Each of us are called to make a decision to believe God’s word. We need to believe wholeheartedly. John 3:14 “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him. 16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.” When we go back to the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve had to make a decision to believe God’s word. In their case it was to keep life because they would not die. At the same time satan was trying to deceive them into not believing God’s word. He is still the great deceiver and has been very successful to this day.

    Adam and Eve were told exactly what would happen if they disobeyed, just as Israel was told and the church was told, but satan asked this question that he still is asking; Genesis 3:1 “He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” Eve responded and told satan exactly what God said. Genesis 3:3 ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’” Then satan lies to Eve and says 4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” They believed satan instead of God and they would then return to the ground in death. Adam and Eve chose wrong and so did Israel and then Judah and then the Jews and now the church even though all those wrong choices are laid out in scripture. God’s people did not learn from the past and continued to choose wrong. Everyone is given a choice to believe or not to believe, even Mary the mother of Jesus. You would think with what she was told and all that she saw, there would be no question whatsoever, but even Mary had to decide if Jesus was the Messiah, which means she would believe God’s word. Luke 1:28 “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” 29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” 34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” 35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. 37 For no word from God will ever fail.” 38 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.” Elizabeth said to Mary, Luke 1:45 “Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!” But later we see confusion as to whether Jesus was the Messiah or was He possessed as the leaders were saying. Mark 3:22 “The teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebul! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons.” We also saw the family of Jesus wondering the same thing. Mark 3:21 “When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.” The good news is that Mary and family chose right as they were in the Upper Room, Acts 1:14 They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.” Jesus had said Luke 24:48 “You are witnesses of these things. 49 I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”

    Another person that you would think would never even question if Jesus was the Messiah was John the Baptist. Luke 1:11 “Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. 12 When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. 13 But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. 14 He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, 15 for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. 16 He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. 17 And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” Jesus would later say, Matthew 11:14 “And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come. 15 Whoever has ears, let them hear.” The Jews were looking for Elijah to come as we see when Jesus asked Peter, Matthew 16:13 “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” 14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Many Jews and many in the church are still looking for Elijah to return, but Jesus closed the door already on that. Those who believe Elijah is still coming refuse to believe the words of Jesus.

    John understood his role. John 1:29 “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ 31 I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.” 32 Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. 33 And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.” John 3:25 “An argument developed between some of John’s disciples and a certain Jew over the matter of ceremonial washing. 26 They came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan—the one you testified about—look, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him.” 27 To this John replied, “A person can receive only what is given them from heaven. 28 You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah but am sent ahead of him.’ 29 The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. 30 He must become greater; I must become less.” 31 The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks as one from the earth. The one who comes from heaven is above all. 32 He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony. 33 Whoever has accepted it has certified that God is truthful. 34 For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit. 35 The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands. 36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.”

    John the Baptist spoke powerfully about Jesus and was fearless. John 10:41 “Though John never performed a sign, all that John said about this man was true.” We are told that he spoke forcefully and was not afraid to do so. Matthew 3:4 “John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. 5 People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. 6 Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. 7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. 9 And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. 10 The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. 11 “I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” John the Baptist even spoke truth to Herod. Matthew 14:3 “Now Herod had arrested John and bound him and put him in prison because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, 4 for John had been saying to him: “It is not lawful for you to have her.” 5 Herod wanted to kill John, but he was afraid of the people, because they considered John a prophet.”

    John is now in prison and about to die and John, who said all of these things above, wanted to know for sure if Jesus was the Messiah. Who knows what thoughts would have been going through his mind, just as thoughts of doubt go through our minds. John did not want to die without knowing for sure, so he sends his disciples to find out. Matthew 11:2 “When John, who was in prison, heard about the deeds of the Messiah, he sent his disciples 3 to ask him, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?” The Jews refused to believe, and many died and will die without believing Jesus was the Messiah. The answer Jesus gave was a simple but a powerful one and should still apply today. Matthew 11:4 “Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: 5 The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. 6 Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.” Even John the Baptist could have stumbled. We will talk more about all that is not happening in the church on Easter Sunday.

    Now the question is who do you say Jesus is? The right answer is as Peter said, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” But if you say that, you also must include “the blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor.” Do you believe that? Because Jesus is the Messiah, this all happened and should still be happening. Matthew 4:23 “Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. 24 News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed; and he healed them.” John 21:24 “This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true. 25 Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.” John 20:30 “Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”

    Yes, many will say that they believe Jesus did all those things back then, but this is where the belief changes. Most in the church do not believe the Jesus is the Messiah who rose from the dead and still lives because they do not believe the same power is available today to all who believe, even though Paul said, Ephesians 1:18 “the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength 20 he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead.” Yes, some will say if God so chooses to heal, raise the dead and cast out demons that is okay, but don’t say a disciple should or could do as Jesus did. Scripture says it is possible and what the church should be doing. Jesus called his disciples and gave them the same power He had. Luke 9:1 “When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, 2 and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.” Mark 6:12 “They went out and preached that people should repent. 13 They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.” Acts 8:5 “Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah there. 6 When the crowds heard Philip and saw the signs he performed, they all paid close attention to what he said. 7 For with shrieks, impure spirits came out of many, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. 8 So there was great joy in that city.” If we proclaim Jesus to be the risen Messiah, then we must proclaim there is actually power in the blood, not just sing a song about it.

    This comes down to belief. John 12:37 “Even after Jesus had performed so many signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him. 38 This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet: “Lord, who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” The gospel message includes power to do as Jesus did. To this day the Jews do not believe Jesus is the Messiah and the church who says they believe Jesus is the Messiah do not believe the power given at Pentecost is still available today. It is not just the cessationists who do not believe there is power available to the disciples of Jesus, most of the church has become very comfortable in their powerlessness as if this was normal Christianity. Paul said Galatians 3:3 “Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh? 4 Have you experienced so much in vain—if it really was in vain? 5 So again I ask, does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard? 6 So also Abraham “believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” Just because all the miracles Paul talked about are not written down does not mean they stopped. What stops miracles is rebellion against God’s word which stems from arrogance and unbelief.

    Jesus said John 14:12 “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.” This takes faith. In the above verse Paul talks about Abraham believing God. Romans 4:18 “Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 19 Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. 20 Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, 21 being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. 22 This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.” 23 The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, 24 but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.” Are you fully persuaded? Have you decided if Jesus is still Messiah and king and believe that His disciples can still be empowered from on High.”