Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of James chapter 2. James chapter 2. A week or so ago, I alluded,
made a few comments on the subject on which I'd like to speak this
morning. And having made those comments, I've given much thought, and feel
as though that the Lord has given me some direction to speak upon
the subject, the belief of devils. Or I could have named it, do
I possess more than the belief of devils? This morning what
I'd like to do, the conclusion that I'm going to, Lord willing,
is I'd like to set forth what is the difference. This is where
I want to go. What's the difference between
the belief of devils and the belief of a true believer? Obviously there's a difference. James Chapter 2 and verse 19
says this, thou believest that there is one God, thou doest
well. The devils also believe and tremble. Hebrews 11.6 says this, but without
faith it is impossible to please Him, for he that cometh to God
must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them
that diligently, that carefully crave, seek Him. That diligently seek
Him. Faith. is the gift of God. All men have not faith. Man is not born with faith. It's given unto men to believe. By faith, which is the grace
of God, the grace given by God. is that by which a man believes
God. Without faith, no man can believe
God. Belief is the evidence of faith. Faith is the evidence of things
hoped for. The evidence is not seeing things,
or seeing spiritually, by faith. By faith, that is the grace given,
by faith we believe. That's how we believe, by faith. Faith consents to the promises
of God. By faith, men follow Christ. I want to make these statements
and then I want to prove them by God's Word. Now this truth
of believing God is so vitally important. Believe in God. I want to deal with it again
today. I brought this out when I made mention a few weeks ago
when that Philippian jailer asked Paul and Silas, sirs what must
I do to be saved? He was not asking what is it
that I must do to establish, to be the source of What must
I do in order that I might save myself? He was not asking that
or Paul and Silas would have never answered. What they gave
him was the evidence of what God Almighty must do for a man. God Almighty must regenerate
a man. What's the evidence of that?
What must I do? Without this, Paul and Silas
says, without this evidence Not being the source of, but being
the evidence of salvation. What must I do? This is what
they were saying. The evidence that God saved you
by grace is that you're going to believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ. That's what you're going to do. What must I do? He that
believeth not shall be damned. And that word, believe. What
must I, must believe, is the same word. that the devils believe. The
devils believe and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ is the
same word. That right there should arrest us and should make us
say, now wait a minute, now just get real plain and be very, very
simple. I have to hear it simply. I want
to know, I want to know the difference because I'm going to stand before
God I want to know what God has to say. I want to believe God.
And I want more. I want to know that I have more
than the belief of devils. If believing on the Lord Jesus
Christ, if that word and the devil's belief is the same word,
and if they were different, I'd probably settle down a little
bit more, but because they're the same word, I want to know. I want to be found in Him. Here's my question. Turn over
to Romans 4, 24. Romans 4, 24. Here's my first
question. Believe what? What must I do
to be saved? Well, they said believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ. Well, here's what I want to ask.
Believe what? The devils believe, Don. And
they tremble. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Believe what? Romans 4, 24, 25. He's talking about the righteousness
of Christ being imputed. I won't have to read all the
other verses, but this is what he's talking about. But for us
also, to whom it shall be imputed, that is the righteousness of
Christ, if we believe on Him that raised up Jesus our Lord
from the dead. Now here's the key. What? Does a believer believe? He believes that the Lord Jesus
Christ was delivered for our offenses and was raised again. Why? Because God accepted His
sacrifice. Raised again for our justification. Now here's what a believer believes. He believes that Almighty God
has sent His blessed and holy Son into this world for this
purpose. that He was delivered. Delivered
into this world, delivered into the hands of evil and wicked
men, willingly, for our offenses. He died. This is what we believe.
He died for our offenses. He was buried because He died. And He was raised again for,
or because of, our justification before God. We believe that.
We trust the Lord that. Now, let me ask you this. If
that's what a believer believes, how does that belief come? How
does it get to me? I know I wasn't born with faith.
How did it get to me? Well, the scripture says in Romans
10, 17, Faith cometh by hearing. It doesn't say that the devils
have faith. Didn't say the devils have faith.
It says the devils believe. Here again, I'm almost getting
ahead of myself. I'll wait. It doesn't say that
the devils have faith. Faith is a gift of God. The devils
believe. We believe, but there's something
that we possess, Gene, called faith. There's a belief, there's
got to be some instructions, got to be some knowledge. I believe
what? I believe that He was delivered
for our offenses and raised again for our justification before
God. How did I get that belief? Through
the preaching of the gospel. Faith cometh by hearing. How did God get that faith, that
hearing to me? Look back at Romans chapter 10
again. I should have let you stay right
there. Romans 10 and verse 13, 15. Romans 10. Alright. I've got to hear. I'm going to
have to hear. Romans 10, 13 to 15, whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then
shall they call on Him in whom they've not believed? How shall
they believe in Him in whom they've not heard? How shall they hear
without a preacher? How shall they preach except
they be sent as it is written, how beautiful are the feet of
them that preach the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings
of good things? Now let me tell you what I've
said here in the last two or three minutes. I'll sum it up
just like this. God's people have to hear something. They
have to hear the truth. I'm going to show you how demons,
they believe those truths too. And I'll tell you what they believe
about them. But I've got to hear the truth.
I must believe. But if my belief, Jeff, is not
mingled with faith, so you just settle your heart down, the difference
between the devils that believe and the believer that believes.
We believe in something concerning the same things, but one of them
is mixed with faith. Devils don't have faith. Faith
is a precious, without faith it's impossible to believe God.
I please God. Faith. What's the difference? Now, I've got to hear the gospel. I've got to hear the gospel of
God's free grace. I'm not talking about, nothing
that I'm going to be talking about this morning concerning
believing has anything to do with false religion. I'm talking
about only hearing the gospel. God does not bless a lie. The gospel of God's grace, I've
got to hear the truth. Now, my belief By faith, trusting
by faith has to do with me believing something that I've heard and
I've learned. Has to do with some truth. But there is a heart
that's given to me to believe heartily, savingly. Now have
any assurance of faith, true faith. And as I say faith, don't
ever apply it to a devil. Faith is the gift of God. Demons are not given faith. They
understand some facts, but not faith. God's people examine themselves. They hear these truths. They
examine themselves whether they be in the faith. They prove themselves. That's what 2 Corinthians 13.5
says. They determine by the Word of
God if they truly possess faith. Faith. If a man truly believes,
I'm going to tell you something, that faith is going to be manifested. There's going to be an evidence
in a believer. 1 Thessalonians 1, 2-4 says there's
going to be a work of faith. That is, there's going to be
obedience to God's Word activated by the gift of faith, a work
of faith. There's going to be a labor of
love. God's people are motivated by
love to God. Love to God's gospel, love to
God's Christ, love to God's people. And a patience of hope there's
going to be a resting in the Lord Jesus Christ. God's love
is shed abroad in the hearts of God's people. Now I know that
that's what God Almighty has to say about God's people possessing
faith. God gives them faith to believe. Now they believe, and God gives
them faith to have a heart for it. Now, in our passage today,
we're warned, there's a warning, by the Spirit of God against
a belief that is soul damning. And what I want to do is I'm
going to take what the scripture says demons believe. The devils
believe. and they tremble. I want to take
what God has to say that a demon believes and I want to set forth
some comfort. This is what I want to do. I'm
not here to scare God's people. I'm here for one purpose, Frank,
to comfort God's people. I want to be a comfort. Because
let me tell you something, when you read that passage of scripture,
thou believest that there is one God, thou doest well, the
devils also believe and tremble. Unless we know what that means
and what it says, and the comfort in it, it's going to be kind
of, you know, scary. I want to know. I want to know.
Thou believest that there's one God. Thou doest well. The devils also believe and they
shudder. They shudder. Let me tell you what a demon
believes. And I'm going to prove this by scripture. Devils believe
that God is the one true and living God. They believe that
there's one God. Devils believe that. And they
shudder because they know that they shall and must deal with
Him. They shudder. Now what I want
you to do with me this morning is let's look at what God says
a demon believes. And here's what I'm going to
tell you. You're going to find that Pretty much what a demon
believes, you believe too. A demon believes that there's
one God, you that believe. You believe that? Yes you do. There's one God. And this God
that we believe in is sovereign. He's the sovereign God. I defy, I openly defy this impotent
nobody that men are standing in pulpits today that says the
Lord God wants to save you if you'll exercise your free will.
That's not God. That's not God. That's a little
G-God of a man's imagination. I'm going to tell you what a
demon believes. He believes there's one God and
that He's the sovereign God of all the earth, heaven and earth.
He does as He willed in the army of heaven among the inhabitants
of the earth. And nobody stays His hand. The
devil believes that. Turn to Mark 5. Mark chapter
5, verses 1 to 8. Let me show you
what a demon believes. Mark 5, verse 1 to 8. A devil believes that God is
sovereign and I'll tell you another thing a devil believes. He believes
that every knee is going to bow and every tongue is going to
confess that he is Lord. The devils believe that. The
devil believes that every knee is going to bow. Mark 5, verse
1 to 8, they came over into the other side of the sea, into the
country of the Gadarenes. And when he was come out of the
ship immediately, there met him out of the tombs a man with an
unclean spirit, who had his dwelling among the tombs, and no man could
bind him, no. not with chains, because that
he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains
had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces,
neither could any man tame him. And always, night and day, he
was in the mountains, in the tombs, crying, cutting himself
with stones. But when he saw Jesus afar off,
now listen, he ran and worshipped him. bowed down to Him, fell
down at His feet, worshipped, and cried with a loud voice and
said, What have I to do with Thee, Jesus, Thou Son of the
Most High God? I assure Thee by God that Thou
torment me not. For He said unto Him, Come out
of the man, Thou unclean spirit." You know who was speaking? The
demon. The demon. What did he do? He bowed down and worshipped.
Every knee is going to bow, every tongue is going to confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord. I know who you are. Thou son
of the most high God. And he said you come out of him.
I'll tell you what a demon believes. He believes that the Lord Jesus
Christ is the judge of all unrighteousness. And a demon knows you don't want
to deal with him. in yourself, you don't want to.
Turn back to Mark 1. Mark 1, 21-24. You know who knows this, who believes
this? Only a believer. Only a believer
knows. An unbeliever, right now, he
does not care. He does not care. He doesn't
care if he hears the gospel, he doesn't care. Mark 1 verse
21 to 24, I'm going to say this, a believer believes that he's
the judge of all unrighteousness and he does not want to deal
with him in himself. Mark 1. 21, and they went into
Capernaum, and straightway on the Sabbath day he entered into
a synagogue and taught. And they were astonished at his
doctrine, for he taught them as one that had authority, not
as the scribes. And there was in their synagogue
a man with an unclean spirit, and he cried out, saying, let
us alone. What have we to do with thee,
thou Jesus of Nazareth? We know. Are thou come to destroy
us? I know thee who thou art, the
Holy One of God." And Jesus rebuked him saying, hold thy peace and
come out of him. I'll tell you what the devil
knows. He knows that Almighty God is the judge and he doesn't
want to deal with him. I've heard people talk so foolishly,
but when I stand before God, this is what I'm going to say.
I'm thinking, you're speaking with the mouth of a fool. This
devil says, what have we to do with it? Leave us alone. Leave
me alone. Leave me alone. I don't want
to deal with you. Every demon fears him. He shudders, that's
what scripture says. Why? Because he's God, he knows
who it is. Every demon is orthodox in his
belief. You know what that means? There's
no free will demons. There's no free will departed
sinners that's in hell. Nobody believes in free will
now in hell. The only ones that believe in
that foolishness are those that are left to themselves, that
believe a lie. I'm telling you, demons don't
believe that. No, they're orthodox. They all
believe, I said this a few weeks ago, let me tell you something.
They believe in five points of Calvinism. They know that man's
totally depraved. They know that God has an elect.
They know that the Lord Jesus Christ died for his elect. They
know that he's going to save them irresistibly and he knows
he's going to keep them. They believe that. They believe
that. But let me tell you what they
believe, how they believe that. They believe that as a matter
of mere historical facts. They believe the facts about
it. I've told you this before. I
believe in communism. Now before you get all upset,
I don't have a heart for it. But I believe in it. Do I believe
that there is a such thing as communism? Yes I do. Yes I do. I know the basis of communism. Let's give everything to the
government and let the government decide who gets what. We'll make
everybody equal. That's communism. I believe that
there is a such thing as communism. I believe the fact of it, but
I don't have a heart for it. I have no heart for communism.
I believe the fact of it, but I don't have a love for it. Demons
believe that God's sovereign, but they don't have a heart for
Him. They believe He's the judge, but they don't want to deal with
Him. A believer doesn't want to deal with Him either, outside
of Christ. Satan believes that God Almighty is omnipotent. You that believe, believe that
too. Satan said to the Lord concerning
Job, hast thou made an hedge about him, about his house, about
all that he hath? On every side the Lord asked
him, have you considered my servant Job? Satan said, well yeah, but
you've got him protected. I can't get to him. Satan believes
that God's omnipotent. Satan believes that God has an
elect. There in Revelation 12, that flood of lies that comes
out of the mouth of the dragon, who's he going after? He's going
after the woman. That's what Scripture says. Revelation
12, 15. He sends out this flood of lies
after the woman. He knows that God has an elect,
and he knows that they must hear the gospel, so he sends a lie
to try to deceive them. But the earth helped the woman
and just opened up her mouth and God let her just drink it
in, helping the woman. Satan believes that God rules,
orders all things. He knows that his time is short.
He knows that God's going to end this when God says it's going
to end. He knows that. He believes. He believes. The
devils believe and they tremble, but here's all they believe.
They believe the facts of it. They believe nothing more than
the historical account of it. That's what they believe. Now,
knowing what they believe, and knowing that a believer believes,
what must I do? I must believe. But there's got
to be something that I have that a devil doesn't have. I must
have faith. to have a heart and a love for
it. A love for God, a love for His gospel, a love for His Christ. Demons don't have that. They
believe the facts of it. Let me tell you something. If
you believe only the facts of it, you have nothing more than
the belief of devils. Okay? Well then, how do you know
the difference? Don't leave me hanging. Here's
my question. Do I believe on the Son of God
savingly? Or is my belief in Him merely
the belief of devils? I'm telling you, I'm telling
you, there is a belief of mere facts. And you'd be surprised
How many people? You can talk to somebody and
I'm going to give an illustration right now that I was going to
give at the end of it. I knew a man in Louisiana and
this man, when I met him, he was a five-point Calvinist. In fact, a lot of the things
I learned I learned from this man five points of Calvinism. And I'm telling you, he was orthodox. And he had to be one of the meanest
people I ever met in my life. What he said was right, but what
he evidenced had nothing to do with what he said he believed. I'm telling you, James sets forth
the evidence of possessing faith. Some of the things that these
demons believe, I believe those too. Thou believest that there's
one God, thou doest well. That's good. The devils believe
that too, and they tremble. What is the difference between
them? Do I have a belief that is mere
facts and the evidence of that belief be absent? If it is, it's
just the belief of devils. A belief that's not going to
sustain me in the day of judgment, that's the belief of devils.
Believe in some true things, no heart for it. James, by God's
Spirit, gives the proof. This is what I want to hear.
Okay, you've told me enough now to get my attention. Now tell
me something. Give me some comfort right here.
James chapter 2, verse 17-18. James 2, 17-18, even so faith. Now James had said something.
He said something in verse 14. What does it profit my brethren
though a man say he hath faith and have not works? Can faith
save him? Now James is saying something. He said, now you say you have
faith. You say you have faith. You proclaim
to have faith. Only God's people have faith.
But a man says, you say you have faith. What he's asking is this,
though a man say, verse 14, he have faith, and have not works, can that faith that he says he
has, absent from the evidence of it, is that savingly given? That's what he's talking about
now. All right, verse 17. Even so, faith, or what a man
calls faith, if it hath not works, is a corpse. It's dead. Being alone. Yea, a man may say,
thou hast faith, I have works. Show me thy faith. Without thy
works, I will show thee my faith by my works. Now, let me establish
something again that you already know. Paul the apostle says not by
works of righteousness. Not by works of righteousness.
We're not saved. You can look at this. It's Titus
chapter 3 verse 5. Titus 3 verse 5. Now I'm in Timothy. No wonder
it doesn't look right. Not by works of righteousness which
we've done, but according to His mercy He saved us by the
washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost. Now let me
establish something again. We are not saved by our works.
We are not saved by our works. When Paul the Apostle made that
statement, not by works of righteousness that we've done, Paul was setting
forth the source of salvation is not the works of men, not
the source of it. When James was saying that without
works, faith is dead, what James is talking about is the evidence
of it. Paul is saying that works is not the source. James says
without the evidence of it, good works. Not for salvation, but
because of it. Without the evidence. That's
not faith. That's not true faith. James
declares that without the evidence, God has not done anything for
a man. I want you to turn to Hebrews
11. Hebrews chapter 11. Here's the evidence. James chapter
11. Look at verse 7. By faith, Noah being warned of
God, of things not seen as yet, now listen to what he did. He
moved with fear. He reacted. He moved with reverence
before God. He moved with respect before
God. He did that not to be saved,
but because he was converted. Look at verse 17. Here's the
effect. By faith, Abraham, when he was
tried, offered up Isaac. God Almighty had given him a
son born from the loins of Abraham in the womb of Sarah that, naturally
speaking, was dead God gave him a son, take thy son, your only
son, one I gave you, not the one you tried to produce yourself,
that's not the son of promise, one I gave you, and you offer
him unto me. And by faith, Abraham obeyed
God. In verse 24, by faith Moses,
when he was come to years, He was the evidence of it. He refused
to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. Look at verse 27, By
faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king. For he
endured, as seeing him who is invisible. Look at verse 29,
By faith they passed through the Red Sea. Why did they walk
over that Red Sea? God had given them faith, true
faith. They believed God. A devil doesn't have faith to
do this. Almighty God gives a believer
faith and they believe these facts also. But being mixed with
faith, they respond out of a love and a heart and a commitment
to Almighty God. Faith that is nothing more than
facts is dead faith. That's dead, that's not faith. in nothing more than the historical
facts of who the Lord Jesus Christ is. Everybody and their brother
believes historically that He came into this world. True faith
is a heart of persuasion. And it's a confidence. And it's a love for Christ. A
devil believes historically who he is. I know who you are! But
a believer loves Him. He believes who he is too, but
he loves him. That's what Thomas said when
the Lord appeared to him after the Lord had risen. Thomas said,
my Lord, my God. Peter, you love me. Lord, you
know all things. You know I love you. I love you.
Devils believe the facts. A believer believes him. and
loves Him and trusts Him, His power to save. There's a commitment. A believer is committed. I've committed my soul, my life
to You. Lord, only You can save me. Only
You can sanctify me. Only You can glorify me. These
good works, good works, I want to just read you what Scripture
has to say. Matthew 5.16, Scripture says,
let your light, let the light of what you know, what God's
taught you, so shine before men that they may see your good works
and glorify your Father which is in heaven. 1 Timothy 6.18,
that they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready
to distribute, willing to communicate. Titus 2.7, in all things showing
thyself a pattern of good works in doctrine, showing uncorruptness,
gravity, sincerity. There is a heart for Christ. There's a love for Christ. They
understand the facts. I'm reading some scriptures right
here, and you hear them. And a demon believes that they
are the facts of it. Oh, mingle with faith. There's
a love for it. A commitment to Him. By faith. God's sheep, they hear His voice. He knows them, and you know what
they do? They follow Him. They follow after Him. I want
you to look at Matthew 5 as I begin to wrap this up. Matthew 5 verse
3. Here's the evidence. Here's the evidence. Blessed, Matthew 5, verse 3,
blessed, blessed are the poor in spirit. A believer believes
the truth, the facts of these, and he realizes by the grace
of God in myself, I'm nobody. I'm nobody. They don't have a heart. They've
got an old nature, but I tell you, it doesn't rule and it doesn't
have dominion over them, but I'll tell you what they do. It
came to him and it bowed down to him, worshipped him, scripture
says, and rebuked him. Know who you are. Leave me alone. A believer doesn't talk like
that. They don't have a heart like that. Blessed are the poor
in spirit. Theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they that mourn over what they see in themselves.
They're going to be comforted. Blessed are the meek, those that
bow to the good providence of God. Blessed are they, verse
6, that do hunger and thirst after righteousness. A devil
believes the facts of this, but a believer hungers and thirsts
after his righteousness imputed to me. Lord, you must make me
holy. You must robe me. Blessed, verse
7, are the merciful. They shall obtain mercy. Blessed
are the pure in heart. Blessed are those who have a
new one. Have a new heart imparted. I'm going to give you a new heart.
Blessed are the peacemakers. A demon believes the facts, but
he doesn't have any heart for peace. Peace before God and peace
with others. Peace with God's people. You
believe that one God devil believes that. They tremble. But God's
given His people to believe those things that demons believe just
factually, naturally, but they have a heart for it. God's people
do. True faith. Back in James 2. True faith. It's evidenced by
works of kindness. For Christ's sake. For the good
of brother. Look at James chapter 2, verse
15 through 17. If a brother, if a brother, or
sister be naked, destitute of daily food. One of you say unto
them, depart in peace. Be you warmed, be filled. I'm going to speak real spiritually
now. Pray the Lord bless you. Notwithstanding ye give them
not those things which are needful to the body, what doth it profit? Even so, faith, if it hath not,
works. Not works for salvation, but
works as the evidence of salvation. Kindness, brotherly love, tenderhearted,
merciful. One might say, well anybody can
do those kind works. Yeah, but only the Lord sees
the heart of it. I can fool you, but I can't fool
Him. He knows. He sees. He knows the
difference. Matthew chapter 25, Matthew 25,
verse 31. Matthew 25 verse 31. When the Son of Man shall come
in His glory and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He
sit upon the throne of His glory and before Him shall be gathered
all nations. He shall separate them one from
another as a shepherd divided his sheep from the goats. He
shall set the sheep on His right hand, goats on His left. Then
shall the king, saying to them on his right hand, come, you
blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you
from the foundation of the world. For I was hungered, you gave
me meat. I was thirsty, you gave me drink. I was stranger, you
took me in. Naked, you clothed me. Sick,
you visited me. I was in prison, you came unto
me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, When
saw we thee in hunger, and fed thee, or thirsty, and gave thee
drink? When saw we thee a stranger, took thee in her naked, and clothed
thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, came unto thee?
And the king shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto
you, Inasmuch as you've done it unto one of the least of these
my brethren, you've done it unto me. I'll tell you the difference
in the belief of a devil. And the belief of the same facts,
but that belief that's mingled with faith, with a new heart. I'll tell you the difference.
It's evidenced by attitude and good works, the scripture says.
Not for, but because of salvation. A new heart is evidenced in kindness,
brotherly love, gentleness, meekness, temperance, long-suffering. Our faith, we're kept by the
power of God. Our faith, all of those blessedness,
blessed of the poor, blessed of the meek, blessed of those
in hunger and thirst. You know who possesses those.
I'll tell you who they are. It's those that groan within
themselves because they don't see those evidences as they wish
they would. That's the one who has them.
Blessed are the meek. I'll tell you who the meek are.
The meek, the long-suffering ones, the gentle ones, those
that look at themselves and say, oh wretched man that I am. Lord,
I believe. Help my unbelief. Lord, keep
me. Lord, sustain me. Those that
God Almighty has given a heart for Him, they're the ones that
say in their heart and to each other, I'm glad when they said
to me, let's go to the house of the Lord. Let's go worship
God. Let's go hear what God has to
say. And Lord, give me faith. Lord, I believe. Help mine unbelief. Lord, increase my faith. Teach
me. Teach me of yourself. For Christ's
sake, and for the good of your people, comfort and unity of
the faith. Lord, may it be so. Amen.