Would you turn back to Luke chapter
one. The term believer. Is a scriptural
description of an of an individual that God has saved. Acts 514
says and believers. and believers were the more added
to the Lord multitudes both of men and women. So someone that
God has saved is called in the scriptures a believer. It's a
good scriptural term. Sometimes a Christian, but a
believer. Now, a believer is one who believes. That's simple enough, isn't it?
A believer is one who believes. Here's the question. Believe
what? What do believers believe? They believe something. There's
an actual content to their faith. What do believers believe? And that's what I've entitled
this message, What Do Believers Believe? They believe. What do
they believe? Well, did you notice in verse
one of Luke chapter one, Luke says, for as much as many have
taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those
things which are most surely believed among us. First, question that comes to
my mind is. Who is the US? When he speaks
of those things that are most surely believed among us. Is he talking about our circle?
Is he talking about our denomination? Is he talking about the people
of our particular theological persuasion, the people who believe
it? Is that what he's talking about
when he's talking about us? And you know better than that. When
he's speaking of us, he's talking about every believer. He's talking
about the exact same us that Paul was speaking of when he
said, if God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared
not his own son, but delivered him up for us all. How shall
I not with him also freely give us all things? He's talking about
every believer. Now, these are the things that
are most surely believed. I love that word most surely
believed. It was translated this way when
it was spoken of Abraham. Abraham was fully persuaded. He most surely believed. He was
fully persuaded that what God had promised, he was able also
to perform. In 1 Thessalonians 1, as a matter
of fact, turn there, 1 Thessalonians 1. This assurance has something
to do with being one of God's elect. 1 Thessalonians 1. Verse 4, Knowing, brethren beloved,
your election of God. Now, Paul, how do you know something
like that? Were you able to climb up into
heaven and see the Lamb's book of life? How do you know these
people are of the number of God you elect? He says, For our gospel
came not unto you in word only, but also in power. and in the Holy Ghost and in
much assurance. Now, that much assurance is the
same word translated most surely believed. Now, when you hear
the gospel, that doesn't that's not a reference to assurance
of personal salvation. That's not what that's talking
about. But you're sure that this is the gospel. You're sure this
is God's message. You're fully assured of that. It has nothing to do with assurance
of personal salvation, but you're assured that this is, in fact,
the word of God, the gospel of God. Now, Paul said, when I saw
you respond that way, I knew you were of God's elect. Now, who is Luke writing to? A fellow by the name of Theophilus. And that simply means lover of
God. He's writing to every lover of
God. And here was his end in writing.
He said in verse three, it seemed good to me also, having had perfect
understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto
thee in order, most excellent Theophilus, that thou mightest
know the certainty of those things wherein thou hast been instructed. That was his great end, that
you might know the certainty. I love these words. The things
most surely believed and the certainty of these things. That you may know, the Lord said,
you shall know the truth. And the truth shall make you
free. That you might know the certainty
of the things wherein you been instructed. Now, what do believers
most surely believe? What are they certain of? And
when I say that, I need to say this also. I don't mean by that
they never have doubts and fears. They have them all the time.
You know, regarding our experience, let's be honest, is there ever
a time under any circumstance when you don't have to say, Lord,
I believe, help thou mine unbelief. It's always there. Yes, we're
certain. Yes, these are the things we're
most surely persuaded of. And we always have unbelief with
us, too, because we have an old nature. It's always there. I
believe, help thou my unbelief. The new nature believes. The
old nature never does. But what are the things that
are most surely believed among us, among every believer? Now,
this is very simple. One, every believer most surely believes
that the Bible is the inspired Word of God. That's where we
have to begin. The Bible is the inspired Word
of God. Secondly, every believer, without
exception, believes that God is as the Bible declares Him
to be. That's simple enough, isn't it? Every believer, no exception
to this rule. Every believer believes that
God is as the Bible declares him to be. Now, this religion,
the gospel, it's a religion of this book. I mean, it is a religion
of this book. And it's all dependent upon this
being the inspired word of God. And we believe that God is as
the inspired word of God says he is. And thirdly, we believe
that man is. as the Bible declares him to
be. And last, we believe that salvation
is as the Bible declares it to be. Now, that's simple enough,
isn't it? That's easy. This is what every
believer believes. They believe the Bible is the
inspired word of God. They believe God is as the Bible
declares him to be. Man is as the Bible declares
him to be. And salvation is, as the Bible
declares it, all believers believe these four things. They're all
at agreement. They all see eye to eye. Believers believe the same things
because they have the same teacher. Our Lord said they shall all
be taught of God. Now, if I've learned anything
from God and if you've learned anything from God, if He's taught
us, He's taught us the same thing. He hasn't taught me one thing
and you something else. God teaches his people the same thing. That's
why we know believers all believe the same thing. They believe
because God has been their teacher and he has taught them the gospel.
Now, here's where we begin. Believers believe that the Bible
is the inspired word of God. Men wrote it. No doubt about
that. Fallible men wrote it. Sinful
men wrote it. Men who were just as sinful as
me and just as dumb as me. Men wrote the Bible. I won't
question that in any way, but they were inspired by God. 2 Timothy 3.16 says all scripture
is given by inspiration of God. That's what the Bible claims
for itself. All scripture. is given by inspiration of God. Peter said that the prophecy
came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake
as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. Now let me give you three
words that need to be understood regarding the Bible. First, inspiration. Inspiration. The Bible is literally
God-breathed. our only rule of faith and practice. That's why I have no interest
really in confessions and creeds and so on. They probably have
a lot of good stuff. All of them probably have a lot
of good stuff, but men wrote them that were uninspired and therefore
they're subject to error. That's why we don't have a church
confession or a church creed and so on. The Bibles are creed.
I mean, what else do you need? I always think it's interesting
where people have these churches have all these big documents
and who needs them? We've got the Word of God. The
Bible is the inspired Word of God. Somebody says, you know,
I have a hard time believing that. I have a hard time believing
the Bible is literally the inspired Word of God without error. And
perfect. I just have a hard time believing
that. I've had a hard time believing them before, too. I thought about
it and I thought, well, how can you believe something like that?
I mean, men wrote it. What's going to keep error from
creeping in? And this is something that's very helpful to me. Is it hard to believe that God
created the world? You know, it's harder to believe
that he didn't. It really is. I mean, it's more unreasonable.
It's more irrational to believe that somehow some kind of chemicals
got mixed together in some kind of primordial ooze and all of
a sudden life began and then life evolved to where we have
it now. You want to talk about blind faith. You want to talk
about a stretch of the imagination. I mean, I don't see how anybody
reasonable can even believe that. It's a lot easier to believe
that God created the universe as an act of his will. He created
the universe. What power. Now, if God is able
to create the universe, don't you reckon he's able to inspire
and preserve his word? You see, if we don't have the
Bible as the inspired word of God, All we have is my opinion,
my speculation, your opinion, your speculation, and what good
is that going to do anybody? I don't care a thing about that. The Bible is our only rule of
faith and practice, and he can preserve his word from the errors
of men. I'd like to show you a scripture
now, Isaiah chapter 8. Would you turn with me there? This is a religion of this book. The Bible is the Word of God
inspired. Isaiah chapter 8, verse 19. And when they shall say unto
you, seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards
that peep and that mutter, should not a people seek unto their
God? For the living, to the dead,
to the law and to the testimony, the written word of God, if they
speak not according to this word, it's because there's no light
in them. Now, I think that description
is almost humorous. Peeping and muttering. That's
what you have going on without the scriptures. Peeping and muttering. Peeping is a bird chirping. The muttering comes from the
word imagination, man's imagination. All you have, if you don't have
the inspired word of God, is a bunch of peeping and muttering
going on. And I'm not much interested in
that, are you? To the law and to the testimony. If they speak
not according to this word, it's because there's no light in them. Now, I want you to try everything
I say from the word of God. Don't ever just believe something
because I said it. Try everything I say from the
inspired, inerrant word of God. That's the first word regarding
the Bible is inspiration. And here's the second important
word. Mystery. Mystery. Now, when we use the
word mystery, we generally think of something we don't know, but
that's not what the Bible means by the word mystery. A mystery
is that which could not have been known unless God was pleased
to make it known. The first thing that comes off
my mind is to think of God being Trinity. God the Father, God
the Son, God the Holy Spirit. Could you figure that out? Could
you just guess? God is one God in three distinct
persons. God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Holy Spirit. No, the only reason we know that
mystery is because God has been pleased to reveal it in his word. This book is filled with the
mysteries of God, and truly this is a mystery religion. Great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. When Paul speaks of marriage,
the two shall be one flesh, this is a great mystery. But I speak
concerning Christ and the church. Paul said regarding the resurrection,
behold, I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we
shall all be changed. This is a mystery we would have
never known unless God was pleased to make it known in his word.
Paul said, I preach the gospel in a mystery. In first Corinthians, chapter
two, verse seven. Now this the truth of the Bible, it's mystery
and we never know it unless God was pleased to make it known
in his word. So this is a wonderful word describing
the Bible. It's mystery and how mysterious
and glorious and awesome it is. These are not things we so much
understand, but we believe. I can't understand the mysteries
of God. I don't understand how God became flesh, but I believe
it. I know it. So don't need to understand
it. I believe. And, you know, you
can't believe you can't understand these mysteries, you can't know
these mysteries unless God is pleased to make them known to
you. He were totally dependent upon him for revelation. So the
Bible is inspired. The Bible speaks of mystery. Paul says we're stewards of the
mysteries. of God and third word that describes
this book we call the Bible is history is story history now
history is made up of facts and events now when you hear somebody
on the news Telling what happened when you hear all these talk
shows and so on, they're not really giving the events. They're
giving their interpretation of events. Here's what we see. Here's what we think. They're
not really giving the facts. They're giving their interpretation.
But that's not what the Bible is doing. The religion of the
gospel is a religion based upon facts. facts concerning who he
is, what he did, and where he is now, and what he accomplished. So these three words are so important
for me to understand something about the Bible, inspired, mystery,
and history. And the second point is God is
As the Bible declares him to be in this book. Now, the reason
God wrote this book and God wrote it, he wrote it to let us know
who he is. All we truly know of God is what
this book declares concerning him. Now, I can guess, I can
speculate, you know, I can look at creation and I can see God's
awful powerful. What power that he can create
the universe and And I see something of his goodness. I mean, look
at the beauty of this creation and you see the goodness of God. I see his goodness in so many
ways. But, you know, I can't tell from
looking at creation really that he's holy. I can't really understand
his sovereignty or his justice by looking at creation, but who
he is, is made known in this book. He that cometh to God must
believe that he is. And this book, as I said, is
a declaration of the isness of God. When Moses When God reveals
himself to Moses in the burning bush, and Moses says, what's
your name? If you want me to go to the children
of Israel and tell them about you, send me, what's your name?
He said, tell them I am that I am. Tell them I am has sent
thee. Now, everything in this book
is a declaration of his isness. He is just, inflexibly just. He will not let sin go unpunished. How do I know that from this
book? No sin will go unpunished. I see he's all powerful from
this book. I see he's sovereign. He does
according to his will in the armies of heaven and among the
inhabitants of the earth. None can stay his hand or say
to him, what doest thou? Everything we know of God is
from this book. I see just. I see he's all-wise. I see he's omnipresent. Everywhere
at once, you can't go anywhere where he's not. I see he's a
spirit. I see he's one God in three distinct persons. On and
on, all of God's attributes are displayed in this book. God is as the Bible declares
him to be. Now, I remember listening to
a sermon by Barnard. He was telling how someone had
listened to him preach. And he was preaching on God's
absolute sovereignty and salvation. how he elected a people, he passed
by others, how he saves whom he will. And they came up to
Barnard after the message and they said, your God is a monster. And he said, prepare to meet
a monster then, because that is the God of the Bible. Now, this person was misrepresenting
what Barnard said about the Lord was glorious, but they didn't
say it that way. But God is, as the Bible declares
him to be. Now, here's the third point.
Man is, as the Bible declares him to be. First, man is a creature. He's a creature created by the
Creator. He's not an accident. It's not
chance. He's a creature created by God
in the image of God. God made man upright. God made man, and he made man
upright, but man hath sought out many inventions. The scripture
tells us man is a creature, but man is a fallen creature. Ephesians 2, 1 says, and you
hath he quickened who were dead, dead in trespasses and sins. What does dead mean? Well, if
you're dead, that means you can't live. If you're dead, you can't
breathe, can't see, can't hear, can't taste, can't feel. You're
dead. A spiritually dead person is
someone who cannot perform. They lack the ability to perform
the functions of spiritual life. They can't love God. They can't
come to Christ. They can't believe. They can't
repent. There's an inability. A dead man can't do these things.
He can't believe. He can't believe until he's given
life. Now, man, according to the scriptures, is dead in trespasses
and sins. Well, how did he get that way?
How did we get in such a condition where we can't even come to Christ?
Well, when Adam fell, according to the scriptures, you and I
fell in him. When he ate of the fruit, I ate
of the fruit. When he died, I died, and his
sinful nature is passed on to me. Man is a sinner. All have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. Now, do I have to convince anybody
of that? Do I have to convince you of
the fact that you're a sinner and that you've come short of
the glory of God? I know this about myself. I'm
a sinner. Unfortunately, the first thing
somebody thinks about when they hear somebody talk like that,
they think, well, what's he doing? What's he doing? But I'm talking
about everything, my nature, my sinners, my name, sinners,
my nature. What's a sinner? It's somebody
who all they do in and of themselves is sin. That's it. They cannot
sin. They're sinful before God. And if God ever teaches you,
you're a sinner. He's going to teach you the gospel.
There's never been anybody who really believed themselves to
be a sinner in the Bible sense of the word that God didn't save. Christ came into the world to
save who? Sinners. Of whom Paul said, I
am the chief. Man is a sinner needing a savior. Now, if you want to know the
truth about yourself, Look at the cross. Don't look within. That's not going to give you
a true picture. Don't look at the things you've
done, good or bad. If you want to know the truth
about yourself, you look at the cross. And if God left you or
me to ourselves, such as our hatred of Christ as he is, we'd
put him out of business. We would have been nailed into
the cross because we don't like his holiness or his righteousness
or his sovereignty or his claims. Man is a sinner. That means man
actually has a hatred of God as he is. What a solemn thing
to think that I'm guilty of, that I'm born into this world
actually hating the living God. Now, somebody says, no, no, I
don't hate God. You know, people don't know that
they hate God till they hear the gospel. And when they hear
the gospel, that's when they find out about their emotions
toward God and the way they feel about it. But man, according
to the scriptures, is nothing but a sinner, completely unable
to save himself. With regard to man, let me leave
you with this thought. If God doesn't save us, we'll
go to hell. If God doesn't do something for
me, I will go to hell. If God doesn't intervene, if
God doesn't stop me, if he doesn't do something for me, I cannot
be saved. We cannot save ourselves. I think
what the apostles asked the Lord when the rich young ruler walked
away, they said, who then can be saved? Remember what the Lord
said? With men, it is impossible. It is impossible. Now get this.
Understand this. Believe this. It is impossible
for me or you to be saved unless God is pleased to do something
for us. If he leaves me to myself, I
will not be saved. And that makes me cry out, Lord,
don't leave me to myself. Man is, as the Bible declares
him to be. Now, the Bible is the inspired
word of God. God is, as the Bible declares Him to be. Man is, as
the Bible declares Him to be. And salvation is as this book
describes it to be. Salvation. Now, that's a big
word in the Scripture, isn't it? Salvation. Being saved. I'd like you to turn to Matthew
chapter 1. Saved from what? You know, there are different
views of man that would make a different view of what he needs
to be saved from. Some believe that man has evolved and he doesn't
really need to be saved. He's going to end up saving himself
because he just keeps getting better. There are others that
think that man is a morally neutral creature person is more if he's
given the right information and educated the right way, he'll
make the right decision. And so what he needs to be saved
is a proper education. He needs to get the right information.
And there are others who look at man as fallen, sinful, but
he still possesses the power of free will. And he can Choose
the good over the bad. He can decide to be saved. He's
bad, he's sinful, but he still has the power of free will. Now,
what that man needs for a Savior is somebody to be able to talk
him into putting pressure on his will and get him to make
the right decision. But if man is, as the Bible declares him
to be, an utterly corrupt, sinful, without the ability to save themselves,
that man needs a Savior, doesn't he? Now, look in Matthew chapter
1, verse 21. And she shall bring forth a son,
and thou shalt call his name Jesus. For he shall," oh, I love
that, don't you? He shall save his people from
their sins. Is that the gospel? He shall,
not he will make available. Not he'll try, but he shall save
his people, his elect, those the Father gave him. And he shall
save them from their sins. And I know this. What I need
to be saved from is my sins. Save me from my sins. My sin
and my sins. I need saved from my sins. And
this is his promise. He shall. He shall save his people
from their sins. What a blessed thought. If I'm
safe from my sins, that means, first of all, I'm safe from the
penalty of sin. That means I will not be punished. I find that
very attractive, don't you? I don't want to go to hell. All
my life, when I was a little boy, I had a fear of going to
hell. I thought about it. I'd lay in
bed and think about it. I don't want to go to hell. Somebody
says, do you really believe there's a real place called hell? Absolutely.
A place where God punishes the wicked. And if Christ has saved
me from my sins, I will not be punished for my sins. There's
therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus,
to them who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit.
But not only do I want to be saved from the penalty of sin,
I want to be delivered from the power and the dominion of sin. When God saves somebody, here's
what happens. There was a time, you've heard
me say this before, there was a time when I could not believe. I tried to and didn't even know
what it meant. I can remember thinking, what
does it mean to believe? I'm trying to believe, but I
believe that Christ is the Son of God. I believe He came and
died on a cross and was raised from it. I believe that stuff,
but is that faith? Somehow I knew it wasn't. I didn't
know what it was to believe. I didn't know what it was to
repent. I would hear, repent, and I'd think, well, what do
you do when you do it? What's that mean? I was unable to believe. I was unable to repent. I tried and I couldn't. I was
unable. I was under the complete dominion
of sin. You know, if you believe right
now that whenever you get ready to, you can believe and repent
and change things. All you say about that is you're
under the complete dominion of sin. You're blind. You can't
see. But when you're Delivered from
the dominion of sin. I believe now. I do. Right now, you're looking at
somebody who is actually trusting the Lord Jesus Christ as their
salvation. I believe. I repent. I love. I love God. I love him as he
is. There was a time when I didn't.
But I do now. Why? Because I've been delivered
from the dominion of sin. Every believer is delivered from
the dominion of sin. And one of these days, bless
God, I'm going to be delivered from the very presence of sin.
I won't be sinful at all. I'll awake in the likeness of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, that is being saved from
sin. Now, salvation is of the Lord. Every aspect of salvation. Election
is of the Father. He chose who would be saved.
That's what the Bible teaches. Someone says, I don't believe
in election. Well, you don't believe in the Bible, then. You don't believe in grace.
You have to believe in election if you're going to believe in
grace. It's impossible to believe in grace and not believe in election.
Elections of the Father, redemptions of the Son. He redeemed us. Regeneration of the Holy Spirit.
He birthed us into the Kingdom of Heaven. Salvations of the
Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Now, here's a summary of what
we believe. He saved us. 2 Timothy 1, 9. That's everything we believe,
isn't it? He saved us. He did it all. Now, that is salvation. We read of being saved by His
blood, saved by His grace, saved by preaching. It pleased God
by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. You
know, I love, I love thinking about this, you know, preaching
the gospel. Somebody is listening to what's being said and they
say, I can't stand this. I can't stand this. I don't believe this.
I can't stand it. Well, you know what? That might be the case.
But if you belong to the Lord, he's going to get you and you're
going to come to rejoice in it because it pleased God by the
foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. were saved
by the word of the doctrine of the cross, were saved by entering
the door. Turn to Luke chapter 2. Luke chapter 2. We believe salvation is as the
Bible declares it to be. Salvations of the Lord, of the
Father, of the Son, of the Holy Spirit. Look at this passage
of scripture. I find such comfort in this.
Verse 25. And behold, there was a man in
Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and the same man was just and
devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel. And the Holy Ghost
was upon him, and it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost that
he should not see death. before he had seen the Lord's
Christ. And he came by the Spirit into
the temple, and when the parents brought him the child Jesus to
do for him after the custom of the law, then took he him up
in his arms and blessed God and said, Lord, now lettest thou
thy servant depart in peace. I am ready to die. according
to thy word. For mine eyes have seen," what? Thy salvation. Salvation is,
as the Bible declares it to be, Christ Jesus the Lord is salvation. He is salvation. I wish I could say that the way
it ought to be said. He is salvation. That means everything that God
requires of me, I've got it completely in Christ. However pleased God
is with Christ, that's how pleased He is with me. Christ is salvation. That's what we believe. That's what we surely believe.
That's what we're certain of. We believe that the Bible's the
inspired Word of God. We believe that God is exactly
as the Bible declares Him to be. And we believe man is as
the Bible declares Him to be. And we believe that salvation
is as the Bible declares it to be. Salvation's of the Lord.
He does it all. And Christ Himself is salvation
and what a blessed thing it is to believe this. Are you somebody
who believes right now? Are you a believer? Do you believe
these four things I've said? If you do, you're a believer.
That means you're one of God's elect. That means God's done
a work of grace in your heart. That means you have the love
of God. That means you have God, the Holy Spirit in you, Christ
in you, the hope of glory. That means you're going to go
to heaven when you die. That means everything's working together
for your good and his glory. That's a good place to be, isn't
it? Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. Well, Lord, I'm calling. I've
got it on your name. Save me.