Would you turn back to John chapter
11? Lord willing, tonight I'm going
to be speaking on the brazen serpent. And I think it's very
interesting when the Lord speaks of the new birth, of all the
Old Testament scriptures he could have used. He used the story
of the brazen serpent to tell what takes place when somebody
is given the new birth. Now I've entitled the message
for this morning, Faith That Does Not Save. Everybody has some kind of faith. You're sitting here this morning,
you have some kind of faith. Even the atheist has a kind of
faith. He believes there's no God. He
can't prove it. But that's what he believes.
Everybody has some kind of faith. You believe something. But not all faith is saving faith. There is such a thing as faith
that does not save. Do I have saving faith? Now, in the passage of scripture
we just read, these people watched Lazarus come out of the tomb. There's plenty of room in there. These people watched Lazarus
walk out of the tomb. Can you imagine what that must
have been like? I mean, he'd been dead four days.
They had gone to mourn at the tomb with Mary and Martha. And they're sitting there and
they hear the Lord say, Lazarus, come forth. And they watched
that man that had been dead four days walk out of the tomb. They were eyewitnesses of this. Look once again in verse 45. Then many of the Jews which came
to Mary and had seen the things which Jesus did, they saw him
raise a man from the dead. They saw that man walk out of
the grave. And the scripture says they believed
on him. They believed on him, but some
of them went their ways to the Pharisees and told them. These
people knew the Pharisees were enemies of Jesus Christ. And
they said, look, here's what he did. He raised somebody from
the dead. They believed. Now, here is my
question. When it says many believed on
him, when they saw the things Jesus did, was that saving faith? The answer is no. And here is
why. Faith that is based on sight
is not saving faith. Now just write that down in your
heart. Faith that is based on sight,
what you see, is not saving faith. Somebody may think, well, I see
in my life things that make me think I'm saved. I see a changed
life. I see how I'm different. I must be saved. No, that is
not saving faith. Faith that comes from what you
see is not saving faith. You see, saving faith is called
in Hebrews chapter 11, verse 1, The evidence of things not
seen. Well, I see that's not faith. Well, I see this empirical and
tangible. I mean, tangible things that
I can touch and feel and see. Surely that's faith. No, it's
not. If you can see it. It is not faith. Faith is the evidence of things
not seen. Turn back a few pages to John
chapter eight. Verse 31, or verse 30. As he spake these words, many
believed on him, Then said Jesus to those Jews
which believed on him, if you continue in my word, then are
you my disciples indeed, if you continue. Now, it says they believed,
doesn't it? Many believed. But these same
people who are described as believing people, by the end of this message,
they will pick up rocks to throw at the Lord and put him to death.
It says they believed. They did. but it was not saving
faith. There is such a thing as a faith
that does not save. If you're not saved this morning
by the grace of God, you have some kind of faith. Now I pray
that the Lord will give us all this saving faith. But let me repeat, faith that's
based on sight is false faith. Now let me read a passage of
scripture to you from Luke chapter 16, this is where that rich man
is in hell and he prays for a miracle. He says in verse 27, then said
he, I pray thee therefore father, that thou would send him to my
father's house. Lazarus, you bring him back from
the dead and send him to my father's house. That's a miracle that
you could see. For I have five brethren that he may testify
unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. Abraham
said unto him, they have Moses and the prophets, let them hear
them. And he said, nay, Father Abraham, but if one went unto
them from the dead, they'll repent. They see somebody that's raised
from the dead and comes and testifies, they'll repent. And he said unto
them, if they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will
they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead. Turn to John chapter two. Verse 23, John chapter two, verse
23. Now, when he was in Jerusalem
at the Passover and the feast day, many believed in his name. When they, what? Saw the miracles,
which he did. There's something to him. He
turned water into wine. There's no denying that. They
saw the miracles that he did and they believed. Verse 24, but Jesus did not commit
himself unto them. He did not entrust himself unto
them. He didn't believe in them. That's
what that means. They believed in him, but he
didn't believe in them. Why? Verse 24, because he knew all
men, and needed not that any should testify of man, for he
knew not what was in man. Now, these people who are said
to believe, he knew what was in them. You see, he sees straight
through my heart and your heart, and he sees what's there. I love
that scripture in... Genesis chapter 6 verse 5, and
this is what the Lord sees. And God saw the wickedness of
man was great in the earth. He didn't need anybody to testify
of these fellows even though they were saying they believed.
He knew what was in them. And God saw the wickedness of
man was great in the earth and that every imagination of the
thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. He knew what
was in man. Jeremiah 17, 9, the heart is
deceitful above all things. You've got a deceitful heart.
I've got a deceitful heart. We'll deceive ourselves. The
heart is deceitful above all things, desperately wicked. The word desperately means incurably
wicked. It can't be improved. It can't
be made better. Preacher said, give Jesus your
heart. He doesn't want that thing. He doesn't want it. It's desperately
wicked. Romans 3, 10, there's none righteous,
no, not one. Romans 8, 7, the carnal mind
is enmity against God. I love that scripture in Romans
2, verse 1, where it says, therefore thou art inexcusable, O man,
whosoever thou art that judges, for you that judge. That's what
you're doing, you're judging people. Thou that judgest, doest
the same thing. Whatever you're judging somebody
for, you're guilty of doing that. He knew what was in man. They
couldn't fool him, even though they saw these miracles, it says
they believed. The Lord knew them, and he knew
what was in their heart. Paul said we walk by faith, and
not by sight. Now think about that. We walk
by faith, not by what we see. If I say I must be saved because
I, then fill in the blank. I feel this, I do this, I've
stopped doing that, I've started doing this, I quit doing that,
I must be saved. Oh, I could believe if, if what?
If Christ died and was raised from the dead? No, no, I could
believe If I felt more convicted, if I had a deeper sense of sin,
if I could see more victory over sin in my life, if I could see
certain sins I've stopped committing, I could believe if I had more
joy, if I had more assurance, if I could see God working in
my life, then I could believe. If I felt more growth and grace,
then I could believe, yep, you'd be believing all right, you'd
be believing in yourself. you'd be believing in that which
you see. I love what Paul said, faith
cometh by, what? Hearing. Not by seeing, get this. If you can see it, get rid of
it. Faith cometh by hearing. Hearing the gospel message, not
by what you see, but by what you hear. You know, I've heard
people say, I'd rather see a sermon than hear one. That's the stupidest
thing I've ever heard. You can't be saved by seeing
somebody's good example. You're saved by hearing the gospel
message. Faith that is based on sight
is false faith. Now I'd like you to turn for
a moment to Acts chapter eight. Most of you are familiar with
the story of Acts chapter 8. It's when Philip went into Samaria
and preached the gospel and there was somewhat of a great revival
that took place. You can read about this in Acts
chapter 8, verse 5. Then Philip went down to the
city of Samaria and preached Christ unto them. That was his
message, the preaching and teaching of Jesus Christ. And the people
with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake,
hearing and seeing the miracles which he did." Now notice it
says they gave heed to what he spake. They heard his word and
they also saw the miracles, but the point is they gave heed to
what he said. Seven, for unclean spirits, crying
with a loud voice, came out of many that were possessed with
them. And many taken with pauses, and they that were lame were
healed. And there was great joy in that
city. But there was a certain man called
Simon, which before time in the same city used sorcery. and bewitched
the people of Samaria, giving out that he himself was some
great one, to whom they all gave heed from the least to the greatest,
saying, this man is the great power of God. And to him they
had regard, because at a long time he bewitched them with his
sorceries. But when they believed Philip,
preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God in the name
of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. Then Simon
himself, believed also." Now what's that all about? He
believed also. Now the word also, the conjunction,
is found 9,251 times in the New Testament and 8,173 times it's
translated and. He believed and. And is fatal. He believed and. You see, faith and is not saving faith. Faith alone. Christ alone. The scriptures
alone. Not the scriptures and, the scriptures
alone. Not Christ and, Christ alone. Not grace and, grace alone. He believed and. Also, it was not faith alone. He believed because of the miracles
he saw, not because of the gospel message, because of the miracles
he saw. Now let's go on reading about
this man. Verse 13, Then Simon himself believed also. And when
he was baptized, he continued with Philip and wandered, beholding
the miracles and the signs which were done. Now, you know that
Philip was sent down to transfer the gifts of the Holy Spirit
to them. You see, I mean, Peter was sent down,
Peter and John, to transfer the gifts of the Holy Spirit because
Philip couldn't do it, because this could only happen through the
apostles' hands. You know, when people talk about tongues and
speaking in other languages and doing miracles, well, the only
ones who could do this were the people the apostles laid their
hands on. So if someone claims to have that gift today, they're
phonies. They don't have it. Only those who have the apostles
lay their hands on them have this gift. So Peter and John
come to lay their hands on them to give them this gift. Simon Magus sees this, verse
18, and when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostle's
hand the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money, saying,
give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay my hands
on, he may receive the Holy Ghost. Now what a high view of his own
gifts that he could give. Surely this will work. What a low view of God he had
that he thought God could be bought. And Peter said unto him, Thy
money pairs with thee, because thou thoughtest the gift of God
may be purchased with money. Thou hast neither part nor lot
in the matter, for thy heart is not right in the sight of
God. Now this faith and this faith also was not saving faith. Turn back to John chapter eight
for a moment. I've already hinted at this. Faith and is not saving faith. If your faith is based on something
you see, it's not saving faith. If you try to look within your
heart and see something that makes you think that you're saved,
that is not saving faith. The quicker you get rid of it,
the better. It's not saving faith. Now look once again, John chapter
eight, verse 30, As he spake these words, many
believed on him. Then said Jesus unto those Jews
which believed on him, if you continue in my word, then are
you my disciples indeed. A faith that does not continue
is not saving faith. A faith that does not persevere
all the way to the end is not saving faith. Saving faith continues. Now listen to this scripture
from Colossians chapter 1 verse 22 and 23. Paul says, With regard
to every believer, because of what Christ did in their behalf,
your holy and unblameable and unreprovable in his sight if
you continue in the faith. Grounded and settled and be not
moved from the hope of the gospel. True faith continues. It continues to believe, it continues
to look to Christ only. Hebrews 3.14 says we're made
partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence.
What's the beginning of your confidence? Christ is all. He's all of my salvation. Is
that the beginning of your confidence? It better be, or you don't have
faith at all. That's the beginning of our confidence, that Christ
is all. You hold the beginning of your confidence steadfast
to the end. Now what does that mean? It doesn't
just mean staying religious. You can continue to be religious.
It means to your dying breath, look to Christ only as all you
have. That's perseverance in the faith.
When you're dying, if you have any consciousness, you know that
the only hope you have is Jesus Christ the Lord, what he did
in your behalf. And you never leave that. You
believe that to your dying breath. It's continuing in the faith,
not continuing to be religious. A lot of people do that. Still
religious. I mean, some people, Turn from
religion to atheism, not many of them. Most people continue
being religious, but that's not what it is to continue in the
faith. It means you continue looking to what you cannot see,
Christ only as everything in your salvation. And anything
that's not that is a false faith. Turn with me to John chapter
12. Verse 42. John chapter 12. Verse 42. Nevertheless, among
the chief rulers also many believed on him. Now, what's it say? It says they believed, doesn't
it? Many believed on Him. They couldn't deny that He did
these miracles. They believed on Him. They believed He did this. Like
Nicodemus, no man can do the miracles you do except God be
with him. They believed on Him. But because of the Pharisees,
they did not confess Him. Here's why. lest they should
be put out of the synagogue, for they love the praise of men
more than the praise of God." Now this is very important. Since they believed on Him, they
couldn't deny what He did. They believed on Him, but they
would not confess If thou shalt confess with thy
mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in thine heart that God hath
raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the
heart man believeth under righteousness, and with the mouth confession
is made unto salvation. You see, you confess what you
believe in your heart. And these fellows had a problem.
The reason they didn't confess Him is because there's something
they loved more than Him. They loved, the scripture says
in verse 43, they loved the praise of men more than the praise of
God. It was more important to them
what men thought about them than what God thought about them. That was more important. They
were very much like those people the Lord said of in John 5, verse
44, how can you believe? What a question. How can you
believe? Which receive honor one of another
and seek not that honor that cometh from God only. Now, if you believe and you won't
confess, Whatever faith you have, it's not saving faith. You have
a type of faith, but it's not saving faith. Confess. Speak the same thing. You speak
the same thing the Word of God says. You agree with God. You take sides with God by His
grace. Take sides with God against yourself.
There's a confession made. And where there's no confession,
there's no true saving faith. Now, would you turn with me to
1 Corinthians 2? I want me and you to examine
our faith in light of this passage of scripture. We believe something.
Everybody in here does. You believe something, but examine
your faith in light of this scripture. First Corinthians chapter two,
verse one, and I brethren, when I came to you, I came not with
excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony
of God. I wasn't trying to wow you with
my oratorical abilities, for I determined not to know anything
among you, save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And I was
with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. And my
speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's
wisdom. but in demonstration of the spirit
and of power, I was willing to preach the gospel and leave you
alone. And wait and see what God does.
Not trying to manipulate you. Verse five, and here's why I
did this, that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men,
but in the power of God. What's the origin of your faith? You've got a faith. What's the
origin of your faith? Is it the power of God? Is it
the omnipotence of God? Is it the gift of God? By grace
are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves? It's
the gift of God. The faith you have, do you know it's what God
gave to you? You know it doesn't come from your free will. You
know it doesn't come from a decision you made. You know it didn't
come because you decided something. No, if you have faith, you know
it came from the very power and omnipotence of God giving you
life from the dead. Do you know that? A faith that
does not have the omnipotence of God as its source. A faith
that does not come from being the gift of God. If you have
faith, you know He gave it to you. You know you wouldn't believe
had He not given you this faith. Do you know that? Is your faith
from the power of God? If it's not, your faith is a
false faith and the sooner you get rid of it, the better. That
faith that is, that's a faith that's not found in the scripture. Faith that is created by the
power and sovereign will of God. in first corinthians chapter
fifteen verse fourteen this is remember we're trying to figure
out what from the scriptures we're not trying to figure it
out we're trying to see what the scripture tells us what real saving faith
is everybody here has got some kind of faith everybody, every
one of us what is saving faith? in first corinthians chapter
fifteen verse fourteen you can turn there but i'll just read
it if christ be not risen our preaching is vain and your faith
is vain Think about that. If Christ be not risen, our preaching
is vain. It's a waste of time. This is an exercise of futility
of what we're doing right now. It's just dumb. If Christ be
not risen. Our preaching is vain and your
faith is vain. Faith that is not grounded solely
on the resurrection of Jesus Christ. is not saving faith. Saving faith is grounded solely,
wholly on the resurrection of Jesus Christ. In Romans chapter
8, verse 34, Paul asks this question, who is he that condemneth? Bring it on. Who is he that condemneth? God's law? God? Who is he to
condemn it? Bring it on. Listen to his answer. It's Christ that died, yea, rather
that is risen again. All of my hope of salvation is
found in the life, the death, and the resurrection of Christ.
It's not something I've seen. It's something I believe. It is only the resurrection of
Christ that's the answer of a good conscience toward God. Now, if
you find assurance in anything other than the resurrection of
Christ, I'm talking about your assurance of salvation, your ground of acceptance. If
you find assurance in anything other than the resurrection of
Christ, if your conscience is satisfied with something else,
You know what the problem is? You have a seared conscience.
It's just no good to find satisfaction in anything other than the resurrection
of Christ. Listen, my hope is built on nothing
less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest
frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. On Christ the solid rock
I stand. All other ground is sinking sand.
Here is my only hope, that Jesus Christ live for me, that he kept
the law for me, that he died for me and put away my sin, and
that he was raised again for my justification so that I stand
before God without guilt and sinless. That is the only ground
of my faith, the resurrection of Christ. Any faith that does not have
that as its ground is a false faith. It's not a saving faith. Now perhaps you remember the
parable of the sower. Remember there were four different
kinds of grounds. The sower went forth to sow the gospel. It's
in three of the four gospels. The sower went forth to sow and
there were four kinds of grounds. There was the hardened path,
There was the stony ground, there was the thorn-choked hearers,
and there was the good ground. And they all heard the same message.
The sower went forth to sow, and the seed was the word of
God. They all heard the gospel. This is not talking about a false
gospel. Four different kinds of soils. One, the beaten path,
so hard that the fowls of the air would come and eat it away.
No connection with the gospel at all. It's gone. And then we had the stony ground who heard the word
temporarily and rejoiced in it temporarily. But when persecution
or trials came because of the word, they were offended. We
didn't sign up for this. We didn't sign up for this, and
they only believe for a while, and then there's the thorn-choked
here who hear the gospel and receive it. But the cares of
this world, the riches, the deceitfulness of riches, and the trials of
life come and choke the word, and they bear no fruit. What
about the good ground here? It bore fruit. None of the others
did. It bore fruit, the fruit of God,
the Holy Spirit. Love, joy, peace, love to God,
love to his gospel, joy in his way of saving sinners. The peace
that comes from that. God's at peace with me because
of what Christ did in my half. Then the next three, long-suffering,
gentleness, and goodness. And that's the fruit of the Holy
Spirit toward men. Long-suffering, knowing what
you are. Gentleness and goodness. And the third cluster of the
fruit of the Holy Spirit. Faith. You believe the gospel. Meekness before God. Temperance. Control from within because of
a new nature. Wherever there's true faith,
there is the fruit of God, the Holy Spirit. A faith that does
not have fruit, now, I know somebody's thinking, well, I need to examine
my fruit, figure out whether or not I have faith. Don't do
that. If you have faith, you'll have fruit. The newest one-day-old believer,
born again, bears all the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Every believer
has this fruit. Finally, James said in James
chapter two, verse 26, that faith without works is dead. Being alone. Now you hear that
faith without works is dead. Being alone. Does that mean our
works prove the reality of our faith? I can look at my works,
how I treat you, what I do, my zeal, I can figure out I've got
faith from that. That's not what it means. That's
not what it means. A works-based assurance is a
false assurance. If you can look at your works
and say, yeah, I must be saved because I do this and I do that,
that's not faith alone. What's it mean then? Faith without
works is dead, being alone. Well, the meaning is found clearly
in Revelation chapter 14, verse 13, when the Holy Spirit inspires
John to say, blessed are the dead that die in the Lord. Blessed are the dead that die
in the Lord. Yea, from henceforth saith the
Spirit, their works do follow them. Now that's what he's talking
about. Their works do follow them. Now this is so important. Their works don't stand out front
as the cause of their salvation. If you're saved, it's because
Christ died for you. It's not because of anything you've done. Their
works don't walk along the side as the ground of their assurance.
Well, I must be saved because look at my life, look at my works,
I must be saved. Your works don't walk along the
side as the ground of your assurance. But I guarantee you this, if
you're saved, there will be evidence. Give me an example of that. Okay,
somebody says, I believe the gospel. I believe the gospel
of God's grace. I believe Christ is all in salvation.
And if you attend a church where that's not preached, what do
your works say? Your works say you really don't
believe that. You say you do, but it's not
real. There will always be works that
are evidence that God really has done a work of grace in somebody's
heart. Faith without works is dead,
being alone. Well, what's real faith? I hope
I've already answered that in this message, but what is real
faith? Faith that saves. Sirs, what must I do to be saved? I realize I can't save myself.
That's inherent in the way he stated that. I realize I cannot
save myself. What must I do to be saved? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. The Ethiopian eunuch said, see,
here's water. What hinders me from being baptized? If you believe with all your
heart you may, he answered, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son
of God. God the Son, the creator of the
universe, the absolute sovereign ruler of the skies we just heard
about. I believe that Jesus Christ is
the Son of God. To him that worketh not, That'd
be you. You see, you can't be saved by
your works. You're convinced of that. To him that worketh
not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly. His faith is counted for righteousness. Christ is the end of the law
for righteousness to everyone that believeth. I know whom I have believed.
I'm persuaded he's able to keep that which I've committed to
him, the salvation of my soul against that day. May God deliver
us all from a faith that does not save and give every one of
us by his grace, saving faith. Let's pray. Lord, give us the grace to believe
that which we cannot see. Lord, I ask in Christ's name
that everybody in this room might be given the gift of saving faith
in thy dear son. In his name we pray, amen.