The Secret To Belief

March 30, 2008

Scripture Readings-

First Reading – 1 Thessalonians 1:4-6  For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake. You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of severe suffering you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. 

Second Reading –  1 Peter 1:3-9   Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade-kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that you faith-of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Gospel – John 20:24-31  Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it.” A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!” Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But 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.

Sermon –

Wouldn’t it be great if we could just believe the resurrection we read about in the Gospel lesson? Wouldn’t it be great if we could just rejoice in our sufferings as we read in 1 Peter? And wouldn’t it be great if we could just believe what God says in Romans 13:1-5 regarding the elections? “There is no authority that exists except that which God has established and given his approval to.” Wouldn’t it be great if we could just believe what God says about the principle of tithing in Malachi 3:10? “I will open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so many blessing you will not have room for them.” Wouldn’t it be great if we could just believe that God is acting in our best interests when he says “No!”? One of our Wednesday Evening Lenten services was a sermon about how God will withhold no good thing from his people. And He promises answers. If we could just believe Him every time He says “No” we would be rejoicing instead of grumbling and complaining. And wouldn’t it be great if we could just believe God when He says in Matthew 6:25-34, “Do not worry about your life. Your heavenly Father knows what you need, and when you need it.”?

Today we are going to talk about “The Secret To Belief”. When we have questions for God like “How can I believe?” or “How can I have faith?”  all we have to do is ask Him because He does answer. So let’s pray, “Heavenly Father, there are so many things we struggle with. We struggle with our belief; we struggle with remembering Your word and Your promises to us. Lord, if we could just believe, we would have so much more peace and hope in our lives. Lord God, today reveal to us your secrets to believing. Speak to us, Lord. We pray this in Jesus’ Name. Amen.”

The primary way that God speaks to us is in the Bible. In today’s Gospel lesson Thomas was struggling with belief and said “I will not believe it unless I see it!”  We prayed that God would answer our questions so let’s read further and see what God reveals. Thinking back to a week ago, we read in the first part of John Chapter 20 that the disciples had looked inside the empty tomb and believed in the resurrection because they saw. We think, “If only I had seen. Then I could really believe!” Let’s continue reading in John Chapter 20; Jesus had appeared to all of His disciples except Thomas, and they had seen and believed. When Thomas heard that Jesus appeared he said, “Unless I see Jesus, I will not believe it!” Isn’t that our issue with God?  We haven’t seen, all this happened 2000 years ago, how can we believe? Let’s see if Jesus answers. After Jesus appeared to Thomas, Thomas confessed that he now believed Jesus was alive. Then Jesus said to Thomas, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (John 20:29)  Interesting words. You are blessed if you have not seen and yet have believed! A blessing, a special blessing.

What is Jesus talking about? Let’s look at something you can see and believe. I have a padlock and a key. Do you believe that this key opens the lock? Watch closely and we’ll check it out. I’ll put the key in, turn it, and - the lock opens! Now you can believe because you’ve seen it. Seeing is what gave you the belief that this key actually opens this lock. You’ve experienced it therefore you believe it. But when we read about the resurrection Jesus tells us, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” Why are we blessed if we have not seen but have believed? Because in order to believe the resurrection, you don’t have to experience it, you don’t have to give yourself that belief, God the Holy Spirit gives you the belief! God works a miracle in your life, the Holy Spirit enables you to believe. That’s why there’s a blessing because you can say, “I believe this! God has worked a miracle in my life. God’s given me the belief! What a miracle! I’m experiencing God and His power!” God does it, not us. What a miracle!

Would you rather believe because you have actually seen and experienced something or have it be the result of the Holy Almighty God working in your life to enable you to believe? What a blessing it is to have God give you the belief, God coming down into your life and giving you the power to believe. And how does that happen? We prayed that God would reveal the answer to us and remember, God speaks to us on these issues through the Bible, so let’s read on. John 20:30, 31 tells us, “Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But 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.” God answered our prayer! He said “I’ve given all of you a Bible and the Bible has been written so that you may believe Jesus is the Christ, believe the promises, that that you may believe everything in it.” God gave us His Word that we may believe!

How can it be that words printed on pages that were written two thousand years ago will give us belief? That idea is so farfetched it’s almost unbelievable! How can we ever believe that? We want confirmation so let’s see what else God has to say. 1 Thessalonians 1:4 says “For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction.”  The power in the Bible has come to you not with simply with words as in a textbook from school or the Reader’s Digest or the newspaper you’re going to read when you get home, but with the power of the Holy Spirit, the power of God Himself, and that power will give you deep conviction. That power will give you deep belief, a deep belief that cannot be shaken.

We can believe something even if we don’t see it. When we look at the Bible, all we see is a big book with a lot of words in it. But there is something else in the Bible that you don’t see. And because of God’s Word you can believe it is there.  What you don’t see when you open up the Bible is the Holy Spirit. The words in the Bible are different from words in any other book because the Holy Spirit attaches Himself to them. Can you see Him? No, because He’s a Spirit but flowing out of the words in the Bible to you is the Holy Spirit giving you belief. This is what that the 1^st Thessalonians passage is saying. These are powerful words, these words produce deep conviction, deep belief.

So many times people ask how they can get someone to believe. I think of this too; I think “If I could just say the right words, if I have could have a good line of argumentation, if I were a better debater, then I could make someone believe.” But that’s not going to work. Belief comes through the Holy Spirit and the avenue from which the Holy Spirit flows to people is through God’s Word. Whether they’re reading the Bible, hearing someone talk about the Bible, or listening to Christian music, the Holy Spirit comes to them and gives them deep conviction. It’s the Word that enables people to believe.

Thank you God for answered prayer! We asked God how we could believe and there it is: “These are written that you may believe”. God is saying that the Bible is self-authentic.  Here’s an illustration. Can you see another’s heart? We can’t, but we can believe that we have a heart  because the body is self-authenticating. We move and walk and function and if we’re doing that, there must be a heart in your chest and it must be beating. So therefore, because you are alive and are walking and talking you must have a heart that is beating and because you have a heart that is beating you’re alive and because you’re alive you must have a heart that is beating and vice versa and vice versa and vice versa.  God’s word is the same thing. Because God’s word says something, whatever the promise, whatever the hope, because God’s word says it, it’s true, and you can believe it; and you can believe it because the word says it; and because the word says it you can believe it; and you can believe it because the word says it, and because the word says it you believe it…  and so on! The Bible is self authenticating, that’s how it works. That’s why we’re blessed, even if we haven’t seen. You didn’t have to have the experience that creates faith, God gives you the faith and He gives you the belief. The Bible is written so that you may believe, and that by believing you may have life in His name.

Suffering - This is written so that you may believe 1 Peter 1:3-9 that in your sufferings

God is going to bring a blessing. The Bible says to rejoice in your sufferings. The Bible says God has a plan.  He uses our sufferings to accomplish things in our lives and in other people’s lives.

The elections – This is written so that you may believe Romans 13:1-5, that there is no authority in this world except that which God has established. That gives us great peace of mind.

Tithing– This is written so that you may believe Malachi 3:10 that God will open up the floodgates of heaven and pour of so many blessings you won’t have room for them when you give God 10% right off the top.

When God says “No” - this is written that you may believe 1 Thessalonians 5:18 that when you are praying and God says “No” you can thank Him for it. God always has our best interests at heart.

Needs - This is written that you may believe Mathew 6 that God will supply all your needs and you don’t need to go through life worrying.

This is written that you may believe all seven thousand promises in God’s Word and that by believing you may have life; fullness, hope, peace, and joy.

There it is. What a great God. He rose from the dead and revealed to us the secret to belief. God has been turning people into believers for thousands of years through His Word. Now the question is, are you going to take advantage of it? You can put it on the shelf and say it’s not going to work for you. But if you choose to use it, it’s going to work for you. It is written so that you may believe. It’s worked on Christians for centuries giving them faith and belief in God’s promises. And it will work on you especially now that you know The Secret to Belief!

Prayer –

Heavenly Father, so often we think that if we could just see, if we could just experience, then we could believe.  But Heavenly Father, we see that you have another plan, a plan where You  create the belief in our lives. Thank You for that plan and thank You for Your Word. Help each of us to use Your Word that we would not doubt, but that we would believe. And we pray this in the Name of Jesus, Amen.