The Warrant of Faith” — Charles H. Spurgeon (1855) Full Public-Domain Sermon Text Text: Isaiah 45:22 — “Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth.” Introduction Thousands are troubled about the warrant of faith.
They ask: “May I believe?” “Have I a right to trust Christ?” “Is the gospel for me?” This sermon answers these questions by showing that the only warrant for believing in Christ is the command of God and the invitation of Christ .
If God commands you to believe, you may believe. If Christ invites you, you have full warrant to come. I. The Gospel Command — “Look unto Me” God does not say: Groan unto Me, Work for Me, Wait for Me, Feel after Me.
He says: “Look unto Me.” To look is: the simplest act of the mind, the easiest act of the eye, the most childlike act of the soul A babe can look. A dying man can look. A sinner can look. II. The Universal Invitation — “All the ends of the earth” 1.
No sinner is excluded. The invitation includes: the farthest, the darkest, the vilest, the poorest, the weakest, the most guilty. “All the ends of the earth” means you . 2. No condition is imposed. Christ does not say: Look after you have repented.
Look after you have prayed. Look after you have felt. Look after you are better. He says: “Look and be saved.” III. The Simplicity of the Gospel The gospel is not: Do and live, Work and live, Feel and live.
It is: Look and live. Like the bronze serpent lifted up in the wilderness — The bitten Israelites looked and were healed. Spurgeon says: “If they had stared until their eyes dropped out, they would not have been healed unless they had looked to the serpent.
” So today: Not looking to self. Not looking to works. Not looking to frames. Not looking to ministers. But looking to Christ . IV. The True Warrant of Faith Many search for a warrant of faith in: good feelings, deep convictions, tears, prayers, experiences.
These are no warrant at all. The only warrant you need is: 1. God’s command to believe. He commands all men everywhere to repent and believe the gospel. 2. Christ’s invitation to all. “Come unto Me.” “If any man thirst, let him come.
” “Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” 3. The promise of salvation to all who look. “Whosoever believeth shall be saved.” This is enough. This is all. This is the whole warrant of faith.
V. The Sin of Not Believing Unbelief is: calling God a liar, rejecting Christ, despising the blood of atonement, choosing eternal doom. The door of life is open — to refuse to enter is rebellion. VI.
to the Worst Sinners 1. You are included in “all the ends of the earth.” The gospel rope goes out to the farthest. 2. Christ invites you first. He begins with the vile, the broken, the hopeless. 3. The command is not to feel, but to look.
Christ does all the saving. Your part is to look. 4. God never rejects a sinner who looks to Christ. Not one. VII. What It Means to Look To look is: to trust, to rely on Christ alone, to cast yourself upon His righteousness, to rest your soul in His finished work.
Looking is believing. Believing is looking. VIII. The Certain Result — “Be ye saved” God does not tease men with empty invitations. He says: “Look… and be saved.” Not “look and try,” not “look and hope,” but “look and BE saved.
” IX. Exhortation 1. Look now. Delay is deadly. 2. Look away from self. Self is ruin. 3. Look only to Christ. He is the Savior — not you. 4. Look and be saved. As the dying thief looked, as the publican looked, as the prodigal looked, as the millions in heaven looked — So look, and live.
Conclusion Your warrant for believing is not inside you, but in the Word of God. God says: “Look unto Me, and be ye saved.” Let your heart reply: “I look — I trust — I rest on Christ alone.” Amen.