Demons also Believe

The Most Important Question: How Can a Sinner Find Acceptance with God?

0:03 Follow in your own Bibles as I read this evening from the second chapter of the book of James. James chapter 2. For any of you who may be not too familiar with your New Testaments, James is toward the back of the New Testament.

0:23 After Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, you come to that lengthy letter of Hebrews, and then you come to James. It's James chapter 2, and I will begin the reading with verse 14 and conclude the reading with verse 19. James chapter 2, beginning with verse 14. What doth it profit, my brethren, if a man say that he hath faith, but have not works?

0:56 Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister be naked and in lack of daily food, and one of you say unto them, Go in peace, and be warmed and filled, and ye give them not the things needful to the body, what doth it profit? Even so faith, if it have not works, is dead in itself. Yea, a man will say, Thou hast faith, and I have works.

1:30 Show me thy faith apart from thy works, and I by my works, will show thee my faith. Thou believest that God is one. Thou doest well. The demons also believe and tremble.

1:51 And then reading verse 20, But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith apart from works is barren? The most important question that any man, any boy, any girl, in any age, can ever ask, is the question, How can I, a sinful man, a sinful boy, a sinful girl, how can I, a sinner, find acceptance and pardon before the God against whom I have sinned, and in whose presence I must stand to be judged in the last day? Of all the questions that you and I might conceivably ask about a multitude of issues, there is no question of greater importance than that precise question. How can I, a sinner, find pardon and acceptance with the holy God who made me,

3:12 the God against whom I have sinned, and the God before whom I shall stand, in the light of the Lord? I say that there is no more important question than that question for the simple reason that it is that question and that question alone which addresses itself to those issues which alone will be of any consequence when time is wound down and eternity is ushered in. Amen. Amen.

3:51 Amen. Amen. Amen. In a few brief years, every one of us sitting in this building, every one of you listening to my voice over the radio, will either be enjoying all that the Bible describes of the consummate bliss of heaven, or you will experience all of the horrors, the frightening terrors of that which the Bible describes as hell.

4:23 And because, because all of us is destined either to know the bliss of heaven or the terrors of the damned in hell, there is no more important question than this question, How can we, sinners who deserve hell, find forgiveness and acceptance with God that we might enter heaven? And the Bible addresses itself to that great and burning question, and the answer of the Bible is, of the Bible to that question is abundantly clear, and its answer has two fundamental or component parts concerning which none of us can afford the luxury of ignorance. We can afford the luxury of ignorance concerning many things. If you were to ask me to explain Einstein's theory of relativity, I would simply shake my head, my shoulders, and throw out my hands and say, I'm ignorant of the whole issue. If you were to ask me to explain many things about many fields of human experience and human knowledge, I would have to confess ignorance, but that ignorance is not fatal. But my friend, if you are ignorant, both in

5:47 knowledge and in experience of the Bible's answer to this question, how can you, a sinner, find acceptance? Ignorance with the holy God, your maker and your judge, that ignorance is fatal, for it will result in your eternal damnation. And ignorance to the Bible's answer to that question is inexcusable, because it is not an answer tucked away in some remote part which we might possibly overlook. It is an answer that is stamped upon the face of page after page of the Word of God.

God's Two-Part Answer: Christ Alone and Faith Alone

6:29 And I say that answer has two basic parts or two components, and simply stated they are this. Number one, the only ground upon which a holy God can forgive and accept sinners in his sight is to be found in the person and work of Jesus Christ, our Lord. The message of the Bible from Jesus Christ to the world is to be found in the person and work of Jesus Christ, our Lord." 1 Corinthians 12, 2 is the first one.

7:01 Genesis 1, 3 is the first one. And Genesis to Revelation is that there is but one basis or ground upon which a holy God can pardon and accept sinners, and that basis or ground is found in the person and work of Jesus Christ. And so we find such statements as Matthew 1, 21, Thou shalt call his name Jesus, for HE it is that I live. Genesis 1, 3 is genesis to revelation, is that there is but one basis or ground upon that shall save his people from their sins.

7:35 Or the words of our Lord himself who said in John 14 and verse 6, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. Or we take the testimony of the apostles in Acts 4.12.

7:52 Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. Or the words of the apostle Paul in Timothy. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. And so the answer of the word of God to that burning question is clear.

8:23 When we ask the question, how can we sinful men find pardon and acceptance with the Godhead who made us and who will judge us, that answer comes to us in no uncertain terms. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. It is the Christ of Scripture in all that he is as true God and true man joined in one person forever. It is in that person who lived and died and rose again and on the ground.

9:00 Amen. It is in the sound of what he is and what he has done that we sinners can find pardon and acceptance with God. But then there is a second part of God's answer to that question or a second component in that answer and it is this. There is but one way for us to enter in to what Christ is and has done for sinners is to enter into the answer.

9:29 The answer is this. And it is this. And it is this. And it is this.

9:30 And it is this. way is by faith. The ground on which God forgives sinners is Christ. The means by which sinners lay hold of that provision is by faith and by faith alone. Now again, this is not a truth that is tucked away in some remote part of the scriptures. It is taught from Genesis to Revelation. It is said of Abraham that he believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Again, the scripture says, God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him may not perish but have everlasting life.

10:21 Again, but as many as received him, to them gave he the right to become the children of God. And to them that believe on his name. Or again, by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. And so the scripture's answer to that question is abundantly clear. Now granted, it is not a faith divorced from repentance. True faith always has as its handmaiden genuine repentance. In the language of the preacher of a bygone day, repentance is the tear in faith's eye. And there is never the eye of faith fixed upon Christ without repentance. And granted, faith will always be productive of good works, and good works will always be the fruit of faith. But never does the

11:23 Bible say we are saved by repentance or saved by good works. It says by grace are you saved, though in answer to that great question. So can we sinners find pardon and acceptance with our God, our maker and our judge, against whom we have sinned? That answer, I say, is abundantly clear. It is by Christ alone. It is by faith alone.

The Devil's Strategy: Undermining Christ and Confusing Faith

11:58 Now let me ask you a question. If you were the devil, and you hated the devil, hated God and you hated the souls of men, and in your hatred you were determined to keep men in your grasp and to drag them to hell with you, where would you concentrate all of your attack upon God and upon the souls of men? If you were the devil and hated God and hated the souls of men, where would you concentrate all of your energies?

12:42 Would you not concentrate it upon God's answer to this most important question anyone can ever ask? Can sinners find pardon and acceptance with God if God's answer is in the person and work of Christ? Why, you see, the devil has constantly driven to undermine the teaching of the Bible concerning who Christ is and the nature of what he did for sinners. And he has at the same time constantly driven either to add something to faith as the means by which we receive that salvation or to confuse the minds of men as to what faith is, so that they think they have that faith which is unto salvation when what they have is a cheap imitation. Now I have spent the majority of my energy. in the first few meetings of this brief series, concentrating upon those portions of the Word of God which point us to the person and to the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And in these first few meetings, most of our time has been taken up with beholding Christ

14:05 in His saving mercy and power. But now tonight, I want to direct your attention to this whole matter of what is the nature of true and saving faith. And I know of few verses which do this in a more powerful and striking way than does the verse that is the basis of our study tonight, James chapter 2 and verse 19. James chapter 2 and verse 19.

The Fact of the Demons' Faith

14:41 Thou believest that God... God is one.

14:45 The demons also believe and shudder. Now you see, the Apostle James has been dealing with a very difficult problem. It was the problem of people who had been mixed up and deceived with respect to the second part of God's answer to that great question. How can sinners find pardon and acceptance?

15:13 They were clear. They were clear in their minds that it was through Christ alone. But they were confused in their mind and in their experience with regard to what kind of faith it was which would bring them into the blessings of salvation. And so in the passage I read in your hearing, you'll notice that the emphasis falls upon the nature of the faith that saves.

15:37 Verse 14. What doth it profit, my brethren, if a man say that he hath faith, but have not faith? If a man say that he hath faith, but have not works, can that faith, in other words, can that kind of faith save him? You see, the emphasis falls upon the quality of true faith in contrast to spurious or fake.

16:04 Contrast comes to its most striking expression in verse 19, our text for this evening. As we seek to open up the text, will you notice with me first of all the fact that God is not a man. Of the faith of the demons. Faith of the demons.

16:25 Listen to the words of the text. The demons also believe. First of all, we must consider the identity of these beings called in the text the demons. If you have the old authorized version, it says the devils, plural.

16:48 From our understanding of the word of God, the demons are spiritual. Spirit intelligences. They are spirit beings. They have no bodies.

16:58 They can inhabit the bodies of human beings or even beasts, as we read in the gospel records when the demons entered into the bodies of the swine and they ran headlong into the sea. And in all likelihood, though we cannot be dogmatic, they are probably fallen angels who with Lucifer, son of the morning, fell in a, a concerted rebellion against God. But this much we do know about the demons. They are the embodiment of all the anti-God, anti-Christ, anti-truth spirit of the devil himself.

17:44 These demons are nothing but wickedness through and through. They are committed to the promoting of wickedness. They are called in certain passages of scripture spiritual wickedness in high places. They are graceless.

18:03 They are Christless. They are evil. And they are damned. And they know they are damned.

18:10 For we read in Matthew's gospel chapter 8 that the demons cried out in the presence of Jesus, Have you come to torment us before our time? But now, it is these spirit beings who are the very essence of evil, godless, Christless, graceless, and damned, of whom James says they are believers. Look at the text. The demons also believe.

18:50 Translated, the demons also are believing. They are believers according to the law. They are believers according to the language of Holy Scripture. Well, you say, well, maybe that's a different word in the original from the word for the belief of Christians.

19:10 No, it isn't. It is precisely the same word that is used in John 3.16. Whosoever believeth in him shall not perish.

19:24 The same word for believe that is used throughout the New Testament is the word that is used right here. The demons also believe. And you see what James is doing? In trying to shake some of his readers and those who would listen to the reading of this letter out of the complacency of self-deception, the complacency that comes when people hear the gospel that says, Whosoever believeth on him hath everlasting life, and then become careless and say, Oh, sure.

20:02 I believe on Christ. That's something I did ten years ago, five years ago. Sure, I believe on Christ. He's trying to shake that kind of cocky confidence by saying, Hey, wait a minute.

20:13 Do you know you have something in common with the demons? They also, the demons, are believers. They, though damned, of evil, are still. Now that should tell us something at the very outset of our study tonight.

20:36 If you sit here tonight, feeling very comfortable, saying, Oh, well, in the light of what the preacher said in his introduction, Christ alone is the ground of salvation. Faith alone is the means of receiving it. I believe on the Lord Jesus. So whatever he's going to say, it doesn't have any real pointed application to me.

20:57 Listen, my friend, it may very well have very pointed application to you. You may be no better off than the demons. Now I'm not saying you are not better off, but you may be no better off than the demons. The demons also believe.

The Nature of the Demons' Faith: Orthodox and Disturbing

21:15 That's not my notion. That's the statement of the word of God. And so our first consideration from the text is we've established the fact of the faith of the demons. Now in the second place, consider with me from the text, the nature of the faith of the demons.

21:36 What is the nature of their faith? The nature of their faith. And two things are told us about the nature of the faith of the demons in this passage. Number one is this.

21:49 It is an orthodox or a correct faith. Notice how James says it. Thou believest that God is one. The demons also believe.

22:05 Now remember, James was writing primarily to people of Jewish background. And if you had been a good orthodox Jew from the time you could remember anything, you would have remembered your parents making this great confession, taken out of Deuteronomy chapter 6. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord. And that of the unity of God stood as it were for every other truth respecting God.

22:40 Which God had revealed concerning himself to the nation of Israel. And so the very touchstone of orthodox faith was this confession of the oneness of Jehovah. And so what James is saying to these people with Jewish background is, Thou believest God is one. The demons also believe.

23:07 In other words, he is telling them that the faith of the demons is an orthodox faith. That is, it believes what is revealed concerning God. Now James is not saying that that's all the demons believe. For when we turn to the pages of the New Testament, we find the demons speaking through the mouths of those whom they possess.

23:36 And it's obvious that they have an orthodox faith concerning Jesus Christ. Listen as I read or follow in your own Bibles from the 8th chapter of the Gospel according to Matthew. Matthew's Gospel, chapter 8. And we read in verse 28, And when Jesus was come to the other side of the country of the Gadarenes, there met him two possessed with demons, coming forth out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man could pass by.

24:10 And behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, thou Son of God? Now you remember that it was not until the 16th chapter of Matthew that Peter, speaking on behalf of the disciples, says, Son of the living God, if you ate, the demons are confessing the proper identity of Jesus of Nazareth. Furthermore, they're confessing that they believe him to be the judge and governor of the entire universe, the one who will judge them in the last day. For they ask the question, Art thou come hither to torment us before the time? They acknowledge that he's not only the Son of God, but that he is the moral governor of the universe. He is the ultimate judge of the universe.

25:12 And they acknowledge their belief in the torments of hell. There's a lot of orthodox theology in their question, is there not? And the Bible teaches us that the nature of the faith of the demons is first of all to be understood as an orthodox faith. That is, they believe what is revealed concerning God.

25:38 And not only do they believe it, they are here, openly confessing it. But then there is a second thing about the faith of the demons as to its nature. According to James 2.19, it is not only an orthodox faith, it is a disturbing faith.

25:57 Look at the language. Thou believest God is one, the demons also believe. And the word tremble is not strong enough. It should be translated, the demons also believe.

26:13 And shudder with horror. We would say I was so scared that the hair stood up on my skin. That's the strength of the word. The demons also believe and shudder.

26:27 So it is not only an orthodox faith, it is a disturbing faith. It indicates a faith which brings spiritual reality so near to them that it causes emotional upheaval in the demons. They shudder in the presence of the Son of God saying, Have you come to torment us before the time? Now are you prepared to say that the demons are saved?

26:56 Is there anyone sitting in this building who would be prepared to say, I believe that demons are saved, that they will go to heaven at the last day? Is there any man, woman, boy or girl here on the bottom floor in the balcony listening to me over the radio, anyone who is prepared to go on record as saying, I believe that demons are going to heaven? I believe the unanimous answer would be no. Do you think I am a fool?

27:32 Of course not. The demons are evil spirits, damned spirits, who along with that arch demon, the devil himself, will be cast into hell in the last day. But my friends, this text says they have faith. Faith the demons believe, and it tells us that the nature of their faith is both orthodox and disturbing.

28:01 Now what does that mean? It means that when James was writing to these people, he was trying to shake some of them out of their carnal security. Their attitude was, Oh yes, Christ saved. Sure I believe that. Everybody believes that.

28:18 Sure I believe in Jesus Christ. I trust in the Son of God. I confess the Apostles' Creed every Sunday in church. I believe in God the Father Almighty and in His Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

28:31 And right down the line you go. I believe He died on the cross. I believe He was buried. I believe He rose again.

28:38 I believe in the judgment of the last day. My friend, listen to me. Listen to me. You can believe every bit of that.

28:48 Furthermore, you can be greatly emotionally moved by all of that. You can even openly and articulately confess it and not be any better off than the demons because they do every one of those things. Have I read anything into the text? Or have I simply opened up what is there?

29:19 Let your own conscience answer. Have I projected any fanciful notions of my own into the Bible? Or have I opened up from the Bible what God has deposited in it? This is on my side.

29:38 It is God who tells us the fact of the faith of the demons. It is God who tells us the nature of the faith of the demons. And it is God who says it is tragically possible for there to be a parallel between the faith of the demons and the professed faith of so-called demons. Now, doesn't that disturb you?

30:09 Doesn't that make you sit there and ask the question, O God, do I have true and living faith? Do I have that faith which the Bible speaks about when it says, by grace do you save through faith? Do I have that faith which Paul speaks about in his letter to Titus when he speaks of the faith of God's elect? Or do I have merely demons' faith?

Deficiency 1: No Beauty or Loveliness in Christ

30:35 And my friend, if your heart and mind are not agitated with that question, and if you care no more for your never-dying soul than to take that question seriously, you may as well get up and leave, because the rest of the message has nothing to say to you. Because what we are going to do in the third place, having examined the fact of the demons' faith, the nature of the demons' faith, we are going to now consider the deficiencies of the faith of the demons. And we will do so by comparing the deficiency of demons' faith with the glorious characteristics and fruits of saving faith. And the first thing, with respect to the deficiency of the faith of the demons, is this. It sees no beauty or loveliness in its object. It sees no beauty nor loveliness in its object. We go back to that passage in Matthew chapter 8 for a moment.

31:46 When the demons speak in the presence of Christ, they speak truth concerning who Christ is. But the first deficiency in the faith of the demons lies in this. They cry out, verse 29 of Matthew 8, and behold they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, thou Son of God? You see, their language is, You are the Son of God, but what have we to do with you?

32:25 In other words, it was an expression that there was nothing in the Son of God to which they were drawn as they beheld the beauty of his person. Though they confessed him to be the Son of God, there was a revulsion in their very beings toward him. Whereas when Peter confesses, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God, it is that same Peter standing with the disciples when great multitudes forsake the Lord Jesus until Christ turns and says, Will you also go away? And Peter speaking for the others says, To whom else can we go? You see, they saw beauty in the Son of God that caused their hearts to be attached to him. And though in a moment of weakness Peter cursed and swore and reached back as it were into the vocabulary of his fishing days and said, I know not the man, just a look from the Son of God broke his heart and he went out and he wept bitterly. And then when he pens his epistle, he can say this concerning himself and all believers,

33:47 Whom having not seen ye love. Whom having not seen ye love. You see, it is of the very essence of saving faith that it beholds a beauty and a loveliness in Christ that draws out the heart to Christ and draws the heart into loving attachment to the person of Christ. Saving faith is never content to take a blessing from Christ and go its own way.

34:26 Saving faith in its very nature is attachment to the blesser and the enjoyment of the blessings in communion with him. That's why Paul can describe conversion in the language of 1 Corinthians 1.9. Here's the language.

34:47 God is faithful. By whom ye were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Paul could say in 2 Corinthians 4 and verse 6 a lovely text, God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness hath shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. And from that moment when God gave Saul of Tarsus inward eyes to behold the beauty of Christ inwardly.

35:24 Notice he's not referring to the outward light that he saw and the outward voice that he saw. He says God has shined in our hearts not on our eyeballs but in our hearts. From that moment on he loved him and he could say the love of Christ constrains me. My friend sitting here tonight let me ask you a very personal question.

35:51 Do you profess to be a believer? Do you profess to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ? Do you profess to trust in the Son of God for salvation? Let me ask this question.

36:05 Have you beheld not with your physical eyes not in terms of a dream or a vision but with the eyes of faith have you beheld the beauty of Christ? The beauty that has caused your heart to run out to him in loving submission in the bonds of deepest attachment so that when God says the church is the bride of Christ married to Christ bound to Christ in love and in submission that is indeed true of you. Is that true of you? Or do you have the faith of the demons?

36:45 Or very orthodox faith? You confess everything. You're supposed to confess about who Christ is where he came from why he came what he did. But my friend let me press the question upon your conscience.

36:58 Is your faith true and saving faith? Or is it the faith of demons? Does it see any beauty or loveliness in its object? A beauty and a loveliness that has captured your heart.

37:13 It's because of that great truth that the same Bible that says he that believeth not shall be damned says in 1 Corinthians 16.22 if anyone loved not the Lord Jesus Christ let him be damned let him be accursed. We're not saved by our love to Christ. Faith is the means by which we come into union with him.

Deficiency 2: No Transformation into Christ's Likeness

37:38 But because that faith will always have as its attendant love to him the same Bible that says he that believeth not shall be damned says if anyone loved not our Lord Jesus Christ let him be accursed let him be damned let him come under the judgment of God. Well, there is a second deficiency in the faith of the demons. Not only does it see no beauty or loveliness in its object secondly it experiences no transformation into the likeness of its object. It experiences no transformation into the likeness of its object. Follow me now. The demons confess that God is one. They confess that Jesus is the Son of God.

38:36 They have an orthodox creed. But they are demons still. They are still the epitome of opposition to God. The epitome of commitment to evil.

38:49 They are still the very essence of rebellion and anarchy against the rule and the reign of Almighty God. Whereas the very nature of saving faith is to bring us into such a relationship with Christ that by degrees we are transformed into the very likeness of Christ. Look with me for a moment at 2 Corinthians chapter 3. The clearest statement of this truth in the New Testament.

39:20 2 Corinthians chapter 3. Paul is here describing the nature of the blessings of the new covenant. That is the administration under which the gospel is now preached in contrast to the ministry of God under Moses. And we read in verse 18 of 2 Corinthians 3.

39:45 But we all and I want you to pause and look at those words. Let them sink in. But we all. This is not for a few super duper hyper spiritual people.

39:59 This is not just for apostles. But we all. That is all true believers. All true Christians.

40:09 But we all with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord are transformed into the same image from glory to glory that is from one stage of glory to another even as from the Lord the Spirit. Every single believer as he beholds the glory of the Lord reflected in the scriptures is by degrees being transformed into the likeness of Christ. Now what does that mean? Does it mean that his physical features will become more and more like some so called picture of Christ?

40:54 No. We have no idea what Christ looked like except that he was homely. He hath no form nor comeliness that we should desire him. There was nothing in the physical appearance of Christ to attract attention.

41:10 To make all the young ladies in Palestine nudge one another when he walked by and say No. Isaiah said he hath no form nor comeliness. There is no natural beauty that we should desire him. When the scripture says we are transformed into his likeness it is speaking of the moral likeness of Christ.

41:38 That is we come more and more to love what he loves and hate what he hates. We come more and more to reflect those characteristics that were part and parcel of the one who could say I am meek and lowly in heart. The compassion. The patience.

41:57 The love. The tenderness. The zeal. The hatred for sin.

42:02 These are the moral qualities of the Lord Jesus. And this passage says we all not some not a few we all speaking of every Christian every true believer beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord are transformed into the same likeness from one stage of glory to another and who does this? The indwelling spirit who dwells in every single believer and where the spirit the spirit He doesn't transform he does not indwell and if he does not indwell you are not a believer. And this must necessarily be so because God's purpose in the salvation of every one of his children is clearly stated in Romans chapter 8 Romans chapter 8 and verse 29 For whom he foreknew that is all whom he marked out in love beforehand he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son that he might be the firstborn among many brethren and whom he foreordained or predestined

43:30 them he called whom he called he justified whom he justified he glorified You see there are no breakdowns in this process every one upon whom God set his love in eternity every single one of them in time is called in time is justified every one shall be glorified and between justification and glorification is the process of transformation into the image of Christ My friend you better not take this as so much preacher's talk I'm asking questions with something of the felt pressure of the last day upon my own heart the realization that I shall stand before my God and give an account of this hour spent with you in this month of March in 1980 and never again will we be gathered together in this precise way until we all stand before him in the last day my friend listen to me let the quern into your conscience you being transformed into the likeness of Christ

44:55 with a transformation that has no explanation but the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit not that you go to church in your hymns and go through do you find yourself grieved over sins that no one knows about but God do you find yourself grieved that you're not more patient and gentle with your wife and with your children do you find yourself longing to have a greater zeal for God's glory and a greater love and compassion for sinners I'm not asking you are you one who's prepared to come up here tonight and stand on a pedestal and say look at me how spiritual I am no no your very words would condemn you but I'm asking is there that panting that hungering after likeness to Christ is there a pursuit of those means put at our disposal whereby we may become more like him the reading of his word meditation upon it the fellowship of the saints the sanctifying of the Lord's day to see the demon's faith is such that those demons experience no moral transformation into the likeness of the object of their faith sure they believe on Christ

46:23 he is the son of God but they are never made like him the curse of evangelical Christians is men who say they believe in Christ who are not more and more becoming like Christ they have the faith they can laugh at the raunchy jokes at the office they can sit and watch the filth that pours over the television in the soap operas during the day women and men who dare to say they are Christians vicariously entering in by way of fantasy to all of the immorality and infidelity that is woven through the warp and woof of almost every daytime soap opera who can sit down at night and watch movies that have as their basic plot infidelity and immorality and nakedness and fornication and murder and foolishness sit Sunday morning with a hymnal in their laps and say my Jesus I love thee it's a wonder God and say enough

Deficiency 3: No Works of Obedience Done Out of Love

47:46 are you uncomfortable with plain preaching like that my friend if you are uncomfortable in the presence of a mere mortal how will you feel when you stand in the presence of all the presence of all mighty God whose eyes are as a flame of fire search you to the depths of your being then there is a third characteristic of the faith of the demons and I want to touch on it briefly the faith of the demons is such that it sees no beauty or loveliness in its object it experiences no moral transformation into the likeness of its object thirdly it produces no works of obedience done out of love for the sake of its object it produces no works of obedience done out of love for the sake of its object you see the demons are subject to Christ but much against their will when Jesus said to the demons go out of the man and enter the swine they had to obey him because he is the Lord even of demons but they did so against their will and the last day when he says

49:12 depart from me into that place prepared for the devil and his angels demons will go into hell against their will but you see the mark of saving faith is that it brings the will to choose the will of God out of love to its object Paul can use this very very descriptive little phrase in Galatians 5 and verse 6 he speaks of faith which worketh by love look at it for a moment Galatians chapter 5 and verse 6 for in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything nor uncircumcision baptism or the lack of it mean nothing if there is union with Christ form and ceremonies are not the issue this is the issue this is the issue faith working through love now what does that tell us it tells us wherever there is true saving faith in Christ there is love for the object of that faith and that love will always be a working performing a doing and obedient love you remember how Jesus put it if ye love me

50:39 ye will keep my commandments he that hath my commandments and keepeth them he it is that loveth me he that loveth me not keepeth not my words that's why John can say in 1 John 2 3 and 4 if a man say oh I know him oh sure I'm a believer I've trusted Christ for many years if a man say I know him and keeps not his commandments not my words I'm quoting 1 John 2 3 and 4 if a man say I know him and keep not his commandments he is a liar and the truth is not in him it doesn't say he's a backslidden Christian and needs to get rededicated it doesn't say well he's saved but not surrendered it says he's a liar the truth taken a saving root in his heart some of you been lulled to sleep by the lies of sin by the lies of smooth talking preachers who've told you oh yes if you trusted Jesus back 5, 10, 15, 20 years ago you're alright you're safe you're going to heaven but don't you think it would be nice if you yielded to him and surrendered to him and began to serve him then think of all the good you could do and think of all the rewards you would get and you sit there and say well preacher thanks for the advice

52:06 but I kind of like having the way it is now got the best of both worlds Almighty God says if you say you know him and do not keep his commandments you're a liar and the truth is not in you Jesus said in John 10, 27 my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me Hebrews 5, 9 says he became the author of eternal salvation unto all that obey him Jesus said in Matthew 7, 21 not everyone who says Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven which is in heaven you see the faith of the demons produces no works of obedience done in love toward its object they confess God is one there are no works of obedience done in love they confess Christ to be the Son of God there is no work of obedience done in love but the mark of every true believer is though he obeys him poorly though it is his greatest grief that he obeys with so much vacillation and though at times there is downright disobedience it is the confession of every believer that the basic bent and purpose of his heart is to be the loving obedient servant of the Son of God

53:32 not obeying him to gain his favor but obeying him out of loving gratitude for the favor already received we love him because he first loved us now I'm going to go after your conscience again and I'm going to press some questions on your conscience as we close tonight do you know anything of a faith that produces acts of loving obedience to Jesus Christ I mean obedience where the rubber touches the road not obedience in the abstraction I mean obedience in the situations where the word of God touches your life obedience in the home listen to me man who has a ring on his finger who calls himself a husband do you take seriously what God says husbands love your wives even as Christ also loved the church gave himself for it so ought men to love their wives as their own bodies do you take seriously what it means to seek to cultivate a self-giving sacrificing nourishing cherishing love of your wife

54:57 or is she just something you use sexual itch and it's bedtime the wrong one you use when you're hungry and you need a meal socks are dirty and you need a wash maid is that all she thought deacon and a big shot professing Christian my friend if you love Christ you take seriously what he says about your role as a husband to love your wife as Christ loved the church to sacrifice your own plans your own likes your own natural desires to find joy in saying no to your own plans that you might bring pleasure to your wife you take seriously what the Bible says when it says in Ephesians 6 4 fathers not mothers not parents fathers bring up your children in the chastening and admonition of the Lord I didn't put that there God did do you take that seriously I said my job is to bring home the bacon who said so who said your job is done when you bring home the bacon who said so

56:23 not God that's the least of your jobs your job is to be responsible for the molding of those children so that they can become true men and true women and take their place as useful citizens of two kingdoms the kingdom that shall make us the kingdom that shall never perish and the kingdom that now is now I'm not asking do you claim to be the perfect father the perfect husband all I'm asking you is this do you seek to obey those clear commands that are spoken to you as a husband and a father or do you just treat that like so much religious advice Jesus said if you love me you'll keep my commandments what about your wives wives is subject to your husbands as the church is subject to Christ as the church is subject to Christ so let the wives be to their husbands in everything all of a sudden don't you know that yes I know all that is by the so called feminist movement and that's all it is is garbage from hell you'll never hear the word women's lib on my lips that's not liberation that's bondage it's bondage and stuck on the limb of a tree it was never made to sit on the limb of a tree

57:51 it was made by God to find its joy and its usefulness in the ocean for which God created it and God created the woman to be a help answering to the man God made the woman to find her joy in accepting her God given role now listen to me women do you take that seriously with all the din of the so called feminist movement screeching in your ears King Jesus said King Jesus get through all of that and so you bowed his feet and say Lord Jesus I don't care if all the women in the block think I'm a fool I don't care if they call my husband a tyrant I don't care what they call me but Lord Jesus you died for me you let out your life's blood for me you washed me from my sins and I love you Lord Jesus and I love you enough to believe when you say be subject to your husband in everything that you meant that for my good and your glory and that's the kind of wife I want to be that's what it means to obey him when he calls you let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth when he calls us to be kind hearted tender hearted forgiving one another in other words the commandments of God are the full spectrum of his revealed will throughout the entirety of the Bible

59:20 and though none of us obeys perfectly every true Christian obeys purposefully see the difference not perfectly but with purpose of heart if you would ask me tonight Mr. Martin are you a perfect husband I'd say no and if I dared to say yes you'd just have to put through a phone call to my wife and find out I was lying but if you ask me do I purpose to be a perfect husband I answer with all my heart yes you see my performance falls far below my purpose but my purpose is real because the love is real and when your love to the son of God is real your purpose to please him is real no matter how you may fail in the performance now you see that's what sets saving faith off in complete contrast to the faith of the demons the faith of the demons produces no works of obedience done in love the faith of the demons produces no works done in love for the sake of its object now as we bring the message to a close I hope you feel something of the weight of this text we've studied tonight if I were to start right up here on my left with our brother and come right across this row right down take in those side sections the few of you

Personal Testimony and Call to Self-Examination

60:49 up in the balcony and I were to ask do you believe on the Lord Jesus I would venture to say probably ninety percent of you sitting here tonight would say oh yes I'm a believer alright now let me ask you the next question is your faith the faith of God's elect or is it demons faith oh it may be very orthodox you believe the right things about God and Christ and the cross and the resurrection you may even confess them as did the demons Jesus is the Son of God but I ask you my friend oh I ask you compare your faith with the faith of the demons the faith of the demons is deficient in that though it is an orthodox and a disturbing faith it sees no beauty in its object do you behold anything beautiful about Christ beautiful enough to make you want to give yourself to him without reservation now I've been here since last Saturday night I've preached I think this is the fifth time and I've said nothing about myself and that's deliberately so because I'm not called to preach myself but Christ Jesus at this point I think I've earned the right perhaps to interject just a little bit of a testimony and not have that misunderstood I was reared in a Christian

62:17 home a home in which I was taught the truths about God and Christ from my very infancy I don't ever remember a time when I doubted that there was one God that he existed in three persons that Jesus Christ was the Son of God that he died for sinners that he rose from the dead but you know I was not a Christian until I was almost eighteen years of age you know what the big difference was everything I knew about Christ everything I confessed about Christ everything I subscribed to with regard to Christ I saw no beauty in Christ that made me want as a teenager to have him take a place above football popularity girls and pleasure whatever I believed in Christ I knew whatever I believed about Christ he had to take his place after sport friends when God was pleased by the Spirit through the word to bring me to see the Christ of the Bible I had no visions I heard no bells I heard no flutter of angels wings but by the Spirit through the word I beheld him dying for this sinner I beheld the Lord of Glory willing to come from the undiminished majesty

63:47 of Heaven to the filth and rottenness of this world I beheld him in the Scriptures walking that lonely path into Gethsemane that more lonely path yet to Golgotha and when I beheld him in the Scriptures sinking beneath the mountain of divine wrath and judgment for my sin rising from the dead in power I beheld a beauty in Jesus that made me gladly kiss sports goodbye forever as the God supreme goal of my life Lord Jesus I'm yours what's good

64:48 in your sight and my friend that's been almost thirty years ago and he's more lovely now than I knew him to be then I was swept off my feet when I first met my wife it's a bad basis to begin a relationship let me warn you that I must be honest you see one of the problems with infatuation is it sees no faults in its object love is not blind love is realistic infatuation is blind and as we've shared now almost twenty-four years of marriage I've seen many warts in my wife's character she's seen many more in mine but I love her with a love that I've never known before it's grown deepened but in these years almost thirty years since I initially saw beauty in Christ I've never found a flaw no wart no mold upon the face of my saint my friend that's what I'm asking you have you beheld a beauty in Christ that has caused you to give yourself to him true faith always involves a sight

66:18 of the beauty of Christ that makes it your joy to give yourself to him true faith involves in contrast to the faith of the demons gradual conformity to the likeness of Christ would you dare to let me go to your husband or wife with whom you've lived for the past five ten or twenty years and ask them is your husband or wife becoming more and more like Christ or would you hang your head in shame if I asked them such a question my friend your faith in Christ would be more and more conformity to Christ and if it does not result in loving obedience to Christ you say well Pastor Martin I don't know anything about those things I thought just believing Christ died fixed me up and all was well and what you've preached tonight from the scriptures and you've only given us the scriptures it's torn me to pieces it's left me shattered and ask him for Christ's sake to have mercy upon you ask him to give you such a revelation of Christ in the gospel as will ravish your heart so that you'll never be the same again believe on the Lord Jesus Christ cleave to the Son of God with that blind

Prayer for Mercy and True Faith

67:47 beggar Son of David have mercy believe as God is one the demons also believe and tremble that your professed faith will be that faith which is unto everlasting life let us pray Heavenly Father we are bowed in the presence of one before whom all things even the deepest recesses of our hearts are naked and open and we pray for each one who has heard not the opinions of men but the proclamation of your truth in this auditorium in the living room in a car sitting at a dining room table sitting in a kitchen those who have heard over the radio gracious God we plead that your word will fasten itself upon our consciences that we may have direct and deep dealings with you in the light

69:16 of that word strip away the carnal confidence of those who have heard and heard the words of the Lord Jesus Christ and we pray for those of us who by your grace have been brought to faith in your Son we do confess that we love Him we do confess that we want to be like Him we do confess our desire to obey Him but O God with that confession we cry out have mercy upon us for the poverty of our love for the weakness of our obedience for the meager measure of our conformity to Christ O God make your people in this community so like your Son that wherever they go in whatever relationships they sustain it may be evident in spite of all the difficulties of those who have been born to you and who are being raised to you and who are being raised to you in your holy and holy kingdom and that we

70:45 may have the power to stand of your own presence, pressing your own word upon our consciences, may rest upon us and abide with us as we leave this place tonight. Again, we pray, keep us from every form of activity and conversation which would unnecessarily turn our minds away from the sober things which we have heard tonight. Hear us, O God our Father, we plead in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.