Faith that is Alive

[0:00] James 2 verse 20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?

[0:17] ! Faith without works is dead. I want to talk about faith. Faith. A living faith. A faith that is alive. A faith that is a saving faith.

[0:31] We want to be a strong church, a church of faith. A church of faithful. With a faith that's evident, that's alive, that's active. That's outworked in the day by day of every day.

[0:43] Faith is essential. The word of God speaks of faith. From cover to cover. Faith. By faith. The men and women of God were known for faith.

[0:57] Faith. It's essential. Do we have faith? Do we have faith? You know, the Lord says, if we have faith as a grain of mustard seed, we shall move mountains.

[1:08] Just that little speck of faith can do wonders. The word of God says much about faith.

[1:18] It says, of a time when many shall depart from the faith. In 1 Timothy 4 verse 1. In the latter times, some shall depart from the faith.

[1:30] Giving him to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. Faith. Our Lord says, will he find faith when he comes? It's essential.

[1:41] Faith without works is dead. Faith must be living. It must be alive. It must be evident. How do we get such faith? How do we know such faith? By the gospel.

[1:52] The gospel, the good news of salvation. In Romans 10 verse 17 it says, So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

[2:04] Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. We need to open our ears to the word of God. And faith is then mixed with the word.

[2:14] As we read in Hebrews 4 verse 2, The gospel was preached unto them, But the word preached did not profit them, Not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. We can hear it and miss it without faith.

[2:29] The word has to be mixed with faith in those who hear it. Faith. It means believing him. It means trusting him. Trust him.

[2:40] Trust him. When dark clouds assail thee. Trust him. When thy strength is small. Trust him. When to simply trust him seems the hardest thing of all.

[2:50] Trust him. He is ever faithful. Trust him. For his will is best. Trust him. For the heart of Jesus is the only place of rest.

[3:02] Trust him. Trust him today. Trust him. Only trust him now. Trust him. Faith. Faith is like a fountain from which many blessings spring.

[3:15] We see in Hebrews 11. Hebrews 11 tells us of the men and women of faith. And the common recurring phrase is, by faith. By faith. By faith.

[3:26] Hebrews 11. Read it for your homework today. By faith. And some of the things that we get by faith. It's astounding what comes by faith.

[3:38] Consider salvation by faith. Salvation is by faith. It's not of works lest any man should boast. Not of any of our own works of righteousness that we have done.

[3:52] But according to his mercy he saved us. Salvation is by faith. It's a fundamental doctrine. In 1 Peter 1 verse 9 it says, Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.

[4:06] The end of your faith is the salvation of your soul. It's that which your faith is heading to. It is the salvation of your soul.

[4:17] In Ephesians 3 verse 17 it says, That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith. It's faith. Faith alone. Faith plus nothing.

[4:28] Faith in his doing. And his dying alone. That is the only faith that can save you. There's many well-meaning people with faith.

[4:40] There's faith in all kinds of religious systems and religious philosophies. And ideals and holy books and so-called prophets and prophetesses. But God has given us the more sure word of prophecy.

[4:54] And it's the gospel. It's the good news. And it's faith. Salvation is by faith. By faith alone in Christ. And it's by faith that Christ can dwell in hearts such as yours and mine.

[5:06] It's by faith. Believe and be saved. Trust him. Salvation comes to the believing heart. Christ comes to the believing heart.

[5:18] It's a miracle. It's a miracle. And it's a miracle God is still doing in lives today. And faith happens as we come to the end of ourselves. When we realise there's nothing of our own doing that can do anything.

[5:35] To save or to keep us. It's nothing of our own. If we think such things, then it's not salvation. It's not Bible salvation. If we think it's faith plus, faith plus baptism.

[5:48] Faith plus whatever doctrines man wants to add to it. It's wrong. And it's not faith. It's not salvation. Bible salvation is by faith.

[5:59] It's trusting him. Like George Mueller said, faith does not operate in the realm of the possible. There is no glory for God in that which is humanly possible.

[6:10] Faith begins where man's power ends. Faith begins where man's power ends. So it's salvation by faith. It's righteousness by faith.

[6:21] Righteousness by faith. As we read, all our righteousnesses, our righteousnesses, are as filthy rags. In Romans 4 verse 5 it says, But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.

[6:41] Isn't that good news tonight? It's good news tonight that our faith is counted for righteousness. As it was through the records of scripture. The context is of Abraham there in Romans 4.

[6:55] Romans 3.22 it says, Even the righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all, and upon all them that believe. The righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ.

[7:10] It's not just faith in any old thing. It's faith by Jesus Christ. It's faith in the Saviour of the world. Faith in the crucified, risen and ascended and ever-living Saviour.

[7:28] Not in some dead prophet. It's faith in Christ and Christ alone. Faith in Christ's work alone. And our faith is counted as righteousness.

[7:39] You know, that's good news for you here today. It's good news for me. It's not by any virtue or doing of our own. Our right standing has been accomplished by him.

[7:50] It's our righteousness is by virtue of our right standing with God through Christ. Our right relationship with God that he has made possible.

[8:01] And he still makes possible. God himself is the source of all true righteousness. If we even try to claim to any righteousness of our own, we miss the boat.

[8:14] And we miss the point. Friends, tonight, our faith is counted as righteousness. And one of his names is the Lord our righteousness.

[8:25] It's his name. One of his names, the Lord our righteousness. Christ is your righteousness. Get a hold of that tonight. That's a transforming truth, isn't it?

[8:36] That's a blessed revelation. And we exchange our guilt for his righteousness. Our guilt is exchanged. It's exchanged.

[8:46] It's handed over. It's in return for our unrighteousness. We get his righteousness. It's a wonderful exchange.

[8:57] What a bargain. You know, if you were to think how you could realize such a wonderful state of being, of being righteous, it's by handing over your unrighteousness into his nail-pierced hand.

[9:13] It's by faith, your righteousness. The righteousness which is of faith is of faith alone, without the deeds of the law. And John Bunyan says this, Indeed, this is one of the greatest mysteries in the world.

[9:28] Namely, that a righteousness that resides with a person in heaven should justify me, a sinner on earth. That the righteousness which is in Christ, who is Christ, can dwell in a person such as me.

[9:45] And Isaiah 61 verse 10, it says, I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul, shall be joyful in my God. For he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation.

[9:57] He hath covered me with the robe of righteousness. As a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with jewels.

[10:08] You know, what a picture. You know, weddings and weddings and bridegrooms and brides, they adorn themselves, they deck themselves, they clothe themselves. We're clothed with something more brilliant, more glorious, more amazing, more beautiful.

[10:24] The very righteousness of our God and Saviour, Jesus Christ. And you are the righteousness of God in Christ. He has made sin for us.

[10:36] Made sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. Righteousness by faith. It's amazing.

[10:47] It's wonderful. It's beautiful. It's wonderful. It's beautiful. And it's possible. Even now. And we see salvation by faith. We see righteousness by faith. We see sanctification is by faith.

[11:00] In other words, being made holy. Sanctification is the holiness of God. It says in Acts 26 verse 18, Our Lord speaks to Paul. Our Lord speaks to Paul. And he talks of how he sent to those who will be sanctified by faith.

[11:14] That is in me. Sanctified by faith. That is in Christ. Salvation by faith. Righteousness by faith. Sanctification or holiness by faith.

[11:25] Justification is by faith. In Romans 5, it says, It's therefore being justified by faith. We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

[11:36] You are justified by faith. There's a justification. It's got the sense of that you are declared just in his sight. That you are declared not guilty by virtue of his decree.

[11:51] You are declared made just by virtue of his word. Or by virtue of his verdict. He strikes the gavel.

[12:02] And he says, You're not guilty. Because my son took your guilt. You are declared just by faith.

[12:14] God justifies the ungodly. That's a precious truth. As someone put it, Justification is a work of God by which he declares a person to be righteous.

[12:24] That is right with him by grace alone. Through faith alone. In the shed blood and resurrection of Christ alone. The meaning of justification is a legal word having reference to trial and judgment.

[12:37] Justification is a verdict of the court. Declaring or pronouncing a person to be righteous. In the case of God's verdict, He declares the believing sinner to be righteous.

[12:49] Because the sinner's representative is righteous. Christ stands in the accused position, as it were. And says, I will stand in this person's place.

[13:02] And he declares a righteous verdict. When the sinner claims the righteousness of God as his own and presents it before the judge, it acknowledges the debt has already been paid.

[13:19] And the sinner is set right before the law. Justification. It's God's verdict upon the sinner. I'll quote here.

[13:29] It's a forensic declaratory act. It's not based on the holiness of the one who believes, but on the holiness of him in whom the one believes.

[13:40] This point is crucial. In this matter of our acceptance with God, we are not to be anxious about what God thinks of us, but about what God thinks of Christ, our substitute.

[13:54] Justification pertains to what God does for us, not what he does in us. By faith, salvation, righteousness, justification, and access is by faith.

[14:06] Friends, you're not only saved, you're not only justified, you're not only declared righteous, you're not only declared sanctified, made holy, you have access by faith.

[14:18] Access by faith. There's no heavy curtain that only a select number can enter. There's not many barriers or many rituals or many doings of your own.

[14:31] Really none. Other than trusting him. And by whom also we have access by faith. Into this grace wherein we stand and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

[14:43] We have access by Christ. And in Ephesians 3.12 it says, In whom? In Christ we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.

[14:55] By faith the door swings wide open into the very mercies of God, into the very holiest of holies, into the very throne room, into the very intimate place with your Father, your Heavenly Father.

[15:08] He swings the door wide open for communion with him. And you can boldly enter in, boldly enter in by faith, boldly enter in to the very dwelling place of his glory.

[15:19] It's by faith. Faith. Faith. Faith. Faith. Faith alone. It ushers you into the very presence of God. And so friends, think of it.

[15:31] You that are saved, justified, made righteous, declared holy, given access. Live by faith. Live by faith.

[15:42] Let faith live in you. Live by the faith. Galatians 2.20 I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. Yet, not I, but Christ liveth in me.

[15:58] 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. I live by the faith of the Son of God.

[16:11] No longer I, but Christ liveth in me. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.

[16:24] Colossians 3.3 Life. Life more abundant. Life. Life with a capital L. Life everlasting. Life. Eternal life.

[16:37] God's kind of life. It's by faith. The just shall live by faith. What's the turning point of the dark ages? When people saw that glimmer of truth in all the darkness of the day.

[16:51] The just shall live by faith. We live by faith. And friends, think of it. If you're saved, if you're sanctified, if you declare righteous, if you're made his, if you're given access, if you're living by faith, what can stop you?

[17:07] What can stop you? What can hinder you? 1 Peter 1.7 By faith we can go through trials. 1 Peter 1.7 says that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.

[17:28] The trying of your faith. The trial of your faith. Faith can help you through the trial. Faith will see you through the fire, through the test. George Mueller again says, God delights to increase the faith of his children.

[17:42] I say and say it deliberately, trials, difficulties, and sometimes defeat are the very food of faith. Trials, difficulties, and sometimes defeat are the very food of faith.

[18:03] We should take them out of his hands as evidences of his love and care for us in developing more and more that faith which he is seeking to strengthen in us.

[18:16] End of quote. He's wanting to develop your faith. He's wanting your faith to be strengthened, to be purified, to be as gold. It must go through the trial.

[18:27] Brother, it must. You must go through the trial. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivereth him out of them all. Psalm 34, 19.

[18:39] You'll find his peace there. You'll find his person there as it was in the fiery furnace. He will be there walking with you. You can find a refuge there in his presence.

[18:50] Psalm 9, verse 9. It says, The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed. If you're feeling oppressed, the Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed.

[19:04] A refuge in time of trouble. Claim that. Psalm 9, verse 9. The Lord will be a refuge for you in that time of trouble.

[19:16] No matter what Paul faced, he didn't lose sight of victory. He says in 2 Corinthians 4, We're troubled on every side, yet not distressed.

[19:27] We're perplexed, but not in despair. Persecuted, but not forsaken. Cast down, but not destroyed. His life and ministry was a test of many trials, many times of hardship, of loss, of discouragement.

[19:44] But his attitude was constant. It was faith, by faith, by faith. Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord, Jesus Christ.

[19:55] By faith we can go through the trial. Through whatever it be, sickness, hardship, loss, discouragement, woundings, hurtings.

[20:07] The Lord will be a refuge for the oppressed. The Lord delivereth him out of them all. By faith we can go through the trial. By faith we can fight.

[20:18] 1 Timothy 6, 12, it says, Fight the good fight of faith. Lay hold on eternal life, where unto thou art also called, and has professed a good profession before many witnesses.

[20:28] Fight the good fight of faith. Faith will go through the battles. Faith will hold fast in that time of battlefield, in that time of combat.

[20:41] Faith will battle on and know God's overcoming power. Faith will hold the shield in front of you. Faith will be the shield to help and to guide and protect you.

[20:52] And by faith you can gain the victory, it says, For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world, and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.

[21:02] Amen. Even our faith. This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. By faith we have victory. By faith you have it. You have it.

[21:13] Now, present tense. We have the victory. This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. How can I overcome sin?

[21:23] By faith. How can I overcome these testings? How can I endure these troubles? By faith you can. By faith you can. By faith you can. How can I live the victorious Christian life?

[21:36] By faith you can. There may be yet times of failure. Yet you can continually draw on our Lord for strength. You can face those times of temptations, those times of conflict, knowing God's strength is in you.

[21:51] He is with you. He is for you. He is behind you. He is before you. He is within you. It's faith. Victory. By faith.

[22:03] It's the joy of the Lord that is your strength. It's that inner confidence that overcomes discouragement and doubt and unbelief.

[22:13] It's that confidence we have in Him. It's placed in Him. It's believing in Him. It's trusting in Him. Friends, we've seen by faith salvation.

[22:24] By faith it's sanctification. By faith we're made holy. We're made righteous. By faith we have that access. We don't have to put some pin number in or have some special card or know some special handshake.

[22:40] It's by faith we have the access into the very secret place. Into the very holiest of holy places. Into the very select and incredibly awesome, privileged place to be.

[22:56] To come into the very presence of God Almighty. And not just as some stranger but as his very son, as his very daughter. Saved by faith.

[23:09] You've got trials to face you can face them by faith. You've got battles to wage you can battle by faith. And you've got victories to win. And victories can be won by faith.

[23:23] Friends, to close there's one especially important truth that you need to consider tonight.

[23:34] It's faith in Christ. If you don't have it, you're lost. If you don't have faith in Christ, you're lost. And you're in certainly a place I wouldn't want to be in.

[23:47] Because the direction is downward and hellwards. And friends, it's a slippery slope. We don't know when God's time will tick to the final moment of your life, of that opportunity to trust Him.

[24:04] It says in Hebrews 11, 6, But without faith, it is impossible to please God. For he that cometh to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.

[24:17] Without faith, it's impossible to please God. There's absolutely nothing you can do. You can be the greatest, you can be the Nobel Peace Prize winner or you might be the world citizen of the year or have your name in lights or your name in the paper or on the media and everyone thinks you're a good guy or a good lady and be lost as hell.

[24:43] Without Christ, without faith, it's impossible to please Him. You can give everything you own to the poor and die a death of a martyr and without faith, it's impossible to please Him.

[24:57] Your only hope, your only chance, your only claim must be faith. It must be faith in Christ, in Christ alone, faith alone and grace alone.

[25:08] It's His Christ dying on the cross for your sin alone that can be your claim. Without that, you're lost.

[25:19] And friends, it's impossible to please God. But thank God, faith pleases God. It pleased God when He saw faith. Whereas we read through Hebrews 11, God saw the faith and He was pleased with that.

[25:33] Do you please God? Without faith, you cannot. Without faith in Christ Jesus as your Lord and Master, you cannot please Him no matter what you do.

[25:45] Without faith in Christ, you cannot please God. friends tonight, I urge you not to leave here without being sure of your heart standing with God.

[25:59] And don't trust your heart. Trust Him. You know, some people say, follow your heart. If you get the fuzzy, wuzzy feeling or you feel okay, you think you're a gut, she's alright Jack or that kind of idea, I'll be right, mate.

[26:14] don't trust your heart. The heart is deceitful and desperately wicked. Who can know it? God knows it. God knows your heart. He knows my heart.

[26:25] He knows where we fail. He knows our great need. Friends, trust Him tonight. And be assured, if you're a believer tonight, of all those great promises, of those wonderful truths that you can claim.

[26:38] Now, of course, we don't just lay back on the easy chair and do nothing because the faith is meant to be active. Faith without works is dead.

[26:50] It's a faith that's living that we need. A faith that's living. Not some pretend, not some mere mouthing of faith, but faith that is alive, that's trusting in the living Saviour.

[27:05] Let us pray. Lord, we thank you that you are the Lord our righteousness. We can place our faith, our heart, in you and in you alone.

[27:16] And Lord, that you deign to step down from heaven's glory to come and reside in a heart such as ours, Lord, that you would be so pleased to to step down as you step down and became a man clothed in human flesh yet not sinful flesh, sinless flesh and became the only one who can pay for our sin, the only one who can take away our sin.

[27:59] Help us by faith to trust you, to let go of our own way of life and our own way of thinking and to place our heart's trust entirely on your work because we know it's impossible to please you without faith.

[28:15] Help us, Lord, to have that faith. Stir it up, Lord, in our lives. Stir it up. Lord, let the word be mixed with faith in those who hear it tonight. Let it do its work.

[28:27] Let your word work, Lord, we pray. Faith comes by hearing, hearing by the word of God. Lord, we pray that those Bible verses we've talked about tonight would live in us, Lord, that they would be real to us and that when we face trials we'll know that it's the trial of our faith.

[28:45] We'll see our faith made stronger still and the joy of you, our Lord, is our strength. When we face battle, Lord, we know that it's a fighting, the good fight of the faith as an adversary committed against us.

[29:05] Lord, we need to recognise his works are against us and that you destroy all the works of the evil one. You've won the great victory and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.

[29:19] Thank you, Lord, that you'll help us if there's trouble one's here tonight. They've got some challenges ahead. There's worries in people's minds, there's concerns, there's sadness and hurts.

[29:36] Lord, we know you are the healer of broken hearts. You are the healer of the hurting. You are the refuge for the oppressed and you are the refuge for the troubled.

[29:50] Lord, we can cast all our care on you, even by faith. Even now, just let it go. Let it go into your hands. Lord, we cast all our care on you for you care for us.

[30:00] We do that by faith, knowing, Lord, that that's the best place to place all of our cares is in your hands. In Jesus' name, I'm ready. I'm ready. I'm ready.

[30:11] I'm ready. I'm ready. I'm ready. I'm ready. I'm ready. I'm ready. I'm ready. I'm ready. I'm ready. I'm ready. Thank you.