Would you turn with me to John
chapter 12? You've heard of saving faith.
The Lord said on numerous occasions, thy faith hath saved thee. I've entitled this message, not
saving faith. not saving faith, by that I mean
faith that is not saving. And I think you'll see why I
say that when I read this verse of scripture. John chapter 12
beginning in verse 42. Nevertheless, among the chief
rulers also many believed on him. But, because of the Pharisees, they
did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue,
for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God. Now the atmosphere at this time
was the resurrection of Lazarus from the dead. These people were eyewitnesses
to the fact that the Lord raised Lazarus from the dead. He'd been
in the grave four days. The process of decay had already
began. The scripture says he stank.
And these people witnessed the Lord say, Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead came forth. They saw it and they believed. The text says they believed on
him. They believed the claims he made concerning himself and
the evidence pointed to it. My soul, he raised a man from
the dead. Surely he is who he says he is. This man has the mighty power
of God. He raised a man from the dead. Only God can do that.
They believed. The evidence pointed to the fact
that he must be who he said he was. They had the same faith
as those people in John chapter 2. Would you turn back to John
chapter 2 for a moment? Verse 23. Now, when he was in Jerusalem
at the Passover, in the feast day, many believed in his name
when they saw the miracles which he did. They saw him change water
into wine. They saw it. This wasn't a trick. They experienced this. They saw
it and they believed on his name when they saw the miracles which
he did. He gave sight to the blind. He healed the sick. He controlled the weather. This
man is more than just a man. They believed on his name, but,
verse 24 says, Jesus did not commit himself unto them. Because he knew all men and he
needed not that any should testify of man, for he knew what was
in man. Now do you see that word commit? Jesus did not commit
himself unto them. That's the same word that's translated
believed in verse 23. They believed in Jesus, but Jesus
did not believe in them. He wouldn't commit himself to
them. He knew what was in them. Now, these people had a type
of faith, but it was faith based upon what they saw. Now, while they did in fact believe
in Him, they would not confess Him. Yes, we believe, but they
would not confess Him because of a religious group called the
Pharisees. You see, our text says they love the praise of
men, more than the praise of God. You know the Lord said in
John chapter 5 verse 44, how can you believe? How can you
believe which receive honor one of another and you seek not that
honor that comes from God only. Are you interested in that honor?
That honor that comes from God only. Now I want to ask you a question.
Look at our text again, verse 42, John chapter 12. Nevertheless,
among the chief rulers, also many believed on him. That's
what it says. But because of the Pharisees,
they did not confess him. Now here's my question. Were
these people saved? Did they have saving faith? Did they truly believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ? Perhaps they were secret disciples,
private disciples, but they wouldn't come out public on it. Now, if
they were, there sure isn't much to salvation, is there? Give
a sin to something, keep your mouth shut to keep from trouble,
and you'll wind up in heaven. Deep down, everybody in here
knows that that is not so. This is not saving faith. No, they were not saved because
there is no salvation apart from confession. Now let me show you
that in the scripture. There is no salvation apart from
confession. Would you hold your finger there
and join and turn to Romans chapter 10. Verse Nine. That if thou shalt confess with
thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart
that God hath raised him from the dead. You see, the only thing
that you believe in heart, it's going to come out in the confession.
You know how you can find out what a man really believes in
his heart? What he confesses. What he identifies with. That's
what he believes. You wanna know what a preacher
really believes? What's he say publicly? That's what he believes. If you
wanna know what he really believes, what does he say? Now let's go
and read it. That if thou shalt confess with
thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart
that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth
unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made
unto salvation. There is no salvation apart from
confession, whatever that means. And I hope we're going to understand
what that means by the end of this message. Now, this is so
important, what I'm talking about right now. To fail to confess
Christ is the spirit of antichrist. Now, let me show you that from
the Scripture. Turn to 1 John chapter 4. I want to confess Christ, don't
you? Whatever it means to confess Him, I want to confess Him. Look
in verse 2 of 1 John chapter 4. Hereby know ye the Spirit of
God, every spirit that believeth that Jesus Christ is come in
the flesh, is of God. I didn't read that right, did
I? Every spirit that confesseth
that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God. Now, to
believe that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is to believe
that He was before He came. You believe in His deity. He
was before He came. He's the eternal Son of God.
You believe He came in the flesh. And you believe he did what he
came to do in the flesh. He accomplished salvation. And
we confess that. We don't just believe it. We
confess it. And look what verse three says.
And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ has come
in the flesh. He may believe it, but he doesn't
confess it. Every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ
has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is that spirit
of Antichrist. Now we see how serious this thing
is. To fail to confess the Lord Jesus
Christ is nothing less than the spirit of Antichrist. Now there is a faith that is
not saving faith. These people believed. It's the
same kind of faith that devils have. Thou believest, James said,
there's one God. Thou doest well. You ought to
believe there's one God. There is only one God. There's
not two. There's only one. You believe there's one God,
you do well. Congratulations. That's what you ought to believe.
The devils believe the same thing. And they tremble, the scripture
says. Now this kind of faith that these
people possessed, they believed. They believed because of what
they saw. They saw the miracles he performed
and concluded the same thing Nicodemus concluded in John chapter
3 verse 1. You must be a teacher sent from
God for no man can do the miracles you do except God be with him.
Now this kind of faith that these people possessed is the product
of man's intellect. It's the product of man's reasoning. It's the product of man's will. It's not saving faith. Now here's
an example of what I'm trying to talk about. See that piano
there? Does anybody believe that I can
pick that piano up with one hand and hold it over my head? Anybody
believe that? You don't believe that. Now, what if I walked over
there and with one hand picked it up and lifted over my head
and twirled it around? You know what you'd say? I believe. I saw him do it. I saw it. He did it. It must be true. He
can do it. I believe. That's a faith based
upon what you see. It's man's faith. It's not saving
faith. It's an ascent because of what
you see. And you know, there's so much in the scriptures. For instance, this is an example
of man's faith. The Bible teaches election. There it is. I see it. I see
it. There's no way you can debate this. God chose who'd be saved
before the foundation of the world. There it is. I believe
it. That's an assent to the truth
because of what you see. I believe that. I give assent
to it. I believe that Jesus Christ is the only way to God because
he said, I am the way, the truth and the life. No man can come
to the father, but by me, there it is in black and white. He
says he's the only way to God. I said, I believe that. I agree. I believe that salvation
is by grace because Ephesians 2, 8 says, for by grace he is
saved. And I believe that. I give assent to it. I mean,
what are you going to say about it? It says not of works lest any
man should boast. I don't believe in works. I believe in salvation
by grace. I assent to that. Now, a faith
that acknowledges the truth because the evidence points to it is
not saving faith. Just giving assent to some facts
and actually believing them are true. is not saving faith. You see, there are two things
that are always involved in saving faith. Here they are. First, in saving
faith, there is a commitment. And in saving faith, there is
a confession. Every time. Now get these two
words, this is so important, and I hope that the Lord will
teach us exactly what this means. In saving faith, there is a commitment. And in saving faith, there is
a confession. And where these things are absent,
saving faith is absent. In saving faith, there's always
a committal. Now go back to John chapter two
for a moment. John chapter two. We've already
read the scripture, let's look at it again. Verse 23. Now, when
he was in Jerusalem at the Passover, in the feast day, many believed
in his name when they saw the miracles which he did, but Jesus
did not commit himself unto them. He did not believe in them, therefore
he did not commit himself to them. You'll only commit yourself
to one who you trust, who you love. You won't commit yourself
to somebody who doesn't love you. You won't commit yourself
to someone you can't trust. He knew what was in these people.
He knew what they were all about, so he wouldn't commit himself
to them. Now would you turn to 2 Timothy
chapter 1. 2 Timothy chapter 1. Paul says in verse 11, where
into I am appointed a preacher of the gospel that he had declared
in the previous verses, where into I'm appointed a preacher
and an apostle. and a teacher of the Gentiles,
for the which cause, because I preach the gospel, for the
which cause I also suffer these things." You're not going to
win any popularity contest preaching the gospel. It's not going to
happen. He says, I suffer these things because of this message
I preach. But he didn't regret it. He wasn't
giving this old woe is me. I suffer so much for Christ.
That's not what this is about. But he's saying, I do suffer
because of this gospel I preach. Nevertheless, I'm not ashamed. I know whom I have believed and
I am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed
to him against that day. Now let's consider what he said.
I know whom I have believed. You cannot believe what you don't
know. Now, that's clear enough, isn't
it? Have you ever heard a preacher say, well, their heart's right,
their head's wrong? That's foolishness. That's foolishness. You can't believe what you don't
know any more than you can come back from a place we've never
been. It's not going to happen. I know whom I have believed. I know him. Hey, what we believe
is determined by who we believe. You know, if you believe him,
you'll, for instance, if you believe him, you're going to
believe in limited atonement. You're going to believe that
whatever he does is successful. It's impossible to believe him
and believe that he could die for somebody and they wind up
in hell anyway. You see, what we believe is determined by who
we believe. I know whom. I have believed. And he says, I am persuaded. I'm convinced that he is able
to keep that which I've committed to him. I'm convinced that he
is able. You know what was said of Abraham?
He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief, but
he was strong in faith, giving glory to God, being fully persuaded
that what he had promised, he was able also to perform. Those blind men come up to the
Lord in Matthew chapter 9. I don't know how they broke their
way into where he was at. And he asked him this question.
He said, what do you want? And they said, Lord, that we
may receive our sight. That's what we want. Of course, if you're
blind, you want your sight received. He said, do you believe that
I am able to do this? Yes, I do. I do. I believe he is able to save
me with no help from me. Do you believe that? Turn to
Jude, right before the book of Revelation. The book of Jude. Verse 24. Now unto him that is able. This is talking about his ability.
Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to
present you, how? Faultless, before the presence of His glory
with exceeding joy. Do you believe He's able to present
you faultless before His presence? with exceeding joy. You believe
that? You believe he's able to do this
with no help from you. With no contribution from you.
What he did. Who he is and what he did. That's
it. End of story. He is able. Now notice what he says in 2
Timothy chapter 1 verse 12. Look back with me again. He says,
I know whom I have believed and I am persuaded that he is able
to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. What did you commit to him, Paul? I committed to him the salvation
of my soul. I am completely, 100% dependent
upon him to do this for me. All my eggs are in this one basket.
If who he is and what he did on Calvary's tree and where he
is right now, if that's not enough to save me, I will not be saved. You know, if you believe in salvation by
works in any way, you've never committed the salvation of your
soul to him. Your hand's still in the cookie
jar. You're still trying to have some control somewhere. You see,
in salvation, I have no control. I'm completely dependent upon
who He is and what He did. And as long as I believe in works
in any form, I don't care what it is, I've never really committed
the salvation of my soul to Him. You know, it's kind of like a
prenuptial agreement. Prenuptial agreement. Well, I'll
marry you, but if it doesn't work out, You don't get anything
of mine. That's not commitment. That's
not commitment. You commit everything. Oh, don't you want to commit
yourself lock, stock, and barrel to him? Who he is, what he did,
that is myself. Now, I know whom I believed,
and I'm persuaded. I'm convinced. I really believe
what I'm saying. I am persuaded that he is able. keep that which I've committed
to Him. I'm totally dependent upon Him to make me stand faultless
before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy. And if what
He did is not enough, then I won't be saved. All my eggs are in
this one basket. They really are. I'm not looking
anywhere else. Now that's called commitment. I've committed this
to Him against that day, the day of judgment. I'm looking
to Him to answer for me. When my name is called, I'm looking
for him to answer for me. When my life story is given,
it's going to be his life, his righteousness, his law keeping.
That is my salvation. I'm persuaded that he's able
to keep that which I've committed to him against that day. Let
me show you an example of this in scripture. Would you turn
to Genesis chapter 39? Genesis 39. Verse one, and Joseph was brought
down to Egypt and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of
the guard, an Egyptian, bought him of the hands of the Israelites,
which had bought him down thither. And the Lord was with Joseph
and he was a prosperous man. And he was in the house of his
master, the Egyptian. And his master saw that the Lord
was with him and that the Lord made all that he did to prosper
in his hand. And Joseph found grace in his
sight, and he served him, and he made him, his master made
him overseer over his house, and all that he had, he put in
his hand. If Joseph prospers, I'll prosper.
If he doesn't prosper, I won't prosper. Everything I've got,
I put in his hand. Verse five, and it came to pass
from that time that he'd made him overseer in his house and
over all that he had, that the Lord blessed the Egyptian's house
for Joseph's sake. And the blessing of the Lord
was upon all that he had in the house and in the field. And he
left all that he had in Joseph's hand. And he knew not aught he
had save the bread which he did eat. And Joseph was a goodly
person and well favored. It was all in Joseph's hand.
My salvation is all in the hand of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now you commit what is most precious
to you, the salvation of your soul to him. You believe he's
able and he commits, this is what is so glorious. He commits
what's most precious to himself, to you himself. Now, this is what gives significance
to every believer's life. Somebody says, I don't have any
significance in my life. You've got that which is most
precious to God entrusted to you. The gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. What significance there is in
that? What a sacred trust is involved in faith. Now, in saving faith, there is
always commitment. And in saving faith, there is
always confession every single time. The people in our text
who loved the praise of men more than the praise of God, they
had a kind of faith, but they failed to confess him. Now, what
does it mean to confess Christ? I want to know, because I want
to confess him. I won't be saved if I don't confess
him. I'm not saved by my confession, but I'll tell you what, my confession
is evidence of my salvation. Now, what does it mean to confess
the Lord Jesus Christ? Well, what does the word mean?
The word means, literally, if you take the word just by definition,
it means to speak the same thing. To speak the same thing. It is agreement. It is to agree
with what all believers believe. Now, I confess I confess, I speak
the same thing. You know, if I'm a believer and
you're a believer, you know what? We believe the exact same thing. We really do. I confess. I believe. I confess. The Bible's the Word of God.
Are you so ignorant as to believe that every word in that is inspired
by God? Yes, I am. Yes, I am. I love what Donnie Bell said.
If the Bible said that Jonah swallowed the whale, I believe
it. And I would. I would. I believe the Bible's
the Word of God. I believe. This is what every
believer believes. I believe that Christ is everything
in my salvation. I believe that when He said it
is finished, my salvation was wrapped up. It was, I mean, signed,
sealed, and delivered. I believe that. That's what all
believers believe. I believe salvation's all of grace. I believe
this is the confession of every believer. We speak the same thing,
don't we? There's a confession, a speaking of the same thing. We're in agreement, but a confession
also has something public about it. There is no such thing as
a private confession. If I don't confess it publicly,
it's not really a confession. Let me show you that from the
scripture. Turn to Matthew chapter 10, verse 32. Whosoever, therefore, shall confess
me before men. You see that? Before men. Him will I confess also before
my Father which is in heaven. I want him confessing me before
the Father in heaven, don't you? I want him to confess my name
before the Father. But whosoever shall deny me before
men, him will I also deny before my father, which is in heaven. Now, when we confess something,
we admit to guilt. This same word is used with regard
to the confession of sin. What do I do when I confess my
sin? I agree with God. I take sides with God against
myself. I say guilty as charged. That's what I do when I confess
my sin. I plead guilt. When I confess Christ, I do what
Paul did in Acts chapter 24 verse 14. He said, after the way which
I confess this to thee. Now all the things they accuse
me of, they can't prove them. But this I confess to thee, after
the way which they call heresy. So worship I, the God of my fathers,
believing all things which are written in the law and in the
prophets. In a confession, I is I'm gonna
confess this, I plead guilty, and I'm gonna live with the consequences
of believing it. I plead guilty. That's what I
do when I confess. I plead guilty. And this thing of confession
is more than a grim acknowledgement. There is a celebration of praise
in what we confess. We love what we confess. If we don't love it, we don't
confess it. And let me show you this in the scripture. It's not just a grim acknowledgement.
Yeah, I believe that. I mean, the Bible teaches it.
Yeah, I mean, yeah, I do. But look here in Luke chapter
10, verse 21. In that hour, Jesus rejoiced
in spirit. You know, that's the only time
in the New Testament he said to do it right here. In that
hour, Jesus rejoiced in spirit and said, I Thank Thee, O Father,
Lord of heaven and earth, that Thou hast hid these things from
the wise and prudent, and has revealed them unto babes, even
so, Father, for so it seemed good in Thy sight. Now see where
it says, I thank Thee, O Father? That's the same word confess. I confess to Thee. There is a
rejoicing in that which we confess. Turn to Hebrews chapter 13. Same
thing, Hebrews chapter 13, verse 15. By him, therefore, let us offer
the sacrifice of praise to God continually. That is the fruit
of our lips giving thanks to his name. And my marginal reading
says confessing his name. That word giving thanks is the
word confessing. With a true confession, there
is a giving of thanks. I believe the Bible is the word
of God, and I love that the Bible is the word of God. I'm so thankful
for that. I mean, if we don't have that, what do we got? My
opinion or your opinion? What good is that going to do anybody?
I'm so thankful that the Bible is the word of God. I confess
that God is absolutely sovereign. He's in control of everything. I'm in his hands, you're in his
hands, and whatever he does is right. He reigns. I confess that he reigns, and
I'm glad he reigns. I confess that God elected a
people, and I sure am glad he did, because if he didn't, I
wouldn't be saved. I gladly confess this. I confess that Christ is a successful
savior, that everybody he died for must be saved because of
who he is. And I'm glad it's that way. I
wouldn't be saved if it wasn't for that. Thank God for his effectual
atonement. I confess salvation by grace.
I love salvation by grace. I confess. I love what I confess. If you don't love it, you're
not confessing it. Not really. Because they received not the
love of the truth that they might be saved. For this cause God
shall send them strong delusion. No, when we confess Him, we love
what we confess. Now this thing of confession
is the work of God in a man. Let me show you that in 1 John
4. Would you turn with me there to 1 John 4, verse 15. Whosoever shall confess, whosoever
shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and I'm confessing
that right now, Jesus is the Son of God. I'm confessing that. I believe that he's God the Son. Well, what about it? God dwelleth
in him. and he in God. You see, this
is a supernatural thing. It's above the strength and energy
of this flesh. What we confess, when we confess,
this is the work of God in a man. Now, I do not want to be like
the people described in our text. That scares me to death. I believe,
as a matter of fact, that's the worst state a man can be in.
I don't believe, I believe this is the bottom. When somebody
believes something but they won't confess it. I'd rather be an
enemy, an avowed enemy to the truth than somebody who says
they believe the truth but they won't confess it. I don't want
that to be said of me. So what in the world does it
mean to confess Christ? How can I personally confess
Jesus Christ? Now we see from this passage
of scripture that really there's no salvation apart from confession.
I'm not saved by my confessing, but my confessing is the evidence
that He has done something for me. If I won't confess, I don't
believe. Now, how can I confess the Lord
Jesus Christ? I want to do it, don't you? Well,
turn with me to Mark chapter 1. Mark chapter 1. Verse five, and there went out unto him all
the land of Judea and they of Jerusalem and were all baptized
of him in the river Jordan confessing their sins. And does that mean before they
were baptized, they had to get up and confess their sins publicly. You know better than that. That's
ridiculous. I mean, I know that there are
churches that do that. Come up and come clean and confess
all your sins. That's perverted. Somebody wants
to participate in something like that, that's just evil. That's
all you can call it. It doesn't have anything to do with what
he's saying. He's not saying come up and confess all your
sins before everybody. You know, one of the bad things
about being a preacher is sometimes people think you're a priest
and they want to come up and confess stuff to you. I said,
I don't want to know. Really. I don't want to know.
Don't anybody tell you if you do something, I'd rather not
know about it because all it'll do is end up making me do it.
That's what will happen out of it. So just don't keep up. Don't do
it. We confess our sin to God. Well,
what is this thing of confessing your sins? Well, baptism. Baptism. I confess by baptism
that I am so sinful that the only way I can be saved is by
union with the Lord Jesus Christ. His life, His death, His resurrection. That's what baptism is. Baptism
is such a beautiful type of the gospel. When Christ died, when Christ
lived, I lived. I'm united to him. That's my
life before God. If you want to know my history,
if you want to know everything about me, read Matthew, Mark, Luke,
and John. That's my life. United to the
Lord Jesus Christ. That is my life. When Christ
died, I died. It was my sin that he died for. He became sin and he died. I died when he died. And when
he was raised, I was raised. I confess the gospel and believers
baptism. Now, baptism doesn't save anybody.
There's no way that going down in the water and coming back
up can save anybody. You know that. What if somebody
refuses to be baptized? Our Lord said, whoso believeth
and is baptized, the same shall be saved. No, I don't believe
somebody saved who refuses to confess Christ in believers baptism.
This is my public confession of Christ, baptism. Now, if you have not confessed
Christ in believers baptism, take care of it. Don't wait.
Somebody says, well, I'm waiting until I feel led. I can just
imagine me when my dad told me to do something. So I'm gonna
wait till I feel led to do it. Boy, I would have been in real
trouble. Confess Christ in believer's baptism. That is your public
confession of Christ. Secondly, we confess Christ by
identification with his people. Turn to Hebrews chapter 10. Verse
23. Let us hold fast the profession. And that's actually the same
word confession. Let us hold fast the confession
of our faith without wavering for his faith of the promise.
Then let us consider one another to provoke and to love and to
good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together
as the manner of some is now when he's talking about this,
he's not talking about missing church every now That's not what
he's talking about. I confess Christ by identifying
with the people who believe the gospel. I'm casting my lot within. Those people who believe the
gospel, that's who I want to be identified with. If the world
hates them, they're going to hate me too because I'm casting
my lot in within. I want to be identified with
the people who believe the gospel. And I'm not going to forsake
the assembling of myself with that group of people. I want
to be identified with them. Paul said to Timothy, Be not
thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of
me his prisoner, but be thou a partaker of the afflictions
of the gospel. I want to be identified in every
way with the people of God. That's, you know, birds of a
feather flock together, don't they? Sheep aren't alone. They're in a flock. And we identify
with, identify ourselves with people who believe the gospel.
And thirdly, I confess Christ by my life. Now turn with me
to Titus chapter one. Titus chapter one, verse 16. They profess, and that's confess. Sometimes it spells profess,
sometimes confess, but it's the same Greek word. They profess
that they know God, Titus 1.16. They profess that they know God,
but in works, they deny him. Being abominable and disobedient
and unto every good work, reprobate. Now you listen real carefully.
What we really believe is what we put into practice. If it's
just theoretical, it's not saving faith. What we believe, we put
into practice. If I say I believe that God is
sovereign, and yet I'm consumed by worrying, do I really believe God is sovereign? No. If I say I believe salvation
is by grace and yet I want to hold people's feet to the letter
of the law. Do I really believe in salvation
by grace? No. If I say I believe in forgiveness
and I hold a grudge and won't let it go. Do I really believe
in forgiveness? No. If I say I'm content with
Christ, and yet I'm continually coveting this world, am I really
content with Christ? No. They confess that they know
Him, but in works they deny Him, being abominable and disobedient,
and under every good work, reprobate. You see, in true saving faith,
we commit. You know, it's not hard to do if
you can't save yourself, is it? It's really not hard to do. To
commit it all to Him, and your hands are off, He does all, that's
not hard to do if you're a sinner. If you're nothing but a sinner,
it's easy to commit your salvation to Him, because it's not like
there's any other options. We commit the salvation of our
soul to him and we confess him. We confess him by baptism. We
confess him by identification with his people. And we confess
him with our life. May God give us grace to be confessors
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's pray together.