"A Faith Worth Examining, Living for, and Dying For" by Joe Root | KFW 2025

[Music] Well, I'd like to say to that little young man, uh, Henry, wherever he's at, your daddy's name is Ben. I know what that's like. My daddy's name's Ben, too. And I can remember one time being lost in a crowd of black suits and I was hanging on to a pant leg and I looked up and that was a different face. That was a different beard and a different man than what I thought I was holding on to. And I was lost. But I'll tell you, Henry, and I'll tell you, each one of you here today, that we have a good shepherd. And the Bible tells us, I don't know if there's anyone here this morning that's lost. You might be lost, still dead in trespasses and sins. Or you might be lost a little bit, disoriented, and dizzy in your walk with God and not sure where to turn. But the Bible tells us about a shepherd that do you know what he does when one is lost? He leaves 90 and nine behind and he goes off into the mountains and wherever is necessary and he seeks that one that has gone astray. And if so be that he finds it, he rejoices more of that sheep than of the 90 and nine which went not astray. So if there's any other Henry's here today or any other boys like me that were hanging on to the wrong pant leg and needed to find a father, may the good shepherd encounter you today. God bless you. God bless you this morning. Well, we have a call this morning to talk about a faith worth examining, living, and dying for. And as the brothers shared that title with me some time back, I stared at it and I scratched my head at it. And a few days later, I stared at it more. And I scratched my head at it more. And I pondered it. And a few days later, I kept going. And it it it it seemed like, Lord, what what do you have in mind here? I think I still need to learn about this. [Music] Then I began like the Lord in his gentle way does. He began to share a thought at a time. I thought about the old Apostle Peter. Yes, that old Peter that was hanging on to the ramp wrong pant legs sometimes in his life. That old Peter who one time he was so frustrated in his own life, he said, "Just depart from me because I'm a sinful man. Oh Lord, maybe there's someone here that feels just about that close to tell the Lord, you might as well leave me. You might as well depart from me because I'm a sinful man." That's the way the Apostle Peter felt one time. There was another time when when he was trying to walk on water. He thought he could do it and he stepped out confidently and the waves got high and the winds were boisterous and he started to sink and he cried out, "Lord, save me." And the Lord did because the Lord does. But then years later, old aged Peter, he's getting ready to die. He said, "I know shortly I'm going to put off this my tabernacle even as our Lord Jesus Christ has showed me." But that Peter as he was writing, he spoke about a faith. He spoke about a beautiful faith. And I'm just going to this wasn't really in my notes, but I want to share these verses as we begin here this morning. Peter writing to the uh to the church uh scattered strangers scattered throughout Pontis, Galatia, Capidoshia, Asia, and Bethnia. Those who are elect according to the fornowledge of God the Father through sanctification of the spirit unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. He went on and said, "Blessed, blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his abundant mercy." Oh, brother Earl, you said, "What would we do without the mercy of God, I say, amen." Peter said, "Amen." There was a time he said, "Depart from me, Lord. I'm a sinful man." But now he's an old man. And he said, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope." Have you ever lost hope? Peter lost hope. I think there was a time he had very little hope. Even after Jesus crucifixion, we still see that Peter, I don't think he knew what to do. And he was restless. And if if you don't know what to do, you do something. That's kind of the way Peter seems to be cut out. So he said, "I'm going fishing." Some of the others said, "Well, I guess we'll go with you." And there he encountered the Lord. He encountered the Lord. But Peter said, "This Lord has begotten us again to a lively hope." You remember him and John ran to the tomb. They ran together. And John, that younger disciple, did outrun Peter and and he he got to the door and and he looked in, but here comes Peter puffing along behind. He just went right in. He's risen. Blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his abundant mercy has born in us again, birthed in us again, a living hope, a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Do you have reservations this morning, my brother? Do you have reservations, my sister? It's a joy to have reservations. I had a little bit of doubt in my mind. I said, I think I registered correctly for this meeting. I thought they were taking care of some of that. And then my wife started to worry because I was sewing doubts in her. But when we got here, we discovered that we did have reservations. But what about you? Peter said, "An inheritance reserved in heaven for you who are kept by the power of God through faith." Do you see the divine power of God? Do you see the response of faith that he asks from us unto something salvation ready to be revealed in the last time? Oh, what a glorious revelation that's going to be when he reveals in the last time. Well, let's think a little bit about a faith worth examining, living, and dying for a few months ago in our house in southern Mexico. Uh Melanie and I rented a house. When we got to this city, we knew no one. six years ago, seven years we've been in Mexico, but six years ago in this city after we finished some language school and and rented that house after looking at houses all over the city and finally getting on our knees in the hotel room and saying, "Lord, you know this city. Please direct us to the right neighborhood and to the right place. It's a dangerous place." And and we don't know. Would you direct us? And God did. We got up from prayer and we both were united. of the dozen or so places we looked at, that one feels like the right one. It wasn't necessarily the nicest house, nor was it the least nice, but it felt like the way God was directing, and that's been confirmed a hundred times over. So, we moved into that little rental house, and we're there to this day, uh, along a city street, but it's right by a little park. There's a little fenced park nearby, and things happen at that park sometimes. Uh there's a roofed area and there's a a little bit of b a couple of basketball goals and and there's a walkway where older folks take a walk out around the park early in the morning and but but I heard some noises one afternoon. This was a few months back and I heard some unusual noises and and sounds and kind of like when Moses and Joshua were coming down from the hill. U Joshua said, "I I think I hear the sound of war in the camp." And Moses said, "Well, it's I don't believe it's war. I think I hear the sound of music and dancing and and we know what happened after that." But but I could hear some unusual sounds over in the park. And and uh so we walked over there and I want to tell you what I saw over there when we walked over to the park. Take a look. That park was full of pilgrims. They call them pilgrims. Peragos. Uh these pilgrims are were on their way from the Costa Chica region, which is the southern small coast uh of the state down below us, the Pacific coast, a few hours south of us, but in the same state. And these pilgrims were on their way up to Mexico City because there's a basilica in Mexico City that is the most visited Catholic site on the face of the earth on planet Earth about 4 hours north of us. It's called the Basilica of Guadalupe. And uh 20 million or so people visit that site every single year, but especially in the month of December, which was when we were hearing these noises some months back. And we saw we saw dancing. All right. We saw dancing and we we heard chanting and music and and we watched for a little while as these pilgrims were preparing for their journey. And then what they do the next day, there's a truck that goes along and people run. They run. They want to suffer. They run till they get tired out and then someone else runs for a while and they they keep turning that around all the way up from the southern coast up to Mexico City to the Basilica of Guadalupe. And uh I have not witnessed this myself, but every year I've I've seen videos of this. Uh there are many people who will go the last two or three kilometers on their hands and knees crying and pleading with their faith in the Virgin of Guadalupe, which is somewhat of a Hispanic apparition of the Virgin Mary and their mindset. There's a whole uh history and legend behind that. But there are ladies with tears streaming down their faces, with their knees bleeding, crawling on hands and feet, pleading for the Virgin of Guadalupe to somehow bless their family or to somehow restore or or bring one of their children out of danger or who knows what. And men as well, crying and pleading maybe some health problem. They they millions of them faith. Just last week, Melanie and I had a a man in our home, a a new man who's came to a couple services, and he was pouring out his problems, and he has connections in government, but he's got a lot of problems with alcohol. And and with tears pouring down his face, he actually slid down off the chair, trembling on his knees, and he said, "I pray to God, and I pray to the Virgin of Guadalupe, but I still have this problem." What would you tell someone like that? pleading for help from the Latin virgin. Oh, I prayed for those pilgrims that we saw over in the park and I prayed for this man and I tried to explain to him I we'll we'll see if we get to see him next week when we get back some more that they can know that the Apostle Paul told Timothy one time that there is one God and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. There's one God and one mediator between God and man, and it's the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself an offering for all to be testified in due time. You remember Job, old suffering Job in the Bible. He cried out one time. He said, he said, "I wish I could talk to God. I have these afflictions, but I can't approach him." He said, "There's no days that can put his hand upon us both. I can't approach him. I can't talk to him. He He's up there in heaven. He's God and I'm down here. And God knew all about that all along. And he had a solution for Job and for Joe and for each one of you. And that's thatman. That's that savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the only mediator, not the Virgin of Guadalupe, not any other misplaced pant leg that someone might be hanging on to, but Jesus Christ, our savior and our redeemer faith. I'll tell you what, that's a faith worth examining. That's a faith worth living for. That's a faith worth dying for. Let's think just a moment about this first point. Examining this faith. I want to talk a couple minutes about examining this faith. Then we want to talk about living this faith. Then we want to talk about dying for this faith. Examining this faith. You know, these last several days, we've been considering the faith of men of God that I'm so thankful for. I remember when I first began to read about them and and study them and and and learn a little bit about what they did, how deeply moved I was and am. yet we've thought about them and perhaps we'll mention them yet. But brothers and sisters, this morning on this Lord's Day morning, our call is to preach the word. And so examining this faith, we want to just take a fast flight over human history, looking at men and women who walked with God, and we can see a common thread. Faith. faith. It's what God so greatly desires from us. I can remember in times of struggle, my own father telling me, "Son, the men of God that we see in his word weren't always perfect overcomers, but they were men of faith who turned back and came to God in repentance and in faith." Never, never lose your faith. Hang on to your faith in Jesus Christ. Well, we want to think about a few of those folks in the Bible. We see that common thread of faith. Remember, I wrote this years ago. I welcome your input as I was trying to summarize down in a class uh kind of a overview study of the Bible with some young people in our garage in Washington a few years ago. I I I thought, how can you summarize the Bible? And I would like to suggest that perhaps we could say that the Bible is the story of man and it's the story of God and it's the revelation of the glory of God in redemption. The story of man, the story of God and the re revelation of the glory of God in the re in redemption. That reconciliation between those two. I'd welcome your thoughts on that. Well, brothers and sisters, may I invite you today as we think about a faith worth examining? May I invite you to a high view of God. A high view of God. A high view of God above all will result in a high regard for his word. A high view of God above all will result in people praying. A high view of God above all will result in a life of faith and not of fear. A high view of God above all will result in an humble spirit and less defensiveness of myself and more looking to that sovereign God saying, "Lord, I didn't sign up for all of this, but you have a good plan in mind." As we've just heard, a high view of God above all, may I suggest, will also result in a proper view of the church. A high view of God will result in a proper view of the church. As we examine uh this faith then that is worth living and dying for, we see the ordinary men and women of God whom God used down through the annals of history until this present moment. And they were people who had a high view of who he was of God. A high view of the sovereign power, the glorious majesty, the promisekeeping faithfulness, and the marvelous loving kindness of God. That word loving kindness is such a beautiful word. If you're struggling today, I don't care where you're at, I want to encourage you to learn about the loving kindness of God. What a loaded, highpacked word. This high view of God and of his word generated and motivated faith in the lives of men and women, regular, ordinary, imperfect men and women that we read about in the Bible. that generated and motivated faith in their lives. A faith like we read about in in the 11th chapter of Hebrews when we read that that he that he that uh believe that that comes to God, he whoever wants to come to God with a high view of God must first believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Do you know that this morning? Young men, do you know God is a rewarder? He is a rewarder. Do you know how God rewards? You can't even imagine how God can reward, but it's those who diligently seek him. God, God, a high view of God. Well, let's think that 11th chapter of Hebrews does a good job of of summarizing some of those folks of faith for us. We're not going to near talk about them all, but let's just think what the Bible says about a few of them. I think about Noah first of all and in Hebrews we read that that by faith remember we're talking about a faith worth examining a faith worth living for and a faith worth dying for first we're we're wanting to examine this faith how do we examine it we examine it by by reading God's word we examine it by looking at people of faith how did they live out this faith how did it work for them and so we think about Noah. The Bible says in Hebrews 11 that by faith Noah moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house by the which he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness which is of God by faith. Did you get that? There was something that moved in Noah's heart. The Bible calls it fear. It's a deep, profound respect for God and his word. Noah was moved with fear. God spoke to him and Bo was moved with that deep respect for God. And so, he did something. He prepared an ark for the saving of his house. And doing that, he condemned the world. He brought judgment upon the others, although he invited them. He was a preacher of righteousness until the day the Lord shut the door and shut him in. I think about Abraham. Oh, the faith of Abraham. Perhaps we'll talk about that a little more in a in a few moments. But we read in the 12th chapter of Genesis, you you know how that Genesis begins with the creation of man and woman. Goes on up through chapter uh 10 talking about the dividing of the nations. There's a lot of history in those first 10 chapters and then even in the 11th chapter and then it finally introduces us to a man by the name of Abraham. And in the 12th chapter, which is really the dividing point of Genesis, now we go from a broad expanse of human history, and we narrow it down to one man, one family, Abraham, the father of the Hebrew nation, and the father of you and I as well by faith. But Abraham, the Bible says, God spoke to him and said,"Abraham, get you up out of your country and out of your kindred and your father's house unto a land that I'm going to show you." Thank you, brother. And I will make of you a great nation, and uh and I'm going to bless them that bless you, and I'm going to curse you that curse you, and in you shall all the families of the earth be blessed. there was a view much farther than just the Hebrew nation right in that initial calling and commission uh of God to Abraham. In fact, uh Galatians would tell us later that that the scripture foreseeing that God would bless the heathen through faith preached before the gospel. The gospel unto Abraham. Do you ever think about the gospel being preached to Abraham? It was in thee Abraham. and your seed shall all the nations of the the world be blessed. It would be interesting even in a crowd like this to know how many nations are represented. I bet it would surprise us right here how many. All the nations of the earth shall be blessed. I'm so thankful for that. I'm guessing quite a few of us come out of German heritage. But thank God that that there was a young man back in several hundred years after the apostles lived and died who went up north of the Ryan River. He was a captive, but he was an educated man by the name of Ufilas. And he translated he created a German alphabet and and he translated the Bible into German. And he began to teach those bloodthirsty, idol worshiing German savages about God, about Jesus. Aren't you thankful for that? Does that bring a little humility to our hearts? Aren't we grateful that in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed? That includes you and that includes me. Well, I think about Abraham and he believed God. The Bible says, "And Abraham believed God." Says that again and again. And Abraham believed God. Abraham wasn't a perfect man. He was a man of faith. He had his problems, but he believed God. He believed God. He believed God. And he followed what God said. Abraham, a man of faith. We'll think about him maybe a little more later, but I think about the faith of his wife. We often talk about the faith of Abraham, but the book of Hebrews goes to careful effort to make sure we also recognize the faith of Sarah. I mean, she went along. We can't imagine what kind of wealth she may have experienced in of the Caldes. You know, Bible critics for a long time uh criticized the Bible because they said there's no we've never discovered anything about some. Uh but now they have. I understand there's a there's a whole section of the British Museum, a very ungodly institution that that talks about and and has uh has writings and steellies that that talk about. They discovered all kinds of things about and it fits perfectly with the Bible time frame and account, which of course it does because archaeology always confirms the Bible story. But imagine what Sarah She probably had a nice house in. It was probably a nice place. They they appear to have had some wealth, some resources. Uh imagine one day Abraham says, "Sarah, God has told me that he has a land that he wants to show me and that we're to go. We're to leave our family and we're to go." What about Sarah? I see faith in that woman Sarah. Faith. But that faith clear on many, many years later. Many, many years later. Where's the boy? Where's the promised son? We're supposed to have a seed that's going to bless all nations. But I don't have any children. I'm past age. It's over now. Abraham, what what's going to happen now? that the Bible says in the book of Hebrews that through faith Sarah also herself received strength to conceive seed when she was past age. Why? Because she judged him faithful that had promised. Now sisters, I want to give you an encouragement this morning. Even if you feel weak this morning, and and I say this to all of us, but Sarah was a woman. If you feel like I don't even have any strength. I don't even know how to move forward in faith. That woman didn't either. She even laughed at the possibility at one point. But she received strength. Hebrews says she received strength. She received strength for the impossible. For what was impossible. She received strength. Why? Because she judged him faithful. It doesn't say she judged Abraham faithful. Although she I believe loved and and trusted her husband, but she judged him faithful. That means the one who promised that was God who promised. I'm going to give a seed. No, it's not going to be Ishmamail. It's going to be of Sarah. She judge, she received strength and she judged him faithful. Can you do that this morning? Are you facing something that seems impossible? If someone would suggest a solution, you would laugh at least within yourself like she did. Can you receive strength from God to trust him? Can you judge him? That means decide in your heart, in your mind, even with a mustard grade seed of faith, that he's faithful, who's promised, and so I'm going to trust him. Sarah, the faith of Sarah. We're examining this faith just a little bit. We could jump forward. I I think about Ruth. We've just read Ruth lately uh with with some young people, some college students that like to come to our home and and and have a cup of coffee and we sit around the table and and and they're curious about the Bible and they'd like to practice a little English while they're at it. So, I say, "All right, here. I've got some parallel Bibles, English and Spanish, and we're going to read scripture together. We'll read it in Spanish and then we're going to read it in English. you can correct our Spanish and then we'll correct your English. And so we've done that many many times with young people. There are there are people always waiting for that sort of thing. I wish we had more time. I enjoy that. But but uh we recently read through the book of of Ruth and I saw the amazement as we read through that story of this heathen girl, this foreign girl, this bererieved girl who could have headed back home and started life over. But no, Ruth told her mother-in-law, she claved to her, said, "No, no. Whether you go, I will go. And whether you lodge, I'm going to lodge. Your people are going to be my people. And your God is going to be my God. Where you die, there I'm going to die, and there I'm going to be buried." Uh, the Lord do so and more to me also, if ought but death separate me and thee. We know how God used that woman of faith, just that little spark of a heathen girl's faith to go along to a little city called Bethlehem. And Ruth became the great grandmother of King David. And eventually in the line of Jesus Christ, a virgin, a virgin of Nazareth named Mary, a descendant of that woman of faith by the name of Ruth. We're examining this faith, thinking about it. Hebrews goes on. We could go on and on. We could think about the faith of Moses. The Bible says Moses, that young boy in a prince's palace, all the education, the learning of the Egyptians was behind him. He had every opportunity to be the prince of Egypt. But the Bible tells us that he esteemed the reproach of Christ. Great riches, greater riches than the treasures of Egypt because he had respect unto the recompense of the reward to you. Have you thought about the recompense of the reward? Are you wrestling with a decision for deeper commitment to Christ, for a a calling that the Lord may be putting upon your life? Do you have respect? Are you willing to esteem the reproach of Christ, great riches greater than the treasures of Egypt, and have respect to the recompense of the reward? We could go on and on. I I I'd love to speak of more. I love these Bible characters. our wise God in this inspired book. 39 books of the Old Testament and 27 books of the New Testament, the 66 books of the canon of the scripture inspired and breathed out by God. He's given us, Peter says, all things that pertain into life and godliness. God has not shortch changed the church, my brothers, in 2025. God hasn't cut us short. He hasn't limited our supplies. Didn't you memorize some of you this week that uh all scripture is given by inspiration of God? That means it's breathed out by God. It comes from him. He's the source of the word of God. And it's profitable. It says uh right there in 2 Timothy 3, it's profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction and righteousness, that the man of God, the woman of God, may be perfect and thoroughly furnished, completely equipped. God hasn't shortch changed the church for all good works. Praise God. Are you examining this faith? This faith. I love this faith. Let's examine it. Let's read. Stay in the word of God, brothers and sisters. We could jump on past the time of the apostles, just a little past to the faith of Polycarp. Uh when the magistrate pressed him hard in the stadium in the center, they they said, "Swear the oath. You're an old man. Swear the oath and I'll release thee. Revile the Christ." And what did Polycarper? He said, "Four score and six years have I been his servant, and he has done me no wrong. How can I blaspheme my king who saved me?" A faith worth examining. We could jump on down and think about the faith of Waldo and Wickliffe and Hus and Tinddale and later the Wesley's. uh we could think about and we have thought about this week the faith of Felix Muntz and and Conrad Gribble and and George Blau and and uh Jacob Almond and Jacob Hooter and Alexander Mack and these men who stood in their day by faith in the word of God judging him faithful who had promised all the way down to us this morning. Have you examined this faith? Let's think about living this faith just briefly and then we'll close very briefly with this faith worth dying for. You know, one Bible verse that deeply impacted minds in the time of the Reformation that's well known uh was the just shall live by faith. But brothers, this wasn't just a new idea of Luther and of the reformers. It is the word of God. It is the unchanging word of God. I'd like you to consider with me just briefly what the Apostle Paul said, another man of faith, another man that when he was approaching his death, when he was approaching the sword of the Roman Empire for his faith, he and Peter uh apparently both died under Nero. Peter, history tells us, was crucified upside down, but Paul, because of his Roman citizenship, had rights to be killed more mercifully and was beheaded. That's what history would tell us. Be that as it may, when Paul was approaching that time, what did he say? Nevertheless, I'm not ashamed because I know whom I have believed, and I'm persuaded that he is able to keep that which I've committed unto him against that day. What have you committed to him? What have you committed to him, my brother or sister? Are you still wrestling around and struggling with with with whatever the problems are in your own life? Have you committed some things to him? Are you persuaded that he can keep them? He can keep them for you. And the apostle Paul, this same Paul in Romans chapter 1, he speaks about his desire to come and see those folks. And he says uh as he speaks about he that was of the seed of David and declared to be the son of God with power. There we see the humanity and the divinity of Christ Jesus our Lord. Seed of David, son of God. But anyhow, Paul goes on in that first chapter of Romans and he says, "For I'm not ashamed. I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ." Why? Because it the the gospel the gospel of Christ Jesus it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth. I don't care what your background is. God is powerful enough to save with his lifechanging salvation giving gospel. It's the power of God into salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. Yes. To the Jew first and also to the Greek, he says, or also to the other nations. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith as it is written, the just shall live by faith. And then he goes on and talks about the sinful condition of humanity. First of the gentile world. You can read it in the rest of chapter 1, just the downward progression of sin. And then in chapter two, he goes to the religious folks, the Jews. Uh m maybe someone like me who thought I grew up pretty pretty right. Uh like I heard a while ago, I I I can put myself there, too. And and I can remember some thoughts and some attitudes I had and even sometimes I spoke up as a pretty arrogant young man as to the way I thought people ought to be doing and thinking and and and I forgot how much I needed a savior because in the second chapter of Romans, Paul's goes on to the religious folks, the Jews. He said, "Therefore, thou art inexcusable, oh man, whosoever thou art that judgeest another. For thou that judge doest the same things thyself." you do the same things. You're inexcusable also. You need a savior also. You need a lifegiving gospel. I don't care how beautiful and religious your background was. That's what Paul said. And he was speaking also of himself. So the Gentiles under sin, the Jews under sin, and finally in the third chapter, he talks about everyone under sin. He just kind of summarizes it and said they didn't even like to retain God in in their knowledge. and God gave them up and God gave them over and and uh uh it goes on and and says even more in that third chapter, but it finally reaches a point there at the latter part when there's a big word, a little word with a big consequence, the word but. I'm so thankful for the word but in the Bible. But but God who is rich in mercy. But but that word but makes all the difference. It changes from one side to another side. And in the third chapter of Romans after all this condemnation of sin and guilt of Gentiles and Jews alike. Finally we read in the third latter part of the third chapter. But but now but now the righteousness of God without the law is manifest. Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all that believe. For there is no difference. For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. And it goes on to say, "Being justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are passed through the forbearance of God, to declare, I say at this time, his righteousness, that he might be just and the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus." Where is boasting then? It's excluded. Out of bounds. Excluded by what? Law of works? No, but by the law of faith. That's what we read in the third chapter. And we we jump on further finally in this fifth chapter. But I I I want to point out something here with the Apostle Paul. He speaks about the fifth chapter. Therefore, being justified by faith. Remember, we're talking about faith. A faith worth examining. A faith of our fathers living still. we sing, we're examining that faith. We're talking about a faith that's worth living for because Paul in Romans 5 says, "Therefore, being justified by faith," uh how how does it go there? Yes. Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom also we have access. I love that word access. You ever been shut out? You ever been locked out? There's a place called grace we read right here. But the problem is I'm out. I need access. I could see. It's beautiful. It's stable. It's It's secure. It's blessed. I'd like to be there, but I'm out. What can I do? Paul says, "We have access by faith." That's your key to get in. By faith. It's Jesus Christ and his work. But I have to make use of that by faith. I have to choose to enter in. We have access by faith into this grace wherein wherein we stand and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. But wait, live by faith? Is is this just an abstract concept? The just shall live by faith, a faith worth living for. That's the title I was given as well. Is that an abstract concept or a life-changing reality? Well, Romans 16 tells us this faith uh at the end of this same book of Romans, Paul says, "It's now made manifest and by the scriptures of the prophets according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known unto all nations for the obedience of faith." And he goes on and he says later to Timothy, I've fought a good fight. I've finished my course. I've kept the faith. And so, yes, it's a response for an unmmerited salvation that was purchased by our Lord Jesus Christ. But then there is the faith. It's all the teaching of Christ and the apostles. It's the whole body of New Testament truth that we're called to live in and we're empowered to live in the obedience of faith among all nations. Paul said, "I have kept the faith when he was a dying man." Well, brothers, it's very helpful, but it's not enough to look carefully at history to avoid making the same mistakes as generations before. We'll either make them anyway, or else we're overcorrect and make others that are worse. But history is extremely important. I've so enjoyed this week. Thank you, brothers. It's very helpful. But above all, we all realize we must carefully look at and gaze upon our savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. We we must prayerfully read and study the Bible, the word of God, and seek the very life and spirit of the apostolic church as revealed in scripture. The word of God, the word of God is quick and powerful. That can be said of no other writing. Quick and powerful. I've watched it. I've seen light come on. A as you're reading scripture and trying to explain it, and you watch the light come on because it's quick and it's powerful. the apostolic church. They continued steadfastly in what? In the apostles doctrine, the word of God we have here and and uh and of of prayers, breaking of the apostles doctrine, fellowship and breaking of bread and of prayers. This faith is worth examining. This faith is worth living for. This faith is worth dying for. You know, I don't consider myself a particularly brave man. I can and have felt fear. But oh brethren, sisters, may God, may this merciful God, this shepherd that seeks his one lost sheep, may he give us an even greater fear of him and of his word, that we might flee from corruption and deception and darkness. The fear of God, my brothers and sisters, doesn't speak of the terror of a tyrannical deity. No, not at all. But it speaks of a deep, profound respect and love and faith for our Lord God and his word. That is the fear of God. That is the fear of God. May this faith of our fathers live still in us. And if we're called to die, may he grant us courage to face death with our faith anchored in Jesus Christ. May we face death, whether it's at old age or something sooner. I was sobered hearing about the girl that died a couple days after this meeting a year or two ago. I didn't quite I hadn't known about that. But may we face death, whether it's tomorrow or today yet or many years from now. May we face death seeking to follow the true historic Christian faith of Jesus Christ which was once and for all delivered to the saints and it's preserved and revealed in the Holy Bible. A faith worth examining, a faith worth living for, and a faith worth dying for. May God bless you. [Music]