In Mark chapter 16, verse 15
and 16, the scripture declares that our Lord said unto his disciples,
go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be damned. Now, my
friends, these words require more serious attention than any
other words spoken to the sons of men. And there are four or
five reasons for that. First of all, these are the words
of Christ our Lord. This is no mere man speaking. This is not literature from denominational
presses. These are the words of the Son
of God. He said to his disciples, go
into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. And he that believeth and is
baptized shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be
damned. These are the words of Christ.
And then secondly, these are the last recorded words spoken
by our Lord after he was crucified, buried, and risen again. Now,
the last words of special loved ones are very, very dear to us. We remember the last words we
heard a particular relative or friend speak. They're very important. Well, these are the last words
of our Lord. The last thing he said to his
disciples, verse 19 said, and he ascended up into heaven. But he said to them, the final
commission, you go and preach the gospel. All right, thirdly,
these words are concerning the greatest issues that you can
face. Eternal life, eternal death. We're not talking about something
that may happen tomorrow or something that may happen next year. We're
talking about eternity. He that believeth and is baptized
shall have eternal life. And he that believeth not, eternal
condemnation, eternal separation from God. And then fourthly,
here are the terms of peace laid down by Christ himself. Now,
we are hearing a great deal about terms of peace, terms of peace
in the Middle East, made at Camp David, terms of peace concerning
the Falkland Islands off Argentina. Well, these are terms of peace
laid down by the Son of God. He said, he that believeth and
is baptized shall be saved. He that believeth not shall be
damned. And then in the fifth place,
these words apply to every man regardless of condition. To you,
to me, Jew, Gentile, rich, poor, bond-free, black, white, these
words apply to all men. You go, he said, and preach this
gospel to every creature. And he that believeth and is
baptized shall be saved. And he that believeth not shall
be damned. That's sufficient to show us
that these words are the most serious and solemn words spoken
to the sons of men. They're the words of Christ.
They're his last words spoken. And they concern such vital issues. And these are the terms that
Christ has laid down for peace. And they apply to everybody.
There's nobody listening to me today who's left out of this
verse of Scripture. All men, every creature. All
right, notice this secondly. Faith is necessary to eternal
life. Our Lord said, he that believeth
and is baptized shall be saved. Faith is essential to life. It's necessary to life. Faith
is the principle saving grace. When our Lord predicted the fall
of the Apostle Peter, he said, you'll deny me. Before the cock
crows tonight, you'll deny me three times. But Peter, I prayed
for you. I prayed for you. that your faith
fail not. Faith is the principle saving
grace. Faith is the grace upon which
all grace is built. Without faith there is no grace. Faith is the principle grace
and unbelief is the chief damning sin. Now listen to me a moment.
This is what I'm saying. No work that you do can save
without faith. No work that you do can be accepted
of God without faith. No work is commendable without
faith. Faith is the foundation. Faith
is the principle saving grace. And watch it now. No sin can
damn without unbelief. No sin can damn without unbelief. Unbelief is the chief damning
sin. Listen to this scripture. He
that believeth on the Son hath life. He that believeth not the
Son, whatever he Whatever he has, whatever he does, whatever
he knows, he that believeth not the Son shall be damned. Faith
is the evidence of life. Unbelief is proof of death. Let me give you some scriptures.
First of all, in John 3, verse 14, As Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have everlasting
life. When the Philippian jailer came
trembling to Paul and Silas and asked, Sirs, what must I do to
be saved? What was Paul's reply? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. And then that blessed portion
of scripture in 1 John 5, 11 through 13. I believe that if
I have a favorite scripture, I believe if I have a scripture
that I use more than any other Many times when I write letters,
I sign this scripture under my name. It's one of my favorites. 1 John 5, 11. This is the record. God hath given us eternal life. This life is in his Son. He that
hath the Son hath life. He that hath not the Son of God
hath not life. And these things are written
to you that believe on the Son of God that you may know that
you have eternal life and that you might believe on the name
of the Son of God. Faith is a necessary grace. The scripture says without faith,
it's impossible to please God. And speaking of Abraham, the
father of the faithful, our Lord said he believed God. He believed
God. And it was counted to him for
righteousness. Now, I want to deal with three
issues in this message. First of all, I want to answer
this question. What is it to believe on Christ? And then secondly, I want to
deal with this issue. What is the sole object of faith? The sole object of faith has
to have an object. And then thirdly, this issue. How does God work saving faith
in a sinner's heart? Now, those are three vital issues.
And I've shown you in introducing this message, and I want you
to think with me. I'm not up here just spending the time and
occupying your time for a little while. I'm trying to be faithful
to the gospel, true to the word of God, preach to you the truth
of the gospel, be fair and honest with your souls. And I'm going
to deal with these things. What is it to believe? What is
the sole logic of faith, and how does God, Work faith in a
sinner's heart. Now, have we in introducing this
message made it appear to be as vital as it is? These are
the words of Christ. And faith is essential. Faith
is necessary. Without faith, it's impossible
to please God. He that believeth shall be saved.
He that believeth not shall be damned. Those are the terms of
peace. Now, what is it to believe? What
is it to believe? If faith is so necessary, so
vital, so essential, and unbelief is so fatal, it'd be wise for
preachers to quit hollering, believe, believe, believe, and
tell people what it is to believe. What is faith? Well, here's the
first thing. Now, are you ready? Faith, first
of all, is based on knowledge. Now, knowledge is not faith.
A person can have knowledge and not have faith. He can have knowledge
of the scriptures. Saul of Tarsus is an example
of that. He can have knowledge of the
fact that there is a God. The devils believe there's a
God. He can have knowledge of eternity,
that is, heaven and hell and judgment. The demons spoke to
our Lord and said, have you come to torment us before our time?
There's knowledge. And knowledge is not faith. But
my friends, there can be no faith without knowledge. There has
to be knowledge. The Apostle Paul said, I know
whom I have believed. Job said, I know that my Redeemer
liveth. And then Paul, writing in Romans
10, declared, Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord
shall be saved. But how shall they call on him
in whom they have not believed? Now listen. And how shall they
believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they
hear without a preacher. Our Lord Jesus Christ said in
John 17 3, this is eternal life, that they might know thee, the
only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. Faith is
based on knowledge. A man cannot believe what he
does not know. A man cannot believe what he
has not at least heard. It's impossible. It can't be.
They can't call on him in whom they've not believed, and they
cannot believe in him of whom they've not heard. The scripture
says, faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. The word of God is the foundation
of faith, and knowledge is the foundation of faith. We've got
to hear the truth. God has promised to bless his
word. We've got to hear the word of
truth. You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.
The word of God is the foundation of faith, for the word of God
declares who God is. The word of God declares the
fall and sinfulness of man, or who man is. The word of God declares
God's righteousness, holiness, and justice. The word of God
sets forth Christ's sufficiency. The Word of God declares unto
us the work of the Holy Spirit in regeneration, in conversion,
and in converting the sinner. Other foundation can no man lay
than that which is laid, Jesus Christ the Lord. We read scriptures
like this. We're not redeemed with corruptible
things. such as silver and gold from
our vain conversation received by tradition from our fathers,
but with the precious blood of Christ as a lamb without blemish
or spot." Now, how are we going to know that without reading
it in God's Word? How are we going to know that
we're not redeemed by works, that we are redeemed by Christ,
and redeemed by Christ's sacrifice, by Christ's shedding of Christ's
blood, by his sin? We know because the Word says
so. The Word says so. So first of all, faith is based
on knowledge. Secondly, faith is born of confidence. Listen to Paul again. I know
whom I have believed. I know who he is. I know what
he did. I know why he did it, that God
may be just and justifier. I know where he is now. He's
at the right hand of the Father. I know. God taught me that in
His Word. Revealed it to me by His Spirit.
Now here's the second thing about faith. Faith is born of confidence. Paul said, I know whom I have
believed, I am persuaded, persuaded or confident that he is able. Able to do what? Able to say
to the uttermost and that come to God by him, able to keep us
from falling, able to present us faultless and holy before
the presence of his Father with joy, able to raise our vile bodies
and make them like unto his own glorious body. Persuade, I am
persuaded. Now this word is not only used
by Paul in reference to his faith, and I suppose Paul is the greatest
preacher of the New Testament, but it's also used in regard
to Abraham's faith who was the greatest patriarch of the Old
Testament. It says Abraham believed God. He was fully persuaded that God
was able to perform all that he promised. When we talk about
Abraham in the Old Testament, and he is called the father of
the faithful. He is called the example of the believer. It says
he was persuaded that God could do what he said. And when Paul
talks about his faith, he said, I know whom I have believed and
I am persuaded. that he's able to keep that which
I've committed unto him. I know God is holy. I know God
Almighty will punish sin. I know that my works are not
sufficient to satisfy his holiness. I know that God sent Christ into
the world to be my Redeemer. I know that Christ died on the
cross and shed his blood that I might be saved. I know that
he was buried and rose again. I know that he ascended to the
right hand of God and is seated there as my Redeemer, as my Mediator,
as my High Priest, as my reigning King. I not only know that, but
I am persuaded, persuaded and confident that everything he
has done and will do is accepted by the Father on my behalf. I'm
confident of that. But that's not all. That's not
all. What is it to believe? First
is to know in whom and upon whom you believe. Secondly is to be
confident, absolutely persuaded, that all that he promised, all
that he said he would do, he was able to perform. Thirdly,
faith results in a committal to Christ. A committal. Now listen
to Paul again. I know whom I have believed. There's no question about who
his Savior is. It's not his works or the church
ordinances. It's not some individual, not
himself. It's Christ. I know whom I have
believed. And I'm confident, I'm absolutely
persuaded, like Abraham of old, that he is able to do all that
he said. But now that's not all. He said,
I've committed it to Christ. I've committed it to Christ.
And this is what our Lord is saying. He, you go preach the
gospel to every creature. And he that believes this gospel,
you see, we take the good tidings, the glad tidings, the good news,
we take this message to men. What is this gospel? What's the
gospel of God's grace? It's the gospel concerning God's
son. It's the gospel of his perfect
obedience. It's the gospel of his substitutionary
death. It's the gospel of his interceding
glory. It's the gospel of a person.
That's the gospel we preach. Christ died for our sins according
to the scriptures. He was buried and rose again
according to the scriptures. That's our gospel. Now, he that
believes this gospel and is baptized... Now, my friend, let me pause
right here a moment. It's the blood that maketh atonement
for the soul. It's not water. Water does not
put away sin. The blood of animals of the Old
Testament could not put away sin. It's not possible that the
blood of bulls and goats could take away sin. It's not possible
that the waters of Jordan or the waters of the rivers of Kentucky
or West Virginia could take away sin. It's the blood that make
an atonement for the soul. God said, I've given you the
blood upon the altar to make an atonement for your soul. It's
the blood of Christ that cleanses, that redeems, that atones, not
water. And then it's the obedience and
sacrifice of Christ that redeems me, not my baptism. You say,
well, what part does baptism play? Baptism signifies a committal
to Christ. That's what baptism is. It's
a confession. It's a committal. Baptism is
an identification with Christ. You can't separate faith and
obedience. Faith always acts. So this, what
our Lord's doing here, he's saying to his disciples, you go into
all the world. not just Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria,
but the uttermost parts of the earth. You preach my gospel,
the gospel of redeeming grace, the gospel of the Old Testament,
the gospel of the New, the gospel of salvation, the gospel of God's
glory. You preach that gospel. Now,
he that believes, and that person who truly believes, will confess
Christ, he will be identified with Christ, he'll go beneath
the waters of baptism, in confessing that when Christ died, he died.
When Christ was buried, he was buried. When Christ arose, he
arose. And this faith that saves is
an acting faith. It is a faith that's experienced.
It is a faith that is willing to be identified with Christ.
Now, baptism does not save, and the lack of it does not damn.
He said, you go preach this gospel, he that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved. He that is not baptized shall
be damned. He didn't say that. He said,
he that believeth not. He that believeth not. So you
can read it this way. You go take the gospel and you
preach it indiscriminately to every person. Every person needs
to hear it. It applies to all men. He that
believes this gospel will be saved. And he that does not believe
it shall be damned. Now those that believe it will
act on it. Those that believe it will be
identified with it. Those who believe it will step
out publicly and own their identification with Christ, own their part with
Christ. They'll declare it publicly.
You see what I'm saying? That's what our Lord is saying
to his disciples. You see, you cannot separate
faith and obedience. You cannot separate belief and
conduct. We don't elevate baptism and
obedience to the place of Christ. It's Christ that's saved. He
alone is our wisdom, our righteousness, our sanctification and redemption.
But neither can you separate obedience from faith. You can't
do it. If any man be in Christ, he is
a new creature. If any man be in Christ, he has
a new life. He that loveth not knoweth not
God. You see, these are identifying
marks of those who are true believers. Now, those are the three parts
of faith. I hate to try to define such
a vital issue as faith, but that'll help you understand what it is
to believe. Faith is based on knowledge,
confidence, and commitment, all three. Now, secondly, what is
the sole object of faith? It says, he that believeth on
the Son hath everlasting life. I look to Christ for all things
pertaining to God." All things. He's the fountain of life. He's
the source of mercy. In him, in Christ, dwelleth all
the fullness of the Godhead bodily. Now, faith believes the Word
of God, but it's not the Word of God that saves, it's Christ
that saves. Faith believes the Word of God,
believes its histories, believes its miracles, believes everything
that's written in the Word. God's people love his Word. And
they believe his word. But it's not believing the word
that saves me. It's not looking to the word
of God that saves me. Faith also believes the mercy
of God. God is merciful. He delights
to show mercy. God will be merciful. But believing
in the mercy of God does not save. Mercy didn't die for me. Mercy does not intercede for
me. Mercy is not my redeemer. I believe the mercy of God. But
salvation is not believing God's mercy. It's believing God's Son.
Listen to me. Faith believes the benefits of
the covenant. But salvation is not in believing
a covenant. Salvation is not believing in
God's mercy nor God's benefits. Salvation is looking to God's
Son. Look unto me, saith the Lord,
and be ye saved. I am God and there's none else. 2 Corinthians 5.21 says, Christ
who knew no sin. was made sin for us that we might
be made the righteousness of God in him. So we believe his
word. We believe his mercies. We believe
his benefits. But these are secondary objects
of faith. I believe his word. I believe
his mercies. I believe his benefits because
I believe his son. For all of his mercies and his
benefits are in his son. And his son is the incarnate
word. Listen to something I want to
share with you that I read several weeks ago. Faith is the voice
that calls on Christ. Whosoever shall call on the name
of the Lord shall be saved. Faith is the arm that embraces
Christ. In the Song of Solomon, the church
says of Christ, I loved him, I sought him, I found him, I
held him, and would not let him go. Faith is the eye that looks
to Christ, look unto me and be ye saved. Faith is the mouth
that feeds upon Christ, eats his flesh and drinks his blood.
Faith is the foot that runs to Christ, come unto me, all ye
that labour and are heavy laden and I'll give you rest. Faith
is the lips that kiss Christ, kiss the Son, lest ye be angry. There's no way, my friend, that
I can overstress this point. I believe this is where many
religionists are missing it today. They have faith in their faith.
They have faith in prayer. How many times I've heard people
say, well, I believe in prayer. Now, wait a minute. I believe
Christ. And prayer is calling upon Christ. Prayer is petitioning Christ.
Prayer is praising Christ. Prayer is thanking Christ. But
prayer can't save. It's Christ that saves. There
are people who have faith in their faith. There are people
who say, I have faith in the Word of God. Now, wait a minute.
I have faith in the Word because it's the Word of God. My faith
is in Him, not just in a book. It's in Christ. Now, we'd better
get this straight. He that believeth on the Son,
Christ is our Redeemer. Christ is our Lord. Christ is
our Savior. His name is Jesus, Jehovah, God
my Savior, and everything's in Him. Now, all of these other
things are secondary objects of faith, and they must take
that place. But I believe in my experience,
well, it won't save you. It's not interceding for you,
and it didn't die for you. And at the judgment, it won't
plead for you. All right, here's the third thing.
Now, how does God work saving faith? Well, we can't lay down
a course or a pattern for the living God. He'll work when He
will, how He will, with whom He will. But the scripture does
give us some examples of how God works saving faith. Take,
for example, the Samaritan woman. God crossed her path, the Lord
Jesus Christ crossed her path, met her at the well. And He created
an interest in her, talking to her about living water, talking
to her about never thirsting. talking to her about knowing
God, created an interest. And then thirdly, he presented
to her a problem, that is, her sins, past, present, and future. And when nothing could be done
about that, she said, well, I know the Messiah's coming, and he'll
tell us everything. And that's when Christ presented
the cure. He said, I'm He. So that's the
way God worked faith in her heart and in her life. And then we
have other examples. But in working faith in the heart
of a sinner, God is sovereign. The wind bloweth where it listeth,
and you hear the sound, but you can't tell whence it cometh or
whether it goeth, even so are those that are born of the Spirit.
But there are some things that God always does in revealing
faith. Now, you may hear the word preached
on television, you may hear the word preached in your home, you
may read it in the scripture, you may be out in the barn, and
there's no set course or pattern for God to work faith in the
heart of his people. But there are some things that
God always does. I'm confident of this. Number
one, there will be a discovery made of God's holiness. That's
right. Any man who is a partaker of
the grace of God and a recipient of the free grace of God and
of faith, he'll discover the holiness of God. And then secondly,
he'll discover his own unworthiness and sin. Yes, he will. He'll
discover his own sin. Like the publican, he'll cry,
God be merciful to me, a sinner. Thirdly, there'll be a discovery
of his inability, of his inability to please God, of his inability
to cleanse his own heart, of his inability to approach God
in the flesh. And then there'll be a discovery
of God's justice. God will punish sinners. God
will deal with the guilty. And then there's always a revelation
of Christ the substitute, a revelation of his glory and excellence,
who he is. He's not just a mere man, he's
the God-man. A discovery of his incarnation,
he represented us in the flesh. A discovery of his righteousness,
he obeyed the law and imputed to us a perfect righteousness
and holiness. A discovery of his sin offering,
his sacrifice, he died that we may live. A discovery of his
priestly work, his mediatorial work as he intercedes for us
before God and makes even our prayers to be holy. Yes, how
does God work faith? There's a discovery of his holiness
and of our guilt and of the sufficiency of his dear son.