BELIEVE
November 24, 2002
The last few weeks we have looked at Heaven and Hell and how we will be judged in the final judgment and this is what we found.
JOHN 3:17-18
17 "For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.
18 "He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
JOHN 12:47-48
47 "If anyone hears My sayings and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world.
48 "He who rejects Me and does not receive My sayings, has one who judges him; the word I spoke is what will judge him at the last day.
MATTHEW 12:36
36 "But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment.
JOHN 5:26-29
26 "For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself;
27 and He gave Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man.
28 "Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice,
29 and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.
2 CORINTHIANS 5:10
10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.
Now we are going to take a closer look at how we will be judged. The first way we will be judged is by our belief or disbelief in Christ.
JOHN 3:17-18
17 "For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.
18 "He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
The New Testament is full of verses about belief and these are the ones we will look at today.
ACTS 4:10-12
10 let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead -- by this name this man stands here before you in good health.
11 "He is the STONE WHICH WAS REJECTED by you, THE BUILDERS, but WHICH BECAME THE CHIEF CORNER stone.
12 "And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved."
ACTS 16:31-33
31 They said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household."
32 And they spoke the word of the Lord to him together with all who were in his house.
33 And he took them that very hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household.
Paul is speaking to the jailer after he and Silas were set free. The next verses we’ll look at are from Christ’s own words.
JOHN 8:24
24 "Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins."
JOHN 11:25-26
25 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies,
26 and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?"
JOHN 3:16
16 "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
JOHN 6:35-40
35 Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst.
36 "But I said to you that you have seen Me, and yet do not believe.
37 "All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out.
38 "For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.
39 "This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day.
40 "For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day."
1 JOHN 5:5
5 Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
MARK 16:16
16 "He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.
So what is belief? Belief is nothing but faith so what does the Bible say about faith. You do not have to go any farther than the Plan of Salvation to find that answer.
How do you get faith?
ROMANS 10:17
17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.
Why is faith necessary?
HEBREWS 11:6
6 And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.
What is faith?
HEBREWS 11:1
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
The assurance that is the pledge, vow, oath, promise, guarantee, word of honor and the security of the things we hope for from the word of God. We have the promise of salvation and the guarantee of eternity in the arms of God and the pledge from the word of God that if we believe in Christ we will be saved.
The conviction that is the confidence and certainty of the things we are told in the word of God will indeed come to be just as we are told. Because, we have not seen the events that we read about nor can we see the greatness of what is in store for us when we pass from this life to the next.
HEBREWS 11:6
6 And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.
God wants us to believe in Him, that is why it is necessary, just to believe. God wants our love, just as we believe in our earthly father so we must believe in our Heavenly Father.
JOHN 3:18
18 "He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
PLAN OF SALVATION
ROMANS 10:17
17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.
HEBREWS 11:6
6 And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.
ACTS 2:38
38 Peter said to them, "Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
ROMANS 10:9-10
9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;
10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.
MARK 16:16
16 "He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.
MATTHEW 7:21
21 "Not everyone who says to Me, "Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.
