Trinity Baptist Church

 

For the last couple of weeks, we’ve been studying about the doctrine of salvation. At first glance, that seems a little unnecessary. After all, our assumption is often that everyone knows about Jesus and what it means to be saved.

 

I remember when I went to my first pastorate, one of the deacons told me they had visited everyone in the area, and there probably weren’t five people that weren’t saved. And my first year at that church we baptized 13 of that five.

 

I never want to assume that everyone know what it means to be saved because a lot of people don’t understand that need. That’s why we spent some time talking about the Biblical foundation of salvation, including repentance and responding to God’s offer of salvation. 

 

Then last week we talked about the new birth and what it means to be born again. 

 

Now because we assume everyone knows about Jesus and how to be saved, we tend to throw around that we don't really know what they mean.

 

For instance, what if someone came to you and said, "I want to know how to saved.” Chances are you would respond by saying, "Well, you must believe." And they said, "Well, what does believe mean?"

 

What would you say? How would you respond?

 

Now I would suggest to you that the answer to that question is of the utmost importance. Certainly, we should be very adept at answering that question, because that's the most substantive question in the process of evangelism, "What does it mean to be believe?"

 

We will often say to a person, "Well, believe on the Lord Jesus," and that's right. After all, the Philippian jailer, in Acts 16:30 said, "What must I do to be saved?" And Paul said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved . . ." And though it isn't recorded in the text, he might have also said, "I don't know what believe means." Because in the next verse, Paul spoke to him of many things, so maybe he didn't even know what believe meant, and had to be instructed.

 

The first time you or I ever heard about "believing in the Lord Jesus Christ," it probably entered our minds, "What do you mean believe?" And so, we need to address that question.

 

I want to help all of us this morning to understand this. For those of you who may not be Christians, this may be the most important definition you've ever heard in your life. For those of us who are already Christians, we trust that this will arm us for usefulness as we go out to speak to other folks, encouraging them to "believe on the Lord Jesus Christ," and needing to be able to define exactly what we mean by that.

 

So I want to address believing two ways. First I want to look at it objectively , and then I want to look at it subjectively.

 

I. OBJECTIVELY

 

First of all, from an objective, outward, concrete perspective, "what does it mean to believe?" I want you to look in your Bible, at the tenth chapter of Romans. And I would draw your attention to two familiar verses, verses 9 and 10.

 

verses 9 and 10

 

Now Paul is telling us how to be saved. And he says, to be saved you must believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, and you must confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord.

 

Such belief, he says, results in righteousness, such confession results in salvation. And let me quickly insert that salvation and righteousness are two terms describing the same thing.

 

Righteousness is a positive term defining our new life and salvation is a negative term defining our new life. We use the term salvation so often that we think of it as positive, but it isn't.  It’s a negative term. It means to be rescued from something.

 

It does not necessarily emphasize what we become. It emphasizes what we have ceased to be. We have been delivered; we have been rescued.

 

Put them together and salvation means that having been delivered from sin and death and Satan (that’s salvation), we are now made right with God (righteousness).

 

 

 

So Paul says, "Here are the two elements, the two very objective, concrete, observable elements, with regard to this new life in Christ.

 

One is, to confess with the mouth, the other is to believe in the heart."

 

I want us to spend a little time looking at these basics because they are fundamental. What does it mean to believe? 

 

Look at verse 10 for a moment, "For with the heart man believes."

 

Now in what is he to believe? The answer is given in verse 9

 

It says it in verse 9, "He believes in the heart that God raised Jesus from the dead." So in order for salvation to occur, God requires a belief in the resurrection of Christ.

 

Now you say, "But why only that? How can you say that if you believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you'll be saved? Isn't there a lot more to the Gospel? What about the Incarnation, God becoming man; isn't there the life of Christ, His miraculous work; isn't there the great teaching of Jesus; isn't there His substitutionary death on the Cross as a payment for your sin and mine; isn't there His ascension into Heaven; what about His intercessory work as High Priest; what about His Second Coming as KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS returning in glory to rule the world? What about all of that?"

 

Is it simply enough to believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead? To believe the objective historical fact of the resurrection, is that all?

 

Why only this? Well, the answer is very simple. 

 

The resurrection is the ultimate fulfillment of everything else in the life and ministry of Christ. The resurrection is the focal point. It validates all other incidents and events. And if you believe in the resurrection, it is a foregone conclusion that everything else "falls into place." For all that Christ is and all that He has done and will do is bound up in the glorious reality, "That God raised Him from the dead."

 

God raised Him from the dead, because He was worthy of resurrection. The resurrection means He had lived a perfect life. It means He had accomplished a perfect redemption.

 

It means that the work on the cross was sufficient; it assumes His perfect life; it assumes His perfect atonement, His perfect work on the cross. The resurrection of Christ by the Father, was the Father's "stamp of approval" on His life, His ministry, and His death.

 

Furthermore, the fact that God raised Him from the dead, indicates that God then raised Him that He might exalt Him to His own right hand, where He now sits in the seat of authority, interceding for the Church, from which He has sent the Holy Spirit, and from which someday He Himself will return as KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

 

The resurrection then was God's approval of all that went before, and God's preparation for all that would come after. The resurrection then becomes the peak in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ.

 

Therefore, when I profess my faith in Jesus by saying, "I believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the bodily, literal resurrection," that means I believe that He actually died. If I believe in His resurrection, I believe that God raised Him because He had accomplished in His death what God wanted Him to accomplish.

 

And what did God want Him to accomplish? The atonement of the sins of the world. If God raised Him from the dead, and I believe it, it is because God affirmed His perfect life, and His worthiness to be exalted to God's own right hand.

 

And if God raised Him from the dead, then I affirm that He is seated at the right hand of God interceding, and He is there awaiting the return that is promised.

 

So everything focuses on the Resurrection, and when Paul says, ". . . to believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved," he meant that in so believing, you affirm the deity of Christ; the death atonement of Christ; not only the resurrection of Christ; His ascension; His priestly work, and His coming glory.

 

It’s all there in the Resurrection.

 

Now listen: That is so much more than just "Believing in God" vaguely. People say, "Oh I believe in God," or "I believe in Jesus."

There are a lot of people who acknowledge Jesus. They give Him a nod historically, or commend His teaching or praise His example. They want to commend Him as one of many ways to approach God. 

 

But Paul says you must "Believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead," which sets Him apart as the Savior, the Messiah. That's very objective faith. Salvation then is, really produced by believing. Believing in what? Believing in the person and work of Christ as culminated in His resurrection. That's essential, that is an objective element in saving faith.

 

Secondly, there is another objective element found in verse 10. He says, "With the mouth he confesses Jesus as Lord."

 

That means accompanying this belief there is an outward, verbal, confession that Jesus is Sovereign; that Jesus is Ruler; that Jesus is in charge; that He is Lord. 

 

Now follow this thought with me: As far as salvation is concerned, when I say, "I believe that God raised Jesus from the dead," I am saying, I believe that He accomplished salvation on the cross."

 

Why? Because that's the only way that God would ever raise Him. God would not exalt Him to His right hand, if He hadn't accomplished salvation. So when I say, "I believe God raised Jesus from the dead," I am saying that, "I also believe that He accomplished my salvation on the cross."

I am therefore saying that, "I am dependent on someone else to accomplish my salvation," and I am confessing that, "I am unable myself to do that."

 

Did you get that? That's very important thinking. When you confess with your mouth, "Jesus as Lord," you are affirming His authority, and His sovereignty, and His ruler-ship. When you say, "I believe in my heart that God raised Him from the dead," you are affirming that He is the source of salvation. On both counts, you are acknowledging your dependence upon God.

 

Your saying on the one-hand, "I believe in the Resurrection," which means, "I believe that Christ accomplished my salvation, because I couldn't do it myself," so you reject your own inabilities, and your own abilities. You reject "works-righteousness."

 

When you confess, "Jesus as Lord," you are thereby saying, "I'm not in charge of my life, I humble myself to His authority." In both cases, humility stands out as the virtue. And that is precisely why Jesus said, in Matthew 18:3, "unless you are converted and become like children, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven" (NASB).

 

The only kind of attitude the Lord responds to is one of humility. And humility says, "I can't save myself, I trust Christ." Humility says, "I'm not in charge, He is." That is humility. And it is very objective in that sense, because it affirms the work of Christ as historic and valid, and it affirms the Lordship of Christ as historic and valid. But the "bottom-line" in this believing is humility.

 

It is not saying, "Oh, I believe in Jesus, and I'm sure He's real happy to get me." Not that attitude. "Oh yes, I believe in Jesus, but I'm also working my own salvation. I'm trying to be a good person. I'm trying to do right on my own, I want God to like me."

 

Real salvation, real belief, real confession is just the opposite. It says, "I have no good thing in me, I cannot save myself, there is nothing in me worthy of salvation, I cast myself totally on the mercy of Christ, as provided in the cross, and verified through the Resurrection."

 

The one who does not trust in his own works, but in the work of Christ; the one who does not lead his own life, but gives the authority to Christ, that is the one who demonstrates the humility of true belief.

 

That's the objective side.

 

 

Now what about the Subjective? And for this I want you to look at James, chapter 4. As we probe a little more deeply into this matter of believing. 

 

What is belief like below the surface? In its most obvious form, it is an affirmation of the work of Christ and His person as Lord. But what is it, down under the surface?  What is the subjective attitude that lies deep down in a really humble heart? What is the stuff down inside that true faith is made out of?

 

In James, chapter 4, I believe that we have one of the greatest Gospel invitations in Scripture.

 

It has largely been overlooked as such, and yet it may be the most comprehensive invitation given anywhere on the pages of Scripture.

 

And since James is probably the oldest of the New Testament Books, it was maybe the first one ever given. It is certainly a priority invitation to salvation.

 

Now in the verses James is speaking of God, and he says:

 

Verses 6-10

 

Now, James is saying something very important, "If you want saving grace, you get it by being humble, not by being proud." God gives His saving grace to humble people.

 

You say, "Well, how do you know that he's talking here about saving grace?" "How do you know he's talking here to people that aren't saved?"

 

Very simple, verse 8, they are called, "sinners" and they are called "double-minded."

 

Nowhere in the Bible is the term "sinner" ever used to refer to a believer. It is always used of unregenerate people, non-Christians. Always used of wicked people, who disregard the law of God, who disregard the will of God, who ignore God's desires.

 

In fact, it is used to speak of openly wicked, openly bad people. You find it combined with Publicans and Prostitutes and other terms like that, the riffraff of society.

 

So he is calling to sinners, the unregenerate. But also a certain kind of sinner. Notice they are called double-minded. These are the kind of unregenerate people who are religious. We could call them the "religious unregenerate." They go to church, and maybe they're involved, they were involved in the church, to which James writes. He really pinpoints them, verse 22, of chapter 1, he says, "Prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves" (NASB).

 

And he knew that there were people in the church who were only hearers, just hearers, not doers. As far as their "doing side," they were in the world. Their "hearing side" was in the church.

 

So they were double-minded. They had a mind to "hear" the things of God; they had a mind to "do" the things of Satan. They were the double-minded, they were the religious unregenerate. Religious, but lost.  

 

In chapter 2, he further identifies them, not only by what they hear, but by what they claim. 

 

verse 14

 

verse 17

 

Now here were some people who would say, "We hear, and we believe," and the "hearing" and the "believing" side was in the church, but the "doing side" was in the world.

 

In chapter 3, he addresses their double-mindedness again, in verse 11 and 12.

 

You can't have both. If you have one side of you in the "hearing and believing" and the other side in the "doing," you are merely religiously lost.

 

And then he really says it in no uncertain terms in chapter 4, verse 4. 

 

If you are double-minded my friend, and you got one side of you in the "hearing and the believing" in the church, and the other side in the "doing" in the world, you're the enemy of God.

 

You may be religious, but you are lost. And James is so burdened for this person, that he says in verse 6, "Look, God will give grace to the humble." The point is if you'll humble yourself, God will save you. If you'll humble yourself, God will save you.

 

And then he goes into the subjective elements of a real humility. And these are ten commands, ten straightforward statements that are really unequaled to any part of Scripture, other than this passage.

 

Beginning in verse 7, he says this "Submit therefore to God . . ." You ask the question, "How do you humble yourself?" He just said, "God gives grace to the humble." How do I humble myself?

Well, here are the steps: 

 

First step, submit yourselves to God. What does that mean? That means that you are willing to enlist under His command. You have already objectively said, "He is Lord," now you are subjectively saying, "I submit my life." That's a corollary. You have already affirmed that He has all authority, you are now saying, "I willingly come under that authority." "I subjectively submit."

The "Rich young ruler came to Jesus, called Him 'Master,'" that is, objectively, he affirmed His state, His position, His exalted position. He said to Him, "Good Master, what must I do to have eternal life?"

 

He was objectively affirming Christ's superiority to Himself, by asking the question, by calling Him "Good Master." But when the Lord said to him, "Take all your goods, sell what you have, and when you get your money, take it and give it to the poor," he went away, and he wasn't willing to do it.

 

He would objectively affirm that Christ was the master, but subjectively he wasn't about to submit to His mastering. And the subjective element of believing is when I "line up" my heart with what my mind tells me, "Yes, Jesus is Lord, and Yes I submit to that authority." Submit your selves to God!

 

And then there is another statement in that same verse. "Resist the devil and he will flee from you."

 

And what he is saying there is that, "When you have affirmed you allegiance to God, you have disavowed any allegiance to Satan. You have transferred your allegiance. You were the children of wrath; you were under his domination, Ephesians 2:3, but now you have been made in Christ Jesus, as His workmanship, created unto good works."

 

You have changed masters. You have severed allegiance. So when you submit to God, you then resist the devil and he leaves. You transfer your allegiance. So those two phrases tell us the first subjective element in "humble faith," and it is this, "It is an attitude of submission of allegiance to God." He is Lord, not only objectively by definition; He is Lord subjectively, by relationship in my life.

 

So when someone says, "What does it mean to believe?" I say, Objectively, it means to believe that Jesus is Lord, and Authority, and Sovereign. And it means to believe in His resurrection, which means you believe in all the rest of His life and work. But subjectively what does it mean?

 

 First of all, it means you transfer your allegiance from Satan, the world, the flesh, to God. And you are bringing your life, and offering it to His control.

 

Then notice verse 8, "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you." Now here is the second major principle in these ten commands. "Draw near to God," means that you are pursuing an intimate love relationship. True belief in Christ is not saying, "Well, I believe the facts, and if that will get me out of Hell, I'll be glad to say, I believe it." This is not a "Hell Insurance" kind of thing.

 

There is in true, humble, saving faith, a pursuit of God; a pursuit of a relationship. I think there are a lot of folks who believe they are Christians because they have said, "Well, I believe Jesus died, and I believe in that, and if it will get me out of Hell, I'll believe anything and I'll confess it."

 

But there has never been a pursuing of God. There has never been a longing in the heart for God, like Peter said, "To those who believe, He is Precious." There has never been that longing for personal communion. There's not that compulsion for loving worship. There's not that strong desire for adoration and praise.

But for the person who is exercising believing faith and righteousness, there is this longing in your heart, to know God. Paul says, "That I may know Him." There's a longing to have intimacy with God; to have fellowship with God; to worship God; to sense His presence; to have Him draw near to me.

 

So what he is saying here is, "That believing that is truly humble believing, saving believing, draws near to God. It longs for fellowship, communion, intimacy, love, and worship." There is a deep relationship sought after, and pursued, and developed.

 

And the result is, of course, "And He will draw near to you." And that really is the longing of all true faith, that God would draw near.

 

Then he moves to another dimension, a third dimension, in the series of ten commands, in that same verse 8, "Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded." Now, we already noted those two references to the people he's addressing, "double-minded sinners." But he says to them, "Cleanse your hands and purify your hearts." These are very clearly distinct calls to repentance, on two fronts--externally and internally.

 

When he says, "Cleanse your hands," the hands have always been symbols of conduct; symbols of behavior; symbols of action, activity, what you do.

 

The heart is the place of thoughts, and intents, and motives, and desires. So he says, "The kind of faith that is genuinely humble, saving faith, cries out to be cleansed on the outside, and to be cleansed on the inside." "Cleanse your hands, purify your hearts."

These two have to do with repentance, with an act of rejecting sin on the inside and on the outside. To a person who is placing faith in Jesus Christ, "genuine humble believing faith," there will be a revulsion about sin.

 

There will be a desire for a purged inside and a purged outside. You can't say, "Oh, I believe, I believe, I'm a believer in Jesus," and then go on enjoying a life of sin. You can't do that. That is contradictory. There will be a longing for purging on the inside and cleansing on the outside.

 

Listen: when God saves a person, there is an over whelming revulsion about sin, and a desire to have that dealt with. Not just in the sense of future consequence, but in the sense of present reality. You see when you come to Christ and your faith is real, it isn't just saying, "Save me from the consequence of my sin." It is saying, "Save me from my sin." Not just what it will do in the future, but what it is doing in the present.

 

Then he goes to a fourth dimension, in verse 9. 

 

This is kind of odd. 

 

"Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning, and your joy to gloom."

 

That's a pretty pathetic verse. You certainly wouldn't put that on next year's birthday card. But "what in the world" is he saying? I thought "when you came to Christ" it was a happy time, I thought there was sort of an exhilaration, isn't this a joyous and wondrous occasion?

Well, it is "on the other side" of your salvation, but going into it, dealing with what's in your heart, we understand what he is saying.

 

Three commands at the beginning of verse 9, "Be miserable, mourn and weep." "Be miserable" means that, feel wretched, feel miserable. Why? Because of your shame over your sin. Because of the personal misery that your sin has brought about in your life.

 

This is part of what we would call "brokenness." This is your emotional reaction to repentance. This demonstrates the rejection of the flesh, if we can say it that way. The "spirit of penitence." The misery that you feel over sin.

 

So, James says, "If God saves the humble, then here's how to be humble." The first way, the first element of humility, is that you transfer your allegiance completely from Satan to God. You resist the devil and you submit to God.

 

The second element of this humble faith, is that you have a strong, passionate desire to draw near to God, and have Him draw near to you, that you might enjoy a relationship with Him.

 

The third thing is repentance. You have a revulsion over your own sin. You long to be cleansed on the inside, motives and desires, and you long to be cleansed on the outside, actions and deeds.

 

And then you have brokenness over the consequences of sin in your life. There is this sadness that comes with understanding you are a victim of the flesh. And you desire deliverance in your brokenness.

And then the last thing, I already read to you, "Let your laughter be turned into mourning, and your joy to gloom." You would think it would be reversed, "If you want to be saved, let your mourning be turned to laughter, and let your gloom be turned to joy." But it isn't!

 

What do you mean "laughter?" Well, it is only used here, there are other words for laughter, but this one is only used here. Whenever it is used in secular sources in Greek, it always means the lowly, common, base, laughter of people indulging in pleasure. It's the frivolous, worldly laughter, the ugly laughter of the wicked, as they indulge in their wickedness.

 

He says, "Let all that trashy fun turn into mourning." In other words, another factor, "Not only do you want to be cleansed on the inside, and cleansed on the outside; not only do you want to be free from the pain and misery of your sin, but also there is an overwhelming sense of longing to be delivered from the world, in which you live; the folly; the foolishness; the indulgence; the pleasure madness."

 

And he says, "Let your joy be turned to gloom." In other words, you look at the world completely different. Instead of looking at it as fun and frivolity, and happiness and "live it up," and "grab all the gusto," and "do your own thing," and "live it up" every way you can, you begin to have this heavy, oppressive, feeling about the world.

 

And I will tell you very honesty, there is something in every Christian, every true Christian, that views the world with a sort of morbid gloominess. Right?

You get sick of its affects on you. You get weary of all of its pressures, and all of its temptations. And you want to set aside all of its foolishness. There really is, in James' mind here, seriousness. That's the idea, "You get serious about life." Instead of living for fun, you get serious about life.

 

So what is the character then of subjective believing?

 

First, it submits to the authority of God, it switches allegiance from the devil to God.

 

Secondly, it longs for a personal and intimate relationship with God.

 

Thirdly, it desires to repent, and turn from sin, and be cleansed on the inside and on the outside.

 

Fourthly, it knows a certain shame, and guilt, and misery, that brings about a brokenness, that longs for healing.

 

And fifthly, it begins to view the whole world and all of life much more seriously than it ever did before.

 

And you can't quite "get into" the giddy foolishness of the wicked pleasures of the world, because life is so much more serious, and you now want to live to the glory of God, and you know that you're in a great battle to endeavor to do that by God's grace.

 

And then he sums all of that up in verse 10, "Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you." That's it.

 

How do you humble yourselves?

By submitting to His authority; drawing near to Him for a relationship; repenting of your sin; having a sense of misery over your own wickedness; and looking at the world differently, no more in the familiar fun of life, but seeing it seriously for the tragedy that it really is. And in all of these areas you humble yourselves.

 

Do you want a classic illustration of all this?

 

Think about the Prodigal Son. He is a perfect illustration of every one of us who have come to God for salvation. 

 

The Prodigal Son is a picture of an unregenerate, unsaved person. He had a lot of available resources. He had a lot of privileges. But he decided that he would walk away from his father, just as man walked away from God. And he went off into a far country and he lived and wasted all of his substance, and he just "lived it up." "Wine, women, and song."

 

He wound up in a pig pen, eating "pig slop." He had all the world's fun, he engaged in all the world's sin. But he said, "I don't need to do this, I am going to go to the father." And he pictures the sinner in the midst of his sin, who is devastated by what he finally has come to understand. He is bankrupt; he is devastated; all the world's pleasure brought him no satisfaction; he is sinful; he is hopeless; he has nothing to show for all of his energy and effort.

 

He goes back to the father and he is very humble. He comes back to the father and says, "Father, forgive me! Just take me back and make me like one of your hired servants. Make me a slave. I don't deserve anything more than slavery.

Just take me back!" What is he saying? I tell you what he is saying, he's saying, "I submit to you!" "And I break my allegiance to my past master."

 

Secondly, he is saying, "I long for a relationship with you, I want to draw near to you!" Remember he ran up to his son, and what does it say, "His father saw him, ran up to him, threw his arms around him" and did what? Kissed him. The son longed for that relationship.

 

And then what did he say to his father? "Father, I have sinned against you." And what he was saying was, "cleanse my hands and purify my heart." And then as he looked at the misery of his life, he said, "I am worthy only to be your slave." There was a man who humbled himself in the presence of God.

 

That's the picture of the sinner. Having wasted his life and come up with nothing, he comes back, and he says, "I want to give you my life, you control me, I am the servant, you are the master. I want a relationship with you." He longed for the embrace of the father and the kiss of love. "I want to be cleansed of the wretchedness of my sin. I'm done with the frivolity of life, I want to take it seriously and I want to do my part to serve you, in your house."

 

And, do you remember what the father did? He drew near to Him. He said, "Get the ring, put it on his finger, get the best robe, put it on his back, call the musicians, get the festival ready, kill the fatted calf, we are having the biggest party we have ever thought of having, because, this my son, who was lost, is now found."

 

And what is that in James' words? Look at verse 10, "Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and he will tolerate you!" Is that what it says? "He will what?" "He will exalt you!" You see He resists the proud, but He gives grace to the humble.

 

So what is humble saving faith? If someone wrote you a letter and said, "I don't know what believe means." What would you say?

 

"Well, believe objectively means, that I believe in the historical truth that Jesus lived and died and rose again for me, and accomplished my salvation. I believe those facts. And I believe that He is Lord, and I acknowledge that with my mouth."

 

But beyond that it means that I submit to His leadership and rulership in my life. I pursue a loving personal relationship with Him. I hunger to turn from sin and to pursue holiness. I am broken over the guilt and the stench and the shame of my miserable sin. And I now view life seriously, not in the frivolity of the foolishness of my former ways. In other words, I reject myself and everything about me. And in that relationship I know what it is to live as an exalted child of God. 

 

When it says that "He will exalt you," have you ever thought about what He wants to make you? Have you ever thought about that?

 

You remember, as a kid, reading the story about the "Ugly Duckling?" He was larger, more awkward and less attractive than the other ducklings. He was just "flat" ugly by their standards. They made fun of his clumsiness. They made fun of his bizarre "gawky" appearance.

And he was crushed, and he was forlorned. So he left the ducklings and sought refuge with a cat and a chicken, do you remember that? But they didn't accept him because he couldn't "purr" and he couldn't "lay eggs."

 

"You don't understand me," he complained. They only mocked him all the more. One day while he was out paddling around the pond, trying his best, to be like the other ducks, he caught sight of some graceful and elegant swans, creatures he had never seen before. He thought they were the most beautiful birds in all the world. And as he watched the beautiful movements of the swans, a strange feeling came over him. He couldn't take his eyes off of them, and he couldn't shake the newness of destiny that overwhelmed him.

 

Well the swans flew off, and as he stretched his neck, to try to follow their flight, he thought that he had loved them more than anything he had ever loved before. Winter came, and all during the cold months the "Ugly Duckling" thought about the lovely birds he had seen.

 

He had no idea what they were called or where they came from, but he hoped someday to be able to see them again. And at last, Spring had melted the ice on the pond, and the "Ugly Duckling" was able to swim again. And one day while Spring was still very young, he was swimming and he saw two of those beautiful birds.

 

They swam straight towards him, and fear gripped his heart. He was embarrassed to have such graceful creatures to see how ugly and clumsy he was.

As they approached him he bowed his head in humility, and he covered his face with his wings. When he did that, he was amazed to see for the first time his own reflection in the water, which had just thawed. He was exactly like those beautiful creatures! He was never meant to be a duck in the first place! He was one of them. He was a swan. And as he removed his wings from his face, he lifted his head, not straight up like an ostrich, but slightly bowed in gratitude and humility.

 

Do you see an analogy of your own life in that? My own experience as a Christian is like that, and so is yours.

 

My first look at Christ would be that of an Ugly Duckling looking at a swan. Enamored with the majesty and the loveliness, and the grace and the beauty of that creature. And feeling ugly and sinful and unworthy. And yet being irresistibly attracted. And then one day in humility, to bow our heads, as it were, cover our face in humility before the swan of all swans. And then when we see ourselves in the water, we note that we are being made in His very image.

 

That's what it means to humble your selves and be exalted. When Christ exalts you, and this is the wonders of wonders, He makes you like Himself. And someday you will be like Him, for you will see Him as He is. That is how far you will be exalted. If you humble yourselves beloved, the Bible says he will exalt you.

 

To what level? To the very beauty of Christ Himself.

 

 

Second Corinthians 3:18, "You are being changed from one level of glory to the next, by the Holy Spirit," until sometime you will find yourself in the very image of Jesus Christ.

 

You start out in ugliness, when you finally see in Him the destiny you long for. And when you are humbled in the face of the beauty of Christ, and you see your sin and unworthiness, it is at that point He saves you and sets you on a path to be like Him.

 

What does it mean to believe? That's what it means. And may it be the experience of every heart this day.