In Acts chapter five, verse 14,
we read these words, and believers were the more added to the Lord
multitudes, both of men and women. I've entitled this message, Are
You a Believer? Now, a believer is someone who
believes. That's what they are and that's
what they do. And this doesn't have anything
to do with what you believe about yesterday's experience or tomorrow's
intentions. This is in the here and the now. Present tense. Are you a believer? Now, In this word, there is more
than believing the truthfulness of a proposition. Inherent in
this word is a reliance, a confidence, a trust, a dependence. The truth that you believe, you're
relying on. It's what you're hoping in. Now,
I believe in the Pythagorean theorem I believe that a plus
b, a squared plus b squared equals c squared. I believe we can find
out the length of a line in a right angle triangle by that. I believe
in pi r squared. I believe that you can find the
circumference of a circle by taking the radius and multiplying
it times 22 sevenths or 3.14 pi. Have they ever figured out
that stuff? I don't know, but I believe it. But believing,
being a believer, is a whole lot more than believing in the
truthfulness of an equation or a proposition. There is an actual
reliance in this thing of faith. If I don't rely on something,
I'm not really being a believer. Now, my question is, are you,
and I'm asking the question to myself as well, are you a believer? Now, I think it would be helpful
to us to think about questions that I'm not asking. I'm not
asking you if you know for sure you're saved and you know for
a fact that if you died today, you'd go to heaven. That's what
soul winners like to use to try to manipulate people. Do you
know for sure, without a bit of doubt, that if you die, you'd
go to heaven? And I want to turn around and
ask them, do you? I know they'd answer yes, but they're not being
honest. There's some amount of doubt in their mind. Either that
or they've got such a seared conscience and they're so self-righteous
they can't see the truth. I'm not asking you that. I'm
not asking you if you know that you're saved. I'm not asking
you if you know that you've been born again. I'm not asking you
if you know that Christ died for your sins personally. You
know that it was your sins he died for. You can believe that
and end up not being saved because he didn't die for everybody.
You can't just take that as a given. I'm not asking you if you know
you're one of God's elect. I'm not asking you if you can
think of some experience you had that created a change in
your life for the better, and you think because of that you're
saved. I'm not asking you about what you think about what you're
going to do tomorrow. This is right now. Are you a
believer? That's all I'm asking. Are you
a believer? Are you someone who believes?
And it doesn't have anything to do with what you believe about
yourself. Faith has nothing to do with
what you believe. I don't know how many times I've
heard people say, I know I'm saved and nobody can tell me
different. Well, okay, but faith has nothing to do with what you
believe about yourself. It doesn't have anything to do
with you believing you're saved. That's not faith. Now, let me
give you some scriptures that show the importance of what I'm
talking about. In John chapter six, verse 29,
some people had said, what must we do? that we might work the
works of God. And the Lord answered, this is
the work of God. They were looking for works.
He said, this is the one work. This is the work of God. This
is what comes from him. This is the work of God that
you believe on him whom he hath sent. Period. This is the work of God. You believe God sent him. You believe he was before he
was sent. You believe he's the eternal
son of God. You believe that God sent him. And you believe that he did exactly
what God sent him to do. Thou shalt call his name Jesus,
for he shall save his people from their sins." Now that's
what I'm relying on. 100% what I'm relying on is the
truthfulness of the fact that he saved his people from their
sins. Acts chapter 13 verse 48, as
many as were ordained to eternal life believed. This thing of
being a believer is the evidence of election. If you're one of
God's elect, If you're one of those people God chose before
the world began, and let me say I give no apology for believing
election. It's what the Bible teaches.
It's who God is. He elected who would be saved
before time began. That's not anything other than
so. It's what the scripture teaches.
And what is the evidence of being elected? As many as were ordained
to eternal life believe. That is the evidence of election. You are a believer. In Romans chapter one, verse
16, Paul said, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it,
the gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that
believeth. Now, if I'm not a believer, the
gospel is not the power of God to salvation for me. But it is
for everyone who is a believer. Romans chapter 10 verse 4 says,
Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone
that believeth. If you are a believer, that means
Christ himself is your personal righteousness before God. You
have a perfect standing before God's holy law. You stand without
guilt because Christ is your righteousness. But who is he
righteousness for? Him that believeth. We read in 1 Corinthians 1, verse
21, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that
believe. Now, preaching, what I'm doing
right now, is God's ordained means of bringing His people
in, not skits, not dramas, not music, not preaching, the preaching
of the gospel. I realize the preaching has kind
of taken a back seat in our day and other means are used, but
they're not of God. It pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching. to save who? Them that believe. And then in 1 Timothy 3.16, when
we read of the great mystery of godliness, it says God was
manifest in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen of angels,
preached to the Gentiles, believed on in the world and received
up into glory. Part of the great mystery of
godliness is that men and women actually believe. Believers were
added to the church, multitudes both of men and women, and we
know who added them to the Lord. The Lord added to the church
daily such as should be saved. Now here's my question. I'm questioning
myself with this, I'm questioning you. Are you a believer? Are you a believer? The Apostle Paul made this statement
in 2 Timothy chapter 1 verse 12. I know whom I have believed and am persuaded
that he is able to keep that which I've committed to him against
that day." Now he said, I know who I have believed. Not I know
what I believe. Somebody says, I know what I
believe. Well, I know who I have believed. And actually what you
believe will be determined by who you believe. If you believe
that Jesus Christ really is the eternal son of God, almighty,
incapable of failure, you'll believe that if he died for you,
you must be saved. Nobody can be damned that he
died for because of who he is. You see, what we believe will
be determined by who we believe. I know whom I have believed,
and I am persuaded that he is able. Now this is the very heart
and soul of faith, believing his ability. He said to the blind
men, do you believe, Matthew 9, 28, do you believe that I
am able to do this? They said, yeah, Lord. Do you
believe his ability? Abraham staggered not at the
promise of God, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God,
being fully persuaded that what God had promised he was able
also to perform. Now, do you believe that Jesus
Christ is able to save you with no help from you? Now, most people believe that
they need to do something in order to make what he did work
for them. Now, that's just another form
of salvation by works. Do you believe that he is able
to save you with no help from you. Now this is what the scripture
teaches. Hebrews 1.3 says, when he had
by himself purged our sins. You know what that means? That
means your works were not needed. No contributions from you. When
he by himself purged our sins. Hebrews 10.14 says, by one offering
he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. Simply by
what he did. Romans 5.10, if when we were
enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his son.
When were you reconciled? When you were an enemy. That
means your works had absolutely nothing to do with it. You made
no contribution at all. Colossians 1.20 says, having
made peace through the blood of his cross by him to reconcile
all things to himself by him, I say, whether they be things
in earth, the things in heaven, and you that were before time
aliens and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now have
he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death to present
you holy, unblameable, and unreprovable before God. Now that is a reliance
without any contribution from me. And what did Paul mean when
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 against that
day. Full commitment if what he has
done only is not enough to save me, I will not be saved. I'm looking to him only. It's
kind of like some people have mutual funds. If this fails,
this other part will not. Well, I don't have mutual funds.
I don't have a plan B. I'm looking only to this. This
is my full commitment. This is my only hope that what
he did only is enough to save me. And if there is not full
commitment, there's not faith. You don't fully commit to trusting
him only, you have no faith at all. I'm relying 100% upon what
he did, nothing less, Nothing more and nothing else. We look to Christ only. Now I ask, are you a believer? In John chapter eight, verse
24, the Lord said, if you believe not that I am, I know that the
King James says, I am he and that he is an italics. That means
it wasn't in the original, literally. If you believe not that I am,
you will die in your sins. Now that's something that I do
not want to do. I do not want to die in my sins
because that means I'll be raised in my sins and I'll be judged
according to my sins and God will send me to hell if that's
what takes place. The Lord said, if you believe
not that I am. Now, what does he mean by that?
That is the name that belonged only to God. Do you remember
in Exodus chapter 3 when Moses said, who shall I say has sent
me? And the Lord replied, I am that I am. Tell them that I am
has sent thee. Only God can say this. Everybody
else says, I used to be, I will be, I want to be, it could be,
it should be. God says, I am that I am. And this speaks of
his isness. God is. God is holy. God is eternal. God is immutable. He cannot change. God is absolutely just. Justice
and judgment are the habitation of thy throne. God is all-powerful. God is all-knowing. God is omnipresent. God is God. God is love. God is merciful. God is holy, God's is-ness and
Christ is the is-ness of God. If you want to know who God is
you're to know Jesus Christ. He is the one who spake from
the bush that burned but could not be consumed when speaking
to Moses. I am that I am and Christ says
if you believe not that I am you'll die in your sins. Now
are you a believer? Do you believe that Jesus Christ
is the eternal I Am? Once again, I'm not asking you
if you believe you're saved. Do you believe He is the eternal
I Am? Do you believe that He is able
to save you without any help from you? And do you believe
that He's the eternal I Am? And then we read in 1 John chapter
5 verse 1, of God. Now, Christ is not his
last name. Christ means anointed. It's what the Old Testament called
the Messiah, the anointed one. And in the Old Testament, three
people were anointed. When someone was a prophet, he
was anointed as God's prophet, anointed with oil, symbolic of
God anointing him. God anointed the priest. It was
symbolic of God anointing him, and the king was anointed as
king. So the Lord Jesus Christ offices
as prophet, priest, and king. He's the prophet. He is the Word
of God. All we know of God is from Him. God said, this is my beloved
Son in whom I'm well pleased, hear ye Him. Now remember, a
prophet is someone who brings men the Word of God. Well, Christ
is the Word of God. He's the divine Word. In the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word
was God. The same was in the beginning
with God. Christ is the Word of God. He's what God has to
say. Christ is the priest. If he represents
me before God, a priest is someone who brings men to God, and Christ
is God's priest. He's the high priest after the
order of Melchizedek. If he brings me into the Father's
presence, I must be accepted by the Father. He's a successful
priest, and he's the king. That means his will is done. That means he rules and he reigns
and he's in control. Now, do you believe that Jesus
is the Christ? Are you a believer? Are you relying
on him being the Christ? You're relying on him being the
prophet, bringing you God's word to you? You rely on him to bring
you to God and make you acceptable? He said, I am the way, the truth,
and the life. No man comes to the Father but
by me. Are you relying on his kingship, his will being done
to cause you to believe, to cause you to repent, to cause you to
love him, to cause you to be preserved? There's a reliance
on this. Whoso believeth that Jesus is
the Christ is born of God. Do you believe that Jesus is
God's Christ, that Christ? And then in Acts chapter eight,
after the Ethiopian eunuch, heard Philip preach the gospel, they
came upon a pool of water, and evidently Philip had said something
to him about baptism, and what is baptism? It represents the
gospel. The only baptism that the scripture recognizes is baptism
by immersion. And if you baptize babies, I
hate saying this, but if you baptize, I don't hate saying
it, that's just the truth. If you baptize babies, you think
that baptism has something to do with their salvation. You
think somehow it helps. And when you do that, all you're
doing is believing salvation by works. There's no baptism
of infants. Baptism is for believers only.
Baptism signifies The gospel. When Christ lived, I was in Him
and I lived. When He obeyed the law, I obeyed
the law. When He died, I was in Him. I died. When He suffered for
sin, I suffered for sin. The penalty was paid. When He
was raised from the dead, just as the body is raised out of
the water, I was raised from the dead. I was justified. All
my sins paid for. That's what baptism signifies.
It signifies the gospel. That's why it's so important
to know the right mode of baptism. Knowing the right mode of baptism
won't save you, but like I said, there is only one baptism, and
that's believer's baptism, and that's the believer's confession
of their only hope. And this Ethiopian eunuch said, what hinders
me from being baptized? I want to know if I shouldn't
be. Maybe I need to know more. Maybe I need to be more holy.
Maybe I need to have more experience. If there's a reason why I shouldn't
be baptized, would you let me know? And Philip answered, if
you believe with all your heart, you may. And he said, I believe
that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He didn't say, I believe
I'm saved. He didn't say, I believe I'm sanctified. He said, I believe
that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. That, my dear friends,
is saving faith. Do you believe He's the eternal
Son of God? And then we read in Romans chapter
4 verse 5, to him that worketh is the reward, not reckoned of
grace but of debt, but to him that worketh not but believeth. There's that word. Are you a
believer? to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that
justifieth the ungodly. His faith is counted for righteousness."
Now, would this be you? One who works not. Somebody says,
I'm a worker. Well, do you know God? You wouldn't
be talking that way if you did. I work for Jesus. Get busy and
work. To him that worketh not, to him
who is convinced of his own utter inability to save himself, and
he knows that salvation by works is impossible for him, he works
not, but believes. on him that justifies the ungodly."
Now, if our judges would justify guilty criminals, we'd get rid
of them, wouldn't we? That wouldn't be just. If somebody
was guilty and the judge says, well, I'm going to forgive you.
Go on. You're free. We wouldn't want a judge like
that. Well, God's not a judge like that. Here's what God does.
He makes those people who are unjust Just. And He justifies
it. That's what was done on the cross.
My sin was judged. It was paid for. It was condemned.
And His perfect righteousness is given to me. Thus I am justified. God justified me through the
work of Christ on the cross. And that's completely what I'm
relying on. That's the only hope I have. I'm not looking anywhere
else but that. I'm somebody who works not but
believes on him who justifies the ungodly. I ask again, are
you a believer? Are you a believer? Are you somebody
who works not and believes on him that justifies the ungodly?
Now listen to this scripture from Acts chapter 15 verse 11.
This is Peter speaking. And Peter says, we believe that
through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved,
even as they will be saved, just like those Gentiles will be by
the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, here's the question. Do
you believe in saving grace? Now, most people, most preachers,
present God's grace as an offer. God's offering you grace. He's
offering you forgiveness. And whether or not you'll be
saved depends on you accepting or rejecting the offer. God offers
you grace. Now, that couldn't be further
from the truth. Grace is not an offer. Grace
saves. We believe that through the grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved. We read in the scripture
of the election of grace. Do you believe in the election
of grace? God's not running for office. He doesn't need your
vote. You need His. You need Him to choose you before
time began. The election of grace. We read
in the scriptures of justifying grace. Grace that actually makes
me just before God so God sees me as not guilty because I'm
not guilty because of what Christ did for me. I stand perfect before
God. We read of redeeming grace. Grace
that pays for all my sins so that they're all paid for and
they're all gone and they're all put away. I need preserving
grace. I need life-giving grace. I need
grace that gives me faith and grace that gives me repentance.
By grace are you saved. through faith, and that not of
yourselves. It's the gift of God. Why, if you have faith,
you know it's the gift of His grace. You know it didn't come
because of some decision you made or because of your free
will. You know He gave it to you. I don't have to convince
you of that. You know it's so, if you have it. Now, if you don't
have it, you might argue against this, but if you have it, you
know it's the gift of His grace. Why, repentance. Him hath God
exalted for to give repentance to Israel, the forgiveness of
sins. the remission of sins. Repentance
is his gift. You know that his grace is actually
saving grace. It's all of grace from election
to glorification and everything in between. It's saving grace,
grace that saves. Now let me close with this scripture. To you that believe, First Peter
2.7, to you that believe, he is precious. To you who believe
what? All of the above, everything
I've said. To you that believe, you believe
grace is saving grace, you believe he justified the ungodly, you
believe in his ability to save, you believe he's the Christ,
you believe he's the Son of God, you believe. That's what a believer
is. He's somebody who believes. Here's
the evidence of believing. unto you therefore which believe
he is precious. You know he's precious to God
and he's precious to you. He is all your salvation. You're looking to him alone. Are you a believer? Now I pray that God makes you
one. Oh, to be a believer. Amen.