Sermon Tone Analysis

*Intro* – A fellow being interviewed for church membership was asked, “What do you believe?”

He replied, “Well, I believe the same as the church believes.”

They pressed a bit harder, “Well, what does the church believe.”

“Well, the church believes the same as me.”

By now the elders were pretty exercised so they asked, “Well, what exactly do you and the church believe?”

The guy replied, “The church and me – we believe the same thing.”

Beloved, if you cannot articulate your faith any better than that, it is likely you lack saving faith – the kind that turns a life from darkness to light.

For many, faith means, “Just believe!”

All will be well if we just have faith!

But, did you know that there is a faith which is not a saving faith?

There is – and the Bible talks about it.

In Greek the word believe is the verb form of faith.

Faith is pistis.

Believe is pisteuo.

Same word.

Now, turn to John 2:23-25, “Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing.

(They loved the miracles, and they believed -- pisteuo.

So, isn’t that all that’s required to be saved – believe?

Watch.)

24 But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people 25 and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.”

See that word “entrust”?

Guess what it is in Greek?

Pisteuo.

They believed in Him, but He did not believe in them.

They had faith, but not saving faith.

They loved miracles, but lacked commitment!

They were fairweather believers.

They thought Jesus was cool.

But there was no relationship there – no commitment.

And it matters eternally whether we just see Jesus as a good guy or know Him.

Last week we saw God bypass all the splendor of earth to go straight to the hearts of faith that He found in those humble shepherds for the first gospel presentation.

Their response showed them to be men to true faith.

So our question today is what characterized their saving faith?

*I.

Compelled by the Word*

True faith is always a response to the Word of God.

Lu 2:15, “When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.”

You know, for a lot of people, the departure of the angels would have been the end of faith.

The show is over.

The circus has left town.

Close it down.

But not for these guys.

They were headed to Bethlehem to see this thing that has happened.

Notice they were not headed to Bethlehem to see if it had happened.

They fully expected to find it had happened.

They weren’t going to test God; they were going to affirm God.

They weren’t going to create faith; they were going to confirm faith.

They didn’t go with doubt; they went with dead certainty.

But why?

Why were they so certain?

Because the Lord told them.

True, the message came from angels.

But they recognized them as messengers from God.

The angels brought the Word of God, and their hearts responded – “YES!”

This is why we love the Word.

Not because it’s magic.

But because we see it for what it is – the living Word of God.

The Bible is God speaking!

It sparks faith in responsive hearts.

Saving faith respects men’s opinions, but understands the answers to life’s most perplexing questions cannot be found in any human philosophy, religion or system of psychology.

They can only be revealed by an infinitely wise and loving Creator.

In His Word!

God says in Romans 10:17, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”

How could God be more clear?

Only the Word can stimulate a cold, dead heart and shock it into life.

Saving faith bypasses human wisdom to find its source of wisdom in the fear of the Lord revealed in the Bible.

When it comes to questions of eternal destiny, no fallen, limited human is capable of helping another.

We need God’s revelation.

Bertrand Russell was perhaps the foremost philosopher of the 20th century.

He was also an atheist.

But when asked whether he would be prepared to die for his beliefs, he replied, “Of course not.

After all I may be wrong.”

The sad fact is, of course, that he did die for his beliefs.

We all do.

What we believe is what we take with us into eternity.

There is no escaping that fact.

We all die for our beliefs We can’t afford to be wrong.

Since we haven’t been there, our only hope is revelation from someone who has.

It’s all in the Word.

Saving faith is a positive response to the pull of God’s Word.

Has your heart said Yes to the pull of truth from God?

*II.

Corroborated by Facts*

Faith is often depicted as a leap in the dark.

Just believe.

Most religions are like that.

Just believe.

Everything will work out.

Just have faith.

Faith in what?

Well, faith in faith.

But saving faith is not faith in faith.

It is faith in a God who given evidence of Himself – through Creation, the written Word, and the living Word, Jesus.

Christianity is verifiable.

Lu 2:15-16, “When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger.”

These men already had responsive hearts.

But their faith rested on verifiable facts.

Saving faith is not a blind leap in the dark; it’s based on verifiable historical events.

The Age of Enlightenment in the 18th century, elevated human reason over revelation as ultimate authority.

The credibility of Scripture was drastically undermined where it did not align with scientific theory.