Believing God

Believing God 2020 11 29

John 14:1 – 6

My wife and I have always enjoyed travelling by car. It’s not as fast as by air, but it’s just so interesting! When you fly over a place at 35,000 feet, you can get a sense of how big the world is and you can see a lot. But when you drive, you get to see everything close up, and there is a lot to see!

We have confidence when we travel this way. We don’t worry about getting lost. We know the way, because we have a GPS and Google Maps. We believe that the people who designed and programmed them used reliable maps and good software. We believe we will go where we want to go by following the directions of those maps.

Sometimes we take a wrong turn and we end up taking some long detours, but we don’t mind. We see things we might have missed. But because we believe the maps and trust the software, we always get where we’re going. It could turn out a lot different if we just went ahead and figured it out on our own with no maps. We might never get there!

What and who you believe is the difference between whether or not you get to where you want to go.

John 14:1 – 6

In the first three verses of this passage, Jesus told his disciples not to be troubled. We are all His disciples if we have put our faith in Him. He tells us not to be troubled, but to believe in Him. We know that He IS God. “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, the everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” John 1:1 He declared that He is preparing a place for us in His Father’s house. He said He will come again to receive us unto Himself, that where He is, we may also be. Do you believe God?

I Believing God

  1. Everything about our eternal destination hinges on whether or not we believe God. Do you believe God?

    1. Here is a test: Do you believe God?

      1. If you say you believe God, yet do not believe in, or trust God, you do not believe Him! Believing God means believing in Him, because He says you must. Real belief goes beyond just an intellectual knowledge; it requires action. Believe in Him.

      2. It would be crazy to believe God, yet not believe in Him. His Word clearly warns us about what is coming for all who reject Him.

    2. Do you believe in Jesus Christ as your Saviour?

      1. Again, if you say you believe God, you must believe in Jesus Christ, because God tells you to. “While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.” Matthew 17:5 Listen to the words of Jesus! You must believe in Him!

  2. Believing God is the one thing that will truly calm a troubled heart.

    1. Let not your heart be troubled. Do as God says: believe in God and in His Son, Jesus Christ.

II Know the Way

  1. Jesus made a startling claim to His disciples. He had just told them that He was going to prepare a place for them (and us) in His Father’s house.

    1. He said that where He would be, they (and us) would be.

  1. Then He told them they (and we) know the way.

  2. He said, “You know the way!”

III Uncertainty

      1. One of the disciples, Thomas, contradicted Jesus.

        1. He said that they didn’t know where Jesus was going, so how could they know the way?

      2. Thomas is famous for not believing it was the risen Jesus Christ when He appeared to them in a locked room after He rose from the dead. He needed physical evidence, to actually see and feel the scars from the crucifixion.

        1. From that event comes the term, “Doubting Thomas.”

  1. But Thomas should, in my opinion, be known as “Honest Thomas,” because he probably was the only one bold enough to admit his uncertainty.

  2. If you don’t know, ask. It is more foolish not to ask a question than to ask a question you think is foolish.

  3. The only foolish question is the one not asked!

IV The Way

      1. If you know Jesus Christ, you know the Way.

        1. Jesus answered Thomas’ uncertainty about how to get to our destination. “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

V Plotting Your Own Course

  1. When it comes to eternity, many will and do try plotting their own course.

    1. Some try one or more of the world’s religions: Buddhism, Taoism, Hinduism, Judaism, and so on.

    2. Some follow a god as they know him.

    3. Some convince themselves that you die and that’s it. Everything ends.

    4. Some participate in various forms of what is called “Christianity.”

      1. But this “Christianity” requires them to earn their way to heaven by their good works.

      2. They believe they can somehow do enough good works to pay for their sins and impress God enough to let them into heaven.

      3. They believe that sinning against almighty God is such a trivial thing that they can pay for it with carnal things and activities in this world that God already owns.

      4. If you think you can earn your way to heaven and pay for your own sins, you do not understand that every sin is a rejection of God. Every sin is you deciding you know best at that moment, rather than God.

VI Getting Lost

  1. If you think you can get to heaven without knowing Jesus, without putting your faith in Him, you don’t know the way and you aren’t just getting lost – you’re already hopelessly lost!

    1. In this short life, you might figure out your way if you get lost somewhere on the road, but if you’re lost going into eternity, you’re lost forever. You will never get to heaven.

    2. If you try to plot your own course on the road of life, you will always end up in hell. In fact, all roads lead to hell, but one. That one is the narrow way. “Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” Matthew 7:14

    3. But that narrow way is the good way and the right way, Jesus Christ.

VII Stubbornness

  1. There are lots of stories about people getting lost and refusing to ask someone for directions. There are lots of jokes about men who are too stubborn and proud to ask directions, so they just keep driving around lost, getting more frustrated by the hour.

  2. Don’t be stubborn and proud. Stubborn, proud people stay lost.

    1. Don’t be like the people of Judah who refused to believe God and ended up under His wrath. “Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.” Jeremiah 6:16

      1. They plotted their own course and perished.

    2. Jesus Christ is the way. Know Him and know the way.

Conclusion

  1. If you don’t know Jesus, you need to know Him, right now. You don’t know when your number is up. After that, it’s too late. If you die without Christ, you’re lost and under the wrath of God forever. Jesus Christ is the only way to peace with God and Heaven. All other ways lead to Hell and the wrath of God. There is only one right way. Know Jesus and know the way.

  2. Believing God means believing what He has said. That means believing that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth and the life, and believing in Him, trusting Him to take away your sins and give you everlasting life that cannot be lost. If you know Jesus, you know the way to heaven. That’s where you’re going, without question. “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38, 39