How much do we really know about God? How much do we think we need to know?
One morning, right after school had started, the teachers were called into the teacher’s lounge for a quick meeting. This left all the classrooms empty. Mr. Miles knew that he had an especially unruly class, so he turned on the intercom so he could make sure they were not causing problems.
His suspicions were true. He heard all kinds of noise and one little girl’s voice stood out above all the rest. Mr. Miles knew this voice belonged to Mary, so into the microphone, he gave a stern command: “SIT DOWN AND BE QUIET, MARY!”
Instantly, the classroom got very quiet. Then, out of the silence came one little girl’s meek voice saying, “Okay, God.”
Mary obviously knew there was a God, but it was just as obvious that she didn’t know that much about Him. She was like many adults are: They know God is there, but they have many questions regarding Him and His ways.
For instance, we don’t understand the numerology of the Bible, like the number 3 representing the perfect Trinity. Most of us know “about” the Trinity, but we don’t have an understanding of it. I have heard two analogies that try to explain it, but I doubt they do that good of a job.
One is the analogy of the egg. An egg has three parts; the yolk, the white, and the shell. These are three distinct different things, but they all make one egg. The other analogy is of water. When it is frozen, it is ice. When it is heated, it is steam. When it is room temperature, it is liquid. But even though it can appear in three forms, it is still one thing – water.
The Trinity is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Yet, they are one Godhead. In the Trinity, we find three distinct people, all being one God. We don’t understand, and our nature is to understand everything we can, so this must leave many frustrated. But, God tells us that everything about Him is not to be understood by us.
In ISAIAH 55:8-9 –
‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,’ declares the Lord. ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.’
Last week, I told you about Edgar Whisenant. He was the NASA engineer who wrote a book giving his reasons why Jesus would return in 1988. He is the one who said that if Jesus did not come back then, that proved the Bible was wrong.
In the Scripture I just read to you, God is saying that men don’t know His thoughts, no matter how some are arrogant enough to think they do.
In JOHN 16:12, Jesus told His disciples;
‘I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear.’
Jesus wanted to tell them much more, but He knew they could not understand those things of a Godly nature, so in the following verses He tells them that when He is gone, the Holy Spirit will come and they are to lean on Him for the understanding of Godly things.
A Sunday school teacher was teaching the children once about believing in Jesus so they could all go to Heaven. At the end of his talk, he asked them where they wanted to go. All of them yelled out, “Heaven”.
He asked then what they had to do to go there, and there was silence. Then, one boy spoke up and said, “We have to die”. Sometimes, we just don’t have as much understanding as we would like to think we have.
Everyone has questions about God, and God knows we are unable to fully understand everything He wants for and from us, so He gives us glimpses. He doesn’t give us everything we want to know, but He gives us pieces of information, as we need it. These pieces are enough to keep us focused on Jesus and kept safe in His forgiveness. And there is a very good reason why we only get a little at the time.
Would you feel the need to depend on God if you knew as much as He did? I think probably not. As arrogant and self-centered as man has proven himself to be, I think we would turn our backs on God, thinking we were able to give us everything we need. God gives us enough knowledge to know that He exists and that we are to surrender to Him. He gives us the knowledge of why this is important and how we are supposed to do it. And He gives us the knowledge that tells us how very much He loves us.
In EPHESIANS 2:8, it tells us that we are saved by God’s grace, through our faith. In other words, we are only saved because God loves us enough to give us that gift – but the catch is that we must believe upon His Son before we can accept it. We are saved because we believe in Christ as our Savior, not because we have the knowledge that Christ is the Savior. To know about somebody is to have the knowledge of what they have done: For instance we know ‘about’ Tiger Woods, but how many of us really ‘know’ him? I am very saddened that many churchgoers know all about Jesus, but very few really have taken the time to actually get to know Him.
As a Christian, it is my job to stand up for, and defend the Word of God. However, it is not my duty, nor my inclination, to spout hatred or dislike for other peoples or other religions. It is my job to teach you as much about Jesus as I can. It will be up to God to deal with those who do not accept His Son. With that in mind, I want to share with you a conversation I had with the minister of a Unitarian church in Arizona several years ago, and how that showed me the difference between our basic beliefs.
She told me that it is their belief that everyone will eventually get to Heaven. I asked her if they believed in Jesus as the Son of God and the only Way. She said, “Of course not. Jesus was a terrific prophet, though.” I asked her if they believed in the Bible. She said they believed in the parts of the bible ‘that showed unity and love towards others.’
I point that conversation out to you today to show the differences in our beliefs. It is the Christian’s belief that only those who believe in Jesus as Christ will go to Heaven. Our authority for that is found in –
JOHN 14:6 –
‘Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.’
And in 1 JOHN 2:22-23 –
‘Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus in the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist – he denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son ahs the Father …’
According to the Bible, everyone will not go to Heaven.
She said they only believed in part of the Bible. Christians believe the entire Bible is the infallible and accurate word of God. Our authority for that is found in –
2 TIMOTHY 3:16a -
‘All Scripture is God-breathed ….’
Every single word in the Bible was given to man through God’s Holy Spirit. Every single word in the Bible is accurate and true. Like I have said many times before; if something in the Bible seems wrong, it only seems that way because we do not understand what it says.
It should be obvious to everyone that the lack of faith in the Bible and in Jesus, as the Christ, produces a lack of souls being won for eternal salvation. The problem with man, as I see it, is that we are willing to believe anything – as long as we think it makes sense or we think we can prove it. And too many times, it only makes sense to us, or we think it is proved, just because someone we know says so, or if what we hear agrees with what we think. That prohibits true faith.
True faith is very different.
In HEBREWS 11:1, it tells us what true faith is.
‘Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.’
Pamela Byers of Indiana had an experience that some of us can relate to. It was a very cold winter day and her husband had already left for work and the older kids were already at school, leaving her with her 6-year old daughter and newborn son at home, in the country.
It was in the middle of winter and the temperature was well below zero. But she had some errands to run, so she bundled the kids up, rushed them to the car, got in and then she realized that in her hurry to get into the car before they froze, she had left her car keys locked in the house – along with her cell phone. They were now stuck out in the cold with no way of going anywhere and no place to get warm. She said that she was panic-stricken, but she remembers hearing her 6-year old daughter praying for help.
She knew in her heart that there was no way God would do anything to help them now. After all, she was the one who made the mistake and put her family in jeopardy, so she would have to pay the consequences of doing so. But her daughter was persistent and kept praying for help. She said something inside her kept urging her to pray with her daughter.
A few moments later, the daughter excitedly told her mother to look in her purse where she kept her money and she would find a key there. The mother later said she had never kept a spare key in her purse, but when she looked she found one. She said that is the day that her little girl’s faith in God also became her faith in God. She said she could think of a host of explanations as to how the key go there, but none made sense except that God answered the prayers of an innocent child and a scared mother.
So, what do we really know about God? In truth, we know very little, but we do know enough – just enough, to transform our lives into souls that will spend eternity with our Him in Heaven. There is an old hymn that says, “Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus.” And, each of us has found out in the last couple months that it truly is!
The next time somebody asks you what you know about God, tell them that you know enough to know that Jesus is the only way you are every going to get invited to God’s house, and that is all you need to know. There is nothing they can say to argue the point that makes any sense after you say that.
You have to have faith in Christ. Faith is what will give you the ability to step out of the boat like Peter did in MATTHEW 14. Faith is the key to seeing the miracles of God open up in your life. How strong is your faith? Does it need see the evidence of what it can do before you believe? Or, is it as trusting and dependent as the little girl’s faith who was in the car that cold winter morning?
A strong faith does not just believe in God. Strong faith also trusts in God – completely! We can believe that God exists, but unless we trust Him with our very lives and souls, we are filled with worry, not faith. Faith trusts God to care for us; to love us; and to watch out over us. Worry is stress on steroids. Where there is knowledge but no trust, there is no faith.
A man and his wife were taking a tour through the smelting plant of the U.S. Mint when one of the workers told them that if they would dip their hand in cold water, he could then pour the liquid metal over their hands without hurting them. He asked the man if he wanted to try it and the man said he would just take the worker’s word on it.
The worker then asked the wife and she agreed. She put her hand in the water and then held it out while the worker poured the molten metal over it. As it just ran off her hand, the wife said, “You are absolutely right. It didn’t hurt me at all.” The worker then turned to the husband and said, “You believed, but your wife believed and trusted.” Which proved the truth?”
1. WE MUST BELIEVE BEFORE WE CAN HAVE FAITH
The HEBREWS 11 is referred to as the ‘Faith Chapter’ because faith is mentioned over twenty times. In chapter 17, people are mentioned in reference to having faith. If there were a Hall of Fame for faith in God, these men would be in it. Here are a few examples of their faith.
· Abel had faith to give the proper sacrifice
· Noah had the faith to build a before-unheard-of ark
· Moses had the faith to tell Pharaoh to release the Israelites
I am most awed by the faith of Daniel. Even when thrown into a den of lions, Daniel kept his faith in God tightly focused. Any time you see a picture of Daniel in the lion’s den, you will notice that his eyes are never on the lion, but always looking up at God. I wonder if God keeps people from painting Daniel looking down at his problems.
Soon after Jesus left, the state started punishing Christians without any thought as to the severity of it. There are accounts of men and women being sawed in half – alive, because they simply believed in Jesus. Others raised hands and continued to pray, as they were being doused with oil and lit on fire. There are many recorded instances where people of faith went to be tortured and killed while peacefully worshiping God in some fashion. On the other hand, there are no recorded instances of someone without faith in Christ doing anything but kicking and screaming as they were killed.
They had a true belief in Jesus.
2. WE MUST TRUST BEFORE WE CAN HAVE FAITH
In the Bible are several instances when we are told that if we believe in faith, whatever we pray for will be given to us.
In MARK 11:24 –
‘Therefore, I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.’
JOHN 14:13-14 –
‘And I will do whatever you ask in My name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in My name, and I will do it.’
Is Jesus saying that any old thing our hearts desire will be given to us if we just pray and believe that He will really give it to us? Let’s talk about that for a moment. I heard a TV preacher once quote these two Scriptures and then tell the audience that if they wanted an RV to go on vacation with, to pray in absolute belief and they would get it. Is that what Jesus is really saying? It would seem so on the surface, wouldn’t it?
The key to what He is telling us is found in the last part of JOHN 14:13. It says …
‘ … so that the Son may bring glory to the Father.’
Some preachers use these references to explain that all we have to do is pray for what we want and if we believe, we will get it. That is kind of a Godly ‘wish-list’, don’t you think? We must be serious when we ask God for something, and that something we ask for had better be something that will exalt God in some way.
People who are not saved can pray all day long, but their prayers never leave the room they are in. In other words, God doesn’t hear those who have rejected His Son. And if those people who really have received Jesus as Savior will not have any desires they pray for except those that would bring glory to the Father.
So, if that RV would be used for something that would give glory to God, and not just for your good times, then God just might give it to you. But if it is going to be used to keep you from paying for a motel room at the beach, chances are God will not provide you with the RV because your motives for wanting it are for selfish purposes.
Remember what JAMES 4:2-3 says –
‘You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.’
So, in that context, God will give you what you pray for; all because you are praying for the desire He put in your heart. That means that those desires you pray for that are from Him, will be given to you because they will enhance His kingdom here on earth. But, there again, we must have the absolute faith that our prayer will be answered. Is it really possible to even have that kind of faith? Yes, it is. You do that every day anyway. Let me show you.
You do not have to see the wind blow in China tomorrow to know that the wind will blow somewhere in China tomorrow. You just know it even though you don’t understand how and even though you cannot prove it. By the same principle, you know that a bird will fly in South America tomorrow. You don’t have to understand to know it is true. That is the kind of absolute faith and belief you must have when you interact with our Heavenly Father. When you “KNOW” your prayer will be answered, it will be answered. Nowhere in the Bible does it say you must understand how it will be answered. The Bible just tells us that we must believe it will be answered.
In our society today, it seems we are quicker to believe a lie than we are the truth. We are arrogant against God and we tend to believe anything that supports how we already feel in our hearts, whether it is really plausible or not.
We need to trust in God’s Word.
3. WE MUST HAVE FAITH BEFORE WE CAN GET TO HEAVEN
Most of us get worried from time to time, but some of us stay worried all the time. Worry is the agony of thought about something that hasn’t happened yet and in most probability will not happen. The Bible tells repeatedly to ‘fear not’. The only way to not worry is to have a strong faith. Remember what I said earlier about having a strong faith. That a strong faith is one that truly believes in God and trusts God to handle your life for you.
The only thing we really need to fear is the future, unless we have received Jesus as the Lord of our lives. And that is something we should fear very much. But, as soon as we choose to receive Jesus into our hearts; the very moment we decide to open up our hearts and lives to Him, we have instant salvation. We will not have to wait and hope that nothing happens to us until the salvation ‘kicks in’. It is instantaneous. That takes all the fear out of the equation. We are literally set free from any worry.
There is an old definition of faith that has helped me in my times of troubles.
F = Forsaking
A = All else,
I = I
T = Trust
H = Him
We are all going to have rough times to go through in our lives. In JAMES 1:2-3, it says,
‘Consider it pure joy my brothers when you face trials of many kinds, because you know the testing of your faith develops perseverance.’
You will notice how James did not say “if” we go through trials – he said “when” we go through trials. You are going to go through many trials, and some of them are going to be more than you want to experience, but keep your faith rightly focused on the Word of God. If you are on the hills of faith, every problem will seem small as you look down upon them, but if you are in the valley of the faithless, every problem is going to look like a giant as you look up to them.
What type of faith do you have today? Do you have the run-of-the-mill faith that is evidenced only by your saying you have faith, or do you have the type of faith that will enable you to literally turn your back on the world as you climb towards Jesus? Let me put it another way. Do you have friends and coworkers? When you think of telling them about Jesus, do you get uncomfortable because you think about what they might think of you, or do you only think about what Jesus will think about you if you don’t tell that person about Him?
One has the faith of an empty glass. The other has the faith of the Godly. Let me ask you again: Which type of faith do you have today? Are you sure that if your time was up tomorrow that you would go to Heaven, or is there a lingering doubt in your mind?
Are you going through the motions of Christianity at church, and then going home to a week of self-indulgent living? In 1 JOHN 2:15, it tells us to not love this world or anything in this world. That means to not let anything in this world become more important to you than Jesus. If you feel like you should pray, but decide that you must wait until after you finish your golf game, your golf game has just come between you and God.
That sounds pretty severe, doesn’t it? Well, it is. We all love this world – it’s the only place any of us have ever known. We love the things in this world – they are the only things we have ever known. And we have a hard time with faith – the believing in something that we have never seen evidence of.
Today, we have the opportunity to step away from that doubt and confusion. Today, we have been given one more chance to step right into the arms of Jesus. All it takes is to believe in Jesus as the early Christians did and to trust in God’s Word. If we believe and trust, we will have faith.
INVITATION
