Would you turn back to John 20? While you're turning there, if
you could bring canned goods or other non-perishable items,
there's a big barrel in the kitchen. We want to fill that up. And
the Lexington Food Bank is low on food, and that would be helpful
if you could do that. Back in the kitchen. We'll have
it there for several weeks. I've entitled this message, Faith
Is Better Than Sight. Faith is better than sight. Our Lord said to Thomas, because
thou hast seen me, thou hast believed. Blessed are they that have not
seen, and yet believed. The Lord pronounces the blessedness
upon that one who has not seen, and yet believed. Now, who the Lord pronounces
blessed, they are blessed. Blessed are the poor in spirit. Blessed are they that mourn,
mourn over sin. Blessed are the meek that believe
God is the first cause behind all things, and what He does
is right, they submit. Blessed are they that hunger
and thirst after righteousness. Blessed are the merciful. Blessed
are the pure in heart. Blessed are the peacemakers. And remember, this is who the
Lord pronounced as blessed. or the persecuted. Remember when
he said to Simon, blessed art thou, Simon bar Jonah, for flesh
and blood didn't reveal this to you. But my father, which
is in heaven. Blessed is the servant who's
found waiting upon his Lord. Blessed are you when men shall
hate you. Blessed is he whosoever shall
not be offended in me. Blessed are they that hear the
word of God and keep it. Blessed are they who have not
seen, they've not seen, but yet they've believed. Thomas, you've seen me. and believed. And indeed he did. The Lord came up to him and said,
Behold my hands and feet. Take your hand and thrust it
in my side. He saw the Lord. You see me and you believed. Blessed are they that have not
seen and yet have believed. Now how many times have you thought, I believe it would be easier
to believe If I would have been one of the disciples, and if
I would have seen the miracles the Lord performed, who hadn't
thought that? Wouldn't you have liked to have
seen him say to the raging weather, peace, be still, and the rain
stops, the winds are calm, and the lake is totally calm. Wouldn't you like to have seen
that? Wouldn't you like to see it when he raised somebody from
the dead? You think, oh, I could believe if I could have seen
these things like the disciples did. How many times have you
thought? If he did something for me in
a special and unusual way, I could believe if he if there was some
kind of remarkable providence that just. Undoubtedly, it was
his hand that did it, I could believe that if I saw him do
something special for me, or if I saw all the things that
I asked for answered and everything that I asked the Lord for, he
gave it to me, then I could believe. If I could hear a voice from
heaven, it'd be easier to believe. If I could see him working in
my life in a more powerful way, it would be easier for me to
believe. If I saw more victory in my life,
if I saw where he enabled me to have more victory over sin,
more success against sin, I could believe. If I could see more
success in the gospel message, I mean, here you're preaching
this message and you've got this group. If I could see thousands
believe, if I could see the Lord really moving in an unusual way,
it would be easier to believe. If I could see these things,
if I could see more lives transformed, it would be easier to believe.
Which of us have not thought something like that? If I could
see the Lord working more powerfully in my life, it would be easier
for me to believe. and have believed. Now listen
real carefully. To believe what you cannot see
is called faith. To believe what you cannot see
is called faith. To not believe until we can see
is failure to trust. To believe what we cannot see
is faith. To not believe until we can see
is failure to trust. And beloved, the living God,
the Lord Jesus Christ, deserves to be trusted, whether you can
see what he's doing or not. Amen. He deserves to be trusted. Now the fact of the matter is,
appearances, what we can see, appearances are deceiving. How things appear is not how
they really are. Every time. Appearances are deceiving. People can put up a front of
peace and happiness, While within, there is rage and chaos. We would be far wiser to be like
Paul, who said, we look not on things which are seen, but things
that are not seen. For the things which are seen
are temporal, they're temporary, they're not going to last. But
the things which are not seen are eternal. Turn with me for a moment to
Hebrews chapter 11. Hebrews chapter 11. Now, I hope you're going to give
me your careful attention this morning, because I am, well,
I hope it's the Lord that's going to give us the key to having
assurance. I want assurance, don't you?
I want assurance. And we're going to learn the
key of having true, God-given assurance in God's favor toward
me. Now, he says in Hebrews chapter
11, verse 1, Now faith is the substance of things hoped for,
the evidence of things not seen. Remember, not seen. Faith is the substance of things
hoped for. Now, hope. The scriptural concept
of hope is, I hope that it's a pretty sunny day today. I hope
that it doesn't rain. I hope we have good weather.
That's one kind of hope. I do hope that. I hope it doesn't
get cold anymore. I can't stand cold weather. I hope. But I also hope that
the sun is going to rise tomorrow. And there's a difference between
those two hopes. I hope we have pretty pleasant weather, but
I hope the sun is going to rise tomorrow because I know it is.
That's why I hope it. I hope it because I know it is.
Scriptural hope is a confident expectation. Now, understand
that it's a confident. It's not like hoping the weather's
good. It's a confident expectation. Now, I have a hope, a hope with
regard to the future. I have a hope that when I stand
before God. He's going to say to me, Todd
Knight, well done, thou good and faithful servant. I have a hope that all my sins
are forgiven. I have a hope that I stand before
God perfectly righteous without sin. I have a hope that when
God looks at me, He's pleased with me. I have a hope that everything
is working together for my good and His glory. I have a hope. Faith is the substance of things
hoped for The evidence of things not seen. Now when you hope for
something, Paul said in Romans 8, 24, for what a man seeth,
why does he yet hope for? You see, sight is not involved
in this thing of hope. What I'm having a hope for, I
have a hope that God sees me as righteous. I don't see it,
but I believe it. I have a hope. Faith is the substance
of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Now, I can talk about a lot of
things that I can't see. I cannot see my eternal union
with Christ. I can't look at myself and know
that I've always been united to Christ ever since before the
foundation of the world, eternally. I can't see that. I can't see
my election. I can't look into the Lamb's
Book of Life and read my name there. I can't see my eternal
election. I can't see my justification.
I can't see the fact that I stand before God not guilty without
sin, because in my experience, when I look within my heart,
I see plenty of sin. And there's a whole lot more
there that I don't even know about. I realize that. But I
can't see that I'm justified. I can't see that I'm sanctified.
I cannot see that I have a holy nature. Because in my experience,
I sure don't feel anything but a sinful, wretched heart. I can't see those things. What is the evidence that they're
real? Faith. That's the evidence. Turn with
me. Hold your finger. Well, turn to Acts chapter 13. Acts chapter 13. Now, Paul had been preaching
the gospel. We read in verse 48 of Acts chapter 13. And when the Gentiles heard this,
they were glad. Acts chapter 13 verse 48. And
when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified
the word of the Lord. And as many as were ordained
to eternal life. Now that's the elect. As many
as were ordained to eternal life. What did they do? They believed. is the evidence of things not
seen. Now, the first time faith is
mentioned in the scripture is found in Genesis, Chapter 15.
Would you turn with me there? Genesis, Chapter 15. Verse one. This is the first time believing
is mentioned. Blessed are they that have not
seen, and yet believed. Verse 1, And after these things
the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear
not, Abram, I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward. And Abram said, Lord God, what
wilt thou give me? Saying, I go childless, and the
steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus. And Abram said,
Behold, to me thou hast given no seed, and lo, one born in
my house is mine heir. And behold, the word of the Lord
came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir, but he that
shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. Now at this time he had no child,
and Sarah was barren. Sarah had already gone through
menopause. He was an old man. She was an
old woman. That's the bottom line. Yet he
says. He that shall come forth out
of thine own bowels shall be thine heir, verse five, and he
brought him forth abroad and said, look now toward heaven
and tell the stars if thou be able to number them. And I like
to think about that. It was probably one of those
nights where you can just see seemingly millions of stars in
the sky. Beautiful, clear night. He looks
up at those stars and there's no way they could be counted.
And he said, So shall thy seed be. Verse 6, And he believed
in the Lord. He believed what God said, with
no evidence whatsoever that it could be than the naked word
of God. He couldn't see children. He'd
look at his hair. It seemed impossible. He looked at himself. It seemed
impossible. But he believed what God said. And it was counted
to him for righteousness. Turn to Romans chapter 4 for
just a moment. Paul's commentary on this passage of scripture.
Romans chapter 4. Beginning in verse 17. As it is written. I have made
thee a father of many nations. And he said that before Isaac
was even born. Already taken place because God
purposed it. Before him whom he believed, even God, who quickens
the dead, and calls those things which be not as though they were,
who against hope believed in hope that he might be the father
of many nations, according to that which was spoken, so shall
thy seed be. And being not weak in faith, he considered not his
own body, now dead, when he was about a hundred years old, neither
yet the deadness of Sarah's womb. He staggered not at the promise
of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith. giving glory
to God, being fully persuaded of what God had promised, he
was able also to perform. He believed what God said. Our Lord said to Thomas, Blessed
are they that have not sinned, and yet they have believed. Now, we're going to spend the
rest of our time in John chapter 4. I want us to see what it means
to not see and yet believe. I want to be somebody who walks
by faith and not by sight, don't you? You know, our Lord said
in John chapter 11, verse 40 to Mary, he said, didn't I tell
you that if you believe, you'd see the glory of God? You won't see until you first
believe. If thou wouldst believe, thou wouldst see the glory of
God. Now turn back to John chapter
4. John chapter 4. Beginning in
verse 43 of John chapter 4. After two days, He departed thence
and went into Galilee, for Jesus himself testified that a prophet
hath no water in his own country. 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 into Cana of Galilee, where he had made
the water wine. And that's an important detail.
If you look in John chapter two, that's said to be the beginning
of miracles. Now, in this miracle, the Lord
Jesus made. Wine from water. There was water. And he made
it something that it was not. And there we have the gospel
message. He makes me it's a Work of Him, He makes me what I was
not. He makes me righteous. He makes me holy. He makes me
accepted. He took that water and made it
what it was not. He comes to that same place.
Verse 46, So Jesus came again unto Canaan of Galilee, where
he made the water wine. And there was a certain nobleman,
a rich Gentile, whose son was sick at Capernaum. Capernaum was 15 miles away from
Cana. Now, you can make that in four
or five hours walking steadily. You can make that. Now this man's
son in Capernaum, he was sick and he heard that the Lord Jesus
had come back to Canaan. He'd heard about the Lord. He'd
heard about the miracle that he did. And I have no doubt that
this man had exhausted all other avenues and he wanted his son
to be healed. This was his son. He loved him.
He was sick. I don't know of anything more
difficult than having a sick child dying. And he was so upset
about that. And he he comes to the Lord.
He hears from Capernaum. He walks his 15 miles to the
land of Canaan to get to the Lord. You see, if you have a
great need, you'll get to where he is. Whatever it takes, you
will get to where he is. Verse 47. When he heard that Jesus was come out of Judea
into Galilee, he went unto him, and besought him that he would
come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. Now here is where faith begins
in our experience when he heard that Jesus It's something we
hear regarding the Lord Jesus Christ. He hurt. And if you have
exhausted all other avenues and you hear of Him, you're going
to get to Him whatever it takes. You might not know how to get
there, but somehow you're going to do it. That's what's in your
heart. You need to get to Him. He's
the only one who can do you any good. Now, when this man comes
to the Lord Jesus Christ, Let's go on reading. He besought him
that he would come down and heal his son, for he was at the point
of death. And in verse 48, then Jesus said
unto him, except you see signs and wonders, you will not believe.
Now, this is interesting. The Lord rebukes him for this. This man comes with this great
need. My son's at the point of death, would you come down and
heal him? And the Lord corrects him and rebukes him and says,
except you see signs and wonders, you will not believe. Now, why
does the Lord speak in terms like this to this man at this
time? I mean, you'd think he would be more gentle with him
and more sympathetic, but he rebukes him for the way he comes
to him. Now. There are two words. in the New Testament that are
generally translated to ask or to beseech or besought, two words. One word is an inferior asking
a superior for something. The other word is someone on
equal footing asking for something. One is superior, an inferior
to a superior, and the other one, somebody on equal footing
asking for something. Now, here in this passage of
Scripture, this man with this great need, but he's a nobleman,
he's somebody, he comes to the Lord and the word used is the
word of equal footing. I, you know, I need this. Can
you help me? Would you help me the way you
would come to me? You'd come to me asking for help. The way
I'd come to you, me, equal footing. So what that tells me, first
of all, about this fellow, is he had way too low an opinion
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He wouldn't have come to him
if he would have known who he really is like that. He had way
too low an opinion of the Lord Jesus Christ and way too high
an opinion of himself. He wouldn't have come like that.
And then notice also, and our Lord did this, notice he says,
come down, come down to Capernaum. You remember what that Roman
centurion said? Speak the word only. And my servant
shall be healed. So we see there is a lot of defects
with this fellow, and that's why the Lord meets him with this
rebuke. Except you see signs and wonders,
you will not believe. Verse 49. The nobleman saith unto him,
Sir, come down, ere my child die. You know, that didn't deter
this man. Rebuke will never deter one who
has a great need. Now, this man still had this
great need. And even though our Lord rebuked
him, he didn't say, well, what's the use of going on? No, he said,
come down, ere my child die. Verse 50. Jesus saith unto him, Go thy
way, thy son liveth. Now notice what he didn't say.
He didn't say, if you believe, then your son will live. He didn't say that at all. He
said, go your way, your son lives. The gospel is not, your son will
live if, it's the announcement of something that has been done. He lives. Go your way. He lives. You see, the gospel begins where
false religion ends. False religion says if you do
this, this, this, this, stop doing that, Change this up, you'll
have life. The gospel begins, he lives. Kind of like forgiveness. False
religion ends in forgiveness. If you do this, this, and this,
your sins will be forgiven. The gospel begins with forgiveness. You know, everything in the gospel
begins with God that day. Your son lives. He lives. Go thy way, thy son And look what it says in verse
50. And the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto
him. And he went his way. He believed
his son lived. And he went his way. He simply,
with no evidence, he couldn't look at him and see that he was
healed. The only evidence that he had
that his son lived was ill because the Lord said he was. And he
went his way. And as a matter of fact, read
verse 51. And as he was now going down,
his servants met him and told him, saying, Thy son lives. Then
inquired he of the hour which he began to mend. And they said
unto him, Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him. Now,
the seventh hour is one o'clock yesterday. One o'clock yesterday. Saturday at 1 p.m. His fever left. Now, if you had
a sick child and yesterday at 1 o'clock, the Lord said your
son lives. Don't you reckon you could walk
that 15 miles in that same day to get to your son to see if
it took place? I mean, it could be done in four
or five hours. It'd be difficult. I don't think
I've ever walked 15 miles in one day. It'd be difficult, but
you do it to see that your child lived, see if it was so. But
this man was so certain that his son lived that he went and
spent the night somewhere. He wasn't worried. He knew his
son lived because the Lord said it. Now, here's faith. He knew
his son lived, so he went on the way. Instead of walking an
entire 15 miles, he stopped somewhere and spent the night and got up
the next morning and started going back toward his house. He believed God. Now, this is what faith is. I can't see. that I'm justified. I can't see that I'm sanctified.
I can't see that I'm all my sins, I can't see those things, but
I believe they are because he said they are. I believe what
he said. I'm relying on what he said. Now that's faith without sight. Now, verse 51. And as he was now going down,
his servants met him. Remember, this is the next day.
And they told him, saying, Thy son liveth. Then inquired he
of them the hour which he began to amend. And they said unto
him, Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him. At one
o'clock, just when the Lord said, Your son lives, that's when the
fever left him. And that's when he began to amend.
Verse 53, So the father knew that it was at that same hour
in which Jesus said unto him, Thy son liveth, and himself believed,
and his whole house. The father knew. Now, when the
father knew, when the father had assurance was when he knew
the time that it took place. At one o'clock, when he knew
it took place at one o'clock, he knew it was when the Lord
said he lived. He had assurance. He knew his son. He believed
his son lived before him. He knew it. He had assurance
when he found out when it took place. Now, I want you to listen
to me real carefully. You will not have assurance of your salvation
until you know when you were saved. And I mean right down
to the moment. Now, what do I mean by that? As far as knowing the date and
the time and the moment I was saved. Now, remember, I said
you will not have assurance. I will not have assurance until
we know when we were saved. Now, as far as knowing the date,
the time and the hour regarding when I was saved, I've got to
be honest, I have no idea. I do not know the moment I was
saved. I can't tell you even close.
I wish I could, but I guess it's good that I can't. But I do not
know when I was saved as far as a time in my personal experience. But that being said, I know exactly
when I was saved. Now, you know, even regarding
this thing of experience, you know, when as far as the time
goes, I don't remember when I was born. But I know when I was born. I
was born on September 9, 1959. Now, I don't remember it, but
that doesn't take away the reality of it. I know it because somebody
told me that's when you were born. That's why I know it. I've got
a certificate of birth, born September 9, 1959. So I know
when I was, I even know the minute I was born. It's on my birth
certificate. I know it now. I don't remember any of it. I
can't recall it, but that's when I was born. I know it, but let's
take this a little further. I know when I was saved. Turn with me to 2 Timothy chapter
1. 2 Timothy chapter 1. Verse 8. Paul says, Be not thou therefore
ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me as prisoner,
but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the
power of God, who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling
Not according to our works, but according to His own purpose
and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world
began. And here's the question I want
to ask you. Look at that passage of Scripture. What came first? The saving or the calling? What came first? He saved us! And He called us. with a holy
calling, not according to our works, not in response to something
that we did, but according to His own purpose and grace which
were given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. Now, I can tell you exactly when
I was saved. I was saved when Christ agreed
to be my surety before time began, and everything that God requires
of me, He looked to His blessed Son for. I was saved before the
foundation of the world. I really was. I've heard people
say, well, that's eternal justification. Sure it is. Sure it is. I've been eternally justified
in my Redeemer. That's when I was saved. I was
saved when Christ became my surety, whenever that was, before time
began. Now, if you believe that, you'll
find some assurance out of that. You're not, you know, if you're
looking to Christ as your surety, you're not looking for assurance
in anything that you do. You're looking totally out of
yourself to Him. When was I saved? I'll tell you when I was saved. I was saved, and by that I mean,
our Lord said, I shall call his name Jesus, for he shall save
his people from their sins. I was saved from the power of
my sin, from the penalty of my sin, from the presence of sin. I was saved when he bowed his
mighty head and said, it is finished. What's finished? The salvation
of everybody that I'm representing. Hebrews 10 verse 14 says, He
hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. By that one offering,
He hath perfected forever. By His death on the cross. When
was I saved? I was saved when He died. That's
what he meant when he said, this is finished. My sin was put away.
When he was raised from the dead, I was saved. I can tell you the
exact moment I was saved. When he saved me. Yes, I was
saved before time began. And yes, I was saved when he
said, it is finished. And you can get some assurance
out of that, can't you? Salvation outside of your personal subjective
experience. If you've got to look within
for a reason to think you're saved, you're in trouble. You're in
trouble. You can fool yourself. I know you can fool yourself,
but still, the only solid reason for assurance is in what he did.
I know when I say, and thirdly, I know when I was saved in my
experience. Now, I don't know when it was as far as I can't
give you a time and date, but I know when it was. It was when
I heard the gospel and believed. Simple as that. When I heard
the gospel, you're not saved apart from hearing the gospel.
When I heard the gospel, the gospel of God's grace, the gospel,
when I heard the gospel and believed, and not before then. Now, here's
the scripture that comes to my mind, Romans 10, verses 1 through
3. Paul says, Brethren, my heart's
desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be
saved. For I bear them record. They
have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge, for they,
being ignorant of God's righteousness and going about to establish
their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto
the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the
law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. When I believe,
I don't know when it was, but this is when I was saved, when
I believed on Christ for my righteousness before God. When I quit looking
to myself and I looked to him as all my righteousness before
God. Now, you will not have assurance. You will not enjoy assurance
like this man did. He knew. He knew his son was
healed. He believed. And then he knew
his son was healed when he understood the time when he was healed.
Now, I understand the time when I was saved. I was saved before
time. I was saved by what Christ did
on the cross. I was saved when I believed the
gospel and not before then. All three of those are true.
All three of those are true. Somebody says, well, how can
all three be true? I don't know, but they are. And I believe. I know when I was saved. You
know, I've said so many times, I don't know when I was saved.
Well, yeah, I do. Yeah, I do. I know exactly when
I was saved. Before time began, When the Lord died, when I heard
and believed the gospel, and not a second before then. Now
turn back to our text, in John chapter 4. Remember, the Lord
said to Thomas, Oh Thomas, blessed are they who have not sinned,
and yet have believed. John chapter 4, verse 53. So the father knew that it was
at the same hour in which Jesus said unto him, Thy son liveth
and himself had full assurance and his whole house. I think
this is interesting. It doesn't say he had full assurance.
It simply said he believed. You know, when you have full
assurance, Not when you have full assurance, when you believe.
And as soon as you start thinking about full assurance, do I have
full assurance? There'll be a little question
mark in your mind. You see, it's believing that gives assurance,
not Seeing I have full, well I know you don't, someone says
I don't have any doubts. I don't believe you do too. You're a
liar. You're a liar. I like what Spurgeon said to
one fellow. He said, he said, I'll never have a doubt. Spurgeon
said, I never have a doubt about you either. I always knew you
were a compounded hypocrite. I thought, you know, that's,
that's true. That's true. He believed. This is again, the
second miracle that Jesus did when he was come out of Judea
unto Galilee. Listen to me real carefully. The Lord said, Blessed are they
that have not seen. Thank God for the things that
you don't see. Blessed are they which have not
seen and yet have believed. You know, the Lord is making
it to where you and I Can't look anywhere but Christ. We can't
see anything but Him as everything. And that's a good place to be,
isn't it? Blessed are they that have not
seen and yet have believed. Let's pray.