That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
What does the word “Believe” mean? Webster 1828 says “To credit upon the authority or testimony of another; to be persuaded of the truth of something upon the declaration of another, or upon evidence furnished by reasons, arguments, and deductions of the mind, or by other circumstances, than personal knowledge.”
We can use that word “Believe” and really not believe at all. I was stationed in Duluth Minnesota when I was in the military. Duluth was the coldest place I had ever been at that time. The city of Duluth sits right on Lake Superior and in the winter months Lake Superior freezes so thick that you could drive a car out on it. Now I, a boy from Georgia, had never seen anything close to that. My dad always told us to keep off lakes and where water was frozen because it would not hold our weight. One cold winter day I was at Lake Superior and decided to walk out on it. I saw cars where people were fishing but I was testing the water as I slowly took each step. Why? Because of the words my dad has taught me “it won’t hold your weight.” Where I was testing you more than likely could have had tractor trailers run over it. Now I was testing the waters because I really didn’t trust the lake. Why was that? Because I believed what my dad had said because he was a man of authority and truth and what he said I believed.
Now in Daniel chapter three we read of 3 men who believed what they could not see when their very lives depended on what they believed.
Nebuchadnezzar had made a golden image and told everyone they were to bow down to it when they heard music. Daniel 3:5 (KJV) That at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath set up:
This wasn’t an option you do it or else.
Daniel 3:6 (KJV) And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.
It didn’t matter who you were, don't fall down and worship you go to the furnace. One day there was a problem: three men whom Nebuchadnezzar had set over the affairs of Babylon didn’t fall down and worship the King's image.
Daniel 3:12 (KJV) There are certain Jews whom thou hast set over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; these men, O king, have not regarded thee: they serve not thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.
What happened next showed what and whom they believed. Daniel 3:16 (KJV) Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. What was their answer?
Daniel 3:17 (KJV) If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. Wow what an answer. These men believed so strongly that their God was well able to save them from the fiery furnace.
Daniel 3:18 (KJV) But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.
Now that is believing, no change of mind. Now King Nebuchadnezzar was so full of fury that he had the furnace turned up 7 times hotter. That furnace was so hot that the men who took these men to the furnace were burned up. A lot could be said about what our anger does to others but I’ll leave that for another day. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were bound yet they believed that God would either deliver them; but if not their God would take them to a much better place. Read what happened. Daniel 3:24 (KJV) Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonied, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king. Something isn’t right here. How are there four and how in the world are they not burned up?
Daniel 3:25 (KJV) He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God. These three men believed, and their belief was not just talk, it was action. Many never see the wonders of God because they believe by talk not by action.
It was late one night an old man lay in a hospital bed in a coma. He hadn’t spoken in weeks, not a word. Many years earlier this man had asked the Lord to forgive him of his sin and his life changed. He became a member of a good church and did what he could as he followed the Lord the best he knew how. Now everyone is sitting around a bed doing what they could for their granddad and their loved one. Then it happened, the old man sat up in the bed as if nothing had ever been wrong. With a clear and loud voice he said these words “Oh how beautiful the colors oh my.” He then fell over and was gone. What happened? His family got to witness what their loved one had believed
Psalms 116:15 (KJV) Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.
Hold up your hand if your belief is this strong.
