Saved Through Faith

I'm reading from the book of
Ephesians, chapter 2, verse 8 and 9. For by grace are ye saved
through faith. Saved through faith. That's our
subject today. Saved through faith. And that not of yourselves, it
is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. Now,
if there's any doctrine that is plainly taught, perfectly
clear and without question in the word of God, it is that men
are saved from sin, made children of God, become heirs of eternal
life by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. If there is any doctrine
in God's word that is without question, that is perfectly clear,
it is that men are saved not by works, but by faith in Jesus
Christ. Listen to some scriptures. When
our Lord spoke to his disciples after the resurrection, he said
this to them, found in Mark 16, 15 and 16. Go ye into all the
world and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth
and is baptized shall be saved. He that believeth not shall be
damned. In the book of John, chapter
3, verse 14, the Lord says this, as Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal
life. For God so loved the world that
he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him
should not perish, but have everlasting life. Then in John 5.24, the
scripture says, Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth
my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath eternal life,
shall not come into condemnation, but hath eternal life. Paul,
writing in the Book of Romans, chapter 10, verse 9 and 10, says,
If thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus to be Lord, and believe
in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, So
if there is anything clearly taught in God's word, it is that
we are saved from sin, we have eternal life, we are made heirs
of God through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Faith is the saving
grace. Faith is the saving grace on
which all other graces depend. To believe in Christ, that's
the foundation of everything. Our Lord said to Peter, Peter
boasted that he'd never deny the Lord, that if necessary he'd
die with him, that though all others might forsake him, he
said, I won't. And the Master said, Peter, I
prayed for you, I prayed for you, that your faith fail not. Many things are going to fail.
You will deny me. You will be offended. You will
forsake me. But I pray for you that your
faith fail not. That's the foundation grace.
That's the grace upon which all other grace depends. Without
faith, it's impossible to please God. That's what the scripture
says in Hebrews 11, verse 6. Without faith, it's impossible. Not difficult, impossible. Not
hard, but impossible to please God. For he that cometh to God,
whether for salvation or for mercy, or in prayer, must believe
that he is, and that he is the rewarder of them that diligently
seek him. Whatever I do, whatever I know,
whatever I have, whatever I say, without faith is of no effect. Without faith, it is impossible
to please God. And also, without faith, there
can be no call for mercy. In Romans 10, verse 13, the scripture
says, 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? If I don't believe in Christ,
I'm not calling upon Christ. If I don't trust Christ, I'll
certainly not call on Christ. So without faith, it's not only
impossible to please God, but without faith there can be no
call for mercy. And then in John chapter 6, without
faith I cannot work the works of God. In chapter 6 of John,
verse 28, some people came to the master and they said, Master,
what shall we do that we might work the works of God? And our
Lord replied, this is the work of God, this is the work of God,
that you believe on him whom God has sent. That is the work
of God, to believe on Christ. So I can't even work the works
of God without faith. You see how that faith is the
foundation grace. And without faith there is no
other grace. There are no other fruits. It's
the very foundation. That's the reason the Lord said,
Peter, I've prayed for you, that your faith fail not. For without
faith it's impossible to please God. Without faith there'll be
no call for mercy. Without faith I cannot work the
works of God. And then listen to this. In James
1, verse 5, without faith, prayer is a mockery. Now, prayer is
not a ritual. Prayer is communion with God.
Prayer is the breath of the redeemed child of God. And without faith,
prayer becomes a ritual. It becomes a ceremony. It is
mockery. That's what James says. Now,
listen. If any man lack wisdom, let him ask of God. In other
words, let him pray for Let him ask of God, who giveth to all
men liberally, and upbraideth not. But let him ask in faith,
let him ask in faith, nothing wavering, for he that wavereth
is like the wind, like the sea tossed for the wind. Let not
that man think that he'll receive anything of God. Without faith,
prayer is of no avail. And then, my friends, without
faith, the blood of Christ avails you nothing, nothing at all.
In John 3, verse 36, he that believeth on the Son hath everlasting
life. That's faith, to believe Christ,
to receive Christ, to trust Christ. And if we trust Christ and believe
on him and rest in him, we have eternal life. But now listen,
he that believeth not, he that believeth not, shall not see
life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. Now, if there's anything
clear taught in the It is that salvation, redemption, eternal
life, forgiveness, is by faith. Not by Church membership, not
by works, not by experience, by faith. And faith is the foundation
grace, it's the grace upon which everything else depends. But
without faith it's impossible to please God. Without faith
there can be no call for mercy. Without faith we cannot work
the works of God. Without faith, prayers are mockery. Without faith, the blood of Christ
avails us nothing. So look to your faith. Look to
your faith. This is the foundation of peace.
Therefore, being justified by faith, what did Paul write in
Romans? We have peace with God. Being
justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus
Christ. This is the source of comfort.
He has said, I will never leave you. I believe it. Therefore,
I can say the Lord is my helper, because he said, I'll never leave.
I believe his word. Paul said, I believe God. It's
the source of assurance. Sirs, I believe God, he said.
The ship was sinking. It looked like that they were
all going to perish, and Paul stood there with assurance and
courage and confidence and comfort, and he said, I'm not worried,
because God said to me this night, not one soul will be lost. And
sirs, I believe God. Now thirdly, by way of introducing
this message, faith in Christ can be and should be known. You
say, well, how can I know if I have faith? Well, you can't.
The Lord commanded that we know it. He said in 2 Corinthians
13, 5, examine yourselves whether you be in the faith. You examine
your heart, examine your motives, examine your relationship with
God, examine yourself. Now, you can't examine me. You
can't sit around and say, well, I don't believe he's saved, and
I don't believe she's saved, and I don't believe, you don't
know. There's no way you can tell about others. But you can
examine yourself. And that's what God commends
you to do, examine yourselves, whether you be in the faith.
And I'm going to show you how in just a few moments. Peter
also said in 2 Peter 1.10, to give diligence, wherefore the
rather brethren give diligence. This is important, to make your
calling, your calling. and election sure. For if you
do these things, you shall never fail." The people of God and
the scriptures knew their faith. Why, Job said, I know that my
Redeemer liveth. I know that he lives. I'm confident. Write it on my tombstone. Write
it in a book. My Redeemer liveth and I know
it. That's the way David talked. He said, the Lord is my shepherd.
He didn't say, I hope he is, I trust he is, perhaps he is.
I know he's my shepherd. He's my refuge. He's my refuge,
I know that. And Paul's off that way. He said,
I know whom I have to lead, confident that he's able to keep that which
I've committed unto him against that day. John said that. John
said, we know, we've passed from death unto life. So you can know
your faith. In fact, this assurance of faith,
this assurance, this confidence that I'm in Christ, that Christ
is in me, that I'm his child, that he's my Lord, this confidence
is what leads a person. to forsake all and follow Christ. The disciples said that. They
said, Lord, we've forsaken all to follow thee. And then our
Lord said, if any man come after me, let him deny himself, take
up his cross and follow me. If any man love father, mother,
brother, sister, husband, wife more than me, yea, his own wife
also, he's not worthy of me. What is it that causes a man
to sell all that he has and purchase that pearl of great price? It's
because he knows the value of it. because he believes in it,
because he's confident that it's worth exactly what he knows it's
worth. And that's what makes a man forsake
everything for Christ. That's what makes a man put Christ
first. It's that assurance, it's that faith, it's that confidence
in Christ. So our faith can be known. Now,
I'm going to point out four things about faith, and I think this
is very important, and I want you to listen carefully. If you'd
like to, why don't you jot these four things down? Maybe you'd
like to go back later and think about it, study it, look up these
scriptures. But here are four things about
faith. I've shown you the importance of faith. I've shown you that
the Word of God teaches that there is no way of salvation
except by faith. I've shown you from the Word
of God how that without faith it's impossible to please God.
And I've shown you from the Word of God that your faith in Christ
can be known. Now let's see something about
faith, four things. First of all, saving faith, and
I'm going to call it saving faith, because all kinds of faith are
not saving faith. There are different kinds of
faith, but I'm talking about saving faith, redeeming faith,
that faith that brings me into living, vital union with Christ,
that eternal faith. First of all, saving faith is
born or arises out of need. That's where it all comes from.
In Matthew 9, verses 10-13, Scripture says our Lord was eating
with publicans and sinners. And some of the religious leaders,
the Pharisees, were offended. And they said to his disciples,
they said, why does your master eat with publicans and sinners?
Why does he have fellowship with these type of people, these sinners,
these publicans and harlots and these kind of folks? Why does
he associate with them? And our Lord knew their thoughts.
And this is what he said. Now you look at it, Matthew 9,
verse 10 through 13. He said to them, I say unto you,
the well have no need of a physician, but they that are sick. Now you
go learn what that means. I am not come to call the righteous,
the self-righteous, the super-righteous, to repentance. I am come to call
sinners to repentance. The well do not need a physician. Why do men not call on Christ?
They don't need him. Why do men and women not flee
to Christ? They don't need him. There has
not been a need felt, there has not been a need established,
there has not been a need realized. The need of their hearts, the
need of their souls, the need of their future, they don't feel
it, they don't experience, they don't understand it, they don't
cry. Now, a man might have cancer and not go to the doctor because
he doesn't know it, but when a man discovers that he has it,
he's going to the doctor. because he needs a physician.
He's a sick man. And the same thing is true of
sinners. They are sinners, they're away from God, they're lost,
they're in darkness, they're perishing, but they don't know
it. They're crying, we're rich and increased with goods and
have need of nothing. And the Lord said, you don't
know it, but you're naked, poor, miserable and blind. But when
a man discovers his sin, when he discovers his need, when he
discovers his guilt, he'll cry for help, just like the Canaanite
woman with a sick daughter. She came to Christ and she said,
Lord, help me, have mercy upon me, my daughter is grievously
ill. You see, this cry for mercy was
born of need. It arose out of a need. This
woman needed him, and she asked him to help her. Same thing is
true of Brian Bartimaeus, as he sat there by the wayside,
begging, blind, all of his life. The son of Timaeus, you remember.
And he said, What's all the commotion? And someone said, Well, Jesus
of Nazareth is passing by. And immediately he began to cry,
Jesus, thy son of David, have mercy on me. You hear the need? You hear the urgency? You hear
the cry out of the soul of a man who had a need? Jesus, thy son
of David, have mercy upon me. That's where faith is born. He
believed that Christ could do something for him, because he
needed something done. And when you need something done
that you can't do, and the preacher can't do, and the church can't
do, and the law can't do, you turn to him who can. Same thing
is true of the publican in the temple. He realized his sin. Now, the Pharisee was over there
bragging on himself, Lord, I thank you I'm not like other men. I'm
just so glad that I'm not like everybody else. I'm not an adulterer,
I'm not unjust, I'm not an extortioner, I fast and tithe and give But
the publican over here wouldn't even lift his eyes to heaven,
ashamed, guilty. And he cried, Lord, be merciful
to me, thee sinner. You hear that cry? It arose out
of me. That's faith born of me. The
same thing is true of the thief on the cross, who cried, Lord,
remember me, and I'll come astern to thy kingdom. There can be
no cry for mercy until a need for mercy is felt. When my sins
are before me. When death and judgment become
real to me, when the wrath of God and condemnation floods in
upon me, when Christ Jesus becomes my only source of help, that's
when I will believe. Peter stepped out to walk on
the water. The Lord said, Come to me. And Peter stepped out
to walk on the water, and he suddenly realized where he was.
He heard the wind. He saw the clouds. He looked
down, and the sea was rough. and he began to sing. And that's
when he cried, Lord, save me, for I perish. Needy. Faith is
born of need. And when you become a needy creature,
a needy sinner, when the Holy Spirit of God is pleased to let
you see in the Word of God your guilt, in your heart your sins,
in your past, present, and future, your record, and the holiness
of God, you look to the One who can help you, and you cry. And
that's when he said, Whosoever shall call upon the name of the
Lord shall be saved. Secondly, first of all, saving
faith is born of need. Secondly, saving faith rests
on the naked word of God. That's right, on the word of
God. The foundation of faith is the word of God, not experience,
not feeling, not tradition, the word of God. Noah is going to
be afloat. built an ark, and Noah built
an ark, believing God. Noah moved with fear. Noah believed God and moved with
fear. Noah believed God and moved with
fear when God's Word came to him and told him what was going
to take place. That's faith. It was based on
the Word of God alone. He'd never seen a drop of water
fall from heaven. It had not rained up till that
time. The water was watered, the ground was watered by a mist
that arose up in the Garden of Eden. And God said, there's going
to be a flood. Noah believed him. Noah believed him. Bring
in your cattle, God said to Moses and the children of Israel. There's
going to be a grievous hail. Bring in your cattle out of the
fields. Put them in the barn. Those who took God at his word,
those who believed God's word, acted in faith. Their cattle
were saved. Also, God said, Moses, tell the
children of Israel, I'm passing through Egypt tonight at midnight.
The firstborn will die. The firstborn of every even the
cattle on the hill. Now, if you want to save your
firstborn, put some blood on the door and on the side post,
on the little and the side post, and when I see the blood, I'll
pass over you. No experience, no vision, no
dream, no feeling, the Word of God. And they acted on the Word
of God. And the Word of God comes to
you and me, and says, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and
thou shalt be saved. Faith requires no sign. only
his word. Saving faith does not require
a sign. It believes the word of God.
They said, when Christ was here, they said, Show us a sign. He
said, No sign is going to be given but that of Jonah and the
whale. That's the word of God. That's
the only sign. You know, the rich man in hell cried up and
said, Father Abraham, if there's no hope for me, send Lazarus
back to the earth, that he might warn my brothers. And Abraham
said, well, they have the scriptures, they have Moses and the prophets.
Oh, he said, but no, Father Abraham, if one rose from the dead, they
would believe. And you know what Abraham replied?
If they believe not Moses and the prophets, neither will they
believe, though one rose from the dead. It's not miracles that
bring me into Christ, it's the word of God. It's not signs and
visions and wonders that bring me into saving faith, it's the
word of God. men believe the word of God.
Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Now
I may see a vision tonight, but a week later I may look back
on that vision and say, did I really see that? I may have an experience
today, and six months later look back on it, the experience is
gone now. And I look back on it, did that really happen? You
see, these things come and go, but the word of God remains the
same. And God says, Heaven and earth may pass away, but not
one jot or one tittle shall pass from my word till it all be fulfilled.
We have a more sure word of prophecy. You do well to take heed to it,
and that's this book, God's word. Faith requires no evidence, only
his word. The disciples had fished all
night and caught nothing. And our Lord appeared to them
on the shore, and he said, Children, have you no meat? They said,
We don't have any. He said, Well, push off from the land a little
bit. And they pushed off. He said, Now throw your nets
on the right side there. And Peter looked at him and said,
Lord, we've fished all night, and we've caught nothing. Nevertheless,
nevertheless, at your word, we let down the net. That's what
I'm trying to teach. At your word, we let down the
net, because God said it. And when he did, the net was
almost broken with the catch that they brought in. Such a
great draft of faith. And then faith requires no explanation. Saving faith requires no sign. Saving faith requires no evidence.
Saving faith requires no explanation. Just the word of God. Abraham,
God said, leave your father's house and you go to a land I'll
show you. And Abraham left, not having
the faintest idea where he was going. He didn't ask God to do
it. Well, why? You see, that's what we do. Why,
Lord? You know, God said, Abraham,
take thy son. God gave him that son. God promised
that that son would be his heir and that all the nations would
be blessed through that son, and then turned around and told
him to take him up on Mount Moriah and sacrifice his life. And Abraham
didn't say why. Abraham just started for the
mountain. Faith requires no explanation, only his word. Charles Spurgeon
once said, When I came to Christ, I had no assurance of any personal
or saving interest in the death of Christ, but I knew it was
written in his word, He hath made him to be sin for us who
knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God
in him. And I came and I trusted on the basis of that promise,
on God's word, sink or swim, I go to him. I dare not go one
step farther than the word of God, but I believe his word.
Now the third thing. Saving faith is not just head
work, it's heart work. Now then listen to this. Romans
10, 9 and 10. Thou shalt confess with thy mouth
Jesus to be Lord, and believe in thine heart God raised him
from the dead. Thou shalt be saved. Now this
is important. Stay with me for a moment. I know it's true that
believing in Christ, in believing in Christ, there must be a head
work. There's got to be an understanding.
There's got to be some mental work. There's got to be an understanding
of who he is. He's God Almighty, very God of
very God. What he did, he came to this
earth and worked out for us in the flesh a perfect righteousness.
He went to the cross of Calvary and died for our sins. And he
died that God might be just and justify the ungodly. He was bared,
rose again, ascended to the right hand of God. There's got to be
a mental understanding of who he is and what he did and why
he did it. The Son of God has come and given
us an understanding. That's what 1 John 5.20 says,
that we may know him that is true, and that we are in him
that is true, and this is eternal life. I've got to understand
the ruin of sin. I've got to understand the wisdom
of redemption. I've got to understand the miracle
of regeneration. And God teaches me that. God
reveals that to me. But Christ is to be received
and believed in the heart. You see, it's not just mental
acceptance of facts, because James says, you believe in one
God, you do well. The devil believes that. The
devil knows those facts. He has mental agreement with
those facts, but there's no love for him. You see that? There's
no acceptance of it. There's no rejoicing in it. Faith
is not just mental agreement, but a heart love for that person. If any man love not our Lord
Jesus Christ, let him be accursed when Jesus come." So saving faith
is not just a mental acceptance of truth, it's not just a mental
agreement with facts, it's a heart reception of Christ, and a heart
love for Christ, and a heart rejoicing in Christ. I not only
believe in one God, I'm glad he's God. I not only believe
Christ died on the cross, but I receive him and trust him and
love him. Now, last of all, saving faith
is a committal to Christ. In 2 Timothy 1.12, this is the
definition of faith that all the old writers used to use.
Paul said in 2 Timothy 1.12, I know whom I have believed.
That's knowledge. Faith has to have knowledge.
It begins there. I know he's my prophet, priest,
and king. I know he's very God of very
God. I know he's the God-man. I know what he did. I know whom
I have believed. Secondly, I am persuaded that
he's able to keep that. He's able to save me. He's able
to keep me. He's able to present me faultless
before his presence with exceeding glory. He's able to raise my
natural body from the ground and make it a body like unto
his own. He's able. He's willing and able. But the
last line is this, a committal. I know he's able to keep that
which I've committed to him. I've consciously, intelligently
committed my soul to Christ. like a farmer commits the seed
to the ground and waits for the harvest. It's out of my hands,
it's in his hands. I surrender all to Christ Jesus,
my Lord, here and now, publicly and personally. Now, these messages
that I preach on this television program are available for a small
charge on cassette tape. If you'd like to have these messages,
you write to me, the address will be given to you, and we'll
send it to you. Join us next Lord's Day at the
same time. And until then, I bid you a very
pleasant good day.

Saved Through Faith

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