Christianity and your Faith

Welcome to this week's message from the church at Chelsea Westover.

Our core values are vibrant worship, intimate fellowship, fulfilling service, and clear biblical truth.

We pray that this message changes your life.

Let's tune in to today's message and see what God has in store for you.

And I want you to turn with me this morning in your Bibles to Romans chapter 10.

Romans 10 · chapter mention

Romans chapter 10.

Romans 10 · chapter mention

And let me also encourage you this morning, for all of you that were not here for our 2020 vision night.

It was awesome.

Had about 140 here, and it really was just fantastic.

As all our different ministry presenters did an awesome job presenting their, not only their mission, our mission of the church, but the ministry of the church and all that God is doing here through all the different ministries and where we're going, where we've been, where we're going, and how we're going to get there.

And part of that consists of four things.

And at the end of the service, Friday night, there's a commitment card out on the table in the foyer.

And for all you that were not here, please get one.

Pick one up today.

And because here's basically at the end of the vision casting Friday night, we ask our folks to do four things this year to really help us reach our community with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Four things.

One, we said, pray.

In other words, we commit to prayer and fasting for 21 days starting January the 14th.

That was yesterday, I think.

Okay?

Now, we're doing a 21-day fast, and what that means, you give up something.

We're doing a Daniel fast, and my wife has some little flyer.

She kind of explained that, and we gave some of those out Friday night, and you can pick one of those up on the table as well.

I'm you know what your pastor's giving up.

I do this each year.

I'm giving up sugar.

No cakes, no doughnuts.

Oh.

Oh, I'm already, when I walked by and saw the strawberry cake and the pecan pie, I went, why didn't I think about giving up something else?

But that's what I desire the most, so I'm denying myself for 21 days.

And then we also commit to come together monthly for congregational prayer.

What we're gonna do, starting tonight, the first Sunday night, and I'm gonna explain.

I got it.

The first Sunday, we first Sunday night of each month, except next month and uh um and May.

I meant, baby, I got it, I promise.

I promise.

She said, no, no, yeah, check the church calendar, that's good.

But starting tomorrow night at 6 o'clock, tomorrow night, listen to me.

Tonight at 6 o'clock, we're gonna meet together to start praying.

We want to commit this church to be in a place called the House of Prayer.

Can I get an amen?

And we're gonna pray.

Uh we're gonna do very similar like we did before the election.

We met here that night on Monday night.

It was unreal.

We had about 25 people here.

We were in a big circle and we just prayed together.

And that's what we're gonna do.

And you some people can, they don't you don't have to pray out loud.

You just pray silently while we're praying out loud.

And people that are led by the Holy Spirit to pray, and it was awesome.

About an hour and a half we prayed, it was beautiful.

And we want to do that once a month, and we're gonna do it on Sunday night, starting tonight, and we're gonna put on the calendar.

Most of the months it'll be the first Sunday night.

But next month being February, we know the first Sunday night is Super Bowl, so we didn't want to interfere, and I know somebody said, well, we ought to come pray.

I agree.

And and we will be praying.

But uh we also're gonna pray that next Sunday night, the second Sunday night in February.

And then let me tell you what's fixing to happen.

The end of February, we're gonna go into an unbelievable study on the tabernacle.

I got it all confirmed.

Dr.

Spencer's coming.

And he's gonna start on that Sunday morning and go Sunday morning, Sunday night, Monday night, Tuesday night, Wednesday night, preaching on the tabernacle out of Exodus 25.

It's gonna be awesome.

And then Thursday night, we're gonna ask some of you men to come here and we're gonna set up this sanctuary, part of this sanctuary.

We're gonna turn it into the tabernacle.

And then on Friday night from about 6 to 12, you'll be assigned a time with you and your family to come to the tabernacle.

And we're gonna go through the tabernacle praying, and that's gonna be our prayer night instead of that Sunday night on Friday night.

We're gonna we're gonna learn what the people did in the tabernacle, how they prayed, how they sacrificed.

It'll be something that will change your life about really praying because that's what we felt like this new year we needed to really emphasize in this church is praying.

So it's gonna be special.

Your children will be a part of it, it's gonna be really special.

And then that following Sunday, we'll end it with a praise service like they did in the tabernacle.

So it's gonna be a week of studying the tabernacle.

So that's where we're going.

And I want you to be a part of that.

And then the second thing was promote.

We're asking the Lord to help our family reach at least one unchurched family this next year.

In other words, 82% of people in our county do not go to church.

We're asking you to ask God to help you bring one church, hey, one family into our church family to become a part of our church family.

And then provide.

Ask the Lord to show our family how we can help this next year in giving above our tithes and offerings.

Uh, we need to raise$70,000 to build our educational wing, to uh uh seed and start our build our soccer fields.

We need to, we really do, and we're not borrowing any money.

So we ask God to provide.

And so we ask you to pray about how you can ask God what this next year you can give above your tithes and offerings to this project so that we can get.

In fact, we're gone.

We've stepped out on faith.

It's building as I speak right now, the children's new church area, the educational.

We're gonna have a food pantry and all that there.

It's gonna be exciting.

And then number four, to participate.

There's a lot of ministries here at this church.

And check one of those that you would like to be uh considered to be a part of.

Or to, hey, you can check more than one and work and and volunteer to see if that's the area that God can use you in.

I mean, we have a lot.

So would you pick one up, pray about it?

Well, I've told the people Friday night to turn it back in in the next two weeks to uh Tabitha at the uh check-in station.

But we're asking our whole church family, our whole family to get involved this year to reach this community with the gospel.

Can I get an amen?

And God's gonna do it.

And that is part of working out our own salvation.

Now, if you're here this morning, you do not have a worship guide, would you raise your hand so we make sure everybody's got one right here, David, okay?

Because on the back's the outline, and we started the new series on working out your salvation with fear and trembling of Philippians 2.

And as we said, that has nothing to do with working for your salvation.

There's nothing you can do, hey, to work for your salvation, and we're gonna touch on that a little bit today.

But more than that, you don't get, hey, you don't get better to get saved, you get saved to get better.

Can I get an amen?

And he says, for by grace are we saved through faith, and we're gonna look at that, but not of ourselves.

But then we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works.

So how do those works then, after we're saved, how do we work out that salvation?

Well, last week we looked at Christianity.

Hey, Christianity and our life last week.

Today we're gonna be looking at Christianity and our faith.

And then next week we'll be looking at, well, actually next week Rick's preaching, but then the following week we'll be looking at, are you ready for this?

Christianity and your church.

Then we'll be looking at Christianity and your work, Christianity and your school, and Christianity, hey, and your community.

So that's where this series is going, and how we are a living testimony, working out who we are in Christ in our community, in our homes, and in our work arena.

So this morning, we're gonna be looking at chapter 10 of the book of Romans, and Paul makes this profound statement in verse 17, and listen to what he says.

So then, faith, and I love this, so then, faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God.

That is literally a piece of dynamite.

As we exergetically look at the truths in that one verse and this chapter, you're gonna see what he means.

And you've heard a lot of people say, faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God.

And what did Paul really mean?

So faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God.

Well, everybody lives by faith.

The question is, what is your faith in?

Amen.

Everybody lives by faith, some type of faith.

It's faith, hey, in your job.

It may be faith for teenagers and children, it's faith in their parents.

When you and I were growing up, it was faith in our parents, it's faith in your job, it's faith, hey, in your education, it's faith in something.

You have faith in something.

And it may just be faith in yourself.

And a lot of us have that.

Amen.

Oh me.

But because you think you can do it, you don't need any help.

Or if you need, hey, you can do it, and then when you get in trouble, you say, God, if I need you, I'll call you.

I'm pretty good at that.

Always have been.

But that's not true, and that's not what faith he's talking about here.

But what is he talking about?

What he is saying in all these aspects of life, the object of faith, that means whatever you've placed your faith in always determines, watch, the quality and the validity of your life.

The quality and the validity of your life.

In other words, whatever you are, that object that you've placed your faith in is going to be obvious in your life as you live it out.

For some of us, our faith is in our hobbies.

For some of us, our faith is in our, hey, hey, what we love to do.

But our faith's in something.

So the question is, what should our faith be in?

It kind of reminds me of a group of biologists, or is it botanists, the ones that study the flowers, is that correct?

Okay.

There was a group of people, and I saw this as I was reading and studying and doing research on this passage.

There was an example, and I thought, what an example, so I want to share it with you.

There was a group of biologists who wished to collect some rare specimens of wildflowers which grew on the west side of a dangerously steep cliff in the Scottish Highlands.

They offered a young lad in the village, because they said this guy was a good mountain climber.

They offered him a really a great sum of money if he would go to this mountainside and collect some of those flowers, specimens of those flowers.

And so the young lad looked and thought a minute, and he went over to the side of the cliff and looked down and saw, you know, he assessed the danger that it was going to cost him to attempt to what?

Receive and collect those flowers?

And he paused after a few minutes and he says, okay, I will do it if you allow my father to hold the rope.

No one else can hold the rope but my father.

Now that was faith, folks, in his father.

He was gonna put his life in the hands of no one but his father.

And I thought to myself, wow.

And that's exactly what Jesus Christ, God the Father, Son, came to this earth and died so that you and I could put our faith in the Father and no one else.

And what an illustration.

And this is what we see when it comes, and I really believe this, when we come to the Christian message here, we're exhorted to rest our faith both, and I'll put it in your outline, both in the living word of God and the living word of God.

That is where our object of faith should be.

And with that said, I want us to look at some things about this supernatural faith.

Because when we put our faith, our human faith in God the Father, here's what happens.

Hey, our common faith is transformed into a saving faith.

And then our natural faith is transformed into an effectual, hey, working faith in Jesus Christ.

And how do we do that?

Oh, in fact, it's awesome.

The first thing I see is, number one, the access, the access to this supernatural faith.

Look at verse 17.

Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Now, the apostle Paul was careful to explain that it's only through faith in Jesus Christ can we be saved.

I want you to see this.

Ephesians 2, 8 and 9.

He says, For by grace are you saved through faith and not of yourself.

It is a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.

That should be up there.

Now, notice what he said in Ephesians 2, 8 and 9.

For by grace are you saved through faith.

What?

Not, what does he say?

Not of yourself.

What?

It is the gift of God.

Now look at verse 9.

Not of works, lest any man should boast.

That's it.

In other words, there's nothing you can do, hey, to have a relationship with Jesus Christ other than putting your faith in Christ.

You can't join the church.

You can join the church, but that doesn't save you.

You can be baptized and you should, but that doesn't save you.

You can be faithful, you can tithe, and all those things are good, and you ought to do it if you're saved, but that doesn't save you.

Those are the results of your salvation.

Because verse 10 says, after Ephesians 2, 8 and 9, for by grace are you saved through faith, not of yourself.

It is a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.

Then he says, For we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God has before ordained.

Now watch that we should walk in them.

And that walking is working out that salvation in our lives.

And how is that done?

It's done in two ways.

Number one, notice what he says, faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God, or the gospel of Christ.

It is the heralding of the gospel.

It is the heralding, the preaching of the gospel.

It really is.

In fact, whether the gospel is conveyed through the printed page, like in your Bible, or through the communicated, hey, uh mouth of a person of a preacher from the preaching of the pulpit, from the pulpit, or the witnessing 101, the gospel is to be communicated.

It is to be herald.

God has ordained that the gospel must be preached and that it's, hey, sound is to go out to every person in every generation.

Now listen to what Jesus said, and boy did he say it in Mark 16, 15.

He says, Go out into the world and preach the gospel to every creature.

Every creature.

And then he says in Acts 1.8, this is our missionary verse, you shall receive power after the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses unto me in Jerusalem, all Judea, Samaria, unto the othermost parts of the world.

And then another fantastic verse, Jesus himself said in Matthew 24, 14, and listen to what he says here.

And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world.

Now watch, for a witness unto all nations, and then the end shall come.

Ladies and gentlemen, people ask me all the time, and this fall, uh in the end of uh August and first September, we're going to be doing a big study on the book of Revelation and the second coming and all that encompasses that.

But people all the time ask me, when is the Lord coming?

Well, first of all, we don't know the time or the hour or the day.

But we do know this.

He said we'll know the seasons.

But he, hey, and and a lot of times everybody in their own area says that it looks like the seasons are here.

I kind of think that possibly.

But we don't know.

But this I do know.

God's not going to come back, and he's not going to let Jesus return for his bride until everyone has heard the good news of Jesus Christ.

The death, the barrel, and the resurrection.

Then he's coming back.

When that last person that Christ knows is going to be saved bows his head and asks Christ to come into his heart, that's when the trumpet's going to sound, and we're out of here.

That I know.

Now that's going to be exciting.

Every time I lead somebody to Christ, even here, when people, when I'm given the invitation every week and people get saved, I'm thinking, could it be?

Could it be?

Could that be the last one?

And then all of a sudden you hear the trumpet and you're out of here.

Wow.

Look out.

Hey, it's going to happen.

NASA won't have anything on us.

There we go.

You've been wanting to ride in a rocket, you're going to be a lot faster than a rocket.

So, the apostle Paul sensed this burden when he made this statement.

Look at 1 Corinthians 9 16.

For though I preach the gospel, he says, I have nothing to glory of, for necessity is laid upon me.

In other words, I have a responsibility.

Ladies and gentlemen, you and I have that same responsibility.

It's laid upon me.

Yea, woe unto me if I preach not the gospel.

Other words, working out our own salvation means that we are living testimonies of the gospel.

How Christ has radically changed our life through the person of the Holy Spirit of God, and how we have a hunger and how we have a desire to be all that he wants us to be.

That's what he's talking about.

And he says, if you've got it, you've got to preach it.

You can't help it.

You have the can't help it.

I can't help but speak the things that I've seen and heard.

Acts 4.20.

So there's the heralding of the gospel.

And then notice the second thing.

There's the hearing of the gospel.

Faith cometh by hearing.

So the gospel must not only be heralded, it must be heard.

In his ministry, the Lord Jesus Christ, throughout the Gospels, constantly was saying this.

And I put this up there for you.

In Matthew 11, 15.

Here's what he said.

He that hath ears to hear, say that with me, church.

He that hath let him hear.

In another place, he says in Matthew 13, 16, he says, Blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears for they hear.

So why was it so important to hear?

Well, the next verse, John 5 25, tells us.

And here's what he says Why is it important for us to hear?

He says, Verily, verily, I say unto you, the hour is coming and now is.

In other words, right now, when the dead Shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live.

You cannot have eternal life and live out that spirit-filled life without what?

Faith in Christ and faith in his word.

His living word, hey, and his written word.

You can't.

But the exciting thing is when you do look at what you have.

One, you live.

But notice the second thing.

Look at Proverbs 8.34.

This is good.

Proverbs 8.34, actually, verses 32 through 36, the end of that chapter is powerful.

Here's what it says.

Blessed is the man that there's that word that what?

Hears me, listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the post of my doors.

You know what that means?

You can't wait to get up daily and get in the word and watch.

Hey, and wait, the watching, you can't wait to read it, you can't wait to memorize it, you can't wait to study it.

But not only that, and then waiting at the post of my doors brings the same connotation of meditating on what you're reading, what you're memorizing, so that it becomes part of who you are.

And if you go on and you read those other two verses, you have a choice.

He says, You find me or you miss me.

Hey, it's determined by your desire.

As newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the word that you may grow thereby, 1 Peter 2.

And then Acts 17, 11, the Berean Christians were more noble than those at Thessaloniki.

Why?

Because they received the Word with gladness of heart.

And what's this?

Search the scriptures daily.

Whether those things were so.

So here's what he's saying right here.

Not only do we have, hey, to preach it and share it, but as, hey, as recipients, we have to hear it.

That's why you come to church.

That's why you don't want to, that's why you want to be involved in Sunday school.

We're excited about our new Sunday school.

You want to be in a small group.

You want to hear the truth.

Why?

This is what you're putting your faith in.

You're not putting your faith in man, you're not putting your faith in a priest or a preacher.

You're putting your faith in the word of God.

And how can you put your faith in something if you don't know it?

Hello?

You okay out there?

Can't do it.

Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

This is so.

If you catch this, you'll change your life forever.

I'll never forget under that tent at Liberty Baptist College at that time, a man was quoting scripture, and I knew one verse when I went to Liberty University.

One verse.

John 3.16.

That was it.

One verse.

That was it.

But when that word was memorized and quoted and preached and heralded, God grabbed my heart and said, That's what you've got to learn.

That's what's going to change your life, is the word of the living God.

Isaiah 55, 11, it never returns void.

It accomplishes where he sends it.

And he's got a purpose.

And now after thousands of verses memorized and in my heart, in my life over the last 35 years, and I still memorize two, three, four every week.

Review, I spent about an hour a day reviewing, been doing that for all these years.

It's changed my life.

Somebody said, Man, all you do is quote scripture to me.

Yes.

I don't know anything else.

I really don't.

Somebody said, How many books you read?

I used to say, well, I try to read at least one book other than the Bible a month.

I don't do it all the time.

Now, what I do read is car magazines.

That's my pleasure reading.

Because I read so much studying.

I really do, and I love it.

So last thing I want to do is go read another book, because I'm already reading a bunch of books.

So I want to read about cars.

I like cars, old cars, new cars, muscle cars.

But I'll never forget.

Guy asked me, he said, Well, I read ten books a month.

So how many you read?

So I thought for a minute.

I said, I'll tell you how many I read.

I read 66.

He said, 66.

Well, why's your favorite?

I said, there's one that's my favorite.

He said, Well, which is that?

The B-I-B-L-E.

He went, oh, oh, 67.

Oh, you're talking about that's how many books are in the Bible.

I said, Yeah.

So I said, How many of those have you read with your ten books a month?

Well, they all say something about them, the Bible.

I said, Well, I think I'd rather have the Bible say what it says to me than somebody else telling me what they think the Bible says.

The Bible speaks for itself, folks.

Somebody asked it, said, Well, what does that mean in the Greek?

What does it say?

That's what it means.

It stands on its own authority, absolutely.

Sanctify them through thy word, thy word is true.

Sanctify them through the truth, thy word is truth.

John 17, 17.

In the beginning was the word, the word was with God, and the word was God.

So when we hear the word, it brings life.

Hey, we're happy, blessed.

That word means happy.

Look at the next verse.

Look at Proverbs 15, 31.

This is awesome.

The ear that hears the reproof of life abides among the wise.

You want to be wise?

Some of you need, hey, some of us need help.

Some of us aren't really wise in the things of God.

You can be wise in the things of the world and you're in trouble.

Or you can be wise in the things of God.

In fact, you know what the Lord said through Paul?

The wisdom of the world is foolishness with God.

What if James say to me?

Oh, absolutely.

But Proverbs 2.6 says the wisdom of God.

Hey, the wisdom of God is from above.

Amen?

So we want the wisdom of God because the wisdom of God, look at what it does.

Right here, it makes us wise, but now look at what else it does.

Look at Luke 8.15.

This is powerful, folks.

But that on the good ground are they.

In other words, the ground that the word of God has come and taken root in our hearts and souls.

You know, in Matthew, he talks about the different types of souls and grounds, but this is talking about where the word of God has come and it's grabbed your heart.

It's gripped your heart.

And notice what it says then.

Good ground, there, that the word's in, it's in your heart, which, hey, in an honest and good heart.

In other words, it takes your heart and it makes it good and honest.

You want to be honest?

You want to be good?

You want to be all that God wants?

Hey, He's got to change your heart.

It's got to take root in your heart.

My son, give me your heart and let your eyes observe my ways.

Proverbs 23, 26.

Search me, oh God.

I'm about to have a spell.

Search me, oh God, and know my heart.

Try me, know my thoughts, see if there be any wicked way in me and lead me in the way of everlasting.

The only way you can get that wickedness out of a heart and put the righteousness in is through doing surgery on your heart.

And the surgery comes through the word of God.

For the word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the divining of soul and asunder and spirit and joints and marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Hebrews 4 12.

It just opens your heart up and shows you all that bitterness, all that that wrong thinking, that wrong attitudes, that wrong all garbage that Satan has so tried to store in our hearts.

And it just reveals it, cuts it out.

And when it does, you got a good heart.

But now here's the key.

Having heard the word, you keep it.

And then notice the last thing.

Same verse.

Brings forth.

Are you ready?

Fruit with patience.

Wow.

Fruit with patience.

I don't know about you, but I'm not a patient person.

You didn't have to say that too loud, Trent.

That's my nephew.

At least Susan didn't say it.

She is thinking it.

But patience.

But let me put that in the context of the verse.

When you have an honest heart and you're living for God, God's got your heart.

Then you're going to be like him.

And you're going to be patient like him.

You're not going to be griping and complaining.

You're just going to be thanking.

Instead of complaining, we're thanking him.

Loving him.

Thanking him for what he's done.

There's not one of us in here, I don't care what level you are or we are that's not blessed.

We're blessed just to be here.

Amen.

We are blessed to live in America.

If you've been to a third world country and the missions that we talked about, you'll come back thankful.

You'll be thankful.

Especially when you see those people praising God and they have nothing.

And we have so much and we complain instead of praise.

So what is he saying?

Listen to the wisdom and be blessed.

If we live by his wisdom, we are blessed.

Or if we deny his wisdom, we are cursed.

That's what he means.

So that is what we call the access to this supernatural faith.

Now let's look at the second thing.

We have access through the heralding of the gospel, hearing of the gospel.

Number two, that look at the activity now of this supernatural faith.

Boy, this is good.

Well, Paul really lays it out.

He says again in that verse 17 faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by now watch the preaching of the gospel of Christ.

That's really what he's saying there.

So, in the context of this amazing verse, we are shown that the activity of a supernatural faith is twofold.

Two things it does.

Watch what happens when it's herald and heard.

Number one, it levels everyone to the conditions of the cross.

In other words, it levels the play and field.

Look at what he says in Romans 10, 11, and verse 12.

Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

Verse 11.

For then verse 12.

For there's no difference between the Jew and the Greek.

For the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.

Aren't you glad that God doesn't see color?

Amen.

Can I tell you something else?

The church at CCW, we don't see color.

We see hearts.

Amen.

We love everybody.

Amen.

We really do.

I want you to see how important this is.

Right here.

The advantages, hey, of intellect, opportunity are our substance that has nothing to do with faith in Christ Jesus.

In fact, I wrote this down to me.

Here it is.

Faith places everyone in the same position, regardless of your race, your social status, your money, your power, your education, whatever.

It doesn't matter.

Not with Christ.

Not with Christ.

In fact, I wrote this to myself.

Faith, watch this, minimizes man's merit.

Amen?

It minimizes man's merit, but watch this.

It magnifies God's mercy.

It minimizes God's merit, but it magnifies God's mercy.

His mercy is new every morning.

Then I asked the question.

Here it is.

If your salvation were based upon your race, what would happen to the despised people of the world?

Well, Galatians 3.28 says there's neither Jew, nor Greek, nor bond, nor free, neither male, female, for you all one in Christ Jesus.

Can I get an amen?

Alright, then I ask myself, what if it was based upon your riches?

What would happen to those who are poor?

Too poor to pay.

Well, I got a word for you.

Proverbs 22, verse 2.

Proverbs 22:2

The rich and poor meet together.

The Lord is maker of them all.

Amen.

Praise God.

Thank God.

Amen.

I love that.

And then, hey, what if your salvation was based on your rank, your position in the community, your power?

What would happen to those without social status?

Mmm.

I got a word for you.

Acts 10.34.

The Lord, hey, God is no respecter of persons.

Acts 10.34.

Amen?

And then the last thing I wrote down too.

What about, what if your salvation was based on your education?

What would happen to those who do not possess the academic qualifications that you have?

Well, here's a great verse.

I memorized it this week.

I really, I don't know how I'd miss this verse all these years.

It's a new verse for me, but it's awesome.

Job 13, 10, listen to what it says.

God will surely reprove you and me if we secretly accept persons.

In other words, we just, yeah, we love you, but we go over here and we we really, you know, cater to those that can help us.

Hello.

You know, uh-oh, oh, he can help me.

She can help me.

Oh, she can help me get up the ladder.

She can you hear it all the time.

It's not what you know, it's who you know.

Well, I got news for you.

That's true.

But salvation as well.

It's not what you know, it's who you know.

It's Jesus Christ.

Amen.

Well, what about that?

If you secretly accept persons, God will reprove you.

You know what that means?

We ought to treat everybody like we want to be treated.

Can I get an amen?

By the way, that happens to be the golden rule.

Do unto others, you'd have them do unto you.

Amen?

What truth.

What powerful truth.

And then what, hey, here's the last one.

What if your relationship and salvation was based upon your religion?

What would happen to those whose religious ideas and beliefs are different or oppose yours?

Well, I got news for you.

God sweeps all these things aside, and hey, he levels every man at the foot of the cross, who his own self bear our sins in his body on the tree, that we being dead to sin should live unto righteousness by whose stripes we're healed.

Amen?

Is that not good?

Is that not good?

The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness, but is long suffering, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

1 Peter 3, 9.

Wow.

Wow.

Powerful.

Powerful.

Paul put it this way.

And he said it vehemently.

He said, preach the gospel, be instant in season out of season, reprove, rebuke, and exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.

Preach the truth.

Now, watch this.

The activity levels everyone to the conditions of the gospel.

Say this with me, church.

The gospel's for everyone.

One more time.

The gospel's for everyone.

Now, is everybody gonna be saved?

Absolutely not.

But they have that opportunity.

And God knows which one's gonna be saved and which aren't.

But that doesn't keep him from presenting the love of God to everyone.

Amen?

Now watch this.

No second thing it does.

Boy, this is good.

It leads everyone to the Christ of the gospel.

It levels everyone to the conditions of the gospel, and then it leads everyone.

Hey, it leads everyone to the Christ of the gospel.

Look at verse 13, Romans 10.

For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

You cannot read these scriptures or hear the gospel preached without being drawn to the central fact and the revelation of Jesus Christ, that Jesus is the only way to heaven.

I share all the time with people that say, well, you really, you know, we all go into the same place.

Always pause for a minute.

Instead of trying to be rude or ugly, I say, what's that place?

Up there?

Where's up there?

You know.

If I knew, I wouldn't have.

Where?

Heaven, you mean?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I said, oh, that's good.

I said, so are you going to heaven?

Well, hope so.

Always that.

Hope so.

I said, hope so.

Well, if you hope so, how do you know so?

And about that time they were saying, What have I done?

I said, would you like to know?

For sure?

He said, You mean you can know for sure?

I said, the Bible says you can.

These things ever written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life by putting your faith in Christ.

1 John 5.13.

That's that Greek word OD there means absolutely sure.

Really?

Yeah.

But there's only one way.

In fact, look at what Paul said.

He said it in Acts 4.12.

Well, let's go to John 12.32 first.

Jesus said, If I be lifted up, I'll draw all men unto myself.

That lifting up is being lifted up through the heralding of the gospel, the preaching of the gospel, the witnessing of the gospel, taking our little life and death tracks everywhere we go, for the wage of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life, and sharing the gospel, lifting him up.

And then in John 14, 6, listen to what Jesus said.

Jesus said unto him, the disciples, Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, the life.

Now what does that next phrase say?

No man cometh into the Father but by me.

Ladies and gentlemen, there's only one way.

People say, well, there's a lot of different roads leading to heaven, as long as you're on one of the roads.

Absolutely, hey, not.

There's one way, one road, and it's through Jesus Christ.

Look at what he says in Acts 4.12.

Neither is there salvation in any other.

For there's none other name under heaven given among men whereby ye must be saved.

Ladies and gentlemen, I love you, but if you have put your faith in anything except Jesus Christ and the blood of the Lamb and His love, you are not going to heaven.

You said, but I'm a good person.

I had a I witnessed a guy that went spy for over an hour the other day.

He says, I really believe that when it's all said and done, if my good works outdo my bad works, I'm okay.

No, no, you're not.

Remember, we started out not by works of righteousness which we've done, but according to God's mercy, He saved us.

Ladies and gentlemen, I love you.

Please listen to me.

Watching online, I love you.

There's only one way, and it's Jesus Christ.

There's only one tomb that's empty.

And it's Jesus Christ's tomb.

He's not there.

He is risen.

Buddha's tomb, he's there.

Muhammad, he's there.

Joseph T.

Smith, he's there.

But not Jesus.

Jesus is the only way.

The only way.

Listen to what Jesus said.

Matthew 18, 3.

Except ye be converted and become as a little child.

Children.

Ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Here's what I want you to do.

You take this word.

F-A-I-T-H.

What does that smell, church?

F-A-I-T-H.

Faith.

Write it.

You probably have.

You've heard me say it so many times, and I'll continue to say it.

Faith, what does that stand for?

Forsaking all I take him.

That's what faith is.

Without faith, it is impossible to please God.

For he that comes to God must believe that he is, that he is a reward of them that diligently seek him.

So, we've seen the access to this supernatural faith.

We've seen the activity.

And what is the activity?

Oh, hey, it levels everyone to the conditions of the gospel, it levels the playing ground for everyone, and then it leads everyone to the Christ of the gospel.

Notice the last thing, and I'm through.

The affirmation of this supernatural faith.

Or another thing, the confession of a supernatural faith.

Look at verse 17.

Faith cometh by hearing, hearing by the word of God.

Now note the apostle Paul's words when he says, look at verse 6 in chapter 10.

Look at verse 6.

The righteousness which is of faith speaks on this wise.

In other words, this is the wisdom of what salvation really is.

And then look at verse 9.

Here's what he said.

Here's the wisdom of what salvation is.

That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth, the Lord Jesus shall believe in thy heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

Now look at verse 10.

For with the heart man believes unto righteousness.

There's that heart.

And with the mouth, confession, there's that word, affirmation, confession, is made unto salvation.

So, what is he telling us in these verses?

Following the hearing, the believing, and the obeying of the gospel, there must now be the confession, hey, of that supernatural faith.

There must be that affirmation.

In other words, only when the Savior is crowned and confessed as Lord, hey, living in and through your life is their real evidence of salvation.

I didn't say evidence of a decision.

I said evidence of salvation.

That's why when we baptize, Romans 6, 4 is so powerful.

And that's what we're seeing here.

This is exactly, in fact, let's look at it.

There's two things.

When we crown and confess the Lord as Savior and Lord of our lives.

And by the way, he says in John 13, 13, many shall say unto me and call me Lord, so am I.

He is Lord.

He's curos.

He's Lord of all.

He's the controller.

He's the governor.

He's the president of your life.

Now watch.

What's this?

Two things I want you to see.

This means when we crown and confess him, Lord.

Number one, the confession, when we do that, when we are confessing, when we ask, when we go under the baptistry waters, Romans 6, 4 says, Therefore we are buried with him by baptism unto death, that like as Christ is raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we should walk in newness of life.

What we are saying, that we are completely, hey, given our heart, our hey, our knowledge, our heart, our feelings, everything.

We're all in.

I meant he has consumed us.

That ought to be a good place to say, Amen.

I mean, you're wrapped up in him.

One guy said, Well, all I need is a little dab.

I said, No, you need a lot more than a little dab.

You need the whole thing.

You need the whole dose.

Amen.

And that's, but here's what we're saying.

When you go into those waters and you're raised, here's what you're confessing.

You're confessing, write it down.

Number one, as, hey, that Christ is our Savior.

That's what you're confessing.

When you say I'm saved, I'm excited about being saved.

You're saying Christ is my Savior.

That's what you're saying.

That's what he says in verse 10.

Dr.

Hanley C.G.

Moeller said this, and I love it.

He says, when you confess, verse 10, he wrote a commentary on verse 10.

Here's what he said, out of all that study.

I love what he said.

He said, the mouth with the mouth confession is made in the salvation.

Here's what you're saying.

He said, confession with the mouth is nothing less than the believer's open loyalty to Christ.

Is that not good?

It's our open loyalty to Christ.

And that is exactly what you're saying when you're baptized.

I am confessing Christ as Savior.

And the second thing you're doing, right here, you are confessing Christ.

And I love this.

And he, Paul, insists on this affirmation.

Look at what he says in Romans 10, 11.

For the scripture saith, whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

In other words, the confession of faith must result in a bold Christian testimony.

You are not ashamed of the gospel when you get saved.

The righteous are bold as a lion.

Now, most of you, and we all wear our Jesus awesome bands, you're not ashamed of the gospel.

Amen?

Here's the question.

When you really get immersed in all that Christ is, you can't help but share him.

Now, we share him in different ways, but you share him.

Amen?

You're a living testimony.

And when you see all that he is, I am, it's the Galatians 2.20, I'm crucified with Christ.

Nevertheless, I live.

Watch.

Not I, but Christ liveth in me, and the life which I now live, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.

If Christ's living in you, you'll be, hey, living like Christ, you'll be acting like Christ, you'll be talking like Christ, you'll be working like Christ, you'll be living like Christ.

You'll be submitting unto your authorities like Christ.

You will be a living testimony.

Listen to what he said.

Verse 16, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it's the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth to the Jew first and then to the Gentile.

And listen to what he told Timothy in 2 Timothy 1.8.

Be not thou for ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but be thou partakers of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God.

Wow.

And listen to what Jesus said.

I mean, that's enough to make you say, hey, how many of us?

It takes courage.

The righteous are bold as a lion.

It takes godly courage to stand in the gap.

I know that.

Because most of us work in areas, hey, that you don't.

Do you work in an area where when you walk in the door, your boss or your your colleagues say, Woo, this is the day the Lord hath made.

I'll rejoice and be glad in it.

Huh?

Maybe a few of us.

And it's usually with me because I'm the one saying it.

Wherever I am.

I am.

And they look at me as like I'm crazy.

I understand that.

I've been having this look for 35 years.

I'm not going to change now.

Sorry.

Sorry.

Just not going to do it.

I used to be too young to know any better.

Now I'm too old to change.

So I'm not doing it.

Amen.

It's just the way it is.

I'm not ashamed of the God.

Folks, listen.

If God has done for you and me what he's done and how he's radically changed us, how he, I mean, just being saved from hell is enough to have a radical spell.

Amen.

Jesus.

Mercy.

But he's given you so much more than just salvation.

He's giving you life and giving it more abundantly.

The joy of the Lord is our strength.

I mean, it's exciting.

And here's what Jesus said.

Don't miss it.

Paul said it to Timothy, and then here's what Jesus said.

Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess before my Father which is in heaven.

But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I deny before my father which is in heaven.

Folks, that's pretty powerful.

So the next time you know the Holy Spirit say something you don't, memorize those verses.

You'll turn around and say, wait a minute, I need to tell you something.

I don't want to be denied by Christ.

And they're going to say, What in the world are you talking about?

Well, let me tell you.

Amen.

We need that little mm, little mm.

I'm not ashamed of the gospel.

Then the last thing.

Not only do we see when we crown and confess Jesus as Lord, it's the confession of Christ as Savior, but lastly, it's the confession of Christ as sovereign.

If thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lord, ha ha, and shall believe in thy heart that God raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

Verse 9.

Lord, cure us.

In another place, listen to what Paul tells us.

1 Corinthians 12, 3.

No man can say that Jesus is the Lord, watch, but by the Holy Spirit.

Is that not good?

In other words, if you don't have the Holy Spirit in here, he's not going to be Lord.

Amen.

In other words, the affirmation of a living faith is one of the evidence that a man or woman has, in fact, accepted Christ as Savior and acknowledged him as Lord.

Without the Lordship of Christ, there's no life in Christ.

Amen?

I'm going to say that again.

Without the Lordship of Christ, there's no life in Christ.

See, you can be saved, and if he's not Lord, you still don't have abundant life.

Colonel Christians are miserable.

I've been one.

And by the way, you can be one quite easily.

Just quit being obedient.

Now, God's going to get you attention.

You can't stay there too long.

He'll get you attention.

But you can't have John 10, 10, I've come to give you life, give it more abundantly if you're not if he's not Lord of all.

And if he's not Lord of all, he's not Lord at all.

Amen.

I read this little poem by E.

H.

Swinstead.

Lord of every thought and action.

Lord to send and Lord to stay.

Lord in speaking, writing, giving, Lord in all things to obey.

Lord of all there is of me now and every more to be.

Overything.

Ray Palmer wrote a hymn years ago.

My faith looks up to thee, thou lamb of Calvary.

Savior divine.

Now hear me while I pray.

Take all my guilt away.

Oh, let me from this day be wholly thine.

I want to ask you this morning.

Are you all his?

Does he have all of you?

Does he have all of me?

Christianity in your faith.

Are you heralding the gospel?

Are you hearing the gospel?

You know what I love about Sunday morning?

I call it a pimp rally for Jesus.

We come and we hear the truth.

God speaks to our hearts, He cleanses our hearts.

We confess our sin.

We confess our bad attitudes all week, our apathy and all the things, the opportunities that we had to witness, we didn't.

We just say, Lord, forgive me, and Lord cleanse me.

And we get recharged up and we have our time with Him and we leave here and we go back out into the community as a brilliant light set on a hill that cannot be hid.

Now that's what our callings to be.

We're gonna leave here in about an hour after we eat together.

Can I challenge you?

The commitment card.

Can I challenge you to make this year a time of prayer in your life?

Once a month, tonight at 6 o'clock, be here to pray for about an hour.

Just to pray.

You know what I'm challenging everybody?

Bring one or two key major prayers.

Hey, prayer requests that you have.

And then the next month, you're gonna have an opportunity to stand up and tell us how God answered that prayer.

Because we're gonna be praying for those two or three things all month with you and together.

It's gonna be awesome.

It's gonna be awesome.

We don't do Sunday night services here.

So one Sunday night a month.

That's 12 times this year.

12 times.

Can I challenge you to be here and learn to pray?

You know what I told Susan?

I want God to teach you.

I want us to pray the same prayer the disciples prayed.

You know what they asked the Lord?

They said, Lord, now these are the disciples.

If they had to say this, who are we?

The disciples said, Lord, will you teach us to pray?

That's the disciples.

I think we're gonna see something this year.

You're gonna see it in your life.

You're gonna see it like you've never seen it before.

Back in a few moments after the invitation, we're gonna be praying for Nicholas, one of our young men's going to the army Tuesday.

We'll be praying for him tonight.

Can I challenge you to get that commitment card?

We didn't just put that card together.

We have prayed over this, thought through this for months about what we felt like God wanted this church to do this year.

And we're gonna start doing that every year in January.

We're gonna call it a vision night each year and bring us back to what we've done, where we're going, what God wants us to do this year.

It's called a re-evaluation time.

Got a good group here?

It's new year, it's time to get back in church.

I understand that.

But can you make this year really different?

Do you want it to be the same old, same old?

I don't know about you.

I want to be different.

I want to be more spirit-filled this year than I was last year.

And I need accountability.

I want you to hold me accountable.

I'll hold you, we'll hold each other accountable.

And that's what that one time tonight, Sunday night, once a month.

And the tabernacle, oh, it's gone.

And then the revelation, we've just got some key things for this whole year that will keep us moving to being more like Jesus, to being a blessing to this community.

Helping people.

You want to be a part of that?

If you're saved, you do.

If you're saved, you want to be a part of that.

Folks, that's the most exciting thing you can do.

God didn't save you to sit in this comfortable chair.

Amen.

God saved you to get out into the marketplace.

Amen.

Through your church to grow.

Oh, the herald, the gospel to hear it.

The good news.

Those few verses, I've never seen them in that enlightenment before.

You see them as soul-winning verses.

There's a lot more to that one verse, isn't it?

Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

What truth.

What truth.

Every head bowed.

Thanks again for tuning into this week's message.

We pray that your life has been changed.

If you would like to find out more about us, visit us on our webpage at thechurch at cw.com.

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Need prayer or more information?

Send us an email at office at the church at CW.com.

We hope you have a wonderful day and again, God bless you.