"I Believe" (Oikos First Sunday)

Believing God

Romans 10:1-15

INTRODUCTION

THE APOSTLE'S CREED

"I believe in God the Father, Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth;

And in Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son, our Lord;

Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, Born of the virgin Mary;

Suffered under Pontius Pilate,

Was crucified, dead, and buried;

He descended into hell.

The third day He arose again from the dead;

He ascended into heaven; And sits on the right hand of God the Father Almighty;

From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit;

The holy catholic church;

the communion of saints;

The forgiveness of sins;

The resurrection of the body;

And the life everlasting. Amen."

Bible Passage

Romans 10:1-15 (ESV - English Standard Version)

1Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved.

2For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.

3For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness.

4For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

5For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them.

6But the righteousness based on faith says, "Do not say in your heart, 'Who will ascend into heaven?'" (that is, to bring Christ down)

7"or 'Who will descend into the abyss?'" (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).

8But what does it say? "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart" (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim);

9because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

10For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.

11For the Scripture says, "Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame."

12For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him.

13For "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."

14How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?

15And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!"

1

What is "BELIEF"?

Bible Passage

Romans 10:4 (ESV - English Standard Version)

4For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

Explanation

Believe=pisteuo

to have faith

to have confidence in

to think to be true

to entrust

Hebrews 11 "Hall of Faith"

"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

"By faith"

Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain

Enoch was taken up, he walked with God

Noah built the ark

Abraham obeyed, not knowing where he was going

Sarah received power to conceive, from them born descendants as the stars in heaven

Abraham offered Isaac, believing that God would raise him from the dead

Isaac invoked blessings on Jacob and Esau

Jacob blessed the sons of Joseph

Joseph made mention of the exodus and gave directions concerning his bones

Moses' parents hid him

Moses refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, looking to the reward

by faith he left Egypt

by faith he sprinkled blood over the doorposts

by faith they crossed the Red Sea on DRY LAND

the walls of Jericho fell down

Rahab gave a friendly welcome to the spies

Gideon

Barak

Samson

Jephthah

David

Samuel

The Prophets

conquered kingdoms

enforced justice

obtained promises

stopped the mouths of lions

quenched the power of fire

escaped the edge of the sword

made strong out of weakness

became mighty in war

put foreign armies to flight

Women received back their dead by resurrection

some were tortured

suffered mocking and flogging

chains and imprisonment

stoned

sawn in two

killed with the sword

Bible Passage

Hebrews 11:6 (ESV - English Standard Version)

6And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

Application

Our faith and believing is VITAL to your LIFE as a follower of Christ.

Bible Passage

Mark 1:14-15 (ESV - English Standard Version)

14Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God,

15and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel."

2

Believe with the HEART

Bible Passage

Romans 10:10 (ESV - English Standard Version)

10For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.

Explanation

“The Heart” = kardia

denotes the center of all physical and spiritual life

the soul or mind, as it is the fountain and seat of the thoughts, passions, desires, appetites, affections, purposes, endeavours

Everything you are as a person.  The WHOLE person!

Mind

Body

Soul

You are persuaded/convinced/know by being Born Again, that Christ is who He says He is and that He is the giver of all good things, by His grace and His mercy and His goodness.

You believe with your INTELLECT, the MIND

Believing in God is not BLIND

When you see this house, you KNOW that there was a builder...because there is a BUILDING.  IT HAS INTELLIGENT ORDER.

Psalm 14:1 says, "The fool has said in his heart, there is no God."

IT IS FOOLISHNESS

Bible Passage

2 Peter 3:5 (KJV - King James Version)

5For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:

Explanation

You believe God with your BODY:

You see your body through the eye of your intellect and KNOW that there is a God

QUOTE:

Charles Darwin: "To suppose that the eye could have been formed by natural selection, seems, I freely confess, absurd in the highest possible degree."

When you believe that God MADE your BODY, you will BELIEVE Him with your BODY by caring for it.

You are a good steward of your body

Eat healthy

Be active

Wash it

Use it to the glory of God

You will carry out your LOVE FOR GOD, by LOVINGLY SERVING OTHERS in your BODY

you minister to others in love from humility, not to be seen, but because you genuinely care

You believe God with your SOUL:

The person you are that no one can see.

the CORE of who you are as a person.

We are not these bodies, but we are using these bodies for HIS GLORY

We are INSIDE these bodies

The integrity of your believing God is not how much you believe Him when others see you, but when you are all alone with Him.

Application

To LOVE GOD is to BELIEVE Him and ACT upon that loving belief in loving others as yourself.

3

Believe God

Bible Passage

Romans 10:10 (ESV - English Standard Version)

10For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.

Explanation

"Confesses"

To say the same thing as another;

to agree with

to concede

to profess...declare openly

Confesses what??

What God has said

About Himself:

Holy, Holy, Holy

About us:

sinful, sinful, sinful

If we are to be rescued, our hearts will express and CONFESS and AGREE WITH and SAY THE SAME THING as what God has said.

He is Holy and we are NOT

He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life and WE ARE NOT

He is God and we are NOT

We do not simply believe in God, like little kids believe in Santa Clause, the Easter Bunny, or the Tooth Fairy

We believe God.

Believing IN God vs. Believing God

Bible Passage

James 2:19 (ESV - English Standard Version)

19You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!

Bible Passage

James 2:23 (ESV - English Standard Version)

23and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness"—and he was called a friend of God.

Application

It is not enough to simply believe IN God...We MUST BELIEVE GOD.

Conclusion

What are the essentials to believe God?

The Apostle's Creed shows us the CORE ESSENTIALS from the EARLIEST BELIEVERS of Who God is and what He is doing and will do in Creation.

I pray that God will show us the Ground Level of Himself through these upcoming sermons through the Apostle's Creed...

PRAYER