Turn with me, if you would, to Hebrews 9. Hebrews 9. I'd like us to read together verses 11 through the end of the chapter, verse 28. The first ten verses give us a description of the earthly tabernacle and the worship that took place there with the priests going into the most holy place, making sacrifice for sins. And then we pick it up at verse 11, which then talks about what the first ten verses pointed forward to. Verse 11, as we hear now the Word of God. When Christ came as high priest of the good things that are already here, He went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, that is, not man-made, that is to say, not a part of this creation. He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves, but He entered the most holy place once for all by His own blood, having obtained eternal redemption. The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. How much more then will the blood of Christ who through the eternal spirit offered himself unblemished to God cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death so that we may serve the living God. For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sin's commitment under the first covenant. In the case of a will, it is necessary to prove the death of the one who made it because a will is in force only when somebody has died. It never takes effect while the one who made it is living. This is why even the first covenant was not put into effect without blood. When Moses had proclaimed every commandment of the law to all the people, he took the blood of calves together with water, scarlet wool, and branches of hyssop and sprinkled the scroll and all the people. He said, This is the blood of the covenant which God has commanded you to keep. In the same way, he sprinkled with the blood both the tabernacle and everything used in its ceremonies. In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. It was necessary then for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one. He entered heaven himself, now to appear for us in God's presence. Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the most holy place every year with blood that is not his own. Then Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people, and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him. And if you would look with me to our confessional reference, Lord's Day 25 in the back of the Psalter hymnal, Lord's Day 25, questions and answers 65 through 68, as we confess together with our mouths what it is we believe concerning these things. Page 32, in the back of the Psalter hymnal, Lord's Day 25. Question 65 asks, You confess that by faith alone you share in Christ and all His blessings. Where does that faith come from? The Holy Spirit produces it in our hearts by the preaching of the Holy Gospel and confirms it through our use of the holy sacraments. What are sacraments? Sacraments are holy signs and seals for us to see. They were instituted by God so that by our use of them, He might make us understand more clearly the promise of the Gospel and might put His seal on that promise. And this is God's Gospel promise. to forgive our sins and give us eternal life by grace alone because of Christ's one sacrifice finished on the cross. Are both the Word and the sacraments then intended to focus our faith on the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross as the only ground of our salvation? Right. In the Gospel, the Holy Spirit teaches us, and through the holy sacraments He assures us that our entire salvation rests on Christ's one sacrifice for us on the cross. How many sacraments did Christ institute in the New Testament? Two, baptism and the Lord's Supper. Dear people of God, God has given to His people a most wonderful, a most glorious gift in the gift of faith. True gift, we know, is that instrument, as we have talked about before, that instrument which intimately and eternally connects the child of God with the Father and His Christ. Boys and girls, you remember, I trust, that faith is the hand of that beggar which receives the blessings put into that hand. That hand then which shares in or partakes of Christ and all His benefits. It is that conduit, or that pipeline, if we can say it that way, through which all of the benefits of Christ are poured into the very heart and soul and life of the believer. True faith is that which, by the working of the Holy Spirit, makes the believer able to believe. By faith, the believer receives all that Christ has to give. By faith, the believer hungers and thirsts for Him, takes personal possession of Christ's benefits and trusts in Him for time and eternity. Faith is that bond of life with Jesus Christ. Now so far as we have studied the Catechism together, beginning at Lord's Day 1, we've talked about Scripture's teaching of the necessity of faith, first of all, in Question and Answer 20. Also the nature or definition of faith in Question and Answer 21. We've talked about the content of true faith as we've considered the Apostles' Creed together in 22 through 58, and then most recently, the prophet of faith, faith as that instrument in 59 through 64. And through all this consideration, the Catechism, true to the Word of God, has given a defense of the faith, teaching the truth of justification and salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, not by works that no man should boast. And therefore, question 65 is in itself then a beautiful confession stating in question form this fact that by faith alone we share in Christ and all His benefits. What a wonderful blessing that by faith we receive all of this, all of Christ's benefits. By faith we share in, or as the older version of the Catechism says, we partake of Christ, the Giver, and His gifts. So then, having said all of that, having considered all of that, where then does this faith come from? You see, that's the right question because we were taught beyond a shadow of a doubt that our salvation and its application is not our own doing by good works. We consider together the preaching of this Word of God, the truth of faith alone through which the believer is saved. Considering, first of all, the source of faith. Secondly, the means of faith. And then finally, the direction of faith. Now the catechism is very matter of fact when it says that faith comes from the Holy Spirit. End of story, we could say. He is the source of faith. The Holy Spirit of God is the giver of that gift of faith which Paul speaks of in Ephesians 2, verse 8. In John 3, verse 5, our Lord made it clear that unless one is born of water and the Spirit, He cannot enter the kingdom of God. The Holy Spirit regenerates the elect child of God. He gives that new life that leads to conversion with repentance and faith. And through that gift of faith, He makes us share in or partakers of Christ, even as Jesus says in John 16, verse 15, He, that is the Holy Spirit, will take of Mine and declare it to you. Through faith, the Holy Spirit makes us able to confess, as 1 Corinthians 12, verse 3 says, Jesus is Lord. Apart from faith and the work of the Holy Spirit, we will not utter those words. We will not believe those words. Jesus is Lord. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 2, verse 14, But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, nor can He know them because they are spiritually discerned. In other words, we don't come to believe by ourselves, but the Holy Spirit brings us to believe. And this transformation by the Holy Spirit could be clearly seen on Pentecost and after Pentecost in the boldness of the apostles and the other followers of Christ. You remember that before Christ's crucifixion, before Pentecost, they were cowards. They ran away from Him. Peter himself denied Jesus Christ three times for fear of his own life. But now after Pentecost and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, they had boldness to count it all joy, to suffer even physical beatings, even to the loss of their life for the sake of their Lord. A congregation, it's impossible to give ourselves or others faith. Parents may leave their children many things as far as an inheritance, such as money and possessions, but they cannot give their children faith. By the grace of God, we seek to raise our children in the fear and knowledge of the Lord, providing for them in the home, in the church, in the school, in that way. And parents can leave their own faithful witness of the faith in Jesus Christ, but they cannot make their children believe. Yes, the promise, as Peter says, for believers and their seed. But each must personally claim that promise with a believing heart empowered by the Holy Spirit. Indeed, this is a humble confession, isn't it? That absolutely everything is from God. Not only the gift, but the hand to receive it. Or the conduit through which it is poured is all from God. The precious gift of Christ, but also the precious gift of faith to receive Christ and all His benefits. The eternal inheritance, as Hebrews 9, verse 15 calls it, it is all from God, the Holy Spirit. I must believe to be sure. God calls me to exercise faith and believe, but I cannot believe without faith. It's just like a field. If the seed is not planted, nothing will grow in the field. But you see, not only is this a humble confession of my total reliability upon the Holy Spirit, but contrary to what we might think, it's also a joyful confession. Because if faith were up to me, I would lose it. Temptation and persecution would make my own founded faith sink fast in the sea of weakness. But the Holy Spirit produces faith and roots it deeply in our hearts. And that faith, of course, can be and often is attacked. But it can never be lost. Because God's work is not only for time, it's also for eternity. That's our confidence as believers because, as the Word of God says, he who has begun a good work in you will continue it until the day of Christ Jesus. Yet in the second place, the Holy Spirit uses means as he produces, the first answer says, produces faith in our hearts by the preaching of the Holy Gospel and confirms it through our use of the Holy Sacraments. The preaching of the Word of God and the administration or use of the Holy Sacraments are the tools the Holy Spirit uses, which we call the means of grace. Now in our day and age, these tools, the means of grace, have been terribly downplayed. They're not given the status that God gives them. Some say, well, God will strengthen my faith through any other means. Christian radio, Bible study, many other ways. Indeed, God might do that, but He promises to strengthen the believer's faith through these means. He promises here. He doesn't promise there. God is all-powerful. We say He's omnipotent. He can do anything He determines to do in any way and at any time He wants. He created the world out of nothing by speaking, and it was there. Yet with so many things, He is pleased to use means to accomplish His will. He cures the sick, we know, but He uses doctors and technology, research, and medicine. He gives daily bread, but He uses us and our God-given abilities to work for it. In the same way, He uses means to produce, confirm, and strengthen the faith of His people. Reflecting the teaching of Scripture, the Catechism rightly gives a high place, first of all, to the preaching of God's Word, the Holy Gospel. You see, beloved, this is the primary means God uses. We must understand, of course, that God is not bound to this. He can convert one anytime He wants anywhere. But He binds us to the preaching of the Word. He doesn't say go out and look elsewhere, first of all. He says, first of all, the preaching of the Word. That's what He has revealed to us. And boys and girls, even if the sermon is hard to understand because there's some big words, or even if the preacher isn't very funny or isn't very interesting, you must still try to listen. You must. It takes work to listen. It takes work to worship. You must try. And that's because of how important the preaching of the Word of God and the hearing of the Word of God preached is. The Catechism says that the Holy Spirit produces faith in our hearts by the preaching of the Gospel. That doesn't mean that the preaching itself gives faith, that the style of the preacher or anything like that. This is not a time for preachers to get puffed up. Not at all. It's a most humbling time for preachers. We've already said, of course, that the Holy Spirit gives that faith. Some believe and teach that the Word of God works without the help of God the Holy Spirit. And that's simply not true, beloved. The Word of God depends upon the Holy Spirit of God who owns that Word to apply it. The Word of God is the tool of the Spirit of God. And through the preaching of the truth of God's Word, the Holy Spirit calls that gift of faith to consciousness. The Word that is worked by the Holy Spirit makes faith come alive. And that's what happened, you recall, in Ezekiel's prophecy with the vision of the valley of dry bones. It wasn't until Ezekiel was told to preach. Preach, son of man. Preach the Word of God. And then the Holy Spirit filled those dead bodies. Beloved, true preaching is God's primary means. And it is to be our primary means as well. Boys and girls, notice how important God Himself in the Bible says preaching is. In Romans 10, Paul says, For whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. And the familiar verse, 1 Corinthians 1.21, It pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. And we know, of course, that this very truth is revealed in Scripture. We can think of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch. In the Spirit, Philip preaches Christ to this eunuch and he believes. In Paul's missionary journeys, the Spirit working through the preached word brought many Gentiles to the faith. One example is Lydia in Acts 16. We read there, And on the Sabbath day, we, that's Paul and Silas and Timothy, went out of the city to the riverside where prayer was customarily made. And we sat down and spoke to the women who met there. Now a certain woman named Lydia heard us. She was a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira who worshipped God. The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul. Preaching is the strong charge that Paul gave to Timothy when he says in 2 Timothy 4 verse 2, Preach the Word. And in connection with that verse of Scripture, I have a framed picture that was given to me by one of my former parishioners as an ordination gift that includes the words, bring only the Word of God. That which I must keep in mind as a preacher, and Pastor Donovan, and Dr. Godfrey, and every seminary student, every preacher, bring only the Word of God. Now why is this so important? Because only the Word of God gives the promise of the Gospel, as Answer 66 says toward the end, that promise to forgive our sins and give us eternal life by grace alone because of Christ's one sacrifice finished on the cross. You see, this is what all of Scripture points to. This is as well what Hebrews 9 is talking about. We're taught in verse 14 that Christ offered Himself unblemished to God. In verse 22 it says, without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. Verse 28 teaches us that Christ offered Himself to take away the sins of many people and He will appear a second time not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him. That Word, beloved, that preached Word which the Holy Spirit works in your heart and my heart is God's Word of salvation. And by working that Word, the Holy Spirit unites our hearts with the testimony of that Word so that we hunger and thirst for Christ. And it gives us the confidence that through faith in that Word, that Christ is for us personally. And that our salvation is sure. Beloved, what effect then should this have on us as we gather together for worship? We are to desire it whenever we have the opportunity to get it. When we come here to this place knowing that the Holy Spirit of God is here working the Word of God. We are not to come indifferently or unexpectedly. But we are to come with holy reverence and awe knowing that we stand, beloved, on the holy ground of His workshop. You see, not one of us exits this church building the same as we entered it. Some leave in the consciousness and reality of faith for the very first time. Others who have already believed leave having been strengthened in their faith. But those in whom the Spirit does not work or produce faith, they leave with hearts more hardened toward the Gospel than when they came. And what does this also say then about your and my evening attendance when we have the privilege to be members of a church that has the preaching of the Word of God on Sunday morning and Sunday night governed by elders who love the flock enough to call those worship services because God promises to strengthen our faith. It means that we should all desire to take our seat here tonight. Where will you be? Where will your children be? You see, you don't come here to hear the preacher. If that's the reason you come, please reconsider. He's just a clay vessel. He's a cracked pot, as someone said to me once. Indeed, the one through whom God speaks. But you come because God promises to speak to you through His Word. God promises. And we know that His promise cannot fail. He promises to strengthen your faith. how can we say no? You see, maybe he has chosen this very night, tonight, September 8, to produce faith in someone for the very first time. And parents, maybe that someone is one of your children. Where will you be? I can say to you beyond a shadow of a doubt that God wants you here. Not at home, not anywhere else, but in the house of God. He wants you here. I hope I don't have to tell you who it is that wants you to stay at home, who wants you anywhere but here. But it's not God. Beloved, the church filled with the Spirit, filled with the Holy Spirit, can't help but to preach the glad tidings of the Holy Gospel. Because, as the writer of Proverbs says, out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. The church is called to seek the lost through and only through the preaching of the Word of God, not through man-made inventions. Christ's calling and goal for the church is to preach the Holy Gospel, taking it to the nations. You see, the church sows, but the Holy Spirit grows. This is the heart and the life calling of the church and each believer. But when the heart is not beating, there's nothing but a corpse. Because the Spirit doesn't make alive apart from the Word of God. And this means that churches that no longer use the preaching of the Word of God give evidence of no longer being used to bring some to faith. As well, when the preaching of the Word of God is pushed to the background, then the living and abiding Word of God is also being pushed to the background. But there's a second means the Holy Spirit uses, namely the sacraments. What are sacraments? Sacraments are holy signs and seals for us to see. They were instituted by God so that by our use of them, He might make us understand more clearly the promise of the Gospel and might put His seal on that promise. And this is God's Gospel promise to forgive our sins and give us eternal life by grace alone because of Christ's one sacrifice finished on the cross. Sacraments are holy signs and seals that confirm to our eyes the truth of what God promises in the Holy Gospel to our ears. It confirms to our eyes the word preached. So many, and you know them, have said, well, I'm not going to believe anything I cannot see. God says, see! Look! It's right here. Boys and girls with the sacraments, and there are only two of them, baptism and the Lord's Supper, With the sacraments, God causes us to see the truth of His forgiveness of sins and eternal life for those who believe in Jesus Christ. Every time we celebrate these two sacraments as Christians, the Holy Spirit strengthens our faith in that truth and our assurance that our sins are forgiven and we have new life unto eternal life. And we need to add quickly that the preaching of the Word of God also strengthens our faith. In fact, again, that is God's primary. God's Word is the primary means to strengthen faith. God's Word is amazingly timely at times, as many have been strengthened by the Word of God, especially in difficult situations. But notice here that the Holy Spirit does not use the sacraments to produce faith. To make it come alive and live in the believer, as He does with the preaching of the Word. The Word of God is preached to both believers and unbelievers alike, but the sacraments are effective only for those in whom the Holy Spirit has already produced faith by the preaching of the Word. The sacraments are only for believers who know how great is their sin and misery, who are humbled before Jesus Christ, who seek Him alone for their salvation, and who desire to live in thankfulness to Him. The Catechism calls the sacraments holy. That means they've been set aside, set apart by God for special work in the service of the Lord through which He, as the catechism says, makes us understand more clearly the promise of the Gospel and He might put His seal on that promise. And that's why the Lord's table must be guarded against unbelievers who live in and continue engrossed sin. Only those who believe by grace through faith may partake. As well, only professing believers bring their infant children for baptism. Again, the sacraments are to be seen. They are visible. So that the very same promises of God heard in the Gospel are seen as represented in the elements of the sacraments. Through hearing and seeing, God enters our hearts showing us in the sacraments what He causes us to hear in the Word. Sacraments are signs. That means they picture or symbolize or point to something. Boys and girls, a road sign may warn us of a sharp curve ahead or of a steep decline coming out of a mountain or even of the danger of deer crossing the road unexpectedly. Signs that tell us to look and be ready. The sacraments have been described as visible signs of God's invisible grace. We know that God has often used sign language throughout history such as the stars and the sand to show Abraham how many children he would have. Or as well the rainbow as a sign to the earth that the earth would never again be wiped out by God with a flood. But only the water of baptism as well as the bread and cup of the Lord's Supper are holy and set apart by God. No other signs has He given. No pictures, no images, not even the cross. Not even the cross. He's only given the water and the bread and the wine for the strengthening of faith because of what they point to, which is, of course, the cross. And these signs, even the boys and girls can understand. Simple water, bread, wine, or juice. The water of baptism points to the blood of Jesus washing away our sins and regeneration by the Holy Spirit. And the bread and the wine or the juice of the Lord's Supper point to the nourishing of the body unto eternal life by the body and blood of Jesus. But the sacraments are also seals. Now, we know that a seal is a guarantee. It comes with the authority of the one who gave it. Think of opening a new aspirin bottle. It's got a seal. It's sealed on the top. If that seal is broken, the manufacturer says, don't use it. We don't guarantee it. We're not responsible for that one. But if that seal is not broke, the company says, it comes with the authority of us. It's okay. You can use it. God gave the sacraments and the signs of the water and the wine and the bread to seal to believers God's guarantee that the remission of sins and eternal life is real. Just as water is real and really washes away dirt and bread and wine are real and really nourish our bodies in the same way. Our sins are really washed away. Forgiveness is real. Eternal life is real. Again, the purpose of the sacraments is to confirm and strengthen our faith. Well, why does our faith need to be strengthened? Because if our faith is always active, as it should be, whether we have weak faith or much faith, whether our faith is brand new or whether it's more mature, whether our faith is always active, active in doing good works, active in praying, active in denying ourselves, active in engaging in the good fight, active in carrying the cross, active morning till night, that faith gets tired. Hard work makes us tired and weary, and rest and food give strength. Our faith is attacked. It's persecuted. It gets tired. And the food of the sacraments gives rest and strength to tired faith. You see, beloved, faith that is not active isn't ready to hear the Word of God preached on Sunday. And it is surprised when it comes to church and finds out, oh, we've got the Lord's Supper today. It doesn't feel, it doesn't recognize the need for that strength. But active faith longs for and can't wait for Sunday, and not one, but two feasts of God's Word. And it anxiously waits for the next time we celebrate the Lord's Supper and baptism because it knows its need for strengthening. Beloved God promises to strengthen our faith through the preaching of His Word and the use of His sacraments. May we never say no. But very quickly and very briefly, we need to consider the direction of faith. Now, thankfully all of this, especially the direction of faith, is considered in the five Lord's days to follow. This third point is really just an introduction, a touch on the five Lord's days to come, dealing with baptism in the Lord's Supper. But the direction of faith is Christ's one sacrifice for us on the cross. This is where both the Word and sacrament direct our faith by the power of the Holy Spirit. Question and answer 67. Are both the Word and the sacraments then intended to focus our faith on the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross as the only ground of our salvation? Right! In the Gospel, the Holy Spirit teaches us, And through the holy sacraments, He assures us that our entire salvation rests on Christ's one sacrifice for us on the cross. The Word of God and the holy sacraments are as an outstretched finger which point to and focus our attention on Calvary. The word to the ear and the sacraments to the eye both proclaim the same message, that the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all our sin and nourishes us unto eternal life. They both proclaim that we have been made right with God. These point to the basic blessing of salvation which contains all the blessings of God's grace. They teach us that there's no other way. Jesus Christ and His saving sacrifice is the only ground of our salvation. Hebrews 6, verses 19 and 20 explains that our faith is anchored in Christ. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever in the order of Melchizedek. Congregation, one more thing that we need to understand here this morning, and that is the Word of God is necessary for salvation, but the sacraments are not. Not to contradict what we've said before. But the Word of God is necessary, the sacraments are not. Yet, we may not despise and neglect what God has instituted and given. We may not despise and neglect God's very promise as we have His promise in the sacraments. Every administration of baptism proclaims the faithfulness of God to His people from generation to generation as well. The truth that for those who believe, our sins are truly washed away. And every celebration of the Lord's Supper is indeed a memorial of the name of the Lord Jesus Christ as well a promise. And for those who eat and drink in faith, that our souls are nourished by the very body and blood of Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit of God produces faith through the preaching of the Word and strengthens that faith through both the preaching and the administration of the sacraments. Therefore, for example, the Lord's Supper is not a seal of your faithfulness or my faithfulness, but it's a seal of God's faithfulness. And to refuse to participate, as some have done, based on your lack of faithfulness, or because you think you're not good enough, or even because you think it's no big deal, misses the point and also questions God's faithfulness. What comfort. The true faith that embraces Jesus Christ is the wonderful gift of God's grace. He gives that gift of faith. He makes it live. He nourishes and strengthens it. Beloved, if that isn't love, then we don't know what it is. But for those who reject the Word of God, they are hardened toward eternal condemnation. The only ground of our salvation is not man-made. It's God-ordained and God-accomplished, and His promise is sure. believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. What is true faith? It is to believe on Him alone. For Christ will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him. Amen. Shall we pray? Father, as we bow before You, Once again in this morning hour, we thank you and praise you for your holy word. Your word preached. We thank you for the power of your word. Power in your Holy Spirit. We pray that the Holy Spirit would surround us, fill us with your power to accept and believe your word. We know, oh Lord, that sometimes your word cuts us to the heart. It tests us. It causes us to examine ourselves. It is indeed offensive at times. But we pray, Lord, that we would bow beneath the authority of the Word of God. Not as the Word of men, but as it is in truth, the Word of God. Father, strengthen our faith. Help us to walk more faithful and obedient to you throughout this life. In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray these things. Amen. Thank you.