To Believe

To believe! That's going to be quite an interesting subject today, because we're finding now that in this world where we're living in, that all of the beliefs are trying to be manipulated and changed.

There are certain things that are eternal and spiritual and they cannot change. But Satan likes to come along and give you the appearance that you think you can change it, you think you can improve it, and you think you can do better than God.

Well, all of history tells us no one can do better than God! No one can change:

• what God is
• what God has said
• what happens in our lives

He's given all of us free moral agency to believe!

• What do we believe?
• How do we believe?

Two things about belief:

• you can believe Truth/you can believe partial Truth
• you can believe lies/you can believe complete lies

All of those have to do with what we believe!

What we are seeing in the churches today is quite a very interesting thing. The churches of Orthodox Christianity in the world run surveys every once in a while. Here's another survey, which is a very important one for us to know, and it also is reflective of what it says about the Church of Laodicea, which is, 'I'm rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing.'

Think of it this way: The quickest way that you can understand what a fallacy that is, is when the electricity goes off. Everything we have today is based upon electricity. We even had last week where a modem for one of our computers wasn't working. Without the modem, no Internet; no Internet, no e-mails.

If you have a smart phone and it gets whacked really bad, you've lost everything. Like this one person said when their phone got destroyed, 'My life was destroyed.' Because everything of their life was on this smart-phone.

What has happened to Christianity in this world? You go back in time and you see that there was a time that they pretty well kept the Ten Commandments minus the Sabbath. They lived in a society where they wanted law and order. The society was that there were certain behaviors, especially sexual behaviors, that were perverse and contrary to the Word of God.

Slowly but surely, incrementally, step-by-step, that is what has happened. Then that reflects into the whole community and the whole nation.

Here's a special report which fits in exactly with what we need to talk about today: To Believe!

Decline Of The Church—Half Of Pastors No Longer Have A Biblical Worldview by Alex McFarland Harbingers Daily—Aug. 20, 2024
{https://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=7204}

Now, think of that for a minute!

• What is the Bible for?
• Is it like any other book that we just use it whenever we think we need it?
• What is it?

The article goes on to say:

Though we may not realize it, our worldview shapes every decision we make.

'As a man thinks he is, so he is,' whether for good or whether for evil, and your actions then are motivated by what you believe.

A worldview is the intellectual, emotional, and spiritual filter every individual uses to experience, interpret, and respond to reality. Possessing a Biblical worldview (sometimes called Biblical theism, or a Christian worldview) implies that people's ideas about all aspects of life and eternity derive from Scriptural principles and commands.

Amazing!

This also tells us what we have in the world and why it is. With free moral agency, we have to choose between right and wrong and good and evil. Now, there are two standards of that:

• the standard of God in the Bible
• the standard of Satan the devil and his perversions

And there are mixtures of it in between, which God tells us not to do.

2-Thess. 2—let's see a principle that applies all of the time. This will fall into:

• What do I believe?
• How do I believe it?
• Why do I believe it?

We're told in 1-Thess. 5 that we are 'to prove all things.' If we prove all things by the Scriptures and use the standard of what is right and wrong, Truth and error, as defined by God and not by Satan.

When you have wrong beliefs, you substantiate it by emotionalism rather than facts!

We just saw this with the Democrat National Committee. It's all emotionalism! I looked at that and I thought: How strong is human nature and choice that all of these people out there believe all of these lies? and so thoroughly that they're happy with them?

They jump up and down for joy and then they look at the people who want truth and they look at people who want what is right and they say, you're lying. So everything is upside down. How does that happen?

It shows the whole world system, which will be epitomized by 'the man of sin, the son of perdition going into the Holy Place.'

2-Thess. 2:9 shows a great principle, which applies all of the time: What do we really believe?

• There are people who believe things by feelings, emotion. That can become a trap!
• There are people who believe things by facts but get so harsh and dictatorial that they have no feelings.

So those are the extremes!

2-Thessalonians 2:9: "Even the one whose coming is according to the inner working of Satan..."

That's an interesting thing, isn't it? Inner workings! Our minds are always going all the time. I know the other night I woke up and I was lying there and I put my hands on my ears like this and I could hear my brain and heart working. The brain is always working. And there's a spirit of man, which God has given to us and we are to make choices. It is all the inner working:

• the Way of God
• the Truth of God

OR whatever mixture in between that people have!

"…inner working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders" (v 9). That's an amazing thing!

Verse 10: "And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness…"

That's what I saw at the National Democrat Convention:

• everything was a lie
• everything was emotional
• nothing was factual
• nothing was truth
• completely given over to lies

"…in those who are perishing…" (v 10)

When we have the Spirit of God, we are working toward eternal life. We are working for the things that bring about living, and ultimately at the first resurrection, eternal life will be granted to all of those who are in that resurrection.

But the world is 'that which seems right to a man, the ends thereof is death!' That's what we saw with: the Democrat National Committee and Convention, with the Democrat nominee for President.

Here's the key. If you try and tell them, 'Let's have some truth; what you're saying is not correct.' For example, to show you how big the lies has gone, one little thing: The Department of Labor has been lying about the number of jobs created. And the liars were bragging that we had over three million jobs created during Biden economics and Biden economics is working. Lo and behold, the truth comes out!

So, when you go and you fudge everything and you lie about everything and you're so used to lying that if you told the truth, you would think you're lying. That's the craziness of it all! {transcriber's note for clarity: 819,000 jobs were reported that didn't exist}

Now here's why; "…because they did not receive the love of the Truth, so that they might be saved" (v 10). What is Truth?

• God is True
• His word is True
• Christ is True

One of the things that they're now saying is that Jesus is not the only way! What did Jesus say?

Do anything you please as long as you do it in My name. Salvation is a big broad highway for anyone to do anything they want to do.
NO! He said that:

• the way it is straight
• it is narrow
• it is difficult

What did Jesus say of Himself?

That's why we have to prove all things and hold fast to that which is good or the Truth. All things! We're living in a world that we're bombarded all the time with a mixture of truth and error, and a mixture of subtle subliminal messages that come through television and music and even a printed word to cause people to be engulfed into a complete sexual dysphoria. A falseness to where men can become women and women can become men, which is the absolute epitome of lying! You can't! There are some things that are absolute.

What is absolute? What God has made with all life. Everything after its kind—everything!

He made them male and female. Men cannot become women and women cannot become men. Now, the same thing when it comes to understanding 'religion' or 'Christianity.' People like to come along and say,

This is a good book, but I don't agree with this and I don't agree with that and I don't agree with the other, but I like this here.

They like the name of Jesus; now they say that Jesus is not the only way.

John 14:6: "Jesus said to him, 'I… [you have to prove that He is the Son of God] … am the Way."

Not a way, but the way! That is an absolute! It must be done God's way!

• What is the warning that we have for the end-times? There will be many false preachers and teachers coming and saying that Jesus is the Christ!

But who is sponsoring all of that? Satan the devil!

Jesus says, "…'I am the Way, and the Truth…'" (v 6).

• IF you don't love the Truth
• IF you don't love Jesus
• IF you don't love God the Father
• IF you don't believe Them

THEN you believe a lie!

Somehow even faced with death, people are still trying to strive to get eternal life. That was also given to Adam and Eve. Satan came along and told them:

Look, you've have all of this here that you've heard, but here is another way of looking at good and evil.

IF you choose this way, you will not surely die. When God says, 'IF you don't go My Way, you shall surely die.'

Let's look at something else about today's world; what Jesus said in Luke 18. Let's see what He said. He knew what the world was going to be like. He knew what was coming up at the end-time, because He's the One Who had made all of the prophecies.

You read in Rev. 1, 'I'm the first and the last, the beginning and the ending, the Alpha and the Omega.' 

Luke 18 is talking about persistence in prayer. This widow woman kept coming to this judge who was not a righteous judge and kept bothering him in order to get some relief from her oppressor. Jesus used that as an example how we should pray. 

Luke 18:7: "And shall not God execute vengeance for His elect, who cry out to Him day and night, and patiently watch over them?…. [God will hear. He will hear in His time. He says]: …I tell you that He will execute vengeance for them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of man comes, shall He find the true faith on the earth?" (vs 7-8).

"the faith"—that's what it is in the Greek. So we put in italics, a clarifying word—the true faith—because there are many false faiths on the earth.

That's the way it is even today. Even those in the Church of God do not understand why the Church was torn asunder and scattered the way that it was scattered. I can tell you this, that happened because of sin! Not just a little sin, but lots of sin:

• by a lot of people
• by many ministers
• by the top minister

Because you cannot take the way of man and weld it to the way of God so you can bring something pleasing to carnal people to get them to come your way. That'll never work! It may work temporarily, but it will never work.

Let's come to John 3, and I'm going to do a little reading from the King James Version here, and then we're going to find out: What does it mean to believe in Jesus?

Now there are a lot of people, and we'll look at a survey of supposed 'born again' questions, and that they really don't believe anything! They are deceived because of an improper translation and an improper presentation by the pastor who doesn't believe it himself.

John 3:14 (KJV): "…the Son of man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life" (vs 14-15).

Now that seems pretty automatic, so what they do, they have this simple little prayer:

Oh Jesus, come into my heart, I confess my sins, and I want You as My Lord and Master in my heart.

Then the preacher says, you're saved and you're going to heaven!

If you're in a Pentecostal church, you jump up and down, wave your arms around, roll on the floor, stamp your feet, make a great noise—a delusion!

Verse 16 (KJV): "For God so loved the world…"

Oh yes, you receive the unconditional love of God. Doesn't matter what you do, God loves you.

Verse 16 (KJV): "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

Now that sounds pretty automatic, and that's what people believe!

Before I read to you the correct translation of it, and what it really means, let's see the results, because not only are you to see what the problem is, you are to look at the fruit or the results that it produces.

So, here is a Arizona Christian University poll in 2023; here is the finding of that poll of professing Christians, and they believe they're going to heaven.

In the first place, Jesus said 'No one has ascended into heaven, and you're not going to heaven.' You're not going to heaven; you're going into the grave, and when it comes time for the resurrection, you'll be resurrected—there's more than one resurrection you need to know about! That's another story.

From: The Arizona Christian University Poll:
{https://www.arizonachristian.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/CRC_AWVI2023_Release1.pdf}

Of American adult born-again Christians, only 13% hold a consistently Biblical worldview.

In other words, they have enough of God's Word in their mind that they view the world from God's point of view as He has stated it.

While 22% of pre-teens parents are born-again Christians, only 8% of the teens themselves hold a Biblical worldview.

Meaning they can profess God, they can acknowledge God, but they don't believe God! That's the problem. It doesn't do any good to profess God or acknowledge God, because then you don't know what you're supposed to do.

About 1% of pre-teens have a Biblical worldview. Of young teens, 36% believe God exists and is the all-knowing, all-powerful Creator of the universe.

61% either accept that Jesus Christ sinned while He was on the earth, or believes it's possible.

How can He be the Savior and the Sacrifice to forgive sin if He Himself, by His own choices sinned?

The majority think there are no absolute objective truths and cannot apply a Biblical worldview to their decisions or actions.

In other words: 'I'm going to do what I think. And as long as I profess Jesus, and as long as I'm born-again, everything's going to be fine.' Well, sooner or later, they're going to learn they're wrong.

21% of born-again teenagers believe that they will live with God in eternity because of personal decision to trust Christ.

• What does it mean to trust Christ?
• What does it mean to believe?

But nearly double that believe in reincarnation. 42% believe in reincarnation.

Where does that come from? Hinduism!

Roughly 25% of parents of preteens relegate their churches' responsibility to instilling Christian worldviews in their children.

But they don't because the ministers themselves don't believe it. So, there we have world Christianity based upon the false interpretation of John 3:15-16.

Now let's look at what is it to believe the way that God wants us to believe. That's the first step. Remember these three steps

• believe God: in Him and believe Him
• obey Him

You can't live your life just the way you want to live, because that's what got you in trouble in the first place

• love God with all your heart, mind, soul and being

Everyone reads these verses, and love is a one-way street from God to the individual with no responsibility or change of behavior by the one who believes as long as they profess Jesus.

John 3:15: "So that everyone who believes in Him…"

This word believes in the Greek is a present tense participle. What does that mean? That you are believing continuously.

• not a profession
• not a confession
• not a thought

but belief continuously

• in Him
• in His life
• in what He did
• in what He taught
• in what He wants us to do

"…may not perish…"—not should or shall, because this is the Greek, which is subjunctive meaning there are conditions. That's why the proper translation is, "…may not perish…" That shows there are choices!

That goes clear back to Deut. 30 where God says,

I said before you life and death, blessing and cursing, therefore choose life that you may live, that you may love the Lord your God.

Whatever comes from God to you must come back to God from you by independent choice of what you choose and what you believe. "…may not perish…"—conditions!

• What are the conditions?
• What did Jesus say to the young man who came to Him and said, 'Oh Good Master, what should I do to inherit eternal life?

He was a pretty self-righteous guy; a pretty obedient guy.

• What did Jesus say to him? 'Don't call Me good, there's only one good and that's God.'
• Why did He say that? Because Jesus in the flesh was not God as God is spiritually!

Human flesh is not good, inherently. So that's why He said, 'Don't call Me good, there's only one good and that's God.'

Remember independent free moral agency—IFMA—means you must choose and you must understand your own sins and you must realize the only way out from them is through Jesus Christ!

"…but may have everlasting life" (v 15)—eternal life!

This is what it is and you have to go forward with it. Now let's read some of the other verses after that, because they're important and they go along and clarify what these verses mean. Everyone operates upon what they believe, everyone! When you believe something that isn't true, it comes out to be a mistake and that something happens.

Verse 17: "For God sent not His Son into the world that He might judge the world… [not at that time, but He will] …but that the world might be saved through Him."

What does that mean? Well, we know that those who really know the Bible it means that it's including all the Word of God: the Sabbath and the Holy Days, and the framework of the Plan of God. Now that's an amazing thing!

Verse 18: "The one who believes in Him…"—again, a present tense participle—continually believing in Him!

"…is not judged…"

Why? Because IF you continually believe in Him, you're going to confess your sins every day! Where sins are deeply buried in our mind:

• Isn't that the thing that God wants cleaned up?
• Isn't that the thing that God wants converted?

Yes!

"…but the one who does not believe has already been judged…" (v 18). The judgment comes automatically! Look at that!

"…because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God" (v 18). It means your belief must be absolute!

Verse 19: "And this is the judgment: that the Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness rather than the Light because their works were evil."

This is why there is repentance! Doesn't say so right here, but it implies it. When you come to the beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, He said, 'Repent and believe the Gospel!' John the Baptist was there as a forerunner, repent of your sins.

What are your sins? Your sins are living any way you want to, contrary to the commandments of God! Now you may have some good in it, but it's all basically evil

Verse 20: "For everyone who practices evil…"

What we're doing with this report that I just read to you, they practice evil. They have little Truth, but they practice evil. It's like this. What if you have arsenic in the food? Good food, delicious food? What if it's mostly arsenic? You die! You can't live! That's the way with the false Christianity of this world, 

Verse 20: "For everyone who practices evil hates the Light…" What is the Light?

Now I'm going to give you all an assignment between now and the end of the Feast of Tabernacles. I want you to read and study Psalms 19 and 119. Psa. 119 is the one that tells you about:

• God's Laws
• God's Commandments
• God's Precepts

everything about God!

Psalm 19 tells us how we can distinguish between good and evil by using the Laws of God, and that's what the Ten Commandments are all about.

As I've mentioned how many times, IFeveryone kept all the Ten Commandments just think what the world would be like:

• no crime
• no lawlessness
• no gross sin

The one who practices evil is sinning, and those who sin hate the Law of God! Go to any Sunday-keeping minister and ask him, 'Why don't you keep the Sabbath as God commanded? Well, we changed it! Can any man change the Word of God?

• he can say he can change it
• he can pretend that he has changed it

but

• Has he changed time?
• Has he changed the appointed day that God gave?

All right, now let's read it here:

Psalm 19:7: "The Law of the Lord is done away." That's what they say, isn't it? Don't they say that Jesus came to do away with the Law? What did Jesus say?

Matthew 5:17: "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill"—to make them complete!

They take the word fulfill and say that if He fulfilled it, then it's done away! Then it's already done, and we don't need to do anything! That's not true!

Let's read it properly; Psalm 19:7: "The Law of the LORD is perfect…."

Take the Ten Commandments and go right down the list.

• The true God, is that not perfect?
• No idols that you can make and don't bow down and worship them
• You only worship God. is that not perfect?
• Don't take the name of the Lord your God in vain (3rd commandment)

That's what they do all the time when they say God said what He didn't say. Is that not perfect if you don't take His name in vain?

• It says, remember the Sabbath Day to keep it Holy.

It didn't say choose one day out of seven. Remember the Sabbath Day

God has made it so that the world still has knowledge of the seventh day, which today is Saturday, unless you live in Europe or you belong to the modern corporations where they have made Sunday the seventh day. But God never authorized it!

Psalm 19:7: "The Law of the LORD is perfect… [What does it do?] …restoring the soul…"—gives you life, gives you health, gives you everything that you want and desire, but you've got to do it God's way!

"…the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple" (v 7).

Isn't the goal of everyone to become smart? What's the smartest you can become? In the world you can be a great scientist, and reject God! Are you smart? No!

• What is the smartest you can become?
• What does the Bible tell us? Let this mind be in you, which was in Christ Jesus!
• that's the whole operation of conversion
• that's the whole operation of the Spirit of God

which you get when you're properly baptized and enter into covenant with God!

• it's not a matter of acknowledgement
• it's not a matter of profession

It's a matter of belief, and belief with action to do the will of God!

Verse 8: "The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandments of the LORD are pure, enlightening the eyes."

In other words, the commandments of God educate you in the way of God! Isn't that something?

Those who really know the Truth and know the commandments of God and look at what that Democratic National Convention did, they would see with their own eyes the Word of God that the stranger is risen up high above you and women rule over you, and you all believe in lies! And you call the Truth of God lies. That's a satanic way! 

Verse 9: "The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether."

When God says, this sinner, unrepentant, will die, that's righteous. Why? Because that's to protect the innocent!

Look at what happens with all the immigrants coming in that are criminals and crooks whom Harris let out. They kill! They rape! They don't follow the judgments of God.

Verse 10: "More to be desired than gold, yea, much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover, by them…" (vs 10-11).

Here's the key: When you have the Laws of God written in your heart and written in your mind, and that's what God wants.

• Can you have anything better written in your heart and in your mind?
• Can you have anything that's going to make you any smarter, more intelligent than that? No!

God made us to receive:

• the words of God
• the commandments of God
• the love of God

which is the Truth of God!

Verse 11: "Moreover, by them Your servant is warned; in keeping them there is great reward."

What's the greatest reward of keeping the commandments of God? It keeps you out of trouble! When there are lies, sooner or later, BINGO! they come out!

Verse 12: "Who can understand his errors? Oh, cleanse me from my secret faults."

Clear down in the innermost part of your being. That's where God wants the belief that He wants to be. That's why it is the one who believes in Him and continuously believes in Him, 'may not perish, but may have everlasting life.'

Verse 13: "And keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins…"—because you say, 'not going to do that!'

"…do not let them rule over me…" (v 13). It doesn't say he won't sin, but it doesn't rule over you!

That's the same thing that Paul wrote in Rom. 6 'because you're under grace, sin shall not rule over you.'  The Old Testament agrees with the New Testament.

"…then I shall be blameless, and I shall be innocent of great transgression. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer" (vs 13-14).

What was the big lesson of Job? Remember the big lesson of Job when he came to repentance?

• he thought he was so right
• he thought he was so good
• he thought he was so righteous, even more than God!

He wanted to take God to court and have a judge, judge between them, so that the judge would say to God, 'Yes, Job was really righteous.' What was it that Job was doing? A lot of people, they can read the book of Job and never understand it, but it was this: Job worshiped himself!

All the Laws of God that he kept, he did not acknowledge God! He thought that all of this was from himself. So, when God finally got to him, and he finally repented, what did he say? 'I abhor myself, for no thought can be withheld from You!' That's what God wants!

John 3:20: "For everyone who practices evil hates the Light…"

• Who is the Light? Christ!
• What is also the Light? The Laws of God!

"…and does not come to the Light… [they don't come to Christ] …so that his works may not be exposed; but the one who practices the Truth…" (vs 20-21).

There it is! That's what it needs to be! Practices the Truth!

• doesn't matter what you think contrary to that
• doesn't matter what you believe contrary to that

• the Word of God is Truth
• God is true
• we are made Holy through the Holy Spirit

which brings the Truth of God to us!

But the one who practices, meaning lives by.

"…the Truth comes to the Light… [always coming to God] …so that his works may be manifested, that they have been accomplished by the power of God" (v 21).

Now that's quite an amazing thing! That's why there's repentance, there's baptism, and baptism is a covenant.

This expands upon what we read in John 3; John 5:24: Truly, truly... [or amen, amen; or thus says the Lord, thus says the Lord] …I say to you, the one who hears My Word… [when it's singular that means His whole message] …and believes Him Who sent Me…"

Now you have to believe not only in Christ, but you have to believe in the Father!

What did Jesus say in John 16? He said that 'now you can pray directly to the Father in My name and He will hear you because He loves you! So, you also have to believe in the Father!

"…has everlasting life and does not come into judgment; for he has passed from death into life" (v 24).

Now let's look at something else here. Let me give you just a little bit, a little bit for study so you understand what's going on here.

In the New Testament, the word, the verb, 'pisteuo,' which means believe, is used 250 times in the New Testament. In the book of John, it is used 97 times.

Now the word faith is very similar to 'pisteuo.' Faith, or 'pistis' is used 246 times. So that's 496 times that belief or faith are used in the New Testament. Then 'pisteuos,' faithful or believing, is used 67 times. 

John 6—Jesus fed them with the food and then they tried to find Him. Jesus went and walked across the Sea of Galilee. They finally caught up with Him.

John 6:25: "And after finding Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, 'Rabbi, when did You come here?'"

They were looking for Him. What they were doing, they were looking at Him as the Prophet and they wanted to make Him king, because he fed them food. If you could get this Guy and make Him King, He could give you food every day—you didn't have to work for it; you didn't have to fish for it—'Hey, that's pretty good! Let's get this Guy and make Him King. 

Verse 26: "Jesus answered them and said, 'Truly, truly I say to you, you do not seek Me because you saw the miracles, but because you ate the bread and were satisfied.'"

Here's the whole key to overcoming; v 27: "Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures unto eternal life, which the Son of man shall give to you; for Him has God the Father sealed.'

Now they didn't understand.

Verse 28: "Therefore, they said to Him, 'What shall we do…'"

People want to know what to do. If they're given an easy answer, like 'just profess Jesus,' that won't work.

"…'What shall we do, in order that we ourselves may do the works of God?' Jesus answered and said to them, 'This is the work of God: that you believe in Him Whom He has sent'" (vs 28-29).

That is in Christ, continuous belief in everything that you do. So they went on:

Verse 30: "Therefore, they said to Him, 'What sign will You perform, that we may see it and believe You? What work will You do? Our fathers ate manna in the wilderness, as it is written: "He gave them bread to eat that came down from heaven"'" (vs 30-31).

Verse 32: "Then Jesus said to them, 'Truly, truly I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven; but My Father gives you the true Bread from heaven.'"

Now it shifts into believing the Father even more.

Verse 33: "For the Bread of God is He Who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."

They didn't understand that. He spoke it to them because this is necessary so we can understand what God wants.

Verse 34: "Therefore, they said to Him, 'Lord, give this bread to us always.' Jesus said to them, 'I AM the Bread of Life…'" (vs 34-35).

Now then, Jesus is the Word, He is the Way, He is the Truth, He is the Life! You read in the Old Testament, 'O taste and see that the Lord is good.' So, it's saying that the true Bread of Life is conversion and the Spirit of God and you learning from the Word of God every day so that you believe the way that you need to believe. That's what he's saying here!

"…'I AM the Bread of Life; the one who comes to Me shall never hunger; and the one who believes in Me shall never thirst at any time'" (v 35).

Believes in the present tense participle: is believing. Not just an acknowledgement, not just a profession, but believing!

Verse 36: "But as I said to you, you also have seen Me, yet, you do not believe. All whom the Father gives Me shall come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will in no wise cast out" (vs 36-37).

See, then John goes on to show that God the Father and Jesus Christ are actively behind the call that goes out and the call goes out:

• by preaching
• by the Word of God
• by the Spirit of God

beginning to draw that person to God!

Every one of us can look back and see in our lives there was this one day that something happened. What was that? That was God beginning to deal in your life! When that happens:

• What are you going to do?
• Are you going to believe?
• Are you're going to go God's way?

Verse 38: "For I did not come down from heaven to do My own will, but the will of Him Who sent Me. And this is the will of the Father Who sent Me: that of all whom He has given Me, I should not lose any, but should raise them up in the last day" (vs 38-39).

So he gives the whole Plan of God right here, ending in a resurrection.

Verse 40: "And this is the will of Him Who sent Me: that everyone who sees the Son, and believes in Him…" They were able to see Him! Think about how many people:

• saw Jesus
• were healed by Jesus
• were fed by Jesus
• were taught by Jesus

but didn't believe in Him! That's an amazing thing!

Verse 40: "And this is the will of Him Who sent Me: that everyone who sees the Son, and believes in Him, may have eternal life… [tie in John 3:16—may have] …and I will raise him up at the last day."

Verse 41: "Then the Jews were complaining against Him, because He said, 'I AM the Bread that came down from heaven.'"

They didn't understand it. It's just like today. 'Christians' cannot understand why they need to love God and keep His commandments. They think that it's all done away, and now they're under grace.

Verse 42: "And they were saying, 'Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? Why then does He say, "I came down from heaven"?'"

Because in this evil world, God is only calling a few. The call goes out to many, but few will answer! Like He said, 'Many are called, but few are chosen.' The reason few were chosen is because few respond, and respond under repentance!

'No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draw him.'

So, it's a spiritual thing in the life of everyone who comes to God. God the Father initiates the beginning of the choosing. We have to respond to God.

• Will we repent of our sins?
• Will we confess them?
• Will we see
• how great the love of God is?
• how great His commandments are?

Everything about God is so good!

Verse 45: "It is written in the prophets, 'And they shall all be taught by God.' Therefore, everyone who has heard from the Father, and has learned, comes to Me."

Verse 46: "No one has seen the Father except He Who is from God; He has seen the Father."

Verse 57—Here's what it has to be. I want you to think about this in:

• the way that we believe
• what we believe
• how we believe it
• our convictions
• our thoughts
• everything that motivates us

with the Spirit of God!

Verse 57: "As the living Father has sent Me, and I live by the Father; so also the one who eats Me shall live by Me."

Now, you eat the broken unleavened bread, which is part of His body, symbolic of His body for the Passover. And the true Passover is when that is eaten!

Symbolically, whenever we study the Word of God, we are feasting on the Word of God. When it enters into our minds and becomes part of our thoughts, then this furthers our conversion and then we are practicing the Truth. So, that's quite a thing!

Verse 58: "This is the Bread, which came down from heaven; not as your fathers ate manna, and died. The one who eats this bread shall live forever."

They were all upset when they heard this. They didn't know what to do.

Verse 61: "But Jesus, knowing that His disciples were complaining about this, said to them, 'Does this offend you?'"

Then He revealed something to them. There are some things that you just don't comprehend until it happens. So, He said:

Verse 62: "What if you shall see the Son of man ascending up where He was before?"

Now, they did see that, didn't they? (Acts 1). They saw him go up, but think about everything that happened before He went up.

He wanted them to know. Here is the key to really believing and keeping on believing, and living by every Word of God. Right here:

Verse 63: "It is the Spirit that gives life; the flesh profits nothing…."--meaning that everything that had been inspired by the Spirit of God and we are to do, that is the way that we are to live.

Our lives are to be bound up in believing about Jesus Christ, the Son of God, Who lived perfect life, died for the sins of the world, but individually applied to each one who repents.

But that requires a belief that is beyond just acknowledgement, that is beyond just profession. It is a belief that you set your mind by choice and then are baptized and receive the Holy Spirit of God, which then is something that you need in your mind so that you can become converted.

You don't become converted by just professing. You have to have God's Spirit and that Spirit of God only comes with repentance and baptism and laying on of hands and that Spirit will:

• lead you to practice the Truth
• give you the desire to obey God
• give you the love to love God
• give you what you need to be able to be in the first resurrection

Verse 63: "It is the Spirit that gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you, they are Spirit and they are Life."

That's what's so important. Today we have the whole Bible and in the Bible, The Holy Bible in Its Original Order, A Faithful Version, we have all of the difficulties corrected that have been in many other translations.

• we're thankful to be able to have it
• we're thankful that God gave us the way and the means to be able to do it

But this is not for anything to our credit, but it is for

• to preach by
• to serve the brethren
• to give to those so they can know God

so they can end up understanding what God wants!

• to believe is far more than profession
• to believe is far more than a confession

It is to believe with all your heart, mind, soul and being! This is what's needed. Now remember the whole New Testament is filled with all of this:

• belief
• believing
• faith
• faithfulness

That's what it means to believe!

Scriptures from The Holy Bible in Its Original Order, A Faithful Version (except where noted: KJV)

Scriptural References:

• 2 Thessalonians 2:9-10
• John 14:6
• Luke 18:7-8
• John 3:14-16, 15, 17-20
• Psalm 19:7
• Matthew 5:17
• Psalm 19:7-14
• John 3:20-21
• John 5:24
• John 6:25-42, 45-46, 57-58, 61-63

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• 1 Thessalonians 5
• Revelations 1
• Deuteronomy 30
• Psalm 119
• Romans 6
• John 16
• Acts 1

Also referenced: Articles:

• Decline Of The Church—Half Of Pastors No Longer Have A Biblical Worldview by Alex McFarland Harbingers Daily—Aug. 20, 2024

{https://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=7204}

• The Arizona Christian University Poll:

{https://www.arizonachristian.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/CRC_AWVI2023_Release1.pdf}

FRC:bo/po
Transcribed: 8/29/24

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