Now, it is true that unsaved
religionists and hypocrites have faith. All people who call themselves
by the name of Christ have faith. They have a kind of faith. And
they have a kind of faith that leads them to believe that they're
children of God. all unsaved religionists feel
a certain sorrow over sin. If you'll turn with me to Matthew
27, I'll give you an example of this. In Matthew 27, verse
3 through 5, Judas, who was a member of the twelve apostles who followed
the Lord Jesus Christ, had betrayed and sold his Lord for 30 pieces
of silver. And when he brought the money
back and cast it on the floor of the temple, it says in verse
3 of Matthew 27, Then Judas, which had betrayed the Lord,
when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself. He felt a sorrow
over his sins. He grieved over what he had done.
And he brought the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priest
and elder saying, listen, I have sinned. And this is not a believer,
this is not a child of God, this is an unsaved man. He said, I
have sinned, I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they
said, what is that to us? See thou to that. And he cast
down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed and went
and hanged himself. So an unsaved religionist can,
and usually does, feel a sense of sorrow over his sins and over
his failures. I'll tell you something else
that unsaved religionists do. That is, they get excited over
the supernatural. In John chapter 2, verse 23,
when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover, in the feast day, Many
believed in his name when they saw the miracles which he did. Even an unsaved religionist will
get excited over a healing. They get real excited over the
supernatural. Anything out of the ordinary,
anything unusual, anything connected with the supernatural excites
them. And then thirdly, an unsaved
religionist not only will repent and feel a sense of sorrow over
his sins and get excited over the supernatural, but unsaved
religionists will often speak well of Jesus Christ the man. In John chapter 3 verse 2, Then
the same came to Jesus, there was a man called Nicodemus, the
same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we
know that thou art a teacher come from God. We know you're
a good man. We know you're a great prophet.
We know you must be a messenger from God. No man could do the
miracles which thou dost except God be with him. An unsaved religionist
can recognize the morality of Jesus Christ, and the power of
Jesus Christ, and the unusual character of Jesus Christ, and
even speak well of Jesus Christ. And then unsaved religionists
go a step further. In Luke chapter 18, verses 11
and 12, an unsaved religionist will reform the outward man. I'm not talking now about children
of God, I'm talking about people who are in the church, and in
the tabernacle, and in the temple, and in the synagogue, and who
are carrying a banner of religion who do not know God. These are
things that unsaved religionists can and will do. They feel a
sorrow over sin. Judah showed us that. They speak
well of Jesus Christ. Nicodemus revealed that. They
get excited over the supernatural. And then they reform the outward
man. Listen to Luke 18, verse 11. The Pharisee. Here's a religious
man who is a preacher, who is a teacher of the Jews, who is
a scholar in the Scriptures. He's a learned man. And then
the Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank
Thee. He's sincere in this. I am not
as other men are. He wasn't. He said, I am not
an extortioner. And I'm sure he wasn't. And I'm
not unjust in my dealings with others. I'm not an adultery. Or even as this publican, I fast
twice in the week. And I give tithes of everything
I possess. This man was a moral man. This
man was outwardly a righteous man. But we know from the words
of Christ he was a lost man. He wasn't saved. People today
say, well, surely that person is a Christian because she lives
such a good moral life. She goes to church every Sunday,
never misses a service. She tithes her income. She teaches
Sunday school. She's just the finest woman in
the community. She helps the sick. She takes
food to the hungry. She gives to the poor. An unsaved
person can do every one of those things. Christ said this man was lost.
Tell you something else they do. Turn to Acts chapter 8. An
unsaved religious man will be baptized and join the church.
Everybody who is unsaved is not ashamed of Jesus Christ. Some
people profess to know him. Some will be baptized just any
way you want them to, any time you want them to. They'll do
what you tell them to do. Here in Acts chapter 8, verse
13, then Simon himself, and this fellow was a famous fellow, he
was a sorcerer. It says back in verse 9, there
was a certain man called Simon which before time, in the same
city, used sorcery and bewitched the people. He was well known. And it says in verse 13 that
he believed also. And when he was baptized, he
continued with Philip, and he wondered, beholding the miracles
and signs which were done. He followed Philip and followed
the apostles, was baptized, joined the church, And I'm sure that
they must have put out some handbills. Just think, old Simon's been
converted. Back when they had a revival
on the West Coast, a few of those mafia members got converted,
and it was in all the papers and on all the radio stations
and televisions about this famous gangster was converted, and this
famous fortune teller was converted, and this famous movie star was
converted. Well, old Simon professed conversion
too. But look at verse 18. When Simon
saw that through laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy
Ghost was given, he offered them money and said, not give me it,
sell me this power that on whomsoever I lay hands he may receive the
Holy Ghost. And Peter said, your money perished
with you. Because you thought the gift
of God could be purchased with money, you have neither part
nor lot in this matter, and your heart is not right in the sight
of God." Oh, the famous fellow wasn't converted after all, was
he? But he was baptized, but he joined the church. He wasn't
converted, though. People can be baptized and join
the church and not know the Lord. And that is something else. They
can be very charitable, too. In John, chapter 12, somebody
said, well, he's the best giver in the church, or she's the best
giver in the church. That doesn't mean they're saved.
But this person, he just takes care of the poor and looks after
the needy. That doesn't mean they know the
Lord. In John, chapter 12, verse 3, look at it. Then took Mary
a pound of ointment, of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the
feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair, and the house
was filled with the odor of the ointment. Then said one of the
disciples," here's old Judas again, Judas Iscariot, Simon's
son, which should betray him, "'Why was this ointment wasted? Why was not this ointment sold
for three hundred pence and given to the poor?' Here's old Judas
looking out for the poor. He wasn't converted, He wasn't
saved, he didn't know the Lord. And then these people often are
convinced that they are saved. They believe it. They believe
it in Matthew chapter 7. Let me show you this. They believe
it, they're persuaded, they know the Lord. And they'll hold on
to this false profession, they'll hold on to this false belief
until they stand before Christ at the very judgment of God.
And even tell Him that they're saved. Look at Matthew 7, verse
22. Many will say unto me in that
day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And in
thy name have cast out devils, and in thy name done many wonderful
works. And then will I profess unto
them, I never knew you. Depart from me, ye that work
good works. And we call them good works.
Christ called them works of iniquity. Now how can I be sure that I'm
not a false professor? A lot of these things are true
of me. I feel a sorrow over sin. I get excited over the supernatural. You get excited when God's pleased
to reveal himself, don't you? I speak well of Jesus Christ,
the man. I know he was a prophet sent
from God. I reform the outward man. I care
about what people think of me, of my reputation, of this church. I've been baptized and joined
the church. I feel I have some amount of charitableness and
concern for the poor, and I believe I'm saved. I think if God were
to take me right now to the judgment, I would go with full confidence
that I would enter the kingdom of God. But unsaved people produced
every one of these things. I've read you examples of people
who didn't know the Lord who said these very same things that
I say. Now, how can I be sure that I'm
not a false professor? How can I be sure that I'm not
a religious hypocrite? I'll tell you how. In John chapter
12, in my text this morning, by submitting my faith to the
Word of God. By submitting my faith to the
Word of God. by trying my faith in the fire
of the word of God. In John chapter 12, our Lord
said, verse 47, And if any man hear my words, and believe them
not, I judge him not. For I came not to judge the world,
but to save the world. He that rejected me, and receiveth
not my word, hath one that judges him. The words that I have spoken,
the same shall judge him in the last day." What's going to judge
me at the judgment and judge my faith? God's Word. Well, the
thing for me to do is let the Word judge me now. Don't wait
till the judgment to find out if my faith is saving faith.
Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God, not
by the tradition of the fathers. Dr. David Estrada, our missionary
to Barcelona, Spain, had an audience with the Bishop of Barcelona,
who is now a Cardinal. They were sitting in the Bishop's
palace talking about doctrine, about what they believed, and
the Bishop, who is now a Cardinal, could quote the Fathers, the
Church Fathers. He could quote the old writers.
And David listened to him quote these old fathers and old writers
and ancient men, and he was a brilliant man, and finally Dr. Strada began
to quote the Bible to him. And the old bishop looked at
Dr. Strada and he said, now who wrote that? And David said, why,
Bishop, that's from the Bible. I'm quoting from God's Word.
And the old man sat back and said, well, I don't know much
about the Bible. I know the church fathers, and
I know the ancient writers, but I don't know the Bible. My friend,
faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God, not
hearing what the ancient fathers said, not hearing what the traditional
writers said, hearing what God said. James says in James 1.18,
"...of his own will begat he us with the word of truth." People
who have saving faith, who have genuine faith, who have redeeming
faith, have that faith by the Word of God. It is by His Word
that He hath begotten faith in us, if it's saving faith. Peter said in 1 Peter 1, 23,
being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of the incorruptible
seed, the Word of God. We're born of the Word of God,
which liveth and abideth forever. Faith tested by the Word of God. I submit my faith to the Word
of God. And I want to divide this message
into four parts. First of all, the definition
of faith. What is faith? Secondly, the
foundation of faith. Thirdly, the importance of faith.
And fourthly, the trial of faith. Now, first of all, a definition
of faith. What is saving faith? Well, faith,
saving faith, is first of all to believe Christ. That's what
the Scripture says. It's to believe Christ. He that
believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. Now turn to Romans chapter
four. Here in Romans chapter four,
and I think this is the illustration I should use because Abraham's
faith is exalted in the word of God. He's
called the father of the faithful. It says in Romans chapter 4,
verse 3, that Abraham, what saith the scripture? Abraham believed
God. He believed God. And it was counted
unto him for righteousness. Now let's look at Abraham's faith.
He believed God. First of all, he believed God
when he knew not where. God said, Abraham, get out of
your father's house unto a land I'll show thee. Get out. And
Abraham left. He left his father's house. He
left the comforts of home. He left the comforts of friends.
He left the comforts of relatives. He left his home where he lived
all his life when he was up in years. He left because God told
him to. He believed God. And he was journeying
to a land that he knew nothing about, a land he had never seen,
a land that God would show him. Now, my friends, I don't know
where heaven is. I've never been there, and I've
never talked to anyone else who's been there. But I believe God. God said, Abraham, leave your
father's house and go to a land I'll show thee. And Abraham left,
not knowing where he was going. And this is to believe God. God
says, I go to prepare a place for you, and I believe Him. I've
never been there, but I believe Him. And then in Genesis 17,
Abraham believed God when he knew not how. In Genesis 17,
Abraham was ninety-nine years old, and his wife Sarah was almost
that old, and God told them that He was going to give them an
heir, give them a son. that he was going to bless all
nations through his son. And Abraham believed God. He
didn't know how. And I don't know how God Almighty
can give life to a dead sinner. I don't know how God Almighty
can put away my guilt through the blood of his son. I don't
understand how God can become flesh and come down here into
this world and die for the guilty on the cross and impute unto
me a perfect righteousness and a perfect standing through the
death of His Son. I don't know how He does it."
Abraham didn't know how either, but he believed God. And the
Savior, almost a hundred years old, had a son. He believed God. Abraham believed
God. That's what the Scripture says
here. This is the essence of saving faith. Abraham believed
God. And then Abraham believed God
when he didn't know why. God came to him and said, Abraham,
your son Isaac now is twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen,
sixteen years old. You love him very much. Yes,
Lord, I do. take him up on top of Mount Moriah
and put him on an altar and slay him and shed his blood as a sacrifice
for sin. Abraham believed God, he didn't
know why. He headed for that mountain not
knowing why. I can't explain the trials of
life that you are called upon to go through. I cannot explain
the sorrows of life. I cannot fully understand the
burdens that we must bear, but I believe God. I believe all
things work together for good to them who love God, who are
called according to His purpose. I believe what Jack Huddle prayed
while ago. Whatever state I am, in whatever
state God puts me, I won't be thankful for it. I want to be,
I should be, because I believe God. That's what faith is, is
to believe God, to believe God. No matter, not knowing where,
not knowing how, not knowing why, but just believe God. And that's the reason Abraham
was called the father of the faithful. He believed God. Now
secondly, faith is to trust God. To trust God. Saving faith is
to trust Him. Abraham trusted God when he took
his son Isaac and bound him and put him on that altar and reached
for the knife. He's trusting God. God promised
me that He was going to give me a son. This is the son. God
promised me that I'd have a people through this son. God promised
me that He'd bless all nations through this son. Now I'm trusting
Him to do what He said. Job trusted God. Job had lost
all of his children. Job had lost all of his possessions. Job had lost his health. Job
had lost his friends. Job had lost his wife. Job had
lost everything. And Job said, though he slay
me, yet will I trust him. That's faith, to trust God. The
Israelites trusted God when they put the blood on the door and
sat down in the home waiting for death to pass over. Paul
said, as he trusted God, I know whom I have believed, I'm persuaded
he's able to do that which I've committed to him. I trust him.
To trust God is to rely on his promises. To trust God is to
anticipate his glory. To trust God is to be willing
to be saved God's way. To trust God is to wait on the
Lord. Now the Lord Jesus Christ taught
that a lack of trust was a lack of faith. He was sleeping in
that boat that night, and the storm came up, and the disciples
were afraid. And they came back to him and
they shook him and woke him and said, Lord, save us, we perish. And he said unto them, why are
you afraid? O ye of little faith, why are
you afraid? Trust me. O ye of little faith. He calmed
the sea and he said to his disciples, if you'd trust me, You wouldn't
be afraid. And then our Lord Jesus Christ
said, if God feeds the sparrow, that's what Brother Tom was singing
about a while ago, why should I feel discouraged? Why should
the shadows come? Why should my heart be lonely
and long for heaven and home? Christ feeds the sparrows. And
he said, if God so clothed the lily and feed the sparrow, will
He not so much more clothe you, O ye of little faith, and feed
you, O ye of little faith? Faith is to trust. It's to trust
Him. First of all, I believe His Word.
That's faith. I believe it. God said it. I believe it. And I trust Him. The clouds may be so dark I cannot
see the sun, but behind a frowning providence He hides His smiling
face. God moves in mysterious ways,
His wonders to perform. He plants His footsteps on the
sea. He rides on the storm. God's
the first cause of all things. It may seem like that I cannot
get my head above the water, but God controls the seas. I
trust him. And then faith, thirdly, is to
receive him. In Matthew 13, I want you to
turn over there with me. Matthew 13, verse 44. Now the kingdom of heaven, Matthew
13, 44, is like unto treasure hid in a field, the which when
a man hath found it, he hideth it, and for joy he goeth and
selleth all that he hath, and buys that field. The kingdom
of heaven is like a merchant man seeking goodly pearls who,
when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all
that he had and bought it. Faith is not only to believe
the record God had given concerning His Son, it's not only to trust
His ability to forgive and to show mercy and save, but faith
is to intelligently and confidently and willingly and on purpose
receive the Lord Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. He is my prophet, all that I
know of the Father, he reveals. He is my priest, my advocate,
my lawyer, my spiritual business is in his hands. I've committed
the whole keeping of my soul to Jesus Christ. It's not Christ
and the church, it's not Christ and baptism, it's not Christ
and good works, It's not Christ in the law. It's not Christ in
my ministry. My salvation is in His hands. Of God He has made unto me wisdom,
righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. I have sold all
that I have and bought Christ." Now that's what it is to believe,
is to receive Him. The King of heaven is like a
man looking for pearls, and he finds one, And he said, this
is worth everything I got. So he sells everything he has
and comes and buys that pearl. And his whole possessions, all
of his possessions, his whole wealth is in that one pearl.
And that's the way it is in this matter of salvation. Everything
we have is in Christ. Wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
redemption, eternal life is in Christ. Now the foundation of
faith. Paul said in Acts 27, 25, listen
to this, "'Sirs, be of good cheer. I believe God that it shall be
even as he told me.'" I believe God it shall be even as he told
me. Are you willing to submit your
faith to the Word of God, to the bare Word of God? not to
your denominational catechism or creed, but to the Word of
God. Are you willing to submit what you believe to the Word
of God? Well, my friends, I'm not afraid
to submit my belief in God's sovereignty to the Word of God,
not the least bit. The Bible says, I am the Lord.
I create good, I create evil. I create light, I create darkness. I, the Lord. do all these things.
None can stay my hand or say unto me, What doest thou? Can
I not do with my own what I will? The Lord giveth, and the Lord
taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.
I am not afraid to submit my belief in God's absolute, immutable
sovereignty to this book. I am not afraid to submit my
belief in creation's story to the Word of God. I believe that
in six days God created the heaven and the earth. I believe God
created all things out of nothing. I believe he spoke this world
into being. I believe God Almighty spoke
and the world came into being. The seas and the dry land, the
sky, the stars, the moon, the sun, the trees, the creeks, the
rivers, the mountains, the valleys, these things were made by God.
I believe that out of the dust of the ground, God created man
and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and he became
a living soul. And I'm not afraid to submit
that to this book. I am not afraid to submit my
belief in man's fall to the Word of God. Adam fell. God tells
us how he fell. I believe it. I am not afraid
to submit my belief in man's sinfulness and man's inability
and man's corruption to the Word of God. God says there's none
good, no, not one. I believe it. Almighty God says that we're
born in sin, shapen in iniquity, brought forth speaking lies.
I submit my faith in that to the Word of God. I'm not afraid to submit my belief
in divine incarnation to the word of God. God was made flesh
and dwelt among us. A virgin shall conceive and bring
forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Immanuel, God with us. God's on this earth. God's in
this place. Thou shalt call his name Jesus,
for he shall save his people from their sin. I'm not afraid
to submit my belief in the cross of Christ to the word of God.
Without the shedding of blood there's no remission for sin.
God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself. By his
stripes I am healed. I submit that to this book. Will
you submit your liberalism to the book? Your modernism? Your denominationalism? I'm not
afraid to submit my belief in the intercession of Christ to
the Word of God. There's one God and one mediator
between God and man. Who is it? Not Mary, it's Christ. I'm not afraid to submit that
to the Word. It's not your pastor, it's Christ. I'm not afraid to
submit my belief in hell to the Word of God. You say that God won't send men
to hell. Will you submit that to the Word of God? You can't,
because Christ said He would send men to hell. He said, at
the judgment, I will say, bind him hand and foot, and cast him
into hell, where there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
I'm not afraid to submit my doctrine of heaven to the Word of God,
of resurrection, of eternal life. This is the record God hath given
us eternal life, and this life is where? The Bible says, in
His Son. And he that hath the Son hath
life, he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. The foundation
of faith is the Word of God. And Christ said, My Word will
judge you at the last day. My friend, don't wait till the
last day. Let the Word judge you now. Take your beliefs, and
take your faith, and take your customs, and take your traditions,
and take your little religious six and seven, and submit it
to the Word of God, and find out whether it's there. And if
it's not there, drop it, and lay hold on something that is
there. Happy is the man whose faith can endure the trial of
God's Word. The Word of God is offensive
to the natural man. You remember how our Lord lost
quite a number of heroes when he taught the doctrine of eating
his flesh and drinking his blood. They said, we can't hear that.
Truth is not welcomed by ignorance. Truth is not welcomed by tradition. Truth is not welcomed by custom.
Truth is not welcomed by prejudice. Truth is only welcomed by faith.
Now, are you going to believe yourself or believe God? Do you
want the Bible flavored to your taste? Do you want your pastor
to play your tune, or do you want him to play God's melody?
Huh? Do you want your pastor to preach
what you want to hear, or what God wants you to hear? Well,
I know the answer to that in most places. They heap to themselves
teachers having itching ears that turn away their ears from
the truth. It does us good to submit our will to God's will
and lie broken at His feet and say, Lord, I'm just a child. I don't know anything. Teach
me. Thirdly, and quickly, the importance
of faith. Why is faith so important? Well,
turn to Hebrews 11, verse 6. First of all, because without
faith we cannot please God. It says in Hebrews 11, 6, without
faith, it's awful difficult to please God. No, it doesn't say
that. It says impossible. Without faith, it's impossible
to please God. He that cometh to God must believe
that he is my Lord. There's no praying apart from
faith, there's no healing apart from faith, there's no mercy
apart from faith, there's no assurance apart from faith. The
atonement avails us nothing apart from faith. The gospel avails
us nothing apart from faith. For our Lord said, go and preach
the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved. He that doesn't believe shall
be damned. The last point now, the trial
of faith. James said, Blessed is the man
who is patient under trial, for when he has stood the test, he
will receive the crown of life which God has promised to those
that love him. Now, my friends, faith must be
tried. Untried faith may not be faith
at all. Somebody said, just as a boat
must go to sea to prove that it is a boat, just as gold must
go into the fire to purge the dross and to be of any value,
just as a diamond must be cut to be of any value. And faith
is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not
seen, and therefore faith must be tried. It must be tried. Well, how does God try faith?
First of all, Your faith is going to be tried by human wisdom. The scripture says, there's a
way that seemeth right unto men. It seems right to men, but the
end thereof are the ways of death. And those people you work with,
there's a way of salvation that seems logical to them and sensible
to them. And when you come along with
salvation by substitution and salvation by grace, they're going
to give you a hard time. Because what you're teaching
and what you're preaching doesn't make sense to them. What they
believe does make sense to them. There's a way that seems right
to them. It makes sense to them. It's the way of the flesh. It's
the way of carnality. It's the way of good works. It's
the way of human righteousness, and it just makes sense that
a fellow does the best he can, God will take him to heaven.
That just makes sense to the natural man. And you tell him
it's not so, that the only way that a man can be saved is through
the sacrifice and righteousness of Jesus Christ. He said, I don't
believe that. The wisdom of man is foolishness
with God. And that which man calls foolishness,
is wisdom. And your faith's going to go
through an awful trial down there on the job, and down there, young
people in the university, those college professors are smart.
They're smart in carnal things, they're smart in material things,
they're smart in scientific things, and the biggest fools this side
of hell in spiritual things. They don't know a from bull's
foot. And what is sensible to them
is foolishness, and what is sheer nonsense to them is the power
and wisdom of God. The natural man will not receive
the things of the Spirit of God. They're foolishness to him, and
when you believe them, you're a fool, and your faith's going
to be tried by that in the court of human wisdom. And, brother,
they're going to find you guilty, and they're going to write you
off as a madman. That's what they said to Paul.
That great ruler said, Paul, you've lost your mind. Why, you
studied too much and you've lost your mind, Paul. Much learning
has made you crazy. What you're teaching is just
sheer nonsense. Well, and then faith's going
to be tried by persecution. When they find out you're crazy,
they're going to avoid you. They're not going to promote
you. It's hard to promote crazy people. You just don't do it.
It's not good for business. So you're going to be persecuted.
You're going to be mocked and you're going to be ridiculed. These boys I'm preaching to up
there in prison, I don't know how many we'll have today, but
that's a tough place to live for God now. That's a tough place. You think you have it tough living
for God and confessing Christ, you ought to try to live it up
there. But the songwriter says, I'm not ashamed to own my Lord
or to defend His cause and maintain the honor of His word and the
glory of His cross. Are there no foes for me to face? Must I not stem the flood? Is
this vile world a friend of grace to help me on to God? Am I a
soldier of the cross, a follower of the Lamb? Shall I fear to
own his cause, or blush to speak his name?" Your faith is going
to be tried in the court of human wisdom. Your faith is going to
be tried in the kangaroo court of human passions. They're going
to laugh at you and mock you and ridicule you and find fault
with you. Will you keep on believing? And
then your faith is going to be tried by sin. Peter denied his
Lord and went out and wept bitterly. Thomas doubted his Lord and fell
at his feet and cried, My Lord and my God. If you have true
faith, your sin will drive you back to Christ. If you have a
false faith, your sin will separate you from your faith. You'll lose
it. If a man sins, if a man be overtaken
in a fault, if a person sins, if he has a phony faith, he'll
lose it. He'll quit church, he'll quit
reading the Word, he'll quit praying, he'll quit seeking fellowship
with God's people, he'll just give vent to his passions. But
a man who's really saved and knows the Lord, If he thinks
evil or says evil or does evil, that very time, that very day,
it'll drive him to his knees. He'll go out and weep. He'll
come like Thomas to the feet of Christ, and he'll say, My
Lord and my God. Sin won't drive him away from
his Lord. Sin will drive him to his Lord.
That's the difference in a phony faith and a saving faith. And
then faith's going to be tried. Turn to the book of Proverbs.
It's going to be tried by prosperity. or poverty. Now, I hate to take
a man's prayer apart, but I was blessed by that prayer a while
ago. Our brother prayed again that God would bless us according
to what we could handle and we could be good stewards of. Do
you know God can bless a man too much? You can get too rich, did you
know that? You can have too much of this world's goods and you
can forget God. And God can try a man with poverty. You know, we look at a person,
they lose everything they've got, and we say, well, judgment's
on them. Here's a man that's making money
hand over fist, judgment could be on him too. Now, you listen
to the wise man Solomon in Proverbs 30, verse 8. Lord, two things,
verse 7, two things have I required of thee, deny me them not before
I die. Remove far from me vanity and
lies. Give me neither poverty nor riches. I don't want either one. Feed
me with food convenient, my allowance, what I can handle, lest I be
full and deny the Lord. I've seen fellows get prosperous
and deny the Lord. I've seen them get prosperous
and start walking with the world. I've seen them get prosperous
and start trying to keep up with this old world. get their heart
on the world and their mind on the world and get covetous and
greedy. And that's dangerous. That's
what the wise—Lord, I don't want to be full and deny you and say,
who is the Lord? And I don't want to be poor and
steel and take the name of God in vain. I don't want to be,
I don't want to be so poverty-stricken that I say that I curse God. So faith can be tried by prosperity,
and faith can be tried by poverty. Faith can be tried by success,
actually. Actually, success is the most
dangerous ground on which you can walk. It's very dangerous. The man who is a failure can
lift his eyes to heaven sometimes a lot easier than the man who
is on top looking down. And then faith's going to be
tried by sorrow. You're going to have some tears,
and you're going to have some tough times. Job did. And he said, The Lord gave, and
the Lord hath taken away, and in none of this did he charge
God foolishness. Faith is going to be tried by
the years, years and years and years. But he that endureth to the end
shall be saved. And then faith is going to be
tried by death. And the Scripture says, Lord,
when I come to die, Let me die the death of the righteous, and
let my last end be like his. The time of my departure is at
hand. I've kept the faith. I've finished
my course. Henceforth there's laid up for
me a crown of righteousness. Let my death be like his. Our
Father used the message now to glorify Thy matchless name, to
strengthen the faith of those that believe and to reveal to
those who do not believe that their faith is false. We pray,
O God, that Thou would work in our hearts, saving faith, so
that we believe Thee and trust Thee and confess Thee and willingly
and consciously receive Thee.