Peter Brandon emphasizes the profound meaning of believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, drawing from John 3 and Hebrews 11 to illustrate that true belief is not merely intellectual assent but a deep, personal trust in Jesus as the Savior. He explains that faith is essential in every aspect of life, and highlights the difference between natural faith and the faith required for salvation, which involves total abandonment to Christ. Brandon reassures that God is deeply interested in each individual, and through the incarnation of Jesus, He demonstrated His love and concern for humanity. The preacher encourages listeners to move beyond head knowledge to a heartfelt faith that recognizes Jesus' sacrifice and love, leading to eternal life for those who believe.

Now I've chosen John 3 tonight and we're going to read from verse 14 because in this little narrative that I'm going to read you will find the word belief over and over again. So it's John 3 and I'm going to commence reading at verse 14. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness even so must the son of man be lifted up that whosoever believes on him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved. He that believes on him is not condemned but he that believes not is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten son of God. And this is the condemnation that light has come into the world and men love darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For everyone that doeth evil hateth the light neither cometh to the light lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth comes to the light that his deeds may be made manifest that they are brought in God. Now would you kindly turn to the last two verses in that chapter verse 35. The father loves the son and has given all things into his hand. He that believes on the son has everlasting life and he that believes not the son shall not see life but the wrath of God abides on him. Now would you turn please to another portion Hebrews chapter 11 and we read the first few verses of that chapter and here it speaks often of the subject of faith and belief. Hebrews 11 commence reading of verse one. Now faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen for by it the elders obtained a good report. Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God so that things which are seen were not made of the things which do appear. By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain by which he obtained witness that he was righteous. God testifying of his gifts and by he being dead yet speaketh. By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death and was not found because God had translated him for before his translation he had this testimony that he pleased God. But without faith it is impossible to please him for he that comes to God must believe that he is and that he is the rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Now I am sure God will bless the reading of the Bible. Question comes to us and I'm sure you've been challenged can you expect modern people today to believe. Man is so advanced in science he has got to the moon and now he's about to explore Mars. It's going to take him two and a half years to get there and two and a half years to get back. In the realm of medical science we can now transplant kidneys, livers, lungs and heart. In the realm of the computer they have almost produced a machine that can almost think for itself and therefore people are saying something like this can you expect us to live a life of faith in a materialistic world. Now these are some facts. A little baby would never walk without the principle of faith. Parents would be in a state of nervous exhaustion when they released their children to go to school if they didn't think they were coming back. A young man couldn't sit an examination if he did not have some confidence. He would be a mental wreck. When two young people get married they must, they must have confidence in each other. It is absolutely essential and so there's faith. But even in the realm of business how could a businessman sell his wares if he did not believe in the object that he was selling. And when we come to the realm of science an astronaut would never venture into the realm of the unknown if he did not believe his capsule was going to return to the earth. So can you see one of the main ingredients of life is faith. Take away faith and you would be in serious trouble. Ah but now I've got to get to the scriptures. There is a vast difference between natural faith and natural confidence and the confidence that's spoken in scripture. And that's what I want to share with you. And I'm just going to give you one simple scripture. It's clear, it's concise and I feel that for about 25 minutes if I can sow this in your mind each one will get a blessing. And it's this. He that believes on the sun has everlasting life. Now isn't that wonderful. First of all you will notice that faith is personal. It's he or she. You cannot have faith for your children. I cannot have faith for my children. And my children certainly cannot have faith for me. It is an individual matter. Now that is vital. But then we're up against the problem. Someone said to me in London, I believe in God but I don't believe that God is interested in all of us. He said do you know the world's population? I said yes. Nearly six billion that's right. How can one God be interested in six billion of us? Now where did he go wrong? He was saying something like this. I can be interested in a hundred and no more. How can God be interested in six billion? Well my dear friends the answer is quite simple. God is six billion times bigger than what we are. You see there are more than six billion stars and they all have their own orbit. And I'm glad he's interested in every one of them otherwise there would be a great collision. Ah but you will say a human being is smaller than a star. Yes in quantity but not quality. A star never thinks. A star never communicates. A star cannot create. There's something about you that's small but that soul, that personality is bigger than the world in which we live. And there's something about man that's infinitely precious to God and I want to share that with you. Ah but you say how do we know in a matter-of-fact way right down to earth you know the nitty-gritty of things that God is interested in us. Now my dear friends if I can prove that to you from the scripture and you can leave those doors knowing that God, the almighty God is interested in you, you will never be the same again. God was so concerned that we should know this fact that God became involved. You say what do you mean? God came down with flesh and blood we call it the incarnation and when Jesus Christ came into the world he was God manifest in the flesh. The greatest mystery. That's why you can never become a Christian until you believe that fact that God was manifested in the flesh. And if you've got a question mark on that you will never never become a believer. Now we must ask ourselves some questions. Was the Lord Jesus the son of God the mighty Emmanuel? Was he interested in the crowds? Yes you find him speaking to thousands. Was he interested in groups societies and families? Often you find him with the disciples and speaking to families. Ah but was he interested in individuals? Now note this. He walked by foot on one occasion 40 miles through a hot burning wilderness to speak to a prostitute because he loved her. He actually walked 19 miles to a despised city called Jericho to speak to a tax gatherer that nearly everybody hated. When he was actually on the cross and he was doing his dying and in that dying he was going to make the great atonement in the midst of his sufferings he turned to a malefactor and said today you shall be with me in paradise. When he went back to heaven he saw upon our earth a son of Africa an Ethiopian searching for God with every fiber that the Lord had given him. He had traveled 300 miles in order to find him. He thought that he might find him in the great temple at Jerusalem but found him not. And you know what God did? There was a man by the name of Philip who was seeing a mighty revival hundreds were believing in fact the whole city believed and he took him from that place of revival and he put him right down in a desert called Gaza so that this man might pass by him and Philip led him to the Lord. Now I know you will find this hard to believe but it's true. If God has sent me to Australia for one soul it's worth it. It's worth it. And dear friends this is the thrilling thing about preaching. You might be that soul tonight and just as you sit there the Lord Jesus will find you and claim you for himself. Thank God it's he that believes. Secondly the nature of faith. Now I've been looking at you very carefully and I believe my assessment may be correct. I would say 99% of you believe in all the facts of Christianity. That meant if we had a cup of tea together and we were chatting and I said do you believe in the triune God? Oh yes. Father, Son, Holy Ghost here. Do you really believe that? Oh yeah. Do you believe that God sent his son the Lord Jesus into this world to save sinners? Oh yeah believe that. Do you believe that when he came into this world he came to die upon the cross and he did it and on that cross he bore the sin of the world? Do you believe that? Oh yeah believe that. Always believe that. Do you believe that God raised him from the dead? Literally? Physically? Oh yes I believe that. Do you believe then that God has received him back into heaven and given him all power and all authority and he is the Lord and the coming King? Yeah believe that. So that makes you a believer? Oh no. That's believing with the head. Now don't misunderstand me. When you become a Christian you never commit intellectual suicide. You must know the facts of the gospel and it's good to know those facts but knowing those facts is not real New Testament belief. For instance I was telling you the other night we had a master who used to teach us history hard but by name and he trained us with a boxing glove and you know he used to dish out the dates 410 AD the Romans came. 55 BC the Romans came. Forgive the blunder. 410 AD they left. 1066 the battle of Hastings. Now you see my memory for dates is appalling but he knocked those three in. Mind you one of them I muddled already. And lots of people learn their Christianity like that and they think right I'm a believer. Now that head belief is good but it's not what this word means. Now the word of the Lord says this. If thou shall confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in thine heart that God has raised him from the dead thou shalt be saved. Now all the facts I've been sharing with you are head belief but now that head belief has got to come right down to the heart so that you really trust him. Now so the scholars inform me that the word belief in the Greek is Pistuan and it has three meanings. To know intellectually what you believe. Now we've dealt with that. To trust implicitly what you believe. Thirdly to be totally abandoned to what you believe. And may I give you a simple illustration. When the apostle Peter was in that boat and it was being rocked by the waves and they were in a very dangerous situation when the Lord Jesus called out it is I be not afraid and Peter challenged him and said Lord if it's you bid me come the Lord just said come. But what a problem. Put yourself in that boat. I feel that most of us would say calm it down a little then I might come. But no he said come. When Peter looked at the water if water could speak it would say if you tread on us you will sink like a brick that's the law of gravity. But faith says all things are possible only believe. Now when he stepped out of that boat it wasn't nodding belief. When he stepped out forgive the excitement he was totally absolutely completely abandoned to the Lord. In other words he was saying something like this I'm coming Lord and if I think it's your responsibility. Total abandonment. Now when a person believes it's not just nodding your head at all the dates and facts about Christianity. It's a real heart faith in the Savior. A young man he wanted to be a paratrooper. Why I don't know. I suppose because he was six foot two and had a hefty body. He wanted to go in for that kind of life. He went to school at Vista and with 40 others they sat an examination and he was the top pupil. But that didn't make him a paratrooper. Gave him all the information that he needed but just having the information in the head didn't make him a paratrooper. Then with 40 others he had to go up into a Hastings aircraft and one by one they were called. They had to turn around and then they watch for the green light. And when they saw the green light they heard the sergeant major saying jump. When it was his turn he couldn't jump. Knew all about it. Top pupil. But the idea to step out and give himself completely to the parachute. No he couldn't do it. He went up three times and they failed him. And stupidly he argued with the sergeant major that he was the top pupil. And unfortunately he told him in good old army language. It didn't matter what was in his novel. If he didn't step out he would never be a paratrooper. And they let him go up once more with another fellow. And this is what happened. He was called for the last time. He was told to turn around and he did. And his knees were knocking. Some of you ladies just imagine you're there. And then he saw the green light. And then he had a little prayer. And he stepped out. And when he stepped out he realized he was totally dependent upon the parachute. Nervously he counted 10. And he pulled the string. And then he saw a red parachute opening. And being a Christian he said praise the Lord. And he had to trust him all the way down. Now there comes a moment in a gospel meeting when the Lord challenges you to believe. And it's not now listening to the preacher. He says right you know all that about Jesus. Now I want you to take the step of faith and trust it. And right now sitting in that seat you could become a believer by trusting the Lord. Ah but there's a problem. One old Cockney woman and thank God for this. As we were speaking on this subject he said you're lucky. You were born with a religious spoon in your mouth. We are down to earth people. How do you get that faith? And then she said again you're lucky. Well dear friends I wasn't born with a religious spoon in my mouth. I never even had any teeth. And dear friends none of us are born with faith. Please grip that. But she says how do you get faith? You always get faith by an objective. Now if you look inside you and you look at your motives and you look at your principles and you will look at yourself carefully. All you will find is this that the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. None of us would like our thoughts exposed. None of us would like a tape recorder strapped to our throats and all the bad words we've said in the last 10 years played back to us. Lots of us have got many things to cover but my dear friends if you look within you will never get faith. You've got to look somewhere else and this is what the Bible says. He that believes here it comes on the Son. The Son. The Son of God. That's why unless you believe that Jesus was co-equal with God you will never become a Christian. It's believing on the Son. And therefore he that believes on the Son hath everlasting life. Allow me now to introduce you to the Lord Jesus. There was only one man who ever lived who never sinned. Only one. And that was Jesus Christ. In fact he was so beautiful he was so pure that God watched him for 30 years and God couldn't keep quiet. And as he saw him coming up from the waters of Jordan after his baptism he said publicly this is my beloved Son in whom I find all my delight. The perfect Christ of God. There was only one man that claimed co-equality with God when he said that all men should honour the Son as they honour the Father. Only one man and that was the Lord Jesus. And he demonstrated in a realistic way his deity. There was only one man that had the ability to die for the sins of the world and may I let out a hallelujah he did it. And he went to the cross and on that cross instead of the judgment of God coming upon us because we have broken his laws and sin profusely his Son bore all the judgment for us. And the prophet says he was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquity. There was only one man that the Lord raised from the dead never to die again and he raised him in mighty power so that the Lord Jesus would become eternally the Saviour. And that was the Lord Jesus. There's only one man that's gone back to heaven in manhood and he's gone back to heaven with all glory and with majesty and power. So that when he came to the gate of heaven he sang that great anthem. Lift up ye heads so ye gates and be ye lifted up ye everlasting doors and the King of Glory shall come in. Who is the King of Glory? The Lord of hosts the Lord the one that's mighty in battle. And when he went back to heaven he took all the spoils of Calvary with him and God made him both Lord and Christ. Now that's the one that you trust. My dear friends don't look inside you. Look to him. You see men can make a blunder but here is someone and I want to say this with great care who is totally infallible. And therefore he says in the word he that believes on the Son get your faith in him. But then I can hear someone say and with this I'll close. How do I know I've got this heart faith? Supposing I've just got this mechanical faith. Will I be saved? Can I say this gently? No. Gotta be a heart faith. That's why some of us can have a shock when the Lord comes. But how do I know when I've got this heart faith? Can I test myself? Yes. And what is the test? You test everything by the cross. And when by faith you come to the cross and you quietly say this Lord Jesus Christ did you die there for my sins? And when you see your sins causing that death heart faith causes a broken heart. You'll weep as you've never wept before. Let me illustrate. A young man was given a sports car before he reached the age of responsibility. He was warned over and over again that there would be a fatality. He was careering along the feed road to the M1 in London and he felt a hefty bang on his wing. He never even bothered to stop. Thought it was a large bird. He came home at half past nine and he noticed a policeman on the doorstep and the policeman looked at him and said is this your house? Yes. Is this the number of your car? Yes. Were you driving along such and such a road round about half past nine? Yes. Didn't you feel a bump on the wing of your car? Yes. What was it? I think it was a bird. Not a bird. A three year old little girl. He couldn't believe it. Forgive the drama. It hit him like that. Foolishly he went to the funeral and he saw two hundred people smashed and broken and he knew blood was on his hair. He will never drive again. Never. When you stand at the cross and see the son of God bearing your sins your lies, your bad temper everything that you do that's wrong and you say for my sins my dear friend you'll be broken and you'll want to turn from sin once and for all but he won't leave you there. Could you imagine the mother coming to that broken boy and seeing him so broken up eventually she goes home and she provides him with a beautiful present and gives it to him why that would break him even more. When you look at the cross and hear the Lord saying to you he loved you and gave himself for you so that you say in your own language Lord Jesus are you hanging there upon that cross bearing my sins to show me that you realistically love me and when the answer is yes you're broken and blessed and something like this will be in your heart they put a crown of thorns on your head I want you now to receive the crown of my life and you will make him your saviour and your Lord but there's one more thing I must share with you if I'm in the spirit and I trust I am dear brothers and sisters I feel that there is someone here tonight and you've seen that Christ has died for your sins and you've been broken you see that he loves you and on many occasions you've gone to your bedroom or to your private room and you've knelt down and you've said a prayer like this Lord thank you for dying for me I believe it with all my heart Lord Jesus save me and forgive me but nothing happens then you come again and you hear another message that spurs you and that once again the cross comes to you and you see the saviour dying there for your sins and you believe it and then you go home again and this time right from your heart with tears you ask the Lord to forgive you and save you and you feel you're taking that step of faith nothing happens and you're sitting there tonight you've asked but no feeling how can I be sure I'm right with God now please note this and I'll close when you trust you first of all trust the Lord Jesus and you trust him because of his work the mighty son of God you trust him because of his work he died for your sins and then you trust his word his word and his word says this he that believes on the son the word says has everlasting life and so you take the word you allow it to become living in your heart and life and you say Lord according to your word you have given me eternal life thank you Lord I trust the work I trust the word and it's yours now my dear friends all of us are going to stand before the Lord and we're going to give an account of himself ourselves to the Lord and you will stand before the Lord as I will stand before him and if we are going to be sure we shall have to say something like this Lord I believe that you died for my sins good I believe that God raised the Lord Jesus from the dead good I trusted you Lord Jesus and then I trusted your word and what does the word say he that believes on the son has everlasting life can he go against the word can he go against the word and that gives you the absolute assurance may God help someone now to give that heart faith to the Saviour