Here's our subject this morning,
the obedience of faith. You cannot separate faith and
conduct. You cannot separate belief and
obedience. Faith worketh by love. Now, I want you to listen carefully.
I'm going to do more teaching than preaching today, but I want
to get across this point. I do pray that the Spirit of
God will give me some liberty in preaching this subject today,
for our good and His glory, the obedience of faith. In Psalm 110, verse 1, listen
to the Scripture, Psalm 110, verse 1 through 3, the Lord said
unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine
enemies thy footstool. The Lord shall send the rod of
thy strength out of Zion, to rule in the midst of his enemies,
and thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power in the beauty of holiness from the womb of
the morning thou hast to do of you." Now, my friends, none of
you can deny not anybody, I'm certain not a soul listening
to my voice, can deny that the birth of Christ, the life of
Christ, the death of Christ, the resurrection of Christ, and
the eternal glory of Jesus Christ were all purposed, planned, foreordained
of the Father from the foundation of the world. Now, you cannot
deny that. The Scripture declares that every detail Every detail
of Jesus Christ's redemptive work was purposed, planned, ordained,
and prophesied in the Holy Scriptures. Every detail. Every detail. Before
it ever took place, hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of
years before Christ was ever born of Mary, the Scripture says,
Behold, the Lord himself shall give you a sign. A virgin shall
conceive and bring forth a son. That was hundreds of years before
he was ever born. Thousands of years before he
was ever born. The scripture said he'll be born
of the seed of woman. He'll be born of the seed of
Abraham. He'll be born from the tribe of Judah, the family of
Jesse, and the household of David. You know that's so. Long back
in the Old Testament, Moses wrote that. Moses wrote that. Isaiah wrote that. And Malachi
said he would be, Micah said he would be born in Bethlehem.
in Bethlehem, hundreds of years before he was born in Bethlehem,
the scripture said he would be born in Bethlehem, born of the
virgin in Bethlehem, and that he would flee to Egypt, out of
Egypt have I called my son, and that he would be called a Nazarene,
that he would grow up in Nazareth, that he would be betrayed for
30 pieces of silver, thousands of years before he came, it said
he would be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver, denied by his own
disciples, That he'd be crucified on a cross, they'd pluck out
his beard, that they'd pierce his hands and feet, that he'd
be crucified and rise from the tomb and ascend to glory. If
you read the 22nd Psalm, it'll give you the very words he said
from the cross and the very words the people said standing at the
foot of the cross. And they cast lots for my garment.
That's just so. You know that's so. Hundreds
of years before Christ came, the Word of God said he would
be despised, rejected of men, a man of sorrows, acquainted
with grief. Isn't that what it says? And
then when Peter was preaching at Pentecost, he declared to
those people, murderers of Christ, crucifiers of Christ, those who
helped nail Christ to the cross, he said, you did it. You did
it. You with wicked hands have crucified
the Lord of glory. This same Jesus, whom you crucified,
God hath exalted and made both Lord and Christ, but he was delivered,
watch it now, by the determinate counsel of God, you have taken
in the wicked hands of crucified and slain. You did it, but God
determined before the world began, but you do this. That's what
Scripture says. Acts 4.27, For of a truth against
thy holy child Jesus, Both Herod and Pontius Pilate, the Gentiles
and the people of Israel were gathered together to do. To do
what? To do what they wanted to do?
To do what they willed to do? To do what their wicked hearts
told them to do? No, sir. That's true, too. But
to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before
to be done. Now, you can't, no one with any
knowledge of the Bible, any understanding of the character of God, the
eternality of God, the immutability of God, that is, as unchangeableness,
can deny that everything, every detail, every smallest, minutest
detail of the redemptive work of Christ was ordained, purposed,
promised, prophesied before the world began. But, now listen
to me, here I come, something mighty important, but you cannot
deny that though all these things were determined by the Father,
ordained by the Father, and appointed by the Father, and purposed by
the Father, they must all be done, they must all be fulfilled
by the Son. Though they're purposed and ordained
and planned from the beginning of the world, though Almighty
God says this shall be the way it is, it'll be as I say, but
it still must be done. His birth was foretold, but he
had to be born. His life was real. His subjection
to his parents, he actually was born from a virgin's womb. He actually lay in that manger. He actually fled to Egypt from
the wrath of Herod. He actually grew up in a carpenter's
shop and worked and had calluses on his hands, sawing wood and
driving nails. Our Lord Jesus Christ's life
was real. His temptation was real in all
points. He was tempted as we are yet
without sin. The weariness, the pain, the
hunger, the thirst, the daily trials were real. It had to be
done. It had to be done or we'd have
never had a Redeemer. It had to be done or we'd have
never been saved. You can't save people by what you write on paper.
You can't save people by a covenant. You can't save people by a contract
drawn up even in eternity in the counsels of God. There's
got to be a redeemer. The law has got to be satisfied
realistically by a man. The justice of God has got to
be met by a man. The soul that's in it, it shall
die, and somebody's got to die. Blood has got to be shed. God's
judgment has got to be satisfied. That's what I'm saying. His sufferings
and death were real. You look at him yonder and guess
him and his guard. That's real sweat on his brow. Those are
real drops of blood pouring from his pores. That's real agony
through which he's going. Those are real tears upon his
cheek. They're real. They're real. All
of that agony and that suffering in Gethsemane's garden is real. When he goes into the soldier's
hall and they pluck his beard out and the blood spurts from
the veins, that's real blood. And when they press that crown
of thorns down into his Precious brow, that's real pain. When
he starts and jumps from the pain, that's real pain. And when
they lash his back with that cat of nine tails and the flesh
is pulled out from the skin and thrown against the wall, that's
real flesh. And when he goes to Calvary's
cross and they drive those nails into his hands and into his feet,
those are real nails piercing real flesh. And that's real agony
and real pain that he's feeling. And when he dies, it's a real
death. He actually died on that cross. He actually was buried
in that tomb. And he actually rose again. He
actually rose again. And he appeared before many witnesses.
Now what I'm saying, every bit of this, I read every word. They spit in his face. I read
that in the Old Testament. They pierced his hands and feet.
I read that hundreds of years before it ever took place. It
was ordained, it was purposed, it was planned, it was in God
Almighty's will. But that doesn't get the job
done. He had to come into this world.
He had to meet the law and fulfill what God said he'd do. He had
to go to the cross and bear our sins and bear our guilt, or we'd
be bearing it right now. It had to be a real transaction.
A real transaction must take place in order to restore us
to the favor of God. Now, let me take this on through
the Word. I'm saying that what God ordained will take place,
but it's got to take place. I'm saying what God purposed
is going to take place, but it's got to take place. And yet it
applies to the life of Noah. You read it. You can't deny this.
God Almighty said He's going to send a flood. God Almighty
said He's going to destroy the world. This was 120 years before
it took place. He said eight souls would be
saved, eight people. would be saved, so as by water. God Almighty would deliver eight
people. In other words, you doubt God's promise? No, you don't.
You doubt God's word? No. God said, it's going to be
a flood. I'm going to destroy man. God looked down from heaven,
saw that every imagination of man's heart was evil. Continued
the whole world was just rotten to the core. God would wipe it
out. God would destroy it, but God would save Noah and his family.
Right? Exactly. But Noah still got to
believe God. Noah's got to build an ark. Noah's
got to believe God's Word. Noah's got to enter the ark.
And when Noah completed that ark and the door stood open,
God said, Noah, come into the ark. He's got to enter. If he
doesn't enter, he'll drown. If he doesn't believe God, he'll
drown. If he doesn't build an ark, he'll drown. God ordained
it. God purposed it. God said it
would be. But it was. And that transaction
took place. You see where I'm headed? Yes,
God has a people. Yes, God has an everlasting covenant.
Yes, God gave to His Son a people. Yes, Christ died for them, and
through His blood they're justified. But they're going to believe.
Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power. And those
who are not willing will perish. Those who are willing will be
saved. Those who do not come to Christ will perish. Those
who come to Christ will be saved. No man is saved because he is
elected. No man is saved because he is chosen of God. Man is saved
because Christ died for him. And no man is saved who does
not believe on Christ, and lay hold on Christ, and embrace Christ,
and look to Christ with his own eyes, and believe in Christ with
his own heart, and bow to Christ through his own broken will.
Thy people, yeah, they are thy people, made your people by your
grace, Lord, chosen by your grace and love. But thy people shall
be willing Our Lord has no unwilling bride. Our Lord has no unwilling
children. Our Lord has no unwilling she.
They are willing when? In the day of His power. In the
day of His revelation. Let's look at Moses. I want to
look at Moses beyond question. You can't question this. God
determined to deliver Israel from Egypt. You know that by
the hand of Moses. God determined, He said, it's
going to be done. Now Pharaoh would not let them
go. But they must be delivered. And
they must be delivered by blood. Because, you see, this deliverance
is the Passover. This deliverance is a picture
of our deliverance. Our deliverance from the age
of sin to the Canaan of paradise. And it has to be done by blood.
And Pharaoh is not going to let them go, and Moses doesn't have
the strength to take them out by himself. So the blood of the
Passover must be shed. Pharaoh must refuse to let them
go, and he will refuse. He'll harden his heart. Scripture
says God hardened his heart. God's the first cause of all
things. The judgment of the firstborn must be accomplished. So God
said through Moses for Israel to take the blood, kill the lamb,
eat its flesh, all of it, All of it, put the blood on the doorpost,
the lintel in the two-side post. When I see the blood, I'll pass
over you." Now, you listen to me. Israel is coming out of Egypt. Not a hook nor a hair is going
to be left behind. Not a child, not a possession.
God's taking it all, just like He's going to redeem us, body
and soul. He's going to redeem us completely. Not a single one
of His sheep will be left. Not one of His jewels will be
missing from His crown. All will be redeemed, every one
of them. Every one of the Israelites are coming out of Egypt. ever
blessed one of them. God's decreed it. But they're
going to have to put that blood on the door. And God says if
there's not blood on the door, the firstborn in that home dies,
not only from Pharaoh's palace to the cattle on the hillside.
And Israel put the blood. You say, what if they hadn't
have done it? They'd have died. They'd have perished. And I'm
telling you this, if you're not under the blood, if you don't
believe on Christ, if you don't receive the gospel, you'll perish
too. But God's decreed. I know that. God decreed the death of Christ,
but he had to die. But God decreed, I know that,
God decreed Noah to be saved by an ark, but he had to build
it. He had to believe God, had to enter it. But God decreed,
God decreed Israel to be delivered out of Egypt. But Moses had to
bring them out, and they had to have the blood on the door.
And that picture's Christ, our Redeemer. And I'm telling you
this, without faith, it's impossible to please God. He that cometh
to God must believe that he is. Must. All right, let's look at
Abraham. Look at Abraham. Abraham is an example of what
I've been saying. There's no question in our minds,
yours or mine, but what God purposed and planned that Abraham should
be the father of faith, the father of the faithful, the father of
many nations. Let me read it to you. This is
before it ever took place. Now, the Lord said to Abraham,
now, who was Abraham? Well, if you'll read the Scriptures,
you'll find out that Abraham was an idol worshipper in an
idol worshipper's home. He didn't know God. He didn't
worship God. That's exactly right. Somebody
said, well, Abraham chose God. God chose him first. Yeah, God
chooses us and we choose God. God loves us and we love God,
but we love Him because He first loved us. And God said, Abraham,
get thee out of thy country, you get out of your country,
your country of idol worshipers and heathen and pagan, and you
go to a land I'll show you, and I'll make of you a great nation.
In thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed. That's
what God said. In your seed shall come the Messiah,
through your seed. Abraham was 75 years old then,
I believe. And before he received that seed,
he was 100 years old. But God purposed it, and it will
come to pass. He said, Abraham, leave your
father's house, go to land I'll show you. I'm going to make of
you a great nation. You're going to have a seed,
an heir, Isaac. And through Isaac shall the Redeemer,
the Messiah, come, through Isaac. Abraham at that time was a pagan
without a son. Now, God purposed it. But listen
to me. Abraham's not a stone. Abraham's
not a block of wood. Abraham's a man. And Abraham's
got to walk in the Word of God. Abraham's got to obey the voice
of God. Abraham's got to believe God.
Now, that's so. That's what I'm saying. And if
you'll walk alongside Abraham throughout his life, you'll see
the purposes and promises of God unfold through faith, through
Abraham's faith, by faith. Abraham left his father's house.
By faith, Abraham journeyed as God Almighty directed him. Abraham
was willing and obedient in the day of God's power. He was willing
and obedient to the voice of God. He believed God when he
didn't know where he was going. He knew God would take him. God
just said, get out. Get out. And Abraham left, not
knowing where he was going. That's faith. Abraham believed
God and obeyed God when there was friction between his servants
and Lot's servants. You remember that? And they came,
they got together, and Abraham said, now Lot, he said, let's
not have tension between us. You choose the land you want,
and I'll take what's left. And Abraham chose those beautiful,
well-watered, fertile plains down there around Sodom and Gomorrah.
And Abraham said, that's fine. That's fine. He believed God.
And he went to the mountains. And Lot lost everything he had.
And Abraham continued to prosper. You see, just believe God. Now,
God ordained that, but Abraham acted in faith. And then he believed
God when the kings of this world would make him rich. You remember
when he rescued Lot from the kings and the kings of Sodom
from those heathen kings? And they said, just give us the
people. And Abraham, you take all this gold and silver and
these precious stones and diamonds and emeralds and all this money,
and you just take... Abraham said, I don't want it.
I've looked to the Lord, and God's promised to provide my
need, and I believe God. You see, now, Abraham was at
a crossroads here, but God ordained that Abraham would be a man of
faith. God ordained that Abraham would walk in His way and in
His will. But Abraham had a choice to make. You see what I'm saying? He was
at a crossroads, but he acted in faith. He acted by faith. And he said, God will prosper
me. God will protect me. And then
also, he believed God when God promised him a son. And he believed
God when God told him to send Ishmael away. Sent him out. That
was his only son at that time, 14 years old. The other boy had
just been born, but that was his only son for 14 years, was
Ishmael. But God said, Abraham, the son
of that bondwoman, which is the law, and the son of promise,
which is Christ, can't live together. Just can't be by grace and work.
It's got to be by grace alone. So get rid of him. Abraham believed
God. That's one of the hardest tasks
he ever had to perform. But he got rid of that boy, sent
him away with his mother. And then when God... Here's the
hardest one. He was an old man by now, over 100 years old. And
God told him, He said, Take that son whom you love, your only
son Isaac, up on the mountain, and offer him as a sacrifice. Cut his throat, shed his blood,
plunge a knife in him, and offer him as a sacrifice for sin. And
that old man turned his eyes straight toward that mountain,
three days and three nights' journey. And he walked to that
mountain with his son, fully intending to put him on that
altar and make him a sacrifice. You say, how could he do it?
He believed God. Now, I know this was ordained,
and I know Almighty God purposed it. I know it will come to pass.
But I'll tell you, his tears were real. And his heartbeat
was real. And that old man's agony was
real. And that old man's faith was real, and he believed God,
and God blessed his faith. And God called him the father
of the faithful. I'm saying there are no accidents with God. I'm
declaring that as plainly as I can. Nothing takes the living
God by surprise. David said, the heathen said,
where's your God, David? We know where our gods are. They're
just little old peanuts that we have on pedestals here and
there, you know, in our little shrines, and they do what we
let them do. David, where's your God? He said, our God's in the
heavens. He hath done whatsoever He hath pleased." Whatsoever
the Lord pleased, that did He in heaven and earth and the seas
and all deep places. All deep places. I am the Lord,
He said, I change not. My counsel shall stand. I will
do all my good pleasure. I declare the end from the beginning
and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying,
My counsel shall stand. And I'm saying to you, God decreed
Noah to be delivered, but Noah built an ark. by the Word of
God. I'm saying God decreed for Ishmael
to come out of Egypt, but the blood is going to be put on that
door. I'm saying Almighty God decreed for Abraham to be the
father of many nations, but Abraham is going to walk by faith with
God and fulfill all that God Almighty decreed and all that
God Almighty purposed. Won't you listen to this? Though
all things are ordained of God, And though God worketh all things
after the counsel of his own will, you and I are accountable,
responsible creatures who do what we will. That's right, you're
doing what you will. If you will to receive Christ,
you'll receive him. If you will not receive him,
you will not. You're doing your will, and at
the same time, you're doing God's will. Now listen to me. His enemies do his will. That's
right, every enemy. That fellow that drove that nail
in the hands of my Lord, he's doing God's will. He's doing
what his wicked heart wanted to do. That all came from his
venom-filled nature. He hated holiness, he hated God,
and he took great pleasure in seeing this man suffer, and he
drove those nails. But God said, you did what my
hand and counsel determined before to be done. Yes, sir, every enemy
of God. does what he wills. And every
enemy of God does what God wills. That's so. And listen to this.
Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power. Thy people
do their wills, but they do God's will. And they're made willing
in the day of the operation of His grace. He loves us, but we
love Him too. And we love Him because He first
loved us. He chose us, but we chose Him. He seeks us. But we seek him, seek ye the
Lord, while he may be found. Call upon him while he is near.
All who seek him will be found of him. You will seek me and
find me, he said, when you search for me with all your heart. He
calls us, and we call on him. He will not let us go, and we
will not let him go. Let me show you that from another,
from the New Testament. Now let's skip over into the
New Testament. In John 6, 37, listen to this.
Our Lord Jesus is speaking in John 6, 37. He says, "...all
that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh
to me I'll in no wise cast out." What's he saying? Now look at
it carefully. First of all, he's saying the
Father gave him a people, all that the Father giveth me. The
Father gave the Son of people. Isn't that what he's saying?
He's saying that I will not fail as their substitute, surety,
and Savior. They will come. I will not fail. All that he giveth me, I'll lose
nothing but raise it up at the last day. Then what's he saying?
They shall willingly come. All that the Father giveth me,
they shall willingly come. And when they come to me, when
they come to me, I'll never disown them. I'll never cast them out. They'll never perish. Listen
to this, John 6, 44. Listen to this, just a few verses
over. No man can come to me, except my Father which sent me
drawing, and I'll raise him up at the last day. It's written
in the prophets, they shall all be taught of God, and every man
that hath heard and learned of the Father cometh to me. What's
he saying there? Well, first of all, he's telling
us about the inability of the sinner. He said no man can. is
able, has the power. No man, whatever his natural
temperament, no man can come to me. He doesn't have the desire
or the will to come to Christ. He doesn't have the ability to
come to Christ. No man can. Wait a minute, the Father must
make him willing, except my Father draw him. Now, you either draw
someone physically or you draw him spiritually. And it's not
a physical drawing, it's a spiritual drawing. And how does the Father
draw him? He teaches him. He teaches him. It says, And they shall all be
taught of God, taught of the Spirit, and taught of the Word.
What does God teach people? He teaches them they're sinners.
He teaches them Christ is a substitute. He teaches them Christ is a mediator. He teaches them Christ is the
Redeemer. He teaches them Christ is the Lamb that puts away sin.
He teaches them that salvation is in Christ. He teaches them
that God will be merciful in Christ. And they hear Him. And
everyone, listen, and everyone who is so taught and learned
of the Father cometh to me. They'll come. They'll come willingly.
They'll come lovingly. They'll come truthfully. They'll
come loyally. They'll come for good. Thy people
shall be willing. Who made them thy people? He
did. Whose people are they? God's people. Thy people, they
shall be willing. They shall be made willing. In
the day of God's power, that's what we need today, an operation
of grace. Not the power of the church and
the power of the preacher and the power of the doctrine, it's
the power of the Holy Spirit. Not by might nor by power, but
by my Spirit, says the Lord. Have you been made willing? What
God decreed shall be done. But my friends, if you're made
willing to come to Christ, the mercy is waiting for you in Him. Now I have two messages on this
tape. This message, the obedience of faith, and another message
which I call the gospel that glorifies God. Both of these
messages are on one cassette tape. If you'd like to have it,
send two dollars, we'll mail it to you. Until next week, may
God bless you, everyone.