Faith Towards our Lord Jesus Christ – Acts 20:17-21

After supper one night, two brothers when out to play.

They were told to come in when the sun went down.

After some time, the littlest boy said, “Oh, oh, the sun is almost down. We better get inside.”

But the older, more sophomoric little boy replied, “But don’t you know, the sun doesn’t really GO DOWN?”

That started an argument:

“I don’t believe you; I can see it moving, hiding more and more behind the trees.”

“No, it only LOOKS like it’s moving; actually THE WORLD is moving & the sun is standing still.”

The older boy was trying to convince his little brother about what he had learned in school.

And finally, the younger one started running home shouting over his shoulder, “Well, I believe Dad, and I think that we better get inside.”

These two little boys illustrate one way in which the world is divided, and it’s not about astronomy.

It’s all about faith.

Both boys were absolutely correct, but they were divided by two different kinds of faith.

Last Sunday we looked at the first of the twin doctrines to which Paul refers in verse 21.

Paul shared the most important and profitable subject in the human repertoire with the people of Ephesus:

He preached “repentance toward God.”

Just as Peter had done on the Day of Pentecost, and just as the Lord Jesus had done before him;

Just as John the Baptist had preached, Paul had preached repentance toward God.

“Except ye repent, ye shall all eternally perish.”

Last week I emphasized that repentance and faith are pair of doctrines which cannot be separated.

They are conjoined twins sharing one heart, and if they are surgically separated both with die.

And yet that particular message was primarily about REPENTANCE.

So I’m forced to return to this scripture to finish Paul’s thought.

“I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, AND faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.”

The place that I’d like us to begin this morning is with Paul’s potentially confusing language:

He said that he preached “faith TOWARD our Lord Jesus Christ.”

There are several prepositions which are used in connection with faith or belief.

And the way that some people use those little connecting words determines the kind of faith that they have.

You and I had better make sure that our faith is “TOWARD the Lord Jesus Christ.”

But first we need to consider the OBJECT of our faith: the Lord Jesus Christ.

This is so fundamental that it’s almost embarrassing to have to bring it up; but I DO have to bring it up.

I am talking about the Jesus Christ of the Bible, not the Jesus Christ of the fictional Da Vinci Code.

Our faith must be in the one true and only Lord Jesus Christ, not an imaginary or man-made Christ.

There are hundreds of churches up and down this valley which are talking about Jesus this morning, and I would venture to guess that 90% are not talking about the same Lord Jesus Christ whom Paul preached.

Most, but not all of those churches, are talking about Jesus of Nazareth – the little boy who grew up there.

But many of those churches, are not talking about Jesus of Bethlehem, who had been born of a virgin.

Jesus of Nazareth was the toddler who spent his first few months in Egypt, but then grew up in Nazareth.

Jesus of Nazareth was the teenager and young man who was raised in that community.

But Paul had been preaching the LORD Jesus Christ.

The subject of our faith must be that young man from Nazareth, but with the realization that He was and is the eternal Son of God.

He is the Anointed One, the Messiah, the Christ, the promised King, the Saviour, the Lamb of God.

He is not a good buddy, one of the boys, or even a good man and moral example.

Jesus Christ is the LORD – the Jehovah Whom we see in the Old Testament.

All judgment has been committed unto Him; he will sit upon the Great White Throne at the final disposition of the will of God.

He is not to be taken lightly; he is not to be spoken of flippantly.

He is to be worshiped and given the highest possible respect and reverence.

And why?

Because in the words of the Lord Jesus Himself:

“He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”

“He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.”

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.”

“He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.”

As Paul said here in Acts 20, this is PROFITABLE unto us.

And as I shall add, to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ is not just profitable it is absolutely ESSENTIAL.

When it comes to the subject of Christ, there are at least four different kinds of believing people.

Some believe Christ; some believe IN Christ; others believe ON Christ; and a few believe INTO Christ.

What you and I need to do is ask ourselves is: WHAT KIND OF FAITH DO I HAVE?

Do I know what Paul was talking about here, and is mine the right kind of faith?

Some folk have a very SIMPLE, if not a SIMPLISTIC faith.

This is like the little boy who believed his Dad, for no other reason that because it was Dad who spoke.

This kind of faith is nothing more than an intellectual double negative.

This kind of faith is the ACT OF NOT DENYING what someone says.

A simplistic faith would be the acceptance of a statement despite all the arguments and complications which might be placed against.

If I said that I could prove that 2 plus 2 equals 5,

there might be someone here who would believe me because they love me.

Jonah, the Micahs and maybe Hannah would believe me.

It would be a simplistic faith; but in this case it would be a misspent faith.

There are millions, if not actually billions of people who believe IN Jesus.

By that I mean they have heard that 2,000 years ago, there was a man in Israel whose name was Jesus.

Just as they have heard that there was a man named Aristotle and another named Sophocles, they have heard that there was a religious philosopher whose name was Jesus.

They have NO REASON NOT to believe that such a man existed.

They believe IN a man named Jesus.

There is perhaps not a more useless bit of information and a more useless faith than this.

There is a difference between believing IN Jesus and believing JESUS.

By John chapter 8, the Lord Jesus had performed a number of miracles and was attracting a lot of attention.

There had been the miracle of the water becoming wine, and the curing of a paralysis victim at Bethesda.

There had been the feeding of the 5,000, Jesus’ walking on the water.

There had probably been many more miracles about which we aren’t told.

So people we paying attention to this man, hoping to reap the benefits of more of his miracles.

By the time we get to John 8, in addition to the miracles, Christ was dispensing some serious doctrine.

“As the Father raiseth up the dead, & quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will.

“For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son: That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him.”

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.”

And Jesus said unto them, “I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.”

“I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”

And he said unto them, “Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world. I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins. Then said they unto him, “Who art thou? And Jesus saith unto them, Even the same that I said unto you from the beginning. I have many things to say and to judge of you: but he that sent me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I have heard of him. They understood not that he spake to them of the Father. Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things. And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him. As he spake these words, many believed on him. Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

As Jesus taught the people about Himself and His relation to the Heavenly Father, some people trusted Him, and others only simplistically didn’t deny what He said.

Some people believed him and others only gave the appearance of believing him, hoping for more miracles and not wanting to offend Him.

Then Jesus, knowing their hearts, said, “If you really believe me, that faith will last, and it will pass through the tests which are coming up.

If you continue in my teaching then are you really my disciples.

But if you turn backs on me, any time, it proves your faith false.”

There is a difference between BELIEVING CHRIST and believing ON Christ.

There is a difference between BELIEVING what Christ says and TRUSTING Christ and what He says.

We have two different groups of people in John 8 with two different kinds of faith.

Simplistic faith can LEAD to genuine saving faith, but it’s inferior, often eternally inferior,

because it usually concludes in a dead-end rather than growth into genuine faith.

Of course, we are EXPECTED to believe what God and the Bible says.

Before the cancer patient will accept some sort of dangerous treatment, he must believe his doctor.

To believe the words of the Lord Jesus and to believe the Bible is very important.

Jesus communicated divine truth.

Although much, much more, at the very least He was Rabbi, a teacher of God’s Word.

And before we can DEPEND on what He said, we must believe that it is the truth.

No sir, Christ did not accommodate Himself to the foibles of the Jews, when He spoke of “demons.”

He didn’t agree with their ignorance, in order to please them.

What He said was absolutely true.

When he spoke of NOAH and the flood, He spoke the truth – believe it.

And yes, even when he said that JONAH was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, He said it, because it is the truth.

Christ didn’t exaggerate, prevaricate, or hallucinate.

“Believe me,” he says, “Believe me,” and we MUST.

Oh, but how few of us REALLY DO BELIEVE everything that He said.

Jesus told people, “You believe what I am saying, and that is good, but don’t stop there.

Continue in the Word – “Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.”

Unfortunately, the majority of the people to whom He was speaking didn’t continue in His word.

They believed Christ one mimute and then came John 8:59, “They took up stones to cast at him.”

Nothing more clearly proves that othodoxy doesn’t equal Christianity.

You say that you’ve never denied the Bible – fine, but that doesn’t make you Christian.

Nothing is more useless that creeds and doctrines laying dormant in the brain.

What shall we say about the professed “disciple” who neither trembles, thrills, hopes or dreads?

That man is not a true disciple.

But Christ Jesus doesn’t stop here.

It is essential that believers believe ON Christ.

John chapter 8 says, “As he spake these words, many believed on him.”

Believing ON Christ carries us from merely acknowledging His Word to dependence upon those words.

For example, Christ pictured himself as the “Water of life and the Bread of life.”

Bread and water are things that we all can understand.

Some may prefer coffee and coffee-cake, but we all know what bread and water are.

And we all understand that they are useless only sitting on the table.

Until they are received into our bodies they do us no good except as models for still-life paintings.

We have to eat the bread and drink the water before they can do us any good.

When the Lord Jesus called Himself the Bread and Water of life,

along with what He was saying about Himself,

He was adding the idea that He must be received into our souls.

Christ Jesus, that spiritual water is drunk and that bread of life is ingested BY FAITH – received by faith.

The kind of faith that I’m referring to says something like:

“I believe and know that the only nourishment that can sustain my eternal soul is Christ Jesus.”

“I turn to no other chef, no other caterer, no other kitchen and no other spiritual food than Jesus to feed my soul.”

Jesus is the way, the truth and the life, no man cometh to the Father but by him.

And so, I don’t turn to my pastor to carry me to God; I don’t turn to a pope or a priest.

My hope is built on nothing less than the person of the Lord Jesus Christ and His righteousness.

Have ever had the privilege to walk along a rocky ocean shoreline?

Have you ever caught a starfish?

“Catch” perhaps is not really the most appropriate word.

Those creatures are pretty dumb; they can’t speak, they can’t write, they can’t leap tall buildings;

And they can’t run away very well

But what they do do they do very well – they know how to cling to rocks.

That is perhaps a nice simple illustration of faith – to cling.

To believe on Christ for salvation from sin, is to cling to Him for salvation.

When you PRAY in faith, believing that Christ hears you, that is a “prayer of faith.”

When you trust God to PROTECT your family that is “family protection faith.”

When you believe on Christ TO SAVE you from the penalty of sin, that is “saving faith.”

“He that believeth on the Son hath eternal life, and he that believeth not Son shall not see life.”

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.”

“He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.”

“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.”

The Bible uses the words “believe ON Christ” because it means far more “believe IN Christ.”

To “believe ON Christ” means that we are clinging to Him, like a starfish to a rock.

To “believe IN Christ” often only means that we agree that He is telling us the truth, or that there once was a man named Jesus.

If you are not “believing ON Christ” then you do not have “saving faith.”

And without saving faith you shall die under the penalty of your sin.

And that penalty will mean your eternal damnation in Hell.

That is the third kind of faith – saving faith

It is different from believing IN Christ or simply believing Christ.

It is a terrible mistake to confuse these three kinds of faith.

Someone says, “I believe in Jesus; I always have and I always will.

I believe that He is the eternal Son; that he was virgin born.

I believe that he lived a sinless life,

I believe that he is a miracle worker; the Saviour of world.

I believe in Jesus that He is God.”

But don’t the demons of Hell believe all these things?

James 2:19 says, “Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well.”

But be aware, “the devils also believe, and tremble.”

And obviously that kind of faith does nothing to convert those devils into saints or angels of God.

But what is this faith “TOWARD” our Lord Jesus Christ of which Paul speaks?

Some people might call this just an academic exercise, but it does bring up an interesting point.

The Greek word translated “toward” here in Acts 20:21 is very common to the Bible; it is “eis.”

In Acts 16:31 when Paul said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved,” he used a different Greek word – “epi.”

But here in Acts 20 he used John’s favorite preposition “eis.”

Both words can be properly translated “on,” but far more often it is translated “into, unto” & “toward.”

In fact, for every time this word is translated “on” it is translated “into, unto” or “towards” twenty times.

And as you think about it in English, isn’t there a difference between “on” and “towards?”

The word that Paul uses here gives us the idea of “moving towards Christ” when we believe.

What did the Lord Jesus mean when He said, “Come unto me all ye labour and heavy laden, and I will give you rest?”

Before a person can SIT IN a chair, he has to somehow GET TO that chair.

Before he can SIT ON that chair, he has to MOVE TOWARD that chair.

There is a sense in which it is easy to tell the Christian to believe on Christ.

But for the people of Ephesus who worshiped the goddess Diana,

they need to be urged to approach Christ; they need to be exhorted to have faith towards Christ.

The Old Testament has a beautiful illustration of this principle in the “Cities of Refuge.”

Throughout the nation of Israel, God ordained special cities which He called Cities of Refuge.

Back in those days a relative could take revenge on a man-slayer or murderer and legally kill him.

But if someone died in an accident, the person who caused that accident could flee to one of the nearby Cities of Refuge and be temporarily protected from the revenger of blood.

A trial would then take place, and if it could be proven that the man was innocent of murder he was safe from vengeance so long as he remained in the city of refuge.

For sinners like you and me, Jesus Christ is our Refuge from the judgment that our sins deserve.

BUT, it is essential that we ENTER that refuge.

It is essential that we have faith TOWARD our Lord Jesus Christ.

So the question is not simply “do you believe Jesus?”

Nor is it “do you believe IN Jesus?”

More properly it should be: “Do you believe on Christ, & is your faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ?”

Have you ever beaten on the gates to the city of refuge and asked for admission?

Please open the doors of your protection for me; I have sinned; I need your grace.

I believe that I will be safe within your walls; I believe your promise to save me.

If you have never believed INTO Jesus or if your faith is not TOWARD Jesus Christ, then most likely you are still in your sin and still at the mercy of the Revenger of blood.

But o be in Christ is as good as to be in Heaven itself – it is to be perfectly safe.

Believing Jesus is to accept what He has said as being the truth – as being good.

The demons of hell know that what Christ has told us is the truth; but that is not enough.

Believing IN Jesus is to believe that He existed just as the Bible as told us.

Believing ON Jesus is to trust Him as your Saviour; this is absolutely essential.

And to have faith TOWARD the Lord Jesus Christ is to approach Him for His saving grace.

These last two kinds of faith the demons of Hell do not and will not possess.

Neither do the vast majority of the people of this world, including most of Christendom.

There will be millions of professing Christians who spend eternity in the Lake of Fire, because they have had a faulty trust in Christ.

Let me close with two verses from Isaiah 26, which I will read in reverse order.

“Behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.”

And now the preceding verse, “Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast.”

Paul testified that when he first arrived in Ephesus, he did not keep back that which was profitable to them:

He preached “repentance toward God and faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ.”

These are not just important doctrines, they are essential elements in the sinner’s salvation.

Have YOU repented of your sin?

Is YOUR faith and hope for forgiveness of sin in the Lord Jesus Christ?