A FOUNDATION OF FAITH

I am reminded of a story about a young Indian boy who came off one of the reservations in Oklahoma and went back east to college.  He excelled in every subject and graduated at the top of his class.

When he came back home to his reservation, he was elected their new chief.  Everything went fine for a couple of years, and then one autumn the tribal leaders came to him and asked him if it was going to be a cold or mild winter.

The new chief was not schooled in the traditions of his ancestors, and as he looked into the sky for any kind of hint, he saw nothing.  Not wanting to look foolish, he furrowed his brow and said it looked as if it were going to be a cold winter.  And for good measure, he advised them to have everyone stock up on plenty of firewood.

Two weeks later, he thought he had better find out for sure, so he called the local weather bureau to ask them what the winter would be like.  They said it looked like it would be a cold one.  He called the tribal leaders back and told them it looked like it would be very cold and advised them to have people collect more firewood.

At the first of November, he called the weather bureau back to make one final check, and they said it looked like it would be a very severe winter, indeed.  He asked them how they knew for certain.  They said they could tell because the local Indians were collecting firewood like crazy.

The tribe had much faith in their chief.  The chief had much faith in  the weather bureau, and the weather bureau had much faith in the actions of the Indians.  Seems like everybody had faith in somebody.  And that is what I want to talk to you about today:  Having faith in somebody, but making sure it is the right faith.

Faith requires belief.  A Christian should have absolute belief and faith in God, through Jesus Christ.  One of the biggest problems a Christian has is that we tend to have more faith in those things we can see, touch, feel, smell, or hear.  In other words, those tangible things seem to be more real to us when the chips are down than those things we cannot see.  And therein lies the problem.  Tangible things are in the world, not in the Godly realm.

Here is a quick way you fully understand how a Christian’s faith must only be in God.

Take an empty bottle and fill it half full of water.  Then, take some vegetable oil and fill it the rest of the way up.  Then try to shake it with all your might so it will become all mixed up.  What happens?  The very moment you stop shaking the bottle, the oil and water begin to separate from one another, doesn’t it?  It cannot even stay mixed for even a second.  They repel one another. 

What is the moral?  The moral is that, by their very nature, oil and water do not mix.  You can either have water or you can oil, but you cannot have a mixture of both.  So, make a decision you can live with; which one do you want more, because you are not going to be able to have both no matter how much you try.

The same is true with Godliness and worldliness.  A couple of years ago, I heard a preacher say there was just too much world in Christians.  I agree.  You might say that we live here and we need to be in the world.  I would agree to that, too.  But I also think that as much as we might need to be in the world, the world does not have to be in us.

2 CORINTHIANS 5:20 where we should stand in relation to the world around us.

‘We are therefore, Christ’s Ambassadors – as though God were making His appeal through us.’

In EPHESIANS 2:19, we are told that we are citizens and members of God’s household.  We are no longer citizens of this world.  And since we belong to God; since we are citizens of heaven working as ambassadors here on earth; we need to focus more on God and less on the world, but to do so, we need to make sure that we really believe in God, and not just think we do.

When I was going to school, I had a physics professor who was teaching us about the law of the pendulum.  We all know what a pendulum is, right?  It swings from side to side, and it always decreases in the length of its ark with every swing.  The professor had nailed a rope to the wall just above the blackboard.  To this rope, he had attached a baseball.  He asked how many of us really believed in the law of the pendulum and we all raised our hands.

With that, he pulled the rope to one side and marked where it was on the board.  Then he let go of it and every time it swung back to his side, he put another mark where it stopped.  The end result was he had many marks, all closer to the center than the one before, proving the law was true.  He asked again how many of us really believed in the law, and we all raised our hands once again.

Then he took us to the auditorium, where he had hung a thick nylon chord from the rafters just above the stage.  Attached to this chord was a 100-pound weight.  He asked for a volunteer.  He had a chair sitting on the side of the stage and he had the man who volunteered sit in it.  He then took the weight, which was hanging in the middle of the stage and carried it over to about an inch from the boy’s face.  He asked him if he believed in the law of the pendulum, and the boy, starting to get a little worried by now, said he did.

With that, the professor let go of the weight and it swung clear to the other side of the stage, and then began to come back.  I have never seen anyone move so fast in my life as that young man trying to get out of the way.  Did he believe that the pendulum would stop at a certain point leaving him safe, or did he just think he believed? 

As it turns out, he just thought he believed.  When it was put to the test, his belief caved in like a house of cards on a windy day.  And that is what will happen to many people who profess a belief in Christ when real persecution comes their way – they will run as far away from Christ as their feet will carry them, just so they will be safe.  Unfortunately, to be safe in the world means to be in danger with Jesus.

To have true safety in Jesus, the first thing we need is...

1.     A BELIEVING HEART

In JOHN 1:7, we are told that Jesus came so that all men might believe.  That is how we believe; through Jesus Christ.  Without Jesus there is no belief.

That is confirmed in JOHN 20:31, when it says that by believing in Jesus Christ, one may have life in His name.

In order to be a real Christian, and in order to receive eternal life, we must be real believers.  We must have a burning in our hearts to be with Jesus; to know more about Him; and to know Him more.

Remember the story about the young man who sat on the chair waiting for the 100-pound weight to come back towards his face?  There are many Christians who have the same type of faith in their belief in Jesus.  They think they believe, and they say they believe, but when push comes to shove, they get out of the way as fast as they can.

Remember when Peter told Jesus that he would follow him into death if necessary?  A few verses later, we see where Peter denied Jesus three times.  Peter was like that young man on stage, too.  He thought he believed, but when he was pushed, he collapsed like a house of cards.  And we cannot have faith unless we really believe.

Everybody believes in something.  What is it that you believe in?  And how much do you really believe in it?  It is very easy to think you believe when there is no risk involved.  It is more difficult to truly believe when you risk losing something very important. 

Just like the student, we need to know the basics of what is offered to us.  He needed to know what the law of the pendulum was, and we need to know what the law of salvation is.  It is eternal life in heaven, with God the creator. 

I remember when I was about 7 or 8 years old.  My dad would take my brothers and I swimming at the Air Force Base swimming pool.  One of my older brothers talked me into jumping off the high-dive.  I remember eagerly climbing the ladder and walking out to the end of the board.  I also remember looking down .. way down, to where the water was and I froze.  I just sat on the end of the board and didn’t know what to do.

The lifeguard kept yelling at me to jump, but I was too afraid.  Finally, my dad got in the water and said, “Jump!  I’ll make sure you are safe.”  I believed him and without any further ado, I jumped to my father because I believed him.

Once we have someone we know we can trust, we are able to start believing.  And, once we understand what is offered, we are ready to find step out in faith.

2.     WHAT IS IT WE REALLY BELIEVE IN?

A poor woman lived in an apartment.  She was a devout believer in Christ.  Her neighbor, a grouchy old man was not.  He would get very upset because he could hear her praying several times each day.  And every time he spoke to her, he would remind her that there is no God, and that she was wasting her time.

The day came when she fell upon hard times financially.  Pretty soon, she had no groceries and she began to pray that God would provide her with the food she needed.  And then she began praising Him and thanking Him for the food He was going to send her.

The neighbor heard her and came up with a plan to prove to her that there is no God.  He went down and bought her so many groceries she had no place to put them all.  And then he carefully put all the bags in front of her door, rang the doorbell, and hid just around the corner.

She came to the door, saw the bags of food, and fell to her knees thanking God for giving her the groceries.  At that moment, he ran up and with a smirk on his face told her that God didn’t get the groceries, he did.

With that, she smiled and said, “Thank you, God!  Not only did you provide me with groceries, but you got the devil to pay for them!”

USA Today took a survey several years ago and asked Americans in the top 1% income bracket how much they would spend for three things: Great intellect, true love, and a place in heaven.  Those wealthy people said they would be willing to spend an average of $407K for great intellect, $487K for true love, $640K for a place in heaven! 

So, some people think they can buy their way into heaven.  That falls right in line with the rationale of people like that great theologian, Sophia Loren.  She said, and I quote, “I should go to heaven; otherwise it’s not nice.”  I agree with her to that extent.  It would not be nice if she, or anyone else, did not end up in heaven.  But just wanting to go will not get you there.  And that is where most people find their problem.  Instead of looking at the truth, they look at the lie that is most comfortable for them to follow.

George Barna conducted his own survey, and 51% of those surveyed said they believe that if a person is good, or does good things for other people, they will get their spot in heaven. 

We see the fallacy of this in ROMANS 9:30-32 –

‘What then, shall we say?  That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it – righteousness that is by faith; but Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it. 

Why not?  Because they pursued it, not by faith, but as if it were by works.’

In ISAIAH 55:8, we are told,

’For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, declares the Lord.’

Why are we so intent on taking God’s word and trying to change it to fit our desires instead of just accepting His word as the law we should live by?  But by our works is how we live, isn’t it?  We must earn the respect of others and earn promotions at work.  We can sing about the best things in life being free, but when it comes to the things of this world, it all has to be earned.  And that is how most people think about going to heaven; it must be earned by what we do.

The Israelites had a believing heart, but what they believed in wasn’t helping them.  They believed they had to follow all the laws of the Old Testament to get to heaven.  They were just like the people today; good and earnest people who have it all wrong when thinking about their relationship to heaven.

Those who believe in works or some other way of getting to heaven besides believing in Jesus are not bad people.  They are wonderful people who have the right heart, but their heart is misdirected.  The trouble with works getting you to heaven is that you have to be in 100% compliance – in every thing, all the time.  That, in itself, is impossible for us to do.  That is the same thing as saying you can never make any mistakes.  None of us could live up to that expectation.

Mark Twain once said that if doing good was what got us to heaven, you could not get in, but your dog could.  Like Paul says, you cannot be good enough to get into heaven any more than you can stand on the earth and touch the stars.

The Bible is very clear in what we should believe in.  It does not mince words and it uses no metaphors to explain it.  Pure and simple, we need to believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, sent to be our ONLY way to heaven.  He is our Redeemer and our Savior.  He is THE path, not ONE OF THE paths.

I read the results of a Poll that gave these statistics;

• 85% of Americans believe they are Christians.  Out of that 85%,

• 40% of those do not attend church with any regularity

• 30% believe in ghosts

• 20% believe in reincarnation, and only

• 15% believe that the entire Bible is accurate.

So, we need to believe, but we need to realize just what we really believe in.  Once we have these down pat, we are then ready to …

3.     STOP RUNNING AWAY

Let’s get back to the pendulum and student for a moment.  The student sat in the chair, and when the weight started swinging back his way, he quickly jumped out of his chair and ran away.  He believed, but he believed only until he had to risk losing something, like his head.

Many Christians are the same way, too.  They go to church and do all the things, and they will continue to do that until a serious challenge comes along.  With our finite minds, we must have certain logical steps to take us into Christian maturity.  God knew this, so we find His instructions in the Bible.

In MARK 9, we read where Jesus healed a demon-possessed boy and then the boy’s father came up and said, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief.”  We are much like that boy’s father.  We all believe, but we also sometimes … don’t believe.  In other words, we believe with our intellect, but we do not believe with our heart.  We need to do like the boy’s father did and ask Jesus to help us have more belief.

We need to do the same thing Jesus told Thomas about the scars in His side.  In the last part of JOHN 20:27, Jesus said, “Stop doubting and believe!”

We have a natural tendency to run away before we commit.  We see that all the time with people who say they are Christians, but will not go to anybody and tell them about Jesus.  I truly believe that being non-committal towards Jesus is a sin.  If we don’t know Him here, He has promised to not know us there.

Let me ask you a question.  Picture yourself at your wedding.  You are standing there and the minister asks you if you will take your fiancé for better or worse.  What do you think would happen if you just looked around and said nothing?  Some of us may not even survive if we did that. 

If the minister asked you if you took that person to be your spouse, what do you think the response would be if you looked down at your shoes and became  silent?  You don’t even want to think about consequences that would be that severe, do you?

That is the same with your relationship to Jesus.  Many people freeze up when asked to state their relationship to Jesus.  Many people would actually rather deny Him than take the risk of having somebody mock them by confessing Jesus.  Isn’t that what Peter did on the night they arrested Jesus?

ROMANS 10:9 promises us,

‘… if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord”, and believe in your heart that God raised Him, you will be saved.’ 

Now, before we go any further, let me say that we must believe in Him, and we must confess Him.  And, if we confess Jesus is our Lord, and that we have Him in our hearts, doesn’t it make sense that we would also be striving to do what He wants us to do?

In ACTS 2:38, we are told to repent and be baptized.  It means just that.

Stop running!  Get on B.A.S.E. with God.

BELIEVE - ADMIT - SURRENDER – EXPRESS

1. Believe that Jesus is Lord;

2. Admit to yourself that He is your Savior;

3. Surrender your heart to Him today; and

4. Express Him to others around you.

The young man who sat in the chair on the stage had a decision to make.  He could trust the truth, or he could run when it got uncomfortable.  We have that same choice to make today.

Will the Praise Team please come forward?

We can choose to have a believing heart; then ponder and study what it is we actually believe; and then stop running long enough to cement our relationship with Christ, or we can run away.

The problem with running, is that one day you will have no other place to run to, and you will find yourself in that long line, waiting to be judged one-on-one with the Lord.  When you find yourself standing there, what are you going to feel like when He looks directly at you and says, “NEXT”?

I think the only option we have today is to be sure we are protected against tomorrow’s onslaught.  Are you protected?  Would you like to be?  All you have to do is take a step; step under the covering of Jesus.

INVITATION