In connection with our consideration of Lord's Day 25, we turn in scripture to read from Acts chapter 8. Acts chapter 8, and we'll read verses 26 and following. Acts chapter 8, beginning at verse 26. The angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert. And he arose and went. And behold, a man of Ethiopia and eunuch of great authority under Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure and had come to Jerusalem for to worship was returning and sitting in his chariot read Isaiah the prophet. Then the spirit said unto Philip, go near and join thyself to this chariot. And Philip ran thither to him and heard him read the prophet Isaiah and said, understandest thou what thou readest? And he said, how can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him. The place of the scripture which he read was this. He was led as a sheep to the slaughter. And like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth. In his humiliation, his judgment was taken away. And who shall declare his generation? For his life is taken from the earth. And the eunuch answered Philip and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? Of himself or of some other man? Then Philip opened his mouth and began at the same scripture and preached unto him, Jesus. And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water. And the eunuch said, see, here is water. What doth hinder me to be baptized? Philip said, if thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And he commanded the chariot to stand still, and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. And when they would come up out of the water, the spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, and the eunuch saw him no more, and he went on his way rejoicing. But Philip was found at Azotus, and passing through, he preached in all the cities, till he came to Caesarea. Read God's word thus far, and it's on the basis of that passage, and of all of God's word, that we have instruction in Lord's Day 25 of the Heidelberg Catechism, concerning the important matter of faith. Lord's Day 25, questions 65 through 68. Since then we are made partakers of Christ and all his benefits by faith only, whence doth this faith proceed? Answer from the Holy Ghost who works faith in our hearts by the preaching of the gospel, and confirms it by the use of the sacraments. What are the sacraments? Answer, the sacraments are holy, visible signs and seals appointed of God for this end, that by the use thereof, he may the more fully declare and seal to us the promise of the gospel, namely, that he grants us freely the remission of sin and life eternal for the sake of that one sacrifice of Christ accomplished on the cross. Are both word and sacraments then ordained and appointed for this end, that they may direct our faith to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross as the only ground of our salvation? Yes, indeed, for the Holy Ghost teaches us in the gospel and assures us by the sacraments that the whole of our salvation depends upon that one sacrifice of Christ which he offered for us on the cross. How many sacraments has Christ instituted in the New Covenant or Testament? Two, namely, holy baptism and the holy supper. Question 65 of this Lord's Day Beloved asks this, Since then we are made partakers of Christ and all his benefits by faith only, whence doth this faith proceed? And that's a very significant question because of how precious faith is to us. Faith is extremely valuable. It is valuable because of what faith is. Faith is a bond to Christ. By it, we receive Christ and all its benefits. Faith is valuable because of what faith does. Faith believes all the truths of the gospel. Faith believes everything in scripture. all of the truth concerning our Lord Jesus Christ, and faith believes that for oneself personally. Faith is valuable also because of the assurance it gives, the assurance that we are justified, that we are forgiven all our sins, the assurance that we have Salvation from the wrath of God and from the eternal punishment of sin in hell. The assurance that we have eternal life in Christ. And faith is valuable also because of the fruit that faith produces. The thankful life of good works that characterizes a believer. The fruit of a life in which we live according to the victory over sin that is ours in Christ. A life of obedience, a life of a thankfulness, a life of walking in the commandments of God. And faith is valuable, therefore, also because of the comfort that it provides us. Comfort in all circumstances of life, the comfort that we belong to our faithful Savior, Jesus Christ. And belonging to Him, all things work for our spiritual and eternal good. Faith is valuable. And so you can understand the question that we ask, where does faith come from? How do we get this most essential spiritual blessing and ability? And that is answered here in Lord's Day 25. It tells us how faith is worked or produced in us. And it tells us also how faith is strengthened in us. The emphasis must fall upon the former, the first, how faith is produced in us. Namely, as this Lord's Day points out, that faith is produced in us by means of the preaching of the gospel. That's what the Spirit uses to work or to produce faith in us. The Spirit does also use the sacraments, and he uses the sacraments to confirm faith, to strengthen faith, but the critical thing is preaching, even as we saw in the passage that we read in Acts chapter eight. That was what the Ethiopian eunuch needed, the preaching of the gospel. Therefore, as precious as our faith is, and it is very precious, very valuable, so precious to us also must be the faithful preaching of the Word of God. Consider then the divine origin of saving faith. We'll notice first where faith comes from, secondly the means that God uses, and finally what this implies. Where does faith come from? How did we get faith? How did we become believers? Well, faith is not something that you obtain for yourself. It is not the case that God offers the gift of faith and you accept the gift of faith, and then because you accept that gift from God, you are now able to believe. Nor is it the case that God gives to his people the ability to believe and we exercise that ability and so we are the ones who produce the actual believing. Not that either. Faith is not our one contribution to salvation so that it can be said we are saved without works except for believing. No, faith is not something that we obtain for ourselves, nor is faith something that we get from others. Faith is not something that a pastor or a preacher of the gospel can give to anyone. He may be a very zealous and passionate preacher, and he may in his preaching try to move lifeless souls to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, but he cannot make a single person believe in Jesus Christ, and he cannot make a single person confess faith in Christ. Nor in that connection is faith something that you can get from your parents. Faith is not inherited. Faith is not something that parents pass on to their children. It is true that God saves his people in the generations of believers, and God promises to save believers and their seed, but parents are not the ones who can give faith to their children. They bring up their children in the fear of God. They train their children in the ways of God. They teach their children about God, about Christ, about their sins, about their need of Christ and salvation in Him. They bring their children to church. They provide for their children many, many things that are important for the spiritual welfare of those children, and they can give to their children many, many things. but they cannot give faith into the souls of their children. Faith is not something that we get from someone else. And that leads us to confess, as we must, that faith is from God alone. God is the source and God is the origin of faith. The faith that we have is divine in its origin. Faith is a sovereign gift of God. If you have faith, if you believe, if your children have faith and they believe, and that's simply because God, and only because God has given the gift of faith. By grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is, that is, faith is a gift of God. And as the canons of Dort state, In Canons 3, 4, Article 14, faith is the gift of God, and it is the gift of God in this sense of it being a gift, not that it is simply offered and it's up to us to receive this gift from God, not that God gives us the ability to believe and now it's up to us to exercise that ability, but faith is the gift of God in this sense, the Canons point out, that faith is conferred breathed and infused into us by God. Faith comes exclusively from God. And in saying that, we understand that every aspect of faith comes from God. Every aspect of faith is God's gift and God's work. in us. It is God who puts the bond of faith in place so that we are united to Christ and there is that spiritual connection between us and our Savior. It is God who produces the activity of faith, the activity of a certain knowledge and assured confidence in God through Christ. It is God who makes our faith fruitful so that we live a life of faith and we do the works of faith in our lives. And it is God who strengthens faith, who removes any doubts that we may have, and who makes faith stronger and stronger by means of his word and spirit. And it is God who preserves us in the faith so that you believe in Christ until you die. And you live and die as a believer. And you confess, for me to live is Christ and to die is gain. That's all the work of God. And the canons of Dort make that very explicit when the canons in Head 3, 4, Article 14 point out that God, quote, produces both the will to believe and the act of believing also. God produces the act of believing in us. We don't. Why do you believe the Bible? Why do you believe what the Bible teaches? Why do you believe what the Bible teaches about creation and about the miracles that God has performed? Why do you believe what Scripture teaches you about sin and about the sovereignty of God? Why do you believe what the Bible teaches about hell and about heaven? And why do you believe all these things even though there are many around us who deny all these things? Because God produces in you and me the act of believing also. And that's why you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why you believe and trust in him for everything that you need for your souls and for your earthly life. That's why you believe that you are a sinner and that all of your sins are forgiven, and that's why you believe that God is your heavenly Father and you are in His hands, and He is directing you along your earthly pilgrimage to bring you to eternal life in heaven with Him. You believe that. because God produces in us not only the will to believe, but the act of believing also. And that's why you believe too that all is well, and all things work for your good. You may not understand how that is so, You may not understand how sickness or accidents or troubles in home and family or in the church or at work or even death works for your good, but you have faith. You believe what God says concerning this. You live by faith and not by sight. because God produces in you the act of believing. Faith is a gift and a work of God, and something for us to be very thankful for, too. Of course, if faith were not the gift of God, and it was in fact our work, We produce faith, as some say, then we must not thank God only and would not thank God only. Then we would have reason instead to boast a little bit about our part in this. But if faith is the gift of God, as we have described it, and as it certainly is, then we are bound to give thanks to God for the gift of faith. And we will do so all the more if we realize that it is a gracious gift of God, a gift of God that is given to and worked in undeserving sinners. Thanks be to God for the gift of faith. Faith is worked in us by the Holy Spirit of God, as the catechism points out. And the Spirit in working faith in us uses means to do it, because God is a God who uses means. God uses means to give us life, namely food and shelter. God uses means to give us our daily bread, namely our work. Our daily bread doesn't fall from the sky. God uses means to give it to us. God uses means to cause something to grow. You put a seed in the ground and God uses the rain and the sunshine and the fertilizer to make it grow. So God also uses means to give us faith. The spirit of God is of course almighty and the spirit of God could certainly work faith in us without using means. The spirit could powerfully and mysteriously put faith inside us and then suddenly one day you wake up and you discover Now I have faith, now I believe. But it's not a question, beloved, of what the Spirit can do, but of what He wills to do. It's not a question of the Spirit's power to do it in that way, but it's a question of what God has decided and of what God has revealed to us as the way in which He works faith in our hearts. And God has decided that the means that He will use to work to produce faith in His elect people is the preaching of the gospel. Notice how the catechism spells that out for us in answer 65. Where does this faith come from? From where does it proceed? from the Holy Ghost who works faith in our hearts by the preaching of the gospel?" Answer 67, the Holy Ghost teaches us in the gospel, that is in the preaching of the gospel. In Romans 10, 17, so then faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God, the preaching of the Word. is the means that God uses to produce faith in us. Preaching is the chief means of grace. Or we could even say preaching is the chief means of faith. That's the same thing. Preaching is not the only means of grace, not the only means of faith. God uses other things, too, to strengthen our faith. God uses the sacraments, as this Lord's Day points out, and as we'll see in more detail in the Lord's Days to come. And He specifically uses the sacraments to strengthen the assurance of faith. And so the sacraments are a means of grace, a means of faith. God also uses spiritual activities in our lives to strengthen our faith. Our reading of His Word and our meditation upon His Word for the strengthening of faith. Prayer for the strengthening of faith. and even conversations with our fellow believers concerning spiritual things for the strengthening of our faith, and our study of the Word of God together for the strengthening of our faith. And God even uses afflictions for the strengthening of our faith. So that we say with the psalmist in Psalm 119, before I was afflicted, I strayed, and then also confess with the psalmist, affliction has been for my profit, for the profit of our faith. is the chief means of grace, the chief and most important and primary means that God uses to work faith in us, and that is made clear in this Lord's Day by the comparison that is made between the preaching and the sacraments. You'll notice how The Lord's Day points out that God works faith in our hearts by the preaching and then confirms it by the use of the sacraments. The sacraments serve only to confirm faith, not to work it, not to produce it. Faith must already be in existence in us in order for the sacraments to benefit us. works faith. The preaching is the means that God uses by the Spirit to produce faith in us, that is, to produce in us, as we noted earlier, the act of believing, the act of believing. The Holy Spirit uses the preaching to bring your faith to life. Without the preaching of the gospel, a person would not believe and could not believe. Without the preaching of the gospel, a person would remain in unbelief and spiritual darkness. As Romans 10 verse 14 points out, how can they call upon the name of the Lord, and how can they believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and how can they hear Jesus Christ without a preacher. Through preaching, our faith is brought to life. Through preaching, our faith is brought to life because we hear the voice of Christ in preaching, and we are brought to conscious faith in Him, and we believe in Him, and we become aware of and conscious of and enriched in the enjoyment of all the blessings of Christ that He has earned for us and that are freely given. Preaching is the means God uses for that. The sacraments confirm faith. Preaching works. faith in our hearts. But then in addition to that, the preaching also confirms faith. The preaching accomplishes two things. It does the same thing as the sacraments do. It does it by means of The words that are spoken, the sacraments confirm faith by means especially of the picture that God gives to us and the Spirit's use of that. But the point is, whereas the sacraments only confirm faith, the preaching not only works and produces faith in us, but also confirms it, also strengthens it. From Lord's Day to Lord's Day, from sermon to sermon. We hear the gospel, that increases our knowledge, the knowledge of faith. We hear the gospel and that increases the confidence of faith. We hear the preaching of the Word as those who already have had faith worked in us by the preaching of the Word previously, and we say, that Word spoke to me. I heard Christ speak to me through the preaching of the gospel today. I was humbled. I was admonished. I was brought to repentance by that Word of Christ today. I was comforted in my heart by that Word of Christ today. I was truly fed in my soul by the Word of Christ today, and now faith is strengthened. We're built up from Lord's Day to Lord's Day in our faith by the preaching of the Word, strengthened in the joy of salvation, strengthened in the thanksgiving that we show to God, strengthened in this aspect of faith, namely the fruits of faith, the life of good works that flow out of faith as expression of our gratitude to God. strengthened in the peace that we have in our souls. And we go home being strengthened by the preaching, changed. And in the words of verse 39 of Acts 8, as was true of the eunuch, we go home rejoicing. Speaking of that Ethiopian eunuch, the importance of preaching is certainly seen in his conversion, as that's recorded in Acts chapter eight. This man was returning from Jerusalem, where he had worshiped. He was reading the Bible. He was reading a passage from the Old Testament, recognize where it comes from, Isaiah chapter 53. He was reading a word of God from the Old Testament that you would say set forth or sets forth more clearly than any other Old Testament passage, Christ and Him crucified. And this man had just been to the temple. where he had seen at the temple the things concerning Christ and him crucified. But seeing all that and now reading the scriptures concerning Christ and him crucified, that wasn't enough. It didn't make sense to him. When Philip asked him this, understandest thou what thou readest, the man had to say, No, I don't. And he said this too. He said in verse 34, of whom speaketh the prophet this? Of himself or of some other man? And then earlier, how can I understand except some man should guide me? What is Isaiah talking about here? I don't get it. I don't get it. I don't understand. It doesn't make any sense to me. The eunuch needed preaching. He needed someone to explain that scripture to him, and God provided Philip, Philip who was an evangelist. who was called and ordained to be a preacher, and he opened up the scriptures to him. Verse 35 says, Philip opened his mouth, and it began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus. He preached Christ and him crucified. He preached the gospel to this man, and the Spirit used that preaching to make a believer out of the unit. And he believed, and he confessed, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He believed that Christ was his Savior. And then the Spirit also used the sacrament. In this instance, the sacrament of baptism. So that what the Lord's Day mentions, namely that God works faith in us by the preaching and then confirms it by the sacrament, is true and is spelled forth here also in Acts chapter 8, the eunuch was baptized. And that showed him visibly what he had heard from Philip in the preaching of the gospel. And that sacrament, therefore, by the Spirit's work through that sacrament, sealed to the soul of that man, just as baptism and the Lord's Supper do to us, sealed to his soul the washing away of his sins by Jesus Christ. That leads to the words at the end of verse 39. He went on his way rejoicing. The word to work faith and the sacrament to confirm it. What does all this imply for us? Well, first of all, this, beloved, if preaching is the chief means of grace, the chief means of faith, as it certainly is, then we will sincerely desire and seek after the preaching of the gospel, and not just any preaching, but true and faithful preaching of the gospel. That will determine where we are members. We don't decide on church membership on the basis of where the people are the most friendly. We don't decide on our church membership on the basis of where we feel most welcome, where we fit in best. We don't decide on our church membership as far as the denomination of churches is concerned on the basis of, well, where's my boyfriend, where's my girlfriend from? Where do they attend? But we decide on the basis of where the gospel is faithfully preached, where the truth of Christ is faithfully expounded, and where Christ Himself is proclaimed to us in the preaching. The believer who values his faith And the believer who values his salvation for himself personally not only, but also if a parent for his family, for the children that God gives, says, I don't want a watered-down gospel that won't comfort my soul, that will be ineffective with regard to the working and strengthening of my faith. In fact, that sort of gospel will be detrimental to my faith. My faith will get weaker and weaker under the preaching that is not faithful to the Word of God, and my soul could very well fill up with more doubt and more fear instead of more comfort and more hope. The believer says, I need the truth, the faithful preaching of the Word of God for the welfare of my soul. Secondly, this implies this, that preaching is and that we will see to it that it is prominent in worship, not diminishing the preaching and not replacing the preaching, and not thinking, as many do, that there are other things that we could introduce into our worship that would be more effective more music or choirs or bands or even movies and testimonials. Let's introduce some of them into our worship because, as is argued by those who do, these work better. These are more effective. These are a means to bring people more regularly to church. These are good for producing more activity in the life of Christians. The believer says, who treasures his faith and his salvation says, I'm not interested in those things in the worship service. And I'm not interested in them simply because they are not the means that God has revealed in His Word that the Spirit uses for the working and the strengthening of my faith. And if they are not the God-appointed means, they are simply gimmicks. They will not reach or feed the soul. They will not turn one to an urgent and sincere desire after the Lord Jesus Christ. Those kinds of things might stir the emotions of a person for a short while, but they do not strengthen faith. The believer says, I need the faithful preaching of the Word of God. And I need that to be central in worship, and I will, by God's grace, make sure that it remains central. This is implied, namely, that we receive and we enjoy the treasured and most desirable blessing of assurance. The question often is, can I be sure? Can I be absolutely certain that I am saved by the Lord Jesus Christ? Can I be sure that the Lord Jesus Christ died for me, for me? Can I be sure that all the benefits of salvation that Christ has earned, as those have been explained now in Lords Days 7 through 24, detailed, and comprehensive explanation of what all those blessings are for us, can I be sure that those benefits are mine, that I am righteous in God before Christ, that I am an heir of eternal life, that I will go to heaven when I die? Can I be sure, can I be confident that I am one of the chosen that I'm one of the elect of God in Christ. Can I be confident that I belong to the Lord Jesus Christ now and I will belong to Him forever and forever? The treasured and most desirable and very important blessing of assurance. And the answer is yes. Yes, every believer can have and ought to have that assurance, that certainty. And every believer can have and ought to have it, and God will see to it that it is given and worked in every believer by means of the preaching of the gospel to strengthen faith. A true faith is a faith that consists of an assured confidence. And a true faith trusts in Jesus Christ alone and trusts in him alone from the heart, from the heart. If our assurance depended on our good works, we could never be sure. Because our good works are only that, good. They're never perfect. And even our best works are painted with sin. And if our assurance depended on faith because faith were our work, or even a part of faith was our work, then we could never be sure. Because we would never be sure if we've done our part, have we done it well enough? Can I really be sure that I'm saved, that I belong to Christ? And we would be forever in doubt. But faith is the work of God. And God gives us that gift of faith, and the faith that God gives to us is an infallible gift of faith. And that faith looks away from ourselves to Christ, and believes the gospel concerning our Savior, and believes it for oneself personally. That's the gift of faith that God gives, and that God works in His children. The fact that God works and strengthens us in our faith by the preaching of the gospel means that assurance is ours. How thankful and very thankful, therefore, beloved, we must be for the gift of faith. that we can be certain that we have been saved in Jesus Christ. Thankful that the righteousness of Christ is our righteousness. Thankful that we have eternal life in Him. And thankful, therefore, that we will not die in unbelief, but in faith, believing in Christ, and forever the heirs of life eternal. Thanks be to God for the gift of faith. Amen. God and Father in heaven, we thank thee for thy word to us and for thy work in us, the work, mighty work by thy spirit to produce faith in us and then also to strengthen that faith, to strengthen it by means of the preaching of the gospel from Lord's Day to Lord's Day, and then also from time to time to strengthen it by means of the sacraments. We are thankful that it is thy purpose and desire for us to have this gift, and having this gift to have a certain knowledge as well as an assured confidence So continue to strengthen our faith from day to day and from week to week throughout our pilgrimage on this earth. Bless this word to our hearts, in Jesus' name we pray, amen.