In this sermon, Nate Wikman delves into the Second London Baptist Confession, focusing on Chapter 14, paragraph 2, which discusses the nature and outworkings of faith. He explains that faith enables Christians to believe in the truth of God's word and to see the glory of God, the excellence of Christ, and the power of the Holy Spirit. Wikman emphasizes that saving faith comprises three elements: notitia (knowledge), assensus (assent), and fiducia (trust). Faith is described as a confident belief in the unseen, supported by the authority of God, and is distinct from mere credulity. The sermon highlights the necessity of these elements for genuine faith, discussing how knowledge of the truth must be coupled with heartfelt trust in Christ for salvation. Wikman also explores how the Holy Spirit's regenerating power is essential for awakening faith, and how faith relates to the order of salvation. Using various scriptural references, he illustrates the dynamic interplay between God's sovereignty and the human response of faith, urging listeners to seek God and embrace His grace.

We're continuing our study of the Second London Baptist Confession this morning, returning to chapter 14 of faith, and we'll be looking at the second paragraph which states, By this faith, a Christian believeth to be true whatsoever is revealed in the word for the authority of God himself and also apprehended the excellence therein above all other writings and all things in the world as it bears forth the glory of God and his attributes, the excellence of Christ and his nature and offices, the power and fullness of the Holy Spirit in his workings and operations, and so is enabled to cast his soul upon the truth thus believed, and also acteth differently upon that which each particular passage thereof containeth. Yielding obedience to the commands, trembling at the threatenings, and embracing the promises of God for this life and that which is to come. But the principal acts of saving faith have immediate relation to Christ, accepting, receiving, and resting upon him alone for justification, sanctification, and eternal life by virtue of the covenant of grace. Please pray with me. Heavenly Father, we thank you for your abundant mercy and your grace that you have shown us.

We thank you, Lord, for the regenerating power of your Holy Spirit that gives us new life from above. And we thank you Lord for giving us this gift of faith. And Lord we look forward to the day when you return, when every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. And when, as we just sang, Christ will have the prize for which he died, all of his blood bought people with him worshiping and praising. And so we thank you and pray this in Jesus' name.

Amen. So for our proof text today, we have Acts 2414, but I confess to you that according to the way which they call a sect, so I worship the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets. Second Timothy 1 12, for this reason also I suffer these things, nevertheless I'm not ashamed for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able to keep what I have committed to him until that day. Hebrews 11 13 these all died in faith not having received the promises but having seen them afar off were assured of them embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. And then Acts 1631, so they said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.

So in our paragraph this morning, we don't have a technical definition of faith, but rather we have described for us the outworkings of faith. What faith enables a man to do. Because of faith, the Christian believes everything that is revealed in God's word is true. Because of faith, the Christian treasures God's word above all other writings and things in the world. Faith enables him to see the glory of God revealed in his attributes, the excellency of Christ, and the power of the Holy Spirit.

Because of this faith, the Christian trusts his present life and his future eternity to God. Because of faith, the Christian sees in Christ the only and the perfect remedy for his soul and in the words of the confession accepts receives and rests upon him alone for justification sanctification and eternal life this is how faith acts upon Christian but what is faith itself Hebrews 11 one says now faith is the substance or the assurance of things hoped for, the evidence, in another translation we'll say the conviction, of things not seen. Faith is a confident belief in something that we don't have direct evidence for. And Webster says that faith is the ascent of the mind to the truth of what is declared by another resting upon his authority and veracity without other evidence. In 1 Thessalonians 2 13 Paul shares that he Silas and Timothy thanked God without ceasing because when you receive the word of God, which you heard from us, you welcomed it, not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe.

In this verse we see three things. The Thessalonians were presented with the word of God. They believed it to be the word of God and the Word worked in them effectively. So they were given God's Word, they had become aware in their mind of the truth. They believed it to be true, their minds gave assent to the truth of it, that indeed it was the Word of God, and then the word worked effectively in them.

So in this we see three elements that make up the necessary components of what we call saving faith. And in theology they're referred to as notitia, which just means knowledge, ascensus, which is ascent, and then fiducia, which has a great depth of meaning that's summarized by the word trust. So knowledge, assent, and trust. Those are the elements of faith. Throughout scripture we see these aspects of faith at time emphasized differently in different passages but when we consider the entirety of God's Word we recognize that saving faith must have all three.

In his book, Faith Alone, R.C. Sproul writes that saving faith does not occur in an intellectual vacuum. It is not ignorance or superstition masquerading as faith. There is a crucial difference between authentic faith and credulity, End quote. Sproul goes on to argue that faith has a clear and a rational object and that while faith must be sincere to be true saving faith, the object of one's faith must also be true and No amount of sincerity can make a false object true.

So when it comes to notitia, the knowledge aspect, we need to know what we are to believe and the object of our belief must be true for it to be genuine, saving faith. Spro writes, I cannot have God in my heart if he is not in my head. Before I can believe in him, I must believe that. In Hebrews 11 6 we read, but without faith it is impossible to please him, for he who comes to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. This is the knowledge aspect of faith.

Faith comes through hearing and hearing through the word of Christ. The ascent aspect of faith occurs when our mind and our reasoning tells us that the knowledge we have been given is true. This is not something that's just a decision of our will. We cannot force ourselves to believe the truth of something if our mind is not actually convinced of it. And similarly, if our mind is convinced of the truth of something, we can't choose to not believe it.

Our mind examines the information that it has been presented with, And based on that information that it has on hand and the level of reasoning we have, it's convinced apart from a decision of our will as to the truth or falsehood of that information. Pastor Mark Sarver writes, The conviction that one's knowledge of Christ is true in the persuasion that the provisions of the gospel are suited to meet our deepest needs. He continues saying that by this assent the sinner not only believes the gospel is true, but also that Christ is suitable and sufficient for his case. He ceases to consider the object of faith in a cold detached manner. Now he sees his desperate need for Christ in the wonderful way the Savior is suited to meet that need.

Seeing in Christ a way of salvation that perfectly upholds the righteous demands of God's law, he now delights in the forgiveness set forth in the gospel." The knowledge aspect of faith is not unique to saving faith. Bare assent is also not unique to saving faith. James wrote that even the demons believe and they tremble knowing God's judgment that is waiting for them. The demons were among the first to recognize Christ. They were created by him and served as his holy messengers before Satan's fall.

They have the knowledge of the deity of Christ and they assent to it. But here now in Sarver's definition of the assent of saving faith, we see something that is unique to saving faith. The persuasion that the provisions of the gospel are suited to meet our deepest needs. A valuing of the person and the work of Christ and a desire of that work to be applied to us personally. But now at this point we start getting into the third element, the fiducia or trust aspect of faith.

While knowledge and ascent are largely contained within the reasoning of the mind, fiducia trust brings together the heart, the will, and the mind. In Faith Alone, Sproul writes that the element of fiducia probes the depth dimension that involves not only the cognitive but also the effective and volitional response. Fiducia means a positive disposition of the soul or mind to an object. Fiducia includes a dramatic change in our values. Saving fiducia rests on an awakening to the sweetness and loveliness of Christ, and an awakening brought in the minds and the souls of corrupt humans by the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit, " end quote.

So when Sproul says that this fiducia involves cognitive, affective, and volitional response, he's referring to our minds, to the excitement of our emotions, and to the decision of our will. It is in this element of fiducia that we see the result of the awesome regenerating power of the Holy Spirit who takes lost souls dead in their trespasses and sins who do not have the capacity to understand spiritual truth or the ability to believe and create spiritual life in them opening their eyes to the beauty of Christ. Whereas once the sinner despised Christ or was coldly indifferent to him, he now views him as the pearl of great price and will give all that he has to possess Christ. Sproul says that this change is quote rooted in a transformation of one's perception of Christ. The spirit quickens us and reveals to us something that we did not formally experience, namely the sweetness and excellency of Christ.

Francis Turriton defines fiducia as, quote, the persuasion of the practical intellect by which we judge the gospel not only to be true, but also good and therefore most worthy of our love and desire. And it is by this conviction of faith that the Christian places his full trust in Christ, resting in him for salvation. In the parable of the hidden treasure, Jesus said that the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field, that when a man found from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. That is fiducia faith. Resting one's weight fully upon the object of faith.

The man held nothing back but sold everything that he had and bought the field. So to summarize in technical terms we have three aspects or elements of faith. There is the aspect of knowing a specific proposition, there's the aspect of agreeing to the truth of that proposition, and then there is the aspect of fully committing oneself to the reservation of that proposition. So if EF Hutton says that IBM stock is going up 10x in the next six months, for you to exercise faith in his judgment, you need to have heard his prediction. Not only do you need to have heard it but you need a level of conviction in the soundness of his judgment.

You can hear the prediction, you can have a general agreement with it that the stock will grow to 10 times its current value within 6 months, but the man who has fiducia faith sells his house, his boat, and his dog to go all in on that stock. You know, if we look at Romans 10-14, we see this, but in reverse. Paul says, how then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? We have hearing, believing, and calling.

That is faith. We hear God's word, we believe in the truth of it because of the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit who's convinced us of the reliability of God. And out of our heartfelt trust in Christ, we act on this belief. The Apostle Paul said, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able to keep what I have committed to him until that day. And my study Bible notes on that verse says Paul's life and time and eternity had been given to his Lord.

He lived with unwavering confidence and boldness because of the revealed truth about God's power and faithfulness and his own experience of an unbreakable relationship to the Lord. Paul's trust was in Christ and by faith he looked forward to the day when his salvation would be finally and fully accomplished. Noah pleaded with his neighbors to get into the arc of safety before the coming destruction. And in thinking about it, it may have been that there were some who were standing outside the boat. Did they believe in the boat?

Well, of course. What do you mean believe in the boat? It's right in front of them. Surely they believed the boat? Sure it might float.

It looks like Noah did a decent job coating all the seams to keep the water out, but they still haven't entered the ark. They're standing outside it. Maybe if they stand next to the ramp with one hand holding on to the railing and if something crazy happens and it turns out that they do need this boat, it'll be there. Until the day came when scripture says that God shut the door of the ark. Jesus said that many will cry, Lord, Lord, and he will say, depart from me, I never knew you.

Christ is the ark of safety. Jesus said, no one comes to me unless the Father draws him. And how God's sovereignty and man's responsibility work, I don't know how that works out. But the testimony of God's word is believe in the Lord and you will be saved. God hears everyone that cries to him.

He saves every man that comes to him and Jesus says come unto me all ye who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest So seek the Lord while he may be found and call upon him while he is near Scripture says let the wicked man forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and return to the Lord his God and he will have mercy upon him for he will abundantly pardon him. That is faith. But when it comes to the order of salvation, John MacArthur explains it this way. Faith doesn't produce regeneration. Repentance doesn't produce regeneration.

That regeneration comes first, and only when you're made alive, that regeneration comes first, and only when you're made alive can you repent and believe. Regeneration is an element of salvation. Justification is an element of salvation. Redemption is an element of salvation. Sanctification is an element of salvation.

They all happen in one instantaneous miracle and two other things are always there, repentance and faith. There can be no repentance, there can be no faith, there can be no embracing of Christ until the heart has been recreated." End quote. So what can I do to be saved? What do we tell the sinner who recognizes his guilt before God and is concerned for his eternal well-being? Well, MacArthur answers that you can do what any sinner can do.

You can ask. You can ask God in His mercy and in His grace to give you life. In mystery of mysteries, Jesus said, "'Him that comes to me I will never turn away. Seek and you shall find, ask and it shall be given. Knock and the door will be opened.

That is the mystery of it all." End of quote. So praise God, praise Him for His marvelous grace, for giving us this gift of faith. I love the words of the hymn, Marvelous Grace, where it says, Sin and despair like the sea waves cold threaten the soul with infinite loss. Apart from Christ, we're all facing infinite loss, separation from God, punishment in the fires of hell for all eternity. But the hymn says, grace that is greater, yes grace untold, points to the refuge, the mighty cross.

So in that we celebrate, in that we glory, and in that we praise and thank God. Amen.