What does it mean to believe?
Well, we were out soul winning today.
I was with brother Sean Jolly
and he used an illustration
that he just kind of barely touched on.
He said, hey, if I believe in my mechanic,
then that means that I'm trusting that he can fix the car.
You know, that he says he can fix it.
I'm relying on him to fix it.
I believe in you.
You're gonna get it done.
You're gonna do what you've said you will do.
And that's what it means to believe in Christ.
We're trusting him to do what he has said he will do
that he will save us, that he will get us to heaven.
But as we walked away from the door,
I thought about that illustration that he used
and I thought to myself, you know,
you could take that a step further,
that illustration about the mechanic.
You know, Jesus is our friend, the mechanic,
our great mechanic, the great friend that we have.
Think about this.
If I have a friend who's a mechanic
and I really believe in him
and I'm fully trusting him to fix my car,
you know what that means?
I don't need to get out my own tools.
I don't need to put on coveralls.
I don't need to get under the car
and start tinkering around.
Hey, I just need to back off
and let him fix the car.
He's the great mechanic.
He will get it done.
I fully trust him that he's capable
to do what he said he would do.
I don't need to get in there and do it.
And what we have today are a lot of people
that are not saved.
They're in the coveralls.
They're covered in a lot of grease.
They're working hard.
They're sweating, they're toiling,
and they're spending a lot of money.
They keep driving back and forth to the auto parts store,
and they're buying parts,
and they can't get the thing fixed, right?
Because no matter how hard you work,
no matter what parts you use,
you will not be saved by your own works.
Because all of sin had come short of the glory of God.
It's only Jesus that can save us.
It's only his debt, his burial, and his resurrection.
So our friend, our great mechanic, Jesus Christ,
we have to fully trust him to fix the car
and not try to get in there and work.
Oh, but look at all the work I've done.
Yeah, but is the car fixed?
No.
I don't care how hard you're working.
I don't care how much you've spent.
I don't care if you got this expert advice.
And don't take some mechanic degree off the wall
and say, well, look at this degree I've got.
Or my dad's a mechanic.
My grandpa's a mechanic.
You know, or, oh, I've been around cars all my life,
or I've worked on cars.
Yeah, but your car is broken down.
There's only one person who can fix it, and that's Jesus.
He can fix it.
But here's the thing about Jesus' mechanic shop, okay?
He's got this little line on the ground
between the lobby and the garage,
and he tells you, look, I'll fix your car.
I'll do it for free out of love for you.
It's a free gift.
I'll fix it, but I have this one rule.
You wait in the lobby.
You let me get it done.
I don't want you in my garage.
I don't want you messing with my tools.
I don't want you getting under the car.
I don't want you looking over my shoulder and watching.
No, no, no.
You let me do it.
Let me do it all.
And if you come over across this line, I'm not fixing it.
And that's how it is with Christ.
You have to put all of your faith and trust in him.
And that's why the Bible says we have to cease
from our own works as God did from his.
And we have to rest in the finished work of Jesus Christ.
And here's the great thing about this mechanic, Jesus,
is that he has a lifetime warranty.
Actually, it's an eternal lifetime warranty.
So when he fixes the car, not only that,
he'll maintain it.
He will keep that thing running.
He will always have the parts in stock.
He will always have it fixed.
He will always have it ready to go.
So we don't have to sit there and say,
well, you know, okay, Jesus fixed the car,
but I'm gonna go out and buy a bunch of mechanical tools,
and I'm gonna read a bunch of manuals
so that I can keep it right.
No, no, no, no.
He does it all.
He fixes it, and he keeps it fixed.
He saves us, and he keeps us saved,
and he will never leave us or forsake us,
and we are sealed unto the day of redemption,
and it's all based on one thing.
Do we believe in him?
We have to believe in him.
We have to rely on him.
We have to let him do it all.
We have to make that decision
to put all of our faith and trust in Christ,
and then we're saved forever.
We're saved eternally.