Open the Bibles with me to John
chapter 8. John chapter 8. The text will come this evening from
verse 24. Verse 24 of John chapter 8. I said therefore unto you that
ye shall die in your sins. For if you believe not that I
am he, ye shall die in your sins. The title of the message this evening
is The Consequence of Unbelief. Now in our day, in this generation
in which we live, it would appear to me that from what's said from
the pulpits, from what's said in this world, from what's said
in the funeral home, that men, women, young people, for the
most part, are all okay with God. God's okay. I was okay with them. No one's really a sinner. They
may mess up from time to time, but for the most part, people
are just good. People are good. If we're to believe what we read
in the obituaries, and by many people, again, who call themselves
preachers, then very few, if anyone who's died, They're going
to hell. But that's contrary. That's contrary
to the Word of God. That's contrary to what's written
in God's Word. Look here at verse 24. I was thinking as I read this,
I could remember as a child If my dad told me something once,
I could probably get by with once. But if he hit on it again,
there was no discussion. He stressed the importance of
it on that second occasion. And I want you to see here, these
aren't my words. These are the words of our Lord
Himself. He says, if you believe not,
I am He, you shall die in your sins. And He repeated that twice. Actually,
if you go back to verse 21, He said, I go my way and you'll
seek me and you'll die, you will die in your sins. If sin is found on me, if sin
is found on any one of us, we're going to answer for that sin. If I'm charged with sin, if I'm
liable for that sin, I must endure the punishment of that sin. Wages
of sin, we read that wages of sin is death. John 3.36, he that believeth
on the Son hath everlasting life. For he that believeth not the
Son shall not see life. The wrath of God abide upon that
man. I pray this evening that our
Lord would reveal unto us just something of who the Lord Jesus
Christ is and grant us faith to believe, to believe Him as
He's revealed in these scriptures. Now let's look at this verse
together this evening. He says, you shall die. You shall
die. Now here we see the end of all
men. We can take this all the way
back to the garden, all the way back to Adam's fall. Turn back
to Genesis 2. Look at verse 17 of Genesis 2. God told Adam, He said, 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. Thou shalt surely die. Now death, death comes to all
of us. Death ultimately comes to everyone. Rich, the poor, old, young, black,
white, there's no distinction. Death is coming to all men. And it's not a subject that we're
fond of talking about it, but we read in Hebrews, it's appointed
unto man, wants to die. After that, the judgment. God's
going to judge sin. And death isn't the end of everything.
Over in Luke, we read about that rich man. Turn over to Luke 16. beginning in verse 19. Luke 16 verse 19. There was a
certain rich man which was clothed in purple and fine linen and
he fared sumptuously every day. And there was a certain beggar
named Lazarus which was laid at his gate full of swords and
desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's
table. Moreover, the dogs dogs came
and licked his sores. And it came to pass that the
beggar died and was carried away by the angels into Abraham's
bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. And in hell,
he lift up his eyes, being in torment, and seeth Abraham afar
off and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father
Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus that he may dip
the tip of his finger in water. and cool my tongue, for I am
tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember
that thou in thy lifetime receiveth the good things, likewise Lazarus
the evil things, but now he is comforted. Thou art tormented. It's the end of life on this
earth, but it's not the end. I see these I mean, the boys,
we mow a cemetery and sometimes you read the headstones and you
see people say this, rest in peace, rest in peace. Well, for the believer, that's
true. That man, that woman, they are
going to rest in peace. That's not true. That's not true
for all men. We read this in God's Word. And listen, death is more than
just a physical death. If you look back in our text
in verse 24, He said, You shall die in your sins. You shall die in your sins. Back in the garden, back there
in the fall, Adam took that fruit and he ate it. And in doing so,
the sentence of death passed upon all men. The man died spiritually. Now, he began to die physically,
but he died spiritually. His eyes were opened to see evil.
Adam and Eve, they knew they were naked. They felt things
and knew things that they had never known before. They knew
something of shame, something of guilt, fear, hate. And the robe of purity and innocence
that they once had, it was stripped away. When Adam took that fruit,
they died. They died spiritually. They were
ashamed and they were afraid, and they began to try to cover
themselves with those leaves. You can cover up the outside,
but that death, that damage, that was on the inside. There's
no covering that up. They were dead spiritually. They
fell out of God, they fell out of purity, and they fell into
just themselves. From partakers of a divine nature
to a nature of evil, to a fleshly nature, a nature of sin. And
those leaves could never cover that sin. They could never cover
that shame. And like matter. in like manner, in our sin, we
can put on a good show. I was listening to Henry preach
a message on a tape there, and he said, I'm kind of glad we
do. He said, I forget what society
it was, but he said that when they come together, they would
openly confess their sins to each other and there was to be
no holding back. I'm kind of glad we don't do
that. And I have to agree. But listen,
we can't cover our sin. We can't cover our shame. We
can't cleanse ourselves. God, listen, God's going to punish
sin. And if you don't believe that,
look to the cross. You just have to look to the
cross. There we do see God's love, and
I'm thankful for God's love, but we also see His justice. Turn over to Isaiah 53. I tried to find just a portion
of this to read, and I couldn't find a place to stop. So let's
start with verse 1. He says, Who hath believed our
report? To whom is the arm of the Lord
revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant.
The Lord Jesus, he'll grow up before the Father as a tender
plant. And as a root out of a dry ground, he hath no form nor comeliness.
When we shall see him, there's no beauty that we should desire
him. He's despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and
acquainted with grief, and we hid as it were our faces from
him. He was despised and we esteemed him not. Surely he had borne
our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we did esteem him stricken,
smitten of God, and afflicted. He was wounded. He was wounded
for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon him, and with his stripes we're healed. All we like sheep
have gone astray. We've turned every man, everyone
to his own way. And the Lord hath laid on him
the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth. He brought as a lamb to the slaughter
and as a sheep before her shears is done, so he opened not his
mouth. He was taken from prison and
from judgment, and who shall declare his generation? He was
cut off out of the land of the living. For the transgression
of my people was he stricken. And he made his grave with the
wicked and with the rich in his death, because he had done no
violence. Neither was any deceit in his mouth, yet it pleased,
it pleased the Lord to bruise he hath put him to grief. But
thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed,
he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall
prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of
his soul, and shall be satisfied. By his knowledge shall my righteous
servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide with
him a portion with the great, He shall divide the spoiled with
the strong because he hath poured out his soul unto death. He was
numbered with the transgressors. He bared the sin of many and
made intercession for the transgressors." Our Lord. Our Lord. He suffered and bled and died
under the wrath of Almighty God. Not for his sin, not for his
sin. He had no sin, but he died as
a subject. He was made sin for his people. He died as an offering for his
people. We read this, that God spared not, he spared not his
own son, but delivered him up for us, for his people. He was
made sin. He was defiled by sin. He was guilty before God for
my sin. Under the power of sin, as a
result, he was answerable for it. He was held in contempt for
it. God slew him. God slew him. Well, man's either going to die
in sin or he's going to die in Christ. Those that die in their sin,
that sin is going to be punished. Maybe you ask, is there any hope?
Is there any hope? Well, let's go back to our text.
Look back in John 8, verse 24. It said, I said therefore unto you, you shall die in your sins if
you believe not on me. If you believe not I am. There's our hope. Our hope is
in who He is and what He did. You know, men called Him a blasphemer. Men called Him a winebibber. They referred to Him as the carpenter's
son. They thought they were insulting
Him when He said He was a friend of publicans and sinners. We rejoice in that, don't we?
That he was a friend, that he is a friend of publicans and
sinners. Who is, who is Jesus Christ? Who is the Lord Jesus
Christ? He's declared in his word. They
said, search the scriptures for in them you think you have eternal
life and they are they which testify of me. Men go through
God's word and they talk about living right, they talk about
living wealthy, they talk about being healthy, they talk about
everything, but Christ. He said, you search the scripture. They declare, they declare the
Lord Jesus Christ. The scriptures declare him as
the true God, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is God. They declare
him as the eternal son of God. God manifests in the flesh, the
Messiah, the Savior. He's our righteousness. He's
our prophet. He's our priest. He's our king. In the book of John alone, we
read this. He says, he said, I'm the living
bread. I'm the living bread. I'm the
light of the world. I'm the door. I'm the good shepherd. We read about him in the opening
of the service. The Lord is our shepherd. He said, I'm the Son
of God. I'm the resurrection. I'm the
way. I'm the truth. I'm the life.
I'm the vine. He simply said, Christ is all. Christ is all. He's our wisdom. He's our righteousness. He's
our sanctification. He's our redemption. He's clearly
proclaimed throughout the word of God, yet men refuse to believe. Over in John 10, the Jews, they
questioned him. They said, who are you? Who are
you? They said, if thou be the Christ,
then tell us plainly. Jesus answered them and he said,
I told you. I told you and you believe not the works that I
do in my Father's name. They bear witness of me, but
you believe not because you're not my sheep. You're not my sheep. Throughout God's Word, men have
questioned. Satan tempted him. Remember when
Satan tempted him? He said, if thou be the Son of
God, do this or do that. There at the cross, one of those
men hanging on the cross, he said, if thou be the Christ,
you save yourself and you save us too. The soldier said, if thou be
the king of the Jews, save thyself. Unbelief, unbelief, unbelief. Some believe. Aren't we thankful
that God's been pleased to reveal this gospel to some? You know,
Abraham, Abraham was fully persuaded. that what God promised to do,
He would perform. In the New Testament, I read
three different times in Romans, Galatians, and James, Abraham
believed God. And that can be said of all of
his sheep. He believed God. Back in John
10, 27, he said, my sheep, My sheep hear my voice, and I
know them, and they follow me, and I give them eternal life,
and they shall never perish. Neither shall any man pluck them
out of my hand." Held right there, kept by the power of God. What
is it to believe? What is it to believe? God's
people are called believers for a reason, aren't they? Well,
believing in Christ. The Spirit of God says believing
in Christ is coming. It's coming to Christ. Our Lord
said in Matthew 11, 28, He said, Come unto Me, all you that labor
and are heavy laden, and I'll give you rest. Come to Me. Not to the front of the building,
not to the preacher, come unto me, come to Christ. Come to Christ. He that cometh to me shall never
hunger. He that cometh to me shall never
thirst. And here's a promise. He said in John 6, all that the
Father hath given me shall come to Christ. He's not going to
lose one of you. And he said this, all that cometh
of me, I will in no wise, I will in no wise cast out. Believe
Christ is to come to Him. Just like that Canaanite woman
that came seeking mercy. She came to Him and she said,
Lord, have mercy on me. Mercy. That's what we need, isn't
it? Isn't that what we seek? And if you want something, why
not go to the source? I was coming home from Columbus
today. I decided I wanted some custard. I didn't tell you this,
but I stopped and got some custard too. But I didn't go to Taco
Bell to get custard. I went to a place that sold custard. And when I got up there to the
window, that's what I ordered. That's what I asked for. Mercy is to be found in Christ. Why not go to the source? Why
not ask for what we need? For what we must, for what we
must, for what we must have. Lord, have mercy on me. That's what that publican cried
out. Lord, have mercy on me. The proud
can stay away. The self-righteous can stay away.
Listen, Jesus Christ, he came to seek and to save that which
was lost. He came into the world to save
sinners. If I'm a sinner, and if I need
mercy, there's only one person to go to it, and that's the Lord
Jesus Christ. Remember what that leopard said?
He said, Lord, if you will, if you will, you can make me whole. Well, I believe Christ is to
receive him. As many as received Him. Look
at John chapter 1. Turn back just a few pages. John
chapter 1. Look at verse 12. As many as received Him, to them
gave He power to become the sons of God. Even to them. Look at
that word there. Even to them that believed. even
to them that believe on His name. It's to receive Him. And listen,
it's not a doctrine, it's not a creed, it's not a set of rules.
It's a person. It's Christ. It's to receive.
It's to receive Him. And then thirdly, it's looking
to Christ. It's looking to Him and to Him
alone. Isaiah 45, 22 says, Look unto
Me and be ye saved. all the ends of the earth, I'm
God, and there is none, there's none else. Hebrews 12, let us
run with patience the race that is set before us, looking, looking
to Christ. He's the author and He's the
finisher of our faith. And listen, when we talk about
looking to Christ, there's no better example than the example
He gave, our Lord Himself. Remember there, he said, as Moses
lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of
Man be lifted up. The people had murmured, they
complained against God, and he judged them, and he sent those
servants. And the people were dying. And they cried out to
Moses. God told Moses, he said, make
a serpent of brass, and hold that up, and everybody that looks,
Everybody that looked, you tell them, look, look and leave, look
and leave. And in the same manner, in the
same manner, sin has bid us, hasn't it? And we're gonna die
in that sin, but he sent forth his son, raised him up on that
cross, he slew him, he was told, look to him, look to Christ,
and Christ We sing that song, look to the
Lamb of God, look to the Lamb of God, for He alone, He alone
is able to save you. Look to the Lamb of God. So believing
is coming to Christ, it's receiving Christ, it's looking to Christ.
Listen, it's committing all my hope All my confidence is in
Christ and Christ alone. Paul, he told Timothy, he said,
for the witch cause I suffer these things. Nevertheless, I'm
not ashamed for I know whom I have believed. There's that word believe
again. And I am persuaded that he is able to keep. He's able
to keep that which I have committed unto him. Same thing Abraham said. Abraham
said, I'm persuaded What He's promised, He'll perform. He'll make it happen. None other is able to do that. Well, turn to just a couple more
scriptures here. Turn over to Acts 16. I tell
you what, go ahead and turn over to Acts 27. There in Acts 16,
you'll remember that Paul and Silas We're in that prison. And that jailer thought everybody
had escaped. And he was ready to take his
life. Paul said, hold on here. Do thyself
no harm. We're all here. And he said to
him, he said, what must I do? What must I do to be saved? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. Look here in Acts 27. I should have turned there with
you. Acts 27. Look at verse...beginning with
verse 21. Let's look at this, just a few
verses here one more time. Long absence, Paul stood forth
in the midst of them. He said, Sir, you should have
hearkened unto me. You shouldn't have loosed from creed. You wouldn't
have gained this harm and this loss. Now I exhort you to be
of good cheer, for there shall be no loss of any man's life
among you, but others shall. How did he know that? How did
he know they were going to be safe? How did he know they were
going to be delivered? How could he say that with such
confidence? Look there at verse 23. He said, For there stood
by me this night the angel of God, whose I am and whom I serve,
saying, Fear not, Paul, thou must be brought before Caesar,
and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee.
Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer. Oh, the ship's about to sink. Be of good cheer? How can I be
of good cheer? You know, he didn't say anything
about that. He didn't praise the angel, did
he? Look what he says there. He said, I believe God. I believe God. I believe that
it shall be even as it was told to me. It's the same thing Abraham said,
I believe God, I believe God. It's going to be just like he
said it was going to be. And I know you've read this,
but I'm not going to keep you in suspense. Look at verse 43,
42. Verse 42, the soldier's counsel
was to kill the prisoners. That was the soldier's counsel.
God overruled that, didn't He? lest any of them should swim
out and escape, that they would flee. But the centurion, willing
to save Paul, kept them from their purpose. He's going to
accomplish, God's going to accomplish His purpose, isn't He? And He
commanded they which could swim to cast themselves into the sea
and get to land, and the rest, some on boards and some on broken
pieces of the ship. And so it came to pass that they
all escaped. Safe to land. All 276 of them. And that word
escape, it's got several meanings, but listen to a few of them here.
Just so you don't think this was a they're doing. That word
escape, it means rescued. It means preserved. It means
healed. It means made perfectly whole. He's not gonna lose one, is he?
I believe God. I believe God that what he said
he'll do, he'll do. Well, the consequence of unbelief, if you believe not, if you believe
not, I am he. He said, you're gonna die in
your sins. Our Lord told that father, A child back in Mark,
back there in the book of Mark, he said, if you can believe,
if you can believe all things, all things are possible. And
that dad, he cried out in tears. He said, I believe. I believe,
help thou mine unbelief. I believe. Not like I want to,
Not like I should, not like I someday will. I believe it. And you know, we should believe,
we're commanded, we're commanded to believe God. He said, believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ, thou shalt be saved. Thank God for
it.