Today's lesson is part 8 in our faith series. Last week, we instructed you on what was "Serving by Faith"? Now, we look at "Unbelief the Opposite of Faith." This lesson will teach the meaning of the sin of unbelief, man's view of unbelief, the effects of unbelief, the heinousness of unbelief and conclude will a call to "Come clean, Come clear." You want a faith that is alive and operational in your life. Thank God, we have His Word, and He will guide us. We can know the truth and that truth will set us free. Prayerfully read this lesson and ask yourself, "Do I believe"?
Introduction
John 3: 18 reads: "He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not (now you get those words-'he believeth not') is CONDEMNED already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."
Now, my friends, listen again to God's Word as read in Genesis 15: 6: "And he (Abraham) believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness."
The word "believe" means trust-trust the Lord, trust your soul to Him. It means to lean mightily on Him. It means to cling to Him. To cling to an individual, you believe him, you trust him, you have faith in him. on the other hand, UNBELIEF means that you will have nothing to do with the Word of God and with the Lord Jesus Christ. You won't believe Him; you won't believe His Word.
Section 1: The Sin of Unbelief
We have previously taught that faith comes by hearing the Word of God, by believing the Word of God. The Word comes first to the mind and the Holy Spirit applied that Word to your heart. Man can speak to your mind, but only the Holy Spirit can reach your heart. Now, "he that believeth not" is what? Condemned already! The sin of unbelief is lightly regarded, but when we are finished today, it won't be so lightly regarded. It is serious business. Some will preach against all types of sins, gambling, fornication, and murder. However, my listening friend, the damning sin, the sin that damns a soul to hell, is THE SIN OF UNBELIEF, the sin that will not believe the truth of God's Word, the sin that will not seek the Lord Jesus Christ. That is what sends you to hell, not the other sins. The sin of unbelief is the unpardonable sin of God's Word. You can't repent without believing, and you can't believe without repenting. This one sin is unpardonable without repenting. You've got to repent of the sin of unbelief. If you never come to place that you see your heart is depraved and that you deserve hell, that you are under the control of your depraved nature, you will never get saved. Your old, depraved nature grows out of a heart of unbelief. You can't believe, you won't believe. That is damnable, the unpardonable sin, the sin of unbelief that will not ley you cling to the Lord Jesus Christ.
As we have seen, the sin of unbelief is a damning sin. The Bible says in Mark 16: 16: "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that BELIEVETH NOT shall be damned." You may say, "I believe there is a God." "The devils also believe, and tremble." (James 2: 19) But you don't even tremble. The devils know better than you! The demons tremble because they know that He is the Son of God. They know He is the Christ. They know He was crucified, buried, risen and ascended to heaven. They know He is the Lord, but they will not bow to Him. If you don't believe, you are kin to the devil.
Yes, unbelieving is a damning sin. It will damn you to hell. You may say you believe the Bible, but you don't. If you did, you would flee to Christ. No individual can believe the Word of God without fleeing to Christ. You can't do it! If you believed part of the Bible, you would believe all of it. You can't believe part of the Bible and leave the other out. You can't pick and choose. You either believe the Bible, the Word of God or you don't. You can't selectively believe a part. It is all or nothing. If you don't, that is the sin of unbelief.
Section 2: Man's View of Unbelief
First, man views unbelief as a negative sin. You don't believe and there is nothing much to it. You may think, "I will believe when I get good and ready." No, you won't! If you love the world today, you will love it tomorrow. If you love the world tomorrow, you will love it the next day. You need to turn to Christ today, "Now is the accepted time."
You may say unbelief is simply a sin of omission. That is a superficial view of unbelief. It is far more than a simple sin of omission; it is your life. It is your whole being set against Christ and set against His Word. Your entire destiny is at stake. John 3: 36: "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life but the wrath of God abideth on him."
It is more than just a negative sin; it is positive. "He that believeth not...shall not (get those words!) see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." The sin of unbelief is a damning sin, because the wrath of an eternal God rests upon your whole life and hangs over your head moment by moment. When you go to work, the wrath of God is on you there. Go home and it is there. Go to sleep, and the wrath of God is there. The wrath of God rests on the unbelieving person every second of every day.
Man needs to wake up. His view of unbelief is dangerous to his eternal destiny.
Section 3: Effects of Unbelief
Listen to John 3: 19, 20): "And this is the condemnation (damnation), that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved." Friend, do you see what a heart of unbelief does to you? It turns you away from the Word of God, turns you away from the glorious light of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, turns you away from Christ as Lord and will not let you bow your knee unto Him, nor confess Him as your Lord and your Savior.
In Matthew 21: 37-39 we find what the sin of unbelief is:
"But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son. But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance. And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him."
Now that is what the heart of unbelief in your heart is doing; it is slaying the Son of God. You hate Him with such a vengeance that if you could get to Him you would take Him off the throne and kill Him if you could. Consider that when you think that "unbelief" is just some simple omission! If you are unsaved, you need to repent of the first-degree murder charge and admit that you are the reason that the Son of God was crucified on a tree. Turn to Him for mercy and find mercy.
Unbelief is an act of the mind and the will rejecting the truth of God's Word and rejecting Christ as Lord and Savior. You are saying in effect, "I will not have this Man to rule over me. I want to have my own way." Does that sound like a simple act of omission. No, it is spiritual treason against the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. That act of the mind and will rejecting the Gospel appeal, rejecting the Word of God by which to conform your life, rejecting Christ as Lord and Savior.
Then unbelief is an unmoved hostility to the moral and spiritual claims of Christ. You say, "He has no claims on my heart. "I will not have Him." And you turn and curse Him. You use His name in vain, or you turn away from Him to have your own way and go to Hell. UNBELIEF IS AN UNMOVED HOSTILITY TO THE MORAL AND SPIRITUAL CLAIMS OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST.
Friend, if you are ever going to believe and not doubt, your stubborn old will have to be broken. No one gets saved until the conviction of the Holy Spirit shows you your responsibility and breaks your stubborn will and selfishness. When that happens, you will leave the world of unbelief and cling to the cross of Calvary.
Many will turn to philosophy, some cult, or to a false doctrine, turning to every whim of the world to find peace, BUT YOU WILL NOT FIND PEACE APART FROM CHRIST.
If you cling to your unbelief, the end for you will be the flames of hell.
Section 4: Heinousness of Unbelief
As I have said, many have a light view of unbelief. Hear me, listen to the awfulness of unbelief. It is a sin against knowledge of duty. It is a sin against light and knowledge. Youi know deep down in your heart that you are a sinner. You have no hope. No, you don't. You don't have a bit of hope in the world. Deep in your heart there is some uneasiness about your eternity. Unbelief is sentencing you to hell fire.
You know you should turn to Christ; you know unless you do turn to Christ there is no hope, but you won't come. There is no hope outside of the Lord Jesus Christ. Listen to this sobering passage found in Hebrews 6: 4-6:
"For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, if they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to open shame."
Friend, there is something the old-time preachers called the deadline. This was the place that a person having rejected the message of the Lord Jesus Christ, crossed and there was no hope after that. The rejection had been so complete and continuous, that the Holy Spirit withdrew never to return again. The person would be left alone and according to Romans 3, would not seek God. My friend, I don't know how far a sinner can go before he crosses the deadline. But I do know that there is a line. Hebrews 6: 4-6 describes that line. A person can only sin against light for so long that it is over. His eternity sealed. Death and hell await. I remember prying many a time, "Lord, don't leave me. Please bring me to Christ. I want to know Him as my Lord and Savior."
Here this, UNBELIEF INVOLVES THE HIGHEST CONTEMPT OF GOD. Read 1 John 5: 10-13:
"He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record God gave of his Son. And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God."
Listen closely, "He that believeth not God hath made him a liar." In other words, you have set your will up against the will of God. Those that refuse to believe and reject the truth are saying God is a liar. Do you see how serious unbelief is? If you say, "I will not have the Son of God rule over me." You are calling God a liar. You are holding God in the highest contempt. You call God a liar by not believing the testimony that God gives of His Son! Those that have unbelief, if they could, would ascend to heaven and try to take God off His throne. You have put your will against God's will. That is what unbelief does! That is how heinous unbelief is!
Section 5: Come Clean Come Clear
The cross is the highest expression of God's love. God's love is manifested at the cross. God's justice is manifested at the cross. God's wisdom is manifested at the cross. God's power is manifested at the cross. Yet, you will not receive God's testimony of His Son, who died on the cross for our sins. Why do you turn Him down and turn down the truth of God's Word. When you refuse to allow Jesus Christ to be Lord of your life, you are holding God in the highest contempt, because the cross is the highest expression of God's love.
My friend, go sit at the foot of the cross and look up at the Son of God dying for you. Go to the cross of Calvary and bow down to Him as Lord and confess Him as the Lord of your heart and your life. Go to the cross and bow down there at the feet of the crucified Christ, and you will find the expression and manifestation of the love of God. You will see the justice of God against sin and God's hatred of sin. At the cross you will see God's justice and God's hatred of sin.
An old preacher who has gone to glory would plead with sinners to "come clean come clear." Friend, if you have never made Jesus Christ the Lord of your life, or if you are backslidden, you know you aren't right, if you aren't sure about your eternal destiny. I plead with you to come clean come clear. Come to the foot of the cross, repent of your sins, ask God to save you for Christ's sake. He will never turn you away. Do it today and don't delay.
Conclusion
One day God is going to pour His wrath and His justice on your head, and you will come to know what it means to have refused to have Christ to rule over you! Oh, the expression of God's power at the cross of Christ!
Unbelief is directed against the Truth: "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." (John 8:32) Unbelief is against holiness and against happiness, and unbelief is directed against the salvation of souls. Unbelief makes you consent to be damned. Unbelief is the condemnation of all that God has done to save you. My prayer is that you throw away all that unbelief and turn to Jesus Christ as your Lord. It is either turn to the Lord or go to hell. My friend, I leave you there to ponder your eternal destiny.
This message concludes our eight lessons on faith. If you have a lost loved one or friend, why not send that person the links to these broadcasts in an effort to give them the truth. You can help spread the gospel by sending these messages on saving faith to the lost. May God anoint these messages.
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