did get it. He looked for a city. And do
you know he had a conflict with, everywhere he went he had a conflict?
A lot, even his nephew gave him a hard time. Finally they had
to split up. He told Lot, he said, take the
well-watered plains and I'll go to the mountains. And then
those kings of Sodom, you know, they tried to make him rich.
They offered him half of a kingdom. God tried him on every hand.
And then he got that little boy. He never had a child. Ninety
years old. Never had a child. And he went
in to that servant girl, Hagar, and had him a beautiful, bouncing
little boy, Ishmael. And he kept that little boy for
14 years. Only child he ever had up to
that time. Kept him 14 years. Taught him to hunt and to fish
and to swim. Where you see one, you see the
other. And then God came to old Abraham and said, that boy's
got to go. That's the son of the bondwoman.
That boy represents works born out of law. He's got to go. Abraham said, I could have put
him down here on the South Forty and give him just a little place.
No, sir. You've got to get off the whole
place. Now, you know something? You've got to believe God to
act under that kind of trial. And he put him out. And then
he gave him that boy Isaac just before that. And he came along
and did what you read tonight, take him up on a mountain. And
let me tell you something. Did you notice while Bob was
reading, he told Abraham to go to a place I'll show you and
sacrifice that boy as an offering to me. Three days later, he arrived
at the place. That man spent three days and
nights walking to that mountain, wondering why. And God never
said a word. You talk about trials, but I'll
tell you this. Faith will endure however severe
the trial, if it's faith. Now, trials won't produce faith.
That's the reason you don't get folks saved who've got cancer
in the hospital. No. No, you just don't do it. A refuge is built in the storm
will disappear in the sunshine. Trials do not produce faith.
Trials reveal faith. Abraham didn't get faith in these
trials. He had faith or he'd have never
got through them. He'd have quit. He'd have quit. But faith doesn't quit. That
makes sense. It's so. Well, I got to quit. But I told you, it hasn't been
nearly that long. Has it clicked yet? It's clicked. When I say it's clicked, that
means 45 minutes is gone. The tape. Would you give me two
more minutes? Let me show you verse 11. Here's faith's miracle. Through faith, also Sarah, herself
received strength to conceive seed and was delivered of a child
when she was ninety years old, past age, dead womb, because
she judged God faithful who promised. Therefore, sprang there even
of one, Abraham, and him as good as dead, he was over a hundred
years old, that came from the lords of Abraham, who was of
all practical purposes as far as begetting children dead, and
his wife, Sava, dead. There sprang from them as many
as the stars of the sky in multitude, and the sands which are by the
seashore." That's spiritual history. What does that show you? That
shows me faith's miracle. My God takes a dead sinner. And by his word and by the seed
of his word through his son begets life in that dead center. Just
like he beget life in that dead womb. That's faith's miracle. Bob prayed it a while ago. Faith's
the what? Gift of God. Faith's the work of God. Faith's
not something you drum up. Faith's got something God gives
you. For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of
yourself, it's the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should
boast. And I'll tell you this, one day, I'm going to die. And they're going to bury me. And in two or three years, there
won't be anything left. Because you see, we are destroyed
from within. They talk about, I'm going to
put you in the best casket and the best vault and seat you off
with tar and all this sort of thing, you know. I'll even slide
you in a drawer. Well, let me tell you something.
The worms eat from within, don't they? That's right. That body is going. Back to the
dust. God said so. Dust. And one day out of that grave,
wherever it is, life is going to come. I'm going to rise. That same principle. Here's that
woman, 90 years old, savory, as good as dead. There's no way
she can bear a child. There's no way she can conceive
and bear a child. She did. She did. God gave that life, miraculously. And you say there's no way that
her body can come out of that grave. There's no way, as far
as you're concerned, but when you talk about no way with him,
God is able. Do you believe that? Well, my
friends, that's faith. And that next verse there said
these people all died in faith. They not only lived by faith,
but when it came to die, they died believing this. I believe
God. There's no one else to believe.
The disciples said to the Lord Jesus, to whom shall we go? Thou
hast the words of life. So if you will, just turn a deaf
ear to all these voices of religion that are floating about you and
tune in on the living God and His Word. Isn't that what you
believe, Ken? That's what we preach. I don't
want people to believe anything because I said so. I want them
to run home and open the Word and see if that old boy told
the truth. Because I tell you, if I don't know the truth, I'm
in a mess and you are too. I'm not trying to impress anybody.
It's too late for that. I'm too old to fool with it.
I want to know God. And I want my son-in-law and
daughter to know God. My son. My friend Ron and Trish
and Debbie and Mike. Jim, I want you to know God.
That's the reason I'm telling the truth. I'm trying to tell
the truth. I'm trying to get people to just don't follow the
patterns and to save yourself from this perverted generation,
a religious perverted generation. And just zero in on this book.
Find out what God says, and believe God. Believe God. Believe God. How can a man come
to God? By belief in God. And I'll tell
you this, you walk in the light He gives you, and He'll give
you some more. He'll give you some more. Because
any man wills to do his will, he'll know the way of God.