The Strength of Your Convictions

Introduction

Because this is all about you. And it has to do with your convictions. I want to talk to you about your convictions, spiritual convictions about your convictions regarding the presence of God, the reliability and awesomeness of his holy word, and about a vibrant hope of heaven. A very real and attainable goal. I’m assuming this morning that I am talking to people who have some convictions about those three things and other things that relate to spiritual things that we read about in the Bible. I believe you have some convictions about those things. I want to address those convictions. I want to bolster those convictions because what is tantamount to this discussion this morning is the strength of those convictions. It’s not whether or not you possess those convictions that you believe in God, that you believe the Bible is the Word of God, or you believe heaven is the very real hope for Christians.

This is going to boil down. Your actual partaking in this heaven that we describe and talk about is going to pertain to how strong your convictions are. It is our business here always, and our busyness in this place to bolster and strengthen those convictions. Now, when I think about people in the Bible who had convictions, well, this could be a really long story. But I just want to give one by sake of illustration this morning, and that is these four characters in the book of Daniel, of course, the author himself, Daniel, and his three friends. Somebody said, I don’t know who those guys are. Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, who are those guys? You might know them by their Babylonian names. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These are their Hebrew names.

I like them more. Though they are more often called in Daniel by their Babylonian names, Daniel also had a Babylonian name, Beltishazzar, not Belshazzar, Belteshazzar. These are names that pertain to Babylonian deities. These were their names that all have God or Jehovah in their names. What do we learn about these four characters? They resolved that they would not defile themselves with the king’s food. Now, the reason why that shows such great conviction is not just that the word resolve is used. But because these were young men, these were young men living in captivity in a foreign land, removed from their homeland and the temple where God’s presence was. Family members, I’m not sure how many of them were there, if any. So here are these four boys in a foreign land, four young men, and yet they had the strength of conviction to not defile themselves with the choice food of the king.

What more could be said about Daniel 1? But I’ve got to move on to even greater stories in Daniel. Where the three, Hanani, Mishael, and Azariah, my mission to help you to remember those Hebrew names, Hanani, Ishael, and Azariah, aka, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, are thrown into a fiery furnace. Because they would not bow down before the king’s image. And they said to the most powerful man in all the earth, yes, we don’t need to give you an answer regarding this, O kings. We’re not going to do it. And they cranked up the furnace and threw them in. They had no assurance that they would survive. But they were confident in their God. What great conviction. Chapter 6 is Daniel getting his own taste of that.

When he prays to the God of heaven, like he always does, regardless of the king’s edict about prayer, and he is thrown into a lion’s den. But God shuts the mouths of the lions. Not every righteous person was delivered from such persecution. But in the stories of these four men, notice the great convictions that they had, not knowing for sure the outcome. I think they thought death was a possible outcome. Despite these convictions. So they’re good examples for us as we talk about our convictions. And I want to take you to a passage in 1 Thessalonians chapter 1 to make a point about your convictions. Now again, we’re talking about not the convictions so much of Daniel, Hananiah, Michelle, and Azariah, or even the convictions of the Thessalonians.

I want to use them to talk about your convictions. Paul writes to the church in Thessalonica, which is established in Acts 17. He gives thanks to God for them in verse 2, but he bears in mind in verse 3 here’s who the Thessalonians are, their work of faith, their labor of love, and their steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. These are Christians. This is a church full of conviction. Notice verse 5. He says, our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit. And then I like this. And with full conviction. That’s what we need to cultivate. Full conviction. It comes from the Holy Spirit and embracing his provision of the word for us. Just as you know what kind of men we prove to be, he said among you.

And then these are the results of the Holy Spirit’s work in the Thessalonians. He said, You became imitators of us. Verse 6. Having received the word in much tribulation. I mean, imitators, though, there was opposition. They became an example to the whole region of believers. The word of the Lord sounded forth from them throughout the region and in every place. He goes, I don’t even need to tell you to do better. And what a reception we received. He says in verse 9. You turned from idols to serve a living and true God. Now that’s that’s conviction. And to wait for his son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come. What about your convictions in regard to that?

1. Uncertainty Undermines an All In Commitment

Here’s the point. Let’s talk about your convictions for a second. Uncertainty undermines an all in commitment. If you don’t get anything else out of what I’m saying this morning, please mark this. Uncertainty, a lack of conviction, undermines, it erodes away, commitment in the proper sphere of your heart and life, that is toward God. Uncertainty undermines commitment. And maybe it’s a little redundant, but I’m going to do it anyway. I’m going to call it an all in commitment. Versus a quasi half-hearted, which isn’t really commitment, but that’s how important your conviction is.

2. Conviction Depends on Confidence in God's Word

How are we going to arrive at the proper convictions? Let me say that I say this a lot. I don’t think I can say it too much. Conviction, the right kind of conviction that is going to ultimately lead you to the eternal presence of God and all the glories that attend that is going to be dependent upon your confidence in God’s word. I read some quotes from a couple of doctors who said the Bible is clearly the most influential book the world has ever known. Don’t lose sight of that. That’s true. Abraham Lincoln, the great president, said the Bible is the best gift God has given to man. Patrick Henry, one of our founding fathers, said, it is worth all other books which have ever been printed.

Throughout human history, people have searched for God at some point in their lives because, apart from God, they intuitively sensed that their lives lacked ultimate meaning. Which is probably in part the phrase of Ecclesiastes 3 11, God said eternity in our hearts. Probably due to this, perhaps instilled within us beacon and longing for something more beyond ourselves. The Bible not only claims to be God’s revealed word to man, but explains how we can come to know him personally. Now, why should I trust this? You probably thought I was going to say, because of prophecy. And I am going to say that. Jesus is himself, the spirit of prophecy. It is estimated that over 300 specific references to Jesus, his life, his mission, his work, his death.

Over 330 prophecies directly related to Jesus. Jesus is indeed the spirit of prophecy. Another reference I said, I saw said 350. So if you want to go through and count them on your spare time and give me an exact number, hey, it would be a profitable thing. But some of the passages, maybe not as specific as others, but at least over 300 direct statements. And I could spend this morning. Let’s talk about all 300. Let’s start in Genesis 12, the prophecy that affects the rest of the Bible story, that through the descendants of Abraham, when he didn’t even have one, shall all the descendants of the earth be blessed. That’s the story of the Bible. Thousands of years before it comes to fruition, a couple of thousand anyway.

So many other things. I’ll just pick out a few. We might go to Isaiah 53. That’d be a great lot of them there. I don’t know how many, how many that counts as. The verses of Isaiah 53, but how about Psalm 34 20, which the John narrative draws attention to when it says, not a bone of him shall be broken? Psalm 34.20. That’s sort of cool, isn’t it? Because what did they do? They came along to hasten the deaths of these criminals and breaking their legs, but when they come to Jesus, he was already dead. And so it was a fulfillment. Not a bone of him shall be broken. And they will look upon him whom they have pierced. Also quoted in John 19. Zechariah. That’s Zachariah chapter 12 and verse 10.

Another fulfillment just in relation to the crucifixion. And the fact that he has been betrayed, also in Zechariah chapter 13 by Judas, one of his close friends. Another quotation from the Psalms about his friends and associates who would turn on him. Betrayed by a close friend, and for not 29 pieces of silver, but exactly 30 pieces of silver. You know, if Judas really wanted to mess things up, he could have bargained for 35. He fulfilled prophecy. And when he tried to return the money and threw it at the feet of the chief priest, they went out and bought the potter’s field, which is also mentioned in Zechariah chapter 13. Hundreds of years before it occurs. How could the Old Testament speak in so many different places so specifically about the future?

Can I just throw in God’s pretty amazing? He has incredible knowledge. He’s omniscient that we read about, his understanding is infinite. It’s as if history is already played out before his mind. He knows what’s going to happen, and so he can throw in these tidbits in the Old Testament and say, oh, he’s going to be born in Bethlehem Ephratha, by the way. He’s going to be numbered with the transgressors, by the way. Now, that’s not 330 prophecies. That’s just a handful. But extraordinary. And I would just tell you, there’s no book like that in the world. You’re not going to find that anywhere. In contrast, you have other religious books like the Quran that claims inspiration from a single witness. Muhammad. Now Neil’s point in Acts 2.

That’s this is what struck me. He says, You yourselves know in Acts 2 22, this Jesus of Nazareth, attested to by signs and wonders and miracles. He said, You all know all of this. And he said, We are witnesses. I think he’s speaking of himself in the 12 in Acts 2 later on in that section that Neil read. He said, Look, you all have seen these things. The Quran. Muhammad claims to have an encounter with Gabriel the angel. And we’re asked to believe that on the basis of a single witness. Who allegedly spoke to an angel, who allegedly heard a voice, who allegedly saw visions. And to become a Muslim, you must take one person’s word for it. Now tell me the Quran is like the Bible.

It’s not even close. Furthermore, the Quran claims that the Bible is ordained and revealed by God, and yet it contradicts it. It asserts the golden calf was made by the Samaritan. Samaritans didn’t even exist when the golden calf incident occurs. It approves of drunkenness, unless you are praying. That’s convenient. And denies that Jesus was crucified. And so, not only does fulfilled prophecy bolster our confidence in God’s word, we understand by examining the contents of this book. And I suggested in Bible class, that’s one of the things that happens in the religious world today. People don’t spend enough time really investigating the contents of this book to realize how amazingly unique it is, how extraordinary this book is. And this observation has been made many times by others than myself, but it’s really incredible.

The Bible does not even gloss over the errors of its heroes. We read through even Abraham, the father of the faithful.

3. How Can I Make Sure My Convictions Are Accurate?

So convictions and resulting confidence begin with our trust in this source. But here’s the thing. What is some of my conclusions about this reliable source of information in regard to our creator’s will for us? How we can get to heaven ultimately by what Jesus has done? What if I’m drawing conclusions that are inaccurate because we look at the religious world around us and we have examined the things that people say? And how many people do you talk to? And they’re saying things that are not consistent with this word. It’s discouraging, right? You try to tell, but that’s not what the Bible says, and yet, because of tradition, because of their long practice and belief, it’s hard to get them out of what is so ingrained in them.

And so we get discouraged. But then a question comes in my mind. What if, because of my religious training and my tradition, what if I’m not seeing it for what it really is? Does that thought ever cross your mind? Is Tony deceiving me like other people in the religious world are deceived by religious teachers? Now I’ve got to tell you. I can tell, I can promise you that is not my goal. But there are a lot of religious teachers who would say that’s not my goal, and yet that’s exactly what is happening. They are deceived in regard to their own motives. They are wolves in sheep’s clothing. That’s why we say, Examine these things to see whether they be so. And that’s why we don’t have another book that tells us the way we’re supposed to think about the Bible.

Our creed. The Church of Christ creed. If that book exists, I don’t know it and I don’t want any part of it. Because our creed is the Bible. I don’t need another book to tell me how I need to think about the Bible. This is the way I need to think. I need to make sure that my thinking matches what’s in this book. And Peter talks about that. He said, even Paul, our beloved brother Paul, wrote some things that are difficult to understand. It’s not all on a very elementary level. He said, but the untaught and the unstable, and we don’t need to be in that category. The untaught and the unstable distort or twist or rest. I think I’ve used every translation that I know of there.

Distort, twist or rest the scriptures to their own destruction. So that says we’re left without excuse on that. Even though there were some things difficult to understand. So we need to be careful in our treatment of even these difficult words. And there’s a way to come to an understanding of those words. And so then we have to look at ourselves and say, I don’t want to miss it. Yes, this is the source, but I don’t want to get it wrong. How can I make sure that my convictions are accurate? This means a lot to me. I don’t want to be wrong. I hate being wrong. I’ve been wrong. And Sherry will let me know when I’m wrong. On too frequent of a basis. How can I make sure my convictions are right?

4. It Boils Down to Possessing the Right Motives

First and foremost, it boils down to possessing the right motives. Now I wish I had time to go into 1 John. I have a bunch of things in my notes about 1 John because, and so I just recommend 1 John to you under this point. These things I have written that you might know that you have eternal life. There are so many things in 1 John that John is saying, you can know that you’re in the right relationship with God. And I’m here to tell you this morning, I know that what I am teaching is right, it’s truth, and it’ll get you to heaven if you practice it. But it all boils down to motives, and I take you to John 7.17, just for your consideration on this point.

There’s a lot going on with this verse. I have questions about some of it, but John 7.17, Jesus says, My teaching is not mine, which is an elliptical statement. It’s not just mine, it’s not only mine. My teaching is not mine only. My teaching is not mine, but when you do that, you’re emphasizing the second part. My teaching is not mine, but him who sent me. Jesus is saying, this doesn’t come from me as much as it comes from my heavenly Father. Okay? From the one who sent me. Then he says this. If any man is willing to do his will, he shall know of the teaching. Whether it is of God or whether I speak from myself. Am I just as a man making all of this up?

Or does this come from a heavenly source? They obviously don’t grasp that he’s God in human flesh at this point. Am I just the man of Nazareth who’s making all of this up? Or has it come from God? If any man is willing to do his will, he shall know. Now, just look at his audiences throughout his ministry. Who was saying he’s of the devil? The religious leaders of the day? They have hard hearts. He talks about that in a number of places, Matthew 13. They’re not getting it. Okay? Because they have poor motives. They seek glory for themselves and glory from one another rather than the glory of God, according to John chapter 5. So they’re not getting it, and thus they attribute Jesus’ work to the devil.

But then there are people who are honest and simple, who are looking at Jesus’ ministry and they’re saying, Wow, I was blind, but now I see. I think this guy’s a miracle worker. I think he’s from God, like the man in John 9. You know, he doesn’t have all of these poor motives. He’s just looking at what he sees. And anybody who was just looking at what they see saw a man from God. They saw a teacher from God who was teaching things consistent with Old Testament teaching. And that’s why he said, if your motives are right, you end up in the right place. It’s when our motives go amiss. And so if you’re concerned about what you believe, you need to constantly be examining. Am I willing to do the Father’s will?

Or do I have some agenda of my own that’s pushing my understanding of the Bible? Are there things I want to believe about the Bible, or are there things that are really in the Bible? Motives are everything. And that relates also to the one that God will look to. The one that God looks to is the one who is lowly and contrite of heart. Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, he will exalt you. Don’t think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, as we saw in our Bible class in Romans 12 and verse 3. Motives, it’s all about motives. If you come to God humbly, but if you come to Him in pride, arrogance has been man’s enemy forever. The one who is arrogant of heart.

Habakkuk 2 and verse 4. The proud look, but the just shall live by faith. So if you come to the Bible with the right motives, then you are able to see what it’s saying. If any man is in Christ, he is a new creature. You can’t be saved, as Neil was talking to us about Acts 2, those people who said, We’re sinners. We’re responsible for Jesus’ death. Men and brethren, what shall we do? Repent and be baptized, every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. And so, okay. They didn’t have a big debate about what does repentance mean? I mean, that didn’t follow. They knew that there were sins from which they needed to turn, and they need to be baptized.

And there wasn’t a debate about mode or method. They submitted to the apostles’ instruction. They were immersed in water. They rose to walk in newness of life. They were in Christ. They received those that gladly received his word. Gladly, hey, there’s some motives there. Gladly received his word, were baptized, and there were added that day about 3,000 souls. If any man is in Christ, he’s a new creature. That’s what we teach here. Whatever that means, you’ve got to move from a state of being lost and undone in your sins to being in Christ. Colossians 1 13, write it down. Delivered from the domain of darkness and transferred into the kingdom of God’s dear son. There has to be some event, something that must take place to get you from the domain of darkness, turning from darkness to light.

Acts 26, verse 18. Paul said that was his mission to turn people from the dominion of Satan to the reign of God. Okay. You have to submit to the terms of admission. You know what’s wrong with the religious, most of the religious world is they get this wrong. How can so many people get this wrong? Because the devil is an influence in our world. And if he can keep people out of Christ, he keeps them away from the power of fellowship with God. So that’s where he’s going to do a lot of work. He’s going to promote religious teaching that doesn’t get you into this sphere of relationship with Christ. That’s where it starts.

And once you’re there, repent and be baptized, every one of you on the basis of all that Jesus says, repent and be baptized, every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sin. You transfer, because you have turned from sin unto the Lord and submitted to his teaching, arise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling upon the name of the Lord. You find yourself in the sphere of the saved. You’re a new creature in Christ. But the New Testament is abundantly clear that your work is not done at that point. Paul talks about making his body his slave, exercising self-control, buffeting, not buffeting his body so that he would not be disqualified. So once you are in Christ, in the sphere of the Savior, there is still more work for you to do.

5. What Will Be Required Is Diligence

I know that’s that’s not a four-letter word we like much. But let me make it not a four-letter word. Let me turn it into nine or eight if I say diligent. What will be required once you are in Christ is diligence. And I will take you to just a couple of passages in conclusion. And by the way, this relates to proper motives. If you have a willingness to do the Father’s will, that is going to lead to the practice of diligence or effort in the direction of pleasing God. Let me show you this very quickly in conclusion from 2 Peter chapter 3 and chapter 1. In 2 Peter chapter 3, as Peter is talking about the conclusion of history. He said, all these things are going to be dissolved.

This stuff. This stuff. All going to be gone. He’s going to set the world on fire just like he once destroyed the world with water, except for eight souls. He’s going to set, he’s going to burn all of this up. And then he says, and we’re hastening the coming of the day of God in verse 12. He says, according to his promise, we are looking for what follows this. Heaven. As we’ve talked about new heavens and new earth as it’s described here. In which righteousness dwells. What’s on the other side of this is only that which is right and good. In which righteousness dwells, therefore. Look at verse 14, please. Therefore, beloved. Beloved, therefore. Since you look for these things, if we’re going to preach the gospel, we’ve got to preach verse 14.

Be diligent to be found by him in peace, spotless, and blameless.

Diligence will be required in regard to these convictions that you have. And then I’d take you all the way back to chapter 1, where he says, you have escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. You have become partakers of the divine nature. You have embraced magnificent and precious promises. And then what? He says, now applying all diligence. Add to your faith. And he goes through all of these qualities that we’re to be working on. They’re to be ours and increasing. And that’s why we’re here today to make sure those qualities are ours and are increasing. Moral excellence. Godliness, brotherly kindness, love. All the things that are mentioned there. And then he says, if these qualities are yours and are increasing, he says, He will abundantly supply an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Conclusion

So this is the soup. This is the recipe for having strong convictions that will lead us to glory.

Well, about every day.

Number eight. God meets all my needs abundantly.

What is your conviction about that? Is that really why you think? God meets all my needs abundantly. I’m here to tell you there’s no one else who can.

Not the love of your life. Not this person or that person, not this family member or that family member. Only God can meet all your needs. And he does it abundantly. Do you believe that? And if that’s your conviction this morning, can we assist you in meeting the terms of admission so that you can know the blessed state of being in Christ? That’s what we’re all about in this place. Let’s stand and sing.