In Touch Ministries

Dr. Charles Stanley: This is a day when you and I need to know what we believe and why we believe it lest we be carried away by every wind of doctrine. Why do you think that so many people who are church members know so little about what they believe, cannot defend their faith, they knock on your door, and they start asking you a bunch of questions, and if you're not prepared, they can throw you off course?

Here's the thing you ask them every time: explain to me who is Jesus. Then ask them this question: is He God? When they say no, you have identified the problem right there.

Guest (Male): Are you confident in what you believe about God? Today on In Touch, the teaching ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley, we'll hear a warning: if we believe something that sounds reasonable without first checking it against scripture, we could be headed for trouble. Stay with us and find motivation to know, believe, and defend the truth in part two of Does It Matter What You Believe? Let's listen in to Dr. Stanley's message.

Dr. Charles Stanley: Does it make a difference what you believe? Yes, it does. Now, think about this from two lights. Number one, just plain old human reasoning says it does make a difference what I believe. Why? Because every single facet of your life and mine is affected by what we believe.

There's no part of our life that's not affected by what we believe. Now, that doesn't mean that you and I can't counteract what we believe or do something that we know is certainly a contradiction to what we believe in, but the truth is, for the most part, primarily, 99 percent of the time, what we believe governs and guides and dictates and determines our decision-making process and our conduct, conversation, our character, every facet of our life.

And so the question is, does it matter what you and I believe? Plain old human reasoning says yes. Anything that affects my decisions in life and affects every facet of my life certainly is important. It does matter what you believe. But not only just plain human reasoning, but also, for example, the warnings of the scripture concerning false doctrine and error.

Turn to John chapter 8 for a moment. John chapter 8 and if you will look at the 24th verse and listen to what He says in this 24th verse. Jesus is talking to the Pharisees and they're doubting who He is and arguing with Him and so forth and denying who He is. And so He says in verse 24, "I said therefore to you that you shall die in your sins for unless you believe that I am He who I say I am, you shall die in your sins."

Does it make a difference what you believe? Jesus says yes, it does. If you don't believe that He is who He says He is, He says a person will die in their sins. And the Bible says the wages of sin is death, the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. It is appointed unto man once to die and after this the judgment. If a person dies in their sins, that means they die without Christ and are absolutely hopelessly and helplessly lost. Does it make any difference what you believe? Yes, it does.

With that in mind, what I'd like to do is to give you five very basic reasons why you and I should be able to make a defense, that is to declare to someone else what we believe. Now, what's the first one? So they all start with P. You've got a P for each finger. There are five of them. Very importantly, jot these down. First of all, by knowing what I believe, it prevents us from being misled by error and false doctrine.

Be careful that what you believe is not based on what you heard from somebody who's very charismatic in their personality, someone who is very eloquent, someone who is very persuasive, and someone who's smooth. Be careful. In other words, what you and I believe is not based on what somebody said but what does God teach?

And so therefore, when He said to Timothy, "Watch out. Be careful," over and over and over again, He's telling young Timothy whom He's taught. And Timothy and Peter are saying to others also, "Watch out for false doctrine, error, those who are teaching those things that satisfy them." But not only them, I want you to look at another couple of passages here because if you'll notice what He says also, look in Ephesians chapter 4 for a moment.

Ephesians chapter 4. Paul, in this fourth chapter talking about the church and talking about the responsibility, for example, of pastors and teachers. In fact, when he describes the gifts to the church, he calls them pastor-teachers because that's what God intended them to be, pastors and teachers, not just pastors, but pastor-teachers. And listen to what he says.

He says now it is the responsibility of a pastor and teacher to teach the people, for example, instruct them. Then he says, if we do this and do it well, verse 14, "As a result, we will no longer be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming, but rather," he says, "speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects unto Him who is the head, even Christ."

So what is the responsibility of a pastor? The responsibility of a pastor is to teach the truth, instruct in the ways of God so that people will do what? They will understand what the Bible teaches. They will develop a belief system that is based squarely on the word of God. They will begin to formulate their own theology. And somebody says, "Well, I don't understand theology." That's just simply a study of God.

Every single believer here has one, that is, you have some ideas and you have some beliefs about God. The truth is we want to be sure that they are beliefs that are doctrinally sound, that is, are biblically based. Now, listen, here's the thing I want to say again. You must not be caught up by some charismatic personality or somebody who's eloquent or somebody who is so enthusiastic you think, "Well, how could they be wrong when they're so enthusiastic?" Very easily.

This is a day when you and I need to know what we believe and why we believe it lest we be carried away by every wind of doctrine. Why do you think, for example, one particular sect works on the believers, people who are already members of churches? Why don't they go out trying to win people who primarily don't even claim anything?

Because they know that so many people who are church members know so little about what they believe, cannot defend their faith, they knock on your door and they start asking you a bunch of questions, and if you're not prepared, they can throw you off course. Here's the thing you ask them every time: explain to me who is Jesus. Then ask them this question: is He God? When they say no, you have identified the problem right there.

There are just some questions that identify who the person is and what they're up to. Is there any way to be saved other than through the shed blood of Jesus Christ and our faith in His atoning death at Calvary plus nothing? If they say, "Yes, there's something... oh, now you've got to... you've got to keep the Sabbath, you've got to do this," shut the door because they're totally off-base.

It's very important you and I know what we believe because, listen, remember, you are developing a biblical grid through which every single thing you hear goes through that grid in your mind and you're able to identify error, false doctrine, truth. And if we had that entrenched in our minds and in our hearts, we'd be strong and firm in the things of God. So number one, we said the first reason is we certainly do want to protect ourselves from that kind of false doctrine that's out there and out there so prevalent today. Everywhere you turn, you find it.

So first of all, we want to prevent ourselves from being misled by error and false doctrine. The second thing is this: we want to be able to, listen, we want to be able to not only prevent ourselves from being misled, but we also want to be able to protect ourselves, listen, from fear and intimidation. Listen to what He says, verse 14, 1st Peter 3, "Even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you're blessed. Do not fear their intimidation. Do not be troubled. Set Christ Lord in your life. Be ready to make a defense."

Now, for example, people will say to you, "Well, tell me why you believe what you believe." Now, listen, how can I defend something if I don't know what I believe about it? How can I explain to someone what I believe if I don't know what I believe? That's why it's so very, very important we know what we believe and why we believe it. And so when He says, "Always be prepared," what does that mean?

That means I've got to study some. It means I've got to search the word. That means I've got to compare what I read with the word of God and decide in my mind, what is it I do believe? I guarantee you that most of the people here, most of you, work around somebody who has a set of beliefs that have nothing to do with the word of God, or maybe some who have a little mixture of the word of God.

And if they said to you now, "Exactly tell me what you believe about moral standards. Tell me what your moral standards are," and more than likely they're heading you in a different direction or heading you in a particular direction. Suppose somebody came to you and said, "You know, I just feel guilty all the time. What do I do about it?" What would you say to them? You see, He says all... listen, "always being ready." He says to make a defense, always being ready to tell a reason why.

Now, more than likely most of you know what you believe about some things, or at least most things, but if somebody said, "Well, now why do you believe that?" do they not have a right to ask and to expect us to give an answer? And that's why He says it so strongly here. He says, "Always be ready. Always be ready to give them a reason for what you believe."

Now, your kids have walked up to you and said, "Well, now why should I do that?" "Just because I said so." Now, you know what no kid's going to accept that. If you give them a reason why they're not to do something or why they're to do something, then you know a kid can... he can pick that up. But if you say, "Just because I said so," well, that's like me saying, "Well, I believe that just because that's the way I believe and that's it." No. Here's what He says. He says, "Always be ready to defend, to give a reason for what you believe."

So first of all, I want to prevent myself from being deceived by false doctrine and error. Secondly, I certainly want to protect myself from being intimidated by somebody who's going to attack my faith, so therefore I'm going to discover what I believe and why I believe it and be able to defend it. Well, there's a third thing I want you to jot down, and that's this: preparation, listen, preparation to answer those people who have an honest question and who honestly are seeking the truth.

You think about this. We've got a whole world of people out there who are lost as they can be. A world of people out there who are hurting over all kinds of things. People who really and truly would like to know the truth. They want to know the truth. They're searching for the truth. And evidence of that is all the letters we get from people all over the world who are searching for truth, hungering for the truth.

You think about how many people who feel hopeless and helpless and insecure. And health-wise, they're hurting, some of them in the hospital. The doctors already told them, "You don't have long to live," and you know what? A thousand things are going through their mind. "Don't have long to live. What's going to happen when I die? Where am I going? I've heard all kind of things. I've heard that you go to purgatory, what's that? I've heard you go to hell, what's that? I've heard you go to heaven, how am I going to get there? I wonder if somebody can tell me."

Listen, we don't understand how many people out there who deeply, deep down inside want to know the truth. Listen, we need to know what we believe. We need to know why we believe it so we can say to someone who's facing death, someone who's in a great time of difficulty and hardship and pain and trouble, tribulations and trials and difficulties. They don't know which way to turn. They don't know what to do. You and I should be able to say, "Here's what God says." We should be able to say, "Well, here's what the Bible says."

And so there are multitudes of people out there who are desperately hungering and thirsting to know the truth because they're scared. They're afraid of life. They're afraid of death. They are insecure about lots of things. They're looking for somebody who can give them something that's solid, something that they can live by, something they can die by. So first of all, I want to prevent myself from being deluded or being deceived by error and false doctrine. I want to protect myself, I want to protect you from being intimidated and fearful of those people who will attack what you believe.

And thirdly, we certainly want to be prepared for those people who genuinely want to know the truth. The fourth reason is this: so that you and I may be persuasive in our expression or our presentation of what we believe. So we can be persuasive. It isn't just to protect myself from intimidation and fear and prepare myself to speak to those people who really want to know the truth and to prevent myself from being deceived by error and false doctrine.

But listen, to be persuasive. Now, suppose, for example, you walked up to me and you said, "Tell me the truth. What do you believe about heaven?" And I suppose I said, "Well, here's what I think heaven's probably... well, in the last book of the Bible, one of those... a couple of those chapters over there..." you know what? Nobody's persuaded by that.

Now, listen carefully so you don't misunderstand. It is not that you and I save anybody or persuade anybody to be a Christian. It is the work of the Holy Spirit in you and in me that makes the difference. It is Christ in us and the presence of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God speaking through us. It may be man or woman's voice, but it is the work and the ministry and the power of God. Anybody who takes credit for it is a fool. It's the work of God.

But on the other hand, God chooses people like you and myself and others. He chooses our voice. He chooses our mind to do what? To instruct them in the way of truth. Now, He says, "Always be ready to make," listen, "to make a declaration of what you believe, to defend it, to speak it, to tell the reason why." Why? Because if I'm ready and I'm prepared, I can say it with authority. I can say it with conviction. I can say it sincerely. I can say it persuasively.

Now, you will not convince anybody of much if you don't have any conviction about it. If I'm convicted about it, then I'm going to speak with authority about it. Now, I don't mean you have to be eloquent. I'm simply saying this: you know with all the sincerity of your heart, if you have a deep, abiding conviction about something, when you say it, it's going to have a ring to it that it will not have otherwise.

Listen, we're living in a day when it is absolutely essential to know the truth. You and I have... listen, we have a responsibility to speak, listen, with authority and conviction. Listen, that conviction is based on two things: number one, it is what the word of God teaches and secondly, it is what is going on in our life. Now, you can't just say, "Well, here's what I believe. Hallelujah, praise God. Glory to God, hallelujah."

Well, glory to God, hallelujah is fine if you can give me a biblical basis for telling me what you believe. If I'm going to be persuasive, I've got to know the truth, I've got to believe the truth, and I have to have a conviction about it. It means, man, I'm not... listen, I'm not deviating from this. You see, if you're not convicted and you're not persuaded and you're not settled, when you start talking to somebody else and you're a little bit foggy and a little bit hazy and a little bit wobbly and you're trying to sweeten it up so they'll feel good, I'm here to tell you, you know what? They're not persuaded by that, they're not convicted by that, and not much is going to happen.

Last reason I want to give you why you and I should absolutely know what we believe and why we believe it and be able to defend it: our personal relationship with God. You know what? The more I study the word of God, the more I understand, listen, what the Bible teaches about Him, the more excited I get because our strength of faith toward God, our belief in Him, our trust in Him is primarily based on what the word of God says about Him and what we believe the word of God says about Him.

Because listen, what I believe is not the authority. The authority is this book. And if what I believe does not match this, then I need to give up what I believe and change my beliefs. Now, here's what I want you to see. Think about just one aspect of your Christian life alone. Think about your prayer life. You get on your knees and you talk to God. You're going to have lots of questions about lots of things.

But suppose you know God is not only the creator but the one who loved you so much He had this awesome plan of redemption. And He loved you so much He sent His only begotten Son to the world who died on the cross to pay your sin debt in full. And that God chose, listen, God chose to crucify His Son, that's a reason He loves you the way He does and the way He expresses it in that whole encounter at the crucifixion.

Suppose you begin to understand that God is living on the inside of you in the presence of the Holy Spirit. Suppose you begin understanding what unconditional love is all about. And suppose you begin to understand and you begin to think about all the promises that He's made in His word concerning answered prayer. And suppose you begin to understand that He's immutable, that He's absolutely unchanging, that He is absolutely faithful, that every single attribute of God is the epitome of all that it possibly could be.

Now, here's what happens: every time you and I learn something new about almighty God, you know what happens? Our faith in Him, our strength in our faith, everything gets stronger and stronger, our convictions become stronger and stronger because we get deeper, more wonderful insights into who God is like. Does it make a difference what I believe? Yes, it does.

So what are you going to do? Get so busy and get so full of other things and allow yourself to be so materialistic that the most important thing that your kids need is they need an explanation of this book. You say, "Well, I'm leaving it to the pastors." You can't do that. You know why? It doesn't make any difference what a pastor teaches, your children watch you.

And because they love you more than they love the pastor, which is the right thing, more than likely they're going to do what you do rather than what somebody else says. I cannot tell you, please listen to me, I cannot tell you how extremely important it is you give your children a belief system that is based upon the word of God. Something they can live by and something they can die by.

Now, here's what happens. Now look at this passage of scripture and I think about all that Peter said here in this one verse, always being prepared. Here's what I know: if I understand what I believe and if I'm able to defend it, it will help me in my walk with Him, it will help me in my prayer to Him, it will help me in my service for Him, and it will certainly help me in my worship of Him. Very important you know what you believe.

Father, we love You and praise You. Thank You for Your precious word. Thank You that what we believe does make a difference. We can face all kinds of difficulties with assurance and confidence. We can face death with absolute assurance that absent from the body, present with the Lord, nothing to intimidate us or to cause us to fear.

Thank You for saying, "I'll never leave you nor forsake you." And all of us who've lived with You a pretty good while know that You've never left us nor forsaken us, not one single time. Thy word is truth and our life becomes an expression of that truth as we follow You. We just say, "Bless Your holy name today." In Jesus' name, Amen.

Guest (Male): Thank you for joining us on In Touch, the teaching ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley. No matter how much you enjoy your favorite Bible teachers, remember, all believers are responsible to examine the word of God for themselves and be alert to error and false teaching. For help knowing what the Bible says and how to understand it for yourself, you can visit our website, intouch.org, and head over to Today on Radio to hear this lesson again.

To order a copy of today's complete message, "Does It Matter What You Believe?", visit our online bookstore. It's also included in our teaching set called "Know What You Believe". Find this and other resources at intouch.org or call or text us, the number is very simply 1-800-IN-TOUCH. And write to us, address your letter to In Touch, Post Office Box 7900, Atlanta, Georgia 30357. And that number again, 1-800-IN-TOUCH. If you're not sure what it means to be baptized by the Holy Spirit, well, stay with us for today's moment with Charles Stanley, just ahead.

Dr. Charles Stanley: There is an inexplicable joy that comes from understanding scripture and learning how to apply it in our own life.

Guest (Male): The Charles F. Stanley Life Principles Bible includes 30 foundational truths that Dr. Stanley has learned from over 60 years of ministry. It's available in the New King James Version, New International Version, the King James Version, and New American Standard Bible version. To order, call 1-800-IN-TOUCH or go to intouch.org/store.

With the 30 Life Principles Bible Study, you'll enjoy a rich exploration of God's word. Designed as a 90-day learning experience for individual use or in a group setting, you'll explore Dr. Stanley's 30 Life Principles and learn how to make the Bible a part of your everyday life because we can all benefit from a closer look. To order the 30 Life Principles Bible Study, call 1-800-IN-TOUCH or visit intouch.org/store.

Dr. Stanley devoted his entire life to helping us get closer to Jesus as we all want to do. So are you ready for the next step in your journey? It begins at the Charles Stanley Institute. You can learn how at charlesstanleyinstitute.org.

Guest (Male): You're listening to In Touch. You may have heard people talk about the baptism of the Holy Spirit. With an explanation for that, here's a moment with Charles Stanley.

Dr. Charles Stanley: The baptism of the Holy Spirit is this: when a person receives Jesus Christ as their personal savior, the Holy Spirit comes into that person's life and seals them as a child of God. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is the act whereby God sends the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit into your life to live within you for all eternity.

The fact that He seals us and that He indwells us separates us from the rest of the world because we are children of God. Now, somebody will say, "Well, does that mean you get all the Holy Spirit you're going to get when you're saved?" So let me just be careful how I answer this. You have all of the Holy Spirit you need forever when you're saved.

Now, how much of you He has is a whole different question. Then it's a matter of a surrender of my life to Him. And so the Holy Spirit anoints us for the work that He calls us to do. He gives us instruction, He's our teacher, and I wouldn't even think about walking out on a platform to speak the gospel if I didn't know that He was in me and had prepared me and was there to enable me to say what I need to say.

Guest (Male): The Holy Spirit enables and equips every humble believer to do what God calls them to do. Learn more about living the Christian life at our website, intouch.org. And if today's program has prompted you to consider how you can share the grace of God with others, please let us know.

On the next edition of In Touch, our series "Know What You Believe" continues as we explore the fundamental core principles every believer needs to be certain about. I hope you'll join us for In Touch, the teaching ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley. This program is a presentation of In Touch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia, and remains on the station through the grace of God and your faithful prayers and gifts.