Admonition Podcast

Good morning.

this morning.

I wanted to spend a few moments considering the question, do we really believe?

The Bible is incredibly clear on the impacts of true belief, the impacts of true faith.

the things that it alters in our lives, the things that it changes in our day-to-day
actions, the determination and the choices that we make as a result of believing.

Now, there are many within the world who believe in many different things, and it alters
their actions.

Many have firm conviction about things that may or may not be true, but it alters their
actions.

But you know, there are times where we believe in things and it just doesn't alter our
actions.

Imagine a coworker comes to work and he works next to the same guy every day.

We'll call one of them Carl, one of them Bob.

Carl walks up to Bob.

It's about time for work to begin and he says, I've always wondered, do you believe in
aliens?

And Bob goes, well, you know, I really, I always have.

And I've always thought that the UFOs and all the sightings, that they're aliens.

And so, yeah, I believe in aliens.

Okay.

Carl thinks about it for a moment.

says, Bob, how has your belief in aliens changed anything about your life?

Bob says, you know, it really hasn't.

Don't do anything different every day when I get up in the morning because I believe in
aliens.

I've never gone to New Mexico to go look for them.

I believe it, but it really hasn't affected my life at all.

And so our question is, do we really believe in a biblical sense?

Or do we believe, kind of like Bob believes in aliens?

We're going to begin looking at these two texts.

In John chapter six, Jesus has been interacting with those of the

5,000 men that he had fed the day before on the other side of the Sea of Galilee.

And as they come and they find Jesus the next day having eaten of the bread the previous
day, Jesus will speak to them concerning the bread of life.

He will speak to them concerning things that they should have known about the Messiah, but
Jesus will begin to give them detail and information.

in a way that they begin to resist the very beliefs that they have.

In John chapter 6, in verse 60, we notice this text.

As Jesus is speaking to them, read, Therefore many of his disciples, when they heard this,
said, This is a hard saying.

Who can understand it?

Jesus has been talking to them about the fact that they will consume His flesh and drink
His blood, that they will do so because the living Father sent Him and He is alive because

of the Father.

So notice when Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples complained about this, He said to
them, Does this offend you?

What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before?

It is the Spirit who gives life, the flesh profits nothing, the words that I speak to you
are spirit and they are life.

But there are some of you who do not," notice the phrase, believe.

He says, the statement and the teaching that I have given you concerning my flesh and my
blood bothers you, then what is going to happen to you when you see me leave?

The problem is...

You don't believe.

Now notice, Jesus knew, verse 64, from the beginning who they were who did not believe and
who would betray Him.

Then we read in verse 65, and He said, Therefore I have said to you that no one can come
to me unless it has been granted to him by my Father.

From that time many of his disciples

went back and walked with him no more.

Jesus as He was walking the earth, as He was teaching in the synagogues and in the temple,
as He was going from city and village to town in Judea and in Samaria and into Galilee, as

He would cross the Jordan and then cross back over the Jordan, as He would teach in the
wilderness, as He would go into the region of Tyre and Sidon,

everywhere he went as he was teaching there would be people who were listening and some of
said, believe, and some of them said, I will follow you, and Jesus knew as he was teaching

which ones did and which ones didn't.

and he didn't judge it based upon their actions.

He didn't judge it based upon whether they followed him or not because he knew even some
of them who followed him still didn't believe.

John chapter 20.

John, as he is nearing the end of his record of the life of Christ, will say in verses 30
and 31, and truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are

not written in this book, speaking concerning the miracles which Jesus proclaimed.

But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and
that believing you may have life in his name.

Do not miss the incredible significance of outcome between believing and not.

The result of true biblical believing is life in the name of Christ.

The outcome of failing to believe or refusing to believe is not having life in the name of
Christ.

So we are challenged to ask ourselves, do we really believe?

But while Jesus exhibited and tells us and John informs us that Jesus knew the heart of
the individual as to whether they believed or not, the text of Scripture helps us to

realize that that's not how we judge ourselves because we don't have miraculous knowledge
and miraculous insight into the heart of an individual.

Rather, we judge ourselves by whether or not we live out our faith.

and our belief, and that the world around us judges us the same way.

So as we ask the question, do we really believe, let's examine two specific aspects of
believing.

First of all, do we believe in God?

Do we really?

You know, some, they believe in God.

They believe in God like Bob believes in aliens.

It doesn't affect their life in any way, shape, or form.

It doesn't determine their choices.

They don't sit and ponder because of their belief in God, I should do X and I should not
do Y.

But if you ask them, do you believe in God, their immediate answer is yes.

But is that the biblical concept of believing?

No.

Let's examine the biblical concept of believing.

Let's turn to Hebrews chapter 11.

As we go through some of the verses of this chapter, we find the Hebrew writer painting
for us a picture of what does it mean to believe.

We're gonna start in verse six.

In Hebrews chapter 11 verse six, the Hebrew writer says, but without faith.

It is impossible to please Him, that is God.

For he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who
diligently seek Him.

The Hebrew writer leaves no margin, no wiggle room, no exceptions.

He says if you're going to be one who comes before God and is rewarded by Him for your
life,

You must believe that He is.

Hebrew writer in Hebrews chapter 11 verse 1 will tell us, now faith is the substance of
things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

For by it the elders obtained a good testimony.

What does he mean?

He means that based upon their belief something changed about their life.

and the Old Testament Scriptures exhibits for us that God approved, approved, approved,
approved, approved.

of their life that was a result of their belief.

So examine a few things that changed in the lives of the elders or those who lived in the
Old Testament times as the Hebrew writer presents them.

In verse 3 and verse 4, we read, By faith we understand that the world were framed by the
Word of God, so that the things which were seen are not made of things which are visible.

By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he
obtained witness that he was righteous.

God testifying of His gifts and through it He being dead still speaks.

Consider from the very earliest chapters of the book of Genesis, the very earliest record
of the lives of humans on this planet, the very earliest example of those who would

descend from Adam and Eve, God

exhibit that belief in God is exemplified in worship to God.

And it is worship that comes to God not out of self-interest.

It is worship that is presented to God not out of personal preference.

There are so many people today in our culture and across the world who are

the opportunity, who joy in the opportunity, who are enthralled by the opportunity to
worship God as long as they do it the way they prefer to do it.

as long as they get enjoyment out of it, as long as they get a feeling out of it.

You'll notice that Abel did not receive a good testimony from God because of his emotional
reaction to worship.

Rather, Abel is approved of by God because Abel worshipped by faith.

Now, some might argue that faith is just simply the hope of something, the belief in
something without evidence, the conviction of something with no certainty.

That is not the biblical concept of faith.

Rather, the Hebrew writer here has already addressed what faith is.

It is that which is informed by

revelation.

It is that which is informed by the testimony of God Himself.

So when Abel offered those sacrifices by faith, he offered them by command from God.

And Cain, his brother, if you go look at Genesis chapter 4, offered sacrifices that were
not by command of God.

And the difference?

One set of sacrifices were accepted and the other set were rejected.

When we ask ourselves, do we really believe?

We must then ask ourselves if we say the answer is yes, I really believe in God, then do
you worship Him in accordance with His instructions and commandments?

Or do you worship Him in accordance with your preferences and your feelings?

because the answer to that determines do you really believe in God.

But then consider as well that the text is not finished.

Go down to verse 7, by faith Noah.

Being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for
the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the

righteousness which is according to faith.

If you really believe in God, then you are going to experience the daily battle of whether
or not you continue in men's ways of living or you defy men's ways of living and obey God.

Genesis chapter 6, the pages of Scripture open up, God reveals to us that every thought of
every imagination of man's heart was only continually in the days of Noah.

There are times in life where you will go places or you will have traveled someplace and
you will just walk in and you will realize there is not a single thing around me that

represents anything wholesome, true, or godly.

And if you're a Christian, you're looking for the exit.

You're ready to not be there.

And that was the entire human race in Noah's day.

but Noah believed in God.

So Noah declared by his very life, by his words, and by his work for 100 years to build
the ark that the world was wrong, that they were in sin, and that they would be judged.

You see, if you really believe in God, you will defy men's ways.

It doesn't mean you go about saying, you know what, you told me to walk on the right side
of the walkway when you're going up the stairs.

I'm gonna walk on the left.

I'm gonna get in everybody's way, because I believe in God.

No!

when the world tells you to cheat, to lie, to defraud and to steal, to gain for
yourselves, to take pride in your life.

to look at all the world around you and realize that you are just here for a time and then
that time will be over and you need to go for everything you can get and you need to be

concerned about you and you need to live life to the fullest and you need to have fun in
every moment and you need to take pure joy in everything that you have so long as you

selfishly are satisfied.

do you say?

No.

uh

I believe in God.

To then consider verse 8, by faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the
place which he would receive as an inheritance and went out not knowing where he was

going.

By faith he dwelt in the land of promises in a foreign country dwelling in tents with
Isaac and Jacob the heirs with him of the same promise.

For he waited for the city which had foundations whose builder and maker is God.

By faith, Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when
she was past the age, because she judged him faithful who had promised.

Therefore, from one man and him as good as dead were born as many as the stars of the sky
in multitude, innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore.

These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off,
were assured of them, embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims

on the earth.

For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland, and truly if they
had called to mind that country from which they had come, they would have had opportunity

to return.

But now they desire a better, that is a heavenly country.

Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.

By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac,

and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son of whom it was said
in Isaac your seed shall be called concluding that God was able to raise him up even from

the dead from which he also received him in a figurative sense as ah Abraham and uh Sarah
are pictured here

They're pictured in event after event after event in their life where God tells them to do
something and doesn't say, here's how it's going to turn out.

God gives them a command and they carry it out and they live in expectation that God will
provide.

Do we believe in God?

If so, we trust God no matter the circumstances, no matter what we enter into in life, no
matter what we encounter in life, no matter the direction we're going.

Now, be careful,

because Satan has deceived many into believing that because they trust their own
instincts, they're trusting God.

They're looking every direction for some sign and some indication of which way they should
go and what they should do and everywhere they look there's another that's another sign

that I'm doing the right thing.

There's a phrase in our current culture, at least here in the South, that drives me nuts,

when people say it's a God thing.

It's a Jesus thing.

You know what I to know what that means?

That means I've not opened the book and I don't have a clue what it says.

So I'm just looking at life and thinking I'm getting signs one way and this way and that
way about what I should be doing.

That is not how God communicates with us today.

This is.

You want to know what you should be doing?

Open the book.

You want to judge whether you made a good decision in business or not?

Open the book!

You want to determine whether you should take that job or not?

Open the book.

Now what you're not going to read when you open the book is, Aaron, take that job.

Aaron, move to that house.

Aaron, move to this city.

What you are going to read is principle after principle after principle whereby you can
say, I doing what believing in God demands that I do?

Because guess what?

It didn't matter where Abraham's tent was.

That's the point of the Hebrew writer.

The Hebrew writer tells you had Abraham sincerely desired having come to the land of
Canaan to go back to the land of Ur, he would have been allowed to.

I don't think we appreciate that.

that God, having called him out of Ur of the Chaldees, said that it would have been
possible by the revelation of the Hebrew writer for him to go back.

But he didn't.

Because having come out of the Ur of the Chaldees, having come out of his nation, having
come to the land that God said he would possess, he said, I'm not interested in going

back.

He wanted to dwell rather as a sojourner.

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and be in the land of promise than to dwell in prosperity and in solace in earth.

And here's what we do quite often in our modern world.

We take the job.

We move to the new house.

The house is bigger.

The job pays more.

Oh, it's a God thing.

This is what I was supposed to do.

because we're blessed, right?

Because we're more prosperous, right?

Because the bank account's getting larger, so we must be being blessed by God.

Abraham went from all of those things and dwelt in the tent.

And Abraham knew he was blessed.

Why?

Because he was doing what he was told to do.

Now, consider as well that if we believe in God, we're also going to reject a life of sin.

personal cost.

Many in the world are willing to reject a life of sin as long as there is no personal
cost.

But the moment that it's going to cost them something, well, I'll just do, I'll go along
to get along.

Imagine what would have happened if Moses had done that.

Hebrews chapter 11 verse 23, by faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by
his parents because they saw he was a beautiful child and they were not afraid of the

king's command.

By faith, Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's
daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the

passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the
treasures in Egypt.

For he looked to the reward.

By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king, for he endured as seeing him
who was invisible.

By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood, lest he who destroyed the
firstborn should touch them.

By faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, whereas the Egyptians attempting
to do so were drowned."

over in the life of Moses.

Moses is commended.

Moses is recognized.

Moses is held up because he chose to obey sin because he did so at his own personal cost.

and he would not turn back.

There's appreciation that should be had for when Moses is leading Israel.

We don't find this out until the book of Deuteronomy, but we find it out there that as
Moses is leading Israel in captivity, out of captivity,

into the wilderness, sorry, at Mount Sinai, out of Mount Sinai to the land of promise and
then failing to go in, then into the wilderness and during 38 years of wandering in the

wilderness, Moses provided for his own self.

He didn't accept any pay from the nation.

40 years of leading a people and he didn't accept a thing from them.

He did what He did at His own personal cost, not only in the rejection of sin, but in the
work of God.

Why?

Because He believed in God.

So do we believe in God?

Consider the second question.

Do we really believe in Jesus?

All of these examples from the Old Testament point us to the fact that if we believe in
God, we're going to worship.

We're going to do what He says.

We're going to dwell in accordance with His commandments.

We're going to be those who defy the world and its ways.

We're going to do so even at personal cost to ourselves.

But if we believe in Jesus, we recognize

that He is the very Son of God.

In John chapter 8, Jesus will make the statement,

that this very idea, the belief that He is deity is required of you.

Verse 23 of John chapter 8 says, He said to them, you are from beneath, I am from above.

You are of this world, I am not of this world.

Therefore I said to you, you will die in your sins.

For if you do not believe that I am, you will die in your sins."

Jesus's terminology there is the terminology of the statement to Moses in Exodus chapter 3
when Moses asked the question is he is being sent back to Egypt who will I tell them has

sent me and God says I am that I am has sent you the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob

And Jesus says, you will die in your sins if you do not believe that I am.

We need to understand the dramatic difference in results between believing in Jesus and
not.

And Jesus says the difference is you don't and you'll die in your sins.

But then consider in John chapter 12 and in verse 48, Jesus will further point out that
believing in him is not some

ethereal concept.

It's not a vague emotion.

It's not a conceptual belief.

It's not a pie-in-the-sky thing or a feeling you have in your heart.

It is rather obedience to His commandments.

In John chapter 12 and in verse 48, Jesus says, who rejects me and does not receive my
words has one that judges him.

The word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day.

Jesus says, you don't believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.

And if you don't do what I say, you will die in your sins.

But do we really believe in Jesus?

In Matthew chapter four, you see exhibited in the life of the disciples as Jesus has been
baptized by John, has gone out in the wilderness, and then comes back and begins his

ministry, you see in the example of the lives of the apostles the life of someone who
believes in Jesus.

Because as Jesus begins his ministry, he will go...

towards those who he is going to call to be his apostles and he will say, and follow me.

And every single one of them will drop what they're doing, will leave their job, will
leave their home, will leave their family, and they'll get up and they'll follow Him.

Leaving in Jesus means that we are going to dismiss our former priorities.

that all of the things that this world says are the priorities in life will cease to be
our priorities.

we will finally realize that this world is not our home.

And it doesn't matter how much your bank account holds when you die, and it doesn't matter
the number of deeds that your name is on when you die, and it doesn't matter the size of

the house that you live in when you die, and it doesn't matter what your name is when you
die, and it doesn't matter what people remember about you when you die.

What matters is you will die.

The Hebrew writer says, is it appointed unto men once to die and after this the judgment?

So for the apostles, as they are called by Christ, they leave behind their former
priorities.

Then considering Colossians chapter 3, Paul is writing to the church at Colossae.

He writes to them and says, if you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are
above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.

Set your mind on things above and not on the things of the earth, for you died.

Why is it that someone who believes in Jesus and does so in a biblical sense no longer has
the priorities of the world?

Because they're already dead to the world.

They're already dead to this world.

Notice He says, for you died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

When Christ, who is our life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.

Therefore, put to death your members which are on the earth.

fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.

Because of these things, the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience in which
you yourselves once walked when you lived in them.

Paul says, I know what your life used to be like.

Now it's interesting to note that the church at Colossae, there's no record or recognition
that at the time of Paul writing this letter he had ever been to the church at Colossae.

It's not on the list of the places that he visited.

Much like the book of Romans, he writes to them not having been with them in person.

And yet as someone who did not yet even know them in person, he says, I know what your
life was like.

I know what you used to be because you're not that anymore.

Because that person died.

He says, because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience
in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them, but now you yourselves are to

put off all these.

Anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth.

Do not lie to one another since you have put off the old man with his deeds and have put
on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of him who created him.

where there is neither Greek nor Jews, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian,
slave or free, but Christ is all and in all.

It should go without saying, but we'll mention it anyway, that Paul is very clear as to
when you die.

Paul will write in Romans chapter 6 that when an individual hears what God has said and
believes that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and repents of their sins and confesses the

name of Christ and is baptized into Christ's death in a watery grave of baptism, they rise
to walk in newness of life and they go from being a dead sinner

post-baptism to being an alive Christian.

But as a Christian, ask yourself, do I really believe in Jesus?

And is it exhibited in the life that I live because I no longer live like a dead sinner,
but rather a obedient servant of God?

And you can look at the list and you can see, is this my life?

Does it look like I'm still dead?

or do I look at my life and I see Christ living in me?

Paul will write in Galatians chapter 2.

I have been crucified with Christ.

It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me and the life which I now live in the
flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

Paul says, when you believe in Jesus and you obey His command to die to sin, to be buried
in a watery grave of baptism and be raised to walk in newness of life, and you rise up as

a new creature,

You have relinquished control.

You have relinquished your say on life.

You have relinquished your decision-making process to His.

and you have said, all right, Christ.

You point, I'll go.

You tell me what to do, I'll do it.

sometimes.

It is unfortunate, but it is true that what we really have said is, all right, Christ, you
tell me how far to go, and if I'm comfortable enough going, I'll go.

If it's not too far outside my comfort zone, I'll do it.

As long as I have enough experience and it fits within my talent sphere, I'm right there.

In the moment it's uncomfortable.

In the moment we can't see ourselves doing that.

In the moment that we say, know what, just, that might just be just too much for me.

we grab back that control from Christ and say, sorry, I'm going to control my life.

John chapter 7.

Jesus will also point out that the very doctrine that we speak and teach will also be
affected by our belief in Him.

John chapter 7 and verse 16, Jesus answered them and said, my doctrine is not mine, but
his who sent me.

If anyone wills to do his will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from
God or whether I speak of my own authority.

He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory.

But he who seeks the glory of the one who sent him is true, and no unrighteousness is in
him." Jesus said, you can look at my life and you can look at my speech.

and you can look at my words and you can judge the fact that I'm not speaking of myself.

Because I'm not seeking my own glory, I'm seeking the glory of the Father.

If turn to John chapter 17,

There's supposed to be a seven in that scripture reference.

In John chapter 17.

Versus seven through 11.

We read, now they have known that all things which you have given me are from you.

For I have given to them the words which you have given to me, and they have received them
and have known surely that I came forth from you, and they have believed that you sent me.

I pray for them, I do not pray for the world, but for those whom you have given me, for
they are yours.

And all mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them.

Now I am no longer in the world.

but these are in the world and I come to you Holy Father keep through your name those who
you have given to me that they may be one as we are

Jesus said, didn't come to teach my doctrine.

I came to teach the Father's.

And when He says in that prayer before He goes out to the Garden of Gethsemane to be
betrayed by one of His own, as He says in that prayer, I didn't give them my words.

I gave them yours.

And they have kept them.

He's going to point out that they will then take the Father's words and they will deliver
it to the world and the world will hate them for it.

See, when you believe in Jesus, you don't get to control the doctrine.

You don't get to say, well, I don't believe that because that's not what I want it to be.

You get to submit in worship, in life, in action, in speech, in attitude, in direction, in
future actions, in hope, in expectation.

and in docs.

Because if you don't, you don't believe in God.

You don't believe in Christ.

Because you don't believe that one day you'll be judged for whether or not you've obeyed
their instructions.

If you're here this morning and you're outside the body of Christ, we encourage you to
believe in God.

We encourage you to believe in Christ.

We encourage you to take them at

their word that there's coming a day when this life will be over.

And you'll give an account for your actions, for your decisions, for your words, for your
doctrine, for your worship, and for your life.

And if you're not ready this morning, we encourage you to ask this question.

We encourage you to sit down with us and open the book.

and study it and see what God has said.

because what you're not guaranteed is tomorrow.

If you have need of the invitation of Christ, why not come forward now as we stand?