would be a creation because of the things that we've heard tonight and in Jesus' name I pray, Amen.
The subject that I'd like to preach to you on tonight is found in verse number 17 where the Bible says
for therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith.
Now there are several faiths mentioned in this passage. The one that stands out of course is the famous verses in verses number 15 and 16
where he says as much as in me is I'm ready to preach the gospel to you there at Rome also for I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ
for it is the power of God unto salvation. Now that's the faith that saves you for by grace are you saved through faith.
But then look at verse number 8 it says first I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.
And then in verse number 12 it says that I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me.
And then in verse number 17 the Bible says that just shall live by faith.
You see the Christian life is a life that goes from faith to faith. It starts out when you get saved by faith.
And then you go on to the next faith and the next faith and that's what I'm going to show you tonight that the Christian life is a life of faith.
Now I usually don't preach a lot of really evangelistic type sermons in church because I'm just a really strong believer in going out and getting people saved.
Going out where people are, knocking on doors, preaching the gospel, winning people to Christ and bringing them to church already saved is ideal.
Of course many times unsafe people come we win them to Christ and we rejoice and it's a blessing but we have a nursing home ministry in the afternoons.
In those nursing homes I preach more of a salvation type oriented messages because there are so many unsafe people there.
So many unsafe people are just walking by while I'm preaching because it's great they put me just right up at the front door.
And so I'm right at the front door preaching to the crowd. All kinds of people coming by and who knows they might pick up a little bit of the preaching.
A little bit of the word of God and a seed could be planted and their life could be changed. Perhaps they could accept Christ as savior as a result.
But today I preach just a little part of this sermon that I'm going to preach right now. The first point tonight is that we're saved by faith.
Now turn to John 19 and I want to show you something about this. John chapter 19 and look at verse number 30.
Now I believe that there are just two religions in this world. You could really just divide up every religion in the world just into two categories.
You say well come on brother Anderson I mean there's Hinduism, there's Shintoism, there's Daoism, there's Buddhism, there's Catholicism, Methodism, Presbyterianism.
No really there's only two if you want to really be specific about it. There's the one that's right and there's the one that's wrong.
And you could break it down even further than that into these two categories just summed up by one word. Do and done.
Those are the two words that would divide every religion in the face of the earth from what's right and what's wrong.
What's right is done and what's wrong is due. What do I mean by that? Look at verse number 30 of John 19.
Jesus says here, this is Jesus on the cross, dying on the cross he's just about to give up the ghost in verse number 30 here.
Same verse it says when Jesus therefore had received the vinegar he said it is finished and he bowed his head and gave up the ghost.
So Jesus here on the cross he's just about to die and give up the ghost and the last words out of his mouth are these three words it is finished.
He's saying done. That's how you can sum it up just in one word. Done.
Well, what's the difference between the due religion and the done religion?
Now look at Acts chapter 16. I'm going to show you the other side of the coin.
Acts chapter 16.
Acts 16. And while you're turning there I'm going to give you a little background of the story.
The apostle Paul, the great preacher that we learned a little bit about this morning also, but the apostle Paul is in Philippi.
He's preaching the gospel. He's going soul winning and he's just inflamed the community.
People are outraged at what he's preaching. I mean he's just preaching the gospel.
I don't think he was preaching anything real controversial about standards or something.
He's just preaching the gospel but people didn't like it.
It reminds me of today when I was preaching in the nursing home and I started preaching.
I was just preaching the gospel. I was preaching what I'm preaching right now.
This particular point because I preach much shorter sermons in the nursing home because you start losing people pretty fast.
But I'm preaching and this old lady just walks up while I'm preaching and starts,
This guy's out of hell. I mean that's just pointing to me.
This guy's straight from the devil. This guy's out of hell and this and that.
And so they're trying to restrain her. The staff is trying to restrain her.
She had this cane and she literally just busted out with this cane and started swinging it at them.
Just like this. And it was funny because I expected them to take this woman and restrain her.
But it was like they didn't really, they just kind of left her alone.
And she swung at them and then she kind of sat back down in the service and I just keep on preaching.
I wasn't preaching anything. I wasn't preaching on the sin of nakedness or anything.
I was just preaching on the gospel and about Jesus and she got up and started, I mean she was cursing.
This guy's out of hell and this and that. She said, you're from hell and you're alive.
And then she started blaspheming God after that, saying all kinds of bad things about God and Jesus and how they weren't real and everything.
And boy, the other old people were like, shut up. It became this big fight and everything.
But it's amazing. You just preach the gospel and sometimes people get mad for some reason.
Sometimes people don't like it. And such was the case in our story here in Acts chapter 16.
Paul is preaching the gospel. He has a man with him named Silas who he's training.
And they're both preaching the gospel, seeing all kinds of people say, well it makes people angry.
And they took and got Paul and Silas arrested. And then not only that, but they took Paul and Silas and they beat them.
Now it's so easy to read these stories and just kind of pass over it. Okay, they beat them and then what happened next?
Think about this. They whipped them, the Bible says, with stripes.
So that means that they scourged them and beat them to the point where they literally had bloody stripes on their body from where they'd been hit.
This is the exact same type of thing that happened to Jesus Christ before he went to the cross.
Thirty-nine stripes. Except did you know that Paul went through this on five different occasions?
And he received thirty-nine stripes just like Jesus did. Five different times. Well this is one of those times.
And they were beaten and thrown into jail into the lowest prison in Philippi here.
And there they are in prison, Paul and Silas. And can you imagine? At midnight the Bible says.
They're sitting there, they're chained up. I don't think that they had neosporin and bandages applied to these wounds.
I mean they were just thrown into a dungeon. And at midnight the Bible says they were chained up.
And at midnight they just start singing praises to God, is what the Bible says.
I mean they just start singing.
To God be the glory, great things He hath done, solo.
And then they're just singing the praises of God. And the Bible makes it clear. It says the prisoners hurt them.
And so all the other prisoners, they wake up and they hear, what's going on? What is it in the world? Are these idiots doing?
In the middle of the night they're singing? Look, you're beat up. You're in prison. Why are you singing?
But they're just singing the praises of God. They're just rejoicing. They're happy.
Well, as they're singing and praising God, there's a great earthquake. And it jars the doors to the prison open.
It jars the chains right off them. You know, it's a miracle of God, obviously.
And the chains fall off them. All the doors swing open to this prison.
Well, the jailer that was there, boy, he is scared. He feels this great earthquake.
Then he looks around. All the doors are open. He doesn't see anybody.
He's scared to death because his life is wrapped up in the fact that he has to keep this prison sure.
And in those days, if you study your Bible throughout, I believe it's in 2 Kings,
a story about a man who, he lets a prisoner go by accident, and he says, well, that's a death penalty.
Because your life's going to go for his life. And so perhaps that was the case here.
But this man is just trembling in his sight. He's scared to death that they're gone.
So he takes out the sword that he was guarding the prisoners with. He holds it to his own chest.
And he's about to plunge the sword into his own chest when Paul says, wait, no! Do thyself no harm.
Boy, can you imagine this story? He's already seen them singing and praising God, this jailer.
He's already seen their tremendous joy and their spirit.
And then Paul, who very well could have been beaten by this exact man the night before,
if nothing else, this man was definitely consenting to Paul and Silas being beaten.
He's the one who's keeping them in prison.
And yet Paul cared more about this man's well-being than his own safety of getting out and escaping.
And so he says, no, stop. Don't do anything. He says, we're all here. We're not going anywhere.
Well, the man went and he grabbed a lantern. And he says he was trembling and astonished.
Look at your Bible at verse number 30 of Acts 16. We'll pick up the story.
Well, let's look at verse 29.
Then he called for a light of sand and his pain trembling. I mean, he was shaking.
And he fell down before Paul and Silas. So he falls on his knees before Paul and Silas.
And he brought them out and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?
He says, boy, I've seen what you have. I want to be like you are. I want to be saved.
And notice the key word of what he said. He said, what must I do to be saved?
You notice that? What must I do to be saved?
Remember we talked about the two different sides of the coin, the two religions? There's do and there's done.
Done is what Jesus Christ said on the cross. It is finished.
Do is what this Philippian jailer had in mind. And he's saying, what must I do to be saved?
Do I have to get baptized? Do I have to join the church? Do I have to live a good life?
Do I have to repent of all my sins and turn over a new leaf and start cleaning up my life?
What do I have to do? Do I have to read the Bible every day? Do I have to help people?
Do I have to be sincere? Do I have to live a good life? What must I do to be saved?
And he says, no, you don't understand. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and I shall be saved.
We say, well, don't I have to do anything? No, you don't have to do anything because it's already been done.
It's already been done when Jesus Christ said, it is finished. It's been done.
Because the only thing that can get you to heaven is the fact that Jesus died on the cross for your sins.
The blood of Jesus Christ, his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
The only way that you can be saved is by the finished work of Jesus Christ, what he did on the cross.
Now look, you've all heard the verse, for by grace are you saved through faith.
That's what we're talking about tonight, being saved by faith.
Being saved by faith in what's been done, not faith in what we do. What's been done on the cross.
Now, listen to the verse, for by grace are you saved through faith.
And that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God. Not of works. That's the do.
Not of works, lest any man should boast.
You see, if God came to me tonight and said, brother Anderson, why should I let you into heaven?
And then I said, well, God, it's because I go to church three times a week.
It's because I read my Bible every day. It's because I do this, and I do that, and I do that.
I would be boasting. That's why God said it's not of works, lest any man should boast.
I'd be boasting. God, look how wonderful I am. God, look at all my accomplishments and my achievements.
Or, God could come to me and say, brother Anderson, why should I let you into heaven?
Because of what Jesus Christ has done, and I've been saved.
You know, when I was six years old, I got on my knees by my bedside as a six-year-old boy.
And I just prayed, and the best words that I knew how, I just said, dear God, I know I'm a sinner.
I know I deserve to go to hell. I don't want to go to hell, and I believe that you love me and died on the cross for me.
And I believe you rose from the dead, and I want you to save me right now, and be my savior.
And at that moment, it was done. It was finished.
You know what my favorite letter in that word, saved, it's got five letters in it. My favorite letter is the D.
Because you put a D on the end of any word, what's it mean? It means it's over. It means it's done.
Like kids, you've got the word play, right? Play. What happens if you put a D on the end, right?
It's played. It means you're done. You're not doing it anymore. It's over.
Well, saved is over, because, blessed be God, when I was six years old, I got saved, and it's done.
It's finished, and I'm saved because of what Jesus has done, not because of what I do.
Now, tell me something. What are you going to add to the finished work of Jesus Christ?
What are you going to add to the blood of Jesus Christ to get you to heaven?
I mean, think about it. The blood of Jesus Christ put on one side, and then this is all my good works.
Well, you put them next to each other, and God would just say,
Well, get your stupid works out of the way. The blood of Jesus Christ impresses me,
but your righteousness isn't like filthy rags to me. You're like an unclean thing to me.
He says, I love you, and I want to save you, but it's not going to be your righteousness.
It's going to be the righteousness of Jesus Christ, the righteousness, which is of God by faith.
And so the first thing I want you to see is we're saved by faith.
We're saved by faith, by placing our faith in Jesus Christ.
Now, what is faith? Faith is when I believe God.
It's when I believe that God's record is true.
He said, He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself.
He that believeth not God has made him a liar, because he believeth not the record that God gave him his Son.
And this is the record that God hath given to us eternal life.
And this life is in his Son. Notice the past tense, hath given to us.
He already gave it to me. I already got it when I was six years old.
And guess what? It was eternal life. I mean, I can't never lose it, because it's eternal.
And it's already been done. I've been passed from death to life.
I shall not come into condemnation, the Bible says.
And so it's done, but I was saved by faith.
Well, does faith stop there? Do I only need faith to get in faith?
No, absolutely not, because I need to now live by faith.
I need to live a life that's characterized by faith.
Everything in the Christian life is by faith.
That's why the Bible says, as ye have received Jesus Christ, so walk in him.
He says, the same way that you got saved is the same way that you need to live the Christian life.
You got saved by faith in my word.
Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God.
He that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me has everlasting life, Jesus said.
So you heard God's word and you believed it, and you put your faith and your trust in Jesus Christ in the word of God,
because really what you were trusting was the word of God.
Jesus didn't physically appear to you. You heard God's word.
And you put your faith and trust in what God said in his word, the record that he gave of his son.
Well, now, how are you going to live the Christian life?
It's the same way. You're going to live the Christian life by faith.
So let me show you several things about faith.
The first thing I want to show you about the Christian life, after you're saved by faith, and these all start with an S.
You know how preachers are. They like to make all the points, start with the same letter.
So, number one is saved by faith.
Number two, sold out by faith.
Turn, if you would, to Matthew 13.
Matthew chapter 13, verse number 44.
You say, what does that mean? Sold out by faith.
Look at Matthew 13, 44, and I'll show you what I mean by that point.
It wasn't just another word that started with an S.
All right, let's look at this. Matthew chapter 13, number 44.
The Bible says again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field,
the which, when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.
What are we talking about here? We're talking about sold out Christians.
We're talking about a Christian who sees the value of the things of God.
He sees the value of the kingdom of heaven.
He sees the value of God's economy, God's kingdom.
He's not mindful of the country from whence he came out,
for then he might have had opportunity to have returned thither,
but he desires a better country that is unheavenly,
wherefore God is not ashamed to be called his God, for he hath prepared for him a city.
That's what I'm talking about. I'm talking about a Christian who sees the value of the things of God,
and so he says, I'm willing to sell everything I have so I can just give myself to the things of God.
That's what I mean by sold out Christian.
I mean a Christian who doesn't hold anything back and says,
I am going to live my life 100% for God.
I'm not going to settle to be part-time Christianity,
but he says, no, I'm going to love the Lord my God with all my heart and with all my soul and with all my might.
I'm just going to sell out for God. I'm just going to sell out.
That's what he's talking about here.
Well, how are you going to sell out for God? Well, you've got to sell out by faith.
That's the way it is, and let me tell you why.
You don't see the benefits of selling out for God until you sell out for God.
It doesn't look that glamorous. You look at somebody who's maybe sold out for God,
and you say, well, that doesn't look very exciting.
They don't have as many toys as I have.
They don't really enjoy all the great television programming that I enjoy.
They don't live the party lifestyle that I enjoy.
They don't wear the fancy clothes that I enjoy,
and so I don't see what's so exciting about being sold out for God.
Well, that's where faith comes in, because this is what God says in Psalm 16.11.
I'll read it for you.
Psalm 16.11 reads, Thou wilt show me the path of life.
In Thy presence is fullness of joy.
At Thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore.
That's what he's saying.
God is saying, you want to know what joy is?
And I know I've been preaching on this the last several weeks, different times.
I've been kind of throwing in this theme of having joy in the Christian life.
It's just something that's been jumping out at me in my Bible as I read this.
But he's saying, in Thy presence is fullness of joy.
Fullness of joy is not found at the bar.
It's not found at the casino.
It's not found at the movie theater.
It's not found at the beach.
It's found in the presence of God.
And this ties in exactly with last week's sermon.
Is your heart right?
Because remember, if your heart's right,
that's when God brings you up into the chariot with Him.
And when you're in the chariot of God,
when you have fellowship with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ,
that's the joy of the Christian life.
1 John 1 says,
These things write unto you that your joy may be full.
And He says,
This then is the message which we have heard of Him,
that God is light in Him, and there's no darkness at all.
And He says,
These things write unto you that ye also may have fellowship with us.
And truly, our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ.
See, He's talking about having joy.
He's talking about having fellowship with God and Jesus Christ.
And so the joy of the Christian life is being in the presence of God.
That's where the fullness of joy is.
In Thy presence is fullness of joy.
At Thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore.
Boy, isn't that what the world is seeking when they go into sin?
I mean, isn't that where they're seeking joy and they're seeking pleasure?
When they go to all the sinful places of this world,
that's all they're looking for.
They're just looking for joy and pleasure.
Well, God says, Look, I want to give you joy and I want to give you pleasure.
But it's in My presence, and I'm not in the darkness where you are.
He says, I'm in the light. There's no darkness in Me at all.
And He says, If you walk in the light as I'm in the light,
then we'll have fellowship one with another.
And that's the joy of the Christian life,
is being in the presence of God.
You say, Well, how am I supposed to know that?
Well, you just have to know by faith.
You just have to believe that somehow,
and say, I'm just going to forget those things which are behind
and press forth under those things which are before.
Then I'm just going to give it all to God,
and I'm going to sell out for God.
I'm not going to just put my toe in the water.
I'm just going to jump in head first.
Well, if you do that, there's going to be pleasures forevermore.
There's going to be fullness of joy.
But you're never going to know that until you do it,
unless you just want to take God's word for it.
You could just believe God.
I mean, you believe Him to get saved, right?
So you could just believe Him that the only joy you're going to find
in your life is in living for God.
But most people just have to do it by faith
and just experience it.
You see, what is faith?
Faith is one of those terms that's used so often
that sometimes people don't really know the meaning.
Sometimes the most commonly used and commonly discussed topics
are the ones that we understand the least,
because people just take it for granted.
People just throw these words around.
What is faith?
You hear a lot of goofy definitions of what faith is,
because obviously we know that faith is believing something.
But for some reason,
faith is sometimes dissociated from the word of God.
Now, that's wrong,
because if you remember several weeks ago,
we were in Hebrews chapter 11 on a Wednesday night.
We were going through the book of Hebrews.
We saw that just about every person
that the Bible talks about acting on faith,
there's a direct mention of the word of God.
I mean, it starts out right away.
Through faith, we understand that the worlds were framed
by the word of God.
And then we see,
Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain,
God testifying of his gifts.
We see Noah being warned of God by faith,
Noah being warned of God,
that's God's word right there,
God spoke to him,
being warned of God of things not seen as yet,
prepared an ark to the saving of his house.
We see, you know, on and on.
Abraham, he was promised a land
that he should after receive for an inheritance.
There's the word of God right there,
God promising Abraham something.
And so everybody's faith in the book of Hebrews chapter 11
in the Hall of Faith was a direct result
of hearing the word of God.
Faith coming by hearing,
and hearing by the word of God.
Through faith also,
Sarah herself received strength to conceive seed,
and was delivered of a child when she was past age.
Why?
Because she judged him faithful who had promised.
God promised her something.
That's why she knew it was going to happen.
Yet you see people use this word faith
in things that have nothing to do with something
that God said.
Sometimes people will just do something
that doesn't make sense,
and just say,
well, I did it by faith.
And it's like, well, okay,
well, what verse are you basing that on?
You know, like,
I was thinking about this example.
I don't know why this kind of popped in my head
while I was working on this.
I was thinking about tithing
versus, you know, these big,
like, give it all type offerings
that sometimes churches have
and people have.
You know, tithing is something
that you do by faith
because God commanded you.
He said, you know,
the tithe is the Lord.
You know, 10 percent of your income
belongs to me, God says.
And God says,
I want you to bring it to the house of God
and give 10 percent.
Well, let's say I'm in a bind financially.
And I say, you know what,
it doesn't make sense on paper.
It doesn't seem how it's going to work out.
But since God commanded me to do it
and God said if He does it
He's going to bless me
and take care of my needs,
I'm just going to give my tithe by faith.
Well, that's faith
because God said you're doing something
God told you to do,
even though it doesn't make sense.
Humanly speaking,
you're trusting God
and trusting the Word of God
rather than trusting yourself.
Well, but then here's the other side of the coin.
Let's say I just have a certain amount of money
that I'm supposed to pay my bills with.
And let's say this money is set aside
and I owe my bills.
I owe SBC and SRP
and all these different acronyms
that I owe money to.
And I take that money and I say,
you know what,
I'm just going to give it all to God by faith.
I'm just going to take all my money
and just throw it in the offering plate by faith.
And God's going to come through.
Well, did God tell you to do that?
Did God tell you to take your money
that you're going to spend on bills
and throw it in the offering plate?
No.
There's no place in the Bible
you could show me where He said that.
I mean, I commend you
if you want to give money.
But is it right to give money
that you owe to somebody else or something?
No, because you're just doing something
that you dreamed up that's for God,
but it wasn't something that God commanded you.
Then it's not faith.
Whether that's right or wrong,
it's not faith.
Faith is always a result
of what God told you to do.
I've actually heard people say
about the way that I started this church,
because I started this church,
and I just worked a full-time job.
I just support myself, pay my own bills,
and I just go soul-winning
and just start a church.
Well, some people have said,
well, that's not faith.
You're not doing it by faith,
Brother Anderson,
because by faith would be
if you went around to all these churches
and got a bunch of support together
and then quit your job,
and just went around and got a bunch of support
and got a bunch of other churches supporting you,
then you'd be going by faith.
I can't figure that out, to be honest with you.
That makes no sense to me.
Because how is it faith?
Because they said you're relying on yourself
because you're paying your own bills.
Look, if I'm going around to churches
getting supported by faith,
it sounds like I'm relying on...
Let's just use the logic.
If paying my own bills
and working a full-time job to start a church
is relying on myself,
you know, I mean,
Brother Skaggs, he's taking algebra right now.
He's taking probability and statistics.
Let's just do an algebra problem, okay?
If I'm...
This is one of those word problems, okay?
I'm not going to switch up the terminology on you,
but here's the thing.
If me going around getting supported by other churches...
I'm sorry.
I'm getting all mixed up.
I see why you're struggling.
But anyway,
I'm getting...
Story problems kill me.
I like the number of problems,
but anyway,
if I pay my bills myself,
working a full-time job,
installing fire alarms,
if that's me relying on myself,
well then,
going around getting supported from churches,
it sounds like I'm relying on them.
You say,
Well, no, you're relying on God.
Well, can I rely on God
to pay my paycheck every week
from the work that I do with my own hands?
Absolutely.
And that's what God has, you know,
talked about throughout the Bible,
like Paul.
Paul did that, you know?
And there are other people
who were supported by the church
that they started,
or the church that they preached for, you know?
And the Bible says
that they that preach the gospel
should live up the gospel,
that they preached,
that people that they want in the Lord,
you know, whatever.
But the point is,
I'm trusting God
to give me the power to get wealth.
I'm trusting God
to provide my paycheck.
I'm trusting God
to give me the ability
to go to work every day.
I'm not trusting man.
If I go around getting a bunch of support,
I mean, it doesn't make sense to me.
I can't figure that out,
how that would work.
I looked up in the dictionary,
which I don't often do,
but I looked up the word independent,
just because I like that word.
Because, you know,
we're independent Baptists, okay?
And I looked this up in the dictionary,
and I don't often look it up in the dictionary.
I like to look up words in the Bible,
but the word independence
I found in the Bible.
But I looked it up in the dictionary,
and I just love it.
Number one, not dependent.
Boy, that's pretty deep, isn't it?
Pretty complicated.
Now, this is an independent Baptist church.
That means we don't depend on another church.
We don't depend on another organization.
Not subject to control by others.
Self-governing.
Not affiliated with a larger controlling unit.
Not requiring or relying on something else.
Not contingent.
Not looking on others.
And this is the Webster's dictionary.
But I was as excited as I read this.
Not looking to others for one's opinions
or for guidance in conduct.
Not bound by or committed to a political party.
Not requiring or relying on others
as for care or livelihood.
Showing a desire for freedom!
Boy, I like that.
Freedom.
That's what I experience right now
as an independent, fundamental Baptist preacher.
I have freedom!
Because I can preach.
Freedom!
Because I can preach what God tells me to preach.
I can say what God tells me to say.
I can do what God tells me to do.
Because I'm independent.
Hallelujah.
That's why I love being an independent Baptist.
Now, I'm not against people being supported by other churches.
Of course, but I just have this desire for freedom.
Call me crazy.
And so I think that equally
getting supported by other churches would be faith.
I mean, you're having faith that God's
going to provide the other churches to support you.
And getting supported by working your own full-time job
is equally faith because God's the one that gives you
the power to get wealth.
God's the one that gives me the strength to get up in the morning
and go to work.
God's the one that gives me any kind of wisdom
that I have to do my job to make money.
That's all given to me by God.
To God be the glory for anything that I earn
on my paycheck.
And so,
understand that faith is always
come as by hearing the word of God.
So if you're going to tell me that you have faith,
or if I'm going to tell you that I have faith,
I better say I have faith and this is the verse that I have faith in.
To get saved? Well, what's your faith to get saved?
Well, the verse.
The Bible verse that says,
He that heareth my word and believeth on him
that sent me has everlasting life.
That's the verse that I have my faith in for salvation.
Well, what faith do you have that being a sold-out Christian
is going to give you fullness of joy?
Well, that's easy.
That's Psalm 16 and 11 where God promised me
that in his presence is fullness of joy
and his right hand are pleasant forevermore.
That's what faith is.
Faith is always, it's not just this ethereal feeling,
this spooky haze where you say,
I'm just doing it by faith.
Faith is when you hear God's word
and you say, I believe that
and I'm going to act upon it because I believe it
and I'm going to put my trust in what God said.
I don't care what the situation looks like.
I don't care what the circumstances are like.
I don't care what I think.
I don't care what anybody else thinks.
I care what God's word says
and I'm just going to believe God.
And that's faith.
That's what faith is.
It's always God's word.
Otherwise, I mean, look, the Mormons have faith.
Okay?
Are they saved by faith?
No.
The Catholics have faith.
But the problem is, what is their faith in?
Their faith is in the priest.
Their faith is in the church.
Their faith is in their own good works.
The key is that your faith, the only legitimate faith,
the only legitimate faith is faith in the word of God.
What about faith in the pastor?
No, don't have faith in the pastor.
Don't have faith in me.
The Bible says it's better to trust in the Lord
than to put confidence in man.
Don't put confidence in me.
Put confidence in God's word.
If you want to put confidence in me,
just put confidence in the word of God that I preach.
And if I preach something that's not in the word of God,
then don't believe me.
Because only what I say from this book matters.
What I say out of my own heart, as Jeremiah said,
he said, they prophesy.
He said, the prophets that prophesy unto you,
they prophesy a lie unto you.
And God said, I've not spoken unto them,
but they prophesy out of their own heart.
He said, they're preaching to you out of their own heart.
I didn't speak to them.
They didn't speak out of this book.
They're prophesying out of their own heart.
And so faith needs to be in one place, the word of God.
That's where our faith is.
That's where my faith is.
And if that's where your faith is,
then you're in the right church,
because that's where the faith is here in this book.
Not in a person, not in an outside controlling organization,
an independent Baptist church.
This is where our faith is.
So number one, saved by faith.
Number two, sold out by faith.
That's where the joy is.
That's where the pleasure that you crave
is in being sold out for God.
But number three, separated by faith.
Separated by faith.
What does it mean to be separated?
Well, turn to Proverbs 18, 1.
And I know I say this a lot,
but this is probably, this is like one of my top five
favorite verses in the Bible, literally.
Okay, I mean, I love this verse.
This is it.
Tonight only, this is my life verse.
Proverbs 18, chapter 18, verse number one.
I love this verse.
Look at Proverbs 18, 1.
While you're turning there,
I'm going to explain to you what separation is.
What do I mean by separation?
Well, the Bible says in 2 Corinthians 6, 17,
Wherefore, come out from among them,
and be ye separate, saith the Lord,
and touch not the unclean face,
and I will receive you, and will be a father unto you,
and you shall be my sons and daughters,
saith the Lord Almighty.
He says that there's a crowd that you need to separate from.
There's people that you need to separate from,
and he says, come out from among them, as people,
and be ye separate, saith the Lord,
and, not only the people,
but and touch not the unclean thing.
Don't touch the things that they're involved in,
that are wicked and ungodly.
Don't touch the beer can.
Don't touch the, you know, whatever.
And so that's what separation means.
It's talking about living a life that's separate from the world.
Now, you say, well, what are you talking about?
You know, like, let's leave Phoenix.
Let's go out in the desert, okay,
and we're going to set up a compound where we're just totally separate.
I mean, we all need to think of God.
Now, that's not right at all, because in John 17,
Jesus said, I would not let you take them out of the world.
He said, I don't want you to take God's people out of the world.
He said, I want you to keep them from the evil.
So God says, yes, we're in the world.
And God said that it's okay for us to interact with unsafe people
and be friendly and talk to unsafe people and be courteous and,
hey, how you doing?
And, you know, you're on the job and sit down and eat lunch together.
Hey, absolutely.
But he just said, I want you to stay away from the evil.
That's what the separation means.
It means you're separating yourself from the worldliness.
You're separating yourself from the world's entertainment,
separating yourself from the world's philosophies,
and just that there's a difference between somebody who's a Christian
and somebody who's not a Christian.
Should I go to work and people can't tell the difference
between me and everybody else?
I mean, should people just look at me and say,
oh, wow, this guy's a preacher?
This guy's a Baptist?
This guy's saved?
No.
They should immediately see some kind of a difference.
They should immediately see some kind of a separation, right?
Well, here's another great verse on separation.
Ephesians 5-11, and have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness,
but rather reprove them.
He said, don't have any fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness.
Don't have any fellowship with the things that are ungodly.
Don't have any fellowship with the Beatles.
Don't have any fellowship with the Rolling Stones.
Don't have any fellowship with Queen or Queer or whatever it is.
And don't have any fellowship with the ungodly rock music.
Don't have any fellowship with the Hollywood crowd.
Don't have any fellowship with them, but rather reprove them.
You know what reprove them means?
It means to open your mouth and say, that's wrong.
That's what I'm doing right now.
I'm reproving them and saying,
I'm not going to have fellowship with that crowd,
but then I'm going to stake it a step further.
I'm going to take it a step further and I'm going to say,
not only am I not going to fellowship with you,
but I'm going to tell you that you're wrong.
I'm talking about that crowd that we talked about
when we preached on Philippians chapter 3.
The crowd whose God is their belly, whose end is destruction,
and whose glory is in their shame.
The crowd who glorifies shameful living.
The crowd who puts on top of a magazine in the grocery store
and says, I'm on my fifth marriage.
I'm cheating with my boyfriend and blah, blah, blah.
Britney Spears was married for the weekend and whatever.
That's the crowd that glories in their shame.
God says, reprove them.
Tell them, hey, you're wrong, buddy.
You're wicked. You're ungodly.
That's what he's saying.
Don't have fellowship with that crowd.
Call a spade a spade.
When somebody says to me, I'm tactful.
I'm a nice guy.
I'm friendly to people at work and I'm friendly to friends.
I get along great with people.
When somebody comes to me and says, hey, let me show you something.
Check this out, man.
Look out that window.
I'm on the job site or whatever doing fine.
Hey, look out that window.
And I look out the window and there's some girl in a bikini
or something that they're trying to show me out on the sidewalk.
And I say, you know what?
I say, hey, are you married?
And they say, yeah.
And I said, well, you know what?
I said, I'm married too.
And I said, you know what?
I'm not going to look at another woman's body because I'm married.
And Jesus Christ said that if I look on a woman to commit adultery,
I mean, if I look on a woman to lust after her,
then I've committed adultery but they're already in my heart.
And I said, do you like your wife to lust after other men?
Does that make you feel good?
I said, you're wrong.
Yeah, I reproved them.
And I didn't say it in a mean and condescending way.
I just reasoned with them.
I just said, look, I said, I'm married.
I love my wife.
And, you know, you say that and they're just like,
you know, he didn't get upset or anything.
I said, I love my wife.
I'm not going to look at another woman.
I said, you don't want your wife to look at another man.
I'm just trying to do one to others.
No.
I'm not just going to say, ha, ha, ha,
and put my tail between my legs and let them think that,
you know, that I'm a lustful pervert like they are.
And say, you know, keep your mouth shut
and then they'll just think that I was lusting too.
I'm going to at least say something to say, hey, look,
I'm going to approve that because that's wrong.
Now, I don't go around, you know, preaching to people
and being mean to people, but I'm going to approve.
When somebody tries to say, hey, come have fellowship
with the unfruitful works of darkness, I'm going to say no.
I think I'll rather approve that and say, well,
this is what the Bible says.
And by the way, the exact person that I'm talking about
right there, I won him to the Lord shortly thereafter.
So, you know, it wasn't some kind of alienating people
or being mean to people.
People are looking for somebody that's real, that's not a phony,
and a lot of times people will do something like I have to test you
because they know that you are a person.
They want to test you out and see where you're coming from,
seeing if you're really legit because there's so many people
who are not legitimate, they're fake.
But look at Proverbs 18.1, this great verse from the Word of God.
And, boy, just let this verse sink down in your ears.
Adults, I know we get the kids' memory verses,
but adults, this is the memory verse.
I want this to be your memory verse, Proverbs 18.1.
I want you to learn this verse.
And I want you to learn what it means.
It says, through desire, a man, having separated himself,
seeking an inner metallicity with all wisdom.
Now, number one, step one is desire.
Do you desire to be close to God?
Do you desire to know God, as we preached about last week?
Do you desire to have a pure heart so that you can see God?
Do you desire to be immaculate with Jesus,
as we preached about last Sunday night?
Do you desire to have fellowship with the Father
and with His Son, Jesus Christ?
Well, that's where it starts.
You've got to step one down.
Through desire, a man, having separated himself.
So first you have desire, is number one.
Number two, you separate yourself.
You don't have the wisdom yet,
because the wisdom is later on in the verse.
So first you have the desire, then you separate yourself.
That means you don't have the wisdom.
You don't even know why, necessarily,
that you're separating yourself.
I mean, you don't even necessarily know why
you're separating from something that's wrong,
but you just say, well, God told me to separate from it
and see what's wrong with it.
I'm going to separate from it anyway by faith,
because God said it's wrong.
I'm going to separate from it.
And it's amazing that after you've separated from it,
then you sneak an inner metal with all wisdom.
So the first thing is you desire to know God.
The second thing is you separate yourself.
The third thing is God gives you wisdom,
and He explains it all to you and you see it clearly.
Let me give you a perfect example.
I used to be just heavily addicted
to the wrong kind of music.
I would listen to rock music 16, 18 hours a day as a teenager.
I was going to church.
I was going soul winning.
I was reading my Bible.
I grew up in a Christian home,
I got saved when I was six years old,
but I was just very much involved in wrong music.
I had a room in my house that was not even my bedroom,
but I had a whole room in my house
that was filled with electronic music equipment.
I had synthesizers that were like,
I had one synthesizer that was $800
and just several other multi-hundred dollar items,
and this is when I was 15, 16.
And I had a four-track recorder.
I had all the music equipment.
I had all the gear,
and I had a whole room filled with it.
That was the room.
I mean, that's what it was for.
And I was totally addicted to this kind of music,
and that was what my life was wrapped up in,
was this kind of worldly, electronic rock music.
Well, I started getting closer to God.
I started reading through the Bible many times,
cover to cover,
and I started listening to preaching on my headphones.
I got some good preaching tapes in my hands,
and I remember I was listening to a preaching tape,
and I had heard preaching against rock music
so many different times,
but I just never saw it.
I just thought, well, that's a big deal.
There's nothing wrong with rock music,
and I was making rock music and listening to it,
and I remember just listening to a particular sermon.
I was working on the job, my fire alarm job,
and I heard the preacher say,
he said,
he said, people come to my office and they say,
I just don't see what's wrong with rock music.
And he said, yeah, I wouldn't either
if I listened to as much of it as you do.
He said, quit listening to it for six months,
and don't listen to Christian music.
Don't listen to gospel music.
Just listen to no music for six months.
Just quit listening to all music whatsoever for six months.
He might have even said one month, actually.
I think he might have even said one month.
Just quit listening to any kind of music.
Just only the music that you sing with your mouth.
Just listen to that.
Just sing the songs at church or sing the hymns on your own time
and get rid of all music.
And if you want to listen to something,
just listen to the Bible on tape or listen to preaching.
And I remember thinking to myself, you know what?
Every great man of God, every preacher I know,
preaches against rock music.
They all preach against rock music.
And I thought, I don't understand it.
I don't see it.
But if all these great men are preaching on it,
maybe they're right.
Maybe there's something to it.
And so I said, you know, I'm going to take that challenge.
I'm just going to quit listening to it for a month or however long.
And I remember I quit listening to it.
I separated myself from it.
And it was amazing how after a couple weeks, three weeks,
four weeks, five weeks of not listening to it,
just how it just immediately became obvious to me what was wrong with it.
I mean, just immediately.
Because I was just enchanted.
I was under the spell of that.
So, you know, I was just sucked in.
And once I was able to just step back from it
and just look at it from the outside looking in,
and I hadn't listened to it.
And I just started listening to it.
It was just ungodly.
And I just started thinking about the lives of the people
that are performing this music.
You know, I was thinking about some of the groups that I listened to,
even, you know, just thinking about the lifestyles that they lived.
And I remember one guy in particular that killed himself
and committed suicide.
Actually several.
You know, several rock stars.
You know, that I listened to, you know, that killed themselves.
And I'm thinking to myself, what am I doing listening to this music?
And then not only that, but even bigger than that,
I just watched my life transform just in those four weeks.
I watched the soul winning just become more productive immediately.
I watched just my reading my Bible become more productive.
I noticed how memorizing the Bible just became so much easier
once I'd separated myself.
And I didn't get the wisdom until after I'd separated myself.
First I had a desire.
I did have a desire to know God.
And then I separated myself, not even understanding why,
but I separated myself by faith just because God said to do it,
because preachers preaching the Word of God said to do it.
And then I got the wisdom and I understood why I did it.
So number one, saved by faith.
Number two, sold out by faith.
That's where the joy is.
That's where the power is.
That's where the excitement is.
How do you know?
Because God said so.
And you can either try and find out or you can just believe Him,
and then you can try and find out.
Number three, we're separated by faith.
If you're ever going to get rid of any sin in your life,
it's going to be by faith.
If you ever get rid of something in your life that's wrong,
the only way you're going to do it is just by faith
and just say, I'm just going to get rid of it and see what happens,
and then God will reveal it to you.
Because God's just kind of a God that wants you to just say, yes, sir.
He says, do this.
And you just have to do it.
Well, why, God?
I said do it.
I don't have to explain myself to you.
I'm God.
And then once you do it, He says, okay, son, let me sit down
and explain to you why you just did that.
And it's amazing how He'll do that.
But number four, and finally, number one, saved by faith.
Number two, sold out by faith.
Number three, separated by faith.
And then what's the result?
Number four, successful by faith.
Look at Joshua chapter one, please.
This is the last place that we'll turn.
But Joshua chapter one, and look at verse number seven,
successful by faith.
Now, the word success is only found one time in the entire Bible,
and that's what we're going to look at right now.
You want success in life?
That sounds good, doesn't it?
Success.
You can sum up everything you want in life in just one word, success.
I want to succeed in life.
I want to succeed for God.
I want to succeed for my family.
I want to have success.
I want to be a failure.
I want to succeed.
Well, look at Joshua chapter one, verse number seven.
The Bible says, only be thou strong and very courageous,
that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law,
which Moses my servant commanded thee,
turn not from it to the right hand or to the left,
that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest.
This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth,
but thou shalt meditate therein day and night,
that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein,
for then shalt thou make thy way prosperous,
and then shalt thou have good success.
Boy, this is the greatest promise, I think, in the entire Bible.
God saying, your way will be prosperous and you'll have good success.
What else do you want in life besides that?
I want to be successful with building this church.
I want to be successful when I go out soul winning.
I want to be successful with rearing my children.
I want to be successful as a husband.
I want to be successful on the job.
I want to have good success.
I want God to prosper me.
I want my soul to prosper.
I want my health to prosper.
I want my finances to prosper.
I want my family to prosper.
I mean, isn't that just what people want?
I mean, just even the world, they want to prosper.
They want to succeed in life.
Isn't that what everybody wants?
Well, God tells you exactly how to do it,
but you've got to have faith.
You've got to believe God.
You've got to believe what God told you here.
You say, well, I don't think that's the road to success.
Well, that's because you don't have faith in what God said right here in Joshua 1-7.
What does he say you have to do?
What do you have to do?
What's the formula for success by faith?
Number one, obeying God's word.
Nothing exciting, nothing glamorous, nothing fun, just obeying God's word.
It says right here, observe to do according to all the law.
That means every commandment in this book.
That's how you prosper.
You follow this book.
You've got to read this book to figure out what all the laws are.
You've got to read this book to figure out what you're supposed to do.
Don't trust me to tell you.
I'm not going to preach on every sin.
I'll try, but I'm not going to preach on every sin out there.
I'm not going to preach on every commandment that you are supposed to do,
all the good things that God tells you to do.
I'm just probably not going to preach all of them.
So you've got to get it for yourself.
And if you're going to do all the law, you've got to know the law.
What's the next step?
Number two, you've got to meditate on God's word.
So number one, you obey God's law.
That means you don't do the things that he told you not to do
and you do everything that he told you to do.
And then number two, that's not enough just to follow all the dos and don'ts and the rules.
This is where you develop the relationship with God.
You meditate on God's word.
It says right here,
This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth,
but thou shalt meditate therein day and night.
Now, the only way to meditate on the word of God day and night,
you're not going to drive down the road,
although I've been guilty of this,
driving down the road reading the Bible,
and you're not going to be working on the job with the Bible in your hand
and turning the screwdriver in the other hand.
You're not going to be laying in bed at night when it's dark and trying to have lights,
trying to read in the dark, reading the Bible.
The only way to meditate on the word of God day and night,
the only way to have the word of God not depart out of your mouth,
is to memorize the word of God, to learn God's word.
That's why the Bible says,
Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee.
That's why the Bible says,
I will put my laws into their mind and write them in their hearts.
And so you memorize the word of God and you meditate on it day and night, constantly.
And do you meditate with your mind?
Do you meditate with your ear?
Do you meditate with your nose?
No, you meditate with your mouth, the Bible says.
It's not depart out of thy mouth.
The opposite of it departing out of thy mouth is for it to be in thy mouth
because you're meditating on it day and night.
You're speaking God's word.
That means you memorize the Bible and you quote it back to yourself.
That's what it means.
You're constantly speaking God's word.
You're meditating on God's word day and night.
Boy, laying in bed at night?
Boy, you're just laying in bed at night
and you've got the word of God going through your head.
In thy presence is fullness of joy.
At thy right hand are there pleasures forevermore.
And you're just going through it.
The word of God is consuming you.
You say, well, doesn't that get boring?
Well, no, it doesn't get boring if you love God's word.
That's the key.
You've got to have the desire to know God.
You've got to have the desire to have that fellowship with the Father
and with the Son, Jesus Christ.
You've got to obey the word of God.
And you've got to meditate on the word of God.
You've got to do the light and the word of God day and night.
This is 24 hours a day.
The word of God is just with you.
And you're constantly being reminded of things about God's word.
You constantly have the fellowship with God.
This is with you 24 hours a day.
You're speaking God's word.
You're observing to do all the things that are written therein.
And you're going to make your way prosperous
and you're going to have good success.
How are you going to be sold out for God?
How are you going to be separated as a Christian life?
How are you going to be successful in your Christian life?
It's going to be by faith.
It's not going to be something where God shows it to you and says,
here, look, let me pay you up front.
Let me show you your rewards.
Let me show you how your life's going to turn out.
Let me show you the fullness of joy.
Let me give you a little taste of it.
He says, no, I'm not going to give you any kind of a sampling.
I'm not going to give you any kind of a picture of it.
He says, you're going to have to have faith,
which is seeing the invisible, God said.
You're going to have to just see it because I said it.
You're going to see it.
And when I say it and you see it and you have faith,
that's the way you're going to have these things.
God, good night.
If everybody knew that they were going to have pleasure and joy
by serving God, wouldn't everybody be enjoying it?
Wouldn't all the party crowds say, man,
oh, let's have some pleasure, man.
Let's go to church on a Sunday night at Faithful Word Baptist Church.
It's going to be joy.
It's going to be pleasure.
Yeah.
Well, the reason that they don't is
because they don't believe that it really is joy
and they don't believe that there really is pleasure in reading the Bible.
They don't say, oh, man, these drugs are nothing.
Read this.
Okay.
Why?
Because they don't believe that it's true.
It is true that reading this book is more pleasurable
than all the garbage that the world has to offer,
but you don't know that until you do it
or until you just believe that God said it.
That's why everything in the Christian life is by faith.
You get saved by faith,
and then you go from faith of getting saved
to the faith of selling out for God.
And then you go from the faith of selling out for God
to the faith of being separated from the world.
And then you go from the faith of being separated from the world
to the greatest faith of all, the faith of being success
through just constant fellowship and meditation with God.
That's it.
From faith to faith, from faith to faith to faith,
hearing God's Word, believing God's Word, doing God's Word.
That's the Christian life.
That's all.
Just get this one sermon and get this book,
and you're ready to go, and you will have what you want in life.
You will have success and prosperity, faith to faith.
Let's bow our heads for a word of prayer.
God, thank you so much.