The basis of this exhortation came from the last time I had to teach Adult Sunday school, and we were studying Romans 8. The more learned here would say I had an epiphany that day, but in my lingo, the light bulb finally came on! This exhortation is based on Rom 8:31: “if God is for us, who is against us?” After studying this verse I finally understood what our friend Wilma in California believes. Wilma is 95 years old and ever since I have known her, she’s had this positive attitude that she is going to be in the kingdom. Now me, just being newly baptized when I met Wilma, I thought at that time there was no way I was worthy of the Kingdom. I felt the only thing I could say for sure was that I would be at the judgment seat because I was baptized, and that the only thing that would get me into the kingdom was God’s grace and mercy. I couldn’t understand how she could be so sure of herself. Now, almost 30 years later, I see the flaws in my thinking.
At Bible School I asked 18 people these questions :
- Will you be at the judgment seat? Yes or No.
- Will you be in the kingdom? Yes; No; Not sure, but hope so.
The answers were 18, ‘yes I will be at the judgment seat’; nine said ‘yes’ they would be in the kingdom and nine said ‘not sure but hoped to be’. The nine yes’s were from older people, or should I say, those who have been baptized longer.
By the way I also asked some little kids, six to ten years old or so, if they would be in the kingdom, and they all said ‘yes’! Doesn’t that remind you what Christ said in Mark 10:15: “Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.”1So, we need to be like little children in our faith and belief. Kids believe what parents and Sunday school teachers tell them, almost a blind faith — they believe it when told they will be in the kingdom. Then at some point in their life they get baptized because they believe the promises of God. As we grow, the cares or lusts of the world start to encroach and our faith may wander or at least not continue to grow. We recognize that we can never be worthy of the kingdom, that it is only by His grace and mercy that we will be there. It’s those of us that aren’t sure but only hope they will be in the kingdom, you are the ones that I’m trying to encourage today and to reinforce the rest of us. As we age, we learn more about faith and it begins to grow but it took a long time for me. Here I am in my sixth decade, but the light bulb finally came on.
Our faith gets stronger when we truly start to believe God’s promises and here is one promise that I want you to memorize: “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom”( Luke 12:32). Did you hear that? It is God’s good pleasure to give us the kingdom — we must believe that. We must trust in God and what He says so that we know that it is His good pleasure to give us the kingdom. That is what I never understood about our friend Wilma whom I’ve known for 30 years. She was always so sure she would be in the kingdom and I couldn’t understand how she could be so sure, but now I know…because THE BIBLE TOLD HER SO. Just like the children’s song, “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so”. So let our faith be more like that of little children and believe in God’s promises. If you believe them, you should feel sure that you will be in the kingdom. And I hope when I’m done here today that 18 of 18 would say, “YES, I’ll see you there!”
So, we must have faith in the promises and believe them. “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance”(2Pet 3:9). Faith is vital: “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him”( Heb 11:6). It is also true that none of us will be in the Kingdom without God’s mercy and grace but are we putting our faith in that alone? “For by grace you have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God”(Eph 2:8). So, faith is vital but as James says in James 2:14: “What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him?” As we know, faith without works is dead. Therefore, I would submit that grace and mercy hang on our faith. Faith does not hang on grace and mercy. Let me say that again — faith does not depend on grace and mercy but grace and mercy depend on our faith. And if we truly have faith, the works will follow. So even if we have faith enough to be baptized but don’t remain in Christ, if we leave the Truth and no longer believe the promises, faith won’t get us grace and mercy. Our ultimate salvation of course is not guaranteed, there is no ‘once saved, always saved’. There are conditions — we must remain faithful and obedient to God’s will as we are told in Rom 2: 6-7 “God will render to each person according to his deeds; to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, that is, eternal life.” We must remain ‘in Christ’ — that is to daily walk and try to be like him. Our faith should be creating positive changes in us knowing that we won’t change overnight. Now we know, we are weak creatures of the dust and fail continually but as it says in Prov 24:16: “a righteous man falls seven times, and rises again, but the wicked stumble in time of calamity.” That doesn’t mean we can stumble ONLY seven times, the point here is to never give up. We will continue to fail as Paul said in Rom 7:19: “For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want.” As long as we keep trying and never give up, God will keep his promises to us.
Back to faith…
Luke 18:8 says, “when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” So, what is the definition of faith? Faith is the conviction of the truth of anything In short, faith to us, is belief with the predominant idea of trust or confidence in God and in Christ.
Now, Heb.11:1 says: “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for, being convinced of what we do not see”.
So do you have faith enough to get you in the Kingdom? Faith in what? Faith in the promises of God?
I know you believe the Bible is the Word of God. I know you believe and have faith that there is a God for Isa.45:5 says: “I am the LORD, and there is no other; besides me there is no god.”
I know you believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is the son of God. For Matt. 3:17 says “And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”
I know you believe that Jesus died for our sins and was raised from the dead. It is my feeling that this is the very core of our beliefs: THAT THE LORD JESUS CHRIST WAS CRUCIFIED AND WAS RAISED FROM THE DEAD!! Paul says, “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you shall be saved; for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, ‘Whoever believes in him will not be disappointed’ ” Rom 10:9-11. For with the heart one believes and thus has righteousness and with the mouth one confesses and thus has salvation. And Jesus’ resurrection is our guarantee, for by it he “confirms the promises made unto the fathers” (Rom. 15:8). This one fact gives us complete certainty and overcomes doubt! Do you believe we will be like him? That is, we will be raised and in the kingdom? Because if you do, you already believe you’ll be in the kingdom. I know you don’t believe there is a devil that makes you do things that you do not want to do. And you do not believe in an immortal soul. And I know you believe that Jesus Christ will return to earth and establish God’s Kingdom here on earth. But, will you be there? We know we are responsible for our actions and will have to give account of what we have done. I know that you believe that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were the fathers of the Jewish Nation, and that the promises given to them have an effect on us today. And that God brought them out of a place of sin (Egypt) by great signs and miracles. I know you believe in the good news and tidings of the Bible. And if you believe all these things, you are surely responsible.
If you believe all these things you have faith enough already in the promises. So if you are not baptized and believe all these things, I say again if you believe all these things and are not baptized, I have just one question, WHY? We are already in the end times and Christ is at the door. The lights are on, but are you home? But if you believe all these things and are baptized you DO have enough faith and may just not realize it yet. If you are baptized and believe in the promises that God has given us, in His word, you WILL be in the kingdom. Who wouldn’t want to be in a place of no more sorrow or suffering or pain?
Faith and a Baseball
So let us liken our faith to a baseball. Do you how a baseball is made, what it looks like on the inside? First of all it has a center core, then many wrappings of string, and then a covering to protect everything inside.
Now, if we have the beliefs and the faith I have spoken of, then that is the core of the ball. If that is true, then the first wrapping around the core is represented by our baptism. Baptism confirms our faith, but can faith and baptism by itself get us into the kingdom? NO. Now we have to wrap our faith with works. What are works? Contributing to the needs of others, both with material goods and with physical helps like mowing the lawn or cleaning the house, but we also need to give spiritual help where needed. Sometimes that is just an encouraging phone call. Should we do this only to people in our fellowship? No, we are told to help the lost sheep and the stranger. We need to help the sick, the lame, the poor, the mentally ill, the spiritually ill. Let us make as many wraps of these things as we can around our faith, don’t be self-centered and think only of ourselves for that would take away many wraps of good works. Now let us wrap our belief and faith in prayer. NO — let’s wrap our faith in lots of prayer, knowing that it must be in harmony with the will of God to be effective.
We need to also apply lots of wraps of love and forgiveness around our faith, knowing that as we forgive, our Heavenly Father will forgive us. God’s way of forgiveness is a refusal to punish; it is a denial of revenge of on His part, except for disobedience. Paul says, “It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all. Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost sinner, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life” (1Tim 1:15-16).
Peter says it better than I can. He has a whole list of things we should be wrapping around our faith. He is talking to those who have been called into the knowledge of God, and our Savior, Jesus Christ. To paraphrase his words from 2Pet 1:4: He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by the promises, if you have faith, you may be partakers in the promises of the kingdom.
Now here are the wraps: if we apply our efforts to moral excellence, knowledge (studying the word), self-control, perseverance (don’t ever give up), godliness, brotherly kindness and love — lots of love to all people. Love for all starting with God and Christ. For if you are working on these things and improving, no matter how little, you will be moving forward to the kingdom.
Again, to paraphrase 2Pet 1:10, Therefore, people, be all the more sure about his calling and choosing of you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never fail completely. We are also told: “for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you” (2Pet 1:11)
So what will save us? Grace, hope, belief, baptism, knowing the gospel, the blood of Christ, faith, works, and patient endurance. Christ shares our trials and understands our weaknesses. So live in hope and be assured that whatever trials we have are from God for our ultimate benefit.
God has taken all the steps necessary for our salvation. We are sons, and heirs. Nothing stands between us and eternal glory except our own loss of faith; not our sins for they are forgiven. Fear not little flock, there is no limit to God’s grace. If God gave us His only begotten Son, how could He possibly hold back anything?
Now that we have all the string wrapped on the core, we need to put the protective covering on the ball. We find comfort from the words of Paul in Ephesians, where he says:
“Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of his might. Put on the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming missiles of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints” (Eph 6:10-18).
Just never give up.
So now you have all the equipment, the promises, so that when you get knocked out of bounds, like a foul ball, you can always get back in play. For this is what Christ has done for us, to give us a way to get back into fellowship with God — Christ had faith, Christ did the works, Christ believed the promises of God. Christ died and was resurrected in newness of life and we shall be like Him. Here in the bread and the wine are the promises from God. Do you have faith and do you believe in the promises? I will see you in the kingdom. If God is for us, who can be against us?
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One