Now my first point in this message
is the importance of faith. The importance of faith. I wish
that I could impress upon myself and upon you the importance of
faith. The scriptures continually emphasize
over and over again the fact that we're saved by faith, not
of works. not by the deeds of the law.
We are saved by faith. For by grace are you saved through
faith. It's by the grace of God through
faith. And that faith's not of yourself, it's the gift of God. Four times in the word of God,
four times, the scripture says the just, now not just in themselves,
but just in Christ. We're justified in Christ. But
the just shall live. That is, they begin spiritual
life, they continue in spiritual life, and they shall live eternally
by faith. The just shall live by faith.
Four times the scripture says that. And then he says this in
Romans 5, Paul writes, therefore, therefore being justified, justified
is to be not guilty. just as if I had never seen.
It's to be perfectly holy, righteous, without fault, unblameable before
God Almighty. Justified. How is a man justified? He's not justified by decision. He's not justified by works.
He's not justified by deeds. He's justified by faith. Therefore,
being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our
Lord Jesus Christ. And then I read to you from Hebrews
11, without faith, it's impossible to please God. It doesn't say
it's difficult to please God. It says it's impossible. He that
believeth, he that believeth, our Lord says, shall be saved.
He that believeth not shall be damned. Without faith, it's impossible
to please God. Our Lord Jesus Christ said to
Peter, Peter, I've prayed for you. Not that you wouldn't deny
me, because you're going to deny me. Not that you wouldn't go
through trials and anguish and heartaches, because you will.
But I prayed for you to this end, that your faith fail not.
Our Lord said in Mark 9, 23, a man came to him and he said,
if you can believe, this man with a son who was desperately
ill, He came to our Lord, asking that the Lord heal his son. The
Lord said to him, if you can believe, if you can believe,
all things are possible to them that believe. That's what we
read in Hebrews 11, by faith Abel offered a more excellent
sacrifice than Cain. By faith. It was faith that caused
Abel to bring the blood instead of the works of his hands. It
was by faith that Abel bought the lamb instead of the fruit
of the garden. It was by faith that Abel came to God looking
to the coming Redeemer. It was by faith that Enoch was
translated that he should not see death. It was by faith that
Noah prepared an ark for the saving of his house. It was by
faith that Abraham left his father's house and went to a land that
God would show him. It was by faith that Abraham
offered up Isaac It was by faith that Moses refused to be called
the son of Pharaoh's daughter, and esteemed the reproach of
Christ greater riches than all of the so-called bounties of
Egypt by faith. So you see, that's the importance
of faith. And it says these men all died in faith. All right,
here's the second question. What is faith? What is faith? I'll give you two definitions. Now, the first one is found in
2 Timothy 1. I want you to turn there, if
you will. 2 Timothy 1. What is faith? What is faith? I know that preachers are so
indefinite about this. They're so seemingly dense. It's
just believe. Just believe. That's all you
have to do, just believe. Well, what am I to believe? Whom am I to believe? What is
this thing of faith? Well, let me see if I can help
you. Now, Charles Haddon Spurgeon, who perhaps was the greatest
preacher of the last two or three hundred years, at least the greatest
preacher England produced in those years, Charles Haddon Spurgeon
said he had found many so-called definitions of faith, but this
one he found to be the best. It's in 2 Timothy 1.12. What
is faith? Now Paul says in verse 12 of
2 Timothy 1, for the which cause I also suffer these things. Nevertheless,
I'm not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed. This is the
first part of faith. There must be knowledge. A person,
I tell you, he cannot trust an unrevealed Savior. He cannot
believe in and trust and rest in a Lord and Redeemer he does
not know. And this is what Paul is saying,
I know whom I have believed. Now watch this. Paul didn't say,
I know when I believe. That's immaterial. I know a lot
of people say, well, I can take you to the spot, and I can take
you to the place. I can take you to the time, and
I can take you there to the beach. But that's not important. Paul
didn't say, I know when I believe. I believe he did know. But I
believe there are a lot of people who don't know. He didn't say,
I know when I believe, and he didn't say, I know what I believe.
Faith is not in a what. Faith is not in a system. Faith
is not in a creed. Faith is a person. I know whom
I have believed. That's very much. I know it.
I know who he is. I know that Jesus of Nazareth
is their God of their God. I know that Jesus of Nazareth,
though he's a man, perfect man, is God in human place. I know
that Jesus of Nazareth is the shepherd of the covenant, is
the Christ prophesied and promised in the Old Testament. That Jesus
of Nazareth is the representative of a divine purpose and plan
and of a people God gave to him. I know that Jesus of Nazareth
is my righteousness and my sin offering. I know that Jesus of
Nazareth, though he died, he lives again. He's at the right
hand of God. I know whom I have believed.
I don't believe in a myth, or a historical character, or a
religion. I believe God. And notice I didn't
say, I believe in. You know, there was a, I read
the story one time of an old Puritan preacher who lay dying.
And his wife came in and sat down beside his bed, and he said
to her, Quote some scripture for me. Well, she came, quoted
this verse right here. She said, For the which cause
I suffer these things, nevertheless I am not ashamed. For I know
in whom I have believed. And the old man raised his hand
and said, Stop, woman. She said, What's the problem?
He said, You quoted that wrong. She said, No, I didn't. I know
in whom I believe. He said, There's no end in that
phrase. He said, don't even let a preposition
come between you and the Lord. It doesn't say, I know in whom
I believe. It says, I know whom I have believed.
Did you know there's a difference? The devil believes there's a
God, but he doesn't know that God. He doesn't know that. I know whom. All right, faith
is knowledge. I know whom I have believed.
Why do we go over and over these things of who Christ is, what
Christ did, why Christ did it, where Christ is now? That you
might know Him. And here's the second thing,
it's confidence. Paul said, I know whom I have
believed, and I am totally confident, I am totally persuaded that he
is able, he is able to do all that he said. You can't believe. No, you just can't believe. in
one to be your savior who is limited in any sense of the word.
He's got to be a sovereign, able, sufficient, capable master. He's got to be. And this is what
Paul is saying here. I know whom I have believed,
and I know, I'm confident, I'm totally persuaded beyond a shadow
of a doubt that he is able. He's able to do what? He's able
to keep all that I've committed to him. He's able to present
us faultless before the throne of God. He's able to raise up our bodies
and make them like His own. He's able to save to the uttermost
them that come to God by Him. He's able. Christ is able. He's
a sovereign, sufficient Savior who is able to redeem my soul
and to keep my soul. He's able. I know, I have confidence
that He's able. And here's the third word. I
know whom. I know knowledge. I know whom
I have believed. I'm settled on this matter of
who the Redeemer is, who the Christ is. Whom do you say that
I am? You're the Christ, the Son of
the living God. I believe that Jesus is the Christ. I know whom
I have believed. And I know this. I'm confident,
persuaded beyond a shadow of a doubt that He can save me.
That water can't save me. The wine and bread can't save
me. My deeds and works can't save me. My denomination can't
save me. It doesn't have the power. My
decision, my morality, all these things cannot save me. And I
know that Christ is able. He's able because of who He is.
He's able because of what He did. He's able because He's God's
anointed High Priest who has a suitable sacrifice and sin
offering to lay on the mercy seat in the Holy of Holies. He's
able. To keep that which I've, now
here it is, I've committed. I've committed unto him. Paul
says, I've consciously, willingly, intelligently, I've committed
it to Christ. Now, my friends, this is not
a profession before me. This matter of committing everything
to Christ is not walking down an aisle and making some kind
of public testimony. This committal of soul, of life,
of our sins, of our hope, of our future, this committal of
self, of all I am and all I have to Christ is something that takes
place between me and God, with no soul winner in between, or
no preacher in between, or no religious huckster in between,
or nobody looking for statistics and fame and so forth. It's me
and Christ. I committed it to Him. Does that
make sense what I'm saying? And you're the only one who can
answer that question. Have you committed all to Christ? Well,
I made a profession. That's not the answer. Have you
committed all to Christ? Well, I saved and I was fourteen.
That's not the answer. Have you committed your soul
and life and family and and possessions and future and salvation and
resurrection and eternity and acceptance with God? Have you
committed lock, stock and barrel everything into the hands of
Jesus Christ? The Father put it there. You'd
be wise to put it there. Have you intelligently and willingly
and personally and lovingly, in an unconditional surrender,
committed it to Christ? But you're the only one who can
answer that. Paul answered it for himself. He said, I know.
I know whom I have believed. And I'm confident. I don't have
a shadow of a doubt. Not a faint shadow of a doubt
that he, I know he's able. He's able. He's the only one
who in heaven and earth, or under the earth, who is able to keep
anything. And I have consciously, intelligently,
willingly committed it to Christ. He's my Lord and Savior. Like
Peter said, Lord, you know all things, you know I love you. You don't have to ask the preacher
if you're saved, or ask your wife if you're saved, or ask
some traveling evangelist if you're saved. If you have submitted
and surrendered to Christ and received him and committed your
soul to him by faith in heart, you are saved. It's a personal
committal too. Oh, I'm for public confession,
I'm 100% in favor of baptism and a public acknowledgment of
Christ and all these things, but I tell you that private,
personal, individual committal to Christ must take place between
you and God. It's got to. It's just got to. And then you can get out of this
religious pattern. You get out of this, well, honey,
we ought to start going back to church again. We've laid out
of church. I see people all the time who lay out a while and
come to church. I know what's happening. They get under conviction
and say, well, we ought to go to church again, you know. So
they come a while, and some come on special days, and they're
in that kind of religious ritual. Well, they're not a spiritual
Christian. They're carnal Christian, or they're not like they ought
to be, but they do love the Lord and all these things. If there
ever anything takes place between you and Jesus Christ, you belong
to Him, lock, stock and barrel. He's your foundation, He's your
refuge, He's your lover, He's your husband, He's your wife,
He's your brother, He's your father, He's your hope, He's
your ambition, He's your blueprint, He's everything. And the more
you can be with Him and His people and love Him and rejoice in Him
and hear about Him, the happier you are, you've committed it.
That's a commitment. And this other six and seven,
you can just have it, because it's not worth the time it'd
take to blow it up, or something somebody says. All right, here's
the second definition, Hebrews 11. Now, that's what Paul says,
the definition of faith. I know whom I have believed,
and I am confident he is able to keep that which I've committed.
It's His. In His hands I've committed.
Alright, Hebrews 11.1. Now watch this. Now faith is.
Here's what faith is. Here's what faith is. Here's
what saving faith is. It's the substance. Now the word
substance is support, ground, foundation. Faith is the ground
or the substance, the foundation of things hoped for. What do
we hope for? Well, we hope for acceptance
with God. We hope for forgiveness of sin. Is that what you're hoping
for? That's what I'm hoping for. I'm hoping God looks upon me
in Christ and loves me. I'm hoping God will forgive my
sin. I'm hoping, I hope that God Almighty will accept me in
Christ. That's what I hope. That's what
I hope. I haven't seen those things.
I haven't received any paper saying this is to certify that
Henry Mahan's name is in the last book of life. I hope it
is. I hope, Jim, you got any papers
that tell you that I've got a birth certificate that tells me I'm
a Mahan. I've got a driver's license telling
me I can drive, in case you want to know. And I've got other things
in there, but I don't have any kind of paper that tells me that
I'm a Christian, child of God. What's your support? What's your
ground? What's your foundation? Faith? Faith in whom? Faith in
the Word of God. The Word of God is my foundation.
The Word of God is my support. And you know why? Because a promise
of God is as good as a deed. Now let me show you, let me illustrate
that. Whole of Hebrews 11, we're coming back, but turn to Romans
4. Romans 4. Abraham didn't have a son, but
he had the Word of God that he'd have a son. And he believed it. Alright, look at that, Romans
chapter 4, verse 18, talking about Abraham, who against hope,
that's against natural reasoning and natural wisdom and natural
causes, who against hope, believed in hope. that he would become
the father of many nations according to that which was spoken by God.
So shall thy seed be. And being not weak in faith,
he considered not his own body, now dead, when he was a hundred
years old, or yet the deadness of Saviour's womb, he staggered
not at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith,
giving glory to God, and being fully persuaded, fully persuaded,
that what God promised he was able to perform. And that's what
Hebrews 11.1 is saying. All that I hope for. All that
I expect. Faith is the support and the
ground and the foundation of that. Because faith finds its
foundation in the promise of God. I believe it. I believe it. That's what God
has promised he's able to perform. This is the ground and support
of faith. That's what faith is. Believing God. Abraham believed
He believed God. All right, what's the next line
in Hebrews 11? And faith is the evidence. That word evidence
is proof. Faith is the evidence of things not seen. Noah, here's
an old man standing out there on a plain, and he and his boys
are building a ship out here on dry land. They're building
a ship in a place where it's never rained. And they've never
had a flood. Noah, why are you building that
ark? He replies, I believe God. I
believe God. His faith believed the word of
God. The word of God was the ground
or foundation of his faith and what he hoped to see. His building
the ark was the proof of it. His building the ark was the
proof that he believed it. All right, let me ask you, Moses,
why are you putting blood on the door? That seems like an
awful silly thing to do to me, put blood on a door. Why are
you doing that? I believe God. I believe that
at midnight tonight, God's coming through this land, and He's going
to slay the firstborn in every house. And God told me to slay
the lamb, roast it with fire, and eat the body, and put the
blood on the door, and when he sees the blood, he'll pass over
me." The Word of God is the ground of what Moses expected. He believed
God. And his putting the blood on
the door was the evidence that he believed God. See that? Faith is the evidence of things
not seen, the proof of things not seen. Sinner, why are you
being baptized? You come into the pool and you're
going to follow the Lord in baptism. Why are you doing that? I'm doing
it because I believe that Jesus Christ was crucified, buried,
and rose again for my justification. And I am, by faith, giving evidence
that I believe that. I'm following my Lord in baptism.
You see, faith stands in the place of things hoped for and
the things not seen until those things become a reality. Does
that help? That's what says faith. Now faith,
faith, I know whom I have believed. Faith not in a myth or a creed
or a catechism or a system of doctrines. Faith rests in a person. Faith looks to a person. Faith
is directed to a person, a person in whom we have confidence, knowledge
of him and confidence in him. Confidence that he is able, that
he's commissioned of God, he's sent of God, he's able to do
all that God requires, all that the law demands, all that I need.
He's able. And that faith commits myself
to it. It surrenders. It commits. It's not Christ plus holding
on to something else. Somebody says, well, I don't
believe baptism is essential to salvation, but just in case,
that ain't faith. Well, I know that certain things
aren't required, but I'm committed to Christ. The thief on the cross
never walked a step for Jesus. His feet were nailed to the cross.
He never moved a hand for Christ. They were nailed to the cross.
He never washed in the pool of baptism. He never witnessed to
one single person, never won a soul to Jesus, never gave a
dime. to missionaries. And he went
with Christ straight to glory. That's faith. Lord, you're not
going to stay dead. You're coming into the kingdom.
Remember me when you come into the kingdom. You're all I have.
You're my hope. You're my refuge. You're my strength.
You're everything. That's committal. That's committal. Faith is a precious grace wherever
it's bestowed. It rests in Jesus Christ alone,
and it is the gift of God. Faith owns Jesus Christ to be
king, the all-atoning priest. Faith claims no merit of its
own, looks for all to Christ. To him, faith leads the soul
when filled with deep distress. It flies to the fountain of blood
and trusts his righteousness. Since, tis thy work alone, and
that divinely priest, Lord, send thy Spirit and thy Word, and
work that faith in me." Alright, I've given you two things. The
importance of faith. And I can't stress that too strongly.
Secondly, what is faith? I'm not going over it again. You heard what I said. Thirdly,
whence cometh this faith? Now, the Bible says all men have
not faith. A lot of men have religion. Now, I want you to
listen carefully right here. A lot of men have religion, but
all men do not have this saving faith. All women do not have
this saving faith. In fact, our Lord Jesus said,
when the Son of Man cometh, will he even find faith on this earth? A lot of people have religion.
A lot of people have doctrine. A lot of people have strong moral
principles. Very few have faith. Very few. In fact, Israel, out of the millions
that left Egypt, only two entered the Promised Land, over 20 years
of age. Why? Unbelief. Unbelief. That's the sole reason.
Unbelief. They could not enter in because
of unbelief. Take heed, brethren, lest there
be found in you an evil heart of unbelief. All right? Where does faith come from? Number
one, it's the gift of God. Faith is not a flower that grows
in the garden of human nature. It's a gift of God. Where you
find faith, you find God at work. It's a gift of God. It's given
unto you to believe on Him. Faith is the gift of God, not
of works. It's a gift of God. I'm suggesting you do what the
disciples did. Ask Christ for faith. They said,
Lord, increase our faith. Isn't that what they said? What
about the centurion? He said, Lord, I believe. Help
my unbelief. Help me to believe. Secondly, faith is born of the
word of God. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing
by the word of God. Of his own will beget he us with
the word of truth. Galatians 3 keeps talking about
the hearing of faith, the hearing of faith. This is the seed of
faith right here. Believe me, believe me honestly.
This is the foundation here, right here. God said it. David
said, I believe therefore I speak. And Paul quoted the same thing.
There's no other foundation for faith than the Word of God. It's
not feeling. Somebody says, well, I just feel
like God will do this. You can bet he'll do the opposite.
That's too hard, but that's so. Well, it's been my experience.
Watch out. Watch out. Well, I'll tell you
what I think. My thoughts are not your thoughts. There's a
way that seems right to me. Well, it seems to me. You know,
everything we say like that leads us into a wilderness. Here's
the thing to say, God said this, and I believe it. I don't understand
everything in this book. I'm going to talk about that
tonight. There's so much I don't understand. But there's some
things I do understand, and I believe it. I believe God. Faith is the
gift of God, faith is born of the Word of God, and faith is
a heart work. Now here's where I want to camp
for just a moment. if thou shalt confess with thy
mouth Jesus to be Lord, and believe in thine heart God hath raised
him from the dead." Now I'm not talking about this organ here.
This organ in here called the heart is not the heart he's talking
about there. Believe me, he's not. Believe
me, he's not. And you know, I want to be, I
want to be as kind as possible, but I have friends who who are
opposed to heart transplants on this basis. Yeah, but if God's
given me a new heart and they put another heart in there, what
with the new heart? Well, you laugh, but some folks
are serious about that. How can a man have an artificial
heart? That's the seed of affections.
No, not this organ. This thing could explode, but
I ain't going to explode. We're talking about, when you
talk about the heart, we're talking about the real you. We're talking
about the seat of your affections, the soul. With the heart, man
believe it. With the soul, with the seat
of affections, with the real, honest to goodness, you. You
and me. Who you think I am, and believe
I am, and I might even convince you I am, may not be who I am.
God knows who I am, and I know who I am. Why are we content to deceive
people? Why are we content to carry on
a charade of religion? Why are we content to be one
way at church and another way at home? It's rather stupid,
isn't it? Because God doesn't look on the
outward countenance, God looks on the heart. And this believing with the heart
is believing with the affection. For example, let me give you
this. Now listen to this. There are some things I know and believe
which I do not love and of which I don't approve. Now listen to
me. You know, the Bible says you believe there's one God.
The devil believes there's one God and trembles. I believe there's
a country called Russia. I don't love it. I don't approve
of it. But I believe it. Don't I believe
it? Of course I believe it. I have
plenty of evidence that there's a country called Russia. But
I don't love that country. I despise it. And I don't approve of it. All
right? I believe that Russia is a communist state. I know
that. If you're going to pin me to
the wall and shoot me, I'd have to say, yes, it's a communist
state and that's all there is to it. But I don't love it. I
believe there's a devil. I don't love him. I despise him. And the multitudes of people
who believe there's a God and Jesus Christ died on the cross
and was buried and rose again, they know it's so. Do they love
him? That's another question. That's
another question. So you see, you can really believe
something. And when preachers talk about
believing with the head as opposed to believing with the heart,
I believe in Russia with the head. Believing the devil with
the head. It's facts, truth. You can believe
the doctrines of grace. You say, well, I'm saved because
I believe God's sovereign, man's laws, and Christ died on the
cross. Oh, I beg your pardon. The devil believes every one
of those things. I don't mean you're saved. The man says who
loves Christ, who is approved of Christ, who has been brought
by his affections into a oneness with Christ, in whom Christ lives,
there's a difference, my friend. And that's the reason I say a
man can believe a lot of things and not love them, and not approve of them at all.
and not accept them at all, and not be one with them at all.
But now here's this thing of faith. It's a heart faith. I
believe that Jesus is the Christ, and I wouldn't have it any other
way. I'm glad. I believe that Jesus
Christ is the Son of God. I'm convinced of it. He's the
Son of God. I believe He's the Christ who
lived on this earth, who obeyed God's law, who died for me. I
believe He's my Lord and my Master, and I wouldn't have it any other
way. And I belong to Him, and everything I got, the whole shooting
match belongs to Him, and I want it that way. I submit. This I love, this I approve,
and this I delight in. God forbid, Paul said, that I
should glory in anything else. And do you know this is where
most people miss faith, I tell you? They think, they say, well,
you say, how long have you been saved? I've always been saved.
What do you mean? I've always believed Jesus died on the cross. Well, that all depends on how
smart you were when you were a child. If you were pretty intelligent
as a child, I might buy that. But you hadn't always been saved.
There was a day when you confronted the demands of that Christ, There
was a day when you confronted the deity of that Christ. There
was a day when you confronted the love of that Christ as opposed
to the love of this world. There was a day when you confronted
the demands of that Christ on his people as opposed to the
attractions of life. And that's when you found out
whether you loved him or not. That's exactly when you found
out whether you loved him. when you were willing to bow
like Thomas and say, my Lord and my God. Let me give you one
other thing. In Romans chapter, no, 1 Corinthians chapter 2,
this thing of faith. Let's come at this faith. In
1 Corinthians chapter 2, now listen to this. I'll wind it
up right here. Paul came to Corinth and he said
in chapter 2, verse 1, brethren, when I came to you in Corinth,
I came not with excellency of speech or wisdom, declaring unto
you the gospel of God. I didn't come with philosophy
and earthly wisdom, try to impress you with my fine speech and personality
and so forth. But I determined, verse 2, not
to know anything among you except Jesus Christ, the Lord, and Him
crucified. And I was with you in weakness. I know my own frailty in the
flesh, and my own weakness, not by power nor by might, but by
my spirit. I was with you in fear and trembling,
and my speech and my preaching was not with persuasible words
of man's wisdom. I didn't high-pressure you to
walk the aisle, or high-pressure you to make a decision, or high-pressure
you to accept Jesus, or high-pressure you to do anything else. I didn't
put any pressure on you, persuade you with man's wisdom and logic
and so forth. But I preached to you in the
demonstration of the Holy Ghost and the power of God. In order
that," now watch verse 5, Your faith should not stand or be
in the wisdom of men. What does that mean? Do you know
we have a strong tendency to adopt our parents' religion? My parents were Baptists. I grew
up in a Baptist church. And most of my early life, that
was the reason I was a Baptist, because that's the way I was
taught. I suppose if my parents had been Catholic, I'd have been
a Catholic. If they'd been Mormon, I'd have been a Mormon. Church
of Christ, I'd have probably been Church of Christ. We have
a tendency to, we respect our parents. I think I could say
this about my daughter, Becky. Her daddy was a Baptist preacher
who preached sovereignty, and I think she just believed those
things. So one day she met Christ. She passed 20 some odd years
of age. But up to that point, she just, she's believed what
I taught her. She had confidence in me and
respect for me, and I'd never lied to her, and so she believed
me. But that won't save you, did you know that? We have a
tendency to follow our denomination. We have a tendency to believe
great men like Spurgeon and Gill and Owens and Baxter. Hold on,
wait a minute now. Hold on here. No confidence in
the flesh. Well, Owens said this, I don't
care what Owens said, He's a man who may be lost. He may be lost. Paul said, don't let your faith
stand in the wisdom of men. Don't laugh. He said, I preach
in such a way that your faith should not stand. That's the
reason Paul said, I thank God I didn't baptize any of you.
He didn't want any of them to say, well, Paul baptized me.
What's that got to do with it? Well, I tell you, my old parents
were godly people, and it will make you godly. You can't inherit
salvation. He said, I want your faith to
stand, not in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God, in the
Word of God, in the clear revelation of God to you. To you. Let me show you a picture of
that over here in John 18. And I'm being truthful with you,
this is the same point I'm on here. In John 18.33. Now this
is what I'm going to close with and leave this with you to think
about. John 18.33. Then Pilate entered into the
judgment hall again and he called Jesus. Do all of you have it?
John 18.33. And said to him, Art thou the
King of the Jews? Jesus answered, Sayest thou this
thing of thyself, or did others tell it thee of me? That's what
I'm asking. What do you know about Jesus
Christ? Is that what you know or what you've been taught? That's
right. That's what our Lord asked Pilate.
He said, Are you Jesus? Are you the King of the Jews?
He said, Did somebody tell you that or is that coming out of
you? And this is what I'm asking right here, this thing of faith
in Christ. Is this something you heard Brother
Mahan preach, or some other preacher preach, or Mom and Daddy taught
you, or handed down to you, or read in one of the old Puritans,
or you read the Philadelphia Confession of Faith? Or is this
something coming out of you? Do you say this of yourself?
I believe that Jesus is the Christ. Under God, before God, in the
name of the living God, from my innermost being and seed of
affections, If the whole world perishes, I believe Jesus Christ
is the Son of God. If nobody else believes it in
this world... Can you say that? I'm not quoting
somebody. I'm not parroting somebody. I'm
not saying it because I was raised a Baptist or a Methodist. I'm
saying it because God revealed it to me. I believe that Jesus
Christ is the Son of God. He's my hope. He's my refuge.
He's my Lord. I'll live and die with Him. And
by God's grace, I'll reign with Him. That's salvation. And that's
faith. That's the faith that's faith.
Clear as I can make it. Our Father, oh, how we thank You for Your Word.
Where would we be without the Word? We just look to the Word. We believe and therefore we've
spoken. I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Lord,
increase our faith. Help our unbelief. Lord, help
our unbelief. Move through this congregation
in the power of your Spirit and give faith. Give faith. Plant the seed of the Word in
the hearts of men and women and bring forth saving faith. Faith
to live by, faith in Christ to rest in, faith that will win
the victory over trials, that will overcome by the blood of
the Lamb, faith that will enable us to die restful, peaceful.