Ephesians chapter 1, my text
will be taken from verses 11, 12, and 13. I'm speaking tonight
on the subject, Am I Really Trusting Christ? In Ephesians chapter
1, verse 11, in whom also we have obtained an inheritance
being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh
all things after the counsel of his own will, that we should
be to the praise of his glory who first trusted in Christ,
in whom ye also trusted after that ye heard the word of truth,
the gospel of your salvation. in whom also after that you believed,
you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise." Now, our
Lord not only predestinates the salvation of His people, but
He also predetermines and predestinates the details of salvation. Not
only the grand design of redemption, to make us like Christ, but he
also predestinates the means of that grand design. I want you to read a few verses
of Scripture. First of all, we are awakened
from a state of deadness and trespasses and sins. Brother
Cecil Thornberry read a Scripture a moment ago in the study The
Lord God looked down from heaven upon the children of men to see
if there were any that did seek Him, that did do good. And He
found they were altogether unprofitable. There was none that doeth good,
no, not one. In Ephesians chapter 2, verse
1, it tells us that we were dead in trespasses and sin. In Adam
all die. By the sin of Adam, death condemnation
passed upon all men." Now, who's responsible for awakening us
from this dead state? Who's responsible for giving
life to dead sinners? It says in Ephesians 2, 1, "...and
you have he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sin."
Verse 5 says, "...even when we were dead in sin, hath quickened
us together with Christ, by grace ye are saved." What I'm saying
is this, that God has predestinated the salvation of His people,
the grand design of redemption, to make us like Christ. And not
only has He designed the end, but the means as well, the means
which will accomplish that end. And the first thing, as far as
we're concerned, is to be awakened, is to be quickened, is to be
given life. The preacher can't do that. A
friend can't do that. The soul winner can't do that.
You can't even do it for yourself. In the new birth, it is God who
gives life. The scripture says in John chapter
1, turn to John chapter 1, It tells us in verse 12, as many
as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of
God, even to them that believe on his name. Verse 13 tells us
how this came about. They were born not of blood,
that is, not of family inheritance, nor of the will of the flesh,
nor of the will of man, but they were born of God. The scripture
says in James, of his own will begat he us. with the word of
truth. Of his own will beget he. A begetting is a giving of life. And of his own will he gave us
life. Of his own will he awakened us.
Of his own will he quickened us. It is God who awakened the
dead sinner. Now then what about conviction?
Turn to Romans 7. Now all of us know that Saul
of Tarsus who later became Paul the Apostle, was a student of
the Scriptures. We all know that Paul was a student
of the law. There was no better student.
In fact, one great leader said, Paul, you've been studying so
much, you've lost your mind. Much learning hath made thee
mad. Of his own scholarship and intellect, he said that he exceeded
many his equals. that there was hardly any higher
than he was in the school of theology. And yet he says in
Romans 7, verse 7, What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid! Nay, I had not known
sin, but by the law. For I had not known lust, except
the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. But sin, taken occasion
by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence,
for without the law sin lay dormant, or dead. For I was alive without
the law once, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died."
It was the Holy Spirit who revealed to Saul of Tarsus that he was
a sinner. This very law, which he knew
by intellect, he learned by heart. This law, which he knew by memory,
he learned by experience. When the Holy Spirit came and
took the law and showed it to Paul in its perfection and in
its holy requirements, he said, I died. And the Lord Jesus Christ
said, when He, the Holy Spirit, is come, He will convict the
world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment. So conviction
is a predestinated work of God. Now, Galatians 1, 5, the revelation
of the Lord Jesus Christ to our hearts as our Redeemer is also
a work of grace. In Galatians 1, verse 15, Paul
said, When it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's
womb and called me by His grace, when it pleased God, He revealed
His Son in me. Now often we think of salvation
being a work of God, salvation of the Lord, the effectual deliverance of
His people from a state of sin to a state of grace and then
to a state of glory being of God. But every stop along the
way is also of God. Every work along the way is of
God. The awakening the convicting
and the revealing of Christ. We would never have known who
Christ is or what he came to do, except the Holy Spirit revealed
it. Now turn to Romans 2, verse 4.
Now here is something that very few people will acknowledge,
but it is true. In Romans 2, verse 4, you will
find very few people who will acknowledge this, but my friends,
Repentance is also of God. It's a gift of God. Now, we know
that a man cannot be saved without repentance. The Lord Jesus said,
except you repent, you'll perish. We know the Scripture teaches
us that the whole of our message is repentance toward God and
faith in Jesus Christ. And when our Lord sent His apostles
out to preach, He told them to go and preach repentance and
remission of sins. But did you know that repentance
is the gift of God? In Romans 2 verse 4, listen,
despises thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and
longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee
to repentance. You have repented because of
the goodness of God, because of the mercy of God. Turn with
me to Acts 5. Here's another scripture, Acts
5, verse 30 and 31. It's the goodness of God that
led you to repentance. Now listen to this. In Acts 5,
verse 30, Peter is speaking, and he says, "...the God of our
fathers raised up Jesus, whom you slew and hanged on a tree.
And Jesus had God exalted with his right hand to be a prince
and a Savior, for to give repentance to Israel." Repentance is a gift. To give repentance to Israel
and forgiveness of sin. Now, one other scripture, Acts
chapter 11, verse 18. Acts 11, verse 18. Now, when they heard these things,
Acts 11, 18, they held their peace and glorified God, saying,
Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life. Now God Almighty, the scripture
tells us, hardened Pharaoh's heart. When a heart is broken, it's
the mercy of God that breaks it. When a sinner is brought
to real godly sorrow over sin, he can't even take credit for
that. When a man falls on his knees beside his bed and weeps
over his sins, and cries to God for mercy, he can't even take
credit for that. That's the gift of God. It is
the goodness of God that led you to repentance. It is the
goodness of God that broke your heart over sin. It's the goodness
of God that brought you to a godly sorrow. It's the goodness of
God that led you to seek His mercy. Thy people shall be willing
in the day of thy power. Now here's something else that
few people will acknowledge. Philippians chapter 1, but nevertheless
it's true. In Philippians chapter 1, verse
29, faith is the gift of God. Now I want to be perfectly understood
what I'm saying tonight. I want it to be perfectly clear.
I'm saying that all of salvation from the beginning to the end
is of the Lord. I'm saying that the sinner cannot
take any credit for his salvation, for the forgiveness of his sins,
nor can he take credit for his awakening, nor can he take credit
for his conviction, nor can he take credit for his repentance,
nor can he even brag about his faith. That's the gift of God. And God can give it, or God can
withhold it. And God can break your heart
by the power of His Spirit, or God can harden your heart. In
Philippians chapter 1, verse 29. Now listen to it. For unto
you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe
on Him, but also to suffer for His sake. Usually when we read
that scripture, we emphasize the suffering part, the cross-bearing. That gives us a little feeling
of, you know, pride. We suffer for Jesus' sake. We
suffer and bear the cross for Christ's sake. But did you ever
notice that it's given unto you to believe on Him? That's the
gift. Who maketh thee to differ? You
have faith? What hast thou that thou didst
not receive? You have repentance? Who led you to repentance? Eternal
life is the gift. Let's turn back to Ephesians,
chapter 2. Faith is the gift of God. Look at Ephesians, chapter
2, verses 8 and 9. Listen to this. For by grace
are you saved through faith. And that not of yourself, what's
not of yourself? Faith's not of yourself. We know
grace is not of ourselves. That's perfectly evident. If
it's grace, it wouldn't be of us. Grace is unmerited favor.
But he's talking here about the faith. By grace, or you say,
through faith. And that not of yourselves, it
is the gift of God. Faith is the gift of God. It's
not of works. Faith is not produced by the
natural heart, lest any man should boast. For we are His workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus unto good works. Now then, Ephesians
4, let's look at this one. Ephesians 4, verse 11. It says
here he gave some apostles. He gave. Who anoints the ministers? He does. Who appoints them? He
does. Who sends them? He does. Lift
up your eyes and look upon the harvest. It's white already,
the fields are white already to harvest. Pray ye that the
Lord of harvest, he'll send laborers into his fields. He gave some
apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and
teachers. Why? For the perfecting of the saints,
for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body
of Christ, till they all come in the unity of faith. God Almighty
is the author of faith. God sends His ministers to preach
the gospel to people to whom He is pleased to give faith. Now then, eternal life is the
gift of God. Christ said in John 17, verse
2, Thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should
give eternal life. Eternal life to give. There is mineral life, there
is plant life, there is animal life, there is mental life, and
there is spiritual life. That's as far above mental life
as mental life is above animal life. And this is what men are
born without, spiritual life. And when God begets a sinner,
when God awakens a sinner, He gives to that sinner spiritual
life. That's called eternal life. I
already have the life which I shall enjoy in heaven. There shall
be a separation and a change before I get there. I'm going
to lay aside this natural flesh. But the same love that I have
now is the love I'll have there. The same enjoyment of God is
the one I'll have there. He gave eternal life to as many
as thou hast given him. Romans 6.23 says the wages of
sin is death. The gift of God is eternal life. Now turn to 1 Corinthians 12.
You say you're robbing man of all his glory. Wouldn't I be
something if I could? Now you talk about a successful
preacher, I would be. If I could literally strip us
of all our glory, if I myself, if I could take away my own self-glory,
it'd be the most successful victory I ever accomplished. If I could
literally knock all of our foundations of flesh out from under us and
literally strip us before the throne of a holy God, if I could
lay us bare as empty-handed, naked, poverty-stricken, diseased,
broken beggars at the back door of mercy, I'd be the greatest
preacher to ever live. Spurgeon couldn't hold me a candle. That's exactly what I'm trying
to do. I'm trying to show myself, impress upon myself and you,
that salvation's of the Lord. And I mean all of it. I don't
mean the greater part of it. I mean the smallest, most insignificant
part of it. It's the gift of God. Man contributes
absolutely nothing to the salvation of his soul. He is wholly and
completely passive in the saving of his soul and in the keeping
of his soul. and in the justifying of his
soul before a holy God. 1 Corinthians 12, we know some
of us have some gifts. You have gifts, I have gifts.
Where do we get them? From the Holy Spirit. Spiritual
gifts I'm talking about. All right, 1 Corinthians 12,
verse 8. To one is given by the Spirit
the word of wisdom, to another the word of knowledge for the
same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit. To another,
the gifts of healing by the same Spirit. To another, the working
of miracles. To another, prophecy. To another,
discerning of spirits. To another, different kinds of
languages. To another, the interpretation
of tongues or languages. Now watch this next verse. But
all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, the Holy
Spirit, capital S, dividing to every man severally as he will. To have a bit in the hands of
the Holy Spirit. And then our preservation. Philippians chapter 1. Now I
believe in the perseverance of the saints. I believe that if
any man names the name of Christ that he will be able to say at
the end of his life I've finished my course, I've kept the faith,
I've fought a good fight. He that endures to the end, the
same shall be saved. I know that we are the household
of Christ if we hold fast the profession of our faith. But
I'll guarantee you every believer at the end of the journey will
give all the glory to Christ for keeping him in the kingdom
of God. It says in Philippians 1, 6, being confident of this
very thing. That he which hath begun a good
work in you, who started it? He did. Who's gonna finish it? Read on. Will perform, and what's
the word in your margin? It's finish. Will finish it until
the day of Jesus Christ. Who started it? He did. Who's
gonna finish it? He is. He's the author and finisher
of our faith. He's the Alpha and Omega. No
one is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. My Father
which gave them me is greater than all, and no man is able
to pluck them out of my Father's hand." The grand design of predestinating
grace, the means as well as the end, is the salvation of his
people. And it's all by the power of
God. Now let's look back at our text,
and here's something that just really helped me today when I
was looking at it. Verse 11 tells us that we were
predestinated, we obtained an inheritance because we were predestinated
according to the purpose of Him who worketh all things, all things. We were predestinated to an inheritance
according to the purpose of him who worketh all things, the awakening,
the convicting, the revealing, the repenting, the faith, the
works, the gifts, the preservation, who worketh all things after
the counsel of his own will. Now watch this. That we should
be. Now this will help you if you
listen to me for a few moments. that we should be to the praise
of his glory. I said the grand design of predestinating
grace, the means as well as the end, is of the Lord. And that
design is that we should what? Look at that word again, that
we should be, that we should be, be to the praise of his glory. Now, brethren, in this first
chapter of Ephesians, and you've heard this before because I've
given it two or three times, we have first the work of the
Father in verses 3, 4, and 5. And when Paul gets through describing
the work of the Father in choosing us, predestinating us, he says
that we should be saved to the praise of the glory of his grace. Then he describes the work of
the Son, verse 7, in whom we have redemption, and he has enlightened
us, and he has enriched us. Verse 12 said that we should
be to the praise of his glory. And then it has the work of the
Holy Spirit, in whom you trusted after you heard the word of truth.
The last line, verse 14, unto the praise of his glory. Now,
there's a word in verse 12 that means an awful lot. that we should
be to the praise of his glory. Now then, it doesn't say that
we should work to the praise of his glory, though we will.
Though we will. A believer will take great delight
in serving the Lord. It doesn't say that we should
sing to the praise of his glory, though we will. A believer takes
great delight in singing the praises of his God. It doesn't
say that we should preach to the praise of his glory, though
we will. It doesn't say that we should
witness to the praise of his glory, though we will. It doesn't
say that we should suffer to the praise of his glory, though
we will. It says that we should be to the praise of his glory. He has predestinated our redemption. and ordered every step of the
way, our conviction, awakening, repentance, faith, all of these
things. He's done that, that we should
be to the praise of his glory. Now then, illustration. Walk out in a garden, a flower
garden, and look at the roses, and look at the dahlias, and
look at the lilies, and then remember the words of Christ
who said, Consider the lilies, they toil not, neither do they
spin. And yet Solomon in all his glory
was not arrayed like one of these. These flowers exist to show forth
the glory of their Creator. when you walk by the lilies and
by the dahlias and by the roses, these flowers show forth as they
stand there in their place upright with their beauty and fragrance,
they show forth the praises of Him who made them by being what He made them, by standing where they are. Think of the desert rose. They
tell me some of the most beautiful flowers in the world are out
on the desert where no man ever sees them and where no one ever
smells them. They tell me that the blooming
cactus that stands unseen of men and pours its fragrance into
the empty desert air is one of the most beautiful flowers there
is. And God is glorified by these
flowers being what he made them. When you and I believe on Christ
and rest in Him and trust Him, God is glorified by our being
just what He made us. It says that we should be, that
we should be to the praise of His glory. Whether we're in the
pulpit, whether we're teaching a class, whether we're in the
pew, whether we're giving, whether we're serving people outside
the church, whether we're on the job, whether we're in the
home as a mother or father or son or daughter, whether we're
a friend, that we should be a state of being, not just a state of
singing in the church and testifying in the church and praying in
the church and witnessing in the church, but God according
to the good pleasure of Him that worketh everything after the
counsel of His own will, God hath given us an inheritance,
saved us in Christ, that we should be to the praise of His glory."
That we should be. When we come by faith to stand
in Christ, we glorify Him who created us in the new creation. If any man be in Christ, he's
a new creation. I want to glorify God in being
to the praise of his glory. Now then, three or four things
that I would like to point out in this message on am I trusting,
really trusting the Lord. First of all, and read down verse
13, in whom you trusted after you heard the word of truth.
Trust in Christ, trusting Him. Believing Him is the constant
mark of the saved. The Old Testament saints, all
of them who knew the Lord, trusted Him. Abraham, I think he brought the
greatest glory to God by just trusting God. I don't think it
was his exploits or his great victories or his renown that
spread throughout the world at that time, I think that Abraham
brought the greatest glory to God by just trusting God. He
trusted God when he knew not where. He trusted God when he
knew not how. He trusted God when he knew not
when. I believe Job brought the greatest glory to God by just
trusting him. I don't know how many people
heard him say what he said that day when he declared, though
he slay me, yet will I trust him. But God was glorified in
Job trusting Him. It doesn't matter whether only
Job knew it, or whether one other person knew it, or three or four
knew it, or whether a thousand knew it, but Job stood where
he was to the praise of the glory of God by trusting Him. David. Let's look at this. I
want to show you something over here. In 2 Samuel chapter 16.
In 2 Samuel 16. Brother Charlie Payne is a student
of the Old Testament, and I think he will agree that this is one
of the most beautiful occurrences in all of the Old
Testament. I think it's one of the most
God-honoring passages of Scripture to be found anywhere in the Old
Testament. Now, David had been king. Let me bring you up to
date just a little bit. David had been king, and his
own son, had sought his life, Absalom. Absalom was one of the
most handsome men in the world. The scripture said there was
none like him from the bottom of his feet to the top of his
head, and he won the hearts of the people. And he drove his
father out of the kingdom, and David was on his way out of the
kingdom. He had been on the throne. He had been the greatest king
of the known world. He had had all power and obedience
and all of these things. And now here he was a refugee,
here he was a fugitive, driven out by his own boy. You can just
imagine the condition of his heart. Here he was probably running
for his life with a few faithful men with him. Hungry, thirsty,
tired, dirty, fleeing from all the comforts and luxuries of
a kingdom. He had every right to be bitter. Most natural men would have been
bitter toward man and God. But I want you to listen to this.
When he came out, there was a man of the house of Saul, a distant
kin or something, named Shemiah. And he started cursing David.
And then down here in verse 9, then Abishah, the son of Zeruiah,
said unto the king, Why should this dead dog curse my lord,
the king? Let me go over and cut his head
off. And the king said, What have
I to do with you, ye sons of Uriah? Let him curse, because
the Lord hath sent unto him, Curse David. Who shall then say,
Why have you cursed David? And David said to Abishah and
to all his servants, Behold, my son, who came forth of my
bowels, seeks my How much more now may this Benjamite do it?
Let him alone, let him curse. For the Lord hath bidden him.
It may be that the Lord will look on my affliction, and that
the Lord will requite me good for his cursing this day." And
they went on their way, and this fellow Shimei went along on the
hillside over beside them and cursed as he went, and threw
stones at David. And David said, let him alone.
He can't hurt me any more than I've been hurt, and it's the
Lord that let him do that. And maybe the Lord will look
on my affliction and requite me good. Now that's trust. And
that's being to the praise of his glory. And then Simeon, Simeon
holding the child Jesus in his hand, the scripture says Simeon
looked for the consolation of Israel, and here he held this
child, and God said, that's the Messiah. And here he was looking
at a little old baby, just a little few days old, and he said, he
said, Lord, now let thy servant depart in peace, mine eyes have
seen thy salvation. That's trust. And then John the Baptist, standing
out there by the side of the river Jordan, and he saw the
Lord Jesus coming toward him, and he said, Behold the Lamb
of God, who taketh away the sin of the world. You say, John the
Baptist and Simeon were not Old Testament saints. Yes, they were.
They were the last of the Old Testament saints. Now you get to the apostles.
They trusted the Lord Jesus. Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou
hast the words of eternal life. And trust is the mark of every
believer. Turn back to Ephesians chapter
1. Paul says in verse 12 that we
should be to the praise of his glory who first trusted in Christ
in whom you also trusted. After you heard the gospel, the
word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. All right, secondly,
quickly, what is it to trust Christ? We've been talking about these
men, Abraham and Job and David, Simeon, John the Baptist. They
trusted the Lord. What is it to trust Christ? That
we should be to the praise of His glory who trusted Him. I may never amount to a whole
lot as far as the standards of men are concerned, but if like
that lily, I can be to the praise of His glory. I've got to find out what it
is to trust Him that I might be to the praise. Well, I do
know this, to trust Christ is not religious superstition. That's
not trusting Christ. To trust Christ is not just mental
agreement with a system of doctrine. To trust Christ is not what one
man said to me one time, well, preacher, you know, we ought
to believe like it all depends on us and work like it all depends
on God. I don't believe that. I think
that's a lot of foolishness. You can turn that around and
say, believe like it all depended on him and work like it all depended
on him, because it does all depend on him. I don't think we ought to do
anything as if it depended on us. To trust Christ is not just
to adopt a religious standard and struggle in fear to live
by. What is it to trust Christ? I'm
going to give you about four things quickly, and I'll try
not to drag them out so that you can remember them. Here is
what it is, I think, to trust Christ. First of all, true trust
in Christ, that trust which makes me alone or in a crowd, which
makes me exist for His glory, first of all is an entire reliance
on Christ, an entire reliance. One old writer said this, if
I am trusting Christ, I rest the entire weight of my soul's
affairs on Him alone. I look at my sins and my sinfulness,
and I trust Him. I look at my past, my present,
and my future, and I trust it to Him. I look at death, I look
at judgment, I look at heaven, I look at hell. And I leave it
in His hands. I cast myself entirely on Him
to save me and keep me safe. I have no reliance whatsoever
on past merit. I have no reliance on present
resolutions. I have no reliance on future
expectations. Christ only is my complete confidence. I have put my case totally and
completely in His hands, and I sat down and left it to Him. Secondly, what is it to trust
Christ? It's to accept Christ in all His offices. Now listen
to this. The Christ that is preached in
our day, and this wasn't written in 20th century. This is written
in the 19th century. The Christ that is preached in
our day is only half a Christ. He is preached today only as
a Savior from hell. Doesn't that read like 1974?
And most faith in Jesus Christ today is only in Christ the priest
who offers a sacrifice for sin. And the author goes on and says,
that's not enough. A man who truly trusts Christ
will trust him as he's revealed in the scriptures, prophet, priest,
and king. We trust him to be very God of
very God. We trust him the surety of the
eternal covenant. We trust him the creator of all
things. We trust Him, our substitute. We trust Him, our mediator. We trust Him, Lord of lords and
King of kings. We trust Him who is our life,
our hope, our wisdom, our righteousness, our sanctification, our redemption,
and our acceptance with God. We trust Him as our prophet to
remove our ignorance, to direct our intellect. We trust Him as
our priest to put away our sin and to purge our conscience We
trust Him as our King to subdue daily our rebellion and to rule
over our lives. We trust Him completely in all
that He is and in all that He does. That's what it is to trust
Christ. Turn to 1 John chapter 5. Now here is a battleground right
here. We have people say this, well if I believed in eternal
security, If I believe in once saved, always saved, I'd just
go out and live like I please. I believe that everybody lives
like they please. I really do. And when God saves
a man, he changes his please. He changes his please. In 1 John 5 verse 1, now listen
to this. Whosoever believeth that Jesus
is the Christ is born of God, and every one that loveth him
that beget loveth him also that is begotten of him. By this we
know that we love the children of God, when we love God and
keep his commandments. For this is the love of God,
that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not
what? They are not grievous. True trust in Christ finds his
law a delight. Every believer delights to love
others. Every believer delights to show
mercy to others. Every believer delights in honesty,
and delights in truth, and delights in obeying the laws of God. They're not grievous to him.
He's not like a wild ass's colt that's always trying to jump
the fence and get out of the house of God. He is content to
dwell in the house of his Lord. Christ said, take my yoke upon
you. My yoke is easy and my burden
is light. Now, to an unregenerate man,
the commandments of God are grievous. They're heavy to be borne. They
are a wearisome task. They are something that he chafes
against and battles against and fights against and tries to subdue
by his own willpower. But to the believer, the laws
of Christ and the laws of the kingdom of Christ are a pleasure.
David said, I love thy law. I like the story of the little
boy going across down the country road. late in the evening, and
he was walking down a country road, and he had a little boy
on his back, a little old chubby, fat boy, freckled face, ragged. He's carrying him on his back.
The boy on the back was almost as big as the boy carrying him.
And a stranger came by and stopped him. He said, Son, that boy's
kind of heavy, ain't he? And the boy carrying the little
fellow on his back looked up and said, No, sir, he ain't heavy,
he's my brother. Well, brothers aren't as heavy
as strangers. And when the law of God is a
delight to us, it's not a burden to us. Christ said, my burden
is life. Why? Because you love it. And
that little boy wasn't near as heavy because he loved him. It's
a labor of love. Now, fourthly, true trust in
Christ. First of all, true trust in Christ
is an entire dependence on Him. Secondly, true trust in Christ
accepts him in all his offices, not just as a sacrifice, but
as a surety, not just as an offering, but as a king. And true trust in Christ delights
to obey him, delights in his law. In fact, the very heartbeat
of a child of God is to be like his Lord. He regrets when he
violates the law of God. And in the fourth place, true
trust will lead to an open confession of Christ. Scripture says, "...he
that believeth and is baptized shall be saved." If I refuse
to have my name linked with Christ's name now, do you think that I'd
take any pleasure in sharing His glory? If I refuse to be
identified with His people down here, do you think I could rejoice
with them there? If I don't bear his cross now,
shall I wear his crown? If I don't enjoy his presence
now, what makes you think I'd enjoy it then? If I will not
bow to him now as Lord, do you think that I would bow to him
then without being compelled to do so? Someone said a hesitancy to trust
Christ. And to confess him shows a lack
of faith in Christ. Now last of all, I'll close with
this. He deserves my fullest trust. My fullest trust. Charles H. Spurgeon wrote these words. And
listen to them. To trust Christ is to be saved. That's the reason this message
is so important that I'm preaching. Am I really trusting Christ?
He says very simply, this was in one of his sermons, to trust
Christ is to be saved. Now if you can answer that question
tonight, am I trusting Christ? Well if you can say, yes I am,
then my friend, you're saved. That's true. He went on to say this, it's
simplicity itself. We're prone to confuse men with
our words without knowledge. He who sincerely trusts Christ
alone is saved. Why should I trust Him? First
of all, because of His very name. His name shall be called Wonderful,
Counselor, Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.
Secondly, because of his glorious person. Why should I trust him? Well, can you trust one who is
truth itself? Can you trust one to love who
is love itself? Can you trust one to deal with
you in mercy who is mercy itself? Can his power fail? Can his wisdom
mislead you? Can his mind change toward you? Can his mercy fall short? Can
his blood lose its efficacy? One old Puritan wrote these words,
firm as God's throne, his gospel stands. My Lord, my hope, my
trust, if I am in Jesus' hands, my soul can never be lost. His honor is engaged to save
the weakest of His sheep, all whom the Father gave His hand
will surely keep. Nor death nor hell shall ever
remove His people from His breast within the bosom of His love. I shall forever be blessed. Why should I trust Him? Because
of His name, because of His glorious person. And thirdly, because
of his saving work, especially his death. Now here is undeniable
evidence of his love. He died for us. How can you doubt
his love? When I stand and behold the cross
of my Lord, my doubts disappear. You know when I begin to doubt
my salvation? It's not when I look at the cross,
it's when I look at me. It's not when I look at the Word,
it's when I look at me. Somebody said, do you have doubts
and fears? Only when I look within. I can
stand and look at the cross and I can say there is undeniable
evidence that he loved me, he died for me. And the longer I
look at the cross, the more my doubts disappear. And the longer
I look at myself and my attitude and my motives and my thoughts,
the more doubts and fears arise. Calvary erases doubts, just like
the blood of Christ puts away sin. Why should I trust him?
Because of his present position. Where is he? He's at the Father's
right hand. Now let me ask you a question.
If you were in trouble with the law, who would you want to defend
you. Well, I tell you, preacher, if
I had the money, I'd get the wisest, most powerful, most influential
lawyer in the whole tri-state area. I would, too. Well, I'm
in trouble with God's law. I've broken the law of God. I'm
going to be called some day before the judgment. Now then, I've
searched through heaven and And I found the most powerful, most influential, wisest advocate in all the universe. Who is he? Jesus Christ my Lord. And he's at the right hand of
the heavenly Father. You talk about influence, he's
got it. You talk about wisdom. He's got
it. And he's got the case all prepared. You know what he did? He didn't
deny my guilt. He just took my place. He didn't
deny what I owed. He paid my fine. He didn't deny
my debt. He settled it. And he canceled
it. And when I stand at the judgment,
my lawyer's just going to put out his hand and say, see these
scars? Let him go free. I died for him. My case is all settled. To them
who are in Christ Jesus, there's no condemnation. An angel couldn't do that for
me. Church can't do that for me. Denomination can't do that
for me. Holy Ghost can't even do that
for me. But my Lord can. And now I close. I've been promising you that
ten minutes. I'm going to quit now. Somebody said, when I came
out of penitentiary the other day, said, boy, you talk about
a captive audience. Now, you had one, didn't you?
And here's the last thing. The Lord Jesus Christ commended
trust. He bragged on it. He bragged
on it. That's what I'm just saying.
You know, people go around talking about some preacher's a great
man of God. I don't like that at all. I say
that the least saint who is trusting Christ is as important in the
kingdom of God as any seminary professor or any denominational
president or any evangelist or preacher because we are to be
to the praise of his glory. If that kid's playing in a sand
pile trusting Christ, he's like a rose blooming in a desert because
he is to the praise of Christ's glory. That mother standing in
the kitchen Leaning over the sink, washing dishes, and she's
trusting Christ. I say that like a rose in a desert
sending forth its fragrance and beauty, she stands there solemn
in all its glory, was never arrayed like one of these. Arrayed how?
In the spotless righteousness of Christ. And she is to the
praise of His glory if she's trusting Him. Because that's
the reason He saved her, to trust Him. And the Lord Jesus commended
that Syrophoenician woman. He said, Woman, great is thy
faith, be it unto thee as thou will. That centurion came to
the Lord to heal his baby girl, and the Lord said, All right,
I'll go home with you. He said, Oh, you don't have to
go home with me. Well, I've got servants at home, and I say to
this servant, You do this, and I say that, and you do that,
and they do what I say. I am a man of authority. Now,
you don't have to go home with me. You just say the word, and
she'll be well. Well, that's trust in the Lord
Jesus. You know what he said? I hadn't found faith like that,
no, not even in Israel. Go thy way, thy daughter liveth.
That's trust. There's a great old preacher
in England who was quite fond of flowers. He raised some of
the prettiest flowers in all of London. He loved his flowers. He had a bed of flowers here
and there and yonder. His backyard and flower garden
was immaculate. He didn't do it all himself.
He had some help. He said one day he was walking
out in the flower garden, and the neighbor's dog had come across
the fence, and the neighbor's dog was scratching around in
one of his flower beds. And he said, I reached down and
I picked up a stick. And I aimed it real good and
I threw that stick at that little old dog. And you know what he
did? That little old dog went over
and picked up the stick and brought it over and dropped it at my
feet and looked up and wagged his tail at me. He said, I stood
there and tears came in my eyes and I reached down Now he said,
how can you punish that kind of trust? I reached down and
I patted him on the head, and I said, you're a nice doggie. And that's the way we ought to
trust the Lord. Wherever His rod or His staff or His chastisements
or His trials may strike us or near us, we run at His feet and
look up. and say, Lord, though you slay
me, I trust you. I trust you. Now, brother, that's
being to the praise of His glory, and that's the sum and substance
of this whole thing. He saved us that we should be,
not just sing and work and preach and give and go and witness,
that we should be, B-E-B, to the praise of His glory.