Word of Salvation – February 2025

 

Saving Faith

 

Sermon by Rev. John Westendorp on W.C.F. ch.14 & Isaiah 26:2-4

Reading: Isaiah 12 & 26:2-4; Westminster Confession – ch.14

 

Singing:        BoW.473       Faith cannot do too much expecting
–                       BoW.535       In life, in death, my comfort is
–                       BoW.190       My faith looks up to Thee
–                       BoW.117       Hallelujah, hallelujah all you people

Theme: Faith, as both a way of knowing and as trust which rests in God, brings the blessing of salvation.

 

Introd:  It’s interesting how faith and unbelief apply to things other than Christianity and religion.

I’m amazed, for example, to hear that some people dismiss the moon landing as a hoax.
These people claim that it was all staged and acted out by NASA in some huge warehouse.
They believe that no human being has ever stepped on the surface of the moon.
NASA supposedly faked the whole thing to maintain their funding for space exploration.

In contrast many of us who remember that event are convinced it really happened.
We believe it not only because we saw it happen on television screens before our eyes.
We believe it also because there were the interviews later with the astronauts.

 

Or consider a more serious example of faith and unbelief.
I’m sure all of us believe that during World War II millions of Jews were exterminated.
They were freighted in by railroad to death camps from all over occupied Europe.
We’ve seen the documentaries… the pictures of the death camps… the mass burials.

Yet today there are people who do not believe that The Holocaust happened.
They claim that the number of casualties was perhaps only a few hundred thousand.
The idea of millions of Jews exterminated is seen as Zionist propaganda.

 

The same happens of course when it comes to Christianity.
We as Christians believe in the death and resurrection of Jesus for our sins.
But we constantly meet people who do not believe that at all.
This evening we want to think about the nature of faith to help us understand why this is so.

 

A]        FAITH AS KNOWLEDGE.

 

1. Of course we know that ultimately faith is a gift of God to His elect.

When all is said and done it all depends on God giving faith to whomever He wills.

But having said that we need to go further and examine what this faith is that God gives.

 

If we want to define the Christian faith then we have to include knowledge of some sort.
Faith is not some kind of blind leap into the dark.
That’s how people often understand faith.
OTOH there are the things that we can touch and see, taste and smell.
And we know those things are real and we never doubt their existence.
OTOH there are fairies and goblins, angels and divine beings, which we cannot see.
And so you can only accept them by faith… you either believe it or you don’t.

 

We have a helpful and interesting definition of faith in Hebrews 11.
It says: Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
Basically it tells us that faith is a way of knowing… a way of understanding.

 

Let me illustrate that by reminding you that there are many things we know only by faith.
We believe the moon landing took place even though we were not actually there.
We believe the Holocaust happened even though we were never in a death camp.
But believing those things is not a blind leap into the dark.
We believe those things because we have weighed up the evidence.
You can study the available data… you can cross examine witnesses.

 

It’s the same with the Christian faith.  Sure… ultimately faith is a gift of God.

But that Christian faith is not some sort of blind leap in the dark.

 

The WCF says that by faith we “believe(s) whatever is revealed in the word” to be true and authentic.

But what Christians believe is not something unreasonable or illogical.
In the Word we can study the available evidence, we weigh up whether it makes sense.
We come to faith as we study the available data.  Therefore faith knows something.

 

2. In our text from Isaiah we also have some verses that speak to us about faith.

But I want stress right at the outset that also in Isaiah faith is not kissing your brains goodbye.
As if we have facts that we know because we have seen it.
And other facts that we know because we can work it out with our minds.
But for the rest there are airy-fairy things nobody knows about but which some people believe.

 

In Isaiah too faith is based on reason… it is based on events that actually happened.
For Israel in Isaiah’s day faith knew something to be true.
Biblical faith is always a reasonable faith… a faith you can logically defend.

For Isaiah’s people too faith was grounded in facts.
For starters, they knew from history that God had brought the nation out of Egypt.
That Exodus event was recorded for them in the Law of Moses.
They also had recorded there the Ten Commandments, given to them by God.

As if that wasn’t enough God gave them His Word through the prophet Isaiah.
Through Isaiah God gave them a great deal of information.
There were the reminders of God’s awesome dealings with them in the past.
There were some great revelations of the very character of God.
And it was all to help Israel make a reasonable decision about faith.

 

The point is that Faith always needs content… and that content has to be reasonable.
I could give you many examples of irrational… unreasonable faith.
For example, faith in the existence of Santa Clause is not a reasonable faith.
Lots of people seriously believe in Father Christmas even though it makes no sense.
For starters, even if Santa brought just one gift to every child on earth
he would need a fleet of hundreds of jumbo jets.
And to get all the deliveries done in the space of that one day
he would have to fly so fast that friction with the air would burn him to a crisp.

 

Isaiah never expected that kind of blind, irrational faith on the part of Israel.
Instead he expected a faith grounded in the reality of God’s covenant with His people.
Notice that in vs.4 it is faith in the Lord…. LORD in block letters.
Meaning that it is Yahweh, the covenant-keeping God… the God of the Exodus.
So their faith was to be grounded in the reality of God’s dealings with them in the past.

 

3. Of course the W.C.F. is talking about ‘saving faith’ – faith in Jesus Christ that saves.

Well, again… that faith is not irrational or illogical – you can check out the evidence.

 

That’s why in the NT we’re told that faith comes by hearing the message of Christ (Rom.10).
Sure, faith is a gift of God.
But God doesn’t zap people with faith like a bolt of lightening out of the blue.
God gives that gift of faith as people hear the Word… the message of the gospel of Christ.

IOW as they are confronted with the evidence about Jesus in Scripture…
as they read there the story of His doing, His dying and His victory…
so they come to faith as they gain knowledge from what they read in the Word.

 

Faith is worked in our hearts by the H.Sp but He ordinarily does that through the ministry of the Word.

That’s why it is so important for us to communicate the word to those who do not yet believe.

 

B]        FAITH AS TRUST.

 

1. However, it is not enough to say that faith is a way of knowing the truth.

There is more to faith than just agreeing that the Bible is right… or that God exists.

 

The apostle James makes that very clear.
He says: You believe that there is one God?  Good!  Even the demons believe that – and they shudder!
Just agreeing that the Bible is true doesn’t get you very far.  The devil believes that.

 

When we define faith we need to include an ‘accepting’ component.
There has to be a sense of owning and embracing that truth personally.
It’s not just a matter of knowing the truth… the devil knows the truth better than any of us.
The question is: What are you doing with what you know?

 

There has to be an element of trust in faith.
A trust that works itself out in obedience.
Let me give you an example that I often use in the Christianity Explained program.

When you came into church this afternoon you had faith in the pew that you are sitting in.
I didn’t see anyone first checking that pew.  You believed that it would support your weight.
And it was reasonable and logical to believe that.
It made sense because of the good, solid nature of the pew.
It made sense because in the past you’ve experience that the pew supports you.

But when you came into church you didn’t just stand there saying:
“I believe!  I believe… that this pew will support my weight”
No!  You actually entrusted yourself to the pew by sitting on it.
You rested your weight on that pew.

 

In a similar way, by faith, we entrust ourselves to our God – or in the words of the West.Conf.
‘By faith the believer humbly submits to and obeys God’s various commands’.

 

2. Here I love the way Isaiah talks about faith.

Just as I spoke about resting your weight on the pew Isaiah talks about resting in God.
Turn a moment to Isaiah 30 and you’ll see a lovely example of that.
It’s the language of ‘quietness and rest’ – meaning: rest in God.
Isaiah 30:15: In repentance and rest is your salvation.  In quietness and trust is your strength.

 

So for Isaiah faith is a matter of ‘resting ourselves in God’ – a matter of leaning on Him.

That idea also came out much more clearly in the old KJV of our text in chapter 26.
In the KJV vs.3 reads:
Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee because he trusts in Thee.

 

So the issue is not only: What does faith know?  What does faith agree to?
It is also a question of: What does our faith trust in?  What does it rest on, or lean on?
And that was an important question in Isaiah’s day… just as it is in ours.
In Isaiah’s day Israel trusted in many other things rather than in Yahweh, their God.
In 30:12 they are rebuked because they trust in oppression and deceit.
In 31:1 they are in trouble because they trust in… or lean on Egypt.
In 42:17 the big problem is that their confidence rests in their idols.

 

Do you see why Isaiah calls them (in vs.4) to trust in the Lord forever.
Not just now and then but always – forever.
And again, that kind of faith is not illogical or unreasonable.
It makes sense because Isaiah immediately adds: the LORD, Yahweh, is the Rock eternal.

 

3. Today we live at a time when people’s confidence rests in all kinds of things.

Our trust is in our own abilities… or our confidence rests in our government to provide for us.

We rely on technology.  There is just so much misplaced trust in our world.

We are resting in the wrong things.

 

So today we need to call people (just as Isaiah did) to trust in the Lord forever.
And we want to do that.
Because we know this covenant Lord so much better than Isaiah did.

When we call people to quietness and rest in God we know that’s possible because of Jesus.
Faith is trust.
But it is especially trusting in the finished work of Jesus.
It is resting in who God is for us in Jesus His Son.

 

And then I see that what Isaiah said about faith as quietness and rest in God applies to Jesus too.

Because Jesus invites us to come to Him if we are burdened and He will give us rest. (Math.11³⁰).

 

So it’s a wonderful picture of what faith is: it is resting in God.
That already speaks to us of peace… of an end to turmoil and stress.
Day by day we just lean our weight on our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

The W.Confess shows us too that there is more to faith than just accepting that the Bible is true.
It is ‘accepting, receiving and resting on Christ alone for [salvation]’.
An utter reliance on His finished work alone.
Trusting that what Jesus did for us on Calvary was totally adequate for our needs.
Are you resting your weary and burdened self on the Lord Jesus Christ?
That’s the heart of the Christian faith.

 

C]        THE BLESSING OF FAITH.

 

1. In our W.Confession all of this has a context.

The Confession has been looking at the various parts in the process of salvation.

 

So we are not just looking at faith as an interesting phenomena.
We’re not just dabbling in a little theory… getting all technical about the nature of faith.
No, the issue here is our salvation.
What is at stake is our forgiveness, our relationship with God, eternal life… and so much more.
What is at stake is our present life as well as our eternal destiny.

 

Faith is not just a means of being sure of certain things.

Faith is not just a resting of ourselves in God.

Faith is what we are saved by.

 

The issue is that faith plays a vital part in the process of our salvation.
If you look at the previous topics in the W.Confession you’ll see what I mean.
It has dealt with subjects like justification, adoption, sanctification.
All those various facets of our salvation.
And now it brings all those things together under the heading of faith.

 

Faith is important because only by faith do all those other blessings become ours.
Why do we rest on Christ alone?
We rest on Christ alone for justification, sanctification and eternal life.
All those things and more are the wonderful fruit of saving faith.
Faith is vitally important because it is only through faith that we are saved.
Faith saves as it embraces God’s promises about this life and the life to come.

 

2. In Isaiah 26 the context is exactly the same – salvation.

But now this salvation is pictured in vs.1 in terms of inhabiting an invincible city.

There is this grand indestructible city just waiting to take in residents.

And that strong invincible city is Zion – the city of God.

 

That’s not just talking about Jerusalem.
Jerusalem was merely a token and symbol of far greater reality.
It is a picture of the Church and of the Kingdom of Christ.
That’s why this song in Isaiah 26 calls her walls and ramparts: salvation.

Here then is pictured the empty city of God that needs to be filled up with residents.
And so the cry goes up to open the gates to let people in.

 

But then we see that not just anyone can go into God’s city.
Only the righteous nation may enter it.
And we know that Israel at this time was anything but a righteous nation.
So who could then go into this grand and wonderful city?

Well, this empty city is filled by righteous believers.
But these people are righteous only by faith.
As they rest in God… and as they have their mind stayed on Him…
He now regards them as righteous in His sight.
So this righteousness is a gift of God, given to all who believe.

 

In this way this strong invincible city will be filled up with residents.

The righteous nation of true believers will enter.

 

3. Obviously this song is a prophetic song.

The wider context is that of another city that will be destroyed.
This is part of a tale of two cities – the other city is the proud city of sinful man.
It’s symbolised by a city of Moab – possibly overthrown around that time.

The previous chapter talks about that city being trampled down by God…
as straw is trampled down in the manure.
And in the following verses it speaks of God laying that city low…
He levels it to the ground.

 

So in contrast to the city of man there is the city of God that the righteous enter.
And in that city the righteous trust in the Lord forever.
There He is their Rock eternal.
IOW it implies that this city will last forever.

 

It’s not surprising then that Revelation 21 takes up the imagery of that city.
The heavenly Jerusalem… the true Church… the glorious Bride of Christ.
And also in Revelation we are told that nothing impure shall ever enter it.
Further that those who do enter shall live and reign with Christ for ever and ever.

 

Faith is a way of knowing the truth.

Faith is a resting of ourselves in the love and mercy of God in Christ.

But faith is also the means whereby we become citizens of the eternal city of God.

 

Let’s then live boldly and courageously by faith.
Knowing that in Jesus we are already citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem.
And let’s share the gospel so that others may come to faith by hearing the Word.
And that in this way they too may join us as citizens of that eternal city.

Amen