I'm speaking to you this morning
on the subject, is my faith saving faith? Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians
chapter 13, verse 5, examine yourselves whether you be in
the faith. And then again he wrote in Timothy,
there is one Lord, one faith, and one baptism. Now, I'm deeply
concerned about this thing called faith. Are you? I'm concerned
about my faith. I'm concerned about your faith. I don't want to miss faith in
Christ, and I do not want you to miss faith in Christ. Let
me read you a few passages of Scripture that show the importance
of this thing called faith. Faith in the Redeemer. Faith
in the substitute, faith and confidence in Christ our Lord
and Savior. In Hebrews 11, verse 6, the scripture
says, But without faith it is impossible to please God. For he that cometh to God must
believe that he is, and that he is the rewarder of them that
diligently seek him. Without faith it is impossible
to please God. And then in John 3, verse 36,
the Scripture says, "...he that believeth on the Son hath life. He that believeth not the Son
shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him." This
is where it is. It's faith in Christ. This is
the record that God hath given to us eternal life, and this
life is in His Son. It's not in It's not in the ordinances. It's not in the law. It's not
in the works or deeds of religion. Eternal life is in a person.
It's in the Lord Jesus Christ. And he that hath the Son of God
hath life, and he that hath not the Son of God. And how does
a man have Christ? He has Christ by faith. We don't
have Christ physically. We don't have Christ in a human
body. We have Christ by faith. For
God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that
whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have everlasting
life." In Hebrews 3.19, Paul wrote, Israel could not enter
the promised land. Why? Because they built a golden
calf? No. Because they rebelled at
the waters? No. Because they did this or
did that? No, it says they could not enter
in because of unbelief. And then in verse 13 of that
same chapter, Paul wrote to the church, and he said, Take heed,
brethren, lest there be found in you an evil heart of unbelief. It is unbelief that bars men
from the presence of God and from the kingdom of God. Our
Lord said to the centurion in Mark 9, verse 23, if you can
believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. Can you
believe? All things are possible to him
that believeth. And then in Hebrews 11, we have
that Old Testament spiritual hall of fame. And Paul introduces
us to these giants going all the way from from Genesis to
Malachi, talking about these men who knew God and who walked
with God and who loved God and who were used of God, and men
of whom it is written, they were redeemed. They knew God. They
are in glory. But I want you to watch one characteristic
of every one of them, one statement about every one of them, one
thing that they all had in common. Do you know what that one thing
was? One thing for which they were all commended. faith. By faith, Abel offered a more
excellent sacrifice than Cain. It was by faith that he brought
the lamb. It was by faith that God accepted
his sacrifice. By faith. By faith, Enoch walked
with God and was not, for God took him. By faith, Noah, being
warned of God of things not seen, built an ark and saved his house. By faith. By faith, Abraham offered
Isaac. By faith, Moses refused to be
called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He refused the riches of Egypt,
and he chose rather to suffer the afflictions of God's people.
It was by faith. Read all of that chapter. By
faith, Isaac. By faith, Joseph. By faith, Jacob. By faith, Hagar. By faith, by
faith, all of them have this one thing in common, and that
is they believe God. And it is said in that same chapter,
these all died in faith. I'm concerned about my faith,
and I need to be, and you need to be concerned about your faith,
and I need to be concerned about your faith. Examine yourselves
whether you be in the faith, not in the church, but in the
faith. And there's just one faith, one
Lord, one faith. Now, it's wise for man to look
to his doctrines. I think we should look to our
doctrine. Paul told Timothy to look to his doctrine. Take heed
to doctrine and study and exhortation, for in so doing he would save
himself and those who hear him. One cannot separate the master
from his commandments. One cannot separate the teacher
from his teachings, but the important commandment is believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ. And thou shalt be saved. That's
where we start. That's where we begin. That's
the start of everything, believing on Christ. A man should take
heed to his works. No question about that. Paul
said in Titus chapter 1, verse 16, some profess that they know
God. But in works, they deny him. A man can deny God by his works. And James wrote, faith without
works is dead. But when the people asked Christ,
what shall we do that we might work the works of God? What did
he answer? He said, these are the works
of God that you believe on him whom God has sent. Yes, a man
should take heed to his works. But it'll be better if he takes
heed, first of all, to his faith. These are the works of God that
you believe on him whom God has sent. Without faith in Christ,
our works are to no avail, whatever they might be, whatever our efforts
might be. And then a man should take heed
to endure trial and affliction with a positive attitude and
with a thankful heart. But though I fail in conflict
and though I fail under a severe trial, Must not fail in faith
Now Peter was faced with a severe trial. You remember he boasted
that though the others departed from Christ or Denied Christ
that he would never do that and I Lord said to him Peter before
the cock crows you're going to deny me three times and Peter
did deny the Lord he failed in Conflict he failed in a severe
trial, but Christ said this I've prayed for you that your faith
fail not. That's a mighty important thing,
that your faith fail not. That's the important thing. Do
you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ? Now, in helping you to
examine your faith, in helping myself to examine this thing
called faith, I want to call your attention to several characteristics
of faith, or evidences of faith, or marks of saving faith. And I'm going to use Abraham
as our example. What is this thing called faith?
Is my faith saving faith? Do I really believe God? All
right, here are some of the characteristics of faith. I'm going to give you
five or six or seven. If you care to, jot them down.
Write down the scripture. Look them up later. First of
all, saving faith has one object, and that's the Lord Jesus Christ.
The scripture says, Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto
him for righteousness. Abraham believed God. He did
not believe his feelings. You can't believe your feelings.
He did not believe his neighbors. You can't believe every voice
you hear. Men get in trouble listening to the wrong voice.
Eve listened to the wrong voice. She listened to the voice of
the serpent. Adam listened to the wrong voice. He listened
to the voice of his wife. Balaam listened to the wrong
voice. Israel listened to the wrong voice. Aaron, when he prepared
the golden calf, he wasn't listening to God. He was listening to the
people. And Abraham believed God. He didn't believe his feelings,
and he didn't believe his neighbors. He didn't even believe his parents. His parents were idol worshippers.
Did you know that? That's right. Abraham's parents
were idol worshippers. He believed God. He believed
God when he didn't know where. The Lord God came to him and
said, Abraham, get thee out of thy father's house, and from
among thy kindred, and go to a land that I will show thee.
And the scripture says, and Abraham arose and departed. He did not know where he was
going, but he believed God. He believed God. Didn't know
where, but he believed God. And then he believed God when
he didn't know how. When Abraham was past 90 years
of age, he was almost 100, and his wife was past 90, past the
age of bearing children. And God came to this old man
and old woman who had never had any children of their own, and
promised them a son. And he said, this son, from this
son will come a great nation. And you'll be the father of many
nations. And through this Son, I'll bless you, and your name
shall be blessed." And Abraham believed God. He didn't know
how, but he believed God. That's faith. That's believing
God. Not his feelings, but he believed God. And then he believed
God when he didn't know why. One day God came to him and said,
when Isaac, his son, was about 14 years old, He came to him
and said, Abraham, take now thy son, thine only son, whom thou
lovest, unto a place I will show thee, unto a mountain, and there
sacrifice him as a sin offering to my name. And Abraham started
out and went to that mountain, not knowing why, but he believed
God. What am I saying? I'm saying
this, that saving faith has one object. And that object is the
Lord of Glory, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, I don't know. Abraham
believed God. He didn't know where. He didn't
know how. He didn't know why. But he just
believed God. He believed that God was able
to perform all that he promised. And it was counted to him for
righteousness. And I don't know where heaven is. God has promised
us a land, a city. And we look for a city whose
foundations are laid by God. Not made with human hands. And
I don't know where it is. But God knows, Christ knows,
and our Lord left this promise. He said, I go to prepare a place
for you. And if I go and prepare a place
for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself. That
where I am there, you may be also. And I believe it. I believe
God. And I don't know how the sinner
is born again. I know it's by the Spirit. I
know it's by the Word of God. But I don't know how this this
tremendous transaction can take place, this work of regeneration
and awakening, and how the dead can live, the spiritually dead
can live. And I don't know how God, who
never forgets anything, can remember our sins no more. I don't know
how the blood of Christ can put away all my transgressions. I
don't know how the dead are raised at the end of this world. I don't
know how a holy God can love sinful creatures like you and
me, but He says He does. He says He does. And He says
you must be born again, and I believe that. And He said the blood of
Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin. I believe that. He says
Christ is our rock and our refuge and our hope and our mediator.
And because He lives, we shall live. And He said because Christ
was raised, we shall be raised. I believe God. That's saving
faith. It has one object. God Almighty. And faith cometh by hearing,
and hearing by the Word of God, and believing the Word of God.
And this is Satan's great weapon against faith, his efforts to
destroy your confidence in God's Word. This is the foundation
of faith. Now Christ is the object of faith,
but the foundation of faith is the Word of God. Abraham didn't
know where he was going. He didn't know how he was going
to have a son. He didn't know why God wanted
him to sacrifice Isaac, but he believed God's Word. And this
is the foundation of faith. He believed God. God said it. Abraham believed it. And then
I don't know why God should choose to redeem folks like you and
me. Do you know why? I don't know why. You know, David
exclaimed about that. He said, when I consider the
heavens, the stars, the moon, the sun, the things I was made,
what is man that art mindful of him? I don't know why God
should love me. Why should He love me so? Love
sent my Savior to die on the cross. Why should He love me
so? Meekly to Calvary's cross He
was led. Why should He love me so? I don't
know why, but He says He does, and I believe Him. I believe
that God Almighty is pleased to reveal His grace and His mercy
to sinners like you and me, and I thank God for it. So saving
faith believes God. The object of saving faith is
Christ Jesus the Lord. He is God. He's the revelation
of God. No man knows God save the Son, He to whom the Son will
reveal Him. He that has seen me, Christ said,
has seen my Father. And saving faith receives Christ
as prophet, priest, and king. Now the second characteristic
of saving faith is this. Saving faith will be tried Now,
I can be sure of this. I can be certain that if my faith
is saving faith, it's going to be tried, it's going to be tested,
it's going to be proved. Now, let me read you two verses
of Scripture. First of all, from James 1, verse
2 and 3, "'My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into
different trials, knowing this, that the trying of your faith
worketh patience. And then 1 Peter 4, 12, Beloved,
think it not strange concerning the fiery trials which are to
try you as though some strange thing happened to you. God's
going to try our faith. Faith has to be tried to prove
its existence, to prove its strength. It has to be tried. It has to
be tried to prove it to you. It has to be tried to reveal
it to you. How do I know that I believe God if I've never tried,
if my faith has never proved to me? I may say that I believe
God, but I may not believe Him at all. And so God uses means
and measures and trials and tribulations and suffering and all of these
things to prove our faith. Now, Abraham in Genesis 22, 1,
you'll see Three words that are very interesting. In Genesis
22, 1, it says, after these things, after these things, God said
to Abraham, take thy son, thine only son, whom thou lovest, and
sacrifice him. You know the word of God in just
three words can say more than most men can write in volumes. After these things. After Abraham
had been tried in leaving his father's house, After he had
been tried wandering in the wilderness, after he had been tried dividing
the land with lot, after he had been tried tempted to become
quite wealthy at the hands of the kings of Sodom, after he
had been tried sending Ishmael away, the son he had by Hagar,
you remember the handmaid? He had to send him away when
he was about 15 years of age. God told him that the son of
the bondwoman could not live with the son of the free. And
so he had to send him away. And after all these trials, after
these things, when Abraham was old, 114 years old, after Abraham
was full of years, after Abraham, I guess, was ready to settle
down and just enjoy life, after he thought the warfare is over,
no more trial, he had to endure his greatest trial, after all
these things. Somebody said there were nine
great trials of Abraham, and this, sacrificing Isaac, was
the greatest, and it came last, and it came in the twilight years
of his life. Perhaps your greatest trial is
yet to come. I'm almost certain that it is.
Perhaps my greatest trial is yet to come. I'm almost certain
that it is. God tries His men. He tries His
people. He tries those who believe on
him. True faith will be tried after these things. God said,
Abraham, there he was, old and full of years and comfortable
and sitting at home enjoying his people and his family and
his son. And God spoke, Abraham, I'm going
to try your faith now and prove it. And he did. Our Lord said,
in this world ye shall have tribulation. They that would live godly in
Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. I'm sure that faith will be tried.
And then thirdly, saving faith is obedience. It's said in Genesis
22, 3 that when God spoke to Abraham about sacrificing Isaac,
that Abraham rose up and went to the place that God directed
him to go. No argument. I just imagine Abraham
could have come up with many human arguments against this
sacrificing of his son. You and I would have, wouldn't
we? Wouldn't we have argued with God about this? Not Abraham.
When God said, take your son and sacrifice him, it says he
rose up and left. I imagine he could have said
something like this. We've got all these things figured
out, you know. He might have said, but Lord,
you said in Isaac, shalt thy seed be called. Now, this is
not consistent with that promise that you made. And you might
have said, but Lord, now how will I explain this to Sarah?
If I take this boy out here and sacrifice him on an altar, how
do I explain that to my wife? And Lord, how do I explain that
to the heathen, to my neighbors, to my friends, to my relatives?
How do I explain to them that my son died at my own hands? How do I explain that? And Lord,
this doesn't seem like the thing to do. Now, this is not the way
that human wisdom would have this thing to take place. No, he didn't offer any arguments. You see, saving faith is obedient. It's obedient. One time the disciples
were out fishing. They hadn't caught a thing. All
night they fished. And they rode to the shore, and
there was the master. And he said, children, have you
caught any meat? And they said, no. And he said,
well, push the boat out there a little ways into the water
and cast your net off on the certain side of the ship. And
Peter looked at him. He said, Lord, we've toiled all
night and caught nothing. Nevertheless, at your word, we
let down the net. Now, that's saving faith. I don't
understand it. And I might have several human
arguments against it. And it might be contrary to human
wisdom, but if God said it, that's the way it is. Now, that's the
place that you better come if you want saving faith. And then
fourthly, saving faith is patient. It waits on the Lord. You know
how far that mountain was from where Abraham lived? God came
and said, take your son and sacrifice him. It was three days' journey. That's three days and two nights
on the road. You just imagine what this man
Abraham went through as he took this boy toward that mountain
where he was going to sacrifice him on an altar as a sin offering.
I'm sure these three days seem like three years. But God gives
a man not only space to repent, but space to depart. You know,
our Lord turned to the disciples one day, and after the 5,000
had left, he turned to them and said, will you also go away?
And they said, to whom shall we go? The Lord slowly prepares
his vessels. He slowly prepares those vessels
that he will use. He proves them with trial and
time. One time a lady asked a preacher
friend of mine, do you think I'm saved? He said, see me in
about 30 years and I'll tell you. God proves his vessels with
time and trial. You know, when they used to sift
the wheat, they'd take it in this round thing with a with
a screen bottom and they'd throw it up in there and the wind would
blow the chaff away. The wheat would always come down
in the vessel, but the wind would blow the chaff. That chaff may
hang in there for several, several flips, but after a while it gets
it all. The wind blows it all away. And
that's what happens. Time and trial prove faith. But faith's patient and waits
on the Lord. Do you know how long Moses was
in Egypt? 40 years. You know how long he
was in the desert? 40 years. He was 80 years old
before God ever used him to take the truth to Israel, to lead
Israel out of Egypt. He only served as the leader
of Israel 40 years, only one-third of his life. Now if he, like
today, had lived to be 60, he wouldn't have gone into the ministry
at least 40 years old. But now, we've got to get at
the starting gate before we're ready to run, before we ever
have a message, before we have anything to say. We just got
to get out there and run. But God prepares His vessels.
He keeps them in preparation and trial and suffering and in
the furnace of affliction. And after a while, He gets all
the rough edges off and gets them ready to use them. And then
faith is certain. Abraham started up that mountain
with Isaac. And the servants were down here
with the animals, and Abraham said, you men stay here. The
lad and I will go yonder and worship, and then we'll come
back to you. Abraham didn't say, the lad and
I are going up, and I'm leaving him, and I'm coming back. He
said, the lad and I are going up, and we will come back. Faith
is certain. Abraham knew this, that what
God had promised, God would perform. And God promised him that this
son would be his heir, and that in Isaac shall his seed be called.
And he knew that if he killed Isaac, God would raise him from
the dead. He was as certain of that as he was certain that God
is God and that his name was Abraham. He said, we'll be back.
We'll be back. He'd already committed Isaac
to death, but he believed God would raise him from the dead.
He was as certain of that as his name was Abraham. He said,
you wait here, and the lad and I'll go yonder and worship, and
we'll be back. And the next thing about saving
faith, saving faith's not ignorant. It's not blind faith. I hear
people talking about blind faith. Faith isn't blind. Faith sees.
Faith's informed. They started up that mountain,
and the lad, Isaac, turned to his father, and he said, Father,
here is wood, and here is the fire. Where's the lamb? Now, that boy knew something
that a lot of folks today don't know. He knew that there's no
approach to God without a sin offering, without a sacrifice.
He knew there was no way for a sinner to worship God, to approach
God, to commune with God without the shedding of blood, without
a lamb being slain. Do you know that? Well, that's
what he knew. And then Abraham made a tremendous
statement. He said, my son, God will provide
himself a lamb. Three things there, and I close.
God provided the lamb, and God provided it for himself. that
his righteousness might be honored and his justice satisfied, and
he provided himself, he was the Lamb. That's right. Christ came
down here to earth, and he is not only the priest and God to
whom the sacrifice is offered and the tabernacle in which it's
offered and the mercy seat on which the blood is put, but he
is the Lamb. Behold the Lamb of God that taketh
away the sin of the world. Is my faith saving faith? I hope it is. I hope yours is.
I trust it is.