#4 Fact Not Feeling

Welcome back. Today's week 4 in the series "10 Things Every Christian Should Know." Today I've got a great point to make. I believe that what I'm going to talk about has helped me in my Christian walk as much as anything. I also believe that I have a good chance of being misunderstood, so I pray that I'm clear in this most important lesson.

I was nine years old when I became a Christian. I was baptized along with several dear friends and my brother Tim. It's hard to believe that that was over 50 years ago. Maybe five years or so after I was baptized, I was at a youth meeting, and our youth director said during the meeting, "If you're not sure that you're saved, stay after the meeting and we'll talk."

Everyone left the meeting but me. Tom asks, "David, do you need something?" I said, "Remember what you said, that if you're not sure about your salvation to stay and talk?" And so we sat and talked. What I said to him was that there were days when I just didn't feel saved.

Let me share with you what Tom shared with me. It has changed my life. Here's what I learned: my salvation has nothing to do with my feelings, absolutely nothing. My salvation has everything to do with what the Bible says. My salvation has everything to do with Christ dying for me.

My salvation is based on facts, not feelings, and that's a great thing to know. Let me use this example. Jeannie and I have been married as of today 37 years and 10 months; two more months, it'll be 38 years. What if I wake up tomorrow and I have covered, and I have shingles, and I have a migraine, and I have the measles? Will I still be married even though I don't feel like a husband? Of course I will. Will I still be saved? Of course I will.

In Acts chapter 16, you read of an earthquake that shook a jail where Paul and Silas were prisoners. The jailer, thinking his prisoners had escaped, was at his wits' end. Thinking they had escaped, he was suicidal. Paul knew what the jailer was about to do, and he stopped him.

I'll read you just a couple of verses from Acts chapter 16, beginning in verse 29: "The jailer called for lights and ran to the dungeon and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them out and he asked, 'Sirs, what must I do to be saved?' They replied, 'Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.'" There the question is asked, and the question is answered. What must I do to be saved? "To believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved." There is nothing there about feelings, nothing.

Now don't get me wrong, I am not a robot with no feelings at all. There are times when I am, I keenly feel the presence of the Holy Spirit of God, but my relationship with God is not based on my feelings. Looking at Paul's life, I wonder if he felt saved every day. Sometimes read about the life of Paul in the book of Acts.

In chapter 16, as we read, he and Silas were thrown in jail. They were stripped and beaten. In chapters 21 and 22, Paul is again beaten and jailed without good reason. In chapter 23, there's a plot to kill Paul. In chapter 24, Paul remains in prison for no good reason, and it lasts over two years.

I wonder how Paul felt. The saga continues, and finally in chapter 27, Paul boards a ship to head to Rome for a hearing. Wouldn't you know it, the ship is torn apart by a storm, and everyone survived, but the ship is lost, and they're washed ashore up on the island of Malta. To get warm, Paul is gathering wood for a fire. While he's doing that, he's bitten by a snake.

The ship wrecked in snake bit. I wonder how he felt. I wonder if he felt saved. I hope you know the answer. Salvation is not determined by feelings; it has everything to do with fact.

Let me read you some words that Paul wrote later on, Romans chapter 10, verses 9-13: "If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved. As the Scriptures tell us, 'Anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced.' Jews and Gentiles are the same in re in this respect. They have the same Lord, who gives generously to all who call on him. For 'everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.'"

Paul says nothing here about how you feel. Proverbs chapter 3, verse 5, is a very familiar verse to many of you. It's good advice: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding," or your feelings. You know, over the last 50 years as a Christian, I've truly benefited from my friend's advice. I pray that it helps you as much it has helped me.

Let's pray together. Lord, thank you for the facts. The facts are that your word is a document, a love letter, a contract from God Almighty to us, and in it you show us the way and tell us to believe in you. Father, we're going to believe you at your word, and we're going to trust you, not our feelings.

Father, we do pray that we feel close and that we know that you are there in that way, but that's not the most important thing. The most important thing is the belief, the knowledge, the truth that sets us free. Father, help us to know that we are your people. In Jesus' name, amen. God bless you. See you next week.