Text:Second
Kings 17:14-15 says, However, they did not listen, but stiffened their
neck like their fathers, who did not believe in the Lord their God. They
rejected His statutes and His covenant which He made with their fathers and His
warnings with which He warned them. And they followed vanity and became vain,
and went after the nations which surrounded them, concerning which the Lord had
commanded them not to do like them.
Just
because your ancestors were men and women of God does not make you the same.
Just because your parents or grandparents were Christians, does not make you
one.
And to the contrary, just because your ancestors
were men and women who may have rejected the living God and his statues and
promises, you don’t have to follow their misguided ways.
Topic:
Unbelief and Belief
Who
are you? Who are you as it relates to your religious beliefs. Who are you as it
relates to your theology? Who are you as it relates to your spirituality? Who
are you as it relates to Christianity?
INTRODUCTION:
John 3:18-19says,Whoever
believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned
already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And
this is the judgment: the light (the good news of a savior) has come
into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light (good
news) because their works were evil.
Are you a Christian believer, or Are you
a non-Christian unbeliever? That is the question this morning. To be or not to
be a Christian believer. That is the question. Why should you become a believer
in Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God?
First of all, you should become a
born-again child of God—a Christian because—all have sinned and come short of
the glory of God. Secondly, you should become a Christian believer because the
wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life.
Furthermore, you should become a
Christian because God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son
that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish but shall have everlasting
life. Jesus said he is the way, the truth and the life: no man goes to the God
except by him.
Is there any other way that your soul
can be saved except through Jesus Christ? The answer is no. There is no other
name whereby we can be saved. There will always be people who will hear the
good news of Jesus Christ and will not believe.
Even one of Jesus’ disciple didn’t
believe Jesus had been resurrected from the dead after walking with him for
three years during Jesus earthly ministry. But Jesus convinced him otherwise
before Jesus ascended into heaven to be with God the Father and to be an
advocate for those whom he left behind and others who would come later to
believe in him by faith and the grace of God. Will you doubt him too like
Jesus’ disciple Thomas? Are you convinced that he is Lord and Savior without
having to receive physical evidence as Thomas?
This morning let us consider two passages
of scriptures in the Bible as they pertain to unbelief and belief as
non-Christians and Christians.
ONE: Unbelief.
The unbelief of the non-Christian.John
3:17-19 says, For God did not send his Son into the world to
condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him
is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because
they have not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. This is the
verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of
light because their deeds were evil.
Why is it that
some people do not become saved or become a Christian? Simply, it is because of
their unbelief. Many people hear good news or the Gospel of a Savior but refuse
to accept him because they love what they are doing more than turning from
their ungodly, dark, wicked ways. They love their dark deeds of partying,
committing adultery, fornicating, lying, fighting, murdering and other wicked
acts. They love living in darkness rather than coming into the light to have
their wickedness purged and forgiven by a loving, forgiving, merciful God.
Revelations 21:8
says,
“But
the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral,
those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars--they will be
consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death." Unbelievers or non-Christian believers will face a
judgment for their rejection of the only name whereby we can be saved—the Lord
Jesus Christ.
VERSE TWO: Belief.
The belief of the Christian.John
1:7-11 says, He (John the Baptist) came as a witness to
testify concerning that light (Jesus the Savior), so that through him all might
believe. He himself (John the Baptist) was not the light( Savior); he came only
as a witness to the light(Jesus the Savior). The true light(Jesus the Savior) that
gives light(truth) to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world,
and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He
came to that which was his own (Jews the chosen people of God to first receive
the good news), but his own did not receive him.
Why is it that
some people become saved or become a Christian? It is because of their belief.
There are false preachers, teachers, prophets and ministers who come in the
name of their god to oppose Jesus Christ and His redemptive work at Calvary.
They disclaim Jesus came in the flesh as the only begotten Son of God, born of
a virgin. However, Romans
10:9 says, “If thou shalt
confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that
God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” Guard yourself
against those anti-christs who preach and teach Jesus Christ did not come in
the flesh as God’s only begotten Son. Guard yourself against those who say that
Jesus is not the way, the truth and life and no man goes to God except through
him. If anyone comes
to you with a teaching or doctrine that opposes or is contrary to the Gospel of
Jesus Christ have nothing to do with them. Fight a good fight for your faith in
the Lord and stand firm in your salvation in the Name of Christ Jesus. Do not
lose your gift of eternal life through the blood of Jesus Christ.
CONCLUSION:
In
closing remember, John 3:16says,
“For God so loved the world that he gave
his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him
shall not perish but have eternal life.”John 14:6: “Jesus answered, "I am the way and the
truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
For God shall bring every
work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it
be evil.” (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14)
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