My task today is speaking to
people with ears to hear, and ears to hear and understand the
simple truth of Holy Scripture, that salvation is altogether
the work of God's election, God's redemption, and God's irresistible
grace in the Lord Jesus Christ. that no one can ever be saved
unless God steps in and stops us in our rush towards hell and
turns us back to himself. No dead sinner will ever live
unless God gives him life, and no dead sinner will ever believe
God unless God gives him faith to believe. I have a brief message
which I've entitled, Faith and Unbelief. Just before we came
up, I was talking to Simon. Amazingly, he has the same message
coming as well, the same title. And we hadn't conferred, so it's
remarkable. But we will be crossing over
with some scriptures. But that's the way the Lord works,
isn't he? He reinforces and he repeats things, doesn't he? That's
when we see it in scripture often, when the Lord repeats terms.
It's for emphasis, isn't it? And so maybe the Lord has something
for us It's important to hear. It's always important, but the
Lord does emphasise things. Faith and unbelief. Faith and
unbelief. Of all the disabilities we have
in these mortal bodies, Unbelief is the most dire. John 3.36 says, He that believeth
on the Son hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not the
Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. The Lord Jesus said to his disciples,
and so he says to us, when he talks to his disciples, he's
talking to us. It says have faith in God. Have faith in God. Men have faith in all sorts of
things in this world, but really the only faith that
counts is faith in God. That's the only faith that lasts.
Our problem is that we are born unbelieving sinners. That's our
default position. We're not born with faith. We
are not born with faith. Someone may say, well, if we
are born that way, then why are we still to be blamed for our
unbelief? So to answer that question, let's
turn to Genesis chapter two. Genesis chapter two. We see the
commandment to Adam and Eve in the garden. This is how things
came to be. Genesis chapter two, verse 16. The Lord God had commanded the
man saying, of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely
eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt
not eat of it. For in the day that thou eatest
thereof, thou shalt surely die. And then in Genesis chapter 3,
our mother Eve is beguiled by the serpent to enact of unbelief. So let's turn to chapter 3 and
read this discourse between Adam and Eve and the serpent. Now
the serpent was more subtle, that is, he was more cunning
and crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God
had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea,
hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the
trees of the garden, but of the fruit of the tree which is in
the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of
it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent
said unto the woman, you shall not surely die. For God doth
know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened,
and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman
saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant
to the eyes, and a tree desired to make one wise, she took of
the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband
with her, and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were
opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig
leaves together and made themselves aprons." The corruption of the
human race began with unbelief. Sin entered the world and a terrible,
terrible consequence came with it. In Romans 5 we read, Wherefore,
as by one man's sin entered into the world, and death by sin,
and so death passed upon all men, that all have sinned. That's why we're to be blamed
for our unbelief. We were there in the garden with
Adam, in Adam. There is a term we hear quite
frequently these days called gaslighting. I don't know if
you've ever heard of it, but it's not really a new term. It's
ancient. It's an ancient, subtle manipulation. It's an old tactic of the devil. It's when someone subtly tries
to instill self-doubt in you and confusion. They use words
to deceive and manipulate in an effort for the victim to question
what they know to be true. To question what they know to
be true. The serpent, it says, was more
subtle than any beast of the field. And he said to the woman,
yea, hath God said ye shall eat of every tree of the garden?
Shall not eat of every tree of the garden? Did he really say
that? Are you sure? And they began
to question in their own mind what they knew to be true. Adam
and Eve had walked in the garden all the days of their life in
sweet communion, believing God. They had enjoyed his sweet company
in happiness and full contentment. But here is a serpent manipulating
and sowing doubt in their minds. The subtlety is subtle, isn't
it? It is subtle at first, but then
the serpent just lies outright. Satan is the father of lies,
isn't he? So we shouldn't be surprised. He says, you shall
not surely die. Though God said, you shall surely
die. And what I find absolutely remarkable
is that Eve believed the lie of Satan, whom she had no reason,
absolutely no reason to believe. And at the same time, at the
very same time, she did not believe God, whom she had every reason
to believe. Isn't that true of us? We have
every reason to believe Satan always appeals to the flesh,
doesn't he? He knows that's our weak link. He knows that's our
weakest part. No wonder Satan used the flesh
in tempting our Lord in the wilderness. He promised fleshly rewards to
the Lord, didn't he? He says, turn these stones into
bread. And here in Genesis the woman
saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant
to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise. Satan appealed to the flesh,
and the flesh is weak, even though their own experience told them
that God would never ever deceive them. They fell into unbelief. that God was withholding from
them. And we know, don't we, that there
is nothing more dishonoring to God than unbelief. What does
unbelief say? It says, I don't believe you.
I don't believe what you're saying to me is true. And in effect,
it's saying, you're a liar. You're lying, you're lying to
me. Can you think of anything more offensive to accuse our
whole lying on. This is why unbelief is so offensive
to God. But we know, don't we, we know
that God cannot lie. He cannot lie. It is impossible
for him to lie. I think of that verse in Numbers
23. It says, God is not a man that
he should lie. What a terrible indictment of
man. If God were like us, we would
certainly be in a world of trouble. But God is not a man that he
should lie. And that verse goes on to say,
hath he said and shall he not do it? He does what he says and
he says what he does. Hath he spoken and shall he not
make it good? Now God always makes good on
his promises. every single time without fail. And so here we are speaking of
an attribute of God which is his immutability. His immutability. That simply means that he does
not change. His immutability is an assurance
to us that his goodwill towards us will never change. It is an
assurance that his faithfulness and his mercy and his love towards
us never fails, and that his promises never fail. We have
an immutable God, and he is immutably faithful. He is immutably faithful. He cannot not be faithful. One Thessalonians 5 says, faithful
is he that calleth you who also will do it. You also do it. What will he do? Well, that preceding
verse there says, that passage says, that he preserves us. He
preserves us, preserved, blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ. He keeps us, doesn't he? He keeps
us. And what a comfort that ought
to be. He's the great shepherd of our sheep, of the sheep, isn't
he? We are so prone to wander. was so prone to wander, but he
will not allow any of his sheep to be lost." I've mentioned this
story before, but it seems relevant to me. Some years ago I spoke
to a man I knew who was a regular churchgoer, not here, but in
his own church. He was an older man that hadn't
been well and I walked with him for a few minutes and we talked
about spiritual things and I mentioned the comfort of being sure of
our salvation. And he stepped back and he said,
no, I disagree. I believe that we can lose our
salvation. that we can lose our salvation.
Friends, the only way you can lose your salvation is if you
have something to do with that salvation. Where are we looking for our
assurance? That's the question, isn't it?
We're looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. The author and finisher of our
faith. So what does that mean? That means he begins it, that
means he completes it, and that means he does everything in between.
Faith looks at the faithful one. We are looking to his faithfulness,
not ours. Sadly, that man went into hospital
soon after for a routine operation and there was a complication
with his surgery and he never came home. I don't want to be
guessing when that day comes. So the Lord has given us great
tokens of his love and his mercy and his assurance. In 2 Corinthians
1 we read that God has sealed us, sealed us and given us the
earnest of the spirit in our hearts. Now a seal is used for
certifying something, that something is authentic. I want to know
my faith is authentic. I want to know it's real. He
seals us and gives us the earnest of his spirit. And in Romans
8, we read that the spirit bears witness with our spirit that
we are children of God. 1 John says, hereby we know that
dwell in him and he in us, because he hath given us his spirit. Given us his spirit. True saving
faith is a spiritual work of God. And faith is the evidence,
isn't it? Faith is the evidence. Faith
is the substance, Hebrews 11, of things hoped for and the evidence
of things not seen. And so there is a very simple
question for us all, isn't it? Has God given us faith? Has God given you faith? Faith
to believe God. It is a comfort to us. What did
the Lord say? Let not your heart be troubled.
You believe in God, believe in me. Believe also in me. I encourage you to read through
Hebrews 11, see that long list of men and women who had one
thing in common. They all had good report with
God through faith. But this flesh is a constant
irritation to us. It's a constant obstacle to us. You recall that man who came
to the Lord to heal his son with tears. And he said, Lord, I believe. Help thou my unbelief. That's our cry, isn't it? That's
our cry. Help thou out my unbelief. You are the giver of faith. Give
me faith to believe. Give me faith to trust Christ
for everything, to trust his atonement as a propitiation for
my sins, to trust his righteousness, which is given to me without
causing me. Help thou my unbelief. Believers are a strange mixture. We are a strange mixture. We
have those two natures which war one against the other. That
old man, that old man of flesh, is full of unbelief, absolutely
full of unbelief. And really, it's just sin. Paul
said in Romans, whatsoever is not of faith is sin, is sin. And when all is said and done,
we are simply agreeing with God, aren't we? We have sinned in
every possible way imaginable. We have never kept a single law
or precept. We are creatures of sin by our
very nature. We don't deny our depravity,
as some may do. One John says, if we say we have
no sin, we deceive ourselves. and the truth is not in us. 1 John 1.9 says if we confess
our sins, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive
us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. We
are agreeing with God. Agreeing with God. We're all
have sinned. and come short of the glory of
God. All of us are unrighteous when all unrighteousness is cleansed. All that remains is righteousness.
That old man of flesh sins continually. There is no faith there, but
that inner man, that spiritual man, does not commit sin according
to 1 John. He's perfectly righteous. That's
an amazing thing, isn't it? You can read in 1 John, it's
a great chapter to read, that man, that inner man, that spiritual
man says with full assurance, Lord, I believe. Lord, I believe. But the natural man, the unregenerate
man remains in unbelief. The natural man doesn't see himself
as a sinner. A real sinner, that I can do
nothing to please God and I have nothing to offer God. Unable to do anything spiritually
pleasing, God must make us alive. And so unbelief has too high
a regard for self and too low a regard for God. Unbelief essentially,
and at its core, to make its way. Unbelief says,
I can choose God. What does faith say? Faith says,
you did not choose me, but the Lord says, you did not choose
me, I chose you. Unbelief does what Cain did.
You remember what Cain did? He toiled and worked in the field,
and he gathered those first fruits of his crop, and he brought them
to the Lord, thinking that the works of his own hands were going
to be acceptable. He mistakenly thought that. He
had too high a regard for self and too low a regard for God.
Belief does what Abel did. What did Abel do? He offered
up that Lamb, didn't he? That sacrifice that represented
the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lamb of God that taketh away
the sin of the world. He honoured God. How did he honour
God? He honoured God by offering the
offering that God would accept. He had a high regard for God
and a low view of self. And that is what we do, isn't
it? We are offering That lamb, that's the whom, the lamb who
take away the sin of the world. Unbelief has a too high regard
for self and too low a regard for God. And belief has the opposite,
isn't it? It's just the opposite. There's
so many opposites in scriptures. Belief has a high regard for
God and a low view of self. I pray the Lord would teach us
to humble ourselves before God There's no doubt there are many
people in this world with many important jobs, doing important
things, and rightly they command our respect. But when we come
into His presence, when we come into the presence of the King
of Kings and the Lord of Lords, well, that's a different story,
isn't it? We become nothings and nobodies before the Lord.
And the question is, has the Lord made you a nobody? I'm happy
to be nothing and a nobody. John the Baptist, remember what
John said? That one of whom the Lord said,
no greater among women was born. He said, I am unworthy to loosen
the latchet of his shoe. Turn with me briefly to Matthew
Chapter 8. I'll finish with this remarkable
account between the Lord Jesus and a Roman soldier. Actually no, we'll go to Luke
account. Sorry. Luke chapter 7, we'll do the
Luke account. There are different accounts of this. Luke 7, beginning at verse 2. And a certain centurion's servant,
who was dear unto him, was sick and ready to die. And when he
heard Jesus, he sent unto him the old of the Jews, beseeching
him that he would come and heal his servant. And when they came
to Jesus, they besought him instantly, saying that he was worthy for
whom he should do this. For he loveth our nation, and
he hath built us a synagogue. The servants were very eager
to tell the Lord who it was that sent him. sent them. This man
is a Roman soldier, and in its day the Roman army was a fearsome
fighting force. These soldiers were carefully
chosen and extremely disciplined, and they were under extreme discipline
themselves. They endured the hardship of
strict discipline on a scale we cannot imagine. And they were
the defenders of Roman citizens, the Roman Empire, and so the
Roman citizens held them in high regard as the protectors of Rome. And they beseeched the Lord to
come. There is much more to this story
than time permits me now, and it's worth the message in itself,
of course, Just the fact that the Jews were sent to the Lord
is unusual. Jewish leaders were not in the
habit of being fond of Roman soldiers and Roman soldiers were
not known to be fond of the Jews. But there is something remarkable,
something else of note here in verse 6. Jesus went with them. Jesus went with them. Did the
Lord go with them because this centurion was an important man?
No, of course not. Rather, he went with them because
this man was one who had been given faith to believe God. He
was one of the Lord's faithful ones. And the text goes on to
say, And when he was now not far from the house, the centurion
sent friends to him. And what message do these friends
relay to this centurion? They said, Lord, trouble not
thyself, for I am not worthy that thou shouldst enter under
my roof. I'm not worthy. Unbelief thinks
that it's worthy, doesn't it? And belief believes it is unworthy. Verse seven of the text says,
wherefore neither thought I myself worthy to come unto thee, but
say in a word, and my servant shall be healed. For I also am
a man set under authority, having me under me soldiers, and I say
unto one, go, and he goeth, and to another come, and he cometh,
and to my servant do this, and he doeth it. This man is not
just an ordinary Roman soldier, he's a centurion. That means
he is in charge of 100 Roman soldiers. This man in society
is an important man, but what attitude does he have before
the Lord? "'I am not worthy that thou should enter under my roof,
"'neither thought I myself worthy to come unto thee, "'but to say
in a word, and my servant shall be healed.' "'And when the Lord
Jesus heard these things,' in verse nine, "'he marvelled at
him, and turned him about, "'and said unto the people that followed
him, "'I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, "'no,
not in Israel. and they that were sent returning
to the house found the servant whole that had been sick. Faith
has a low view of self and a high view of God. What did the centurion
say? Just say in a word, just say
in a word and my servant shall be healed. Faith simply believes
God at his word. Just a word is all I need, just
a word. The Lord Jesus said of this man,
I have not found so great faith in all Israel. How much faith
is enough? How much faith? I'm so thankful
that the Lord described saving faith as a grain of a mustard
seed. A mustard seed. Almost impossible
to see with our naked eyes. And yet, such faith, even such
faith, is honoured with God. May the Lord give us saving faith. May he give us faith to trust
the Son of God for everything, for all of our salvation.