Life in His Name / The Gospel of John

 Believing That You May Have Life in His Name
John 20:31 May 7, 2023 – Communion    

1. Introduction:
   1. This is the fourth week of our big bus tour in the book of John.   We are going to jump off one more time at John 20:31 to look at believing so that you might have life in Jesus’ name!
      1. This is the desired result of writing this book and recording Jesus’ miracles so that we would believe in Jesus the Christ, the Son of God so we could have life!    Read 20:30-31
      2. Let us just see one of many examples of this in the book of John.  Turn to John 6:40 Read.
         1. Beholds the Son and believes in him the result is eternal life and will be raised from the dead in the future resurrection!
         2. Not say – beholds the church and goes regularly but says who beholds Jesus and believes in him
         3. Not say – beholds a particular denomination and follows their rites but says who beholds Jesus and believes in him
         4. Not say – beholds God’s laws and tries to keep all of them but says who beholds Jesus and believes in him
         5. Not say – beholds Jesus and tries to follow his example by living a good life but says who beholds Jesus and believes in him
   2. Now this would be an easy time for many of you to check out on this message because you will say to yourself – “I have heard this a million times, yeah, yeah, yeah we need to believe in Jesus to be saved.”
      1. You will hear it for the million and first time today because I want to clarify our understanding just a little bit that could make a big difference in our lives!  
         
         
      2. Because when we pay close attention to the entire New Testament we learn that the gospel, the good news about Jesus, is not only the means by which we are saved at one point in the past, but it is also the means by which we are to walk every day with Jesus!
         1. Simply to be saved I have to admit/confess that I do not have enough to be pleasing to God so I have to turn from myself to Jesus (repentance) and trust in Jesus for my salvation.  
         2. That process is the heart of the entire Christian life, remember we learned just a few weeks ago that the entire Christian life takes a miracle as it is not just hard to do and be what Jesus called us to, it is impossible
            1. So on a daily, moment-by-moment basis I must admit/confess that I do not have enough to do and be what God has called me to do and be; so I must turn from trying hard to Jesus (repentance) and trust Jesus to work a miracle in me!
      3. Another way to say that is like this - the same way in the past that we put faith in the crucified Jesus to save us from the penalty of our sins, in the present we must put faith in the resurrected Jesus to save us from the power of sin!  
         1. Worth a repeat and a camera shot for those who do things like that!
      4. Often my prayer is as simple as the prayer I learned from a friend of mine “Jesus I can’t, you must.”
      5. Bottom line – the gospel we are saved by, is the gospel we live by!  And believing is the way we respond to the gospel!
         1. The gospel is both simple and deep at the same time!
         2. It is always worth learning it even better.  Jack Swider is teaching a class second hour in 102 where you can learn more about the gospel. I encourage you to go and learn.

• So let’s start with 

1.  What does believing mean
   1. Biblical believing is more than a mental or theological agreement and acceptance of something.  Believing is a two sided coin
      1. Yes, on one side, there is a mental or theological agreement and acceptance of some truth.  
      2. But on the other side, you must believe that to the point that you depend and rely upon what you know to be true.
   2. So here is the PBP definition of believing  
      1.  Being persuaded and accepting the truthfulness/reality of whom Jesus is and what he says, and what he has done/does, to the point that I rely/depend upon him and obey him for those truths I am persuaded and accepting!   
      2. This is what biblical belief and believing is, this is what biblical trust and trusting is, this is what biblical faith is! 
2.  How that definition applies to us 
   1. I want to say this morning that believing in Jesus is the way a lost person gets life and believing in Jesus is the way a believer experiences that life on a daily and practical basis!
   2. And that definition is true for someone who is lost who needs to be saved from the penalty of sin and for the believer who needs to be saved from the power of sin.
      1. I hear many Christians who are struggling often– yeah, yeah I know that truth from the Bible already, but they continue to struggle saying “it does not work!”
      2. This often is the problem they have;  while they know the truth – the one side of belief, they are not depending upon, relying upon and obeying what they know in that moment!
      3. I love what Pastor Johnson used to say, “It does not work but he does!    
   3. Listen to the kind of faith that Abraham had, the father of all who believe.  He was nearly 100 years old, his wife in her 90’s, yet barren all her life (barren does not mean she did not have any children but she was not able to have any children)  yet on the other hand God promised him that he would be a father of a multitude of children.
      1. Read 4:19-20  
      2. An important fine tuning to our believing – it is not just a matter of believing the promises but we must also believe in the person who made the promises
      3. Believing takes the promise or the truth and relies upon the person of God who made the promise or declared the truth, to do for you exactly what God said he would do! 

• Let’s look at an illustration of this that I have done before but worth repeating here.

1.  Illustration  
   1.  Illustrate believe, faith, trust, rely for the lost using the wall over here using John 3:16 
      1. Standing on my two legs relying upon my own ability to hold myself up 
         1. Left leg  - who I am – my personhood (good, moral, religious)
         2. Right leg what I do – my performance (good deeds, religious activities, even religious rites like baptism)
      2. Now this wall represents Jesus Christ, who he is and what he has done at the cross and in the resurrection!
      3. Saying faith - now believing the facts of John 3:16– (restate fact that God so loved the world that ….) but I am still standing/relying on my own two legs - believing but not relying.  
      4. Saving faith - now I am going to shift, transfer all my trust to this wall.  If this wall falls, I fall because I am no longer trusting in anything that my legs can do to hold me up!   All my trust is in this wall and its ability to hold me up (all my trust is in Jesus and his death on the cross to pay for my sins and that I will not perish but have eternal life)
   2. Illustrate believe, faith, trust, rely for the believer using the wall over here using Galatians 2:20 
      1. Standing on my two legs relying upon my own ability to hold myself up 
         1. Left leg  - who I am – my personhood (good, moral, religious)
         2. Right leg what I can do , my trying– my own abilities that come out of my  humanity and human resources, systems and contacts  
      2. Now this wall represents Jesus Christ, who he is and what he can do in and through me right now, as I trust him!
      3. Saying faith  - now believing the facts of Galatians 2:20– (restate fact that this wall represents Jesus lives in me and when I now live by faith in him, he will miraculously live his life out through me) but I am still standing/relying on my own two legs -  believing but not relying upon Jesus to work that miracle through me.
         1. Instead I am trusting what I can do, my trying– my own abilities that come out of my  humanity and human resources, systems and contacts  
      4. Sanctifying faith - now I am going to shift, transfer all my trust to this wall.  If this wall falls, I fall because I am no longer trusting in anything that my legs can do to hold me up!   All my trust is in this wall and Jesus’ ability that now as I live by faith in him, that he will miraculously live his life out through me!  

• As we go to 

1.  Communion 
   1. Consider whether you are someone who does not know Jesus or if you do is your faith characterized more as saying faith or a saving/sanctifying faith
      1. Then consider what adjustments you may need to make to your faith.
      2. Then finally thank Jesus for not only dying for you in the past but for living for you in the present!
   2. Elements