Now, the way of salvation, the way of redemption, is revealed
in God's Word in the plainest terms. The way of salvation, the way
of forgiveness, the way of eternal life, If words mean anything, it's
revealed in the Word of God as clearly as it can be stated in
human language. In promise, he said, the Lord
himself will give you a sign. A virgin shall conceive and bring
forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Immanuel. And then the
angel picked that up and said, which is being interpreted, God
with us, And thou shalt call his name Jesus, he said to Joseph,
for he shall save his people from their sin. Now that's clear. And then in Isaiah 9, verse 6,
he said, unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. His name
shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting
Father, the Prince of Peace. Then in Isaiah 53, he was wounded
for our transgression. He was bruised for our iniquities.
The chastisement of our peace was upon him. By his stripes
we're healed. It pleased the Lord to bruise
him. He was numbered with the transgressors. He shall see his
seed. He shall prolong his days. The
pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. By his knowledge
shall my righteous servant justify many." All the way through the
word, in promise, it's Christ redeeming sinners. And then in
picture, Israel down in Egypt. God said, I'll come through the
land of Egypt tonight at midnight. The firstborn in every home will
die. Now you're to take a lamb, you're
to put it up for three or four days and observe it. It's to
be the firstling of the flock without spot or blemish. You're
to observe it three or four days. And then you're to slay the lamb,
roast it with fire, eat its flesh. and take the blood by faith and
put it on the lintel and the doorpost. And when I see the
blood, I'll pass over here." That's as clear as it can be
made. Christ is the firstborn of every creature. He's without
spot or blemish. He lived on this earth between
30 and 40 years, 33 and a half years. He was observed. They
found no fault in Him. And then He was slain on a cross.
His body suffered as in fire. His blood was shed. He entered
not into the holy place made with hands, but into heaven itself,
where his blood was put not on the mercy seat of gold, but on
the mercy seat of glory. And he redeemed us. God said,
and I see the blood, I'll pass over you. Almost all things in
the law were purged with blood. Without the shedding of blood,
there's no remission. the brazen serpent. The Israelites were
bitten, they were dying. God said, Moses, make a serpent
in the likeness of the ones that had bitten the people. Put it
on a pole, lift it up. And whosoever look shall live. Our Lord Jesus Christ, we were
bitten by the serpents of sin. The flesh, it's the flesh in
which sin dwells. Sins in the man, in the heart.
And when Christ came, he was made in the likeness of flesh,
like Moses made the brazen serpent in the likeness of the serpents
that bit the people. And Christ was made in the likeness
of our flesh, our sinful flesh. He was lifted up on a cross.
If I be lifted up from the earth, I'll draw all men unto me to
look and live. Moses smote the rock and water
came out, the tabernacle, the priesthood, all these are pictures
of Christ. And then in John 5, turn over
here a minute with me, John chapter 5, our Lord Jesus is talking
about Himself, and He says in verse 31, John 5, 31, If I bear
witness of myself, my witness is not truth. There's another
that beareth witness of me, and I know that his witness, which
he witnesseth of me, is true. John, he beareth witness unto
the truth. Verse 36, I have greater witness
than that of John. The works that the Father hath
given me to finish, they beareth witness of me. Verse 37, And
the Father which hath sent me, he said, This is my beloved Son,
in whom I am well pleased. And then verse 39, search the
scriptures for in them you think you have eternal life, dare they
which testify of me, and you will not come to me that you
might have life. And then in the book of Acts, the apostles
took up the message in Acts chapter 2, turn over there. And Peter
stood at Pentecost, and here were religious people from all
over the world. And they all heard the gospel
in their own language. And he said in verse 22 of Acts,
chapter 2, Ye men of Israel, hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth,
a man, approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and
signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as you yourselves
also know. Him being delivered by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken, and by wicked
hands have crucified and slain, whom God raised up." God raised
him from the dead. "...having loosed the pains of
death, because it was not possible that he should beholden of it."
Verse 32 now, let's pick up the latter part of the message. This
Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we are all witnesses. Therefore,
being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received
of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed
forth this which you now see and hear." Dave is not ascending
into the heavens. But he saith himself, The Lord
said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, until I make thy
foes thy footstool. Therefore let all the house of
Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus, whom
you crucified, both Lord and Christ." And then in 1 John 5, let's turn
over there. I'm saying that the gospel, the
way of salvation, the way of redemption, There's no reason
for us to think it's in water. It doesn't say it's in water.
No reason to think it's in a sacrament. It doesn't say anything about
a sacrament. There's no reason to think it's in a law. It doesn't
say anything about the law giving life. It says that life's in
Christ. Salvation's in Christ. Redemption's
in Christ. Forgiveness, it's all in the
Savior. In 1 John 5, verse 11, this is the record. This is true. This is faithful. God has given
to us eternal life. Salvation, redemption in this
life is in His Son. He that hath the Son hath life,
and he that hath not the Son of God. He may have his doctrines
straight. He may have his rules and regulations
straight. He may have his church affiliations
straight. But if he doesn't have the Son,
he hath not life. That's what that says right there.
That life's in his Son, and he that hath the Son of God, he
that hath Christ, he may have the joy of religion, he may have
the comfort and confidence of morality, he may have the strength
and stamina of good theology, but if he doesn't have Christ,
he's booned and damned. Verse 13, These things have I
written unto you, that believe on the name of the Son of God,
that you, and nobody else, may know that you have eternal life,
and that you may believe on the name of the Son of God. Look
at verse 20, And we know that the Son of God is come, He's
come to this earth, and He hath given us an understanding, that
we may know Him that is true, and that we're in Him that is
true, even in His Son Jesus Christ, and this is the true God, and
this is eternal life. Now, I don't know how it can
be made any plainer than that. And yet there's no truth against
which more error and evil has been spoken than this redemption
in Jesus Christ. There is no position or truth
anywhere in the world in any subject or any area against which
more evil and error has been spoken than salvation in Christ. Even those, listen to me, even
those who claim to be friends of the gospel, sometimes deny
the gospel. That's right, turn to Galatians,
I'll show you, even those who claim to be the friends. I'm
talking about, I'm talking about redemption by grace and grace
alone, by Christ and Christ alone, by faith and faith alone. By
his merit and his merit alone, by position in him, by his representation
and by him alone. Even the friends of this message
sometimes are found to be its enemies. Peter was, Galatians
2 verse 11. When Peter was come to Antioch,
Paul said, I withstood him to the face. He was to be blamed.
What did Peter do? Well, before certain people came
down from Jerusalem, from Pastor James in Jerusalem, Peter ate
with the Gentiles. See, in other words, he said
that salvation is not in certain days and certain foods and meats
and drinks and circumcision and ceremonies and rituals. That's
not salvation, it's in Christ alone. That's what he said, that's
what he contended for, that's what he presented, that's what
he preached, that's what he stood for. But when these fellows came
down, verse 12, Peter withdrew himself, he withdrew and separated
himself from those Gentiles, fearing those that were of the
circumcision. And the other Jews dissembled
like he stirred the whole place up. Even Barnabas was carried
away with their error and dissimulation. And I saw that they walked not
uprightly in what? In salvation by grace alone,
by Christ alone. Peter wanted to add something
to it. Even this man who later on would die for the gospel,
at this given moment, in his moment of weakness, in his moment
of fear, in his moment of trying to protect some kind of system,
he literally departed from salvation by grace and had to be corrected
by the Apostle Paul. You ask a dozen people, ask a
dozen people tomorrow, how is a lost center? Say, how is a
lost sinner translated from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom
of God's dear Son? How is a man lifted from the
dunghill of sin and depravity and corruption and evil by nature,
by birth, by practice, by choice? How is he lifted from that position
of condemnation to justification? And you'll get, if you ask a
dozen people, you'll probably get a dozen answers and probably
all of them wrong. And what I'm saying is the fault
is not with the Scriptures. The Scriptures are clear. The
fault is with the people. And there's a reason for that.
Number one, by nature our eyes are blind. He said if our gospel
be hid, it's hid to them that are blind. Secondly, our ears
are deaf. Christ said they have ears, but
they don't hear. And thirdly, our understanding
is darkened. The natural man receiveth not
the things of God, their foolishness to it. The preaching of the cross
is to them that perish foolishness. Now what I'm going to enter into
this morning, I'm going to read, if you will turn to Philippians
for a moment, something Paul said over here in Philippians
3. I'm going back over this thing of faith, salvation by grace
through faith. I want one more time to sound
this note loud and clear. How is a sinner saved? And Paul
said in Philippians 3, beginning with verse 1, he said, Brethren,
to rejoice in the Lord, to write or preach or state the same things
to you, the same thing. There was a young lady in Scott
Richardson's church up in Fairmont, West Virginia, who left not long
ago. She left the church, got mad
and left. had some kind of problem. She
got mad and left with two or three other people. Before she
left, she had to put the blame on the pastor. That's usually
where folks put it, you know. That's a convenient place. If you go to church somewhere
and you decide to quit, you can't just say, I'm departing from
the faith or from the gospel. You've got to put the blame on
somebody, so put it up here. That's where it winds up. Like
Harry Truman said, the buck stops here, and that's where it usually
stops anyway. But she came to Brother Richardson.
She said, I'll tell you why I'm leaving. She said, I've been
here three years. And she said, I can show you
from my Bible. You've never preached anything but the gospel every
time you get up there. He said, ma'am. She said, that's
right. I've got it right here in my Bible. I've got every place
you ever preached from. She said, in three years that
I've been here, I hadn't heard anything but the gospel. Well,
he said, praise the Lord. He said, when y'all bury me and
put on my tombstone, here lies Scott Richardson. Put underneath
there, he didn't preach anything but the gospel. Nothing but the
gospel. Paul said this in verse 1, chapter
3 of Philippians, to write the same things to you, the same
thing. It's not grievous to me. It's
not grievous at all. For you it's safe. You better
beware of dogs. Now, he has some harsh statements
for false preachers. He calls them dogs. He calls
them evil workers. He calls them the concision. those that rejoice in the flesh,
the mutilation of the flesh, they call it somewhere. But verse
3, he said, we are the true circumcision, we are the true Israel, we are
the true people of God, and the three marks of the people of
God, they worship God in the Spirit, they rejoice in Jesus
Christ, and they have absolutely no confidence in the flesh. None whatsoever, mine, yours,
or anybody else's, even the old Puritans. All right, back to
1 Corinthians 2. Now, the apostle here in 1 Corinthians
2 states several things. Number one, he states how we
preach. How do we preach? And secondly,
he states what we preach, and then here's our subject as well,
why. Now, first of all, how do we
preach? Verse 1, he said, Brethren, when
I came to you, this is the way I came. I came to you, I came
not with excellency of speech. I came declaring unto you the
testimony of God. Verse 3, I was with you in weakness. and in fear and in much trembling.
And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of
man's wisdom. We came to you, first of all,
in sincerity, in fear and trembling. We came to you in simplicity,
not with flowery words of man's wisdom and enticing words of
man's wisdom. We just, like I said a while
ago, the gospel is plain and clear. Here it is. Here's the
way of life in words that people can understand. If people are
not understanding what we're saying, we're not preaching.
If we're not talking in the language of our day, if we're not dealing
with the problems of our day, if we're not dealing with men
where we are in a way that they can understand it, whether they
believe it or not is another thing, but understand it, we're
not preaching. Paul said, I came not with excellency
of speech or wisdom, I came in weakness and fear and trembling,
and my speech and my preaching was not with flowery words. Well,
what did he preach? Verse 2, I determined I determine
not to know anything among you. Say, Jesus Christ and Him crucified."
Jesus incarnate. Christ anointed. Crucified, I
will substitute. That's my message. All right,
verse 5 now. And here is why we preach this
way. That your faith, that your faith, your faith. We're talking
about individual faith. Now, we're talking about your
faith. should not stand in the wisdom of me." I tell you, I love the old writers.
But something is not so because Calvin said it was so. It's just
that's not the basis. A thing is not true because John
Gill said it's true. It's not true even if Spurgeon
says it's true. Our faith does not stand in the
wisdom of men. Faith must have a better resting
place than a theological position or an old confession of faith.
I love the old confessions of faith of 1645 and 1689 and 1720
and all the rest of them. I can name them, I've read them,
I enjoy them. They're edifying, they're instructive,
they're encouraging and all these things. I like the old writers.
But Paul said, I've come preaching the gospel to you. not with wisdom
of words, not with flowery speech, not with enticing words of man's
wisdom. I come in fear and trembling,
in weakness, personal weakness, and I determine not to know one
thing among you, say, Jesus Christ and Him crucified, because I
want your faith not to stand in the catechism or the creed
or in the doctrine or in the theology or in me or in my preaching
or in the Baptist church. I want your faith to stand in
the power. in the power of God, in the wisdom
of God. In 1 Corinthians 1, look at verse
23, "...we preach Christ crucified unto the Jew, unto the religious
man a stumbling block, unto the Greeks sheer nonsense, but unto
them that are called, both Jews and Greeks." Jesus Christ is
the power of God, He's the wisdom of God, He's the redemption of
God, He's the life of God, He's the righteousness of God. He's
the redemption, He's the sanctification, He's everything, Jesus Christ.
To them that are sanctified, to them that are redeemed, to
them that believe, Jesus Christ is everything. And their confidence
and their faith doesn't rest in man's wisdom. It rests in
Christ, who is God's wisdom. Now let me point out five things.
These are the five things that I especially want you to remember,
if you will. There's some things about faith.
I've listed five things here about faith. I think this will
help us. We're saved by faith. There's
no question about that. Now listen to me, and I'm telling
you the truth. I know that God chose us. I know
that as well as you do. And I preach that God chose his
people before the foundation of the world. All that my Father
giveth me Christ shall come to me. He said, I came down from
heaven not to do my will, but the will of him that sent me,
and this is the will of him that sent me, that of all which he
hath given me I'll lose nothing, but raise it up at the last day.
There's not going to be a vacancy in heaven, but there'll be plenty
of room. That's scriptural. God hath from the beginning chosen
you to salvation. And I know that Christ came down
here into this world as the representative of a people. He said, Father,
I don't pray for the world, I pray for them which thou hast given
me. They are thine, and they are mine, and all thine are mine,
and you gave them to me, and I'll not lose a one of them.
My sheep will hear my voice, and they'll come to me. And He
went to the cross, and He died, redeemed the elect. I know that.
Christ's blood was not shed in vain. His blood is sufficient
to save ten million worlds. It's effectual to the salvation
of His elect. I know that's what you do. I
know that Christ redeemed us, but I know this. There's nobody
going to be in heaven who does not believe on and receive and
bow to the Lord Jesus Christ by faith. Now, you can write
that down and put that in your pipe and smoke it, and write
it on your calendar book and read it every day. Now, he that
believeth not on the Son shall not see life. He that believeth
on... He told us to go and preach the
gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved. He that believeth not will be
damned. Do you know what the Bible says? Damned. He that believeth
not. And Romans said, Whosoever shall
call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved, but how shall
they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are
they going to believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how
are they going to hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach except
God's Son? Faith cometh by hearing, and
hearing by the Word of God. Now, brethren, I believe just
as strongly in justification by faith as I do in the election
of God. I believe just as strongly in
justification by faith as I do in the death of our Lord for
His people. You're going to believe, you're
going to intelligently receive Christ. Abraham believed God
and it was counted to him for righteousness. And it was not
written for his sake alone that it was counted to him for righteousness,
but for us also. Who shall be redeemed, who shall
be justified if we believe on him. who raised up Christ from
the dead. So here's my five points I want
you to get, and I'll give them to you briefly. Number one is
the object of faith. The object of faith. Number two,
the source of faith. Number three is the foundation
of this faith. Number four, the results of this
faith, and quickly, the evidence of this faith. Now, first of
all, the object of saving faith. Now, I know that salvation is
an experience. It's an experience of peace and
joy. I know that when Christ comes
into the heart, that a person is a new creature, that he experiences
joy and happiness and assurance and rest in Christ. But let me
tell you this, that joy and peace comes from looking to Christ.
Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace. You see,
The experience doesn't save. Salvation is an experience. But
the experience doesn't save. Christ saves. And that joy and
peace comes from looking to Christ. Justification comes from looking
to Christ. Therefore, being justified by
faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
I know that true faith produces works. I know that true faith
produces morality. But if a man looks to his prayers
and to his works and to his moralities to be saved, he'll perish. We
look to Christ. And then I know that salvation
is a work of the Trinity. The Father purposed it, the Son
purchased it, and the Spirit called us. But salvation is looking
to Christ. Turn to John 3, 36. I want you
to look at this Scripture here. John 3, verse 36. Salvation is looking to Christ.
He alone is our prophet to reveal the Father. No man knows the
Father save the Son, and He to whom the Son will reveal Him.
He that hath seen me hath seen my Father. I know that Christ
is our priest with His own blood. He entered into the holiest,
the holiest of all, and obtained eternal redemption for us. John
3, verse 36. He that believeth on the Son,
on the Son, hath everlasting life. He that believeth not the
Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him."
Christ is the object of faith. It's to believe that Christ is
God, their God of their God. It's to believe that Christ is
man. made of our bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh.
It is to believe that Christ is our righteousness. He was
made sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. It is to believe Christ is our
sin offering. It is to believe Christ is our
risen justifier. The debt's paid, and when God
raised him from the dead, God is saying that not only is Christ
free from that debt, but we're free from that debt. Christ is
our mediator who is seated at the right hand of God. There's
one mediator. I was talking to a man Wednesday
night. a man out of the Catholic Church. He's in the Catholic
Church now, but he came to hear me preach. And I just asked him
some things about Catholicism. I said to him, Catholicism is
like a chameleon. It just takes on its whatever,
wherever it is, it takes on that color. Well, he objected to that. I said, well, now Catholicism
here is not like Catholicism in Mexico. They go further down
there. I said, the things that they
really stand for, they really present down there. Purgatory
is not in the Word of God. He said, I know it's not. Not
in Scripture. And I said, the wafer and the
wine actually becoming the body and blood of Christ, that's not
in the Word of God. It's a picture. It's done in remembrance of Christ.
And I said, the scripture says, call no man father. That's as
clear as a bell. Call no man father. You have
one father in heaven. And no man can forgive sin. Only
Christ can forgive sin. You can't go into a booth and
confess your sins to a man and have your sins absolved. That's
not in God's Word. It's just not there. And the
Pope, the infallibility of the Pope, there's no Pope in God's
Word. There's no office of the Pope here, Jay. It's not even
here. Much less his infallibility, much less his declaring that
Mary was virgin-born too, or Mary ascended to heaven too.
And I said, and here's the heart of the whole matter. The Bible
teaches that Mary, though she was highly favored, blessed among
women, She is no mediator. She's a sinner saved by grace.
She's no savior. She's no mediator. She can't
pray for you, me, or anybody else. I said, my friend, there's
one mediator. That's Christ, Christ, Christ. I said, I'm not trying to hurt
you. I'm trying to tell you the truth. I'm trying to show you
that the only way to come to the Father's throne, you put
all your eggs in one basket, in Christ. You honor the Son,
that's where it is. And if you... I'm telling you,
there are people who are deep-dyed in religion, in positions, they're
Baptists, or they're Catholics, or they're Methodists, or Presbyterian,
or something else. They're deep-dyed in theology,
they got the right baptism, and the right form, and the right
ceremony, and the right discipline. They got the right this, and
the right... They just missed the right Savior. Now that's
sad. It's just sad, sad, sad, sad,
and I'm weary of it. My faith has found a resting
place, not in device or creed. I trust the ever-living person. His wounds for me shall plead.
It's enough for me that Jesus saves. This ends my fear and
doubt. A sinful soul, I come to Christ. Christ! He'll never cast me out. I need no other argument, I need
no other plea. It's enough that Jesus died,
and that's the object of my faith. He died for me, Richard. That's
where it all is. Now, you can have your denominations,
you can have your theology, you can have your doctrines, you
can have your rules and regulations, you can have your laws, you can
have your right discipline, you can have your right heritage
and ancestry, take it ever be it, and perish with it. Give
me Christ. That's where salvation is. That's
where I rest. That's where I trust. That's
where I build my hope. That's the foundation on which
I stand. The object of my faith is a living
person. A living person. The Son of God. Look to me. Turn to Isaiah 45.
Isaiah 45. Listen to this. Verse 22. Look unto me. In verse 21 it says this, the
last part, there's no God beside me, I'm a just God. A just God. Now God's not going to save anybody
and violate his justice. I'm a just God. That's the reason
Christ went to the cross. God's not going to save anybody
and violate his law. That's the reason Christ obeyed
the law. God's not going to save anybody and violate his holiness.
That's the reason Christ is our high priest that makes our prayers
acceptable. Everything we are. I'm a just
God and a Savior. There's none beside me. Look
to me! Look to me! Not to my things,
not to my church, not to my preacher, not to my law. Look to me! Exactly
me. Look to me and be your Savior. Have you looked to Christ? Have
you honestly, sincerely looked to Christ? Have you looked to
Christ? Look to me and be a saint. All
the ends of the earth, Jew, Gentile, whoever you are, Catholic, Protestant
or Jew, you better look to me. I'm God. I'm God. There's none other. Abraham didn't
believe in God, he believed God. Abraham didn't believe there
was a God, he believed God. There's a difference. There's
a difference. Alright, secondly, the source
of faith. Turn to Psalm 107. I'm taking too long, but I'll
sum it. I'll give it to you briefly.
Psalm 107. Here's the source. Faith is born of two things.
This saving faith. I'm not talking about just any
kind of old faith. I'm talking about saving faith. This faith
that looks to Christ. This faith that lays hold of
Christ. This faith that embraces Christ. This faith that sings
with the joy of redemption. This faith. It's born of two
things. Number one, it's born of trouble,
born of need. You never find it anywhere except
where there's need. That woman with the issue of
blood, 12 years. All drained. She just, she was
hovering on the brink of the grave. She was thin and all the
life nearly drained out of her. She tried every doctor she knew.
Everybody told her about the different doctors. She spent
everything she had. Just dying, dying, dying. She
heard about Christ. And she said, if I can just get
to Him and touch the hem of His garment, I'll be made whole."
And she made her way and crawled, I believe, through the crowd.
She knew where he was. Somebody told her. And she was
driven out of desperation and helplessness and trouble and
despair. And she was driven out of a need
to get to Him. If I can get to Him, I'll be
made whole. And Brother, let me tell you
something. She touched Him. And the Scripture says she was made
whole. But she'd have never come. She'd have never come to Him.
She'd still been playing religion, she'd still been going to Dr.
Sound and Brass and Dr. Tinklin' Cymbal and all this.
She'd still been playing games like many of you are, because
she never was desperate. When she got desperate, she moved
everybody aside and went for Him. And that's what says in
Psalm 107, Verse 2 says, Let the redeemed of the Lord say
so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy. He gathered
them out of the lands, from the east, the west, the north, and
the south. They wandered in the wilderness in a lonely way. They
found no city to dwell in, no place to dwell. There wasn't
any resting place for their feet. Hungry and thirsty, their soul
fainted, no supply, no refreshments. Then, when they were lonely,
deserted, hungry and thirsty, and they gave up all hope. They
cried to the Lord in their trouble, and He delivered them. Verse 11, they rebelled against
the Word of God. They contend the counsel of the
Most High. Therefore God brought them down.
God will strip a man if He ever saves him. He'll shut his mouth. He'll bring him low. He brought
them down. They fell down. There wasn't
anybody to help. No help from any source. Dead! They cried to the Lord, troubled. And He saved them. Until there's nowhere to look
but to God, until there's nowhere to turn but to Christ, until
there's no one to trust but the Savior, until there's nowhere
to go but to Him, people won't come. That's so. I said, I can't
explain it, I just know it's subtle. It's like Peter sinking
beneath the waves. And he looked up and he said,
Lord, save me or I perish. I perish. Faith's born of needs. And the
reason lots of folks don't have saving faith is they just never
had the need. They've never been lost. Never
been plum lost. Never been plum lost. And secondly, it's born
of God. It's the gift of God. God gives
faith. It's the Spirit that convicts
of sin. It's the Spirit of God who reveals Christ. It's the
Spirit of God who enables men to believe. For by grace are
you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it's
the gift of God. Believing on Christ, He enables us. Turn to
2 Corinthians 4. Let me show you that. 2 Corinthians
4. It says in verse 6, For God, who commanded the light
to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Christ Jesus. All right, that's the source
of faith, is born of need. Stripping, humbling, crushing,
killing need. Empty, nowhere to turn. In my hands no price I bring,
simply the cross I cling." Thirdly, what's the foundation of faith?
Romans 10. Now let me tell you something. Listen real carefully
here. Faith has, real saving faith has one foundation. And
brother, it's not, I've heard people say, well I'm saved because
God's heard my prayer. Forget it. Forget it. That's no foundation of faith.
I've heard people say, well, I'm saved because I feel. I feel
good. I just feel at peace with God.
Forget it. That's no foundation. You may
feel differently when you get in some circumstances you can't
handle sometimes. Well, I know I'm saved because I can preach or sing or teach. I have gifts. Satan can give
gifts. I tell you this, and I say this
without fear of contradiction by anybody that knows anything
about God. Faith has one solid, sure foundation, and only one,
and that's the Word of God. Everything else is as changeable
as the wind. This Word does not change. It
says in Romans 10 and 17, faith cometh by hearing, and hearing
by the Word of God. How do you know? How do you know
that you know there's a God? Now, the heavens declare the
glory of God. The sun, moon, stars, the human
body, the things that are made declare there is a God. And you
know that. And you know you're a sinner
by conscience. Your nature, your conscience tells you you're a
sinner. You know when you do right or wrong. If I lay a hundred
dollar bill on this thing today and one of you come up and steal
it, your conscience will bother you all week, I hope. But you
know it's wrong. But let me ask you some questions.
How do you know that that God loves sinners? Now, you tell
me how you know that. Only from the Word. How do you
know? How do you know that that God
will even forgive sinners? Now, tell me how you know God
will forgive. Know it beyond a shadow of a
doubt. Know it without contradiction. Know it. You know God will forgive. It says in His book. How do you
know that a person called Jesus Christ is God's Son? How do you
know He's God's Son? Well, I just always heard that. Wait a minute now. I've heard
a lot of other things, but not so. But God says, this is my
Son. Hear Him. How do you know that
when He went to the cross, He wasn't just a reformer or a martyr
dying like some of the rest of the martyrs died? God said that
His death was planned and determined before the foundation of the
world. And God described his death. They pulled out his beard. They pierced his hands and feet.
They sold him for $18. They tasked lots for his garment. All these things are in the Scriptures.
He died according to the Scriptures. How do you know that God will
hear your prayers? He said, call unto me and I'll
hear you. You see, Jim, it's in God's Word. That's the only...
Faith has one foundation, and that's that book. And that's
the reason we need to read it, and preach it, and study it,
and get into the Word. That's the reason we have these
Bible classes here on Sunday morning, to teach the Word! Some
of you are hung up on your traditions, you're hung up on your old heritage. It stinks! It's gonna be dead
and buried. You better get into this Book.
You better get around this Word. You better study this Book. If
you study it together or alone, you better study it. Because
this Book's gonna judge you. book right here. He said, these
things testify of me. I warn you, a thing's not sold
because it's old, it's sold because God says it's so. The book, the
book, faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.
Our faith will be just as strong as our knowledge of the Word
of God. That's a good statement. It comes by hearing the Word
of God. Christ died according to the Scriptures. David said,
I have hope according to your Word. He of his own will beget
he us through the Word of truth. I warn you, friends, faith's
one foundation is the Word of God. The Word of God, the only
foundation. Your experience is not worth
the paper that you put it on. Not worth the time you take to
tell it. You tell me about Christ from the words right here. That's
what I'm interested in. And then fourthly, the results
of faith. Why is faith so important? Well,
listen to this. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. Listen to this. He that believeth
is not condemned. I like that. But as many as received him,
to them gave he the right to become sons of God, even to them
that believe on his name. Therefore, being justified by
faith, we have peace with God. It says, Abraham believed God,
it was counted to him for righteousness. If we believe God, we have the
same righteousness. He that believeth on the Son
hath everlasting life. Acts 10.43 says that our sins
in Christ, if we believe, are all forgiven. Now, last of all,
the evidence of faith. I want you to turn to 1 John
5.10. Now, here's a scripture I want us to look at for just
a moment, and I'll dismiss you and let you go. 1 John 5.10.
Now, I know there are many evidences of saving faith. There are many
evidences. He says, "...by this shall all
men know you are my disciples, if you love one another." And
we know that we've passed from death into life because we love
the brethren. And thou wilt keep him in perfect
peace whose mind is stayed on thee. I know there are a lot
of evidences. We're new creatures in Christ. But listen to 1 John
5.10. He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in
himself. Hath the witness in himself. He has a work of grace in his
own heart. that witnesses to him that he's
a child of God. His spirit beareth witness with
our spirit that we're the child of God. And I jotted down these
four things. Ten thousand arguments in favor
of human merit cannot move him because the Holy Spirit has witnessed
to him his own guilt. He knows his guilt. And he cannot
be moved by all of the arguments concerning human merit. He has
the witness in himself. Secondly, 10,000 arguments in
favor of free will will not move him. He knows his inability.
He has the witness in himself. In himself he has that witness.
Thirdly, 10,000 arguments against the sufficiency of Christ's death
will not move him. He knows the impossibility of
being saved anyway except through the blood. He knows it. Fourthly,
10,000 arguments for human righteousness and law works will not move him.
He knows his righteousness is filthy rags. He knows it. He knows that the righteousness
of God is in Christ. He knows it and that righteousness
has been applied and imputed to him. And fifthly, all the
subtle satanic insinuations cannot move him from the gospel of grace
or the fellowship of God's people because that's where the truth
is.