Intro: I’m not sure if you know this or not…but this is an election year.
I know…you really haven’t seen much on the news about this, have you?
Obviously the big news is the Presidential race, and I’ve got to admit…for a political junkie like myself, it has been some what entertaining.
On the Republican side they have already chosen John McCain as the candidate…the so said “Maverick” of the party who is known more for bucking the system than towing the party line.
Just a year ago his campaign was considered dead in the water and was on the verge of going broke…in fact, he secured the nomination at the right time because he is all but out of money.
One by one the front runners fell to the side, including an unlikely one who was a former governor in the great state of AR.
And there is the democrat side…who needs soap operas?!?!
Wow, this is making for some good TV.
Will it be Hillary or will it be Obama????
This poll says him, that poll says her…and the elections go totally against everything the talking heads say how it will go.
It does give you a lot to think about, and I do hope we all think and pray hard between now and November when we cast our ballots.
But when it is all said and done, I think the driving force behind who we vote for will be who do we believe in.
Who are we willing to support because they have the best plan for the future of our country and lets face it, for ourselves as individuals.
Who do you believe?
Why do you believe them?
What is belief anyway…and when should you believe?
Transition:
As important as it is for us to trust and believe our politicians…they are going to fall short and fail us.
That is why our belief should not be in them as much as our belief is in God.
We are breaking down John 3:16, looking at the four main points of this beautiful verse of Scripture leading up to Easter.
We began by considering the fact that God loves…and how much He loves us and to what extent He is willing to express that love to us.
Last week we considered the fact that God gave because He loves…He gave His only Begotten Son, the perfect gift at the right time.
This week I want us to consider our part of the equation…you believe.
John 3:16 says, “For God so loved…”
What does it mean for us to believe in God?
When and where do we apply that belief…and why do it?
These are the questions I want us to consider together this morning by reading what is the first verse of scripture I memorized as a young believer.
Read Prov. 3:5-6 and pray.
This message has been 18 years in the making…when I determined to start learning and memorizing verses from God’s word, this was the first one God led me to.
And surprisingly enough, until today I had never preached this verse.
I’ve used it in sermons and Bible studies, but never focusing my attention on this particular verse.
So, with us looking at “you believe” I want us to consider 4 basics of Basics of Believing
1. What – Whole Hearted Trust
The Hebrew word for “heart” here is “labe”…which means, “the heart; also used (figuratively) very widely for the feelings, the will and even the intellect; likewise for the centre of anything:”
Meaning it’s not just an emotional trust, a trust of knowledge, or even a physical trust…it is a total trust of our entire being.
ILLUS: During the 4 summers I worked at the MS Baptist RA camp I usually found myself at the adventure course activity…either as a counselor with a group of kids with me, or as the activity instructor.
The primary activity here was the zip line, but on Mondays we did various trust activities with the kids that would really lay the foundation for our week.
One of these was called trust falls…explain how it works.
• Kids needed to stay straight and fall with trust, but usually they got scared and bent their bodies and would risk falling.
• To show them trust I would get on the wall…and it takes a LOT of trust to fall into the waiting arms of 10 year olds!
God says trust Him with all of our heart, with our total being.
Do we do that though?
Instead we treat it like wading out into cold water…ILLUSTRATE.
And when things get too cold for us, what do we do?
We run out.
To trust the lord with all our heart isn’t like wading into the water…it’s more like the Nestea plunge.
Do you remember those commercials from back in the 70’s and 80’s?
God says trust Him with reckless abandonment.
Throw our entire being into the hands of the creator and trust Him!
Believe in Him for salvation and for life.
Not just 1 hour a week, but 24 hours a day and 7 days a week.
Do you trust God?
Do you trust Him with all of your heart?
That is the “what” of belief, and that takes us to the 2nd question of believing…
2. Where – Not on Yourself
This is a tough one for us…because many of us were brought up to believe that you can do whatever it is you set your mind to.
When the going gets tough, the tough gets going.
Pull yourself up by the boot straps.
Be a self made man.
Where do you find what you need and where do you lean in this mindset?
On yourself!
This is not where scripture says we are to lean.
It says we should lean onto God and not on our own understanding, our own knowledge, our own power, our own…whatever!
Illus: Lean to’s in football practice.
These are impossible to do on your own.
When it comes to being part of God’s plan for salvation and His kingdom, we cannot lean on our own understanding.
Our knowledge and our power can only get us so far and we’ll still be wanting.
Our righteousness is like filthy rags according to Isaiah, so we need to find something or Someone to lean on.
And that is where God comes in.
He is more than able to not only support us, but to lift us up.
Read Psalm 27:4-5.
When we lean on Him for our salvation, He lifts us up and places on the rock; and Jesus is the rock of our salvation.
So, where are you leaning?
On what you know…or what you can do?
Maybe you are leaning on your job or your successes.
You may even be leaning on family and friends.
Are perhaps you are leaning on the church?
If you are leaning on anything other than the Lord you are leaning on a weak foundation that is going to fall, its to break and in the end you are going to be left wanting.
Where do you lean? Lean on the Lord alone, not on your own understanding.
What is the first foundation of belief? Trusting in the Lord with all of your heart…and then lean on the Lord, not on yourself.
And this takes us to our 3rd question concerning your belief this morning…
3. When – At all Times
When we trust in the Lord and place our belief in Him, it is not something that we can just turn on and off…or at least it shouldn’t be.
The Hebrew word for “ways” in our verse is:deh’-rek
From H1869; a road (as trodden); figuratively a course of life or mode of action,
Remember, life is a highway…and there is a right way and a wrong way.
We need to be on the route that God has laid out for us from the beginning of time that goes through a cross on a hill called Calvary and then detours through an empty tomb in a nearby garden.
And when we trust Him, it doesn’t end at salvation.
And this is where we really drop the ball, thinking our belief, our trust and our faith in Christ is something we do only at salvation.
It is something that we are called to live by.
Read Romans 1:17.
Faith is something we need to live by day by day.
ILLUS: There is the story of a man fell off a cliff, but managed to grab a tree limb on the way down. The following conversation ensued:
"Is anyone up there?"
"I am here. I am the Lord. Do you believe me?"
"Yes, Lord, I believe. I really believe, but I can’t hang on much longer."
"That’s all right, if you really believe you have nothing to worry about. I will save you. Just let go of the branch."
A moment of pause, then: "Is anyone else up there?"
Every day of our life we are like that guy who is hanging by a branch.
We don’t have much to hold on to, but we are going to hold onto it with all we have.
It may be a job, it may be our finances, or family, it might even be church or some service we do in the church…but we’ve got that branch that we are hanging onto for dear life.
God is saying, “Let go of it.”
Trust me, not just with salvation…but with your life.
You are saved by faith, now live by faith…reread Romans 1:17.
Remember what the acronym for faith is: “Forsaking all I trust Him”.
Letting go of that branch and letting God be in control.
It means that the path I take, my way is not what I choose for me but is what God has chosen for me.
I may not know exactly where it is going, but I know that it takes me to where God wants me.
That is what I love about the story of Abraham in the book of Genesis.
God called Him and he responded…he left all he had for the promised land.
He didn’t really know where he was going, but it was OK b/c God had called Him and was leading him…it’s called faith.
He trusted in God’s promise, even when earthly logic made it seem impossible…its called faith.
And when he was tested in obedience, he acted…because it is called faith.
And according to the book of Romans it was Abraham’s faith that was accounted to him as righteousness.
He lived by faith.
Not just when it was convenient, but at all times.
What about you today?
Is your faith in Christ alone for your salvation?
And if so…are you living out that faith?
Is it part of your witness, part of your worship today, part of your giving and your service?
Our trust is to be for our lives, at all times.
And finally this morning I want us to consider the question of…
4. Why – The Only Way
ILLUS: D. B. Towner, the first director of music at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago.
In 1886 during an occasion when Towner was leading singing for D. L. Moody in Brockton, Massachusetts during a testimony service, he heard a young man say, “I am not quite sure – but I am going to trust, and I am going to obey.”
Towner jotted down the words and sent them to his friend J. H. Sammis, a Presbyterian minister, who developed the idea into a full hymn.
This hymn we know as “Trust and obey” and it says:
When we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word,
What a glory He sheds on our way!
While we do His good will, He abides with us still,
And with all who will trust and obey.
Refrain:
Trust and obey, for there’s no other way
To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.
D. L. Moody said in one occasion: “The blood (of Christ) alone makes us safe. The Word (of God) alone makes us sure. Obedience (to God) makes us happy.”…that is belief in God.
Transition: There was an old saying in England that all roads lead to London.
While that may be true in that kingdom, it isn’t true in the kingdom of God.
In God’s kingdom, there is only one way.
Jesus said “I am the way, the truth and the life…”
It takes belief in Him.
Belief that saves and belief for life.
Hebrews 11:1 in “The Message” paraphrase of the Bible says, “The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living.”
Where do you stand this morning? What is your foundation that you are standing on?
I’m going to ask you to take out your bulletins this morning and on a scale of 1-4 where do you rate yourself.
1…You “believe” in that you know and understand who Jesus is and what He has done for you, but you have not trusted in Him for salvation.
2…You have trusted in Him for salvation, but that is where it ends. Maybe you need to take the first step of obedience in baptism, maybe you need to make this church your home church, or perhaps find a place of service here and begin serving in ministry.
3…You are a born again believe, you are growing, but you know there is more and you are ready to take things to the next level and being all that you can be.
4…You are saved by faith, you are walking by faith…and it couldn’t be better.
Now, after you determine where you stand, what can you do to take it to the next level?
In a minute we are going to sing a song of dedication…
