But you turn back to John 11. I have entitled this message
to the intent that you may believe. The Lord says in verse 14, Lazarus
is dead, graveyard dead. body in the process of decay,
Lazarus is dead. Remember the sisters of Lazarus
had sent to him, he whom you love is sick. And he was dead
when they got to him with that message and he knew it. He was
already dead. is dead. Graveyard dead. And then he says in verse 15,
and I am glad for your sakes that I was not there. That's
unusual. Glad means happy. Speaking of the death of Lazarus,
I'm glad I wasn't And then he gives his intention, this is
why I'm glad I was not there, to the intent that you may believe. You. We're not talking about somebody
else right now. to the intent that you may believe. I realize he was speaking to
the 12 disciples when he said this, but are you and I involved
in that intent of the Lord that you may believe? Is he talking about me? Is he
talking about you? Turn to John chapter 20 for a
moment. Verse 31. John chapter 20. Let's read in verse 30. And many other signs truly did
Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written
in this book, but these are written that you might believe. Now we're reading what he wrote
many years ago. These are written. Are you reading
along with me? Are you looking at this? The very reason for this writing
that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God,
and that believing you might have life through his name. Now take what you can get. You may not be sure that you're
one of the elect. Election's true. It's in the
Bible. It's who God is. Election's true. And you might not be sure that
you personally are one of the elect. You might not be sure
that Christ died for you. And you may not feel that you're
included in this. I understand that. But these things are written.
Are you reading? Are you reading? Take what you
can get. Are you reading? These things
are written that you might believe. Believe what? Look in verse 40 of this same
chapter. Jesus saith unto her, said I
not unto thee that if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory
of God. Now hear what he says. If you
believe, you'll see the glory of God. Note the order. Believe first. What does that mean, believe
first and then see? I will not see unless I first
believe. If I first believe that there's
a million dollars in my checking account, and I don't doubt it,
Name it and claim it. I believe that there's a million
dollars in my checking account. If I really believe that, does
that put a million dollars in my checking account? No. Just
as broke as I ever was. That's not what the Lord is talking
about. You know, if that would be so,
if I could just believe and then it would be so, that would make
my faith the Savior, wouldn't it? That would make my personal
faith, my ability to believe, the cause of salvation. That would be salvation by works,
wouldn't it? Now, the first time this word
believe is used is in Genesis chapter 15, verse 6. Now, I won't ask you to turn
there. You can if you want, but that's when God said to Moses,
see the stars? Can you count them? So shall your seed be. And Abraham
believed the word of the Lord. Now, if I would have said to
Abraham, Abraham, see the stars? Can you count them? No, I can't.
So shall your seed be. Would he have believed me? No. If you came up to me and said
that, I wouldn't believe. Here's the difference. Abraham
knew who it was who was speaking to him. And he knew he was able
to make what he said come to pass. It's one thing if I would
say this to Abraham, Abraham wouldn't believe it. If you told
Abraham this, Abraham wouldn't believe it. And he would be a
fool to believe it. I don't have the power to bring this to pass.
You don't have the power to bring this pass. But God does. He knew who it was that was making
this promise. You see, the issue of faith is,
do you know who he is? Right now, I'm not even talking
about how you feel about your relationship with him, because
salvation is a relationship with him. There's no question about
that. But I'm not asking you about what you feel about the
relationship you have with him. I'm asking you this. Do you know
who he is? That is the issue. That is the content of saving
faith. You see, Abraham knew that God
had the power to bring to pass whatever he said. The scripture
says, he staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief,
but was strong in faith, giving glory to God, being fully persuaded
that what God had promised He was able also to perform. You see, Abraham knew who he
was. Faith is in a person. Do you understand that? What
you believe is determined by who you believe. That's what Peter said when the
Lord said, will you also go away? He didn't say, where would we
go? He said, to whom shall we go? Faith is in a person. To whom shall we go? Thou has
the words of eternal life and we believe and are sure that
thou art that Christ, the son of the living Now this confession
that he made in John chapter 6 is the same confession he made
in Matthew chapter 16. If you turn with me there, I'd
like you to look at this. Matthew chapter 16. Verse 13. When Jesus came into the coast
of Caesarea Philippi, He asked his disciples, saying, whom do
men say that I, the Son of Man, am? See, there's the issue. Who
am I? What do men say about me? Who
did they say I am? And they said, well, they put
you in some pretty high cotton. Some say you're John the Baptist. Some, Elijah. Others, Jeremiah
or one of the prophets. They say some very good things
about you. Some high company. No, they didn't. You see, there's no one like
him. You know, I was looking at the
word godliness in the scripture. You've heard the word, you've
read it. I love the word. But somebody defined it as godlikeness. There's none like me, he said.
None. And as far as that goes, the
word theos, the Greek word for God, is not even in the word
godliness. It means well-reverent, well-devout. I want to be one
of these people. Don't you? Comparing him to some other man
actually is blasphemous. There's none like him. Jeremiah? How do you think Jeremiah
would feel if he said, well, Christ is Jeremiah, oh, he would
have cringed. He would have thought, no. Then he says in verse 14, or verse 15, he saith unto them,
but whom say ye that I am? What's your response? And Simon Peter answered and
said, thou art the Christ. God's Messiah, God's prophet,
the prophet of God, God's priest. The priest, if he brings you
to God, you're saved. God's king, the one whose will
must be done. This is who we say you are. This
is the issue. Who is Jesus Christ? That's the
only issue. That's the issue that settles
all other issues. The Son of the Living God. And Jesus answered and said unto
him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood
hath not revealed it to thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
If you know, there's only one reason. He revealed it. He, the
Living God, revealed this to you of all people. To you. And I say unto thee, verse 18,
thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church. Is he saying he's gonna build
the church on the Peter? Of course not. Upon this rock,
upon this confession of who I am. That is the rock. upon which
I will build my church. Don't, aren't you thankful it's
the Lord who builds the church? And somebody says, I'm gonna
go out and start a church. I'm gonna be a church planter. Don't talk like that. The Lord builds his church. And the gates of hell shall not
prevail against it. Hell itself will not be able
to win against him building the church. He is going to snatch
out every one of his elect and he's going to build his church. The content of saving faith is
knowing who he is and relying on who he is as all of your salvation. Let me tell you one thing I know
about the thief on the cross. Now we know he was saved because
the Lord said to him, who had known him but for a little bit
while he was on the cross, he said, today thou shalt be with
me in paradise. I know he's in paradise, don't
you? Jesus Christ said you're gonna be there with me today.
Now let me tell you something I know about this thief. He knew
who Jesus Christ was. That's everything in his faith.
Now when he went to the cross, he didn't know who he was. He
was cursing him, he was swearing at him, he was making fun of
him along with the other thief. But something happened. And all
of a sudden, he knew who Jesus Christ was. He knew he was God. Don't you fear God? He knew he
was getting exactly what he deserved. He knew Jesus Christ had never
sinned. This man has done nothing amiss. How did he know? Because he knew who he was. If
you know who he is, you know he's incapable of sin, don't
you? Well, he could have sinned. No,
he couldn't. If he could have, he's not immutable. This man has done nothing amiss.
He knew he would come back as a reigning king. Remember me
when you come back in your kingdom? He knew he wouldn't stay on that
cross. How did he know all that stuff? Because he knew who he
was. That is the only issue. Who is Jesus Christ? He knew he was the Lord. Lord,
remember me when you come into your kingdom. What about the
Roman centurion? You know, he began that day,
business as usual. Time for me to crucify one of
the enemies of the state. That was his job. He began that
day, business as usual. He presided over the death of
Christ. He was telling everybody, what do you nail here? He was
telling them what to do. By the time the Lord cried out,
it is finished. And he saw everything that took
place. He heard all seven sayings of
the Savior from the cross. He said, surely this man is the
son of God. He knew who he was. Now look back in John chapter
11 verse 23. Jesus saith unto her, thy brother
shall rise again. And that's his promise. Martha said unto him, I know
that he shall rise again in the resurrection of the last day.
I already know that. I believe the doctrine concerning
the resurrection on the last day. I'm sure the Lord had taught
him that. He taught him about what was
going to take place. You know, it's always been in the scripture.
Look in Job, the oldest book in the Bible. Job speaks of,
in my flesh I shall see God. After worms have destroyed my
body, yet it's going to be raised up and in my flesh I shall see
God. Martha says, I know the doctoral teaching of the resurrection. I've got that down. Now, you
can believe that there will be a resurrection on the last day,
and you can believe the truthfulness of the propositions of the gospel,
like the devils. They believe in monotheism. They
know that there's only one God, and they tremble. They believe
in certain propositions and count them to be true. But look what
the Lord says. In verse 25, Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection. Resurrection is not just an event. I am. Now, I'm sure there are
other people who might have heard this and thought, what? He's
saying that he himself is the resurrection? Yes. I am the resurrection
and the life. It's my life that is your only
hope of being saved. My life. You're going to have
to have my life when you stand before God in judgment or you
won't be saved. I am the resurrection. I am the
life. Don't you love the way he said,
I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh to the
Father but by me. I am the resurrection and the
life. He that believeth in me. You
see, faith is in this person. He that believeth in me, though
he were dead, yet shall he live, and whosoever liveth and believeth
in me. Note the order. You live, you
believe. You don't believe and then live.
You live. God begets you and gives you
life, and you believe. He that believeth in me shall
never die. Believest thou this? I know you're straight on the
resurrection, but do you believe my person? Do you believe that
I am the resurrection, that my life is the only life that God
will accept? Do you believe this? And then
she gives the very heart and soul and the content of saving
faith. She saith unto him, yea, Lord. Do you say that? When you hear him
say, I am the resurrection, I am the life. Do you believe this?
Yay, Lord. I sure enough do. Yay, Lord. I believe that thou
art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world. I believe you're The Christ,
God's Messiah, the Son of God, God the Son, the uncreated, eternal
Son of God, the creator of the universe. I believe that you're
the Christ, the Son of God that should come into the world. I
believe that you're the great I am. If you believe not that
I am, you'll die in your sins, the Lord said. I believe you
are the Christ, the son of the living God that should come into
the world. I love that language. He should come into the world.
You see, he was before he ever came into the world. The eternal
son of God, he came into the world. She believed that God,
his father, sent him into the world. Do you believe? Do you believe He was before
He ever came? The eternal, uncreated, only
begotten Son of God, the sole representative of the being of
the one who sent Him. God, the Son. Do you believe
He is the resurrection? Do you believe He is the life?
Do you believe that he's the one who should come into the
world because his father sent him? He said, I came down from
heaven not to do my own will, but the will of him that sent
me. Do you believe the father sent
him? Do you believe he did what the father sent him to do? You
see, if you believe him, you believe he's incapable of failure.
He can't attempt to do something. Whatever it was the father sent
him to do, did. Summarized by these words, it
is finished. Whatever it was the father sent
him to do, he finished it. John chapter 17 verse 4 says,
I have glorified thee on the earth. I finished the work that
thou gavest me to do. Look in verse 40 of John chapter
six. And this is the will of him that
sent me that everyone which seeth the Son. You see who I am. Everyone who sees who I am. The Son, the Son of God. Oh, He's the Son of God. He's the
second person of the Trinity. He's the creator of the universe.
God the Son. Everyone, I don't care who you
are, if you see who He is, this is the issue. Everyone that seeth the Son and believeth on him. Now here's
one thing that you will do if you see who he is. You will believe. I mean, you don't choose to believe.
You believe because you see who he is. This is what faith is.
It's knowing who he is. It's believing who he is. Everyone. Put yourself in that group. Do
you see who he is? Do you? everyone that seeth the Son and
believeth on him should have everlasting life. Sirs, what must I do to be saved? Believe. Don't you love that
word? Not work, not do. Believe on the Lord. Jesus Christ, and thou shalt
be saved. What must we do that we might
work the works of God? They asked him in John chapter
six, verse 28. He answers in verse 29. This
is the work of God, that you believe on him whom he hath sent. There were two blind men who
came to Christ. They said, son of David, they
knew who he was. He's the son of David. He's the
promised Messiah. He's David's Lord. Yes, he's
the son of David. He's David's Lord. They knew
who he was. That's the issue. They knew who
he was. Thou son of David, have mercy
on us. And the Lord said, you believe
that I am able to do this. Yay, Lord. You see, they knew
who he was. This wasn't about them. This
was about him. They knew. Do you believe he's able to save
you without any help from you? Do you believe he's able? I know,
Paul said, whom I have believed. He didn't say I know what I believed.
He said, I know whom I have believed. And I am persuaded that He is
able to keep that which I've committed to Him, the salvation
of my soul, against that day. The Lord spake of Holy Spirit
conviction. He said he would convince, speaking
of the coming of the Holy Spirit in John chapter 16, he said when
he has come he will convince the world of sin, of righteousness,
and of judgment, of sin. Now here's what true conviction
of sin is. Because they believe not on me. Now when God the Holy
Spirit has convicted you of your sin, first thing you find out
is you can't believe. And that's your crime. That's
your crime. The worst possible thing that
could be said about me or you is that we don't believe on the
name of the Son of God. That's your crime. And when you
find out you can't believe, that's when you believe. Everybody who finds out they
can't believe, you know what they do? They believe. You see,
then that's the faith that's the gift of God's grace. and
not the product of your works and your effort and your decision
and your will. By grace are you saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves, it's the gift of God, not of
works, lest any man should boast. Believing is the evidence of
election. Acts chapter 13, verse 48, at
the end of Paul's first recorded sermon, go back and read it sometime
this week in Acts chapter 13. That's the first recorded sermon
of Paul. And I love the way Luke records
this. After that sermon was over, Luke
tells us, as many as were ordained to eternal life believed. That's the evidence of election.
That you believe the gospel, not that there's a knee on your
forehead. but that you believe the gospel. Believing is the
evidence of being one of his sheep. He said, you believe not
because you're not of my sheep. As I said in you, sheep believe. That's what they do. They believe
who he is. The Lord said to them, man that
had been born blind, he asked this simple question,
does thou believe on the Son of God? And this man asked an appropriate
question, who is he? That I may believe. You see,
you can't know who he is unless he reveals himself to you. Nobody's
just gonna know who he is. The only way you're gonna know
who he is is if he makes himself known. And if he makes himself
known, you will know who he is. And this man asked a very appropriate
question. Who is he, Lord, that I might
know? And the Lord said, thou hast
both seen him and it is he that talketh with thee. And you know
what he said? Lord, that's the initial response. He's the Lord. Lord, I believe. and he worshiped him, the scripture
says. Now, I probably say this once
a week, maybe somebody will hear it for the first time, you only
worship an absolute sovereign. If you can manipulate him, if
you can control him, if you can get him to do anything, there's
no worship. You only worship one in whose
hand you are, and he can do with you whatever he's pleased to
do. Now, if you ever see that, worship. That's all there is to do. He's
the Lord. Lord, I believe, and he worshiped
him. Turn with me to Acts chapter
15 for a moment. Now, some men had said, yes,
salvation's by grace. We agree with that. Salvation's
in Christ. But, and whenever you hear but,
your antinomies ought to go up. Something's wrong. But, you also
need to be circumcised. And so they went to the church
at Jerusalem, verse seven, and when, Acts 15, verse seven, and
when there had been much disputing Peter rose up and said unto them,
men and brethren, you know how that a good while ago God made
choice among us that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word
of the gospel and believe, and God which knoweth their hearts
bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did
to us. And he put no difference between us and them, these Gentiles,
purifying their hearts by faith. Now therefore, why tempt ye God
to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, some yoke of law,
which neither Our fathers nor we were able to bear. All he
did was condemn us. Why are you trying to put it
on them? But we believe, here's our confession of faith. We believe that through the grace
of the Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved even as they. We believe, that's where we begin.
We believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we'll
be saved like they will. Those Gentiles, those Gentile
dogs, the only way they can be saved by grace. We're going to
be saved the same way. And this is said in the original,
it could actually read like this. We believe that we've been saved.
We believe that we are being saved, and we believe that we
shall be saved by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what we believe. That's
who we believe. We believe we'll be saved by
the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul said in Acts chapter 24,
verse 14, the things they're accusing me of, I didn't do.
But this I will confess to thee. that after the way, which they
call heresy, so worship I, the God of my fathers, believing
all things that are written. In the law of Moses, the Psalms,
the prophets, concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, believing
all things that are written. Hebrews 11, six, he that cometh
to God must believe that he is. Do you believe his isness? Do
you believe he is as he says he is in this book? Paul said, Galatians chapter
6 verse 14, God forbid that I should glory. Now remember who's speaking. This is Paul, writer of scripture. You could argue that he's the
man God used more than anybody else to define the gospel. He wrote the epistles, the apostle. He said, God forbid that I should
glory. that I should have any confidence
in. Anything save the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom,
don't miss that. He didn't say by that cross,
he said by whom. I'm crucified unto the world
and the world unto me. Peter said in 1 Peter chapter
two, verse seven, to you which believe. Anybody know the rest
of the verse? To you which believe, he is precious. He's all I will plea before the
Father. One final scripture, turn with
me to Acts chapter eight. Now the Ethiopian eunuch had
asked Philip the question from Isaiah 53, who speaketh the prophet
of this, of himself or some other man? Who's he talking about when
he talks about he was wounded for our transgressions, he was
bruised for our iniquities, he didn't open his mouth. Is he
talking about himself or is he talking about some other man? Verse 35, then Philip opened
his mouth and began at that same scripture and preached unto him,
Jesus. And as they went on their way,
they came into a certain water. And what that lets me know is
that during the course of this message, he talked about baptism.
Baptism, there's water. The Lord has given two ordinances,
baptism and the Lord's table, only two ordinances. And he saw
this pool of water. I like the way, you know, Philip
didn't say, you need to get baptized. He didn't say that. This was
brought up by the eunuch. He sees this pool of water and
look what he says. Verse 36, and when they went
on their way, there came unto a certain water, and the eunuch
said, see, here's water. What doth hinder me to be baptized?
I want to know if there's a reason why I should not be baptized.
Give me a reason. I can think of plenty of reasons
in myself. I mean, it makes me nervous. I don't know whether
I ought to do it. Give me a reason. Tell me why
I shouldn't be. And Philip said, well, if your
life's right, if you've got things straightened
out, don't do it until you take care
of this and quit doing this and start doing that, then you can
be baptized. No, one thing he says, If thou
believest with all thine heart thou mayest. And he answered and said I believe
that Jesus Christ is the son of God. That is the content of saving
faith. Who He is. When that's settled, everything
else almost becomes a new point. Who is Jesus Christ? I believe that Jesus Christ is
the Son of God. Don't miss this. He didn't say,
I believe I'm saved. He didn't say, I believe Jesus
Christ died for my sins. I believe who he is. And he commanded the chariot
to stand still. And they went both down into the water, both
Philip and the eunuch. And he baptized him. And when
they were come out of the water, the spirit of the Lord caught
away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more. And he went
on his way rejoicing. The Lord said I was happy, I
wasn't there. And here's my intent, that you,
you might believe. May God enable me and you to
be these believing ones. Let's pray. Lord, we ask in Christ's name that
everybody in this room, by your divine grace, might be enabled
to believe who your son is and to trust him only. Lord, work that in us for His
namesake. Pass us not for His namesake. In His name we pray, amen.