Would you turn back to James
2? James chapter 2. I'd like to
read the 19th verse once again. James says to those who he's
writing to, and he says to us, Thou believest that there is
one God. Thou doest well. The devils also believe and tremble. You know, I think it's interesting
that the average religious person has much less respect for God
than a demon does. The devils believe and tremble. You believe there's one God?
You do well. There are not two. There are
not three. A number, there is only one God,
the God of the Bible, the Creator, the one true and living God,
revealed in three persons, God the Father, God the Son, and
God the Holy Spirit. There is one God, the eternal,
immutable, living God. You believe that? You don't believe
in two gods, do you? You believe in one God, the God
of our Lord Jesus Christ. Jane says, you do well. That's a thoroughly orthodox
sentiment. What you believe is true. We're
not polytheists, a belief in many gods or more than one god,
but we're monotheist. We believe there is only one
God. Jane says you do well. Congratulations. The devils believe the same thing. The devils also believe. I've entitled this message Also
Faith. Also Faith. Now there is a spirit
world. God created angels. And the scripture
says they're greater in power and might than we are. And we
know very little about angels. They're spiritual beings. And
we know that at some time there was a fall of many angels. Most people think in Revelation
chapter 12 when it talks about Satan drawing the third part
of the stars from heaven, That's actually a reference to the fall
of Lucifer and those that were with him. And the Lord didn't
give a savior for those fallen angels, did he? As a matter of
fact, it says they're reserved in chains, waiting for the last
day. And we know very little about
these fallen angels. As far as that goes, we know
very little about the angels that aren't fallen. I know this,
they're called, the ones who are not fallen are called in
1 Timothy 5, 20, the elect angels. I love that. The only reason
they haven't fallen is because God chose them to not fall. And
if God didn't choose them, they would most certainly fall. They would have fallen with the
rest. But these fallen angels are called Demons are devils,
and they're real, and we know little about them, and I don't
want to know much about them. But James tells us that the devils
believe also. They believe that there's only
one God. I think of those scriptures that
deal with what the demons actually had to say regarding the Lord
Jesus Christ. They said, I know thee who thou art, the Holy One
of God. What a confession. The scripture
says they knew He was Christ. And they were afraid of Him.
Are thou come to torment us before the time? They trembled in fear
at the Lord Jesus Christ. As a matter of fact, they couldn't
even move from one place to another without first asking His permission.
They said, sufferers to go into that herd of swine. They knew
they couldn't move from one place to another unless Jesus Christ
allowed them to do it. You know that passage of scripture
where the Lord said to Peter, Satan hath desired to have thee,
that he may sift you as wheat. You know that word is actually,
he has asked permission to have you. Do you know that the devil himself,
Satan, can't do a thing without first asking permission to Jesus
Christ the Lord? Isn't that comforting? He's in
absolute control of the demonic world. They do his bidding. Now, they don't want to. They
think that what they're doing is against him, but all they're
doing is serving his interests and his glory as everything else
does. Now, the devils believe. You know, there are no atheist
devils. Not a one. There are no Arminian
devils. They know better. They've read
the scripture for many, many years and they probably know
the scripture better than any of us do. They've had thousands
of years to look it over. They believe. There's one God
and the scripture says they tremble. That's the only time this particular
word is used in the New Testament. They tremble with fear. They're
horrified. They're horrified. They're so
scared of Jesus Christ. They're so scared of God. The
devils believe also and they tremble. But their faith, obviously,
is not saving faith, is it? They believe, but it's not saving
faith. They acknowledge truth, they
believe, but it is not saving faith. Now what that lets me
know, it says they believe, doesn't it? It says they believe. And
you know it's not saving faith, but what that lets me know is
saving faith is not merely giving assent to truth. It's not merely
saying, I agree with what the Bible says. Now, saving faith
does that. Saving faith gives assent to
the truth. It always does. Don't ever think
that the truth is not of primary importance. The truth must be
heard, and the truth must be believed, and the truth must
be received. There's no saving faith apart
from the truth being heard, believed, and received. There's no worship
of God without the truth. They that worship Him must worship
Him in spirit and in truth. So saving faith does, in fact,
acknowledge and give assent to and receive the truth, we believe
everything God says. We agree with everything God
says, don't we? If God says it in His Word, we believe it. Whether
we understand it or not, we believe it. We give assent to all that
God says. Now, listen to what Paul says,
though. In 2 Timothy 1, verse 12, he said, I know, there's the knowledge, there
is no saving faith apart from knowledge. Remember what it said
of those people in Romans chapter 10. They have a zeal for God,
but not according to what? Knowledge. For they, being ignorant
of God's righteousness, going about to establish their own
righteousness, have not submitted themselves to the righteousness
of God. Now, there is no saving faith
without knowledge. Paul said, I know whom I have believed. Not simply I
know what I believed. I know what I believe. Me too. Me too. But what's most important? I know whom I have believed. And really what you believe is
determined by who you believe. If you know who you believe,
you're going to believe everything about him that the scripture
reveals. Every single thing about him. I know whom I have believed. But he goes on to say, I am persuaded,
I'm convinced, I really believe this. Now this is what I believe.
I'm persuaded that He is able. Now that's what I'm, I'm persuaded
I'm saved. Well, you may be, you may not
be. But if you're persuaded He is able, you're saved. That's
what faith is. It's a persuasion that He is
able to save you without any help, without any contribution
from you. That's what faith is in its purest
form. It's being persuaded that He is able to save you. Do you believe He's able to save
you? Now, the verse is not finished.
I know whom I have believed and I'm persuaded that he is able
to keep that which I have committed to him. Against that day, speaking
of the day of judgment. Now you know what saving faith
does? It commits the entire salvation of its soul to Christ only. That's what saving faith does.
If who He is and what He did is not enough to save me, I will
not be saved. I have committed, by the grace
of God, I have committed the entire saving and keeping of
my soul to Him. My hands are off. There's a complete
commitment to Jesus Christ alone. I look to Him only to save me. I think of what the Lord said
to those two blind men. He said to them, Do you believe
that I am able to do this? You know what their answer was?
Yea, Lord. We believe. Now, if who He is
And what he did is not enough to save me. Who he is and what he did alone, the blood of Christ only. If that's not enough to save
me, I will not be saved. I am relying completely upon
Him. Now, the devils believe, but
they don't commit the salvation of their soul to Him. They believe,
but they also believe. Kind of like Simon Magus. Would
you turn with me for a moment to Acts chapter 8? Verse 5, Then Philip went down
to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them. And the people,
with one accord, gave heed unto those things which Philip spake,
hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. For unclean spirits,
crying with loud voice, came out of many that were possessed
with them, and many taken with palsies, and that were lame,
were healed. And there was great joy in that
city, but there was a certain man called Simon, which before
time in the city used sorcery, and bewitched the people of Samaria,
giving out that himself was some great one, to whom they all gave
heed from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the great
power of God. And to him they had regard, because
out of a long time he had bewitched them with sorceries, But when
they believed Philip, preaching the things concerning the kingdom
of God in the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men
and women. Then Simon himself believed also. Also. Just like the demons. He believed also. He didn't believe. He believed
also. And when he was baptized, he
continued with Philip and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs
which were done. Verse 18, And when Simon saw
that through the laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy
Ghost was given, He offered them money. Now, I need to make a
comment about this with regard to another subject, just briefly. Notice it says, when they saw
through the laying on of the apostles' hands, the Holy Ghost
was given. Philip couldn't do it. Philip couldn't do it. Now, all
these claims people make in our day to these gifts of the Spirit,
the speaking in tongues, miracles, and so on. It's a false claim. Because the only ones who ever
were able to do that were ones whom the apostles laid their
hands on. And they were given the supernatural
ability to do these things. And I've actually thought before,
boy, wouldn't it be something if I could do miracles in front
of people? Maybe they'd hear me preach.
No, not really. Nobody ever believed from seeing
a miracle. They really didn't. All kinds of people saw the miracles
of Christ. It didn't make them believe. So Simon saw through
the laying on of the apostles' hands the entire charismatic
movement, Pentecostalism and all that kind of stuff. It's
phony. That's all it is. It's phony. It's not real. It's
people making stuff up. When Simon saw that through the
laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Ghost was given, he
offered them money saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever
I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost. But Peter said unto
him, Thy money perish with thee, because you thought that the
gift of God may be purchased with money. And you can go on
reading, but the point is, his faith was not saving faith, was
it? Peter said, Your money perish
with you. He went on to say, You're yet
in the gall of bitterness and the bond of iniquity. Now we
have several scriptures where people were said to believe,
but they didn't have a saving faith. Turn with me to John chapter
2. John chapter 2, 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. Now, they saw him turn
water into wine. They saw him heal the sick. I
can't deny the evidence. I see it. They believed in his
name and they saw the miracles which he did, but Jesus did not
commit himself unto them. Interestingly, that word is the
same word in verse 23 translated believed. They believed in him,
but he didn't believe in them. He didn't believe in them. Because he knew all men, and
needed not that any should testify of man, for he knew what was
in man. He knew. Now these people had no saving
faith, and the Lord knew that. They were convinced by some things
they saw, but it wasn't real. Look in John chapter 8. Verse 30. As he spake these words,
many believed on him, Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed
on him, if you continue in my word, then are you my disciples
indeed. Now, evidently they weren't his
disciples indeed because they didn't continue in his word.
These same people that were said to believe, you go on reading
in this chapter, he says to them, you're of your father the devil
and the lust of your father you will do. But yet at this time
when they Believed, so it says, he said, if you continue in my
word, if you persevere in the faith, then are you my disciples
indeed, and you shall know the truth, and the truth, the truth's
person shall make you free. If the Son shall make you free,
you're free indeed. Look in John chapter 12. 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 they believed on him The
way I believe 2 plus 2 equals 4. You know, I really believe
2 plus 2 equals 4. Do you? Y'all believe that? 2 and 2. I mean, you can count
it out on your hands. 2, 2, 4. I mean, I believe that. I believe it with all my heart.
Now, if you tell me, if you confess that you'll be put to death,
you know what I'm going to say? No, I take it back. I believe it's
3. I believe it's 5. You know, I'm
not willing to die for that. I'm not. And these people who would not
confess him, they believed on his name, but they wouldn't confess
him out of fear of the Jews. These people did not have saving
faith. They failed to confess him. This
was like the faith of devils. They believed, but it was no
more than an assent to some things that they saw. regarding him. Kind of like Nicodemus at first
said, we know the Thou art a teacher come from God for no man can
do the miracles that you do except God be with him. Now that's not
saving knowledge. Now, what is missing in this
kind of faith we're looking at? This faith that gives assent.
I can't, I believe he's the son of God. I believe that. I believe
the Bible is the Word of God. I believe the doctrines of the
Gospel. I believe the Bible teaches men
are dead in sins. I believe that the Bible teaches
that God is absolutely sovereign. I believe the Bible teaches that
God elected a people. I believe that the Bible teaches
that Christ died for the elect and actually accomplished their
salvation. I believe that. I believe that God's grace is
Irresistible? Invincible? I believe those things. Well, good. You should. You should. They're true. There's
no excuse for not believing those things, but a mental assent to
what you see the Bible actually teaches is not saving faith. Now we see with these men who
believe but fail to confess on the very surface What did their
faith do for them? What did their faith do for them?
It made no difference in their lives. They weren't willing to
confess Christ because of what it would cost them. So we know
that if I have saving faith, it's going to make me confess
Him. If I shall confess with my mouth the Lord Jesus, and
believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, thou
shalt be saved. Now, I hope this scripture will
be helpful for us to understand what saving faith is, because
it's not the faith of the also faith. We've read four scriptures
where people were said to believe. But it wasn't saving faith. And
I want to know if I have saving faith. I don't want that to be
true concerning me. I don't want to give assent to
the truth and never have whatever true saving faith is, because
these people did it. We have scriptural examples where
they did it, but they didn't really have saving faith. Now turn with me to 2 Thessalonians
chapter 2. 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, beginning in verse 8. And then shall that wicked be
revealed, speaking of the coming of the Antichrist, whom the Lord
shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy
with the brightness of his coming, even him whose coming is after
the working of Satan. with all powers, and signs, and
lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that
perish, because they received not the truth that they might
be saved." Did I quote that right? No. They received not the love
of the truth. that they might be saved. They receive not the love of
the truth. Now the truth is that everything
God requires of me, He looks to His Son for. And He doesn't
look to me for a thing. And you know what? I love that. I love that. Yeah, I see the
Bible teaches that, but I love that. Let's go on reading. Verse
11. And for this cause, because they
receive not the love of the truth, God shall send them strong delusion. Who sends it to them? God does. as an act of his judgment against
them for not receiving the love of the truth. Because of this,
God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie,
that they all might be damned who believe not the truth, but
have pleasure in unrighteousness." They looked at their own righteousness,
which is nothing but unrighteousness. They found pleasure in that.
That's my righteousness before God, and it's nothing more than
unrighteousness. They receive not the love of
the truth. I believe the Bible is the inspired,
infallible Word of God. I dare say everybody here agrees
with that. Maybe you don't, but I'd say
everybody in this room agrees with that. Now, do you love it? Do you love that he's given a
revelation of himself? And do you love what this book
tells you about his character? What he's like? Do you love what
this book tells you about yourself? More on that in a moment. Somebody
says, I believe in God. Good. Do you love the God of
the Bible as he's revealed in this book? Somebody says, I believe
God is sovereign. I believe that. Well, you know,
you should. It's illogical to believe anything
else. It really is. I mean, it doesn't even make
sense to believe anything. If God's God, he's in control. He
controls everybody and everything. And the Bible clearly teaches
he's sovereign. He doeth according to his will
in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth.
And none can stay his hand or say to him, what doest thou?
The Bible teaches that, doesn't it? Now, let me ask you this.
Do you love it? Do you love the fact that he's
in control of everybody and everything, that even the demons are controlled
by him and they can't make a move without his permission, that
he is in absolute, complete control of everything? Do you love that? I believe God is holy. Do you love His holiness because
of who He is? Do you admire Him? I believe
God is just. Good. Do you love His justice?
Are you glad? Do you love the fact that He
will not let sin go unpunished? Even your sin and that He's made
a way to be just and justify somebody like you. Do you love
that? I believe God is all-powerful.
Me too. Do you love His power? Because
you need His power to save you. You can't save yourself. You
can't make yourself willing. You can't do anything. And you
need His power. Thy people should be willing
in the day of thy power. Do you love His omnipotence? I believe in the deity of Christ. Do you love the fact that He's
God? It was God who died on the cross.
The God-man, who he is and what he did must be successful. I
believe in the Holy Spirit. Do you love him as the Spirit
of Christ? Everything you know of Jesus Christ, he's made known
to you. I believe in total depravity.
Boy, do you believe you're totally depraved? That's an altogether
different thing. And I'm not saying I love being
totally depraved, but I am saying this, I love to know what I am
so I can look to Christ only as everything in my salvation.
The only way I'm ever going to look to Him only is if I have
nothing of my own to look to. I believe in election. Do you
love election? Do you know you wouldn't be saved
unless God chose you? "'Tis not that I did choose thee,
for, Lord, that could not be. This heart would still refuse
thee, but thou hast chosen me.'" Do you love free election, the
sinner's friend? Well, I believe in limited atonement. I believe that Christ died only
for the elect. Well, do you love that? Because,
you see, the point behind limited atonement is just who he didn't
die for, but it's the fact that who he did die for, they're saved.
They're saved. His death saves. We rejoice in
that. Do you love what his atonement
actually accomplished? Well, I see the Bible does, in
fact, teach irresistible grace. I love irresistible grace. Grace
that won't take no for an answer. Grace that saves me. Now, somebody
says, I agree with this. That's good. You should. Do you love the truth? Do you love the truth of how
God saves by His grace? I believe in salvation by faith.
Do you love resting in Christ? I believe in repentance. Men
ought to repent. Are you repenting? Has your mind been changed? You
know, it's so glorious when your mind is changed, isn't it? I
mean, you were thinking something, and you don't think that way
anymore. You don't believe that anymore. Your mind has been changed.
What a wonderful thing that is. I believe in the Second Coming.
Do you love His Second Coming? Even so, come Lord Jesus. Now
here's the point. It's not, faith is not, giving
assent to some facts, although it does give assent to the facts
of the scripture. Faith is not merely receiving the facts,
but trusting the person and loving what the facts say regarding
him and his salvation. Now, I'd like you to turn to
John chapter 4. And I want to give you what I
believe is maybe the simplest illustration
of what real faith is in the Bible. Now, I don't want to have
this faith of devils, do you? I want to have real faith, the faith
of God's elect. I want to have saving faith.
So can you tell me what it is? Well, this passage of Scripture
tells us clearly what real faith is, as any passage of scripture
you can find in the Bible. Verse 45, John chapter 4. Then when he was come into Galilee,
the Galileans received him, having seen all the things that he did
at Jerusalem, at the feast. For they also went unto the feast.
So Jesus came again unto Cana of Galilee, where he made the
water wine. You can read about that in John
chapter 2. And there was a certain nobleman,
a courtier, whose son was sick at Capernaum. When he heard that
Jesus was come out of Judea unto Galilee, he went unto him and
besought He begged him that he would come down and heal his
son for he was at the point of death. Now I want you to consider
how desperate this man was. His son was going to die if the
Lord didn't heal him. And look at the way the Lord
responds. Then said Jesus unto him, Except you see signs and
wonders, you will not believe. The nobleman didn't really know
how to respond to that, but he kept up his plea. The nobleman
saith unto him, Sir. And that word, Sir, actually
is Lord. He wasn't just being polite. He believed that Jesus
Christ was Lord. Now, I guarantee you this. If you ever have faith, you're
going to believe he's the Lord. controller. Lord, come down ere my child die. Jesus saith unto him, go thy
way, thy son liveth. And the man believed the word
that Jesus had spoken unto him. That, my dear friends, is what
faith is. Did he have any physical evidence
whatsoever that his son lived? None at all. All he had was what
the Lord said. That's it. Nothing else. And the scripture says he believed
what the Lord said. Now that, my dear friends, is
faith. Don't overcomplicate it. That
is faith. You don't need any other evidence
other than He said it. Abraham believed God. He didn't believe in God, though
he did, he believed God. He believed what God said. Now
this man had the same faith as Abraham, didn't he? He believed
what the Lord said. And he went his way, and as he
was now going down, his servants met him and told him, saying,
Thy son liveth. He comes back, and we know it's
the next day. Evidently it took him two days
to get back home, because look what he says next. They come
and say, Thy son liveth. Then inquired he of them the
hour when he began to mend, and they said unto him, Yesterday
at the seventh hour the fever left him. Exactly when Jesus
Christ said, Thy son liveth. Now faith is believing his word. assurance comes from knowing
when you were saved. You know, I know when I was saved.
When Jesus Christ said, it is finished. That's when I was saved. Well, do you have a date and
time? No, I have no idea. I couldn't tell you for sure,
but I'm not interested in that. I'm really not. Somebody says,
well, it seems like, I remember a preacher once said to me, he
said, if you're saved, you'll know the day it happened. If
you broke your leg, you'd know when it happened. Well, salvation
is not a broken leg for one thing. And for another thing, I don't
remember when I was born. Do you? I do not remember when I was
born. I can't remember coming out of my mother's womb, Can't
remember a lot of stuff from that era. Does that mean I wasn't
alive? Of course not. I lived. I lived. You know when
that man gained assurance? He gained assurance when he found
out when he was saved, when the Lord said he was. Then he knew. Look at the language. So the
father knew that it was at the same hour in which Jesus said
unto him, thy son liveth and himself believed. And this whole
house. Now that's faith. Don't overcomplicate
it. Don't make it to be something
that it's not. That's faith. You don't need, when Christ said
it is finished, I believe what he said. Do I have any evidence
that I'm perfectly justified before God as far as what I see?
No. But I believe it. Because he said, it is finished. And I was saved the hour he said
I was saved. When he said, it is finished,
he said, Todd and Albert and everybody else I'm dying for,
their salvation is accomplished. And that's where we rest, and
that's where we rejoice. The faith of devils will not
save, but the faith of saints does. May God give us all this
saving faith. Let's pray. Lord, we ask in Christ's name
that we might be like this nobleman we read of, that we would believe
what you say and need nothing else. And Lord, we ask that you
would teach us what it means to rely completely on who your
son is and what he did as everything in our salvation. Lord, bless
this message for Christ's sake. Lord, don't let us leave here
not trusting thy son. I ask in Christ's name that everybody
here might be delivered from having a mere assent to some
doctrine, but a living faith in thy blessed son. I bless this
message for Christ's sake. In his name we pray. Amen.