Chapter 14 of Saving Faith, I'll
read the paragraphs and then we'll look at the teaching of
this section. 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 is 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. By this faith a Christian believeth
to be true whatsoever is revealed in the Word for the authority
of God Himself, and also apprehendeth an excellency therein above all
other writings and all things in the world, as it bears forth
the glory of God in His attributes, the excellency of Christ in His
nature and offices, and the power and fullness of the Holy Spirit
in His workings and operations, and so is enabled to cast his
soul upon the truth thus believed. and also acteth differently upon
that which each particular passage thereof containeth, yielding
obedience to the commands, trembling at the threatenings, and embracing
the promises of God for this life and that which is to come.
But the principal acts of saving faith have immediate relation
to Christ, accepting, receiving, and resting upon Him alone for
justification, sanctification, and eternal life by virtue of
the covenant of grace. this faith, although it be different
in degrees, and may be weak or strong, yet it is, in the least
degree of it, different in the kind or nature of it, as is all
other saving grace, from the faith and common grace of temporary
believers. And therefore, though it may
be many times assailed and weakened, yet it gets the victory, growing
up in many to the attainment of a full assurance through Christ,
who is both the author and finisher of our faith. Amen. Well, as
we look at this particular section of the Confession, we see its
connection to the preceding. We've had cause to reflect many
times before that confession is a systematic document, and
it builds gradually upon chapters that are previous to it, and
we will see how that works out this morning. But I think paragraph
one sets forth the origin and development of saving faith.
The second paragraph sets forth the object of saving faith. And
then, with reference to the third paragraph, we have the nature
of saving faith. Now, this sort of goes along
with our studies in James, or in the book of James, specifically
James chapter 2, verses 14 to 26. But if you look back at chapter
11, with reference to justification, Chapter 11 of Justification,
it highlights that faith is the instrumental means by which sinners
are rightly connected to God through Jesus Christ. But notice
in paragraph 2, faith thus receiving and resting on Christ and His
righteousness is the alone instrument of justification. Yet it is not
alone in the person justified, but is ever accompanied with
all other saving graces, and is no dead faith, but worketh
by love." That's not really the emphasis in terms of chapter
14. It certainly reminds us that one of the principal acts or
one of the One of the objects of saving faith is not only the
Word, but to respond according to the Word, but this is just
an overall treatment specifically of faith. Chapter 15 will set
forth repentance, and these are the means by which, as I said,
sinners come to God. It's by His grace, for His glory,
He grants us the gifts of faith and repentance, and it is that
by which or how we close with Christ. So let's look at the
origin and development. Note in the first place the origin
of saving faith. It's not of ourselves. We are
reminded early on that it's a grace. Now grace is a gift. Faith is
not, saving faith, is not something that the sinner has in and of
himself. The Bible is very clear. No one can come to me except
the Father who sent me draws him. The Bible is very clear
concerning the gift nature of faith, that it's not something
that we can conjure up. It's not something that we develop,
it's not something that we bring to the table, but rather it is
a gift from God, and the Confession highlights that. The grace of
faith. Notice as well, it says, whereby
the elect. And that's the statement that
connects us to the preceding sections in the Confession. Chapter
3, dealing with the decree, talks about predestination unto eternal
life. Chapter 10 sets forth the effectual
call. Those predestinated by God are
effectually called by God unto the Lord Jesus Christ. Those
persons are justified by grace through faith. Chapter 11, those
persons are adopted by God. Chapter 12, they are sanctified
by the Word and Spirit, according to chapter 13. They are the ones
alone who have this saving faith. So the grace of faith whereby
the elect, now notice, are enabled to believe to the saving of their
souls is the work of the Spirit of Christ in their hearts. So
if we find ourselves in the place of having saving faith, the congratulations
does not go to us. We don't pat ourselves on the
back, we don't parade ourselves to others as those who are perhaps
wiser or more intelligent or responded favorably to the gospel
presentation. If we find ourselves with saving
faith, we are to praise and glorify the God of heaven and earth.
That is the reality that is set forth here. Now notice specifically
the elect are enabled to believe. Again, it reiterates the gift
nature of faith, but it's specifically by the work of the Spirit of
Christ in their hearts. And as I've already referred
to John chapter 6, notice also Ephesians chapter 2. Ephesians
chapter 2, John 6, 44, Christ highlights the total inability
of man to come to Him. No one can come to Me unless
the Father who sent Me draws him. Ephesians 2, verses 1 to
3 highlight that reality as well. Ephesians 2 verse 1, you who
were dead in trespasses and sins in which you once walked, according
to the course of this world, according to the prince of the
power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of
disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves
in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and
of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the
others. So you see the problem with man,
and this has been carefully delineated, are delineated in chapter 9 with
reference to free will and the confession of faith. The problem
with man is not that he's a little bit hindered, or that he's a
little bit maimed, or that he has a few problems. The problem
with man spiritually is that he is dead in trespasses and
sins, as Paul Paul describes man's condition before the grace
of God in verses 1 to 3. He highlights that man is lifeless. We are dead. We need to understand
that condition. I think we need to appreciate
that condition when it comes, say, to the Lord's Day and we're
going to pray for God to bless the preaching of the Word. We
must have the Holy Spirit or sinners don't get saved. We must
have the Holy Spirit or men continue in rebellion against God because
their problem is they are dead in their trespasses and sins.
hopeless in and of themselves. There's nothing they can do,
there's nothing that they can undertake to put themselves in
a place of favor with God. And as well, they are hopeless.
And he highlights this further, specifically, let's see in verse
11. when he's talking about the Gentiles
prior to their inclusion in the covenant promises of God. Notice,
therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh, were
called on circumcision by what is called the circumcision made
in the flesh by hands, that at that time you were without Christ,
being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from
the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the
world. That is man's condition before
a holy God. Again, sin isn't just something
that gives us a little bit of a problem, or a little bit of
a hindrance, or a little bit of a difficulty. If we take seriously
the Apostles' statements here in chapter 2, verses 1 to 3,
and then 11 to 13, or 11 to 12, specifically concerning man before
the grace of God, his condition is wretched. We see the biblical
testimony concerning the inability of man, and so this chapter highlights
the reality that if man is to come into a state of acceptance
with God, it must be by God's grace, and that is what is highlighted. Now, in terms of the biblical
testimony concerning faith as a gift specifically, there are
a couple of passages that should come to mind quickly, but just
a couple of others we ought to reflect on. Notice in Acts chapter
13. highlighting the gift nature of faith, and that comes from
the Holy Spirit, specifically as stated in the Confession.
It is the work of the Spirit of Christ in their hearts. Notice in Acts 13.48, now when
the Gentiles heard this they were glad and glorified the word
of the Lord and as many as had been appointed to eternal life
believed. Now the order there is conspicuous.
It's not the case that they had believed and therefore they had
been appointed to eternal life. They believed as a result of
the prior decree of God in terms of choosing a great multitude
that no man can number. So they are, as many as had been
appointed to eternal life, believed. And then in the Jerusalem Council
in Acts 15, Peter's testimony, specifically at verse 8. Acts
15, 8. just showing the gift nature
of faith that it's connected to the power of the Holy Spirit,
it is not something original with man. Verse 8, So God who
knows the heart acknowledged them by giving them the Holy
Spirit, just as He did to us, and made no distinction between
us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. You see, man
doesn't purify his own heart by faith, God purifies the heart
by faith. God gives the graces of faith
and repentance so that we close with Christ. Notice as well Ephesians
2, 8-10. Probably the passage your mind
went to when I mentioned that faith is a gift, certainly it
should go there. Ephesians 2, 8-10. Paul's whole
point in chapter 2 is to set forth the depravity, the inability,
the wickedness of man in verses 1 to 3, and then that verse 4
glorious statement, but God. He shines the light upon the
grace of God to demonstrate that their present condition of blessedness
is owing to God himself. I'm sure I've mentioned before
you ought to listen to Martin Lloyd-Jones' sermon on the but
God there. It is classically beautiful Lloyd-Jones
preaching. But notice in verse 8, he says,
"...for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that
not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest
anyone should boast." You see, it is the gift of God. And I
take it to mean the salvation that is by faith. That whole
package is a gift of God. And then notice in Philippians
chapter 1, And the emphasis in Philippians 1.29 is not on the
fact that faith is a gift. That's almost incidental to the
Apostles' argument in Philippians 1.29. The point in Philippians
1.29 is that you will suffer for the sake of Christ. And he
parallels that to the fact that God also has given you the gift
of faith. Notice in 29, for to you it has
been granted on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but
also to suffer for his sake, having the same conflict which
you saw in me and now here is in me. So the point is, is to
suffer for His sake. But the parallel or the analogy
is, it's not only been granted on behalf of Christ to believe
in Him, but also to suffer for His sake. So the idea is very
clear, set forth by the Confession, reflecting the truth of Scripture,
that faith is a gift. So if you have saving faith,
if you finish chapter 14, and you realize that this is something
that does exist in your heart, glory belongs to God. Glory belongs
to the Father, Son, and Spirit, with specific emphasis, according
to paragraph 1, upon the Spirit of Christ. Now notice, or now
notice, the means by which the Spirit works. He doesn't just
cause us to see an image of Jesus up in the sky. He doesn't just
cause us to awaken one day from our sleep and say, I have decided
to follow Jesus. Notice the Confession's emphasis.
It is ordinarily wrought by the ministry of the Word. In other
words, without the Word, we are depriving sinners of that chief
means by which the Spirit brings them to salvation. Your testimony
of conversion is a good and encouraging thing when you talk to unbelievers.
But brethren, you need to set forth the Word of Truth. It is
the Word of Truth that God uses, the Spirit uses, to bring the
conviction of sin and to bring that blessed knowledge of the
Lord Jesus Christ. That's what it means. It is ordinarily
wrought by the ministry of the Word. There are several passages
that we ought to reflect on here. Go back to Romans chapter 1.
Certainly if you think about the connection of or the ordinary
ministry of the Word by the power of the Holy Spirit as being the
means by which sinners come to God through Christ, I think Romans
10 suggests itself even, you know, first But I think Romans
chapter 1, specifically verses 16 and 17, ought not to be disregarded. Notice he says, I'm not ashamed
of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation
for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the
Greek. For in it, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith
to faith. As it is written, the just shall live by faith. I don't
think it would be a stretch to read Paul this way, for in it
alone In other words, apart from the gospel of Jesus Christ, apart
from that gospel revealed in Old and New Testaments, apart
from that gospel there is no salvation. But it's because of
the gospel under the power of the Holy Spirit, the message
of Christ's life, death, and resurrection, it is that means
by which there is salvation. But turn over to Romans chapter
10. Romans 10, beginning in 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? And how shall they preach unless they are sent?
As it is written, how beautiful are the feet of those who preach
the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things.
But they have not all obeyed the gospel, for Isaiah says,
Lord, who has believed our report? So then faith comes by hearing,
and hearing by the word of God. You see, the ordinary means by
which the Holy Spirit brings us to this place of saving faith
in Christ is the word of God. And I think this is a very instructive
section as well. Notice specifically in verse
14, how then shall they call on Him in whom they have not
believed? And we could read this next statement
this way, and how shall they believe Him whom they have not
heard? How shall they believe Him they
have not heard? The second Helvetic confession
of faith says the preaching of the Word of God is the Word of
God. Paul the Apostle, if we would
have continued reading there in Ephesians chapter 2, says
that Christ came and preached peace to you. Now, Jesus never
went to Ephesus in his earthly ministry. But when Paul went
to Ephesus and Paul accurately preached the truth, it could
be said that Christ preached peace to them. And I think that's
the emphasis here. The true preaching of the Word
of God is the Word of God. How shall they believe Him whom
they have not heard? The idea being is that by the
power of the Holy Spirit, the prophet Christ from the right
hand of God Most High speaks to sinners and saints in the
preaching of the Word. But notice as well the instrumentality
or rather the necessity of the church, the people of God. How
shall they hear without a preacher? Certainly, we need to pray that
men are going into gospel ministry. We ought to praise God for Mike.
I know that's going to put you on the, oh yeah, praise God for
Mike. No, the fact that the brother went to seminary, he's been given
those gifts, hopefully to assist and aid him in the gospel ministry. with a view to engage in this
Bible study and then to plant a local church. We need preachers. We need men of God who fear God,
who are clothed in the power of the Holy Spirit, who will
stand before fellow sinners and call them to repentance and faith.
They will also be a means by which the people of God are strengthened
and brought to maturity. The church needs preachers. How
shall they hear without a preacher? But then notice the church's
role in verse 15. In other words, it's not to be
the case that a man wakes up and says, wow, I want to be a
preacher today. He goes online, he finds a degree, he has it
sent to him, he hangs it on his wall, and now he's a preacher,
he's a minister. This is not the biblical way. with reference
to the missionary enterprise. In Acts chapter 13, where does
the Holy Spirit come with reference to finding Paul and Barnabas
for the work of gospel missions? He comes to the church. The church
is uniquely involved in identifying her ministers, ordaining her
ministers, and then sending out those ministers. That's the biblical
means, and that's the biblical way. It's not something that,
you know, the later church, you know, developed and put into
place to try and, you know, squelch people's dreams and aspirations.
No, it's reflective of what Scripture says in terms of the church's
role with reference to her ministers. This is the emphasis, but of
course, the point salient to our study this morning. That
was a little bit of a tangent there. Verse 17, so then faith
comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. Notice in
Ephesians chapter 1, Ephesians chapter 1, making the point that
it's ordinarily wrought by the ministry of the Word. Ephesians
chapter 1, beginning in verse 13. You also trusted after you heard
the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. You see, there
is a conspicuous order involved here. In him you also trusted
after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation,
in whom also having believed, you were sealed with the Holy
Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance
until the redemption of the purchased possession to the praise of his
glory. We saw James 1.18 several weeks
ago. A lot of people teach that the
apostle Paul and that James, little a apostle James, have
a different view concerning salvation. We've seen that's patently false.
James 1.18 highlights the reality that James affirms sovereign
grace, selection, predestination. Chapter 118 is as much Pauline
as anything you'll find in Romans or in Ephesians. He says, of
his own will, he brought us forth by the word of truth that we
might be a kind of first fruits of his creatures. You see, it
is of his own will, but the ordinary means is rather by the word of
truth. And then Peter emphasizes this
in 1 Peter 1, verses 22 to 25. I think this bears emphasis because
as the people of God, we ought to be praying for the preaching
of the Word of God. We ought to be praying for it
in our own local church, to be sure. We ought to be praying
for it in terms of gospel missions. If we understand the biblical
doctrine of total depravity and total inability, we get John
6.44, we get Ephesians 2.1-3, we get the gift nature of faith
itself, and that the ordinary means by which the Spirit brings
that to pass is through the proclamation of the truth, it really ought
to energize us at the throne of grace to pray specifically
for the prosper of the gospel. We ought to have the mindset
of the Apostle Paul and Thessalonians, pray that the Word of God would
run swiftly and be glorified, if sinners will perish and end
up in hell, apart from the gospel, apart from the power of the Holy
Spirit, then we as God's people ought to seek to fetch those
blessings for them. We ought to certainly fetch them
on behalf of our children, our friends, unconverted people that
we know, but as well, every tribe, tongue, people, and nation. But
notice in 1 Peter, I'm sorry, chapter 1, verses 22 to 25. Now, this is the word which by
the gospel was preached to you. You see this emphasis upon the
word of God. So, you know, not to bang the
drum over and over again, but it's not the case that you're
going to see a picture of Jesus on your bathroom mirror through
the fog, and that's what's going to lead you to Christ. You're
going to hear the truth of Christ crucified, risen, ascended on
high. You're going to hear the truth
of His life, death, and resurrection. That's the ordinary means by
which the Holy Spirit uses to bring sinners unto Christ. But
then notice what the confession goes on to say. And this bears
some emphasis as well. It's ordinarily wrought by the
ministry of the Word. So we have all the vital elements
that we need. Faith is a grace. It's a gift from God. The elect
are enabled to believe, and they're enabled to believe by the power
of God. And this results in the saving
of their souls. It is the work of the Spirit
of Christ in their hearts. It is ordinarily wrought by the
ministry of the Word. Now notice, 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."
This is what's called the means of grace. Now, it's not a formula
that if you put in ten hours of prayer, you get out ten hours
of blessing. You listen to, you know, several
hours of preaching. And that's not going to happen
today, but if you listen to several hours of preaching, then you'll
get several hours of blessing. It's not formulaic. Yahweh's
not Baal. We don't sort of do something
and then he responds in kind. But the Reformed tradition, the
Bible sets forth this idea of the means of grace. And specifically
this. You can have fond meditations
of God while you're mowing your lawn. I have no doubt about that. You can have good meditations
concerning the Word of God in your shower. I have no doubt
about that. But the means by which God ordinarily
blesses His people are the things stated here. The administration
of baptism, the Lord's Supper, prayer, and other means appointed
of God. It's the means of grace. So don't
approach it in a formulaic manner. Well, I prayed for eight minutes,
God, you need to come through with my blessing. We saw on Wednesday
night in 1 Kings 18 and 19, in chapter 18 at the end of the
contest at Carmel, Elijah prays. It takes about a verse and a
half, and God consumes his sacrifice with fire. When he comes to pray
for the end of the drought, he has to tell his servant to go
seven times to see if there's clouds in the sky. God doesn't
always answer prayer in the same way. In fact, God doesn't always
answer prayer according to our mind, as we saw in 19.4. Elijah
wants God to kill him. Elijah wants God to take him.
Thankfully, God didn't answer his prayer. So we need to make
sure we don't approach it as sort of a formula, but we need
to prize and value the means of grace. Notice, 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. Now, you've probably heard me
say, and I'll probably say it again, that I don't want to nag
you to come to the Lord's Supper. I don't think Pastor Cam wants
to nag us to come to the Lord's Supper. I don't want to nag you
to come to church. But it's kind of akin to your
mother who nags you about eating your broccoli and your Brussels
sprouts. She knows what's good for you. She knows that if you
eat Twinkies and Ding Dongs and cupcakes, you're going to be
extremely unhealthy. It's just not a good path to
pursue. So she is going to nag you, maybe
not nag you, maybe encourage you with some zeal to eat those
things you wouldn't normally eat or don't like to eat or prefer
to eat. I think pastors find themselves
in that particular role at times. Pastors who have served for any
amount of time realize that the Christian faith and the Christian
life, it's not magic. It's not hocus pocus. It's not
you go to bed a sinner, you wake up Paul. It's just not that way. It is those who typically use
the means of grace. Those who feed upon the things
that God has provided for the, notice, increase and strengthen
of faith, those are the persons that typically mature in the
Christian life. Pastors, like mothers, see that happen in the
children of God. And so they want to encourage
the people to use those means. At times it feels self-serving.
Come to the evening sermon, because you get to hear me. I genuinely
tell you, it is not that. I really don't care. where you
go, as long as you go, and they're preaching the truth of the gospel.
Because this is the means by which persons grow. Their faith
is increased and it's strengthened. You absent yourself from the
table, you absent yourself from the public preaching of the Word
of God, you absent yourself from the corporate prayer meetings
of the Church of God, typically persons who do that find it very
easy in their private lives to cut the same corners, to engage
in the same sort of shoddiness, and they resist the Word, or
they neglect it rather, and they resist times of prayer. Guess
what doesn't happen to you? It's not the case that your faith
is increased and strengthened. It's not magic. If you indeed
put in the time and use the means of grace, it may be imperceptible,
you may not discover it after, you know, four months, But just
stick with it. The path or the way to Christian
growth and maturity is to do what God says. It's a really
beautiful thing. The Christian life, I think we
complicate it so much. But in essence, it's pretty simple.
Just do what God says. So we don't like that, and we
want to rework it, and we want formulaic approaches and all
that. Just use the means. And make
it so your pastors don't have to nag you. That's not fun for
anybody. I can see somebody leaving our
church. The pastors always nag us. Well,
why did they nag you? Because I never went to church.
Well, you'd be like your mom, never nagging you because you
didn't eat your broccoli. Of course she's going to nag
you. Don't put her in that position. Eat your broccoli. Now notice
in paragraph 2, the object of saving, faith. It moves from
the general to the specific. Note first the general. By this
faith, again we're discussing this particular genus, saving
faith. By this faith, a Christian believes
to be true whatsoever is revealed in the Word for the authority
of God Himself. You see, someone with saving
faith does not pick and choose what part of the Bible they're
going to believe. Someone with saving faith receives the Word
of God. in its entirety. Now that doesn't
mean they can work out every difficulty, they can solve every
apparent puzzle, that they have the mind of Calvin or Spurgeon
with reference to how all the pieces and parts work. But they
accept the Bible. You know, this attitude of resistance
to the truth or a rejection of the truth is not what we find
here in this definition or description, rather, of saving faith. By this
faith, a Christian believes to be true whatsoever is revealed
in the Word. It's a beautiful thing. You know,
prior to your conversion to Christ, prior to that saving faith, you
might have looked at the Bible and it might have looked like
a phone book to you. I mean, you know, you read through the
phone book, you might as well be more edified than reading
through the Bible. But when saving faith comes,
when the Spirit brings it about in your heart, it's a living
word, isn't it? It makes sense, it's beautiful,
it speaks to you. That's what the Confession is
highlighting. There's a modern edition of the
shorter Catechism, it's a Baptist version, but they add a question
to sort of combat the prevailing tendencies in our day, because
there's a lot of that. You know, we don't believe what
the Bible says about creation, we don't believe what the Bible
says about sovereignty, we don't believe what the Bible says about
God. We believe that He's just like us, and He has the same
sorrows and the passions. You know, there's a lot of rejection
concerning the Scriptures. So I think this particular addition
to the Westminster Shorter Catechism is very helpful. It asks, are
the Scriptures trustworthy in all that they affirm? It's a
good question for us to pose to ourselves and then seek to
answer accordingly. And the answer is the scriptures
of both the Old and New Testaments being God-breathed. It's that
2 Timothy 3, 16 emphasis. The scriptures are given by inspiration
of God. And inspiration there doesn't
mean the apostles had some warm thoughts and went out and composed
the New Testament. It means that God breathed through
them. The very word of God comes through
Paul, comes through Peter, comes through James. So it says, the
Scriptures of both the Old and New Testaments, being God-breathed,
are infallible and inerrant. Both those words are helpful
today, because there's been a debate concerning inerrancy. And one
of the charges has been, well, the Confessions don't use the
word inerrant. The Confessions use the word infallible. So this
edition says infallible and inerrant. But what persons engaged in this
debate fail to understand is simply this. Inerrant means the
Bible does not lie. Infallible means it cannot lie. So it stands to reason that if
the Bible is infallible, it is necessarily inerrant. So when
chapter 1, say, in our confession uses the word infallible, certainly
it means inerrant. Nobody should come along and
say the 17th century confessions didn't say inerrant, so they
didn't think it was inerrant. If it's infallible, it is certainly
inerrant, like we learned in the impassibility debate. If
he's immutable, then he is certainly impassible. It is a subset of
immutability. Inerrancy is a subset of infallibility. Back to this particular catechism. Are infallible and inerrant in
all their parts and are, therefore, trustworthy, in all that they
affirm concerning history, science, doctrine, ethics, religious practice,
or any other topic. Again, I think in our theological
landscape, this is a good addition because it stresses and highlights
in particular details some of the things that have happened
in terms of Scripture in our day. But as well, I think that
this chapter by definition, I'm sorry, paragraph 2 in chapter
14, shows us that Christianity is in a blind leap of faith.
You may have heard that representation, oh you Christians are idiots,
you just jump off a mountain and believe. No! This is objective. Now, obviously, the atheist,
the pagan, the heathen is going to say that's not true, but you
cannot say it isn't there. It's not a blind leap. There
is objective data. There is propositional revelation. It begins in Genesis. It ends
in Revelation, the book of Revelation. There are over 31,000 verses. That's not a blind leap of faith.
You may not agree with our belief in it, but you cannot accuse
us of engaging in a blind leap of faith. We believe that the
history of Israel, as recorded in the Old Testament, is accurate
and true. That's fact. It's data. It's
there. It's not a blind leap. And I
think the Confession substantiates that reality that is often asserted
against us. But then notice what it goes
on to say. By this faith, a Christian believes to be true whatsoever
is revealed in the Word for the authority of God Himself. And
this harkens back to chapter 1. You can turn there in chapter
1 in the Confession, paragraph 4. Chapter 1, paragraph 4, the authority
of the Holy Scripture, for which it ought to be believed, depends
not upon the testimony of any man or church, but wholly upon
God, who is truth itself, the author thereof. Therefore, it
is to be received because it is the Word of God, the self-attesting
authority of God's Word. Now, the pagan will say, well,
that's reasoning in a circle. Pagans reason in a circle, too.
They just don't include God. The same sort of a thing. We
need to point out, yes, of course we reason in a circle, but God
is in our circle and He gave us that Word. You do the very
same thing, you just exclude God. Now back to chapter 14,
paragraph 2. And again, this incorporates
some of the things in chapter 1, paragraph 5. Notice, with
this saving faith, He also apprehends an excellency therein above all
other writings and all things in the world. I think we'd all
affirm and say, yeah, the Bible's the best book in the world. Is
it the best thing in the world? That's what the Confession seems
to be suggesting here. When we have this saving faith,
we receive as true the Word of God by the authority of God Himself. We also apprehend an excellency
therein, therein the Word of God, above all other writings
and all things in the world. In other words, I value the Bible
more than anything, is what the divines seem to be suggesting
here. And I think as the people of God who have this saving faith,
we ought to make sure our sort of desires align with what we
find in Scripture. I don't think this is an outlandish
statement, say, in light of Psalm 119. Psalm 119 is 176 verses
of praise to God for the Word of God. That's what he does, much more
desirable than much fine gold. In other words, it's not only
the best of books, it's the best of things. That preaching by
John Rogers, when he personifies God to the people and then the
people to God, and God comes and he says to the people, you've
slighted my word, I'm going to take your children, I'm going
to take your homes, I'm going to take your jobs, you know,
probably buggies and carriages and horses at that particular
time. I'm going to take all that. Rogers personifies God to threaten
the people that they have not treated the Word of God properly.
Then he personifies the people to God and says, forgive us,
you know, take everything you've threatened, but take not thy
word. That's what's reflected here. It's excellent above all
other writings and all things in the world. It's a great statement.
And then notice, with reference to the various things that the
believer now sees. And Trinitarianism is certainly,
you know, markedly present throughout the Confession. It's not just
of God and the Holy Trinity in Chapter 2 with a statement concerning
the differences or the relative properties and personal distinctions
of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, but rather, like the
writings of the Apostle Paul, for instance, they're Trinitarian
to the core. Notice what he apprehends, as
it bears forth the glory of God in his attributes. Don't we find
that in the Scripture? Say, for instance, in 1 John,
God is love. We see many things predicated
or attributed to God throughout Scripture, as believers, as those
with saving faith. Hopefully we read our Bibles
with a theological mindset. We ought not to read the Bible
in the first place to find ourselves. We ought to find God in the Scripture. But then notice, with reference
to the second person of the Trinity, the excellency of Christ in His
nature and offices. Again, things spoken to earlier
in the Confession, specifically in chapter 8 of Christ the Mediator.
But the divines don't stop there. "...and the power and fullness
of the Holy Spirit in his workings and operations." And just in
case you have forgotten that faith is a saving grace, they
remind us again. "...and so is enabled to cast
his soul upon the truth thus believed." Who enables him? It
isn't him. It is God. The Holy Spirit enables
us to do this. Now notice the appropriate response
to Scripture. In other words, as those who
have saving faith, when it comes to Scripture, we realize that
there is difference in terms of Scripture. There are threats,
there are warnings, there are judgments, there are promises,
there are commands, and the Confession highlights this. The elect yield
obedience to the commands. It's one of the things that saving
faith drives the elect to do. We don't whine about it. We don't
grumble about it. We don't murmur about it. We
receive the command of God, and by the grace of God, we yield
obedience to it. You know, John says the commandments
of God are not burdensome. If you find yourself complaining
about the commandments of God all the time, then you need to
be born again, most likely, because the people of God say what the
psalm is, Oh, how I love your law. It is my meditation day
and night. They don't whine, they don't
complain. Now, we may struggle and whine and complain at the
throne of grace because we're not as faithful to keeping that
law as we ought. And Lord, please supply us with
increased faith, strength and faith, the Holy Spirit, so that
we may comply. But the genuine Christian, the
believer, has that appreciation for the Lord's words in the upper
room. If you love me, you'll keep my commandments. So, you
know, one of the telltale signs that somebody has saving faith
is that they yield obedience to the commands of God. Not as
a condition for salvation, but as a consequence of salvation.
They don't yield obedience so that God will save them. You
cannot maintain that in the confession of faith here. They yield obedience
because God has saved them. And that's one of the things
that saving faith drives the believer to. Notice the elect
tremble at the threatenings. The elect tremble at the threatenings.
We're going to see this morning where Peter, an elect, didn't
tremble at a threatening and actually asserted his ability
to not succumb to the threatening. We don't want to put ourselves
in that position. We need to tremble at the threatenings.
This is one of the means by which God uses to keep us on the narrow
path. Some persons say, well, if you
believe that God, or once saved, always saved, or the doctrine
called out there, eternal security called in here, the perseverance
of the saints, then whence the warning passages? Why would God
have to warn us if we are safe and secure in the arms of Christ?
It's one of the means that He uses to keep us safe and secure
in the arms of Christ. If I tell my little baby not
to lick his finger and put it in the socket, He may never do
that. One of the means by which He
never did that is because He listened to my warnings. If you
lick your finger and put it in the socket, not only is it going
to produce some pain, but you're going to get some further repercussions
as well, because you're disobeying. This is one of the means by which
God uses to keep His elect in the path, and then the elect
embrace the promises of God. certainly we ought to be those
who embrace the promises of God." So it says, "...also acts differently
upon that which each particular passage thereof contains, yielding
obedience to the commands, trembling at the threatenings, and embracing
the promises of God for this life and that which is to come."
Notice, we move from the general to the specific in terms of saving
faith. The object of saving faith is
seen in the appreciation of the Word of God in its entirety,
in the appreciation of the authority of God as revealed in that Word.
The excellency, the attributes, the power, the glory of God the
Father, the natures and offices of Christ, the Son, the power
and the glory of the Holy Spirit, all that we do appreciate and
we see. But notice the last portion, but. The principal acts of saving
faith have immediate relation to Christ, accepting, receiving,
and resting upon Him alone for justification, sanctification,
and eternal life by virtue of the covenant of grace. Now this
means very specifically that as those who come into this realm,
rather, or this place of saving grace, it is important to understand
the dimensions of the tabernacle. It is important to understand
the locations of the armies of Israel when they are readied
for battle. But what's most important is
the Gospel. That's the point. But the principal acts of saving
faith have immediate relation to Christ. In fact, you can go
to heaven not being able to describe the tabernacle or the temple.
You can't go to heaven apart from Christ. You can't go to
heaven apart from the reality that He lived, He died, He rose
again. It's through His active and passive
obedience. It is through His work on behalf of sinners that
we are saved. There's a lot of things, in fact,
that we can even be wrong about in the Bible. Now, don't go out
and be wrong. We're not supposed to be wrong, but we could differ
on eschatology. I don't know how many people
are here, but there's probably that many views on eschatology. Guess
what? We can still go to heaven, but
we cannot be wrong concerning the nature and offices of Christ.
Jesus said in John's Gospel, if you do not believe that I
am, and I think behind that is the Exodus 3.14 and those passages
in Isaiah where Yahweh says, I am. He says, if you do not
believe that I am, you will die in your sins. That is crucial,
and the Confession highlights that. The principal acts of saving
faith have immediate relation to Christ. So that means if you're
witnessing to an unbeliever, and you're about to go down in
an airplane, and you've got, you know, 50 seconds, you don't
need to tell them the dimensions of the tabernacle. You need to
tell them about the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. That's
the principal act of saving faith. Now notice some of the metaphorical
language that is employed there, which reflects Scripture. accepting,
receiving, and resting upon Him. Now the Bible uses that kind
of language with reference to belief. Saving faith is seen
metaphorically, or by way of analogy, as accepting, receiving,
and resting upon Him. Just a couple of passages to
consider. Isaiah chapter 45. Belief is viewed as looking unto
Jesus Christ. Isaiah 45, 22. Look to me and
be saved, all you ends of the earth, for I am God and there
is no other. Obviously, the idea of looking
to me means to believe on the God of Israel. Notice this clearly
in John 3, excuse me, John chapter 3. The analogy that Jesus uses
concerning his coming crucifixion is that analogy of the serpent
in the wilderness. The people of Israel grumbled,
they complained, so God sent fiery serpents to bite them.
Once they were bitten, then God prescribes to Moses to make a
brazen serpent and lift it up in the wilderness, and everyone
who looked to that serpent would live. Beautiful, beautiful analogy
of the Scripture. Not drag yourself over to the
serpent, not suck the poison out of your arm and then go to
the serpent, but rather look to the brazen serpent and you
will live. That's the analogy Christ uses
in John 3, 14. As Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal
life. It's belief in Him. It's not
belief and suck out the poison. It's not belief and drag yourself
to the cross. It's belief on the Lord Jesus
Christ, and you will be saved. Scripture also speaks of us coming
to the Lord Jesus Christ. We saw that in Matthew 11. Come
to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give
you rest. Notice in John 6, 35 to 37, the
whole idea of coming to Christ means to believe in Christ. John 6.35, I am the bread of
life. He who comes to me shall never
hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst. But I
said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. All
that the Father gives me will come to me, and the one who comes
to me I will by no means cast out. So coming to Christ means
to believe on Christ, as well in John 6, an analogy or a metaphor
that's used in terms of believing in Christ is to eat his flesh
and drink his blood. Notice in John 6 at verse 53.
John 6, 53, Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh
of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks
My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last
day. And we considered that language
when we looked at Matthew 26 and the institution of the supper.
Jesus is not actually telling people to bite and to devour
His physical flesh. and to actually drink his physical
blood. It's metaphorical language for
the reality in John 6, 40. It says, and this is the will
of him who sent me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes
in him may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the
last day. This eating and this drinking
is metaphorical language for believing the gospel. Augustine
said, for to believe on him is to eat the living bread. He that
believes eats. That's the way to understand
this language in 53 and 54. It's not potpourri. It is not
a papistical view of transubstantiation. It is metaphorical language for
belief in Christ. Now notice, back to the confession.
It says, the principal acts of saving faith have immediate relation
to Christ, accepting, receiving, and resting upon Him. Notice,
alone. That stresses and highlights
what we saw when we considered those particular passages with
reference to the Word of God. It's the exclusivity of Christ
alone. Robert Shaw says that the true
believer receives and rests upon Christ alone for salvation. This
distinguishes the true believer from such as rest their hope
of salvation on the general mercy of God without any respect to
the mediation of Christ. or upon their own works of righteousness,
or upon the righteousness of Christ and their own works conjoined. You meet this in, you know, the
modern day. Oh, well, you know, I have this
faith in God, and I think everything's going to be okay. Well, what
think ye of Christ? Well, I'm not a Christian, but, you know,
I do believe that there is a God, and I do believe that I'm going
to find favor in His sight. Not according to the Scripture,
Not according to the Bible. There's not this concept of the
universal fatherhood of God in terms of redemption. I guess
it could be argued in terms of the creation of God. There is
that sense. He is the father of creation. But in terms of redemption, there's
no universal fatherhood of God. It is by grace alone, through
faith alone, in Christ alone, that any sinner is accepted by
God the Father. And this is stressed here. And
then notice the virtues, the benefits, the blessings that
come to believers upon belief in Christ. Resting upon Him alone
for, notice, justification, sanctification, and eternal life by virtue of
the covenant of grace. So past chapters that have already
been dealt with, justification, sanctification. The means by
which we receive these things from God is through this saving
faith. Machen says faith is not a meritorious
work. We need to appreciate that. This
goes along with the grace of faith. It's not the case that
faith is in me, that I originate it, that I produce it, and therein
God rewards me with salvation. That's not the way we are to
view faith. We go back to the chapter on justification, it
highlights this in some detail. But Machen says it's not a meritorious
work. The New Testament never says
that a man is saved on account of his faith. It's pretty conspicuous,
well it is conspicuous, we're saved through faith, not because
of faith. Faith is not the condition that
we bring to the table and then God gives us salvation. It is
through, it's an instrument, it's a means by which we receive
the grace of God. He says, the New Testament never
says that a man is saved on account of his faith, but always that
he is saved through his faith. Now this is the point that I
think goes with this statement. Faith is the means which the
Holy Spirit uses to apply to the individual soul the benefits
of Christ's death. That's what's in view here. Resting
upon Him alone for justification, sanctification, and eternal life
by virtue of the covenant of grace. That covenant that was
already discussed in chapter 7 of the confession of faith
that sets forth Christ the mediator, chapter 8, who brings to pass
this work to bring us these blessings, the every spiritual blessing
of Ephesians 1.3. So the object of saving faith
moves from the general, the entirety of the Bible, to the principal
act of saving faith. It has immediate relation to
Christ. Now, we don't have a lot of time. Just quickly, paragraph
3 sort of deals with the nature of saving faith, and it highlights
that it may indeed differ in degrees. It may differ in degrees. And this first section is a little
bit wordy and a bit puzzling to some degree, but I think the
basic point is clear. This faith, although it be different
in degrees, and may be weak or strong. That's the reality, isn't
it? I quoted Machen last week. There's one thing, you know,
weak faith may not move mountains, but there is one thing weak faith
will do. It'll bring us all savingly to
the Lord Jesus Christ. So weak faith is still good faith,
and the Confession highlights that saving faith may be weak
or strong, yet it is in the least degree of it different in the
kinder nature of it as is all other saving grace, from the
faith and common grace of temporary believers." The statement simply
means there's a difference between saving faith and temporary faith.
There's a difference between saving faith, which comes from
special grace, and a temporary faith that may be relative to
common grace. So it's just highlighting this
particular genus or kind of saving faith. It is different than this
temporary faith that some people profess at least for a time.
But as well, notice the fact that it may be weak or strong.
So if that's the case, then what should that make us think concerning
paragraph one and the last statement? Through the use of these means,
faith is increased and strengthened. So if you come to grips with
the fact that your faith is weak. Now, I realize all of us would
say our faith is weak. I mean, the best of us on the
best of days are still miserable wretches. I mean, we're just
terrible, terrible human beings. But if you can diagnose yourself,
and say for the most part, in terms of, you know, the brethren
in the church, there's some that seem to be strong, and there's
others that seem to be weak, and I find myself with those
weak ones. Guess what the answer of the confession is? Use the
means And don't do it for a night. We have this quick-fix mentality
in America and Canada. Every January 1st, I'm always
intrigued to see new people join at the gym. They join at the
gym with this New Year's resolution. They're going to be buff. They're
going to be fit. They're going to be trimmed. They're going to be
lean, mean fighting machines. It doesn't happen in two weeks,
so they give up. That seems to be the mentality
oftentimes in the church. Be faithful for the rest of your
life. I mean, if you're 20 and you've
embraced the Savior by the grace of God, you've got about 60 or
70 more years of just being faithful. Just do what you're supposed
to do. We all want the quick fix. We all want it right now.
We all want to be Paul. Guess what? You've got to learn
first to crawl, and then you toddle, then you walk, and then
you run. And the means by which this occurs
is the means of grace, or are the means of grace. So if you
conclude that my faith is weak, God has provided ways for you
to strengthen and increase the faith. So don't just flounder
about and say, wow, I'm just weak, I'll always be weak, and
that's my state and lot in life. No, use the means that God's
ordained for your good and for the well-being of your soul.
And then the confession here as well highlights that there's
many assaults against saving faith, and therefore, though
it may be many times assailed and weakened, So I appreciate
this confession. I appreciate the Westminster
upon which this is modeled, the Savoy Declaration, because they're
honest. The divines in the 17th century
were honest. Persons today will never admit
that my faith is many times a sale. Persons today just have to present
this sort of triumphal view of Christianity. They can never
actually say, please pray for me because I'm doing terribly.
But the confession acknowledges the reality that it may be many
times assailed and weakened. It's not sinful, brethren, for
somebody to say, how are you doing? And you to actually be
honest and say, I'm not doing that well. My faith is being
assaulted. Can we pray together? Can you
help me and encourage me? That's just not the sort of public
image that we want to present. We're great. Everything's great.
It's always great. Well, the confessions at least
are honest to tell us Man, you guys got issues. We got issues.
There are assaults. But, notice it continues, yet
it gets the victory. Saving faith cannot be eradicated. It cannot be, you know, taken
away. It cannot be lost, because God
the Lord gave it to you, and He will perfect you unto the
day of Christ, growing up in many to the attainment of a full
assurance through Christ, who is both the author and finisher
of our faith. Now later on, there is a chapter
on assurance So we'll speak to that situation when we get to
chapter 18. Well, there you have it. Hopefully, God will indeed
strengthen and increase our faith so that we may indeed be faithful
people to our Lord. Well, let us pray. Father, we
thank you for this teaching and the confession of faith. We believe
it does accurately reflect what Scripture declares. We thank
you for this grace of faith. We thank you for the power of
the Holy Spirit. We admit and we confess and we
realize and know, God, we would have never come to you being
dead in our trespasses and sins, being lifeless and helpless and
hopeless. But God, you in your kindness
and mercy called us out of darkness into marvelous light. You gave
us the gifts of faith and repentance. You've given us a desire to gather
today to worship you. May you bless that time. May you encourage our hearts.
May you strengthen and increase our faith. And may you bless
all our brothers and sisters as well. Go with us now, we pray,
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
