What does it mean to believe . . .

To anyone who reads the teachings of Jesus it is clear that the single most important thing that you and I must do in this life is to make sure that we “believe” in Him. “Belief” is the cornerstone of everything that Jesus taught. Consider the following:

“For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.” (John 6:40)

It is God’s will to give eternal life to those who believe.

” . . . unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.” (John 8:24)

Eternal judgment is guaranteed for those who do not.

If you consider Jesus to be at the very least a good moral teacher, these statements must make you stop and seriously contemplate the nature of “belief”. According to Jesus, the single most important question that you and I need to answer is “Do I believe in Jesus?” The quality of our eternal existence hangs in the balance.

How would you answer that question? “Do I believe in Jesus?” A lot of people in America today would answer “yes”. Polls show that a majority of Americans consider themselves to be Christians. But that sounds more than a little suspect when you consider other instruction which Jesus gave on this same subject. In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said . . .

“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it. . . . Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you.” (Matthew 7:13-14, 21-23)

Ouch! According to Jesus, a significant majority of people are heading for destruction. Only a small percentage are actually finding the “narrow way” which leads to life. A lot of people who thought that they “believed” will find out that they did not. A lot of people will reach the day of judgment with false confidence. How can this be? How can a person intellectually accept certain things about Jesus and yet still be regarded as an “unbeliever?” Some of the people Jesus talks about here believed in He and His power so much that they did miracles in His name. Yet, they did not “believe” in the sense that Jesus says that we must believe. Have we also been deceived? Is there a false perception of what it means to “believe” in Jesus? The answer must clearly be yes. There must be a hollow, shallow, counterfeit “belief” that gives a false sense of security, but is actually deception.

Consider a startling reality. It is possible for someone to “believe” almost everything there is to believe about Jesus, but still go to hell. Do you think that Satan will go to heaven? Clearly not (see Revelation 20:20) But Satan “believes” more about Jesus than a lot of people (if not most people) who think they believe in Jesus. Satan does not just believe . . . he knows as actual historical facts (which he personally eye-witnessed) that Jesus is the eternal Son of God, who created all things, who has authority over all things, who was born of the virgin Mary, who lived a sinless life, who died on a cross for the sins of mankind, who rose again on the third day, who ascended into heaven, who is currently sitting at the right hand of God, who dwells in His followers and is building His kingdom through them. Satan believes all of that and a lot more. He was there. But that “belief” is not going to get him into heaven.

So let me ask you again, do you believe in Jesus? Not in the sense that Satan believes, that in the sense that Jesus tells us we must believe in order to receive eternal life? No other matter in this life is worth even a moment of your time until you’ve settled this one. Don’t give rest to your soul until you are certain.

Is it possible to know for certain? Definitely. Jesus said that it was. It is the reason that John wrote to us about Jesus:

Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name. (John 20:30-31)

These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life. (1 John 5:13)

What does it mean to truly believe? This is one answer that you don’t want to get wrong.

you think you’ve got it bad . . .

Throughout all of the history of mankind, who had it the worst? Who was the person that you can think of who had it worse off than anyone else? Who would you at least nominate for a chance at the award?

I nominate a man who lived amongst the Gerasenes, on the east side of the Sea of Galilee. This man was physically possessed by an entire army of demons. We’re talking fallen angels, followers of the chief of demons, Satan himself. This company of evil warriors completely ruined this man’s life. Can you imagine living in a body that was completely under the control of a whole army of demons. He was a complete and helpless captive within his own body. This created a terrible danger to both himself and others. The townspeople had tried to bind him in order to protect them and him. It failed. They tried many times. It always failed. The demons gave him superhuman strength. No chains or shackles could hold him. He just shattered them. That in itself is amazing. Can you think of the pain that it would inflict upon your body to break through shackles? Your bones might make it through in one piece, but your skin would be ripped to shreds — and the muscle underneath would be crushed and punctured and genarally ripped up as well — probably all of the way to the bone. How do you spell, “no medical care”? The pain and the arduous healing process would be indescribable.

They could not contain him, so instead they drove him away. He lived out on his own, among the tombs – naked and homeless. That in itself would be bad enough — to be totally alone, rejected by everyone, deprived of any and all human companionship, with only the company of the demons who owned you. No love. No kindness. But then to live amongst the tombs — like being in a graveyard, only worse. At least in a graveyard, the bodies are buried. If he got into the tombs, the bodies were wrapped and laid out to rot away. The stench! The grotesqueness! Constantly surrounded by death.

His situation was entirely hopeless. He could not even kill himself to gain relief from it. He was the demons’ home — so they kept him alive. He was in such pain and agony at every level — emotionally, mentally, spiritually, and physically — that the only relief he could gain was to scream at the top of his lungs and beat himself with stones. And this he did . . . day and night . . . day in and day out. Have you ever been in such pain that it gave you relief to slap yourself, or pinch yourself, or cause yourself some other form of pain? That was this man’s normal existence. There have been many many people in terrible situations that you and I would not want to experience. I cannot imagine it getting any worse than this. As bad . . . maybe. Worse . . . I don’t think so.

So what happened? He met the One for whom there is no such thing as impossible situation. One day, Jesus led His disciples into a boat to cross the Sea of Galilee and land on the shore right near the tombs where this man roamed. The demons had no problem identifying who Jesus was. They immediately ran the man over to Jesus and bowed before Him and begged for His mercy. You see, demons have a keen sense of authority. They pay attention to chain of command much better than humans do. And the demons knew that Jesus had complete authority over them. He had already kicked them out of heaven. He could send them to their final resting place in the abyss any time He wanted. So they pleaded with Him not to do so.

Jesus did not have to drive them out. This entire army of demons left, voluntarily, as soon as Jesus gave them permission to do so. This hopeless situation, which mankind could do nothing about, fixed itself at the mere presence of Jesus. How powerful were these demons? There were so many of them and they were so powerful that 2000 pigs were plunged to their death as the result of the demons entering them. Do you know how much power it takes to control 2000 pigs? Even a single pig? That is the power that was controlling this man’s life . . . until He met Jesus. Or should I say, until Jesus sought him out.

The man was never the same again. When the townspeople arrived a short time later to check things out for themselves (those herding the pigs ran and told them what had happened), they found the man competely free of the demons, fully dressed, and in his right mind. As a result, they were terrified. They did not want to deal with that kind of power and authority. So they begged Jesus to leave.  But the man was free from that day forward.  He went on to do great things for God as the first to take the good news of Jesus to the gentiles.

The worst situation that I can imagine, and it had a happy ending. Can you believe it? A happy ending! So how bad do you have it? Could it be worse? Definitely. Has it been worse for others before you? Without a doubt. Is there any such thing as an impossible situation? Not when you are with Jesus. Does He promise to deliver you out of all of your problems? Definitely not. In fact, He promises that you’ll have problems. But He does promise to be with you, to see you through, to use it for your good, and to help shape you into His likeness.

What does this say about Jesus’ authority? There is no such thing as an impossible situation when Jesus is around. He has total authority over the spiritual realm. Nothing happens in that realm without His permission. He can take Satan’s best shot without falter, cast out demons, open eyes to see, set you free, place His Spirit within you . . . . Is this your Jesus? Do you see Him this way? Do you count on Him to be this way? In the midst of your trials, what do you do? Where do you turn? To whom do you look? You will never face a truly impossible situation . . . if you are with Jesus.

Are you with Jesus? Are you following this man?

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^“They came to the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gerasenes. When He got out of the boat, immediately a man from the tombs with an unclean spirit met Him, and he had his dwelling among the tombs. And no one was able to bind him anymore, even with a chain; because he had often been bound with shackles and chains, and the chains had been torn apart by him and the shackles broken in pieces, and no one was strong enough to subdue him. Constantly, night and day, he was screaming among the tombs and in the mountains, and gashing himself with stones. Seeing Jesus from a distance, he ran up and bowed down before Him; and shouting with a loud voice, he said, “What business do we have with each other, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore You by God, do not torment me!” For He had been saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” And He was asking him, “What is your name?” And he said to Him, “My name is Legion; for we are many.” And he began to implore Him earnestly not to send them out of the country. Now there was a large herd of swine feeding nearby on the mountain. The demons implored Him, saying, “Send us into the swine so that we may enter them.” Jesus gave them permission. And coming out, the unclean spirits entered the swine; and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea, about two thousand of them; and they were drowned in the sea. Their herdsmen ran away and reported it in the city and in the country. And the people came to see what it was that had happened. They came to Jesus and observed the man who had been demon-possessed sitting down, clothed and in his right mind, the very man who had had the “legion”; and they became frightened. Those who had seen it described to them how it had happened to the demon-possessed man, and all about the swine. And they began to implore Him to leave their region. As He was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed was imploring Him that he might accompany Him. And He did not let him, but He said to him, “Go home to your people and report to them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He had mercy on you.” And he went away and began to proclaim in Decapolis what great things Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed.” (Mark 5:1-20)

Impossible situations?

On that day, when evening came, He said to them, “Let us go over to the other side.” Leaving the crowd, they took Him along with them in the boat, just as He was; and other boats were with Him. And there arose a fierce gale of wind, and the waves were breaking over the boat so much that the boat was already filling up. Jesus Himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” And He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Hush, be still.” And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm. And He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?” They became very much afraid and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?”  (Mark 4:35-41)

It was evening . . . growing dark. Jesus had spent the day by the Sea of Galilee teaching the masses. Now it was time to go. He told His disciples that they would be going over to the other side of the sea. They took Him in the boat and headed out. Stop. Many of these twelve men who were with Jesus were experienced, professional, fishermen. They had spent their entire lives on the Sea of Galilee. They knew that this was not a particularly wise idea for them to get into a boat and cross over at this moment — and for a whole number of reasons, none of which Mark tells us. We don’t need to know. But Jesus knew. He knew what was about to happen. He wanted it to happen. He deliberately set up the situation to unfold just as it was about to in order to train these men to be His disciples. Are you a disciple of Jesus? Then you need to pay attention.

As they head into the night, the wind kicks in. This is no normal wind. This wind is so strong that it kicks up huge waves that pound over the side of the boat. In spite of the disciples’ best efforts to fight them, the waves begin to swamp the boat with water. The waves are just too high and powerful. They do everything that they know how to do. But they come to their wits end. It is hopeless. The boat is filling with water and they cannot stop it. An impossible situation is upon them. They are about to die, and they know it.

And there is Jesus . . . asleep? What? How? On a cushion, in the back of the boat, which is rocking wildly up and down and back and forth. He’s getting sprayed by the crazy crashing waves, and blown by the powerful wind. But He is asleep? Once again, this is a setup. He knows what is going on. He’s just waiting for them.

The disciples came to Him and in terror said, “Don’t you care that we are dying?” No prayer here. No looking to Him to deliver them. No confidence in Him to be able to handle the situation. Just accusation that He must not care that they are all about to die.

What happened next makes me speechless. Jesus spoke to the wind. Just as a parent would talk to their child, or a master would talk to his slave . . . Jesus spoke to the wind as one who was under His authority. “Hush! Be still!” How many times did your parents say that to you when you were growing up. Jesus says it to the wind. And what happens next is even more amazing. The wind obeyed . . . instantly . . . and completely. The sea went from uncontrolled chaos and certain death, to total stillness and complete calm . . . just like that. Like glass.

What does this say about Jesus’ authority? There is no such thing as an impossible situation when Jesus is around. He has total authority over nature – over the creation. He can make it do (or not do) anything that He wants any time that He wants. He can walk on water, change water to wine, multiply fish and loaves of bread, cause a tree to wither . . . make His creation do anything He wants. Is this your Jesus? Do you see Him this way? Or do you think this in your head, but when push comes to shove you don’t expect Him to come through? Just like the disciples – do you think He doesn’t care about your troubles?

This life is filled with impossible situations. You will face many seemingly impossible situations which you yourself can do absolutely nothing about — just as these fishermen were able to do nothing about this situation. When it happens, what will you do? Where will you turn? Who will you look to? You will never face a truly impossible situation . . . if you are with Jesus.
Are you with Jesus? Are you following this man?