Are you convinced today that Jesus is the Son of God? Do you reach out to Him like the malefactor who went home with Jesus to paradise, or are you still hounded by doubts and uncertainties? Are you still waiting for Jesus to prove Himself to you? What have you said to Jesus in the subjunctive mood? Perhaps you said, "If you are real then heal my body? Is that your condition for believing in God? Some people talk to God like one of my seminary classmates, who told us that He promised God that he would go anywhere God sent him. We were all so impressed by his loyalty and devotion that we almost failed to hear everything that my friend said to the Lord. What he said, in total, was that he would go anywhere the Lord sent him, beginning in New York City where we were living, if it was no farther South than Baltimore and no farther West than Pittsburgh. He was not volunteering to serve, he was establishing the conditions under which he would serve. His was a subjunctive service deemed by that same word If!

There needs to come a time in our lives when we stop asking God to prove Himself to us, and stop giving instructions on how we want God to behave as a precondition for our service and belief. That is how Satan came before Jesus in the wilderness in Matthew 4. "If you be the Sort of God, turn these stones into bread." Jesus does not need to prove Himself to us. The marks of His majesty and divinity are all around us. What person who once was sick and knows for a certainty that God heard your prayers and raised you from that sick bed, will stand here today and declare that Jesus Christ is Lord? What foul sinner who was snatched from sinking sand and established on a solid rock of faith so that your life today is vastly different than it used to be, will share your conviction that Jesus is the Son of God? Who is able to listen to the words of this song and declare that it speaks the sentiments of your own heart?

O how well do I remember, how I doubted day by day;

For I did not know for certain that my sins were Washed away;

When the Spirit tried to tell me, I would not the truth receive

I endeavored to be happy, and to make myself believe.

But it's real, it's real, O I know it's real;

Praise God, the doubts are settled, For I know, I know it's real.

Jesus did not answer that dying man, because He had already said and done enough that should have settled that man's doubts. What about you and me? Do you know in your heart that Jesus is real, or are you still waiting, throwing up ifs, and standing in the subjunctive mood until Jesus proves Himself to you?

The second reason why I think Jesus gave that man no answer, is because unlike the other dying man who did confess his own sins and acknowledge his wrongdoing, this man wanted to be saved from his suffering without acknowledging his sins. That is not the kind of thing that sends Jesus into action. With Christ things work in the exact opposite order. It is not a matter of Him living up to our standards and expectations, but us responding in the way that He expects. I love that verse in I John 1:9 that says, "If you confess your sins, He is faithful and just to forgive your sins and to cleanse from all unrighteousness." Notice, however, that in this verse the first step belongs to us. If we confess our sins then God will act. We are not establishing the conditions for a future relationship, it is God who is setting the terms.