Doctrine of the Past 2 - Faith

The speaker is discussing the importance of faith in the Christian life. They explain that faith is not just believing, but also acting upon the belief. They emphasize that faith is built on the Word of God and not on feelings. They talk about the hope of eternal life and how it is based on trusting in God's promises. The speaker criticizes the idea of seeking a religious experience based on feelings and emphasizes the importance of starting with the facts, then having faith, and finally experiencing the feelings. Amen, thank you for that, and aren't we glad that our Jesus does care. Do you have your Bibles this morning? Turn to Hebrews chapter 6, Hebrews chapter 6. We are in a section of Hebrews where Paul was wanting to get in and explain a lot about the priesthood and how that it existed before the law and all of that, and all of a sudden he comes to the conclusion and realizes that there's a lot of these Jewish Christians that were very immature, and they were proving their immaturity because they wanted to walk away from Christianity and Christ and go back to Judaism. And so he tells them there that he says in verse 12 of chapter 5, for when in a time that you ought to be teachers, you have need that one teach you again, which be the first principles of the oracles of God, and are become such as have need of milk and not strong meat. And so as we go on to this, and he tells us, and he starts in chapter 6 and verse 1, and he says, therefore, leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and faith toward God. And that's where we're going to stop this morning before we go into the other ones. But we've looked at this doctrine of Christ. There is a beginning and there is an end, and there's some very basic things that you and I have to know and understand to live in Christianity. And I hope and pray that these messages, especially these next six, are going to be stuff that you have heard before, stuff that you walk out of here and say, man, I already knew all about that, because if you are, then you're where Paul says you ought to be. The problem is, is I'm kind of convinced that in our day, in our time today, that we have to keep going back and dealing with these things because we really don't know as much as what we think we do. And he begins this ministry of Christ in the past, and he starts with repentance. You cannot get to a relationship with God. You cannot get to God without repentance. God is holy, and that is the message of the entire Gospels. When John the Baptist stepped onto the scene, when Jesus stepped onto the scene, when Peter preached in Acts, when Paul preached in Acts. The first thing that they always said to do is repent. Repent. But repentance is just the start of it. It's just the beginning. The next thing that comes after repentance is faith. And when we think about faith, we look to God for approval. That's why we're repenting, because God is holy and we are not. And so as we look to God for this approval, He says that we should have faith towards God. We look to God believing in Him, trusting in Him, and our entire hope then is based upon this salvation in God and in God alone. But once we place our faith and trust in God, are we to move on beyond faith of just salvation? We are to walk by faith. That passage that I read this morning from Habakkuk 2 and verse 4 is repeated three different times in the New Testament. The just shall live by faith. One time it deals with our justification that we're talking about right now. This act in the past that it is faith that justifies us. Well, how are we justified? By repenting of our sins and believing on Jesus Christ. Repentance, faith toward God, and then what happens? His blood covers us and we are justified before God. The other great place that it is used, the just shall live by faith, is talking about the living aspect of faith. That not only does faith justify us, but faith also sanctifies us. It makes us closer to God. It helps us to follow God, to live for God. And then the third part of that is the just shall live by faith. And it deals with that end, that glorification. All three areas that we see this work of Christ in the past, in the present, and in the future. Justification or redemption, sanctification, and then glorification. This is the process of the Christian's life. And so as we look at this, we understand that faith is the operative word in the Christian life. You cannot talk about Christ and Christianity without using the word faith, because it is the basis of everything. Romans 1 and verse 17 that I quoted just a second ago, for therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith. And then here's where he quotes from Habakkuk 2.4. The just shall live by faith. 2 Corinthians 5.7 says, For we walk by faith, not by sight. If you can see it and you can experience it, it's not faith. But we walk by faith, not by sight. Ephesians 2.8 says, For by grace are you saved through faith, that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. Galatians 2.20 says, I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me. 1 Peter 1.5, Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. Hebrews 11, the chapter on faith. He begins that chapter by saying, Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. And so as we look at this, what exactly is faith? And you may have seen this acronym before. Forgetting all impossibilities and trusting Him. Just taking the word faith. And all impossibilities. In other words, that goes to our hope. That goes to our expectation. And the only way that we can get there is through Jesus Christ. And so when we think about that this morning, James 2.19 says, Thou believest that there is one God, thou doest will. The devils also believe and tremble. And so faith is not just believing. And so it goes deeper than that because we know that the devils believe and they tremble, but they haven't placed faith in Jesus Christ. So what exactly is faith? Faith means to believe the facts and then act upon them. In other words, when you came in, you believed that that pew would hold you up. And so you acted upon that belief and you sat down in the pew. And so that's what faith means. It means to believe the facts and to act upon them. You drop down in Hebrews 11 and verse 6. It says, Without faith it is impossible. It's impossible to please Him. Referring to God. For he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. You see, we see the belief that He is. That's the belief part. And then that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. That's the action part. And so there has to be a belief, and then there has to be an action for it to be faith. And so faith is substantiated in the Word of God. How is it substantiated? Romans 10 and verse 17 says, Then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. In other words, where is our faith built? It's not a blind faith. It's not just something that we hope and that we wish upon or luck or anything like that. But it says faith cometh by hearing of the Word of God. If I read the Bible and I believe the Bible, and I enact my life upon the Bible, then guess what? God begins to prove Himself, and my faith is being built. And so what is this that we hope for? If faith is built completely around hope, what is it that you and I are hoping for? The ultimate goal is eternal life, right? That's what we want. But has any of you been there? Has any of you seen God? Has any of you seen Jesus Christ? Has any of you looked into heaven? And the answer to all of that is no. So what do we do? We believe, we trust God, that Jesus Christ said in John 14, if I go, I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go, I will come again, that where I am, there you may be also. Wow, now that's our hope. Our hope is that Christ right now is building us a place to dwell with Him. And that it's going to be eternal. And Paul writing to Titus says, "...in hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began." See, when we think about it, believing God's Word is the smartest thing that an individual can do in this life. Faith is not based on feelings. And that's one of the problems that we have today because we have a lot of Christians that are chasing feelings. And you may go to church and you may say, you know what? It just didn't feel right today. I didn't really feel God or I didn't feel close to Him or I didn't feel like He spoke to me. Well, guess what? Some days, faith has nothing to do with feelings. It has to do with the fact of the Scripture. Faith is not based upon feelings. And so we have so many people today that don't feel saved. Or they feel saved. And therefore, what do we do? Because we don't feel saved, we seek a religious experience. We want to feel something. We want to feel the Spirit. We want to feel God. And we have this contemporary worship movement that is going across and sweeping our nation today because people want to experience eternity. It is a hope. It is out there. But I want to be able to experience it now. I want to be able to understand. And this is a tangible feeling. It's not intangible. In other words, heaven is something that we can't touch or experience because we're all tarnished by sin, right? We're all tarnished by pain and suffering because of the effects of sin. And so therefore, there's no way that we can ever begin to explain or touch or feel what heaven is like. So therefore, it's a hope. It's a hope. And we read about the Bible or the promises that God gives us. And so God's way of salvation and the Christian life has always been fact, faith, and feelings. Fact, faith, and feelings. It's not this blind faith. It starts with facts. And then when you have the facts, you act upon them facts. That's faith. And when you act upon it with faith, then guess what? Then you get the feelings. We want to reverse it in Christianity today. We want the feelings, and if it feels right, then I will have faith and then I will believe it. But that's not faith. And so we have it totally backwards in our society and our culture today. Look at Acts 8. I've got it there on the screen. This is Philip preaching to the Ethiopian eunuch out there. He said, Then Philip opened his mouth and began at the same Scripture and preached unto him Jesus. Now the words in red I've added because that is the fact. Where did he get it? This Ethiopian eunuch was out. He had just been to Jerusalem. He had just experienced Passover and everything. He's now out in the wilderness and he's looking over all of this stuff. All of these Jewish men, all of these Gentiles that now have converted to Judaism, all of these men over the age of 20 had just went to Jerusalem. And he's leaving Jerusalem. He's like, why in the world would so many people be coming to Jerusalem? And so if we want to understand a Jew, what do we need to do? We need to get in the Bible, right? And so he's reading. He just so happened to be reading in Isaiah. And it says, Philip began at the same Scripture and did what? Preached unto him Jesus Christ. See, the Scripture that you're reading way back yonder is a prophecy of what we are experiencing today. It's a fact. And then look what it says. It says, And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water, and the eunuch said, See, here's water. What doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest with thy heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Based on the fact of Scripture, based on the fact of the explanation of Philip to the Ethiopian eunuch, he now has faith. I believe. I understand what you are telling me and I want to accept it. And obviously, Philip had explained enough to him and he had seen enough in Jerusalem, which is what we're going to talk about next week with all of these washings and immersions and everything else that was going on in the city of Jerusalem at that time. He says, you know what? If I'm going to identify with Jesus Christ, if I'm going to identify with Him, then there has to be an immersion that takes place. And here is water. You remember, where did he get this idea? John the Baptist started preaching what? Repent and do what? Be baptized. Be immersed. And so he explained to him enough that he understood the facts and he acted upon faith. Now watch this, because this is pretty cool in verse 35. And he commanded the chariot to stand still and they went down both in the water, both Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord called away Philip that the eunuch saw him no more. But look at what happens. And that's a whole different thing. Can you imagine coming up out of the water and the one that's immersing you is gone? But look at what the eunuch does. And he went on his way rejoicing. That's a feeling. See, he took his fact which made it faith, therefore he rejoiced. See, we've got it backwards. We want to come to church and we want to create the feeling. We want to get people rejoicing and singing and get involved in the service and everything in order that they might have faith so that they will believe the Word of God. And we've got it totally messed up. And we wonder what's happened. And Paul said, man, when some of you need to be teachers, you still have a desire that someone needs to teach you. Because we've got this thing messed up. We've got this thing out of order. So what is faith? What is faith? Faith is simply believing God's Word and acting upon it. My favorite song that we sing that's based on this is Trust and Obey, for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus but to what? Trust and obey. In other words, I believe it, but I believe it is so factual to me that I am going to do it. And when I do it, guess what? Then all of the feelings of joy and everything else come. You remember reading the book of Philippians? Where's Paul writing that? From a cold dungeon prison. And over and over in there, he says what? Rejoice. Rejoice in the Lord. I say again, rejoice. Joy, joy, joy. Where did Paul get these feelings? These feelings wasn't based on the reality of where he was because he was in prison. He was facing death. But here he was and what did he say? He said, but the fact is, is that I have obeyed God. I have believed God. I have followed Jesus Christ. And I know what's going to happen if I do die. And so the feelings came based upon the fact in his faith. So now let's go back to Hebrews 11. Because so many times when you ask for a definition of faith, that's what this is the verse that people give you. I want you to understand this is not a definition of faith. This is a description of faith. There's a difference between a description and a definition. A lot of our modern dictionaries today do not give definitions. They give descriptions. And there's a difference. When they use the same word that they're trying to define in the definition, it's probably a description and not a definition. But look at what he says. Now, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. And then we're going to skip verse 2 and look at verse 3. Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. He gives us a description of faith. And then in verse 3, he gives us an illustration of faith. In other words, what does it mean to hope for things that you have not actually seen? Well, guess what? How many of you was there at creation? Right? I didn't see how it was made. I don't understand all of that. All I know is in my Bible it says, God said, let there be light and light was. And the evening and the morning was the first day. And then the second day He did and He did. And so what do I do? I can look around at this earth. I can see this earth. I can touch this earth. I have all of the feelings of this earth, right? I can feel the beautiful weather. I can feel the cold. I can feel the sunshine. I can feel everything that is there. But guess what? I know it hasn't evolved. I know it didn't come about because of our use or misuse of it. There had to be a Creator. There had to be someone. When you look up at the stars of the sky, Job said the stars declare that there's a Creator. And so see, I don't know, but I accept Genesis 1 when it said God said and it was. Therefore, I put my faith in it. I haven't seen it, but I believe it. Therefore, guess what? My hope begins if God created this earth and God loved you and I enough in this earth to die for us because of our sins, then guess what? I have to believe that He's coming again. That where He is, I shall be also. And that's where we go through this process with the repentance, faith toward God, baptisms, laying on of hands, and then what does He get to? We're going to stand before Him at the judgment. There's going to be judgment for the lost and there's going to be judgment for the saved. It doesn't matter if you're saved or lost, you're still going to stand before Him. And so when we have the fact and we act in faith, then the feelings come because I know what Jesus Christ says. I live differently and I feel differently when I'm not obedient because guess what? I'm going to stand before Him at the judgment seat of Christ. To be absent from this body is to be present with the Lord. It is appointed unto man once to die and after guess what? The judgment. And so that's what we're going to be looking at over the next several weeks. And like I said, I hope and pray that this is all very simple to you today because no man was present when God created this earth 6,000 years ago. But we believe and we know that there has to be a Creator. Paul writing to the church at Galatia said this in chapter 3. He said, O foolish Galatians! Now what is a fool? The Bible says a fool has said in his heart there is no God. And so notice the word that Paul uses to the church at Galatia. O foolish Galatians! Who hath bewitched you? Sorcery! That you should not obey the truth. And then notice this phrase, Before whose eyes Jesus Christ has been evidently set forth, crucified among you. This is a rebuke here. Because why? They are living on our side of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. See, all of them people before you, remember when Thomas said, unless I touch the nail scars, unless I put my hand in the side, and what did Jesus say? Blessed are you that get to see Me, but blessed even more those that have never seen Me that still believe. That had enough faith to believe in the reality that they produced the fillings. And so that's what he's doing. He's rebuking them. You are without God. You have said there is no God. There is no resurrection. But guess what? You are living this side of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ which is a known fact. Some of you that he's writing there in Galatians were there. Some of you saw this. Some of you got this firsthand knowledge because you are the ones that crucified Him. But what happened between seeing the reality and now? It allowed Satan to come in. Remember Ephesians 6? We don't fight against flesh and blood. We fight against what? Spiritual principalities. Things in the air. And so notice what he says in John 20, 29. Jesus saith unto him, Promise, because thou hast seen Me, thou hast believed, blessed are they that have not seen and yet have believed. See, when the crucifixion took place, they wasn't sure. We're not positive because why? He's dead. But on the third day when He rose from the dead, and that's why it was so very important for the scribes and the Pharisees to do what? Set a guard there at that tomb because if He is really God, then guess what? He said He was going to go. And we don't believe He is God. That's why we crucified Him so His disciples, His followers are probably going to come and get His body so that they can prove that He was God. But you remember what happened? It wasn't His disciples that came. It was the angel that came and struck the guards down and opened up the tomb. And it talks about all of these witnesses of Jesus Christ. See, our hope, because of that crucifixion, the historical documents, so many of them outside of the Bible that proved that there was a Jesus from Nazareth that was crucified that did not stay in the grave. Hundreds of thousands and millions of people go to Jerusalem every year to look at an empty tomb knowing before they ever get there that guess what? He's not going to be there. What is our hope? Our hope is Revelation 21. What's Revelation 21? We believe in a new Jerusalem. We believe in a time when Jesus Christ is going to wipe away all of the tears and get rid of all of the pain and the suffering. Why do we believe that? Why do we believe that? Why do we believe in eternity? Because it's in the Bible. Because it's in the Bible. And guess what? Everything that Jesus Christ and God has promised in the Bible has happened. And so we have all of these facts that we're not just believing something crazy that the future is going to happen or whatever. We're basing it because of the faith and the reality of what Jesus Christ has already done. So look at Hebrews 11 and verse 6 now. Now that we understand this description of faith, we understand this illustration of faith. Now look at verse 6. Without faith, it is impossible to please Him. For he that cometh to God must believe the facts, what you've read, what you've heard about God. You have to believe that He is, that He exists, that He created the world, that He became flesh and put on flesh and was a perfect life and lived amongst us, but never once did He sin and He died in our place. See, that's what you're believing. Everything in the Bible about Jesus Christ. You've read it. Do you accept it? And, this has to be tied to it, that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. When Jesus Christ said, I am the way, the truth, and the life, no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me. Where do you stand? Do you believe that Jesus is who He said He is? Do you believe it enough that you're going to trust Him? To obey Him? And what did Jesus Christ say? I came to give you life and life more abundantly. If you believe there's an all-powerful, all-present, all-knowing, all-wise God who is the Creator of this beautiful universe, then you will have no problem believing anything that Jesus Christ says. You'll accept it. And you'll act upon it. And guess what? God will reward you because of it. James 2, verse 19. Thou believest that there is one God? You do well. That's great. The devils also believed Satan was there. Satan was created by Him. He believes in God. He believes in Jesus Christ. But what happens? You see in that comma there, if they believed in God, what should they have done? They should have repented. But what? Did Satan repent? No, he said I will sit on your throne. I will be God. And so therefore, guess what? When Jesus Christ said, it is finished and came forth out of the grave, Satan knew immediately, guess what? It is over with. And he trembles because he's read Revelation also. And he knows in Revelation 20 before chapter 21 can get there, that Satan and all of hell is cast into the lake of fire, which is the second death. He knows his destination. He knows his eternity. And guess what? He knows the fact that God is real. He knows what the Word of God says. And so that feeling of the reality of what's going to come to him, it says he trembles. Can you imagine being so scared and believing so much that you tremble? But look at what he says. But wilt thou know, O vain men, without faith what works is dead. It doesn't matter what you delude. Believing is not enough. Even acting upon that is not enough. You've got to have faith. You've got to have putting in him. So how do we accomplish saving faith? How do we accomplish this? How do we get to this point in our life? Saving faith is an appropriation of the work of Jesus Christ. Number one, there has to be knowledge. There has to be knowledge. Romans 10 and verse 14, How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? In other words, what does all of that have to do with? Knowledge. There has to be a knowledge of God. There has to be a knowledge of Jesus Christ. Whose responsibility is it to give people the knowledge? We're the preacher, aren't we? He said in Matthew 28, to go into all the world and do what? Preach the Gospel. Make disciples. Preach the Gospel. Baptizing them. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever. I command you. See, it's our responsibility. You drop down to verse 17 and look, He says, So then faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. We accomplish saving faith. First of all, there has to be a knowledge. Here in a month or so, the Gideons are going to come back and share. We have cards out in the front of the auditorium on both sides that you can donate Bibles in their name. That is the very basic of Christianity. Because guess what? When people go discouraged, defeated and down, where do the Gideons put most of their Bibles? In motel rooms. In hospital rooms. In prisons. To those that are needing and hurting. Why? They know that their life is not what it ought to be. And so they're looking for answers. They're looking for hope. And so how many testimonies have I heard over 40 years of people that picked up a Bible and what did they do? They started reading. And as they read, guess what? Reading gives us knowledge. They started to see a reality. And so notice what he says in 2 Peter 2 and verse 21, For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, that after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. In other words, don't even share the Gospel if you're not going to help them get to Jesus Christ. It would be better not to hear the Gospel. Do you realize how many people that sit in church services every single Sunday are going to stand before God and God's going to look at them and say, I do not know you, you workers of iniquity. He said, them guys. Them people. It would have been better off for them to never have came to church or anything else. But once you've heard, once you know the facts, then there has to be a response. And so the knowing comes through the Word of God. Step two is belief. Step two is belief. You have to acknowledge the truth of God's Word. And Simon Peter answered in Matthew 6, 16 and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. What were they doing? Many say that you're Elijah. Some say you're John the Baptist. Some say you're Jeremiah. Jesus said, I don't care what other people say or what other people talk about. Who do you think that I am? And then Peter declares Him as being the Christ, the Son of the living God. In Mark 12, verse 28, he said, One of the scribes came and having heard them reasoning together, reasoning together. You remember, that's the same word that I've been sharing with you, the apologia, where it says be prepared in Peter to give a defense of the hope that is in you. Why are you living as a Christian? Because of eternal life. I'm not living for today. I'm living for tomorrow. Today, Jesus Christ said, is going to take care of itself. What's going to happen is going to happen. You can prepare all you want to for the weather this week. You can prepare financially for any type of breakdown or anything else, but guess what? Today is going to take care of today. I'm not living for today. I'm living for tomorrow because of what God has promised me. And so this scribe heard them reasoning together, and then see, here's this perceiving. Here's this belief. Reasoning together is knowledge. Therefore, he perceived that he had answered them well and asked him, which is the first commandment of all? And Jesus answered him, the first of all the commandments is hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord. There's only one God and there's only one boss. That's the upper of all of it. And he says if there's only one God and there's only one boss, then here's the result of that. You need to love the Lord with all thy God, with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy mind, with all thy strength. This is the first commandment. And the second is like namely this, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is no other commandment greater than these. And the scribe said unto him, well, master, thou hast said the truth, for there is one God and there is none other but He. And to love Him with all the heart and with all the understanding, with all the soul, with all the strength, and to love His neighbor as Himself is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. He's getting somewhere. And Jesus saw that He answered discreetly. Because if you go back there, you say how did He answer discreetly? Well, what did He tell them back there? Let's go back here and look at this right quick. He said thou shalt love thy God. Look at verse 30. With all your heart and with all your soul. Thy God. You see that thy? And how did the scribe reply? And the scribe said unto him, thou hast said the truth, for there is one God and there is no other but He. Do you see the discrepancy that's there? He wasn't willing to make them His God. He wasn't willing to make them His God. And so look what happened. He said He's more important than burnt offerings and sacrifices. And when Jesus saw that He answered discreetly, He said unto him, thou art not far from the kingdom of God. You have got all of the facts. You've got the knowledge. You've even got the belief. You believe in God. But He says you're lacking something. You're lacking something. So see, He still hasn't reached faith. He has a knowledge and He has a belief. And so what's the third step to saving faith? There has to be conviction. See, it wasn't His God. It wasn't His deal. And so Luke 18 and verse 23, He goes back and He says, and when He heard this, look what He says, He was very sorrowful for He was very rich. See, if He's my God, then I have to trust Him for everything, right? And He's not my God. I'm my God. I trust Me. I've got the finances. I've got everything I need to make it through this life. And so there wasn't any conviction. There wasn't any conviction. He goes on there in verse 24, and when Jesus saw that He was very sorrowful, He said, how hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God. And look at what He says. He says, for it is easier for a camel to go through the needle's eye than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. And they that heard it said, who then can be saved? See, we want to get all caught up in this. We don't want to get all caught up on this camel going through a needle, right? And we want to get all caught up in the illustrations, but the important thing is everyone that just heard what Jesus Christ said to this guy now says, you know what? We know there's a God. We believe God. And if we know and we believe, and this guy can't be saved, then who can be saved? Who can be saved? Acts 24 and verse 25, Paul with Felix and Agrippa, as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled and answered, go thy way for this time. When I have, look at this, when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee. I'm not convicted by this right now. I believe you. You've laid out the facts good, but I'm not ready to be convinced. I'm not ready to go all in. I'm not ready to do. So the step four is appropriation. Appropriation. What do we mean by appropriation? Knowledge affirms the facts. In other words, how many of you have looked at Facebook or the internet? I said Facebook, which is going to be a great example, but we'll go with the internet. How many of you read all kinds of stuff on Facebook and the internet? Does that make it true? Does that make it true? No. What determines the truth of it? The knowledge. Continuing to study it out. To look at other sources. Knowledge affirms the facts. If someone says on there that it's ok to put gasoline in a diesel truck, then guess what? I'm going to believe it. Because why? I don't know any better. But those of you that drive a diesel or a mechanic, guess what? Preacher, you better not do that. Why? Because they have knowledge. It won't work. It won't run. It won't operate. So knowledge affirms the facts. Belief accepts the facts. When we know it and we understand, see, a mechanic is not going to accept dumb rationale as facts when they know the truth. And so belief accepts the facts. Conviction agrees with the facts. That's where the rich man went astray. He didn't believe in the facts. He accepted them, but he didn't agree with them. It was good for everybody else, but not him because he had a lot of money. And then appropriation acts with surrender to the facts. Paul writing to Timothy in 2 Timothy 1-12 says, For the rich cause I also suffer these things. The cause. The fillings. Nevertheless, I am not ashamed, for I know the fact whom I have believed the faith and I am persuaded the filling and the result that he is able to keep that which I have committed until him against that day. The fact produced faith produced the filling. Paul was persuaded. That nothing could separate him from the love of God. So why is faith important? Why is faith important? Do you realize faith is the only way to please God? It is impossible to please Him without faith. In Hebrews 11, verse 6, we read that a while ago. Back in Hebrews 4, it says, For unto us was the gospel preached as well as unto them, but the word preached did not profit them. It did not profit them. Not being mixed with what? Faith in them that heard it. See, you can read your Bible all day long and you can believe that this is the Word of God, but if you don't act upon it, faith has not been triggered. Faith has not happened. Not only is faith the only way to please God, faith is the only way to be saved. John 3.36, He that believeth on the Son believe acts hath everlasting life. He that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abided on him. Ephesians 2.8-9, For by grace are you saved through what? Faith. Faith. Grace is a gift. Faith is the reaction to that gift. I believe it's mine, so I'm going to take it. As long as you leave that gift sitting under the tree, or when they hand it to you and say, this is for you, if you don't take it, if you don't say, no, I don't believe you, I don't trust you, I'm just going to leave that over here until I can prove it, right? Or I'll come open it when there's a convenient time, like Felix, right? No, faith says, okay, it's mine. You said it was mine. You handed it to me. I'm going to open it. And when I open it, I'm going to enjoy it. I'm going to use it. I'm going to do something with it. It's not of yourselves it is a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. Faith is the only way to victory. 1 John 5, verse 4, For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world, and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. 1 Peter 5, verse 9, Whom resist steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. See, the same things that are going to happen to lost people are going to happen to Christians. Guess what? Cancer is not going to not happen because you're a Christian. Your air conditioner going out is not going to happen because you're a Christian. Your radiator blowing up is not going to happen because you're a Christian. It's going to happen on both of them. But see, the difference is my perspective. My faith. See, all things work together for good to them who are called according to His what? His purpose. And so when bad things happen to Christians, guess what? My faith jumps in there. And I know what the future is. I know what the future holds. And I know that God loved me in the past. God was good to me in the past. God loves me in the present. He's good to me in the present. So whatever happens to me in the present is going to work itself out for the betterment and for eternal life in the future. See, that's where your faith comes in. The question that you have to ask yourselves is will you humbly receive this gift of salvation? See, Jesus Christ says, behold, I stand at the door and knock. Do you realize when someone is knocking on your door, there's a couple of questions and answers of steps of faith that you have to go through before you open the door? What's the first thing you do when you hear somebody knock on the door? Who is it? Who is it, right? Who's knocking on my door? Jesus Christ said, behold, I stand at the door and knock. But then He said you have to do what? You have to let them in. You have to believe that that really is who they say they are, right? Just because Parker knocks on the door and says, Papa, I want to come in. Well, who are you? Parker. I'm not just going to take His Word on it, am I? I'm going to listen for His voice. I'm going to look out the hole, right? Make sure it's Him. And then what? When I've proved and have the knowledge that it's Him, then I open up the door. Jesus said, behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man will open the door, I will come in and I will suffer with him because where he is, I will be there also. Do you believe it? Do you believe it? Do you have enough faith to appropriate it? Do you have enough faith to humbly open the door and receive the gift of salvation? Do you humbly have as a Christian? You say, man, I've been saved. Are you humbly receiving the gift of life that He's given you today by faith? Knowing that this world is not the end? This is only the beginning. James said this life is but a vapor. It's here today and gone tomorrow. But man, don't it seem like it goes for an eternity sometimes, right? I know some of you in here today has had one kind of a week this week. There's been ups and downs and excitement and disappointment and it's just been a roller coaster ride this week. What gets us through it? Knowing that the roller coaster ends with Jesus Christ. The ride will stop. That the turns and upside down and flipping your life crazy is going to end. Because where He is, there we may be also. And I don't know what this roller coaster... You can't see around the turns. You can't see. You've just got to experience it while you're on the ride. But know that at the end of the day, there's an end to the ride. And to be absent from this body is to be present with the Lord. And so we don't focus on necessarily the ride. We focus on the end. You ever been on a roller coaster? You ever been scared to death? If this thing just gets the end, I will not get on another one, right? Because now I know what's going to happen. But guess what? God has placed us in this ride. And some people really love the roller coasters. Some people can't stand them. But guess what? At the end of the day, we all love to either watch somebody on the ride or we like to experience the ride. Because we know at the end, you're most likely going to get off and live another day. And Christ has eternity. And so the first thing is repent. Repent. Repent. But once you've repented, that's great. But now you've got to believe God and have faith toward God in order to go forward. As we stand and have a verse of invitation this morning, are you anticipating the joining of Jesus Christ in eternity? Are you looking forward to it? Man, I am. I can't wait. Paul said I'm in a problem here. I'm in a strife between two deals. Wanting to be with Jesus Christ, but being necessary for you because why? Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. As long as I'm here, I need to be sharing the Gospel with other people because they have to have that knowledge before they can have belief and before they can have conviction and before they can appropriate. And that's my responsibility. And so man, I want to be with God, but I'm not there yet. And so I'm here. So I've got to do what I'm supposed to do here so that I'll be prepared when I get there to hear Jesus Christ say, well done, that good and faithful servant, enter in. As we sing, walk in.