The Saving Faith — Emanuel Esh

The Saving Faith and the Assurance of Salvation

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The Call to Be Born Again

Father in Heaven, it is good to come to the house of God. It is good to come to worship together with saints of like precious faith. Father, it is good that you have sent forth your Son. Through your great love, it is good for us, Father.

We can experience the love of God and that through Jesus Christ, we may know the Father. Father, would you now look upon this lowly man, Lord, and speak to our hearts today. Lord, that your word may come forth in the power and the unction of the Holy Ghost.

Father, you know the frailty of man. You know how frail we are. We are but dust and ashes, Lord. But you, by your mighty power, have designed and desired to dwell in these vessels of play. That you might be glorified through them.

So, Father, here today, would you glorify your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, by your mighty power. And would you glorify his name, his word, in all of our hearts. I pray, Father, for those who are under the sound of my voice even now.

Those who are listening, I pray your grace be upon them. I pray you would open up their hearts. I pray you would give them a hunger and a thirst after righteousness. I pray you would put a desire in their heart to truly know you, Father.

And to walk in holiness and in purity. I pray, Father, you would take this little bit of bread and feed the hungry. This little bit of fishes, Lord, and feed those that are hungry. Take a little bit of this water, Lord, and give to those who are thirsty.

I pray for your grace, in Jesus Christ's name. Amen. You may be seated. May God's grace abide in all of our hearts this morning. Turn with me to Hebrews chapter 10. For a few verses, verse 38 and 39. I would like to share just a simple gospel message this morning.

On the saving faith. The faith that saves. The faith that is needed in order for any man to be saved. And we'll start reading in Hebrews chapter 10, verse 38. Now the just shall live by faith. But if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.

But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition, but of them that believe to the saving of the soul. And I realize that could mean two things. It could mean unto the saving of our soul in the beginning when we first get saved by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

It could also mean to the saving of the soul, even maybe the end when we're taken up with Christ. But I believe it specifically has to do with the saving of our soul at the time of salvation. And then you could go and read chapter 11 of Hebrews and it speaks and testifies of many of the old saints and patriarchs who likewise had of this saving faith.

And they did not draw back into perdition. But they with patience. Like it says in verse 36. For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry. And there we have a picture, it speaks of that second coming of Christ.

And it speaks of having patience. We have need of patience that after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. And then the picture of these saints, Abel, Abraham, Noah, Enoch, and so forth.

They believed in God. They had a faith which saved them. They were saved by faith the same way that you and I are today. But they did not receive the promise. But they believed in it. And that's how they were saved.

Abraham believed God and was counted to him for righteousness. Abel offered a righteous gift and it was counted to him for righteousness. And so forth. I'd like to just share a simple message about the saving faith.

You could also call it the new birth or one of the thoughts I had was what is the new birth? And I'd just like to make that very clear here today. There may be people here who have never been born again.

That is possible. It's not only possible, it is likely. I believe it's true. There are souls here who have never been born again. And if they were to die today, where would they go? It would be hard for me to accept the fact that there would be people here that if they were to die today, they'd go to hell.

That would be a little bit hard to accept, wouldn't it? And most people just kind of put it out of their mind. And they think, well, I'll be okay. I'll make it somehow. But if you were to die today, where would you go?

Is saving faith a reality in your heart and life? The Bible says in John chapter 3, Except a man be born of the Spirit, he cannot see the kingdom of God. That verse stood out to me for a long time. Many, many years, even as a young man growing up, I knew that verse.

I remember the preachers preaching about that. And they said, you must be born again. In my mind, I thought it wasn't quite fair that God would give us such a clear have to, but not tell us how or when, how it's to be done or when or, or, and why couldn't we know about it?

If this is something that we have to do in order to get to heaven, then why hasn't God made it that I could know if I'm born again or not? Because you see, the teaching of the devil is you can't know you're born again.

The devil does not want people to know that they're born again. If he could somehow keep you in darkness, at the point where you would believe the fact that you can't know, he would have you blinded and you would be in darkness and in error, and that is exactly where he has millions of people today.

And millions of people are just resigning themselves to the fact, no one can really know if they're pleasing God or not. Many millions have resigned themselves to that fact. But yet, deep in their heart, there is a longing to know whether or not they're accepted by God.

There's questions going deep in the heart that are asking, Have I done enough of good things? Does my church membership really assure me of eternal life? Does my baptism really have that much power? And so, the devil also teaches false prophets or whatever you want to call them, that yes, when you get baptized, you get a clean slate.

And all your sins are taken care of at baptism. That's a lie. It's a lie from hell. It's not true. Baptism, water baptism, has no power to wash away your sins. And if you're putting confidence into baptism, that that's when you got saved, I would encourage you to think about it.

Because baptism has no power to save you from your sins. Maybe it's church membership, but church membership has no power to save you from your sins. Neither does communion cleanse your slate every time you take part in it.

As is taught by the heretics. Unbelievers doesn't. The Catholics are taught many things that they need to do. The Muslims also do many things. And many other religions likewise. There is deep in the heart a longing to please God.

And people do. And they do. And they do. Thinking that by doing, they will eventually be good enough and please God to be accepted. But what does the Bible say? We are of them that believe to the saving of the soul.

Many times things are preached that we must do in order to be accepted. And even many times things are preached that we must not do in order to be accepted. Growing up, I would say my focus was more on the things that I was not allowed to do, than on the things that I needed to do in order to be accepted.

But nevertheless, every time that I would truly get serious with God, and I would allow myself to meditate on the eternal things, then the things of the surface would kind of fade away, and the deep questions would begin to come to the surface.

Am I really born of God? Am I a Christian? Can I really know if I am saved or not? Why is it taught so strongly that we can't know that we are born again or not? Major questions. And then to finally come one day to the verse in the Bible that said, these things are written that you may know that you have eternal life.

God began to stir in my heart a desire. Why would God put that verse in the Bible if I surely can't know? First John 5 .13, where it says, These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.

And I thought of this, as I was pondering this message, I thought of the many positive, present tense words that are used to describe salvation today, here and now. Such as, ye are the children of God.

That doesn't mean someday. Even in the verse that Aaron preached on, For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth may have, present tense, eternal life. I would always understand that verse to mean that you may have eventually.

That verse means present tense. The Bible is very clear. There are many, many verses that we could look at it that way. That there is a very clear understanding of present tense salvation. This is a salvation that all who believe can be partakers of here and now today.

And yes, eventually you will be saved in the end likewise. But we must be saved now also. Except the man be born again. He cannot see the kingdom of God. Am I willing to face the judgment day with only a hope?

Is it true that we can't know? And that we can only hope? No, that is not true. That is a lie from hell. Even Jesus said in John, one place He said, In that day ye shall know that I am in the Father, and the Father in me, and I in you.

Ye shall know that I am dwelling inside of you. Ye shall know that the Father is inside of you. You shall know that it will be deep within your heart. Would I trust facing death without the assurance of salvation?

Would I be willing to face the judgment day with only a hope soul? I want to say today that if anyone is here, that is only hoping, put it away. Anyone who is listening to this message, if you only have hope, the Bible says in Proverbs, you are of men most miserable.

But if I die without true faith, then it will be too late. There will never be another chance given to me. To die without Christ means eternity in hell. Now you may be a young person here today, waking up to the fact for the first time that you are not saved.

You might even be a youth who has never tried, and you are saying it did not really work. You might be a young married couple, a young married man or woman. You might have children. You might even be a grandfather or grandmother.

It is most likely that many grandfathers and grandmothers are not saved. You might even be a preacher, or a deacon, or a bishop. John says, Jesus said that, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

Except for preachers and deacons. There is only one exception, and the exception is, you can't go to heaven unless you are born again. There is no other exceptions about it. Being ordained a preacher does not automatically give you eternal life.

Being ordained a deacon or a bishop, having spent maybe 20, 30, 50 years in the ministry, does not assure you that you have eternal life. Not at all. There is no eternal life in it. Life is in Christ Jesus alone, and in His saving blood.

There is no other way to be saved. Let me read just a little bit about saving faith here, out of the martyr's mirror. This is beautiful wording, it's a little bit wordy, but if you follow closely, you'll be able to understand.

Of saving faith, we confess, that saving faith is not vain or hidden. It's not something that is, it is not a vain or hidden thing unborn in man, nor does it consist in us having a historical knowledge, or just something in our mind, which we may even have gotten from the Holy Scriptures.

And that we have much to say about it, without having the real substance thereof. The questions about the new birth. I just could not understand it. Oh, I just couldn't figure it out. I couldn't understand it.

And that's how it is. You cannot understand it, unless you first become a partaker of it. But the real and true faith, which avails before God, is a sure knowledge of the heart, in a sure confidence. True faith is a sure knowledge, it's a knowledge, it's an assurance in your mind, which gives you a sure confidence, that God has answered my prayer, that I'm a saved child of God.

If this sure confidence, this sure knowledge is not there, then something's wrong. But the real true faith, which avails, it avails for God, it does work, it does do something, it's a sure knowledge of the heart.

It's not just the knowledge in the mind, it's a knowledge deep in the heart of mankind, which we receive from God. This sure knowledge, this assurance of salvation, is not something that you can go buy at the store.

It would be a very valuable thing, if you could somehow persuade people that you could sell them eternal life, they would surely come and buy it, wouldn't they? That is exactly what the Catholic popes and priests have been doing for hundreds and hundreds of years.

They have taken advantage of the poor people who are ignorant of these things, and they have said, we're going to sell you these things which are going to make you holy. And the poor people, they've been into that, and they've bought into that, and they've bought whatever they would say to make them holy.

But let me assure you today, no one can buy eternal salvation. You can't pay for it. There is not enough money in the treasury of the US to buy eternal salvation. All the gold in the world will not buy eternal salvation.

It costs a lot more than that. This eternal salvation is received from God. It's a gift. It's a gift of God. It's a gift of God. Not through our own power. Not by my own will. Not by my own ability. As it says in John chapter 1, it says something like that.

If I could just read that to you. I think most of us are very familiar with it. But as many as received Him, Christ Jesus, to them gave He power to become the sons of God. No, you cannot become a son of God by your own power or by your own might.

But He gave it. He gave power to become the son of God even to them that believe on His name, even to those that have a saving faith, even to those whose faith is outworking and working and continuing towards God, availing towards God unto the place of salvation.

Then that's what true faith is, which we're born of God. Verse 13 says, not of blood, not born of blood, not of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And so we see that salvation is a gift from God.

It comes down from God. It is not by the will of man. It is not by a fleshly birth. It is not of blood, not of your own blood, not of your own flesh. It is not in your own will. You cannot will it. You cannot make it happen.

God gives everlasting life. This is the saving faith. God gives it. This comes through the hearing of the Word of God, which through the illumination of the Holy Spirit is imprinted on and written in the heart.

This work of God, which is eternal life, Jesus is that life, and through saving faith, which is a faith which is active, and it's a faith that believes unto the salvation of the soul, and this is then imprinted and written on the heart of mankind.

And when God, who created the heaven and the earth, when that God comes down and dwells in the heart of an immortal man, He writes right upon that heart the eternal salvation of Jesus Christ. This is written.

It is imprinted upon the heart. I think back to Ezekiel, the prophet in the Old Testament. He prophesied of these things to come, where he prophesied and said, I will write upon your hearts. I will take out your old heart.

I will give you a new heart. I will put my Spirit within you. Beautiful prophecy of the coming of the Holy Ghost. Now we today live in a time when that prophecy has been fulfilled, the Holy Ghost has been given, it has been shed abroad into our hearts, and all those who by faith believe shall have everlasting life.

This is what's written on the heart of a believer. Everlasting life is written upon his heart. It's stamped upon him, and it comes up out of the innermost part of his being into his knowledge and gives him a sure knowledge and assurance, God has saved my soul.

That's how the saving faith works itself out. Written in the heart. Well, if it's written on the heart, something happens. It works effectively in the heart, changing the person, transforming the person, making him a new creature, taking him out of darkness, putting him into light, breaking the bondage of sin, and setting his feet on the rock, giving him a new song, taking him out of darkness, and giving him eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

This thing written in the heart works so effectually in us that we are drawn away by its power from all visible and perishable things to the invisible and imperishable things. When this thing is worked out in the heart of man, it will do a marvelous change in that person.

It will take that person and draw him away from the affections and lusts of the world. It will draw him to the invisible things of Jesus Christ, God the Father and the Holy Ghost and the things of God.

That is what this effectual salvation will do. That is what this saving faith will do if it is effectualized in the heart, written there, stamped on there. It will draw you away from the world and lust.

It will draw you away from your own way. It will draw you to that which is invisible, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. That's what saving faith does. Totally transforming the old man. Totally transforming you, the person.

Praise God. And by that, the person will acquire a new spiritual taste for that which is heavenly. And you'll lose his taste for that which is earthly. Praise God. Are you born again? Is that a reality in your life?

Has this saving faith been so effectually working in your heart that you know yes, I have been saved from my sins and yes, it has been written and stamped upon my very heart and it has given me a full assurance in my mind that if I would die today, I know that I would go to be with the Lord.

Just like Paul said, to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. That's what saving faith is all about. Has this happened in your heart? Are you certain that you are born again? Have you a new spiritual taste for that which is heavenly and not for that which is earthly?

Hence, all true believers gladly and obediently submit themselves to all the commandments of God containing the Holy Scriptures. All true believers gladly gladly young men, young ladies gladly submitting.

Is that the way it is? Is that how it is? If the Spirit of God has written upon your heart and that Spirit of God does draw you away from earthly, fleshly, worldly desires true, sane faith will do that and draw you to the Savior, to the spiritual, to God's Word.

It will affect you. It will affect you in your life. It will cause you to gladly submit. Are you born again? Is that reality in your life? Let's not fool ourselves Let's not deceive ourselves. Not only do we do that, not only do we gladly submit, obey all the commandments of God, but when necessary we're willing to testify and confess these things with our mouth before men.

Though it may mean imprisonment, ridicule, mockery, we'll be glad to confess these things. We will not try to save our lives, but be willing to sacrifice our lives on the altar, whatever it may be, whether it's fire or water, for the power of God, which preserves in the faith, strengthens those who do so, so that they esteem all the sufferings of this time brief and light, not avenging themselves, but praying for their persecutors, gladly suffering for the name of the Lord, that which is imposed upon them because of the faith, saving faith, because this has been stamped on their hearts, because this has been effectual in drawing them away from the world, because this has worked in their heart.

It has delivered them from the power of sin and the guilt of sin. That's what saving faith does. Where this true faith is received in the heart, there the fruits of the Holy Spirit manifest and come forth, and they witness and testify that the person truly is changed.

Meanwhile, the works of darkness, the unfruitful works of darkness, unbelief and so forth, they flee away. By this faith, which is the beginning of the Christian doctrine, we become children of God. We become, we are present and children of God, having been born of God.

There we overcome the world. There we are armed against the wiles of the devil. And there we become sanctified, have been and are justified, saved, washed, cleansed, made free, partakers of the benefits of God, having become a partaker of the divine nature of God.

Oh my! Here we have a beautiful picture. The divine nature of God is imprinted and stands upon the heart of a human being, and that human being now begins to act like a child of God. That's what this saving faith is all about.

It is when I recognize that I am a sinner by birth and I can't please God and I have missed the mark and I'm on the way to hell and I'm guilty before God and no matter what I do, whether it's baptism or church membership or even if I'm a preacher, nothing avails except faith in the shed blood of Jesus Christ.

Nothing. And without this faith, it is impossible to please God. Having been made a partaker of the divine nature of God, are you a partaker of this divine nature of God? Oh, what we live at such an opportunity, such an opportunity.

The saints in the Old Testament, they didn't have what we have today. They didn't have it. They lived by faith. They continued to live by faith, not receiving the promise. We have at least received a down payment of the promise.

Amen? We received a down payment of the promise. When we believe, something happened. God came. His word is written on my heart. His divine nature explodes within me. And I can't help myself anymore. Hallelujah.

I'm pressed to do what is right. I have power to live for God. That's what the new birth is all about. That's what saving faith is all about. This true faith, in this true faith, we cannot stand still.

But with humble fasting, praying, and supplication in the Spirit. No, it's not all, it's not over when you get born again. That is just the beginning. That's just the beginning. So we, through humble prayer, humility, prayer and fasting, prayer, supplicating in the Spirit, we must plead for help.

Ask God for assistance and new strength in all divine virtues unto the end, in order that God may strengthen and preserve us in the same. Some may fall away. Many start out. Let's look at the parable of the sower.

The Parable of the Sower and Persevering Faith

I think I want to look at the one in Luke. I don't know if I can find it right away. Well, we can look at Matthew 13. I know that's where it is. Someone know where it is in the book of Luke? 8? Let's look at Luke 8.

Verse 5. A sower went out to sow his seed, and as he sowed, some fell by the wayside. It was trodden down. The fowls of the air devoured it. Some fell upon a rock. As soon as it was sprung up, it withered away because it lacked moisture.

Some fell along thorns, and a thorn sprang up with it and choked it. Other fell on good ground, sprang up and bare fruit and hundredfold. When he had said these things, he cried, he that had ears to hear, let him hear.

His disciples asked him, saying, What might this parable be? And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to others in parables, that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand.

Now the parable is this. The seed is the word of God. Those by the wayside are they that hear. Then cometh the devil and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.

Now it is possible that the devil is here this morning taking away the seed, taking away the word as it is preached because hearing comes by, faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. And the picture here is that when the word of God is preached, it's likened unto a man who goes out sowing seed and some of the seed falls by the wayside.

And he says, that is what happens when the word of God is preached, he says. Then the devil comes and takes away the word as it is preached. He takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.

Now I wonder, is there any devil here this morning that is reaching down into your heart as the word of God is coming and taking that word out and simply saying, you don't need this. That's pretty explicit, isn't it?

That's pretty clear. Lest they should be saved. Lest they should believe. Well, I would, I hope that everyone here is listening carefully. And if you are not born again, I pray that you keep your heart open.

That you allow the word of God to come into the heart and that you would not be of such, as is in verse 12 there. They on the rock. The second one is, some of the seeds fall on the rock, are they which when they hear, receive the word with joy and these have no root which for a while believe and in time of temptation fall away.

Here we have a picture of some seeds that fall upon the rock. The word of God falls upon some certain hearts you might say. And those, they with joy receive it. Does that mean that they've gotten saved?

I think it's that picture. With joy. Oh, great joy. But, when temptation comes, they fall away. Because their heart is not prepared. The soil was not deep enough. It's too shallow. Shallow Christianity.

Just a little thin layer of soil on top of a rock. Shallow Christianity. Maybe it's because they're looking, trying to find, see what they can get out of Christianity instead of seeing what they can do to serve God.

I would say that would be very likely. I believe there are many people who are at the burden down with sin. They're burdened with the guilt of their life and they want a relief. They want enough relief so they can continue on their sin.

And they try many things and finally someone comes along and shares the word of God with them and encourages them to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and they believe and they expect good things and maybe the preacher told them that if they get saved they can go to heaven.

That's a nice thing to want and do but that's not the purpose of salvation. Jesus came to save sinners. He said they should call His name Jesus for He shall save His people from their sins. Verse 14. That which fell among thorns are they which when they heard go forth.

They begin and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life and bring no fruit to perfection. This is the picture of someone who gets saved and begins to walk begins to live it out and down the road maybe 5, 10, 15, 20 years things begin to happen and what are they?

Cares riches and pleasures of this life and bring no fruit to perfection. That's a very real thing in America, isn't it? Saving faith. Saved. It's a picture that we must go on. Salvation is just the beginning.

To get saved is just the beginning but oh my it's a wonderful, wonderful beginning and it's the power of God that keeps us and that presses us on that takes us on down the road and it says He keeps us also.

Well, let's look at verse 15 and then it says but that on the good ground are they which in an honest, good heart having heard the word keep it and bring forth fruit with patience. Now, very clearly it makes a distinction here.

Honest and good heart. I want to say if you have an honest and good heart and your heart is open to hear and to receive the word of God you're in a good place because the word of God is like a seed and when it's planted it begins to grow.

That's the picture. What are some of the marks of saving faith? What are some of the things that we look for in people's lives? How do we know if someone is born again? Do we just guess at that? No, we have ways.

It's very evident when you have someone whose life is totally changed. It's very evident. And it's a beautiful thing. And I praise God for that. Let's look at a few things that Let's look at some marks of the new birth here this morning.

We want to look at what it is. What the marks are. What to look for. But also before that I want to look at some of what it's not. First I want to say it is not, again, baptism. It is not church membership.

It is not communion. It is not even prayer. It is not by doing good things. It is not by doing bad things. It is not by being born in any specific religion. Whether that be Catholic, or Amish, or Mennonite.

It is not by clothes. It is not of works. In other words, what I'm saying by that You could view someone getting baptized. That in itself does not show That in itself does not prove that the person is saved.

I've watched many people get baptized who weren't saved. You could at the community table and look at all the people who are partaking. That doesn't prove that they are Christians either. You could go to a church and look at the membership rolls and count all the names, but that doesn't prove anything.

Does it? It means they are members of the church, but it doesn't say they are saved. You could go to the house of prayer. You could watch people pray and see but does prayer prove that you are saved? No, it doesn't.

You could watch people when they do lots of good things. You could see people doing good and does that prove that they are saved? No, that doesn't prove that you are saved either. Maybe we could look at people who are wearing the right kind of clothes.

Modest clothes. Head covering. Does that show that they are saved? Does it? No, it doesn't. It doesn't matter what kind of clothes you wear, that doesn't prove that you are saved. Because salvation is not of works.

Less than a man should boast. Now when people are truly saved, they will do good works. They will want to cover their body. They will want to be baptized. And they should be baptized. They are commanded to be baptized.

They should be good, solid, up-building members in the body of Christ in the local church. They should partake in communion. And they should daily spend time in prayer. They should be doing lots of good things.

They should be totally turned away from doing evil things. That's all true. But what really is it? What are the marks that we should look for? I think I've shared many of them already. But we should look for a changed life.

A changed life. I still remember the great joy of being changed. Hallelujah! After having wrestled and struggled and tried for so long, so hard to change and to be good to stop being angry and all those things.

To have that change in my life overnight was exuberating to say the least. Exhilarating to say the least. It was tremendous when God came into my heart and life and changed me overnight. The anger was totally gone.

The lust problem was gone. The bitterness, hatred all those things cleansed and washed in the blood of Jesus. My neighbor who I couldn't love that man that I couldn't get along with no problem anymore.

My critical attitude of some people who didn't quite make the grade didn't matter. I loved all men. I loved all men. Yes, praise God. A changed life, that is surely a mark of salvation. Saving faith. I'm so glad that I didn't have to learn how to be a Christian like it would be to become a Muslim or a Buddhist or a Hindu.

It would take a long time to learn how to be a proper Muslim, but it only takes it doesn't take time, it just takes God. And when God comes into your heart and life you are a Christian. You act like a Christian because you are one.

Praise God. Another mark very clearly is the victory over sin. Sin no longer has its hold on my life. Sin no longer is dominating in my life. That's a wonderful, wonderful thing to realize suddenly to wake up to suddenly come to the realizing fact that after repentance and confession and the power of God, the Holy Ghost coming into my own heart and life there was power over sin.