Let's take our Bibles once again
and turn to the book of John chapter 12. John chapter 12. I'd like to deal with two verses
this morning, verse 42 and 43. But before we look into that, particular
passage right there, the Scriptures had previously revealed, and
this is what we dealt with last time, starting there in verse
37, that a group of Jews that had heard the Lord preach had
not believed on Him at all. That's what verse 37, but though
He had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed
not on Him. And that belief, or that non-belief,
let me say that, the fact of them not believing, actually
fulfilled a prophecy of the Lord through Isaiah the prophet that
said in Isaiah 53-1, Who hath believed our report? Who hath
believed our doctrine? Who hath believed what we preach
concerning God's sovereign grace and mercy in the Lord Jesus Christ? And to whom is the arm, the power,
the strength? Actually, the Lord Jesus Himself,
the power of God. To whom is the arm of the Lord
revealed? To whom is it disclosed? To whom is it uncovered. They
did not believe, the Scripture says. Therefore, verse 39 says,
they could not believe. Because that Isaiah said again,
and here again, this is God speaking. This is God's Word. And I know what the world by
nature is going to say about this passage of Scripture. They're
going to say that's just not fair. That just can't be right. That cannot be the way it is. But listen to what God has to
say. And let God be true and every
man be a liar. Here's what the Scripture says.
Verse 39-40, Therefore they could not believe, because, that Isaiah
said again, he hath blinded their eyes. He's obscured their eyes. And hardened their heart. The
word hardened there is interpreted petrified. Rendered callous. He hath hardened their heart
that they should not see. That they should not purpose
to see. That they should have no desire
to see. with their eyes, nor understand
with their heart, and be converted, that I should heal them." Again, it is a serious and deadly
thing to tamper with the Word of God and to treat it As if
it's a light thing. I used to have a neighbor in
Tennessee, and every blue moon, they would say, well, we've decided
we're going to do church today. Not a big deal. But there was another group of
people of whom it was said they did
believe. And this is what I want to deal with this morning. Some
didn't believe when they saw the miracles. And therefore,
the Scripture says, the Lord hardened them, left them to themselves. But here was another group that
was dealt with in verses 42 and 43. It says, nevertheless, among
the chief rulers also many believed on Him, of the cause of the Pharisees
they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the
synagogue. For they loved the praise of men more than the praise
of God." Now, that first verse right there, verse 42, reveals
that obviously there is a belief that is obviously not according
to true saving faith. Obviously, there is a belief.
The Scripture says, nevertheless, among the chief rulers, also
many believed on him. But I want you to hold your place
there in John 12. Turn over to John 2. John 2. These are weighty passages. They set forth the truth of Almighty
God in His dealings with people according to His will, path and
purpose. God does what He wants to do.
The Lord said to Moses, I'll have mercy on whom I'll have
mercy. I'll have compassion on whom I'll have compassion. And
the Apostle Paul said in chapter 9 of Romans concerning that passage
that was quoted out of Exodus, Therefore, the Apostle Paul wrote
under the inspiration of God's Spirit, it's not of him that
willeth or of him that runneth. But what? But God that showeth
mercy. That's what we just sang. God
be merciful to me. Lord, have mercy. The Scripture
is going to back a man up in a corner and tell him what he
is. And if God shows mercy to that
man, He's going to show him his need of the Lord Jesus Christ.
But if God leaves a man to himself to do what he wants to, and God's
right. He is right. He's just. All souls are mine, saith the
Lord. They're mine. And He does as He will. Look
at John 2. I was talking about, obviously,
there is a belief that is not unto salvation. John 2, verse
23, 24. Now, when He was in Jerusalem
at the Passover, in the feast day, many believed in His name.
when they saw the miracles which He did. But Jesus did not commit
Himself unto them because He knew all men." Now, obviously,
reading that, there's a belief, and I do know there is a belief
that is absolutely real that is not found to be saving. Man by nature, the Scripture
says, saw some miracles that he did. Didn't believe. Some
of them did believe, but what was the exclusion? The Scripture says they did believe,
but because of the Pharisees, they wouldn't confess, acknowledge
Christ to be all of their hope. Now here's the key. I want to
be very, very clear because that's a passage of Scripture right
there that could cause great concern to a believer. Do I truly believe Him? Have
I truly trusted the Lord Jesus Christ? There is a belief associated
with man that does not possess a heart of commitment to the
Lord Jesus Christ. In the light of that verse, and
the light in the verses that we just read in verse 37, there's
two classes of unbelievers. Number one, there's a class who
are hardened, unmoved at all. by the wondrous word of God's
gospel. And then there's a group that
possesses a temporary impression of what is here called belief. Demons' belief. A temporal belief. Beliefs that there is a God. I believe in God. I hear that
a lot. There's a lot of television,
a lot of people confessing to themselves to be Christians.
I'm a Christian. I believe in God. Demons believe
that there's a God. There is a belief that acknowledges
that there is a God, but it's an impression upon the conscience
of a sinner that does not truly move that sinner to forsake all
else for their salvation through Christ. It is a belief that does
not and will not forsake everything else They saw, this group right
here saw, they saw the things, they believed on Him, but they
would not turn loose of that old profession, that old hope. You see, that synagogue, the sacrifices, that was raised
up by the Lord. That was of God. Raised up by
God. But it was a picture. It was
a type. There was never, never set forth in Scriptures that
men were converted, saved by the keeping of the law. But what
they did was they held to that old tradition that if you're
going to be saved, You've got to stay with the law. You've got to obey the law. These
Pharisees can't be wrong. These are the ones that have
been raised up by the Lord. These are God's spokesmen. A belief that is temporal or
fleeting. stems from something other than
a total work of grace in the heart. A belief that stems from
the keeping of the law is a belief that will not confess Christ
to be all of my hope. God's people are made willing,
the scripture says, in the day of His power God's people are
converted and kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation,
ready to be revealed in the last day. The Lord Jesus Christ says,
I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish,
neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand. God's people
are truly converted, and they are given faith to believe. But there was something about
these right here, just like there are today, there was something
that was more important to them than the salvation of their eternal
soul. And what it was, was the smile
and approval of men. They would not, because the Scripture
says of the Pharisees, They did not confess Him. Lest they should be put out of
the synagogue. Lest they should be ostracized. Lest they should be separated
from. Lest they should be put out, for they loved the praise
of men more than the praise of God. They weren't convinced. They were not convinced of their
total need of Christ. I hear what you're saying. And
I know that salvation, you say, is all grace. Okay, I understand
that. But I still cannot believe that
I was not converted under what I believed before. I still feel
as though that I was sincere. As I've said before, Hitler was
sincere. I still feel as though that when
I was coming up in false religion, and I see the fallacy of that,
but I still cannot turn loose of that. I'm not at a point to where I
will say as the Apostle Paul, all things that were gained to
me then, I count but loss. True faith. True belief. Let me just sum it up just like
this. Says and admits, I was wrong. I was wrong. Everything that I believed was
a lie. They believed on Him, but because
of the Pharisees, because of the fear, They just could not
say, these guys are wrong. These preachers are wrong. They
couldn't confess Christ. Why? Because they just could not be put out of the synagogue. To forsake Him and for everything
for Him. I'm not there yet. If Almighty
God gives a man or woman a new heart, I'm telling you, they
will turn loose of what they formerly believed like a hot
potato. And they will not look back to
it. Old things are past. They're gone. They're behind.
But if they cannot turn loose of it, It's because that Almighty God
has not given them a new heart. They will. A new heart. A new spirit. I will put them. They were not willing to confess
Him. There was no covenant of heart
with Him. No heart acknowledgement. No
commitment of promise. from Him that they've been truly
born again, born from above. I'm telling you, there was a love or a desire
that superseded Him. You say, well, I just don't see
how that can happen. Oh, it does. It does. They didn't want to be put out
of the synagogue. They wanted men to approve of them. They
wanted men to say, you know what, you've always been a good person.
You've always done the right thing. You were always sincere.
You were always this. In their minds, according to
the teaching from their youth, that synagogue was everything. The Pharisees were the highest
of God-seekers. They couldn't possibly be wrong,
they think. Oh, the great pride and prejudice
of a man's heart. But when God comes in power,
when He comes in mercy, when He comes in grace, when He comes
like to Matthew who sat at that table of custom, and he said,
follow me. They leave it all. They'll turn
their back on that form of profession. They'll walk away in a heartbeat.
Why? Because Christ is their life.
They know without Him, I have nothing. Luke 12, 8 and 9 says,
Also I say unto you, whosoever shall not confess, covenant,
commit, acknowledge Me before men, him shall the Son of Man. Whosoever shall confess before
men, shall the Son of Man also confess before the angels of
God. But he that denieth, he that contradicts, he that rejects
Me before men, shall be denied before the angels of God." Denying
Christ is to still hold on to my work, my ability, my capability. My will. My power. To deny Christ is to completely
deny that salvation is all of grace. You say, well, I'm telling you,
these Scriptures right here are just plain. Nevertheless, among
the chief rulers also, many believed on him. But because of the Pharisees,
they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the
synagogue. For they loved the praise of
men more than the praise of God." To be found in Christ is to say,
I have no other God, not even myself. And that's man by nature,
to be God. I had a man, I've told you this
before, he was a preacher. He died years ago. He was in Louisiana. And he told
me, he said, I really believe what you're preaching. I believe
what you're preaching. I believe. In fact, he would
call up and it was almost mockery. because he'd call up and he'd
say, am I talking to the five-pointer? It was a mockery. He said, I
really believe what you're preaching, but if I preach that at the church
where I pastored, I'd tear it up. He said, I can't preach that
because I would destroy it. I'll tell you this, you don't
believe it. You don't believe it. Loving
the praise of men Loving your association with
men more than the praise of God is damning to the soul. Know
ye not, James 4.4 says, that the friendship of the world is
enmity with God. Whosoever therefore will be a
friend of the world is the enemy of God. But what if it costs
me my association with my family? It will. What do you mean, unless
the Lord gives your family a new heart too? It will. I'm telling
you, it will. What if it costs me everything? It will. It will. Room 1413,
in closing. I mean, Luke 14.33, I'm sorry. Luke 14.33. How much? See, this is the problem right
here. I was reading what Mr. Spurgeon made a comment on this,
and he said the problem is that Men not called of God will not
be honest with the cost. Count the cost. What's it going
to cost? It's going to cost everything.
Everything. Man by nature wants to paint
a rosy picture and say that it really is not going to cost you. It will cost you everything.
Luke 14.33, So likewise, whosoever He be of you that forsaketh not
all that he hath." He cannot be my disciple. For the speaker, for the hearer
this morning, may the Lord have mercy upon us and help us to
realize, Lord, save me or I'm going to perish. If it cost my
association with my family, with my spouse,
I love my wife. She's my wife and I love her. But if I was ever put in a position
to where I had to make a decision between my wife or your wife,
Carl, I believe, your husband, You have no choice. You have
no choice. You say, I believe these doctrines.
I believe five points of Calvinism. It may be that Almighty God puts
you in a position to where you have to do the right thing. And you'll know whether He's
given you a heart. And this is how you'll know.
You'll give up everything for Him. You'll keep nothing. You will not forsake Him. You will not. Not if He's given
you a new heart. My sheep, they hear my voice. I know them. And they follow
me. God's people are obedient. Made willing in the day of His
power. And they will forsake all for
the blessed, glorious presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord,
thank you this day for Christ's sake.