A Christian: Keeps the Faith of Jesus Christ

Introduction: Recap and Text

0:03 A very basic one, a very simple, and yet a very vital question for every one of us to face. And the question is this, what is a Christian?

0:15 Now that question is not the same as how does one become a Christian. And I used this morning the simple illustration of the question, what is an airline pilot? It's someone who sits behind the controls of an airliner and directs the activities of that complex machine. Now if you ask the question, how to become an airline pilot, that's a much more involved answer.

0:37 It's a different issue. So we are not addressing ourselves to the question, how does one become a Christian? How does one enter into the narrow gate, to use Bunyan's analogy? But rather we're asking the question, how can you know a true pilgrim when you see him?

0:52 There upon the way to the celestial city. And to answer that question, we are focusing upon a text of scripture, which came, before us in our regular Sunday morning reading in the book of the Revelation. Revelation chapter 14 and verse 12. In this text, and in one very similar to it in Revelation 12 and verse 17, the saints, the people of God, Christians, these are all synonyms in the Bible.

1:21 Saints, Christians, disciples, believers, all of these are terms used interchangeably in scripture. They are here described in the following manner. Revelation 14, 12. Here is the patience of the saints.

1:40 They that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. Who are the saints? John's answer is, they are a people who are marked by these two basic characteristics. They keep the commandments of God and they keep the faith of Jesus.

2:01 I am calling those two things, those two characteristics, commitment to the revealed will of God, and secondly, fidelity to the revealed truth of God. And these things are always found inseparable in the life of a true Christian. No man truly keeps the commandments of God who does not keep the faith of Jesus. No man truly keeps the faith of Jesus who does not keep the commandments of God.

2:32 And every man, woman, child who is a Christian has both of these characteristics present in his life. So if you are to answer the question, what is a Christian, and make it more personal, am I a Christian, you must be one who is described by this text, one who does indeed keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. If that's so, then it's of utmost importance that we understand what these words mean. Thank you.

3:01 Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

3:01 Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

3:02 Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

3:02 Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

The Meaning of 'Keep': Clinging as a Precious Possession

3:02 They are our entire time seeking to expound and apply these words. They keep the commandments of God. A Christian is one who is committed to a path of obedience to the revealed will of God, an obedience that is not legal in its spirit but flows out of a motive of love, an obedience that is not partial but universal, is not perfect but is purposeful, is not a taking. not accommodating, but persevered, is not burdensome, but joyful.

3:37 For Jesus said, My yoke is easy and my burden is light. And if this is not the characteristic of our life, a course of obedience described in these biblical concepts, then we are committing spiritual suicide to say that we are Christians simply because, like that man Ignorance in Bunyan's allegory, our heart tells us so. For as they answered him, If thy heart agree not to the word of God, it is a deceitful heart, and it is not to be trusted. Now tonight, we come to the second characteristic of a Christian.

4:14 Under these words, they keep the faith of Jesus. The verb to keep applies to both of these characteristics. They that keep the commandments of God and, the word implied, they keep the faith of Jesus. Verse 3, First of all, as we did this morning, let's address ourselves to the meaning of the word.

4:37 Now, I hope this isn't tedious for you. I, once in a while, get sort of chided by my wife. She'll say to me, as she did this afternoon, she said, you know, dear, you almost got to preaching about three-quarters of the way through the sermon this morning when you started talking about having no area of no man's land that you've reserved. The rest of the time you were teaching.

4:56 And I said, dear, I don't know any other way to preach. I have no grounds to preach up a stage. Storm three-quarters of the way through unless I've gathered some clouds of truth so that there's some real water in the storm in the first two-thirds of the sermon. And I hope this never becomes tedious for us.

5:13 I don't preach this way because I'm in a rut. I preach this way out of principle. The words of God are inspired, but they have a meaning intended by God and we must do all within our power to ascertain that meaning that we might experience the thrust of those words. Very well, then let's address ourselves to the meaning of the word.

5:35 The word keep, of course, means precisely the same thing in this instance. It means to cling to, to adhere firmly to, to attend carefully to something. It means something more than merely holding in a very light-hearted, indifferent sort of a way. It's the concept of guarding, of holding to oneself as a precious possession.

What Is 'The Faith of Jesus'? Two Senses in Scripture

6:00 What does the word, or, key words, the faith of Jesus mean? And here we face two possibilities. As you compare Scripture with Scripture, there are some instances where phrases such as the faith of Jesus refer to our faith which is in or directed to the Lord Jesus. Galatians 2.20, I believe,

6:24 would be an example of this. I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live. Yet not I, but Christ liveth in me, and the life which I now live, I live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. That is, I live by faith which is in the Son of God.

6:43 I live a life of faith. The just shall live by faith. If that were the meaning here, it would say that one of the characteristics, then, of a true Christian is that he holds to his faith that is directed to the Lord Jesus Christ. And that would teach something that is taught in other places in other portions of Scripture that a true believer, one who has once truly believed, continues to believe.

7:11 True faith is never the act of a moment. It's the acquisition of an attitude and a disposition. For the Scripture tells us, for therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith, what? Unto faith.

7:24 For the just shall not only be justified by faith, but shall what? Live by faith. Faith by which they enter life becomes the principle of their life. For without faith it is impossible to be well-pleasing unto God.

7:40 However, the term the faith of Jesus is also used in another sense in Scripture, and I'm convinced in comparing Scripture with Scripture, it's in this second sense that it is used here in this passage. It speaks not so much as our subjective confidence or trust in the Lord Jesus, but the body of revealed truth that comes from the Lord Jesus. You'll notice several passages that use the term the faith in this way. Jude, verse 3, is a very clear example.

8:16 Jude, verse 3.

8:20 Beloved, while I was giving all diligence to write unto you of our common salvation, I was constrained to write unto you exhorting you to contend earnestly for, the faith which was once for all delivered unto the saints. Now, it's obvious that he's speaking here of the faith as synonymous with the body of revealed truth, for he goes right on to say, for there are certain men crept in privily who were of old written of beforehand unto this condemnation, ungodly men, etc. And he goes on to explain the opposition of false teachers who were bringing in

9:04 things that were contrary to the body of revealed truth. So, the term the faith here obviously means the body of revealed truth. In 2 Timothy 4, 7, the apostle about to go into the presence of his God by way of the gate of martyrdom says, I have fought a good fight. I have kept the faith.

9:27 I have clung to that body of revealed truth. I've not pared off any of its rough edges. I've not whittled it down to make it compatible with unregenerate nature. I've not adorned it and glossed it over with human rhetoric.

9:41 I've said it before men so that I'm clear from their blood. I have kept, I have cherished, I have clung to, I have preserved the body of revealed truth. I have kept the faith. And in the closest text that deals with this phrase, in Revelation chapter 2, we have another clear example of the meaning of the faith in this sense.

10:06 Revelation 2 and verse 13, writing to the church of Pergamos, I know where thou dwellest, even where Satan's throne is, and thou holdest fast my name and didst not deny my faith, even in the days of Antipas my witness, my faithful one who was killed among you where Satan dwelleth. When the issue came whether or not men would confess their commitment to the body of revealed truth, they did not deny any aspect of that truth, but rather chose martyrdom than to forfeit one aspect of the word of the living God. So much then for what I trust will convince you as it has me

10:50 that when it is said in Revelation 14, 12 that one of the marks of a Christian of the saints of God is that they keep the faith of Jesus, it's speaking of a disposition which cherishes, adheres to, clings firmly to the body of revealed truth that focuses in and comes from the Lord Jesus. It is called the faith of Jesus because He is its author and He is the grand object and He is the focal point of that entire body, of truth.

11:35 This unique God-man, Jesus, it's interesting, it's not called the faith of Christ, but the faith of Jesus. That unique person, the enfleshed God, Emmanuel, God with us. And it is the faith of Jesus because He is its author, He is its grand object and the focal point of that revealed truth. So much then for the meaning of the words.

Why This Is the Peculiar Mark of a True Christian

12:01 The second question we want to address ourselves to do, tonight, is this. Why is this the peculiar mark of a true Christian?

12:11 Why should John describe the saints not only as those who keep the commandments of God, but as those who cling to the body of revealed truth which focuses in the Lord Jesus? Well, follow my line of reasoning and I hope you can see more clearly why this is the mark of a child of God. A Christian, is one of the fallen sons of Adam who, in some way, by some process of the Spirit's dealing, different in every case, has been brought to see his lostness, his undone-ness, his guilt

12:55 before a holy God. A Christian is someone who at some point in his life has faced this great dilemma. How can God be God and do anything else? How can God be God and do anything else?

13:07 How can God be God and do anything other than damn a creature like me?

13:12 When we were at Carlisle in the conference, the tapes of which, by the way, are now in our tape library available for loaning, I guess as soon as our tape deacon can get some copies made, Dr. Lloyd-Jones, one night preaching on Romans 3 and the principle that I'm touching here now said the good definition of a Christian is a man whose mouth has been shut. And he said it with his growly, gravelly, Welsh voice. And he took it from Romans 3.19.

13:43 Whatsoever things the law saith, it saith to them that are under the law that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become guilty before God. Has your mouth ever been shut? Until you've been brought speech before a holy God in the face of your own sin. That's a Christian, a man whose mouth has been stopped.

14:06 Stopped by the revelation of God's claims upon him. Stopped by the revelation of his holy law. Stopped by the some measure of understanding of his own guilt and depravity facing this dilemma. How can God be just and do anything but damn me?

14:23 How can he be just and still forgive a creature like me? And to that person, that Christian, who was a fallen son of Adam, having made that discovery, a blessed message has come. It has come through perhaps different means, by way of a book, by way of a friend, by way of a sermon. But this blessed message has come setting forth, first of all, a unique person who has undertaken to come to the aid of sinners who are facing that dilemma.

14:58 As they face that dilemma, God is holy, I am sinful. He has given a law. That law must be kept or I must bear the penalty of the breaches of that law. How can God relax the demands of law if the demands of law are to be met?

15:14 Death must be incurred. Either I must die in eternal death or there must be a substitute provided. But the substitute must be a man if he's to die. But if he's just another man, he's in the same dilemma with me.

15:31 So he can't help me. He must be more than a man. And yet he must be a man. And so the message comes.

15:39 The virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and his name shall be Emmanuel. God with us.

15:53 The God-man who shall then undertake to save his people from their sins. That person whose mouth has been stopped has heard the message that there is this unique person who has undertaken to do something about our dilemma. Secondly, he's then heard about a unique work which is the work of God. This unique person has performed on behalf of sin.

16:20 He who knew no sin. Galatians, I'm sorry, 2 Corinthians 5. He who knew no sin became sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in him. Galatians 3.13.

16:36 Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law being made a curse for us. 1 Peter 3.18. He gave himself for us the just for the unjust that he might bring us to God.

16:50 A Christian is someone who's faced the dilemma. How can God be just and set me free? But to that perplexed soul has come the message of this unique person who has undertaken to do something. The message has come about his unique work in which the sinless one dies for the sinner.

17:08 The guiltless becomes guilty before the law that the guilty might be guiltless. Then he has heard in the third place of the unique offer of mercy that has been made to him. This unique offer that without bringing any supposed human merit, without any long delay of penance and self-inflicted punishment, by renouncing all sin and self-righteousness and embracing this unique person who accomplished this unique work, forgiveness and pardon are secured. They are secured.

17:46 Forever.

17:48 And the person who's heard that who is a Christian has found his heart running out to Christ. That unique person who's accomplished that unique work and given this unique offer come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and he has come and wondered upon it he finds it true.

18:10 He's come. The conscience that was tormented now is present. The heart full of tortuous conflict is it. The God whom he dreaded and fame would run from his face he now approaches and says Abba.

18:35 And how did all this come about? Because a body of revealed truth was communicated to him by a tract, by a sermon, by the witness of a mother, a father, a loved one or by the combination of a dozen different things. But a body of revealed truth has come through to him. Notice how Paul describes it in Romans chapter 2.

19:00 Romans chapter 6 Romans chapter 6 He speaks of people who in the state of nature were the slaves of sin but something has happened to them. And when did it happen? Verse 17 But thanks be to God that whereas ye were the servants of sin ye became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching whereunto you were delivered and being made free from sin ye became the servants of God. When did this happen?

19:37 When a form of teaching was brought to them. And it doesn't say the form of teaching was delivered unto them but they unto it.

19:48 They were delivered unto this form of teaching.

19:53 They were committed to it. It came to them as the faith of Jesus. And by the mysterious and powerful operations of the Spirit which Jesus said are like the wind they were brought to experience its power. Therefore they are committed to cherishing and guarding and clinging to that body of truth.

20:18 Why? Because it's been the instrument by which they've been brought out of darkness into light. From death to life from guilt into a state of grace. And they say with the psalmist Psalm 119 in verse 93 I will never forget thy precepts for with me then thou hast quickened me.

20:42 How can you forget or relinquish that which has been the instrument of imparting life? You can't do it. You can't do it. And so that's the psalmist's confession.

20:55 Jesus states it a little bit differently when he describes his own in the 17th chapter of the Gospel of John. He says in verses 7 and 8 they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are from thee for the words which thou gavest me I have given unto them and they have received them and knew of a truth that I came forth from thee and they believe that thou didst send me. Then he says earlier I'm sorry in verse 6 I should have started there I have manifested thy name to the men which thou gavest me out of the world thine they were thou gavest them to me and they have kept thy word. Here's the mark of the Christian.

21:38 A body of truth has come. And that truth has been embraced and because it's been embraced and has been the means of life you can always mark a Christian as one who not only keeps the commandments of God but who keeps the faith of Jesus. That's why. That's why this is the mark of the true child of God.

Application 1: Willful Ignorance Is Evidence of an Unregenerate Heart

22:03 He keeps and cherishes that which has been the instrument of his life. Having then defined the words having I trust answered to some satisfaction the question why is this the peculiar mark of the Christian now I want to move into some very practical applications and some very warranted inferences from these principles. Number one willful ignorance of the faith of Jesus is evidence of an unregenerate heart. I use the term willful ignorance.

22:38 Second Peter chapter 3 says for of this they are willfully ignorant. That is it's an ignorance that is volitional. Light is there to be seen but it's a placing of the eyes the hands over the eyes like a man standing out in the brightness of a cloudless day at noonday and saying I cannot see the sun. You ask him why can't you?

23:04 You see his eyes are closed and his hands are over. That's willful blindness to the light of the sun. I submit to you that willful ignorance of the faith of Jesus that is the body of truth that comes from him that focuses upon his unique person his unique work. Willful ignorance is evidence of an unregenerate heart.

23:30 I'm talking to some people here as adults who ought to be thoroughly humbled by the evidence of willful ignorance of the faith of Jesus.

23:41 If you had chosen to be as ignorant of life in general and what makes it tick in business in your domestic scene in the keeping of a home in how to drive a car you'd have been taken off the scene a long time ago you would have destroyed yourself or you'd still be on the level of a little child in your intellectual development and general maturity. No, you've not remained willfully ignorant you've applied yourself to learn the skills that would mean advancement in the field of personal respect in the area of your job in the area of your home of your of your house of all of these areas but when it comes to any diligent pains expended

24:26 to know the faith of Jesus there's evidence of deep seated willful ignorance you couldn't care less to expend an ounce of mental energy let alone a few minutes of time to seek to discover more of the faith of Jesus you are not keeping cherishing adhering to counting as of precious worth the faith of Jesus no, no willful ignorance is the evidence of an unregenerate heart I say to some of you young people what a pity to be found applying yourself to other fields of human knowledge and to be willfully ignorant

25:10 of the truth as the truth is in Jesus if you're unwilling to take pains to acquaint yourself with the truth it's because you're a stranger to its power the reason you can forget the precepts of God is you've never been clicking by them and conversely if you find in your heart tonight a desire to press after a greater knowledge of the faith of Jesus you find that mingled paradoxical attitude of contentment with what the Lord has shown you but a blessed discontent and restlessness

25:55 you want to press on after the knowledge of Christ that's the evidence that God has been pleased to work a work of grace now what does your life evidence willful ignorance or volitional intent to increase in the knowledge of the faith of Christ you say how can I tell all right let's give you some help all of us without exception there's probably one two three four who haven't yet come to that time in their development in school have the ability to read we all have a Bible in our native tongue is time taken with any degree of consistency to learn its precepts the

26:40 faith of Jesus is bound up within the covers of this book scripture says the works of the Lord are great sought out of all those that have pleasure therein as the evidence our book shelves are graced with the rich heritage of Christian literature what do we do allow it to collect dust or do we make time I didn't say find none of us find time do we make time is it of sufficient worth to us to make time to increase in the knowledge of Christ how do we listen to sermons do we do everything Saturday night to

27:25 ensure a fresh mind for the preached truth Sunday or do we dissipate our energy live in such an undisciplined way that come the Lord's day the Lord himself couldn't keep us alert or awake with his preaching or like the apostle himself you'd be a eunuch that's falling asleep which is you see the man who keeps the faith of Jesus knowing that there's going to be opportunity for further exposure to the faith of Jesus deeper understanding he makes everything else subservient to this is this true of you let your own conscience in the

Application 2: Bland Indifference Is Evidence of an Unregenerate Heart

28:10 light of the word of God stand as a witness for or against your present condition secondly a bland indifference to the faith of Jesus is an evidence of an unregenerate heart you see some of you cannot be ignorant because of your heritage you can't be ignorant of the faith of Jesus any more than you could be ignorant of your own name it's part of your heritage you had a mother and dad who taught you as Timothy's mother and grandmother did from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures so you can't be in that sense woefully ignorant that was taken out of your hands and your heritage of a godly father and mother who if you don't

28:54 choose to go carry you off to church and Sunday school and whether you like it or not gather you

29:08 faith of Jesus this is as much an evidence of an unregenerate heart as woeful ignorance what is your attitude to the faith of Jesus what is your attitude to that body of truth which sets forth the uniqueness of his person which sets before you the uniqueness of his work the glory of his offer of mercy to all believing sinners what is your attitude is there any sense of spiritual relish in the faith of Jesus scripture uses terms like joy unspeakable and full of glory do you know anything of that

29:53 the kingdom of God is righteousness peace and joy in the Holy Ghost do you ever know what it is to get genuinely thrilled right down to your last toenail when God gives you a little more insight into the faith of Jesus when you're able to trace

30:15 how your salvation came to you in the free grace of God rooted in his eternal decree of election coming down by the purchase of Christ and the powerful application of the spirit when you get a little clearer sight does it cause genuine thrill in the heart when you're able to get a little clearer sight of where it's all going to end in that day when we shall delight in when we see him as he is does it cause some genuine degree of holy delight does it or is there a bland indifference the truth you know here have any effect upon the warmth of your affection is there much light and no heat

30:59 Christian is described as one who keeps the commandments of God and that keeping involves some element of heart relish in the truth therefore willful ignorance bland indifferences to the faith of Jesus are evidences of an unregenerate heart and now listen carefully to the third thing that I believe is a valid implication of the text an unwillingness an unwillingness to bear reproach or hardship for the faith of Jesus is evidence of an unregenerate heart when aspects of truth are relinquished for

Application 3: Unwillingness to Bear Reproach Is Evidence of an Unregenerate Heart

31:43 respectability for social acceptance for personal advancement for personal advantage this is an evidence that there's no spiritual life for the mark of a Christian is he keeps the testimony of Jesus and in the context he keeps it in the face of opposition even unto death the context of Revelation 14 12 and also of 12 17 is the opposition to the Christian made by this power on the one hand called the dragon and on the other called the beast and this keeping the faith of Jesus is in the midst of great hostility to that faith

32:27 I go back to Revelation 2 with you where our Lord commends this church for this very characteristic will you notice it carefully verse 13 I know where thou dwellest Revelation 2 13 even where Satan's throne is here was an area so given over to the power of the devil that the Lord Jesus uses the figure the devil has set up his throne there I wonder if he's talking about the New York New Jersey metropolitan area in 1969 he's the prince of the power of the air the whole world lieth in the wicked one but the Lord uses the figure he said his throne is there that's a pretty bad place to live in

33:12 not much conducive to godliness Satan who's a liar hates the truth hates the faith of Jesus has continually motivated men to deflect from that faith he says now you dwell right there and listen carefully and thou holdest fast my name and didst not deny my faith even in the days of Antipas my witness my faithful one who was killed among you in other words holding to the faith of Jesus meant even death for his name and the mark of a true Christian is that he would sooner relinquish the blood that courses through his veins than relinquish one aspect of the faith of

33:57 Jesus because though men kill the body clinging to Christ they cannot kill the soul but he who denies the faith of Jesus seals his faithful body and soul in hell that's why Christ said don't fear those that kill the body and after this have no can do rather fear him who can destroy both body and soul in hell scripture is clear when it says if we deny him he also will deny not the denial of the temporary fall of a Peter who in the moment of weakness denies his Lord but then shortly thereafter is marked

34:41 by a repentance just as obvious and open as his fall but that denial such as you read about in Hebrews in those frightening passages chapter 2 6 10 and 12 those denials where people facing the issue of personal gain of the loss of material possession of their job of their standing in the community weigh the issue and say it's too great a cost to adhere to the faith of Jesus and they cast it off and turn their backs upon it I submit to you that an unwillingness to bear

35:22 reproach for that faith that body of truth a willingness to endure hardness and hardship is evidence that God has imparted life that's the answer to the Roman arena when they came before the Christians and said who is Lord Caesar or Christ the Christian knew what the issue was and , to say Caesar is Lord meant a whole lifetime in which he could serve the Lord continue to rear his children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord

36:06 this before the days of social security before the days of life insurance and here's a young father three or four children a wife all dependent upon for their sustenance and someone comes to the door he's been named as one of

36:27 Lord he could reason and say well Caesar is Lord after a sin he could say with mental reservation Caesar is Lord but he knew what the issue was Caesar was demanding a kind of reverence and worship that was idolatry that had religious connotations and for a Christian to say Caesar was Lord in that sense was a denial of the Lordship of Christ and so the young man would stand on the threshold of his home and say Christ is Lord seized upon in a few hours he's a nice meal for the life the saints of God who hold to the faith of Jesus that's the answer of the arena

37:12 that's the answer of the inquisition that's the answer of the stakes that men like Latimer and Ridley counted as it were a bed of roses rather than deny their faith in the Lord Jesus and the issue and point after point was truth it wasn't that these men's lives were causing problems it's what they believed that people couldn't stand they dared to stand against all the imposing structure of Rome and say your mask is idolatrous and blasphemous our Lord offered up himself once for all when your priest says his mumble jumble over the altar and the chalice he says that our Lord

37:57 is offered up again this is a denial of the faith of Jesus and stand when Luther stands at the diet of worms the issue was what the faith of Jesus how can a man be right with God penance fastings indulgences for my faith alone and he says my conscience is held captive to the word of God here I stand so help me God I can do no other and I say my dear friend though there won't be the drama of a Luther's experience at the diet of worms with every Christian and though there may not be the same extent of a Latimer and a Ridley the sprucers in the heart of every child of God

38:39 he holds the faith of Jesus this is what's given me life I cannot relinquish what has imparted life

Appeal to Believers and Call to Doctrinal Vigilance

38:58 today and say Lord I thank you that I do have biblical grounds to claim that I'm a Christian for in spite of all the weakness and failure I do keep your commandments not perfectly but purposefully from a motive of love and I seek to respect them in every area Lord though not as I ought I do keep the faith of Jesus I do cherish that truth I know what it is to pay at least a little price with my relatives and some of my neighbors and the men at work and the women down the street for holding to the faith of Jesus oh dear child of God will you not pray with me that God will give us an increase of both of these marks

39:43 of a true Christian so that our obedience will be more implicit and more particularly as we're speaking of this tonight that our devotion to the faith of Jesus will be deeper that we will spend and be spent for both the propagation and preservation of the faith of Jesus will you listen carefully as I make the statement that I hope will stick the lines that are blurred in one generation become the lines that are obscured in the next generation a man who's lost in the woods trying to be as a sensitive eye can see where there once was a good path

40:27 and it may be overgrown in parts but there's enough there that if he's a good woodsman he can pick his way through but give it another few years and the average person will walk around in circles to his own destruction in the generation in which we now live evangelical Christians are allowing the lines to be blurred not so much that people can't find the way but listen carefully the next generation will find the lines obscured people say why are you people at the trinity church so insistent upon doctrinal precision this is why the faith of

41:12 Jesus is what he's revealed about himself and every line that he has drawn in his book is vital whether we understand how or why and it's our responsibility to propagate and preserve the faith once for all delivered to the saints lest by obscuring the lines in our generation for the sake of convenience blurring them for the sake of convenience those lines be obscured for the next generation and our grandchildren rise up and curse us we don't think of unborn generations in our day we're the now generation and I trust that God will give us the kind of vision that

41:57 thinks of unborn generations the reason you and I are here tonight is some whiplifts in Luther's thought of unborn generation and we're willing to pay prices in their own day to see some clear lines draw that in spite of all the opposition of hell are still there for us today that's the mark of a true Christian that's the mark then in closing let me just emphasize the wonderful balance of this description of a true Christian if they just had the first part here is the patience of the

The Wonderful Balance and Closing Appeal

42:42 saints they who keep the commandments of God we'd say well that seems rather legalistic Christian described as a man who keeps the commandments but because it says he holds to the faith of Jesus that slays all legalism for what is an essential element of the faith of Jesus the fact that we're accepted on no other grounds but the merits of Christ nothing in my hands I bring simply to thy cross I cling so there's no room for legalism here because an essential element of the faith of Jesus is the renunciation of all righteousness on the other hand if it simply said they who keep the faith of Jesus that would leave the room wide open for all kinds of what we might call notional Christianity people who by their heritage and background have imbibed the

43:27 faith of Jesus but there's never been an operation upon the will and affections that has brought them subject to the authority of God so that they keep his commandments so you've got to check there on mere notional Christianity they not only hold the faith of Jesus but they keep the commandments of God and when you put the two together that's the kind of Christians God makes has he made you one has he made you one is this a description of you you hold to cling to adhere to cherish the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus don't be like him he says oh I must be a Christian because my heart tells me so I ask you are you a Christian because a text like

44:11 Revelation 14 12 tells you so if not call upon God and ask him by his spirit to reveal to you something of your own sin and means that your mouth will be stopped and embrace that wonderful unique offer of mercy given by that unique person who performed that unique work on behalf of sinners and God granted as a result of some of you may be Revelation 14 12 people who were not let us pray

44:50 O Lord what thanks can we render to you for such grace and mercy as is stored up in the Lord Jesus and revealed to us in the faith of Jesus we bless you for this body of truth that has come down to us through scripture showing us not only our need but the only answers to our dilemma we bless you tonight for this wonderful word of salvation we thank you that it ever came to us when we think of the

45:35 whole areas of the world that have lived and died in darkness whole civilizations that have passed off the scene upon which there never fell one single ray of gospel light O God grant it in the midst of the fullness of the whole blazing light of the word of God we may not be found willfully ignorant lest our damnation be doubly heavy O Lord may your word do its searching work in our heart and may it lead us to the land may it lead us to the fountain open for sin and uncleanness

46:19 may it lead your true children to a deeper assurance as they've been able today to behold the work of your grace in them may their hearts be full of praise even in this hour accept O Lord our pride your word may not return unto you void but may prosper in that where unto you have sent it and for such mercies we shall give you thanks and praise through Jesus Christ our Lord