It's really good to see you all. We're going to go ahead and open up with a word of prayer. We definitely do want to remember the Moore family this morning. Jackie, our sister, passed last night about 9 o'clock. And so we won't have Kelly here today, or Roy for that matter. And so please keep that family in prayer. We will need to be making some efforts in the coming days to show them some love and some hospitality. that they'll desperately need a good hug, some food, things of that nature. So please be in prayer for their family. And thank you guys for being here. It's really good to see you all. We're starting a new topic today, and I'm kind of excited about it. So let's go ahead and open with a word of prayer, and then we will get going. Father, we come to you this morning thanking you for the many blessings that you pour on our lives, a blessing of being able to come to you with our prayers, knowing that your son, our savior, intercedes for us in those prayers, and that it's through the gift and the power of your Holy Spirit that we're even able to commune with you. So thank you for loving us. Thank you for sending your son. Thank you for sending your spirit so that we could know you, so that we could know your word, so that we could love you, and so that we could love one another. And that's our goal. That's our desire, Lord, is to know your truth, to receive your truth, to believe your truth, to share your truth with others, and to be willing and able to walk in those truths in our own lives and to share that truth with those around us. So please be with us now in this time of study. Please be with us today as a family as we grieve the loss of our sister Jackie, knowing that she's in your hands and that she is way happier in a way better place than we are today. And we just, We just glory in knowing that she is yours and that she is now with you and there's no better place that she can be. But please be with her family, use this circumstance in their life as a way to draw them closer together and they're allowing you more. In Christ Jesus name we pray, amen. So today we're gonna take up the topic. It's probably, I think it's gonna take us two weeks And we'll about two weeks, but our topic today is saving faith Saving faith now. We'll start with this question. Why is it important to call it saving faith? Why is that so important? saving faith What are we being saved from? Death okay, we're being saved from death and damnation, the wrath of God. Not only that, and something we even as Christians begin to forget sometimes is that we're saved from the bondage of sin. We've been set free. We no longer have to serve our old nature. We no longer have to serve the old man that we used to be anymore. So we're saved from sin. We're saved from the wrath of God. We're saved from ourselves. We're saved from the power of Satan. We've been set free to serve him now. So salvation is a very important thing. We all need it. And so when we talk about saving faith, we want to remember that that is a description of a type of faith. It is a faith that saves. Because there is faith out there that will not save you. There are a lot of people running around today say, I believe in God. Of all kind of different religions, all kind of different stripes, all kind of different cultures and customs, and they say, oh, I believe. But we also need to remember, as we talk about saving faith, we need to remember that it is the object of our faith that saves us. Explain that for me. What do I mean when I say it is the object of our faith that saves us Yeah, so my faith has to be in God Well, what about the Muslim? What about the Buddhists? What about the Hindu? What about the Jewish fella? They say that they have faith in God But so good so it's their God so How do we know who true God is. Like, in other words, they'll sit and argue with you all day that they believe what they believe. How do we know? He's the creator. Buddha can't create the world. OK. He's the creator. But let's just take our Jewish and Muslim friends. They believe in what they say is the same God we believe in. The Jewish man will tell you he believes in the same God that we believe in. Jesus. Right. They believe Jesus was a prophet. All the other religions out there are fine with Jesus being a prophet or an enlightened one. The Buddhists believe that Jesus, that's what Buddha means. It means an enlightened one. And they believe that Jesus was a Buddha. They believe he was one of the enlightened ones. But the point being is, is that they don't believe that he is the creator and they do not believe that he is the son of God. They do not believe that he died on a cross and rose from the grave and ascended into heaven and is sitting at the right hand of the father. They do not believe he was born of a virgin. They do not believe that he will come to judge the quick and the dead. The things that we're going to say today in the Nicene Creed or the Apostles Creed when we say the creedal statement, we're saying the basics of the Christian faith that you have to believe in order for your faith to be real or your faith to be substantiated or your faith to be true. And so this term saving faith is a very important term because my faith has to be in the right object or it's no good. And not only that, but when we talk about saving faith and we talk about our faith being in an object, which is God himself, I have to know that my faith is true and that it's right. And so what is it that, how can I know that? Like what makes me different than I can sit and argue with my Jewish friend or my Muslim friend who I love dearly or my Catholic friend who I love dearly and argue with them all day about religion. But I just had somebody ask me this this week. What gives you the right to tell me what to believe? Okay, so you say it's the faith in my heart what I That's the key The authority is is that the Word of God is the truth of God The Word of God is the standard of truth and what I believe or what I feel in my heart is irrelevant For your personal faith Right, but in other words, so what is the authority when I stand and Preach what is the authority that I'm using is it what I think and what I feel It's what does say it the Lord? Right so for my Jewish friend who I love dearly I Jesus said if you have not the son if you don't have the son You don't have the father if you reject the son who is the revelation of the father He told John he said he told Thomas if you've seen me You've seen the father and if you reject the son, then what are you doing? You're rejecting the father People Good, good. So what are they doing? They're doing, the person who asked you how do they know that the Bible's true, they're doing the very same thing that Satan did in the garden. What did he say? Did God really say you couldn't eat from that tree? Now we're gonna actually talk about this in the sermon today. Generally the scoffer, a scoffer is someone who rejects the truth. Generally a scoffer will start with this statement. What you say is true, you fill in the blanks. It's always an if condition. But with God, there's no ifs. This is what he says. So my faith, a saving faith, a saving faith is a faith that is resting on the object of truth, which is God himself. And when you stand for that truth, you are going to have a target on your head. I just had a guy ask me this week. A friend of mine posted and said that addiction is a disease. And I went on to, right after I said no, addiction is not a disease. Diseases start with a choice. I mean, diseases don't start with a choice. Your addiction started with you choosing to delve in it. Now, I grant you this. A person who is an addict has no choice anymore. They're going to do it. But the reason that they're in bondage now is because they choose to turn from God and choose to seek something in the creation to give them only what the creator could give. Well, I said that, I said no. Addiction is not a disease. That is man's science telling you that. Addiction is bondage. Addiction is bondage to sin. And you are a slave to... Immediately, so my part, what gives you the authority or the right to say that? That was exactly what they asked me. And I said, well, I could tell them all that. I could say this. Well, for the last 10 years, I've worked and I've struggled through the addiction myself. And for the last 10 years, I've worked with recovering addicts and alcoholics in ministry for the last 10 years. I could use that as my authority, but that's not good enough. Well, that's your opinion. But when I say that he who turns to idols will be in bondage to those idols, I can turn it directly to the scriptures and point them to that and show them that that's what the Bible says. He said, what gives you your authority? And I could have went into a long discussion about all of my counseling and I just went to Romans 1 and it said that God in his wrath has turned man, fallen man, over to his own lust and desires and that he now serves the creature rather than the creator. I just turned him, I pointed him straight to the scripture. And so then he asked something else and I quote another scripture. And the conversation finally got to the girl who originally made the post came on there and she said, please don't be trying to push your agenda and your religion on us. All right. Well, if it's just my opinion on my religion, then we have a problem. The problem is, is that I was proclaiming the gospel to him. I showed him that in God's wrath, God turns us over to our addictions. He turns us over to sin and death. But then I shared the gospel with him. I said, but if you will turn from those and turn to Christ, he can set you free from those addictions. Like I gave him the gospel as well. And so most, several of the people on that conversation, that thread, that strand, claim to be Christian. Yet they reject the gospel message And so It's very important for us to be able to define What salvation is it's very important for us to be able to define what saving faith is Like James says you say you have faith Well, you show me your faith without your works and I will show you my faith by my works. I And so again, we're talking about saving faith. So let's look at our jumping off text for today. Today, we're going to look at Hebrews 12, 2. And if you've got the creedal statement there with you, what we're going to try to do today is get through the first paragraph, read the second paragraph, and start working on the second paragraph. And then next week when we come back together for the second part of the study, we'll finish up paragraph two and do paragraph three, okay? But let's look at our jumping off text for this morning. It says, fixing our eyes on him, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and he sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. So we are to fix our eyes on Jesus, right? That's what the old hymn says. Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in his glorious face, and then what the things of this world will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace, right? Beautiful hymn. What are we fixing our eyes on? Jesus. And what is Jesus? He is the author and the perfecter. Now, if you have a King James, like that heavy one that Shirley carried in here this morning, that big, thick one, if it's a King James, it'll say, fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. But that word perfecter, perfecter of faith and finisher of faith, it means the same exact thing. And so the word Tetelestai, it is finished. It is paid in full. Jesus paid it all. It has been completed. It is perfect, all right? So if my faith rests, if I fix my eyes on Jesus, now where does the end of that verse say he is right now? Yeah, he's at the throne of God, at the right hand of God right now. So what would be the problem with me and you fixing our eyes on him right now? Yeah, why can't we do that? We can in faith. But we cannot see him with our natural eyes. Why? Because his glory is too bright. Not only that, he's in heaven and we're here. So it is by faith that we fix our eyes on Christ. It is by faith that we realize that he is the perfecter and finisher of our faith. It is by faith that we trust that he is sitting at the right hand of God waiting for his enemies to become his footstool. He's done all of the work now. He's sit back and waiting as it plays out Yes, but it is only the believing ones at sea I Remember we and actually our sermon series in the last three or four weeks. We've kind of been talking about that Remember two weeks ago. Jesus cursed. He said woe to you people like you've seen all the miracles. You've seen what I do And yet you still don't believe So it's through the eyes of faith that we see and believe but we are fixing our eyes on Christ and He is the author. What does it mean to say? He's the author and Yeah, he's the one that wrote the book He's the author and he's the finisher. Why is it that we as Baptists? Why is it that we as Protestants we as Baptists believe that we cannot lose our salvation? Why do we believe that? It's a gift that's true But I've lost gifts. I lose gifts all the time like I got a lot I got a stretch Armstrong for Christmas when I was a kid and And I laid it by the fireplace one night before I went to bed. I woke up the next morning, there's jelly all over the hurt. I lose gifts all the time. Why is it that I can trust that I will not lose my salvation? Good, so I have a promise. And that promise is given by God. And God never breaks his promises. So the truth of the matter is, in my fallen nature as a human being, if I could lose my salvation, I already would have. Right. If my salvation is dependent on my authorship and my ability to perfect it, I'm in trouble. My saving faith is resting in the promises of God. That's what the Old Habs says. Standing on the promises of Christ my King, Eternal ages let the spirit ring glory in the house. I will ever saying standing on the promises of God Standing standing, right? But I rest in his promises. I rest in Christ and that is what my makes my faith saving faith I Have put it in the Savior and I am trusting in what he does What does he do? He's the Savior he's the shepherd he takes care of his sheep and so that's saving faith But again, how do I know that saving faith? How do I know that he is my shepherd? How do I know that Yeah, John well not John 316, I mean that's a good beautiful verse I Psalm 23 the Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want he makes me the line under it That's God's promise, right? And not only that Jesus comes along 900 years later says what I am the good shepherd and I lay my life down for my sheep and my sheep know me and I know them and when I call They come and so as a believer you're resting in those truths No doubt what is his fit what is his spirit witness where does his spirit always point you to Jesus, and how do I know Jesus? There you go. You see? So a saving faith is a faith that is simply resting on the words of God. Not premonitions, not feelings, not goosebumps, not emotions, not experience, not the latest fad in the church. We're gonna sing without music today, and we're kicking it old school as they say today. But that's okay because we can still make a joyful noise unto the Lord. We can make a joyful noise. But it better be happy. I want to see y'all smiling out there today as we sing. But think about that. So we're talking today about saving faith. If you are in this room today, and you are a born-again blood-bought child of God you have that saving faith And you enjoy it and you rest in it, and you can't understand why anyone around you wouldn't want it But what you have to understand is this that the many Have chosen the wide road that leads to the destruction and the many simply don't believe what you believe And so what we want to do today is we want to start on this study and say, faith, we're going to find out what it is, and we're going to find out why it's so important, and we're going to find out how it works. And that's what we'll do for the next two weeks. So let's look at our first paragraph there. It says, the grace of faith whereby the elect are enabled to believe to the saving of their souls is the work of the Spirit of Christ in their hearts. That's what I just said a second ago. And is ordinarily wrought by the ministry of the word. By which also and by the administration of baptism and the Lord's Supper and prayer and other means appointed of God It is increased and strengthened. So the grace of faith There I'll go back to what you just said a minute ago. What did you call our salvation a what a gift? It's a gracious offer from God Okay the grace of faith Why do you believe? Because he gave you faith. One of the love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, the spirit of faith. We're gonna see that in one of our Bible verses here in just a second. The Holy Spirit is the spirit of faith. What does that mean? That means that when the spirit lives in you, you believe. Why? Because the truth dwells in you and the truth points you to the truth and the truth gives you that affirmation and confidence and assurance to believe that it is true. That's what the Holy Spirit does. And he points us to Christ. So, the grace of faith whereby the elect are enabled to believe to the saving of their souls is the work of the Spirit of Christ in their heart. What is that called? We learned this a few weeks ago. Well, we learned this way a long time ago. What is it called when the Spirit of Christ works in a person's heart and they believe? Yes. Another term? Well, redemption is the purchase that was made on the cross. When the spirit applies that redemption to the heart of the believer, it's the application of that. It's very simple, it's John 3. Marvel not that I said unto you, unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Unless a man is born again, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. Marvel not that I said to you, you must be born again. So when the spirit of Christ works in the heart to give someone faith, to help someone to believe, what is that term called? It is an effectual call, but it's called regeneration. Remember that word? Creating me a new heart. He rips that heart of stone out of you and he puts a heart of flesh in you and he fills you with his spirit and gives you the strength to walk in a way that you can't walk on your own. That's known as regeneration. I've been redeemed. I am a new creation in Christ I'm a new creation a brand new man. I've he's changed my heart. So it is the spirit Yeah, that's regeneration is the word for born again born anew And here's something you might and you I want you to go and check behind me on this but when Jesus said marvel not that I say to you you must be born again and That word born again is the word anathon in Greek, anathem. It means from above. You must be born from above is an actual literal translation of you must be born again. There's one other place in the New Testament where that word anathem is used, and it's when the veil was ripped in the temple after Christ's death. How was the veil ripped in the temple? from above down It's the word anathem in Greek and in John 3 every time that Jesus tells Nicodemus you must be born again It's the word anathem. You must be born from above marvel not that I said to you unless you were born from above You cannot see the kingdom of God marvel I say to you unless you be born from above you cannot enter the kingdom of God So what is Jesus indicating by that that the work of salvation is from heaven downwards? Now, once he works that into us, then begins to, after regeneration, begins the process of what's the next, what did we learn last couple weeks? Sanctification. So once he works that salvation into us from up on high, down to us, then what happens? Then we begin to work that salvation through his power, through his grace, through his spirit, we begin to work that back up towards him. Why? to glorify the one that did the work in us, we work. See how that works? See how that works? He works it in, we work it out. But even the sanctification process, even the working out of our salvation in fear and trembling is the work of the spirit in us. Like he's the one that gives me the strength to keep on going. I'm gonna be honest with you, I got a call from Jackie last night. Not from Jackie, I got a call from Kelly that Jackie had passed. It's been a rough two weeks. We've had storms and no power and I've been working really hard at work trying to catch us back up because our grocery store lost all of their products. Working in the yards and cleaning up and I am drained. Spiritually, I feel wonderful. Physically, I am drained. And when Kelly sent me a text last night and said, I'm not gonna be able to be at church tomorrow, I knew Billy was already gone and I knew we wasn't gonna have a sound system. And there was a part of me that just wanted to put my head under the cover and just stay home today. It's like nothing is going right. I'm sharing that with you to tell you that pastors like, I'm sharing that with you to let you know that even as a pastor, I get frustrated. I really do get frustrated, but here's the deal. Because God is at work in me, he gives me the strength to work through that frustration. It don't just go away. Pastors are not just happy, happy, joy, joy. Matter of fact, if you ask people that I work with, I'm probably one of the most grumpy people that you ever want to meet, especially if you're a 16-year-old kid with no sense. You see what I mean? But the difference is, because the Spirit of God lives in me now, He gives me the drive and the encouragement and the desire to work through my frustration. And all I have to do, and this is what I did, was think about your faces, and that you were going to be here this morning wanting to be fed the Word of God. And it gave me all of the encouragement that I needed to get up and come to church. I think we're gonna have a good time today. I think we're gonna have a good time. Today we're celebrating the Lord's Supper. We'll see that here in just a minute, how important that is. But again, he works it in, he works saving faith into us, and then we work that saving faith out of us. But the reason we're even working the faith out of us is because he said work in us. We always wanna make sure to give him the glory for it. So, the grace of faith whereby the elect are enabled to believe to the saving of their souls is the work of the Spirit of Christ in their hearts. And it is ordinarily wrought by the ministry of the Word. So what does that mean? The way that it usually works is what? Hearing the Word of God. And the Word of God being preached, the Word of God being shared, The between the Word of God being shared and the power of the Holy Spirit at work in that word being proclaimed The heart is regenerated The Christian is renewed The Christian the believer is sanctified All right, so I'm saved it's a one-time act but the sanctification process is what a Lifelong act it's a lifelong work of God And so what you and I need to know is this. You're here this morning. Hey, Ms. Joanne, we're glad you're here this morning, right? You're here this morning, and what are you doing? You're sitting under the teaching of the word of God. Why? Because as a believer, because you have saving faith, you know that the way that that faith is increased, the way that that joy grows is through the word of God. That's the way that it works. And so when your family and your friends tell you they believe and they never go to church, either they're stagnant and they're suffering or they simply really don't believe. Now I'm not saying that everyone that's not here this morning is not a believer. That's not what I'm saying at all. But if you truly are a child of God, if you truly have the word of God in you and the spirit of God works in you, then you're gonna wanna do what the word of God tells you to do. Your desire's gonna be to live out that word of God. And one of the things that he commands of us is to remember this Sabbath day, keep it holy, to love the Lord your God with all your heart, your mind, your soul, your strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. And I was picking with, who was it I was picking with? Who was you riding around with getting coffee the other morning? Lurie, Lurie, no lights at the house, no lights at the house, right, and they were riding around looking for coffee at nine o'clock, it was about nine o'clock in the morning, it was early in the morning, nine o'clock in the morning, and then I said, well, we're gonna have church, and she said, well, I ain't coming, because I can't put on my makeup. And I said, well, you out riding around looking for coffee and ain't worried about that makeup. Now, what was the point I was making? I love her, and I'm not condemning her, but the point I'm making is this, what, we'll drive five miles to get a cup of coffee, Thank you. Thank you very much. You do what you want to do. And the reality is this. If the Spirit of God is in you, you're going to want to do what the Spirit of God commands you to do. See how that works? It's ordinarily wrought by the ministry of the word by which also and by the administration of baptism in the Lord's Supper Prayer and other means appointed of God it is increased and strengthened. All right. Now, this is a very important statement What he's saying is is this that baptism the Lord's Supper prayer and other means appointed of God is Used to increase and strengthen saving faith. Okay, so I want to share a term with you I may have shared this with you in the past. It's a it's a term that It's called the means of grace the means of grace All right, what do I mean if I say the means of losing weight? What do I mean by that? losing weight Do an exercise, watching your diet. These are the means used to lose weight. If you don't watch your diet and don't exercise, those means are no good to you. You're gonna gain weight. You see how that works? Alright, so what are the means of an education? You get on the school bus, you go to school, you learn to read, you learn to write, you learn arithmetic and history, et cetera, et cetera, and you become educated. That's the means of education. If you always skip school, like I did, and you don't get on the bus when you're supposed to, and you sleep in the back of the room and drool on your desk and don't listen to the teacher, then the means of education provided to you are gonna be ineffective. You're not gonna get it. Well, what we learn is Using this term the means of grace We mean that there are things that God has given to the church There are things there are gifts that God has given to the believer That are used by the Holy Spirit to grow and strengthen our faith now what the means of grace does not mean is this that So what are the means of grace that it's talking about here? The ministry of the word. That's a means of grace. How is the word ministered? Through a preacher's teachers, through your personal study at home, through listening to a preacher on the radio, through coming to church and hearing the preached word, from reading old preachers from back in the past, reading their sermons. Looking at the lives of others. Proclaiming the word of God. Yeah. Yeah that we've talked about that word testimony That's where you're pointing to and what I'm telling you is the testimony has to be the Word of God, right? There's a horrible theology out there that says this on on social media it says this preach the gospel and if necessary use words All right Yes, there's a problem with that Salvation comes by hearing and hearing the Word of God. So yes, people will get an idea of what Christianity is about by seeing the Christian life in you, but the only way that they're ever going to believe in it is to hear the Word of God. It's not going to be by your kind acts. Your kind acts can't open a door for you to share the gospel with someone, but just being kind to the lost will not save anyone. They have to hear the Word of God. So the word of God, the ministered word of God is a means of grace. It also says that another means of grace is baptism and the Lord's Supper. When you walk into our church and you look down from the back of the church, the first thing you see is the table. Because it is through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ that we have access to the throne. So when you walk in, you are reminded that Jesus' body was broken for you and that his blood was shed to save you. It points us to what Christ did for us. The Lord's Supper is a means of grace. It is a visual picture of the preaching of the gospel. It is Jesus's testimony to the church. He said, I'm going, but as long as I'm gone, you do this. See what the table says? And remember it's me. So when we share the gospel today in the preaching, that's one means of grace. And after the service is over, we're going to have the Lord's supper. That's another means of grace. Because what happens is, is the non-believers out there saying, well, why can't I come down there and get that? And it's because you have not believed that Christ's body was broken for you and that his blood was shed for you. If you believe that, you can. Anyone who believes can come. But this is a preaching of the gospel. Then the next step after you come into the church, after the table is what? The pulpit. The ministry of the Word of God. You see? And then behind the pulpit, bad ministry. Why? Because it is our death with Christ, our burial with Christ, and our raising again with Christ that is salvation. And so the The Lord's table and the baptismal pool up there those two ordinances. Those are the two ordinances that Jesus has given the church Those two ordinances scream out and preach the gospel of Jesus Christ They are means of grace Prayer is What about a choir No Singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs can be a means of grace. And if you ever noticed in all of the old churches, where was the choir? No, they're not. That is not true at all. Where were all the old choirs? You go to an old Baptist church anywhere and tell me where the choir was. Have you ever been to Whitefields Chapel over there? And what about Pool of First Baptists? They're behind it, up in the rafters, back behind the congregation. And in all the old churches, in the history of the church, the choir was always in the back, and always up over the crowd. You've been to Independent Presbyterian Downtown in Savannah on Bull Street? The organ, that horrible, hard sound that that pipe organ makes, it's back behind, and the choir's up there with them. Why? Because the focus is not to be on the singers. The focus is to be on the words being sung, the lyrics, the psalms, the hymns, the spiritual song. And so historically in the church, there's always been only three elements. In the Protestant church, there's always three elements that need to be involved, the Lord's table, the pulpit, and the magistrate. Now, even in the full Presbyterian, Friends they have their they call it a baptistry, but it's not it's just a little Little dippy thing, but they even in their churches They have that up in the front because baptism is they believe that baptism is a means of grace now with that said When we talk about means of grace When you hear that what you don't need to hear is this These are the things that we do to get to God Because if baptism, the ministering of the word, the Lord's table, prayer, if these are things that we do to get to God, then they're no longer grace, are they? What do I mean when I say that? Yes, if that's what so the means of grace when you hear the word means of grace You don't need to hear this. These are the things that we do to climb up to God That's not grace that works The means of grace are the things that God has done to get to us. I All of the means of grace have been given to us as gifts So that our saving faith Can grow and be confident and be assured so the Yes Yep, certainly so and so when you think about that Remember these are not things that we do to get to him But they are things that we do if he's got to us. You see what I mean? So if someone is truly a believer and they're not in the word, they've never been baptized, they're not partaking of the Lord's Supper, they're not praying, they're not singing hymns, songs, spiritual song, they're not doing the gifts that he's given, they're not acting in the gifts that he's given us, then they're gonna be miserable. They're going to be unsure. They're going to have doubts. They're going to be weak in the faith or they're not a believer. It's very true. So you see how that, I mean, if, if you truly are a child of God, if, if the spirit of God lives in you, then these things are going to be a delight. The singing is going to be a delight. The partaking of the Lord's Supper is going to be a delight. The study of the Word of God, hearing the preaching of the Word of God is going to be a delight. Seeing someone get baptized or you being baptized is going to be a delight. These are things that bring the true believer joy. Why? Because they're walking in saving faith. That's our subject. They're walking in saving faith. They are partaking of The means of grace that God has given us to know him All right, so The grace of faith whereby the elect are enabled to believe to the saving of their souls is the work of the spirit of christ in their hearts And it is ordinarily wrought by the ministry of the word By which also and by the administration of baptism and the lord's supper prayer and other means appointed of god that saving faith is increased and strengthened. So we'll finish with that subject today. Let's go ahead and let's look at some verses of scripture to back up what we've studied this morning. All right, 2 Corinthians 4.13. And we don't have Billy here today. We'll let Billy know that we miss him because it's very nice to just have that stuff pop up on the screen behind you there. 2 Corinthians chapter four, that's 1 Corinthians, gotta go back a little more. Chapter 4 and verse 13 But having the same spirit of faith, there's that word I was telling about spit at that term Having the same spirit of faith according to what is written I Believe therefore I spoke We also believe There we also speak So having the same spirit of faith. Paul is talking about the unity of believers, the unity of the church. Having that same faith, having that same saving faith according to what is written. Now, why is that important? Why is that statement important? Right. So we have this spirit of faith That spirit of faith always works according to what is written See So I I'm in a discussion I get in a lot of discussions on social media But right now I'm in one with a guy that I work with who used to be a minister He doesn't preach anymore, but he doesn't believe that the Bible is True. He don't believe you can trust the Bible. He says that there's historical inaccuracy in it And the latest thing is that I posted earlier this week that women are not supposed to be pastors, like they're not supposed to be preachers in the church. They're not supposed to stand and teach over the authority of men in the church. And he came on there, boy, and he come full guns blazing. You are just a misogynist man that wants to oppress women. You know, the Bible was written way back then that don't mean that anymore, et cetera, et cetera. Well, he is just flat out doesn't believe the Bible. And I ask him all the time, I say, John, if you don't believe the Bible, then why do you even use it to substantiate your arguments? Like you go to scripture to just firm up your stance. Like if it's not true, then don't use it. But the point being is this, if you are a child of God, and listen, we notice in this very room right here today, me sitting here, Al sitting right here, I know that because of Al's background and my background, we have differences on our views of the Bible. There's things that we differ in. That's okay. All right? It's all right, but the Holy Spirit lives in me, the Holy Spirit lives in him. What should happen? We do love each other. I love you. We love each other. We can disagree, but there's a spirit of unity at work in both of us. So what should happen? We should both go to the Word and we should both allow the Word to conform us to the Word of God, not to what I believe. So often, we as Christians try to prove other people wrong instead of just proving the Bible right. We try to find chinks in their argument instead of just proclaiming the truth. So what he says there is that the Spirit of God, the Spirit of faith, works according to what is written, I believe, therefore I spoke. That was Paul writing that. So what happened? What did Jesus do on the road to Damascus? He converted Paul's heart and turned him into a believer. And because he believed, what did he do? He went out and started proclaiming the gospel. He believed, so he spoke, therefore we believe, and so therefore we speak. If you want to talk about actions, we do speak through our actions. What we believe is who we are. There's no denying that. What we believe is who we are. But when I speak, I need to speak with, thus saith the Lord, instead of, well, I feel like. I need to speak with the authority of the word of God, because my feelings and your feelings simply don't matter. Opposite or in disregard to the truth Okay, our next verse there was Ephesians 2 8 a little more over there to your right Ephesians 2 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith And this is not of yourself It is the gift of God simple enough statement why? Not of works, so that no one may boast. So, the means of grace that He has given us are not the things that we use to climb to salvation. They are things we use to grow in our salvation as He works in us. Therefore, it says, for we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we should walk in them. So He saved us to work. We're not saved by our works, but we are saved to work Okay All right, and Romans 10 14 to 17 a couple more verses will be done Romans 10 verses 14 to 17 All right, so we'll start at 13 whoever calls upon the name of the Lord Will be saved whoever calls Now, there are a lot of people that call and say, Lord, Lord, and what's he gonna say on the last day? Depart from me, I never knew you. So, what is detention in the text? Y'all know that word I've been sharing with you, detention in the text. There is a perceived contradiction here. Because Jesus said, whoever calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved, and then on judgment day, he's gonna say, you called, but I didn't save you. You called me Lord, but I didn't save you. Right? Well, how do we ease the tension in the text? We ease the tension in the text by saying this, the Lord speaks and his believers hear and trust him and follow him. He's Lord of their lives because they know what he says is true and they follow him. There are many people that say, Lord, Lord, that don't believe what he says. It's called hypocrisy. wear the outward robe of Christianity and on the inside you're unconverted. All right? So he says, how then will they call on him whom they've not believed? How will they believe in him whom they've not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? And how will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it's written, how beautiful are the feet of those who proclaim Good news of the gospel or the good news of good things However, they did not heed all heed the good news for I Isaiah said Lord who has believed our report? But I say are so faith has come from hearing and hearing by the Word of Christ So, how do we believe we hear? What do we hear the Word of Christ? We hear his word. And so those people that were calling the Lord, and he said, depart from me, I never knew you. What it means is, is they were calling on the name of the Lord, just calling that name. They were thinking by saying Jesus Lord, they were being saved. But the name of the Lord in the Bible is who he is. It's more than just saying Jesus because you could call Jesus and 45 fellas on a bus down in Mexico would turn around and look up. When you call on the name of Jesus, you're calling on his promises. You're calling on his truth. You're calling on his word. You're calling on who he is and whoever calls upon that name is saved. because in order for them to even call him Savior, for them to be able to call him Savior, what does that mean? To call him Savior, it means that what? You're saved. You can't call him Savior unless you're saved. So whoever calls upon his name will be saved. A couple more verses and we'll be done. Luke 17, five. Luke 17 and five. Says this and the Apostle said to the Lord Increase our faith Now we've learned today that saving faith is saving faith and our saving faith is increased by what? the means of grace The things that God has given to the body of Christ so that we can grow in our assurance and our knowledge The Holy Spirit does not work apart from the means of grace. He works through the Word of God. He works through the preaching. He works through the Lord's table. He works through baptism. You are not earning your salvation by coming down here and eating from this table. You are not earning your salvation by sitting under the preaching of the Word of God. You are not earning your salvation by being baptized. You are not earning your salvation by singing and smiling while you sing. You are not earning your salvation by the means of grace, but these are the things that God has given to you so that you can grow in your assurance and your knowledge of that salvation and the experience, if you will. So the last verse, or two, 1 Peter 2 says this. So an apostle cried to Jesus and said, what? Lord, increase our faith. We should all be able to cry that every day. I don't believe good enough. You got to help me out So first Peter 2 2 says what? James Peter First Peter 2 2 like newborn babies Long for the pure milk of the word so that you may grow in respect to your salvation As newborn babes, King James, as newborn babes desire to sincere milk with the word that you may grow thereby. Right? You know what babies crave? Milk. When they get a little older, they crave all the candy at the grocery store. But when they're babies, they want milk. And if you don't give them milk, what do they do? Yeah, they cry. How often have you cried when you didn't get to come to church? How often have you cried when you skipped your Bible study that night? Instead of reading what you're supposed to read, you just went on to bed. There is a longing in the believer to know the word of God, to receive the word of God, to believe the word of God, and to walk in the word of God. And the last verse, Acts 20, 32. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts 20, 32. So then, I might have wrote down the wrong verse. I think I did. So then some were shouting one thing and some another for the meeting was in confusion and the majority did not know for what reason they had come together. All right. Well, that's terrible that they had to happen. I actually typed in the wrong verse. Acts 20, 32. That's what it says there. Okay, I see what it's saying then. So then some were shouting one thing and some another for the meeting was in confusion, and the majority did not know for what reason they had come together. What is the point there? Oh, well, this Acts 19, 32. But Acts 19, 32, well, let's read that because this actually applies, right? So then some were shouting one thing and some another for the meeting was in confusion And the majority did not know for what reason they had come together Huh? Yeah, that's like a church business meeting that's exactly right or it can be like a Theological argument you get a bunch of people all honor. Well, I feel like I feel like I feel like I think I don't care what it says I This is what we've always done. When you get that argument, then nobody even realizes the reason you come together in the first place, except to prove that you're right. Now, that's just a little side. I was looking at the wrong chapter. What a crazy thing. 20 and 30, it was meant to be. And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who have been sanctified. So God's word is a gift of grace which he is able to build you about. Let me read the passage and then we pray. The grace of faith, whereby the elect are enabled to believe to the saving of their souls, is the work of the Spirit of Christ in their hearts, and it is ordinarily wrought by the ministry of the word, by which also and by the administration of baptism and the Lord's Supper, prayer and other means appointed of God, it is increased and strengthened. All right, questions, comments? Yes. I want to go back to the beginning and say it's time that it's produced by the ministry of the word. But there's some people who are proficient in knowing the Bible that don't have saving faith. They haven't been given that. And they can even be, some people that I know, but they can be professed as an atheist and know the Bible better than me, for sure. They can quote all kinds of scripture, and they study the Bible word, but they don't have the same faith. There's a difference, right. Right because for the believer For the believer the word always points us to Christ. So there's a difference in knowing the words and knowing the shepherd The sheep know the shepherd Very much so. All right anybody else I hope y'all take this home and study it on your own. This is a really good chapter. I feel confident that we'll all grow in this because as a matter of fact, he just promised we would. We'd grow in our saving faith. Father, thank you for this time we've had together. Please go with us now into the service as we seek to honor you through the preaching of your word, the singing of your word, and the prayer that all of these means of grace that you have given us. to the Lord's table. All of these things you have given us as your body, as your believers, to grow in our faith. So help us to do so. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.