Believe and Receive

Introduction

It has been said that seeing is believing. In the same train of thought, some people will say, “I’ll believe it when I see it.”

Yet, our eyes can play tricks on us. Let’s take this picture for example:

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Which of the three lines is longer?

Is it the top one, middle one, or bottom one?

Raise your hand if you think it is the top. Raise your hand if you think it is the middle. Raise your hand if you think it is the bottom.

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Actually, all three lines are the same length.

Look at this picture of a duck.

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Do you see the duck? Does anyone see a rabbit?

The next picture is titled, “My wife and my mother-in-law.”

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Can you see them both?

These illustrations serve to help us understand that seeing is not believing. In fact, if we just rely on what we can see, then we limit our understanding of the facts. All three lines were the same length, there was both a duck and a rabbit in the second picture, and there were two women in the last picture.

When it comes to the most important decision that we can make, we must not rely on our ability to see, hear, touch, smell, and taste.

We must simply believe.

Please stand with me in honor of God’s Word as we read 1 Peter 1:8-9 together.

1 Peter 1:8–9 NKJV

8 whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, 9 receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls.

We must believe to receive. In fact, we can not receive without believing.

Let us pray.

Pray

We must believe.

In verse 8, Peter is telling the Christians that Jesus is the one they love, even though they have not seen Him. Yet, they not only love, but they believe.

Believing without seeing may be a big stretch for skeptics. It is even a big stretch for people that want to believe in something. We tend to want to believe something that can be proven in some tangible way.

Whether it is through seeing, touching, hearing, tasting, or smelling, we want to observe before we believe.

Let me use an illustration from Billy Graham:

Have you ever seen the wind? None of us have seen the wind. We have felt the wind, and we have seen the effects of the wind, but we have never seen the wind itself.

When it comes to my relationship with Jesus, I have yet to see Him face to face. However, I have felt Him moving in my life and I have seen the effects of His moving in my life.

Before I was saved, I felt Him convicting me of my sin and my need for Him. I was convinced of the fact that I am a sinner and that Jesus was my only hope. Without seeing Him, I believed the gospel and He saved me. He brought to me salvation.

Believe the Gospel

1 Corinthians 15:1–4 NKJV

1 Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,

Jesus died for our sins according to the scriptures. The Old Testament prophets predicted that the Messiah would come and Isaiah gave great detail concerning the Messiah and His death. Jesus is the fulfillment of those prophecies.

Believe God

James 2:23 NKJV

23 And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God.

To believe the gospel, we must believe in God AND believe Him.

They are not one and the same. One can believe that God exists, but not believe Him when He says that there is only one way to salvation. So, salvation does not come through just believing in Jesus, but believing Jesus.

We must have faith.

Hebrews 11:1 NKJV

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

Hebrews 11:6 NKJV

6 But 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 diligently seek Him.

We must believe in Him, and believe Him. We must believe what He has told us about sin and salvation. Following our belief, we must:

Receive Salvation

1 Peter 1:9 NKJV

9 receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls.

Receiving the salvation of our souls is both a present reality and a future promise. If we have been born again, then we have become new creations through receiving the grace of God through faith. As we will continue next week, we see that this salvation that has been given is also described as grace.

It is by the grace of God that we are saved.

Ephesians 2:8 NKJV

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,

Grace can be defined and understood as God’s kindness toward us. We see a glimpse of it in the manger, we see it clearly displayed on the cross, we see it completed with the resurrection. The kindness of God or the Grace of God must be received through faith.

By believing God and what He has told us, we are saved. There are things that happen in us through salvation.

A couple of weeks ago, we looked at the necessity of trials. In just a moment, I want to expound upon the rejoicing that is referenced in verse 8. Before we get there, let’s look at...

Love

Look at the first phrase of verse 8 with me.

1 Peter 1:8 NKJV

8 whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory,

whom - that is Jesus, having not seen you love.

This truly is an amazing thought. I have never seen Jesus, but I love Him. I love Him because I have felt Him work in my life and I have seen Him work in the lives of others.

I love Him because He saved me.

I love Him because He made me a new creation.

I love Him because He died for me.

I love Him because He loved me first.

I love Him because I know Him.

I love Him because He knows me.

If you have been saved, then there should be an overwhelming love for Jesus. Even though you have not seen Him, you should love Him with everything that you are!

In fact, if you have truly been saved, then you will truly love Jesus.

Love for Jesus is not the only thing that develops in the life of someone that is truly saved. We also develop...

Joy

Let’s look at verse 8 again:

1 Peter 1:8 NKJV

8 whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory,

As we looked at the necessity of trials, we came to the understanding that Jesus uses them to make us like Him. The VBS theme is Concrete and Cranes. He uses trials to build us up, and to shape us like HIm.

I know that it is difficult to be happy when facing difficult times.

However, we need to realize that our joy should not be dictated by our circumstances, but our joy should be dictated by who is with us during those trials!

It’s amazing how your attitude can change when you go from being, “Woe is me” to praising the Lord. If you can’t find something to praise Him for, then it is time to get saved!

Being saved is reason enough to rejoice with joy inexpressible!

This idea of joy inexpressible has the idea of not being able to put into words the joy that is in your heart.

Our joy should not just be inexpressible, but should also be full of glory! If we would truly enter into God’s presence through worship, then we can not help but experience the glory of God.

It has been so long since we have truly rejoiced with joy inexpressible and full of glory that we have lost a desire for it. We have lost the wonder of our salvation.

We’ve been saved for so long that we no longer wonder how God could love someone like me. We need to get back to the basics of our salvation - Loving Jesus and Rejoicing with joy inexpressible and full of glory.

Decision

Pray

Charles Spurgeon used to say, “Little faith will take your soul to heaven, but great faith will bring heaven to your soul.”

What Peter urged his readers to do was exercise love, faith, and rejoicing so that they might experience some of the glory of heaven in the midst of suffering today.

Christian brother or sister, I encourage you to come to the altar today and tell the Lord that you love Him and ask Him to restore to you the joy of your salvation.

Those of you that are here this morning and either know that you are not saved or suspect that you are not saved, I encourage you to come as we sing. I am here to receive you and share with you how to be saved.

Would you stand with me as we sing and would you respond as the Lord is leading?