As I said a couple of weeks ago,
I'm endeavoring to make these Wednesday night message is a little more brief,
realizing you have worked a long, hard day, and it's hard to sit
attentively and listen. 1 John 5. Let's read verses 9 and 10 again. 1 John 5, verse 9 and 10. If we receive the witness of
men, or anything that men bear witness
to, their record, their beliefs, the witness of God is greater.
This is the witness of God, which he hath testified of his Son. 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. And what I want to talk to us
tonight about is our faith, or what we believe and why, and
give some reasons why we believe what we believe. I want to bolster
your faith. I want to strengthen your faith,
or say something that will make you leave here a little
more firmly persuaded of whom you believe in and why. Everyone
has an opinion or a belief about God or their conception of God,
about life, about death, about life after death, and everyone
bases their opinions on something they have heard or read. or seen
or experienced or some just believe because it's been handed down
to them. My parents been passed down to
them. And let me ask you a good question.
Why do you believe what you believe? Why do you believe what you believe
about God about life about death, life after death, what is your
source of information? Some believe there is a God,
some believe there is not a God. Some believe he's personal, some
believe he's some kind of essence or whatever. Some believe
in life after, some don't believe in life after death. Why do you
believe what you believe and what is your source of information?
It's a good question and Peter said we should be able to be
ready to give every man a reason or a reason for the hope that
is in us. And he meant by that some basis
for why we believe what we believe. Someone may say, you say, we
say, I believe what the Bible says. Well, why? Where did the Bible come from? As a little girl asked me last
week, she said, How do you know that this is God's word and not
something just made up by me? And that's a good question. And
we shouldn't be afraid to face questions like that. After we've
studied a little bit. How do you know it is so? How
do you know this book to be so? What does it say? And I must
confess, though, before I go any further, that all that we
do believe, all that I do believe, all that you profess to believe,
is based upon this book. This is the foundation of everything
we say and do. This is our textbook. This is
what we believe on. All, everything is based upon
what this book says, and we believe that God Almighty wrote this
book. very really, as if with his own
finger. But that fact is not without
proof. The fact, and I started to entitle
this message, Faith That Faces Facts. Because many believe that
our faith is without fact. Not so. Our faith is able, fully
able to face facts. This fact that I'm talking about,
that this is God's word, is not without proof. The book itself
is its greatest proof. Now let me say this about biblical
faith, faith in this book, what it said. First of all, faith
is faith that's not based upon what it's seen. It is blind faith
in that sense. It's not based upon what is seen,
but that's what this book says. It says the things that are seen
are temporal. That is, the material world is
temporal, but the things that are not seen, those are eternal.
This book does say, Jesus Christ said this, no man has seen God
at any time. Anyone who says they have is
lying. God is spirit. This book says that. The world
believes things based upon this. They say, show me and I'll believe.
This book says, believe. God says, believe and I'll show
you. Believing, according to this
book, is seeing. Believing is seeing. Hebrews
11.1 says, faith is the evidence. Faith is the evidence of things
not seen. It itself becomes the evidence. I heard Brother Charles Pennington
preach along those lines in Ashland, and he said, if you ask me why
I believe what I believe, I can give you some reasons based upon
this book, but why I believe, why all of a sudden one day I
started to believe, I don't know. Faith becomes the evidence. The
faith itself is the evidence. It's miraculous, and I'm getting
ahead of myself. Christ said, Blessed are they who have not
seen, yet believe. That's what Jesus Christ said.
Blessed are they who have not seen, yet they believe. Based
upon the word of Christ's disciples that they would hand down. Secondly,
this biblical faith is blind faith. It's not physical eyesight. It's spiritual eyesight. Secondly,
this faith is childlike. We are told to approach this
book as little children. Our Lord said that he's the one
himself who said, except you be converted and become as little
children, you'll not enter the kingdom of heaven. That's what
the God-man Christ said. We need to become as little children.
He said, suffer the little children to come unto me, for of such
is the kingdom of God. As little children, you know,
children are ready and willing to listen and learn. They make
the best student. And as someone wisely said, good
listeners are the best learners. And this faith listens that way,
receives the word of God that way as little children, and it
when we're talking about faith, we're talking about childlike
trust. Implicit trust. Just like our
children place trust in us, this is what God demands of his people. We don't have to prove ourselves
to our children, do we? I don't have to prove myself.
I rarely do go to great lengths to explain myself fully to my
daughter. She doesn't have the capacity.
Neither does God. He just says, Believe. If they will implicitly trust
you, more and more you will entrust them with knowledge and explain
your reasoning. Why won't you? But you won't
answer a backtalker, will you? A gainsayer, the Scripture scholar.
Our Lord said this. He said, if thou wouldest believe,
if thou wouldest believe, you would see the glory of God. If
you would believe, he said, you'd see. So faith becomes your eyesight. Thirdly, this biblical faith
is not only faith not with the physical eye, but the spiritual
eye. Secondly, and our Lord did say this about that too, he said,
if thine eye be single, the whole body be full of light. Thirdly,
biblical faith is supernatural, and that's what Brother Pennington
was trying to say in so many words. That it's it's it's a
miraculous thing it's a miracle it's the scripture says it's
the gift of God. The gift of God faith is the
gift of God he that believeth on the son of God we read have
to witness in himself. He had to witness in himself
you see God Almighty demands first of all a simple childlike
trust and belief in his word and his promises Then he gives
signs of assurance. Then he gives signs of assurance,
and as I said, faith itself becomes a sign. It becomes a sign. So until we start trusting God
and taking him at his word, we will not experience that. Now
let me say this. Faith is not without substance
or reason. I said it's blind and spiritual.
Anybody could claim that, couldn't they? Every religion does. And
our faith is not without substance or reason, but we have reasons
that plainly bolster what we believe. These reasons don't cause faith.
Are you with me? These reasons don't cause faith.
They don't cause faith. I already said that's a miracle.
They don't cause it, but they certainly do bolster it. It is not that God has not revealed
himself clearly for all to see. And that brings me to my text.
Look at verse 9 again. Verse 9. And I want to give you
four reasons, four things, reasons why I believe what I believe.
All right? Verse 9, he says, If we receive
the witness of men, the witness of God is greater. Men and women
throughout this world are ready and willing to believe just about
anything that comes down the pike, aren't they? No matter
how ridiculous or how absurd, no matter how off the wall, somebody's
going to believe it somewhere. They say that if we receive the
witness of men, mere mortal, finite, fallible, fickle, failing
men, the witness of God is greater. What is the witness of God that
he's talking about here? The witness of God. Well, look
over at Romans chapter 1 with me. Romans chapter 1, the first
witness God gives of himself, the first proof. As I said, our
God is not without proof. He proves himself. The problem
is not that God cannot be seen, it's men will not see. Creation. Creation bears witness
of our God. Look at verse 20 of Romans chapter
1. The invisible things of God from
the creation of the world are clearly seen. Clearly seen. being understood by the things
that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead, so that they,
whose they, men, women, the natural man, is without excuse. If we
could look at our thumbprint and ought to be able to clearly
see that some supernatural, infinitely high being made of us, the fact
that there are no two of these chance, happenstance, absolutely,
that's absolutely absurd. It takes more faith to believe
evolution than it does creation. The invisible things from the
creation of the world are clearly seen. Verse 21 says, but because
that when men knew God, or at least could clearly see what
he has done, very clearly, As Romans, Psalm 19 says, the heavens
declare his glory, the firmament shows his handiwork. But it says
when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, or that is absolute
supreme creator, ruler, controller over all. They weren't thankful.
God creates, that means he provides and sustains. But they became
vain in their imaginations and foolish hearts darkened and so
on and so forth. So it says God gave him up. God
gave them up. God's creation is first proof
of who he is. There's a lot of proof there
in creation. I've given you the illustration
many, many times of the man, the believer who was debating
a fellow who just did not believe in his creation. I don't say
theory. It's not a theory. Evolution
is a theory. But he was debating a man who did not believe in
creation. And the man asked him to see
his watch. Can I see your watch? And the
fellow said, sure. He took his watch off and gave it to the
fellow. And the believer looked at it and said, that's a beautiful
watch. Beautiful. Oh, that's really something.
He said, where'd you get that? He said, oh, that's Swiss made. I got that at such and such a
price, imported, Swiss made. The believer said, do you believe
that the people, the fellow that made that knew what he was doing?
And the other fellow said, well, sure. It's easy to see that it
was a master craftsman that made that wine. He said, You believe
that he was a skilled craftsman and he was a wise artisan and
he knew the skill of watchmaking? The fellow said, Well, sure.
Can't you see? Look at all the jewels and the
craftsmanship and everything that goes into making that watch.
It's so intricate and delicate an instrument. Yes, an intelligent,
wise creator or craftsman made that watch. The fellow said,
I don't believe that. The believer said, I don't believe
that. He said, I believe, he said, I believe that one day
about three billion years ago there were mainsprings and stems
and watch bands and crystals and hands and faces and so forth
just flying around in outer space. And all of a sudden an explosion
took place and you have that watch. The man laughed and said,
like you're doing now, said, you're a fool. He said, so are
you. If you can't look at this miraculous
thing called planet Earth, and most of all, like David said,
I'm fearfully and wonderfully made, this creature called man,
and see that he was wisely made, at least men could acknowledge
that If there is a higher being, he
at least has the powers that we do to create. Right? Well, God's creation bears
witness of him. The witness of God is greater.
You see that? If we believe men, the witness
of God is greater. Secondly, God's word. Now, turn
over to 2 Peter, chapter 1. 2 Peter, chapter 1. God's word. The Bible, I'm talking
about. Second Peter chapter one. Look at verse nineteen second
Peter one verse nineteen we have a more sure word of prophecy. Now he had just been talking
about a supernatural vision that he had of the son of God who
transfigured himself on a mountain in front of him and two other
men James and John a miraculous vision. He said we have something
more sure than that. where unto you do well to take
heed as unto a light that shineth in a dark place. The word of
God is called a light unto our paths. Until the day dawn, who's
the day dawn? The day star arise in our hearts,
who's that? Christ is called the day star.
He's called the bright and morning star arise by faith in your heart. And know this first, verse 20,
know this, no prophecy of the scriptures of any private or
personal interpretation, no man made this up. And I'll show you
this in a moment. The prophecy came not in old
time by the will of men. Men just didn't get together
and say, hey, let's write a book. But holy men of God spake as
they were moved by the Holy Ghost. Now, how do you know that, preacher? Well, this book dates back nearly
3,500 years, the first entry into it. There are thirty five hundred
years ago is written by forty million forty different men over
a period of fifteen hundred years. It was compiled over a period
of fifteen hundred years forty different men most of whom did
not know each other nor ever never made it meet you. Sixty
six books. written by forty men who did
not know each other over a period of fifteen hundred years and
they all tell the same story. Without. Without variance. Without any variance the same
story. About a person. As someone said
the Old Testament talks about someone's coming. The gospels
say he's here. And the epistles say he's coming
back. They all tell the same story, as we like to say this
is his story. History is his story. This is
a hymn book, H-I-M book. It all tells the same story.
It was written by uneducated men, men whom the scholars of
that day said, where did these men get this learning, having
never learned letters? These men were illiterate men
who couldn't read and write, fishermen. Uneducated men in
a dead language, Hebrew language, dead now practically. Powerful
men and nations have tried to destroy it, explain it away,
change it, yet it is more far-reaching now than ever. It has been printed
in more than a thousand languages, read by more people than all
other books combined. The Word has endured the test
of time. You're hard-pressed to find the
books of men over two, three, four hundred years at best. The last word recorded in this
book was nearly two thousand years ago, and it's still just
as relevant and up-to-date. It's like reading the front page
news. It's miraculous. It crosses the
barriers of custom and nationality. It can be read by an African
and read by an American. It crosses the barriers of youth
and age. Lawyers and laborers, doctors
and dishwashers all read the same book, and they all—it meets
their need. Now, you tell me what lawyer
in town and I can read the same periodicals and get the same
out of it. But this book is so. Why? Why
is that so? Because it is the Word of God. Only God could write something
of this magnitude and with this complexity, and I don't have
the adjectives to describe it. It's the holy and errant and
inspired word of the living God is beyond the power of man to
destroy it, because the psalm says the master copy is in heaven. It says, Forever, O Lord, thy
word is settled in heaven. There were groups of men who
tried to burn every translation of it that ever existed, and
they failed because God just dictated another one. Thirdly, another reason, and
this is the primary reason, and this is what we read in our text.
Why do we believe what we believe? What is it all based upon? a person. We are disciples. We are followers of a man who
walked this planet named Jesus. Most say he was just a carpenter,
just a humanitarian, a prophet of sorts
a. What what have you just a man.
We believe that this one name Jesus of Nazareth who walked
this planet nearly two thousand years ago is the very God that
made us. You know that's what he said.
That's what he said. And he said in John chapter 8
verse 24, if you believe not that I am he, you shall die on
your sin. He made, you see, his claims
were the most fantastical claims of any prophet or messiah who
ever came. Buddha, Mohammed, none of them
made the claims that this man did. He said, I'm God. Others
said, I am a Messiah, I am a prophet. He said, I'm the prophet. I'm
the only one there is. He said, no man comes unto God
but by me. Me, singular. One way. He said,
I am the way, the truth, and the life. Not the life I live,
but me. A person. Jesus Christ. His existence.
And that is not without proof. His person. And as I said to
begin with, we first of all, we just Take him at his word.
We believe. We just believe. By his grace,
by his spirit, we believe. And then he proves himself to
you. I know some people you've never
met before. I have an aunt. I have some relatives you've
never met before. How do you know they exist? How do you know they exist? They
do. You could deny it all day, couldn't you? The day is it.
Well, I know those people. I've met them. The same holds
true with those who believe Jesus Christ. Some have actually met
him. And I've given you the illustration of that couple that fell in love
with one another merely corresponding my letter. They never actually
came in physical contact, but they fell in love with one another.
Never saw a photograph of one another, but they fell in love
with one another. And the same thing happens through this correspondence. Jesus Christ is not without proof
of his existence in history. Men cannot deny he lived in this
world. Of that there is no denying. Born in Bethlehem, walked this
earth, died on a Roman cross, everyone will admit those facts. They claim he rose from the dead. He said he would. There's no
mere mortal man. Buddha died. He never said he
would rise, and he never did. This man said he would, and he
did. And he says he was seen by over
400 people at the same time, in the same setting, and he stayed
on this earth for 40 days before he left. Well, he came without force or
bribery, without arms, without money, without an earthly kingdom
or great possessions. He left a mark on this world
as no other figure in all history. He never wrote a book, but the
world cannot contain the books written about him. He never wrote a song. Yet he's
the theme of more songs and all of the songs come out. God bore witness of his son thousands
of years before he came. Miraculously in this book is
foretold his place of birth, his lineage, his character, his
life, his miracles, exacting details concerning his death,
his burial, his resurrection, every word he would say, every
step he would take, his destination, everywhere he'd live, the place
he would die, the fact that he would rise again, and when he
was coming back again, exacting details, most of which have been
already fulfilled. Three times God Almighty, the
Spirit, uttered from heaven audibly for men to hear, This is my Son,
in whom I am well pleased. Hear him, hear him. Some said
it thunder, and so on. But these men said, We heard
him, we heard him. radically different than any
other man who ever lived in birth and life and death, because he
is different. He is the son of God. He was. He is the son of God. And he
bore witness of himself. The witness of men. The witness
of men. The Scripture says if we receive
the witness of men, the witness of God is greater. We can look
at the witness of men also. When we receive men, There were
four evangelists, four evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
There were twelve apostles. These men saw Jesus Christ. Actually,
John goes to great lengths in his epistles to say, we touched
him, we handled him, we felt of him, we walked with him, we
slept by the fire by him, we heard him, we saw him. And John
said, the word of life. In one place he couldn't actually,
he couldn't describe him, his glory, and he said, that, that,
we saw that, this one who's too great to describe. They walked
with him, they saw signs and miracles and wonders performed
by him, they saw him walk on water, which men love to make
fun of, but the fact is he did. He believed that. Thomas Jefferson
did, didn't. Cut it out of the Bible. Most say he did. Some saw him
steal the ocean, walk out on a boat in a raging ocean and
say, Stop. Heal lepers with a touch. Raise
dead people from the grave. Heal those who have been born
blind. The lame, sick with a palsy. Three of them, like I said, saw
him changed into a being of life. Walked up on a mountain, three
of them Peter James and John said we saw him transfigured
before our eye. Peel back his earthly garment
and we saw him. Light. Which a lot of people like to
claim they see after they've been on the operating table.
Now they've elucidated under Demerol or whatever. But these
were plain—these were men. These were plain, ordinary people. Men, like I said, were fishermen
who were known as fishermen. Have you ever known a fisherman?
Well, I take that back. Fishermen today aren't known
for their honesty. They're bluff. I started to say
fishermen are known for their bluff honesty, you know. Tell
it like it is. They don't tell it like it is.
I caught a fish that big. But back then they were known
for their bluff honesty. They had nothing to gain. These
men, these fishermen, had nothing to gain by saying they saw what
they saw. On the contrary, they lost their
lives for saying this. They didn't become rich and famous
like religious fellows do today, preachers do today that say they
saw something. They lost their lives for saying
it. They were beaten constantly.
by the religious people of their day. They said, don't you dare
preach in that night. Don't you dare tell that story one more
time. They were beaten within an inch of their life with a
cat and a mountain tail. And they said, we can't help but
speak the things we've seen and heard. Peter said that. He said,
I don't care what you do to me. I can't help it. I saw him. Their names are famous now, but
they were infamous back then. And as I said, every one of the
twelve but one was killed brutally. Beheaded or crucified or something
of that sort, or stoned. And besides there were thousands
of others who saw him and talked to him and heard him speak. Thousands
saw his miracles, heard his teaching. Even those who didn't believe
in him said, no man spake like this man. No man spake like this
man. We've never heard the likes of
this man. You believe. Why? Well, I'm sure
not getting rich because of this. Are you? And famous? What are you gaining by this? You're losing. You're losing
friends and family and so forth. Right? For saying you believe
what you believe so adamantly and won't have it any other way. How do you let me listen to the
change like the witness within or experience change like how
do you explain. The difference. In the conditions
and the spirit and behavior of men and women. Where there really
seems to have been a some kind of work done in them and as a
result of this gospel being preached in all. There's a miraculous
change has been wrong. in people, whole countries and
places. Granted that much evil has been
done in the name of religion. Most evil has been done in the
name of religion. I grant it. But most humanitarian
good deeds and humanitarian efforts have been done under the name
of Christ. If you look at the map of the
world and compare countries where men and women are professing
Christians, at least, as opposed to infidels, in Christian countries
human rights are recognized to some degree. Moral laws are enforced. Governments are generally subject
to the people and not under some dictatorial rule, right? People,
human rights are fairly well observed. He compared the honesty and integrity
of true believers. There are no people, men and
women, more honest and more trustworthy or dependable or loving or compassionate
or kind than God's people. They really aren't. And lastly,
let me tell you about my experience. There's a definite change that
takes place in people. you have, those of you who believe,
says, you either believe without the witness in himself. You're
looking at a man who believes what he wants vehemently denied.
I remember talking to a friend of mine one time and saying,
all that my father preached for so many years is utter nonsense. I don't believe that anymore.
I'm now enlightened. Of course, I was a teenager at
the time, and most teenagers would say that. Nevertheless,
you're looking at a man that believes what he once denied,
even up into my twenties, and loves what he once hated. I mean
loves what he once hated, and hates what he once loved. A man
who was not seeking, I was not seeking this nor wanting it,
but very comfortable and very happy enjoying my former lifestyle
and my pursuits. Very comfortable and very happy,
not looking for anything, not needing anything. Strongly opinionated, and I still
am, but strongly opinionated, even more so than strongly opinionated
and willfully stubborn. A free spirit, I did not follow
the crowd. My mother used to think I ran
around with bad company. She didn't realize I was the
bad company. It was other mothers that were
saying, watch out for him. Don't run around with him. A
free spirit who did not follow the crowd or believe anything
because other people were believing it. It usually went the other direction. What I once labeled old-fashioned,
foolish, and ignorant religion, I believe with all my heart. Beyond a shadow of a doubt, and
I am willing to lay down my life for it. Many have gone to the stake,
literally burned, had their bodies burned. and other forms of cruel
torture. That's what Hebrews 11 is all
about. Other forms of cruel torture, merely professing, I believe
that this Jesus is God. And I hope, by the grace of God,
I do believe, I think, that were I faced with the same threats
that I would have to say, kill me, because I cannot help. Like Peter and John said, I cannot
help but speak the things I've seen and heard and experienced.
And I say with Peter, I have not, and in closing, let's read
one thing that Peter said, and second Peter three, in closing
I'll say this. Peter said, I have not, we have
not followed cunningly devised fables. Look at it in 2 Peter 1 verse
16. He says, We have not followed
cunningly devised fables when we made known unto you the power
and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. We were eyewitnesses
of his majesty. Look at chapter 3 and let me
say this and then say this to you in closing. Don't let this finite world of
men and women who are here today and gone tomorrow. Increasingly atheistic, agnostic,
unbelieving world, shake your foundation, seeing we are compassed
with so great a cloud of witnesses. Our faith is not without fact.
You know, we've just touched, it's just a tip, just waded ankle
deep. But 2 Peter 3, Peter says it
better than I could. He says, Brethren, verse 1, If
ye love it, I write unto you, and both which I stir up your
pure minds by way of remembrance, that ye be mindful, or remember
the words which are spoken by the Holy Prophet, and the commandment
of us the apostles of the Lord, and say, Knowing this first,
there shall come in the last days scoffers walking after their
own love, saying, Where is this Jesus? Where is the promise of
his coming? Since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue
as they were. Where is it? Where is it? I don't
see it. Well, beloved, now in verse 13. Nevertheless, we, according
to his promise, we look for new heavens and new earth wherein
dwelleth righteousness. Beloved, seeing that you look
for such things, be diligent that you may be found of him
in peace without spot and blameless. In account, just remember that
the long-suffering of our Lord is salvation. puts up with men. Even as our beloved brother Paul
said, according to the wisdom given unto him, hath written
unto you, and in all his epistles speaking unto them of these things,
that some things are hard to be understood, that they are
unlearned and unstable, they do rest, or twist, as other scriptures,
unto their own destruction. You, therefore, beloved, seeing
you know these things, you know these things by creation, the
person of Christ by the witness within, by the witness of men
and yourself. You know these things, don't you? You believe.
Stand. You know whom you have believed.
You've persuaded. See, and you know these things
before. Beware, lest you also, being led away with the hair
of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness. Grow in grace
and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. to him
be glory both now and forever. Amen. Faith that faces facts. Faith that faces facts. All right,
let's stand. Our Heavenly Father, we thank
you for this miraculous gift called your word. We Look to it. We believe in it.
We depend upon it. We feel ignorant of it. Yet you have revealed yourself
to us very clearly in many ways. We thank you for that. Thank
you for this faith. Were it not that you graciously
and mercifully revealed yourself to us, we would reject it hands
down. Thank you, Lord. We ask for a
clearer revelation of it, a firmer persuasion of it. firmer persuasion
of the Lord Jesus Christ himself. It's in his name we've met together,
as we have said before. In Christ's name, amen.