"The Blessings of Believing"
1 John 5:12
1 John 5:11 And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. 13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.
Introduction: Leave up to the Apostle John to give the greatest treatise on faith and belief found anywhere in Scripture. Of all the disciples of our Lord John seems to have known Jesus best, had the greatest understanding of His mission, manner and message, and is about to communicate it in a way that we can understand and relate to. There are four things that I want to emphasis for your consideration this morning. First, there is:
I. The Confirmation of Belief -- the promise
Notice that John writes about a "...record..." What does this mean? The record is that God has given us "...eternal life and that this life is in His son..." Let's look back at chapter 1, verse 1 and see what John says at this "...life..."
1 John 1:1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; 2 (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)
3 That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.
We have the testimony of John that Jesus is "...life..." The Lord himself tells us that He is "...the Way, the Truth, and the Life..." Life here is associated with eternal life and he goes on to say that "...he that hath the Son hath life..." What we have is the record of a revelation, that God grants eternal life to those who have "...the Son..." What I am about to say might be the greatest single source of blessing that you or I will ever experience. Are you ready?
ILL -- Dr. Adrian Rogers said: "You don't get eternal life when you die; you get eternal life when you believe!"
John 20:31 But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.
ILL - Next time you're in an airport notice the difference between passengers who have confirmed tickets and those on standby (Hybels, Too Busy Not to Pray 113). Those who have confirmed tickets are relaxed, they're confident and expectant. Those on standby hang around the ticket counter, they pace and smoke, pace and smoke, pace and smoke...all because of uncertainty. God offers us freedom from the burden of uncertainty, so we can know for sure where we stand with God.
The second thing is:
II. The Constitution of Belief -- the practice
I think it is also fair to ask the question, "What constitutes belief?" Believing is more than an abstract thing or an item for discussion in a theology class. Believing is an action that can be defined and described. Three things are involved when we believe. First, there must be something to believe. In the Christian context it is the Word of God.
Romans 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. 14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? 15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! 16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? 17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Second there must be the action or operation of believing which basically can be distilled to mean "trusting" It is more than the intellectual assent to a group of facts; it involves acting upon those facts to the degree that it changes or modifies our behavior. What we truly believe will result in action. Let me illustrate what I mean:
ILL - Charles Blondin's greatest fame came in June of 1859 when he attempted to become the first person to cross a tightrope stretched over a quarter of a mile across the mighty Niagara Falls.
He walked across 160 feet above falls several times, each time with a different daring feat - once in a sack, on stilts, on a bicycle, in the dark, and once he even carried a stove and cooked an omelet!
On one occasion though, he asked for the participation of a volunteer.
A large crowd gathered and a buzz of excitement ran along both sides of the river bank. The crowd "Oooohed!" and "Aaaaahed!" as Blondin carefully walked across one dangerous step after another -- blindfolded and pushing a wheelbarrow.
Upon reaching the other side, the crowd's applause was louder than the roar of the falls! Blondin suddenly stopped and addressed his audience: "Do you believe I can carry a person across in this wheelbarrow?" The crowd enthusiastically shouted, "Yes, yes, yes. You are the greatest tightrope walker in the world. You can do anything!"
"Okay," said Blondin, "Get in the wheelbarrow....."
The Blondin story goes that no one did!
(Later in August of 1859, his manager, Harry Colcord, did ride on Blondin's back across the Falls.)
My point is that faith gets in the wheelbarrow! Belief builds a boat when it has never rained before; belief walks into a lion's den and uses the King of the Jungle for a pillow, and takes five smooth stones because Goliath had four brothers! Third and this is of the utmost importance real belief is based on the object believed in. What and who you believe in are just as important as what you believe. In Acts Paul is on board a ship that is in danger of breaking up and sinking. He has a vision or dream:
Acts 27:23 For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve, 24 Saying, Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before Caesar: and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee. 25 Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me.
"God doesn't ask you to understand, He asks you to serve and obey." John Hagee
Next, there is:
III. The Continuation of Belief -- the perseverance
It would be impossible to have a discussion about believing without considering the importance of continuance in belief. Is believing a one-time act, a moment in time when we go "all in" so to speak? The answer is when we believe we receive the promise of eternal life but we must continue believing for this promise to be fully realized. Its realization is contingent on the continuation of belief. One of the absolutes found in the Bible is that every single promise in the Bible is conditional, every last one. Let me give you a few examples:
Hebrews 13:5 "Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee."
God's power
Isaiah 41:10 "Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness."
God's rest
Matthew 11:28 "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest"
God's wise plan for our good
Romans 8:28 "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose."
As you can see, each of these great promises carries with it a responsibility to be obedient and faithful. With every promise of great blessing, there comes also a responsibility and requirement for us. This is also true in salvation itself:
Romans 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
Does this negate the grace of God? Absolutely for we are saved "...by grace through faith..." and it is grace that essential to sanctification.
Titus 2:11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; 13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; 14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
IV. The Culmination of Belief -- the possession
Let's review our text again:
1 John 5:11 And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. 13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.
The process of believing goes from grace to glory! The day is coming when eternal life will be our possession, when faith will become sight! Paul writes to the believers in Rome:
Romans 2:6 Who will render to every man according to his deeds: 7 To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life: 8 But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, 9 Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile; 10 But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile:
In conclusion let me say that you do not have to wait till death to have the assurance of eternal life, for the Bible teaches that we have it in promise at the moment we believe.
1 John 5:20 And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.
ILL - There was a king who had all his world could afford. The thing he loved most, however, was to laugh.
Once while being entertained a jester came along wishing to join in the festival of activities and also wishing to perform for him. His opportunity came and he put the best comical show together he had ever done and the king never laughed so hard.
Once the activity was all over the king wanted to hire this jester to be his personal jester. Once hired the king in humor handed him a small stick and said, "You are the most foolish man alive. When you find someone more foolish than you, then you give them this stick," and the king laughed heartily.
After many years had passed by the king lay sick on his death bed ready to go at any moment. He called for his jester, for he wanted to laugh one more time before he died. When the jester was through he asked to speak to the king personally.
Once alone with the king the jester asked, "king where are you going?" The king responded, "On a far journey." The jester asked again, "and how do you plan to get there?" Again the king responded, "I don't know." Then the jester pulled the stick from his back pocket and handed it to the king. The king was stunned and asked why he had given him the stick. The jester replied, "King today I have found a more foolish man than I. For you see, I only trifled with the things of life, but you have trifled with things of eternity!"
"Life is too short and death too sure to spend them on trifle's."
