I have an announcement to make
before I bring the message today. The Lord willing, I'll be speaking
tonight and every night this week through Thursday night in
Charleston. I'll be speaking at the Randolph
Street Baptist Church in downtown Charleston, West Virginia. The
church is located on Randolph Street in Charleston. I'll speak tonight at 6.30. The evening service begins at
6.30. And I'll speak Monday through Thursday each evening at the
Randolph Street Baptist Church at 7.30. I'd like for our friends
in the Charleston, Dunbar, St. Albans, Nitro area to come to
these services. Tonight, 6.30 at the Randolph
Street Baptist Church in Charleston, and then every night next week
through Thursday night, Monday through Thursday. Now, if you
have your Bibles, I want you to turn to the book of Romans.
I'm going to speak today on the subject faith and unbelief. Faith and unbelief. Our Lord,
after he'd been crucified and risen from the tomb, before he
ascended to the right hand of God, gathered his disciples about
him, and he said to them, All authority is given unto me in
heaven and earth. Go ye therefore and preach the
gospel to every creature. Go into all the world and preach
the gospel to every creature. He that believeth, he that believeth
and is baptized shall be saved. And he that believeth not, he
that abideth in unbelief shall be damned. Now that passage that
you've opened to in the book of Romans chapter 4 The Apostle
Paul goes back and picks up the faith of Abraham. Abraham was
called the father of the faithful. He was called the friend of God.
He was called the pattern of every believer. Now note what
it says about Abraham in Romans 4, beginning with verse 22. It
says, Abraham believed God, and it was counted or imputed to
him for righteousness. Now, this was not written for
Abraham's sake alone, but it was written for us, to whom this
righteousness shall be imputed if we believe on him who raised
our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead. This was not just written
for Abraham's sake, that he believed God, and it was imputed to him
for holiness, righteousness, and justification. But this is
the message for us. If we believe on him who raised
our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead, righteousness shall be
imputed to us. Now the Jews ask our Lord in
John chapter 6 verse 28, what shall we do that we might work
the works of God? And the Lord Jesus answered them
and said, this is the work of God, this is the work of God
that you believe. that you believe on him whom
he hath sent, that you believe on Christ. This is the very work
of God. If you're asking today, what
should I do that I might work the works of God? Well, this
is the work of God, that you believe on him, on the Lord Jesus
whom God hath sent. Now, you can wage religious battles
where you wish. And you can raise issues anywhere
you desire, such as politics and prophecy, or morals and methods,
whatever direction you choose to take. But my friends, this
is where the battle is fought. The question is belief or unbelief. The question is faith or unbelief. Do you believe on the Son of
God? John said in chapter 20, verse
31, at the conclusion of his book, the Gospel of John. He
said in verse 31 of John 20, now these are written, these
things are written, that you might believe that Jesus is the
Christ, the Son of the living God, and that believing you might
have life through his name. And in the book, in the epistle
of John, 1 John 5, 13, he said this, this is in the last chapter,
the last part of the Epistle of John. These things have I
written to you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that
you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may believe
on the name of the Son of God. He that believeth on the Son
of God hath everlasting life. And he that believeth not the
Son of God, whatever he believes, whatever he does, whatever he
gives, whatever he knows. He that believeth not on the
Son of God shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth
on him. And our Lord said, if you believe
not that I am he, you shall die in your sins. So I have the issue
today. This is the issue. This is that
which concerns you the most. He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved, he that believeth not shall be damned." Faith is
the foundation grace, and faith brings all the blessings of God
in justification, in redemption, in righteousness, and sanctification. And unbelief is the chief sin. Unbelief is the source of all
sin. Unbelief shuts a man out of the
kingdom of God. This was a summary of Israel's
whole problem. When they left Egypt and journeyed
across the wilderness and came to Kadesh Barnea and looked out
over the promised land and sent the spies down into the land,
they came back and said, we can't take it. Two of them said, we
can. The rest of them said, we can't.
And they turned around and went back into the wilderness, and
there they wandered for 40 years. And out of all of the hundreds
of thousands of men who left Egypt over 20 years of age, only
two entered the promised land. And God said this in the book
of Hebrews, they could not enter in because of unbelief. It wasn't especially the calf
which they made. It wasn't especially their rebellion
against Moses. It wasn't especially this or
that or the other thing, their complaining and murmuring. It
was unbelief. That was the foundation sin. That was the chief sin. And they
could not enter in because of unbelief. And Paul issues this
warning to us. Therefore, take heed, brethren,
lest there be found in you an evil heart of unbelief." Now,
what are the causes of unbelief? Our Lord said, if you believe
not that I am He, you shall die in your sins. Israel could not
enter into the promised land because of unbelief. Unbelief
is the chief sin. It's the foundation of all sin.
What are the causes of unbelief? Well, I can give you five especially. Five chief causes of unbelief. Now the first cause of unbelief,
the first cause of all sin for that matter, is the fallen corrupt
nature of men in our father Adam. It's a matter of the will being
fallen. It's a matter of the will being
in bondage. Our Lord said, you will not come
to me that you might have life. No man can come to me because
of his fallen nature. and his fallen will. The preaching
of the cross to them who are perishing is foolishness. Men love darkness. This is condemnation. Light has come into this world.
But men love darkness. That's because of our fallen
nature. We love darkness rather than light. Romans 3 says there's
none good. There's none righteous. There's
none that understandeth. There's none that seeketh after
God. And this is the cause of unbelief, chiefly and firstly,
is our fallen will, our fallen nature, our corrupt nature. In Adam all die. In Adam, death
and condemnation and sin passed upon all men. And our nature
is to love that which is evil and hate that which is good.
And that's why the gospel does not appeal to the human heart.
The natural man receives it, not the things of God. There's
foolishness to it. The natural mind is enmity against
God. It's not subject to the law of
God, neither indeed can be. The whole head, and that's the
intellect, the whole head is sick, God says. The whole heart
is faint, that's the affections. And our fallen wills have affected
our affections and our intellect so that we cannot understand.
The gospel to us is a mystery because of this evil nature.
Now here's the second cause of unbelief. Another cause of unbelief,
not only the fallen will and nature, but satanic influence. Satan's presence and power have
been felt since the fall in Eden, in the Garden of Eden. Our Lord
said to the Apostle Paul that Satan, through his subtlety and
craftiness, deceived our mother Eve, and tricked our mother and
father, led them into sin, Satan's influence. And even now, if our
gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost, in whom the God
of this world, and that's Satan, the God of this world, in whom
the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them that believe
not, and hidden from them the gospel. lest the glorious light
of the glory of God in the face of Christ should shine unto them. So another reason for unbelief
and another cause of unbelief is satanic influence and satanic
power. Now, a third cause of unbelief
is ignorance. Ignorance. Romans 10, verse 1
through 3, Paul said, My heart's desire and prayer to God for
Israel is that they might be saved. I bear them record, they
have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For they
being ignorant of God's righteousness are going about to establish
a righteousness of their own. They're ignorant of God's purpose,
they're ignorant of God's holiness, and ignorant of God's righteousness,
especially the fulfillment of that righteousness in our substitute,
the Lord Jesus Christ. And in the book of Hosea, the
Lord says this, the people, the people are destroyed for lack
of knowledge. They're ignorant. They have rejected
knowledge and therefore I will reject them. Another cause of
unbelief is this, not only our fallen natures, And not only
satanic influence and power exerted upon us, not only ignorance of
the Word of God, of the truth of God, of the character of God,
of the holiness of God, but another cause of unbelief is pride. What was it that led Adam to
take the forbidden fruit? Pride. Satan said, you'll be
like God. You'll be like God. And so this
fruit appealed to Adam, because it was desired to make one like
God. What was it that led Cain to
reject the blood sacrifice and bring instead a sacrifice of
his own making, of his own merit? It was pride. What was it that
had led men through the centuries to reject the free grace of God
and turn to their own works? It's pride. And Ebenezer Erskine
said this many years ago, the pride of men will do anything
for salvation. The pride of men will do anything
for life except believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Except be
saved by grace alone. They'll do anything rather than
be saved by grace alone. They'll give up their lands and
families. They'll put themselves in monasteries. They'll lie on
beds of thorns. They'll live on nothing. They'll
fast until they're near death. They'll read the creeds and read
the Bible and count beads and pray to the Virgin. They'll whip
themselves. They'll go on long pilgrimages
to the Holy Land. They'll do all this and more.
They'll do anything rather than take their places before God
as sinners and sue for mercy. through the righteousness and
blood of the Son of God. Pride leads a man to do anything
you tell him to do, except be saved by grace through faith
in Christ alone. Except look to Christ. I'll give
you another cause of unbelief. What are the causes of unbelief?
Another is this, and especially in our day, it is the security
and the safety which they feel in a false religious profession. Yes, sir, they cry peace, peace,
when there is no peace. They talk about making peace
with God when no peace has been made. You can't make peace with
God without a mediator. You can't make peace with God
without a proper substitute. You can't make peace with God
except through the great high priest that God has ordained.
Nor can you make peace with God without a blood sacrifice that's
suitable to God. You can't make peace with God
without God's law being honored. You can't make peace with God
without God's justice being satisfied. But men in our day find comfort
in an experience. They can take you to a time or
take you to a place. Or they can take you to a meeting
or they can take you to an altar. They can take you to a decision.
They find comfort in a false profession of faith. They find
comfort in a ceremony, baptism. They find comfort in church membership. Oh, they'll be ready to admit
their hearts are empty. They'll be ready to admit that
their souls are troubled. They'll be ready to admit that
God is mostly unknown. But they rest in those false
professions. They rest in the old country
church. They rest in their denomination.
which they've been in all their lives, to which their fathers
and mothers were absolutely devoted. They'll rest in memorizing a
verse of scripture, shaking a leading preacher's hand, or having some
sort of feeling, anything. They'll rest in anything except
Christ. And other foundations can no
man lay than that which is laid in Christ the Lord. There's none
other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be
saved. Look unto me, and be ye saved,
all the ends of the earth. I'm God, and there's none else.
Unbelief. Why is unbelief such a great
crime? Why is the wrath of God against
unbelief? Why does God say, if you believe
not that I am He, you'll die in your sins? Why does He say,
he that believeth not shall be damned? Why does He say, he that
believeth not, the wrath of God abideth on him? I'll tell you
why. Unbelief is a great crime, because it insults the Blessed
Trinity. It insults the Blessed Trinity.
It despises the great love of the Father, which gave His only
begotten Son to be our Redeemer, and our sacrifice, and our substitute. For God so loved, He gave His
only begotten Son. And when He gave Him, and when
He came, we cried, crucify Him. will not have this man reign
over us. It makes light of the sufferings and sacrifice of the
Son of God. To the unbeliever, the cross
is foolishness. To the unbeliever, the blood
was wasted time. To the unbeliever, the gospel
of Jesus Christ means nothing. It makes void the office of the
Holy Spirit, who came to reveal Christ, who came to convict men
of sin, who came to bring men to that faith that saves. So
unbelief is a great crime because it despises the blessed Trinity. And then unbelief is a great
crime because it slanders the character of God. Listen to 1
John 5.10. He that believeth not God hath
made God a liar, because he believeth not the record that God hath
given of His only begotten Son. God is a liar. That's what unbelief
is saying. I cannot accept God's Word. I
cannot accept the record that God has given of Christ. I will
not believe it. Therefore God must be lying. I won't take the place as a liar. I'll give the lie to God. But
the Bible says, let God be true and every man a liar. Unbelief,
thirdly, would defeat the great purpose of God to honor and exalt
his son. What is the great purpose of
God? What is God's great design and redemption? You know what
it is? In Philippians 2 it tells us, He hath highly exalted him,
the Lord Jesus Christ, and given him a name which is above every
name, that at the name of Jesus every knee, every knee shall
bow in heaven, earth, and under the earth. And every tongue in
heaven, earth, and under the earth shall confess that he is
Lord, to the glory of God the Father. The Father said, He hath
all preeminence. The Father said, He hath committed
all things into the hands of the Son. And every tongue is
going to confess Him, and every knee is going to bow, and every
person is going to own that he is Lord. And unbelief says, I
won't have it to be so. I just won't have it. I will
defeat the purpose of God. I will make void the great design
of redemption. God chose a people to be like
Christ. I refuse to have a part. God
ordained Christ to be their surety and Savior. I refuse to believe
on His name in that office. God has satisfied and honored
every attribute in Christ. I'd rather have it another way.
God hath declared he's the way, the truth, and the life, but
unbelief will not have it to be so. We will not have this
man to reign over us. We'll take the reign of an earthly
priesthood, we'll take the reign of denominational leaders, we'll
take the power and reign of local church elders, we'll take the
reign of a denomination, we'll take the rulership of anything,
even our own wills over our lives, but we will not bow to Christ. Unbelief is a great sin. It's
a great crime. And it'll damn your soul. Listen
to the text again. Abraham was called the friend
of God. God spoke with him face to face
as a man does speak with a friend. Abraham is called the father
of many nations. Abraham is called the pattern
of the children of God. That's what it says in Galatians
3. Know ye therefore that they which are of faith The same are
the children of Abraham. For ye are the children of God
by faith in Jesus Christ. And that's how Abraham was declared
righteous and holy and accepted before God. Abraham believed
God. And it was counted or imputed
to him for holiness, for righteousness, for sanctification, Now, this
was not written for Abraham's sake alone. It's still the same
way. It hasn't changed. This is the
ancient gospel. This is the ancient message.
This is the gospel which he promised before by his prophets in the
Holy Scriptures concerning his son, Jesus Christ our Lord. This
is no new gospel. This is the gospel that God preached
to Adam, that the virgin son shall bruise or destroy the head
of the serpent. This is the gospel God preached
to Abraham on Mount Moriah when he put the ram in the place of
Isaac. This is the gospel God preached to Moses in Israel in
the wilderness when he lifted up the serpent. This is the gospel
God taught Israel when he smote the rock of the wilderness. That
rock was Christ. This is the gospel God taught
Israel in the wilderness when he gave them the tabernacle and
the atonement and the sin offering. This is the gospel all the way
through the scriptures. It hasn't changed. It's the same.
What more can I tell you? And this gospel is the gospel
we go forth preaching. The gospel our Lord gave us and
sent us to preach to every creature. And he that believeth, go preach
this gospel, good news, glad tidings, declaration of the mercy
of God through the great prophet, priest, and king, the Son of
God, Jesus Christ. Preach this gospel. And he that
believeth, he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. Now I ask you, have you seen
the glory and holiness of God? The gospel will mean nothing
to you. This good news will not be good news if you have not
seen the holiness and glory of God. When Isaiah in Isaiah 6
saw the Lord high and lifted up, his train filled the temple,
And the seraphims about the throne cried, Holy, holy, holy Lord
God of hosts. And Isaiah said, I saw the Lord.
And I cried, I'm a man of unclean lips. I dwell amidst a people
of unclean lips. I'm cut off, I'm undone, for
mine eyes have seen the Lord. That's what leads a man to appreciate
the gospel, when he sees the immaculate, infinite holiness
of God. Second question I ask, have you
seen the sinfulness and corruption of your flesh? That's what led
David in Psalm 51 to plead for mercy. He said, Lord, my sins
are ever before me. My sins are ever before me. Have
mercy upon me. Purge me with hyssop and I shall
be clean. Wash me and I shall be whiter
than the snow. It's not sin against men. David said, against thee
and thee only have I sinned. It's not sins against men that
bother us. It's our sins against God. We've
sinned and come short of His glory. Have you seen the awful
corruption of your flesh in the eyes of God before the Immaculate
Throne of God? And then thirdly, have you seen
the perfect life and death of the Lord Jesus Christ? The gospel
can be summed up in two words. substitution and satisfaction. All that the law required of
us, the holy law of God, the eternal law of God, the law of
God which is of the character of God, all that the commandments
of God required of us, Christ in the flesh as our substitute
on the earth, numbered with the transgressors, fulfilled and
obeyed. And all that the justice of God,
the wrath of God, The infinite righteousness of God demanded
of us. Christ met on that cross and
paid it in full. Jesus paid it all, all the debt
I owed. Sin left a crimson stain, but
He washed it white as snow. Have you seen the holiness of
God? Have you seen the corruption, the pollution, the inability
of human flesh? Have you seen Christ in His perfect
righteousness, in His perfect life, tempted as we are yet without
sin? Have you seen Christ in His substitutionary
death, and the second word, satisfying all that God requires? Have you
seen it? Well, here's the next question.
Have you believed? Have you believed? I'm not asking
you to write to me, or come to me, or contact me. Contact Him. Look to Christ. Believe on Him. Sue for mercy where mercy is
given. Cry for faith before the throne of grace where faith is
given. God is the Savior. Salvations
of the Lord. Have you believed? Paul summed
it up this way. He said, I know whom I have believed.
And I am persuaded he's able to keep that which I've committed
to him against that day. I've committed. Have you? I hope
many of you will be up this week to the Randolph Street Baptist
Church in Charleston, where I'll be speaking tonight at 6.30 and
every night this week through Thursday, 7.30 p.m. Now, this
message is on a cassette tape. Faith and unbelief. And next
week, I'm going to speak on the subject, free from sin. And both
of these messages will be on the same tape. Send two dollars,
and we'll mail you both messages on the same cassette. Until next
week, may God bless you, everyone.