If you would take your Bible
and turn with me to Hebrews chapter 11. Many call this chapter in
Hebrews the Hall of Faith. I can see why. And the writer
here defines faith in verse 1 as the substance of things hoped
for and the evidence of things not seen. And then in verse two,
he tells us that by faith, the elders obtained a good report. Verse three, that through faith,
we understand how creation, the worlds were framed by the word
of God. We see the faith of Abel in verse
four, he offered God a more excellent sacrifice than his brother Cain.
He offered a blood sacrifice, picturing the Lord Jesus. In
verse five, we see that Enoch by faith was translated that
he should not see death because he believed God and in doing
so, he pleased God. And then we come to verse six,
but without faith, it is impossible to please him, to please God.
For he that cometh to God must believe that he is, that he's
God. and that he is a rewarder of
them that diligently seek him. By faith Noah, being warned of
God of things not seen, as yet moved with fear, prepared an
ark to the saving of his house, by the which he condemned the
world and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith."
That's how righteousness comes, by believing in Christ and what
he's done for sinners. By faith, Abraham, when he was
called to go out into a place where he should after receive
foreign inheritance, that's talking about Canaan, the land of promise,
the promised land, he obeyed and he went out not knowing whither
he went. And by faith, he sojourned in
the land of promise as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles
with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise,
for he looked for a city which had foundations, whose builder
and maker is God. And we'll talk more about this
in our study tonight. As you know, I'm not big on titles,
but I did title this message tonight, The Enemy That Dwells
Unto This Day. Earlier, we read, just a moment
ago, that without faith, it's impossible to please God. In the New Testament Scriptures,
the Greek word, apostia, translated unbelief, means exactly that,
without faith. That's what unbelief is, having
no faith. And the word unbelief is also
translated from another Greek word, apathia, which means unpersuadable,
disobedient, obstinate, and rebellious. Now we know from that verse that
we read there in Hebrews 11, verse six, that faith pleases
God. So then unbelief must displease
Him. And actually, it's impossible
to please Him if you don't have faith, faith in Christ. Without
faith, being in unbelief, it's impossible to please God, for
he that cometh to God, now listen, must believe that He is, that
God is, is what? That He's God. How do we believe
that God is God? You ever thought about that?
by believing what he said in his word, by believing what he
has commanded in this book. This is how we live, by believing
every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God, Matthew
chapter four, verse four. How did Abraham receive the righteousness
of God? You know that answer. He didn't
earn it. He didn't merit it. He didn't
deserve it. It was charged to his account. How was righteousness
imputed or charged to Abraham? Abraham believed God. He believed God and it was counted,
it was charged, it was imputed. That's what the word means, to
him for righteousness. Romans 4.3, Galatians 3.6 tells
us that and so does James 2.23. How did Abraham obtain the perfect
righteousness of God? Very simply, he believed God.
Not by believing there was a God. Not by believing some things
about God. Not even as we spoke about Sunday,
believing that there is but one God. But by believing God. He believed God. He believed
what God said. He believed what God promised.
And the righteousness of God was accounted and charged to
him. And without this faith, You cannot
please God, only displease him. Matthew 13, verse 54 through
58. Let me read this to you. And
when he, Christ, was coming to his own country, he taught them
in their synagogue insomuch that they were astonished. And they
said, whence hath this man this wisdom and these works? Is this,
is not this the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary?
And his brethren, James and Joseph and Simon and Judas and his sisters,
are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all
these things? And they were offended in him.
But Jesus said unto them, a prophet is without honor, save in his
own country and in his own house. And he did not. Many mighty works
there because of their unbelief. You remember in Matthew chapter
seven, that father that poor and desperate as he was, he had
a son called a lunatic. He brought his son to his disciples
and they couldn't help him. And the Lord cast the devil out
of him. Then in verse 19 of that same chapter, we read, then came
the disciples to Jesus apart and said, why could not we cast
him out? And Jesus said unto them, very
simply, because of your unbelief. Paul asked this question in Romans
chapter three, verse three, he said, for what if some did not
believe? Shall their unbelief make the faith of God without
effect? Does our unbelief change God
in any way? Does it make God unfaithful?
No. He said, God forbid, yea, let
God be true, but every man a liar. Our belief doesn't change God.
Our belief shames and condemns us, but it doesn't change God. In Romans 4 20, the scriptures
say, Abraham staggered not through unbelief. but was strong in faith,
strong in believing. Oh, Lord, I want to be strong
in believing. I want to trust You for everything. And he was strong in faith, giving
glory to God. You see, believing God gives
God glory. Unbelief does just the opposite.
It causes us shame, and it brings reproach to God. In Hebrews 3,
verse 12, lack of faith is called an evil heart of unbelief. It's
called departing from the living God, unbelief. In verse 19 of
Hebrews 3, it is said that Israel entered not into the land of
promise for 40 years. You remember why? Because of
unbelief. Hebrews chapter four, verse 11,
warns us to labor to enter into rest, lest we fall the same way
after the same example of unbelief. Isn't it amazing that we're so
unbelieving by nature that we have to labor to rest? But we do. We have to labor to
rest. Paul, he confessed to Timothy
that he was once a blasphemer, a persecutor, injurious to others,
caused bodily harm to folks. Why? Because he did it ignorantly
and unbelief. My, unbelief is such a horrific
thing. It means unfaithfulness, disobedience,
disbelief, without faith. It means untrusting, obstinate,
rebellious. And it's the only sin that will
condemn you to hell. You go out to meet God in unbelief,
not trusting in Christ. It's condemnation, eternal wrath. And in our past studies of Genesis
and Exodus and Numbers and now Joshua, we've seen time and time
again, over and over again, that God promised and he gave Abraham
and his seed, the land of Canaan to be theirs. He promised to
give it to them. He promised to drive out the
inhabitants of that country. And that's exactly what he did.
And we say this all the time and love to say it. God always
says what he means and God always means what he says. God cannot
lie. Hebrews 6.18 tells us that. It was and it is impossible for
God to lie. And that's why we have a strong
consolation who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon Christ,
who is the hope of glory set before us. Christ in you is the
hope of glory, but we have to believe and trust in Him. Numbers
23, 19 tells us unequivocally, without hesitation or reservation,
that God is not a man that he should lie or a son of man that
he should repent. Hath he said and shall he not
do it? Hath he spoken and shall he not
make it good? This is God we're talking about. We ought to believe him. He deserves
to be believed. And if anyone is worthy of believing
and trusting, it's God. To not do so is to deny Him,
is it not? It's not to believe that He is
who He says He is. Those who come to Him trusting
Him, they must believe that He is God who cannot lie, God who
cannot change His mind, and if He did, friends, He would cease
to be God. Men endeavor to make God a liar. What makes God a liar? Well,
John tells us in 1 John 5, verse 10, he wrote, he that believeth
on the Son of God hath the witness in himself. He that believeth
not God hath made him a liar, because he believeth not the
record that God gave of his Son. To not believe God is calling
God a liar. If God can lie about anything,
then he's lying about everything. In order for God to be God, He's
either all true or He cannot be trusted at all. To not believe
God is a very, very serious offense. Now I want us to look at several
passages of Scripture all very close in proximity to one another.
So first I want you to turn with me to Genesis chapter 12. We'll
make our way to Joshua shortly. But I want you to see this In
your own Bible, I want us to see the redundance of this. How
many times God said this. So, Genesis chapter 12, and look
at verse 7 with me. Genesis 12, verse seven, and
the Lord appeared unto Abram, Abraham, and he said, unto thy
seed will I give this land. And there builded he an altar
unto the Lord who appeared unto him. Look at Genesis chapter
13, verse 14. And the Lord said unto Abram,
after the lot was separated from him, lift up now thine eyes and
look from the place where thou art northward and southward and
eastward and westward for all the land which thou seest, to
thee will I give it and to thy seed forever. And I'll make thy
seed as the dust of the earth, so that if a man can number the
dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered. Arise,
walk through the land and the length of it and in the breadth
of it, for I will give it unto thee." Look over Genesis 15 verse
7. And he, God said unto him, Abraham,
I am the Lord that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees to
give thee this land to inherit it. Genesis 17, verse eight. And I will give unto thee and
to thy seed after thee the land wherein thou art a stranger,
all the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession, and I
will be their God. Now I want you to turn to the
next book of Exodus with me. It's Exodus chapter 33. Exodus
33, verses one and two. Exodus 33, verse one. And the Lord said unto Moses,
depart and go up hence, thou and the people which thou hast
brought up out of the land of Egypt, unto the land which I
swear unto Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob, saying, unto thy
seed will I give it. And I'll send an angel before
thee, and I'll drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the
Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Habite, and the Jebusite.
Look in the next chapter, 34 verse 24. For I will cast out
the nations before thee, and enlarge thy borders, neither
shall any man desire thy land, when thou shalt go up to appear
before the Lord thy God thrice in the year. Now, let's go to
the book of Numbers. Skip Leviticus, look at Numbers
chapter 13. Over and over again, the Lord
said this, look at verse one and two, numbers 13. And the
Lord spake unto Moses saying, send thou men that they may search
the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel.
Of every tribe of their fathers shall you send a man, every one,
a ruler among them." And you remember that's the story with
Moses sent the 12 spies, including Caleb and Joshua. And then look
at Numbers 33. Verse 51. speaking to the children of Israel
and say to them, when you are passed over Jordan in the land
of Canaan, verse 52, then you shall drive out all the inhabitants
of the land from before you and destroy all their pictures and
destroy all their molten images. and quite pluck down all their
high places, and ye shall dispossess the inhabitants of the land and
dwell therein, for I have given you the land to possess it."
Now let's go to Deuteronomy over and over again. Deuteronomy chapter
seven, verse one. When the Lord thy God shall bring
thee into the land, whither thou goest to possess it, and has
cast out many nations before thee. the Hittites, and the Girgashites,
and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Habites,
and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou.
And when the Lord thy God shall deliver them before thee, thou
shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them, and thou shalt
make no covenant with them, nor show mercy unto them. Look over
a couple of chapters to chapter nine, verse three. Understand
therefore this day that the Lord thy God is He which goeth over
before thee. Who is? Is God that's going before
you. As a consuming fire, He shall
destroy them, and He shall bring them down before thy face. So
shalt thou drive them out and destroy them quickly, as the
Lord hath said unto thee, Speak not thou in thine heart, after
that the Lord thy God hath cast them out from before thee, saying,
for my righteousness the Lord hath brought me in to possess
this land. But for the wickedness of these
nations, the Lord doth drive them out from before thee. Not
for thy righteousness or for the uprightness of thine heart
dost thou go to possess their land, but for the wickedness
of these nations, the Lord thy God doth drive them out from
before thee and that he may perform the word which the Lord swear
unto thy fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." Deuteronomy 11, verse
23 and 24. Then will the Lord drive out
all these nations from before you. And ye shall possess greater
nations and mightier than yourselves. Every place whereon the soles
of your feet shall tread shall be yours. From the wilderness
and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even into
the uttermost sea shall your coast be." Now Joshua chapter
1. It's just amazing. Over and over and
over again. God said, I give you the land,
I'll drive out your enemies. Look at verse 13 of Joshua 1. Remember the word which Moses,
the servant of the Lord, commanded you, saying, the Lord your God
hath given you rest and hath given you this land. In Joshua
chapter two, verse nine, it's right there. Rahab had heard
and knew something about this. And she said unto the men, those
two spies that came unto her, I know that the Lord hath given
you the land. and that your terror is fallen
upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of
you." Look at Joshua 9, verses 9 and 10. The Gibeonites had heard and
knew also. Remember them? Verse 9, from
a very far country thy servants are come, which they were lying
about, as you know. From a very far country, thy
servants are come because of the name of the Lord thy God,
for we have heard the fame of him and all that he did in Egypt,
and all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites that were
beyond Jordan, to Sihon, king of Heshbon, and to Og, king of
Bashan, which was at Ashteroth. And then again in chapter 13,
the Lord tells Joshua in his old age that he would drive them
out. So with all this proof that we
just looked at from God's Word, did Israel now believe God? After spending 40 years in the
wilderness, because of their unbelief, did Israel now believe
that God would do what He said He would? You would think, but
they didn't. Look at the last verse in Joshua
chapter 15, verse 63. How sad and pathetic we are by
nature. Joshua 15, 63, as for the Jebusites,
the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the children of Judah, could
not drive them out. but the Jebusites dwell with
the children of Judah at Jerusalem unto this day. Now, look at chapter
16. You may not even have to turn
the page. Verse 10. And they drove not
out. It doesn't say that they could
not, but they did not. They could not drive the Canaanites
that dwelt in Gezer, but the Canaanites dwelt among the Ephraimites
unto this day. And note the next words, and
serve under tribute, under tax or forced labor. And now chapter
17, verse 12 and 13. Yet the children of Manasseh
could not drive out the inhabitants of those cities, but the Canaanites
would dwell in that land. Yet it came to pass when the
children of Israel were waxen strong, they put the Canaanites
to tribute. They did not utterly drive them
out. Now, with the Lord fighting these
battles, it was never a matter that they couldn't drive out
the enemy. The Lord was doing it. It was that they did not
drive them out. It was nothing but disobedience.
It was nothing but rebellion against the Lord. It was nothing
but unbelief. Had they believed God, they would
have driven them out. Disobedience is a symptom of
a greater problem, and that is unbelief. If Israel was strong
enough to make these pagan nations pay tribute or taxes, is what
it was, well, they were strong enough to drive them out. You
know, I always wondered why they couldn't drive all the enemies
out, especially when God had said that He'd see to it. But
now I see why. For them to let them stay was
material gain for them. Their unbelief paid off for them
in financial matters. They charged them tax, they charged
them tribute. And what a great spiritual lesson
this is for us. And it's one of the reasons,
I think the main reason, that we have the mess of so-called
worship and the mixture of truth and error that we have today
in modern religion. Religion has always been big
business. It always has been. And that's
why our Lord made such a big deal over serving two masters
in the gospel narratives of Matthew chapter 6 and Luke chapter 16.
Our Lord said no man can, no man is able to serve two masters. For either he'll hate the one
and love the other, or else he'll hold to the one and despise the
other. You cannot serve God and Maimon."
You see, only one can be master. That's what the word means. Only
one can be head. Only one can be Lord. Only one
can be your God. You can't have two. If you're
gonna love one and hate the other, you're gonna hold to one, cling
to one, and not the other. There are only two masters mentioned.
God, mammon. Mammon being wealth, riches,
money. You'll hate the one, love the
other. You'll hold the one, despise the other. You'll hearken the
commands of one, and you'll not obey the command of the other.
You'll abide in the service of one of them, but not the other.
It's impossible. The other, you'll disrespect.
The other, you'll neglect. The other, you'll desert. Remember,
this is the Lord speaking. This is an urgent warning. It's
obvious concerning Israel, which one they loved and which one
they hated. They loved Mammon, and they hated God. And again,
that's why this is such a serious matter. You know, again and again
in the Scriptures, Paul speaks of the subject of a bishop,
an overseer, a pastor, a shepherd, is not to be greedy of filthy
lucre, being covetous of riches and wealth. And it's the same
with the deacon. Paul tells Timothy and both Titus,
he said, for they teach, things that they should not teach for
filthy lucre's sake. And immediately, to me, that
no doubt refers to today's message of worldly prosperity. Everywhere
you turn you hear it. Well, now the Lord You know,
we live in a religious world today where so-called faith-based,
self-declared evangelists get men and women to give in order
that they might receive. Oh, you give ten, you'll get
a hundred in return. They say, so you see, give your
money. God will bless you. A hundredfold. They ask for faith partners to
donate to their cause. They beg because their God is
a beggar. That's right. I remember several
years ago now where God supposedly held Oral Roberts captive for
ransom. If he didn't raise, I forget
how many million dollars, eight or $10 million, God was going
to kill him. Well, I'm not going to say what
I thought. These men claim to be of God. They live lavish lifestyles
off the donations of their givers, and it's nothing more than serving
mammon and refusing to drive out the enemy in order to get
more and more. It began a long time ago, and
it's still going on today. It's more financially beneficial
to take the tribute from them than to drive them out. And that's
why in many circles today, the preaching of the gospel is taking
a backseat to this scamming. The only way the true enemy,
by the way, which is unbelief, that's our true enemy, can be
driven out as in and by and through the preaching of the Lord Jesus
Christ, the gospel of Christ and Him crucified. That's the
only way faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. The preaching of the gospel is
the declaration that salvation is accomplished, accomplished
and finished completely by the work of righteousness that Christ
himself did by his own substitutionary sacrifice. Salvation in Christ
alone renders all of us, every recipient of grace on level ground
and that is to glory in nothing but Christ and not in themselves. And that's why Free will is so
appealing to sinners. It gives men and women power
over God. If I can let God save me, or
if I can resist the irresistible grace of God, then friends, I
am God. And God is dependent on me in
order to save me. But we know that's not so. Salvation's
of the Lord. All of Him. And the bottom line
is this, the enemy that is to be driven out is unbelief. And where does that unbelief
dwell? Well, it dwells in us by nature. So we're our own worst
enemy. I've heard men here for years,
I've told you this, and when I first heard it, I was a bit
taken back by it. But I've heard men pray, some
men that are now gone, that have said, Lord, deliver me from myself. And that's what we need deliverance
from ourselves. My main enemy is my unbelief. And whether you call it two natures,
the old nature and the new nature, or you call it the old man and
the new man, or the flesh and the spirit, they're one and the
same. Not gonna argue about what you
call it. The fact is, we cannot and we will not drive this enemy
out. I know this much, my flesh is
not improving. Is yours? I wished it was. And I'm not continuing in sin
that grace may abound. I'm not a smart man, but even
I'm not that ignorant. I'm not gonna blame God for my
sin. My flesh is not unproven, but
my spirit is already perfect. In my flesh dwells no good thing,
and it can never do anything good, but in my spirit there
is no evil. Being in Christ, I always do
what pleases God. With my mind, I serve the law
of God. And with the flesh, I serve the
law of sin and death. So if anything good comes from
me, it must be attributed to the grace of God in the Lord
Jesus Christ and the evil that flows from me. That evil that
I hate, that sin that I wish was not there. There's no one
to blame but myself. The believing child of God is
plagued by the shame of this war, and we cry with Paul, oh,
wretched man that I am. You ever cry that out? Oh, I
think it all the time. The things that go through my
mind, the things that I say, the way that I act, I'm not bragging
on it, I'm ashamed of it. But I cry, O wretched man that
I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? And by
God's grace and mercy, I know who it is. It's the Lord Jesus. Yes, we're residents of Emmanuel's
land. We possess the land of promise
by God's free grace and generosity. God said, I gave it to you. I
give it to you. I'll drive out all the enemies.
You possess it. You live in a land where I dug
the wells, and I built the houses, and I planted the ventures. And
you enjoy it, it's all yours. Yet in and of myself, I am unable
to drive out the enemy. And sadly, in most situations,
I'm unwilling to do so. I believe, but I beg the Lord
to help thou my unbelief. My only hope of redemption is
that God has accepted Christ's payment for my sin. And He has. He has. He said so in His Word
over and over again. I'm thankful that the old man
was crucified with Christ. But since I had the sentence
of death in myself, that I should not trust in myself, I will trust
in God, which raises the dead, who delivered me from so great
a death, and doth deliver," Paul said, "'in whom we trust that
he will yet deliver us.'" 1 Corinthians 1 9-10. I've been delivered, I'm being
delivered, and I'll continue to be delivered by the mercy
and grace of God in Christ. And though I struggle with sin,
and God knows that I do, and though His, yet I know His grace
is always sufficient. Always sufficient. Sin does not
have dominion over me. I'm not under the law, but I'm
under grace. And until the day I lay down
this corrupt flesh and put on incorruption, and this mortal
shall put on immortality, this war within will continue. My enemy of unbelief will dwell
with me until this day. Until then, the enemy will not
be driven out completely, but one day, one day very soon, When
Christ shall appear, I shall see Him as He is, and I will
be just like Him. Then the enemy will be driven
out forever. And the chain of God's grace
will be complete. What's the chain of God's grace
for whom He did foreknow? He did predestinate. to be conformed
to the image of His Son. That was God's purpose. When
He chose this sinner before the foundation of the world, He purposed,
Judy, to make you just like Jesus Christ. Perfect, holy, without
blame, unreprovable in God's sight. Oh mine, whom He called,
then He also justified. He justly made them perfect before
Himself. and whom He justified them, He
also glorified. And that's what I'm talking about
right now. When I'm glorified with that
body that has no sin, unbelief will forever be gone. To plague
me no more. I'm looking forward to that.
Oh, I tell you I am. What shall we then say to these
things? If God be for us, who can be
against us? He that spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us, all, all his people, how shall
he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay
anything to the charge of God's elect? Who's gonna charge you
with sin? It's God that justified you.
Who is he that condemneth? Who can condemn you because of
your sin? It's Christ that died, yea, that
is rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand
of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Who shall separate us
from the love of Christ? Nothing or no one. That's gospel
news. That's good news. And there's
one last enemy that'll die with my unbelief. 1 Corinthians 15,
26. The last enemy that shall be
destroyed is death, death itself. No more unbelief, no more death. I'll forever live perfectly in
a glorified body in the presence of Christ. And I'll worship him
forevermore. He who loved me and gave himself
for me. My, my, I'm not thinking about
pearly gates and streets of gold and a mansion up in heaven. I'm
thinking about Him. Looking at Him who died in my
room instead. Put away my sin by the shedding
of His own blood. Worshipping Him forever and ever
saying, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. My, may God
be pleased to make it so home glory and our good and for Christ's
sake.