Saving Faith or Religious Profession

The announcer said that the 13th
Street Baptist Church invites you to hear a sermon by its pastor. Now a sermon does not profit
a person unless three things are true. Number one, unless
God anoints it with the power of his Holy Spirit. If my voice
is the only voice you hear, nothing of any eternal value will be
accomplished for you. You've got to hear God speak
through his word. and through his messenger. God
must anoint the message. And then secondly, a sermon is
not worth anything to us unless we hear it with our hearts, not
just with our ears, but with our hearts, for it's with the
heart man believeth unto righteousness. And then the third thing, a sermon
is not worth anything unless God anoints it, unless we hear
it with our hearts, and thirdly, unless we intend to do something
about Now those three things are necessary. I have a sermon
for you. I pray that God will anoint it
with his spirit. I pray that you will hear it,
not just with the outer ear, but with the heart. And I pray
that you will consider it, that you'll think about it, and that
you'll ask God to give you the power and the wisdom to do something
about it. Now our text today will be taken
from the book of 2 Corinthians chapter 13. 2 Corinthians 13,
verse 5, and I'm going to speak to you on the subject, saving
faith or religious profession. Which do I have? Do I have saving
faith or do I just have a religious profession? Now in 2 Corinthians
13, verse 5, the Apostle Paul writes these words, examine yourselves
whether you be in the faith. There is but one faith, one Lord,
one faith, one baptism, the scripture declares. You examine yourself. Now don't get busy examining
me and examining your family membership or examining your
neighbors, but examine yourselves, whether you be in the faith.
Prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves how
that Jesus Christ is in you, or you are reprobate. Now it's not true, it's not true
that a person must wait till the judgment to find out if they're
really saved. It's not true that a person must
wait to the judgment to find out if he's a child of God or
a child of wrath. Our Lord commands us to examine
ourselves and determine our interest in Christ right now. Beloved,
now are we the sons of God. And God commands you in the scripture
to examine yourself now and determine your relationship with Christ.
He said in 2 Peter 1.10, give diligence, brethren, give diligence
to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things,
you'll never fail. Do it now. Determine your relationship
with God. Determine your election and your
calling now. And then when we come to the
Lord's table, Paul said, examine yourselves. Let a man examine
himself, and so let him eat." Examine himself, whether he discerns
the meaning of that table, the Lord's broken body and the Lord's
shed blood. And then in Hebrews 3.12, the
scripture says, "...take heed, brethren, lest there be found
in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the
living God." So you don't have to wait till the judgment As
someone says, till the smoke clears away and the dust dies
down and find out which side you're on. The Word of God commands
you right now to determine your interest in Christ. Now, believers
in the Old Testament and the New Testament, prophets of God,
men of God, women who knew the Lord, they knew their interest
in the Savior. They knew that. Job said, I know
that my Redeemer liveth. I know that. And David said,
The Lord is my shepherd. I have no doubt about that. He's
my refuge. He's my strength. He's my shepherd.
Paul said, I know whom I have believed. I am persuaded that
he is able to keep that which I have already committed to him
against that day. And John said, We know that we
have passed from death unto life because we love the brethren.
We know that. We've experienced it. The assurance The assurance
of our interest in Christ. Now get this, this is important.
The assurance of our interest in Christ is what leads a man
to leave all things and follow Christ. Now, uncertainty leads
to indifference. If a person is uncertain of his
interest in the Savior, uncertain of his relationship with God,
it will certainly lead to a careless life, an indifferent life. But
when a person is sure of his interest in Christ, he is confident
of his relationship with God through Jesus Christ, it makes
a man willing even to die for the Lord. Paul was going to Jerusalem,
and the people of Ephesus knew that they'd never see him again.
They knew what awaited him in Jerusalem, that they would put
him to death, and they begged him not to go, and they wept.
and cried about his leaving, and this is what Paul said. He
said, why do you weep and break my heart? Don't you know that
I'm willing to go to Jerusalem and not only be bound for Christ's
sake, but to die for Christ's sake? Did you ever read about
the old Moravian missionaries who actually became lepers? They entered leper colonies and
became lepers so that they could preach to the lepers. They were
like the man who found the pearl of great price in the field and
went and sold everything that he had in order to purchase that
field, in order to purchase that pearl. Our Lord said this, if
any man puts his hand to the plow and looks back, he's not
fit for the kingdom of God. So this saving interest, when
it's determined, when a person has assurance of his interest
in Christ, his relationship with God through Christ, Why, it leads
him to be willing not only to suffer for Christ, but to die
for the gospel. He knows that Christ is his Lord,
and he's willing to lay down his life. He has, as the Master
said, turned his back on family, and friends, and vocation, and
possessions, and yea, even his own life. He loves Christ more. Now here's another thing. While
we examine our faith, and this is what Paul is talking about,
examine yourself, whether you be in the faith. We're not talking
about are you in the right church, or do you hold the right doctrine,
or this, that, and the other. Are you in the faith of Christ?
And while we're examining our faith and our interest in Christ,
we have to turn to the Word of God. Now, building my hope for
eternity on my feelings is folly. Building my hopes for eternity
on a religious experience is foolishness. Building my hope
for eternity on a profession of faith or on ceremonialism
is sheer folly. I must turn to the Word of God.
Isaiah said, if they speak not according to the law and the
prophets, it's because there's no light in them. We've got to
speak according to the Word. Paul wrote this, God hath said,
I'll never leave thee nor forsake thee, so that we may boldly say,
the Lord is my keeper. How can I say the Lord is my
keeper? Only because he says he's my keeper. How can I say
the Lord is my redeemer? Because he says he's my redeemer.
I have to say what God says. I dare not advance one foot beyond
the word of God. John wrote in John 20, 31, these
are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the
Son of God. That's why this scripture is
written. And that believing you might have life in his name.
Again in 1 John 5.13, he says, These things have I written to
you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that you may
know you have eternal life. Turn to the Word. I exhort you,
my friend, turn to the Word of God. The Bereans were more noble. Why? Because they searched the
scriptures to see if these things be so. Paul said, Study the Word
of God. Study to show thyself approved
unto God, a workman that Need it not be a shame rightly dividing
the word of truth. As newborn babes desire the sincere
milk of the word that you may grow thereby. Paul said, I commit
you to God and to the word of his grace which is able to build
you up. It's the word that's most important. Faith cometh
by hearing and hearing the word of God. Not our man-made creeds
and catechisms and literature. Fine. These things are fine in
their place. But this is the foundation of
faith. God's word. Now, I know a lot of people think
it doesn't matter what a man believes as far as religion is
concerned, just as long as he's sincere. But it does matter.
It does matter. We must believe the Word of God.
We have no other foundation for faith but the Scriptures. It
becomes every person listening to my voice to weigh his hope
in the light of the Word of God. Not in the light of his feelings,
and not in the light of his experience, and not in the light of his denominational
dogma, A doctrine is true not because I think it or I believe
it, but because God says it. And my friends, I'm not ashamed
to submit my belief in the absolute sovereignty of God to the Word
of God. The Word of God teaches that.
He says, I am the Lord. I change not. They said, David,
where is your God? He said, Our God's in the heavens.
He hath done whatsoever he pleased. Whatsoever the Lord pleased,
that did he in heaven, earth, and the seas, and in all deep
places. I'm not afraid. to submit my
belief in the fall of man to the word of God. As in Adam,
all died. By one man's disobedience, we
became sinners. I am not afraid to submit my
doctrine of the blood of Christ to the word of God. Wherewithal,
wherewithal shall we be cleansed from our sins by our ceremonies,
by our professions, by our decisions? Peter said, You know that you
are not redeemed with corruptible things such as silver and gold,
but with the precious blood of Christ. Paul wrote in Hebrews
9.22, without the shedding of blood, there's no remission for
sin. I'm not afraid to submit my doctrine of grace to the Word
of God, for by grace are you saved through faith. And Paul
said, if it's of works, it's not of grace. If it's of grace,
it's not of works. I'm not afraid to submit my doctrine
of believer's baptism to the Word of God. Our Lord said, you
go and preach the gospel, he that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved, he that believeth not shall be damned. I'm not
afraid to submit my doctrine of covenant mercies to the word
of God. The word of God all the way through talks about God will
keep his covenant, God will keep his covenant. I am the Lord,
I change not, therefore you sons of Jacob are not consumed. The
gifts and calling of God are without change. Now I'm not asking
you if you believe these things, perhaps you do not. Perhaps you
do not, but this is what I'm asking you, have you searched
the scriptures? Have you searched the scriptures?
I don't ask if you believe in God's sovereignty, and in man's
fall, and in God's eternal grace, and in Christ's effectual work,
and the perseverance of the saints. I don't ask if you believe that.
You may not. But I'm asking you this question.
Have you searched the word of God? The things that you believe,
have you found them in God's word, or have you just accepted
them because that's what you think, or that's what you feel,
or that's what somebody said, or that's what they told you
years ago? Happy is the man. whose faith is founded on the
word of God. Happy is the man whose faith
can endure the trial of the book. God said it. I believe it. I believe it. Those who have
been brought to faith, now another thing I believe that's important
about this thing of saving faith or religious profession, those
who have been brought to real faith in Christ never cease to
be amazed. never cease to be amazed that
God Almighty should condemn sin to dwell with them. That God
Almighty should condemn sin to give his Son to die for our sins.
They never cease to be amazed. Charles Wesley wrote, can it
be that I should gain an interest in the Savior's blood? Died he
for me who him to death pursued? John Newton said, when I get
the glory by God's grace, three things there will amaze me. Number
one, I'll be amazed when I find that a lot of folks I expected
to be there aren't there. And he said, secondly, I'll be
amazed to see a lot of people there I didn't expect to see
there. But he said, I believe the thing that will be most amazing
when I stand in the presence of the Lord will be this, that
I'm there. I'm amazed that God could ever
love me. a sinner condemned unclean. I am amazed that God Almighty
should send his Son into this world to be my Redeemer. Aren't
you amazed? Solomon, when he dedicated the
temple, that great, beautiful, magnificent temple that he built
for the glory of God, this is what he said in his prayer. Will
God indeed dwell on this earth? Behold, the heaven of heavens
cannot contain him, how much less this house that I built
him. And we claim that God dwells in us, and Solomon with amazement,
said, Is it possible that the God of glory should dwell in
this house? David, this is what he said,
Who am I, O Lord God? Who am I? And what is my house
that you have brought me hither? The man who has real faith does
not have it based on presumption and idle assurance. He's always
amazed that God should love him. He's always amazed that God should
save him. He's always amazed that Christ
should dwell with him. He's always amazed that Christ
should keep him. Charles Spurgeon wrote this,
when I came to Christ, I had no knowledge of any personal
or saving interest in the blood of Christ, in the death of Christ,
in the work of Christ. I just knew this. I knew it was
written in his word. He who knew no sin was made sin
for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
I just knew that the word of God says, Look unto me, all the
ends of the earth, and be ye saved, for I am God, and there
is none else. And I looked to him. I looked to him. I trusted
him. I looked to him and trusted him
on the strength of his promise, on the strength of his word.
And I said, Sink or swim, I am going to him. Sink or swim, I
cast myself on him. Great Son of God, he said, thou
hast lived and died for sinners who will trust in thee. I trust
thee. I trust thee. Now, next of all,
listen to this. A faith that saves, saving faith,
not a religious profession, but saving faith. Saving faith is
a faith that stands alone. It's not faith and works. It's
not faith and morality. It's not faith and church membership. It's not faith and baptism that
saves. It's faith alone. When that Philippian
jailer came and fell at the feet of Paul and Silas, and he cried,
Sirs, what must I do to be saved? Now, Paul, if baptism is essential
for the cleansing of the soul and for a man to be vitally united
with Christ, now is the time to tell that man. He's asking
one straightforward, simple question, what must I do to be saved? If
this morality, morality, or creeds, or standards, or church membership,
or these things are necessary for this man to be saved, tell
him, Paul, go on, tell him now. Now's the time to tell him. What
must I do to be saved? Comes the answer of this inspired
man of God, and it's written in his word, God's word, Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. Now, baptism
is essential in its place. It's essential to obedience.
It's essential to doing what God tells you to do. It's essential
to a confession of faith. It's essential to identification.
Morality and good works and obeying God is essential in its place.
But when it comes to the cleansing of a soul, the redemption of
a sinner, a relationship with God, putting away our guilt,
justification, faith stands alone. God does not require you to produce
a righteousness. He commands you to accept one,
to receive one. God doesn't command you to create
life, but to receive it. God Almighty does not command
you to live up to a standard of perfection. He requires you
to receive a person who did live up to a standard of perfection.
God Almighty does not require you to understand Him. He commands
you to believe Him. To believe Him. Without faith,
there's no approach to God. In Hebrews 11, verse 6, the scripture
says, Without faith it is impossible to please God. He that cometh
to God must believe that he is, and that he is the reward of
them that diligently seek him. Without faith the gospel profits
you nothing. Hebrews 4, verse 2 says, The
gospel was preached to them, but it did not profit them, not
being mixed with faith in them that heard it. Without faith
there is no salvation. He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved. He that believeth not, whatever
he does, he that believeth not, whatever he knows, he that believeth
not, whatever he claims, shall be damned. And then without faith,
prayer is useless. If any man lack wisdom, let him
ask of God, but let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like
the storm tossed sea. Don't let that man think he'll
receive anything of God. You've got to believe. You've
got to believe. Not me. You've got to believe
him. Believe him. And it's more than
just believing on him. The scripture doesn't say Abraham
believed on God, or Abraham believed about God, or even Abraham believed
in God. It says Abraham believed God.
And it was counted to him for righteousness. There's a difference.
Now, you think carefully on this. Abraham believed God. Paul said
on that sinking ship, Wherefore, sirs, I believe God. I believe
God. Now, saving faith in the next
place has to do with a person. Now, this is most important.
In 1 John 5.11, the scripture says this is the record, that
God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
Eternal life is in Christ. Christ is the object of saving
faith. Christ is the reason for saving
faith. There is no other reason for
faith. There is no other reason for faith at all, except Christ
loved us and gave himself for us. Christ is the hope of faith. We are going to be like him,
and he that hath this hope in him purifies himself. What hope?
That he'll be like Christ. Christ is the source of faith.
We live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved us and gave
himself for us. So this is the record that God
hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. And he that hath the Son of God
hath life. and he that hath not the Son
of God hath not life." Now, my friends, I want you to listen
carefully now, very carefully. I'm going to point out some things
that false faith can do. There's saving faith and there's
a false faith. There's saving faith and there's
an empty religious profession. Now, first of all, false faith
can excite the affections. Our Lord told about the man that
went forth to sow, and he sowed the seed, and some fell on stony
ground, and he said the stony ground hearer is the person who
hears the word of God and receives it with gladness, and springs
up quickly, but soon the sun comes out and the plant is withered
because it has no root. But this person received the
word with gladness and with joy, say, that sounds good, now that's
what I need. False faith can excite the affections,
and secondly, it can reform the outward man. The Pharisee stood
in the temple and he said, God, I thank you I'm not like other
men. He was telling the truth. He wasn't like other men, but
he didn't know God. He said, I'm not an extortioner,
I'm not unjust, I'm not an adulterer, I fast and I tithe, I do all
these things. Our Lord said of these men, He
said, you're clean on the outside, but on the inside, you're full
of extortion and excess. You're like a grave, with all
of its beautiful grass and flowers, but still on the inside, dead
men's bones. So false faith can excite the
affections, and false faith can reform the outward man. And false
faith can speak well of Christ. Nicodemus came and looked at
the Master, and he said, Well, I know you've come from God,
because no man could do the miracles you do, except God be with him.
He spoke well of Christ. Gamaliel spoke well of Christ.
So many of those men spoke well of him, but they never confessed
him, they never believed on him, they never received him as far
as we know. Also, false faith can feel sorry for sin. Judas
came back and threw the eighteen dollars on the floor, the thirty
pieces of silver, and he said, as he wept, I have betrayed innocent
blood. Oh, he was sorry. And he went
out and hanged himself. But he didn't have saving faith.
False faith can tremble under the preached word. Felix did.
He trembled while Paul reasoned of righteousness, temperance,
and judgment. False faith can persevere to the judgment. There
are people who are going to, Christ said they are going to
stand at the judgment and say unto me, while Lord we preached
in your name and we cast out devils in your name and we perform
many wonderful works, false faith can hang on and persevere until
it stands before God himself and argue with Jehovah God. False
faith is powerful. And I'll tell you something else,
false faith can be baptized with Simon Magus, it can attain high
office with Judas, it can sleep in peace with the foolish virgins,
and it can associate with some of God's choice preachers like
Demas. Paul said, Demas hath forsaken
me after all these years of companionship and of preaching together. Why?
Demas found out that he loved the world more than he loved
God. But there are three things that false faith cannot produce.
False faith can excite the affections, it can reform the outward man,
it can speak well of Christ, it can attain high office, it
can persevere to the judgment, it can do all these things, but
there are three things that false faith cannot do. Number one,
false faith can never produce a heart that is truly broken
over sin. The scripture says, God save
it, such as be of a broken heart. The scripture says, the sacrifices
of God are a broken heart and a broken spirit. David cried,
O God, my sins are ever before me, have mercy upon me. False faith can't do that. False
faith stands in the temple and brags about how good it is, how
religious it is, how much it's given up for God. But saving
faith falls in the dust of repentance, in the dust of a contrite broken
heart, and says, O Lord, my sins are ever before me. Purge me
with hyssop, and I shall be clean. Wash me in thy blood, and I shall
be whiter than the snow. Or like the publican who said,
God, let thy blood be propitiation for me on the mercy seat. The
second thing that false faith cannot produce, it cannot produce
a broken heart over sin. Secondly, it can never receive
and rest in Christ alone as the way of life. Christ alone as
the way of life. He said, I am the way, the truth,
and the life. No man cometh to the Father but
by me. False faith has got to add something
to Christ. It may be baptism, it may be
the mass, it may be church membership, it may be doctrine, it may be
so, but it's got to add something to Christ. But saving faith says
Christ alone, Christ alone. Christ, the Alpha and Omega,
the author and finisher of our faith. He is all and in all. We are complete in Him and He
is our life. And anything else is just added
by the Spirit of God to make us more like Christ. False faith
can never lie with a broken heart in the dust at the feet of Christ.
False faith can never receive him as the only hope. And then
false faith can never bow to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
In what character was he rejected by the people as king? They said,
we will not have this man reign over us. In what character was
he mocked and ridiculed and persecuted by the soldiers as a king? They
put a crown of thorns on his head and a scepter in his hand.
In what character was he crucified, and for what crimes? What did
they write over his cross? Jesus of Nazareth, King of the
Jews. Is he your King? The whole world
is accepting Jesus as Savior, but somebody is my Lord. If you
want this message on tape, you write to me. The address will
be given to you by your announcer. Until next week, I bid you good
day, and God bless you.

Saving Faith or Religious Profession

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