How to Believe
April 18, 2004
John 20:30-31
2nd Sunday of Easter
Galena-Warwick United Methodist Charge
Warwick & Galena, Maryland
Rev. Dr. Lawrence D. Jameson
back to our church home page
John 20:30-31
30Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which
are not recorded in this book. 31But these are written that you may believe that
Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in
his name.
INTRODUCTION
In John 20:31 the Bible says,
“these are written
that you may believe
that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God,
and that by believing
you may have life in his name.”
The purpose of the Bible
is to help you believe in Jesus Christ.
But there is a problem.
Lot’s of people don’t know how to do that.
They stub their toe on the word “believe.”
This sermon is for those people.
This is a sermon entitled “How to Believe”.
Here are the questions I want to answer:
1) What is Christian belief?
2) How do I do that?
3) What happens when I believe?
1) What is Christian belief?
Webster’s Dictionary defines belief with these words:
“To accept as true or real
to declare as considered subjectively true in hypothesis.”
In other words,
the secular definition of belief
is all about
what you think in your head
to be right, or true, or real.
Implicit in the secular definition
are two parts:
A - the subjective (inside your head) opinion
and
B - the objective (real world) fact.
Of course for the secular definition of belief,
it doesn’t really matter
if the objective part is true, false, or impossible to know.
If you are convinced in your mind,
then that is your belief.
In the United States of America,
we celebrate the ability of people
to choose for themselves
what to believe.
For Americans, it is a matter of personal choice,
and we celebrate that choice.
It’s a free country. We love freedom.
When you live in America,
you will sometimes hear people say:
“It’s your right, as an American, to be wrong.”
In other words,
we put a high value on
our freedom as individuals to choose what we believe.
I love the United States of America.
And I love the freedom of choice that exists here.
I think that freedom
is worth protecting, worth fighting for.
Sometimes we go overboard,
but what a wonderful country we have!
Christian belief is unique.
It is different from the secular definition,
because it isn’t just about
what is subjective (in our heads)
and objective (real world facts).
For Christians, belief is all about
the resurrection.
If Jesus is alive,
and if it is possible to encounter Jesus,
and have a forgiven relationship with him,
then Christian belief is more than
our subjective intellectual assent,
and it is more
than cold hard objective facts.
For Christians,
belief is something alive and life changing.
It is our appropriate response to a loving God.
The world is more than a science project.
There is a God
who loves us, deeply, and passionately.
There is nothing cold or factual about that.
In the light of that truth,
all other considerations become secondary.
Christian belief is,
at it’s heart,
based on an encounter.
I said that Christian belief
is different than the secular definition,
and I want to go on to say
that Christian belief
is also very different than
other religions (such as Buddhism, Islam, etc...).
Christian belief is unique.
It all comes down to the resurrection.
We maintain that the historical person, Jesus of Nazareth,
is both God and man.
That he died for our sins, and was raised to life.
Other religions either reject those claims
or redefine them so radically
that essentially they reject them as well.
What is Christian belief?
It is a gift from God. (Ephesians 2:8-9)
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith
--and this not from yourselves,
it is the gift of God--
not by works, so that no one can boast.
This is a liberating fact!
You don’t have to drum up, or produce belief.
You don’t have to strain or work hard.
In fact, you are not even capable
of producing belief on your own!
The Bible says that God gives it to us as a gift.
Belief is what happens when we discover
that God loves us.
It is trusting God to be true to his word.
It is relying on Christ alone
for our salvation.
It is something alive and life changing.
It is our appropriate response to a loving God.
2) How do I do that?
The second point of my sermon is:
“how do I do that?”
If I am not a Christian,
and
if I have never accepted Jesus,
how do I do that? How do I believe?
The answer is prayer.
Prayer is talking to God.
Jesus said,
“Ask and it will be given to you;
seek and you will find;
knock and the door will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks receives;
he who seeks finds;
and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.”
Matthew 7:7-8
Those words were written for Christians and non-Christians.
Jesus is anxiously waiting for you to ask him
for a relationship on his terms.
He has promised in his word
to give you the gift of belief,
and not just subjective mumbo jumbo,
but an encounter with God
and all we have to do is ask.
In Acts 16:31 the Bible says
“Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved”
The way you do that is
by talking to God through prayer.
Here is a example prayer.
Dear God, it’s me.
I have something to say to you.
I’m out on a limb here
because I can’t prove you are real,
and no matter how many people tell me
what you are like,
I’ve never experienced that for myself.
So here goes.
I want to formally ask you for a relationship.
I admit that I have sinned,
and that I’ve broken your heart with my
disobedience and selfishness.
Please apply the blood of Jesus Christ
to my sins, and let him come into my life.
Change my life.
Give me the gifts you want me to have.
Help me to become an intelligent believer.
In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen.
If you say this sort of prayer,
God will change you.
He will give you more than you thought possible.
3) What happens when I believe?
I’ve seen lots of people
pray and ask Jesus to make them a Christian.
Every person is different.
Some people hear about Jesus
and accept him right away.
Some people have to wrestle with God,
and go through all kinds of difficult struggles.
Some people harden their heart, walk away from God,
and never look back.
It’s basically a choice.
Accept the gift, or don’t.
A lot of people think
“I don’t want to become a Christian,
because then I’ll loose my personality.
I’ll become some nut job,
some loser that just isn’t me.”
That opinion is pretty common.
But the facts of history
have disproved that idea
millions of times.
Read the autobiographies of Christians.
None of those people lost their personalities.
They didn’t become zombies
or nut jobs.
People like Augustine, Martin Luther,
John Wesley, Francis of Assisi, and millions of others
are clear proof
that you DON’T LOSE YOUR PERSONALITY
WHEN YOU ACCEPT CHRIST.
In fact, your personality
becomes more actualized than you ever thought possible.
You become the unique and special
one-of-a-kind person
that God designed you to be.
Think about this.
If God makes every snowflake to be different,
don’t you think
he makes every Christian different too?
He didn’t die on the cross for snowflakes.
But he did that for you,
just so you could become
the special person
you were always meant to be.
The Bible tells us that
a lot of different things happen
the moment you accept Jesus.
Let me quickly spell some of these things out for you.
a) born again
that word describes a change in your relationship with God
that is like starting a whole new life
b) justified
God the great judge of the universe
has the authority to declare you not guilty
for all of your sins, past, present, and future,
based on the price Jesus paid on the cross
c) saved
means that whatever mess you made of your life
before you met Jesus
he has rescued you out of all that
d) adopted
you become a member of God’s family
and every Christian in the world
are now your brothers and sisters
c) Spirit Filled
God steps into your body as a guest
and makes your heart his home
d) redeemed
your life was worthless and spoiled before
but now your stock value has gone way up
because God has invested his resources in you
e) made friends
you get to call God your friend
you get to chat with him and ask him for favors
and you are never alone
Those are just a few of the perks
of being a Christian. There are lots more.
Conclusion
In John 20:31 the Bible says,
“these are written
that you may believe
that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God,
and that by believing
you may have life in his name.”
The purpose of the Bible
is to help you believe in Jesus Christ.
If you have had trouble believing,
don’t sweat it.
The truth is that belief in God is a gift,
and you probably have
a lot more talent in this area than you realized.
If you have never accepted Jesus
today is a good time to do that.
Prayer
Dear God, it’s me.
I have something to say to you.
I’m out on a limb here
because I can’t prove you are real,
and no matter how many people tell me
what you are like,
I’ve never experienced that for myself.
So here goes.
I want to formally ask you for a relationship.
I admit that I have sinned,
and that I’ve broken your heart with my
disobedience and selfishness.
Please apply the blood of Jesus Christ
to my sins, and let him come into my life.
Change my life.
Give me the gifts you want me to have.
Help me to become an intelligent believer.
In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen.