The Dangers of Unbelief
April 17, 2005
Center Point Baptist Church
Introduction
Present the following illustration on belief:
People refuse to believe that which they don’t want to believe, in spite of evidence. When explorers first went to Australia they found a mammal which laid eggs; spent some time in water, some on land; had a broad, flat tail, webbed feet, and a bill similar to a duck. Upon their return to England, they told the populace of this, and all felt it was a hoax. They returned to Australia and found a pelt from this animal and took it back to England, but the people still felt it was a hoax. In spite of the evidence, they disbelieved because they didn’t want to believe.
*Tonight, we study the dangers of disbelief – and find that our good faith leads to a life pleasing to God in all we do.
• Many times, we get things out of order – seeking proof so that we can be more comfortable to believe.
“Understanding is the reward of faith. Therefore, seek not to understand that thou mayest believe, but believe that thou mayest understand.” – Augustine
Read Hebrews 3:7-13.
1.) Hearing God’s Voice
*Don’t ignore the opening phrase, “as the Holy Spirit says.”
• God is active even today, so that we may learn from Him.
• …and so that we may learn from our ancestors in the faith
How might we know how, where, and to what the Holy Spirit leads? – through His Word, the Bible!
2 Peter 1:21 – For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
– Holy Scriptures are the living Word of God!
*We are given two requirements from this passage of scripture:
1. hear His voice
2. don’t harden your heart
*A time of testing is remembered, when the children of Israel wandered in the desert for an entire generation – 40 years – because of their unbelief at Kadesh.
• They had reached the borders of the “Promised Land.”
• Their leadership – all but two – agreed that taking the land was impossible – impossible for them, but possible for God!
Luke 1:37 – For nothing is impossible with God.
• They were prohibited from reaching their goal – the promised blessing from God upon Israel.
*God has desired our attention since the very earliest moments in human history!
Psalm 81:13-14 – If my people would but listen to me, if Israel would follow my ways, how quickly would I subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes!
*He continues to plead for our attention to His Word –
Revelation 3:20-21 – Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.
2.) An Unbelieving Heart
*Our passage reminds us of the dangers of an unbelieving heart – How does this unbelief show itself?
• first of all, in the complete rejection of Jesus Christ and his gospel
• through a theoretical acceptance of Christian theology, but living a life devoid of Christianity in practice
*The effects of Christianity within must “come out” through a life of faith and good works!
James 1:27 – Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
• through refusing to accept certain parts of the Word of God within your life – the parts that you find personally displeasing
• Another proof of this unbelief is seen in disliking spiritual and pure worship. Whenever unbelief begins to incrust itself in a man’s heart, he becomes less comfortable with true worship, and more ensnared by rite and tradition.
“This unbelief develops itself in pride. Wherever there is a proud man there is an unbelieving man. What is pride? It is just the passion that exudes from unbelief. Wherever there is pride there is a man at a distance from God; wherever there is deep humility, there is a man who feels that he is living near to God.” – Dr. J. Cumming
What are the causes of this unbelief?
1. ignorance – of the gospel message and of scriptures that are useful for our discipleship
a. Ignorance may show itself in the fact that many people believe they are saved based upon church membership or a religious heritage.
2. the love of sin
a. attachment to objects of sensual nature instead of attachment to Christ: beautiful churches, relics, forms of music, HVAC, etc.
b. love of the world – The pleasures, riches, and honors of this world swell so much in the sinner’s eye that he considers eternal goals of no consequence and unworthy of his pursuit.
c. pride of man – Pride stands in direct opposition to true faith and may appear as pride of reason, of wisdom or learning, of will, of righteousness, and of strength.
3. inconsideration and/or indifference to the grace of God shown through Jesus Christ.
4. the direct work of Satan and his demons
Ephesians 6:12 – For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
5. fear of suffering
What does this unbelief cause – in the saved and the unsaved?
(We turn away from the living God.)
Job 21:14-15 – Yet they say to God, “Leave us alone! We have no desire to know your ways. Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him? What would we gain by praying to him?”
*Paul’s warning to the church at Corinth:
1 Corinthians 10:12 – …if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!
3.) Encouraging One Another
What should we do then, to keep from falling into the trap of unbelief?
Hebrews 2:1-3 – We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. For if the message spoken by angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation?
*Our passage exhorts us to encourage one another – daily – as long as Today exists!
encourage one another – And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching. – Hebrews 10:24-25
*Scripture tells us daily to be an encouragement –
• intimate friends exhorting and encouraging, as well as admonishing each other in support – never detraction – of the church’s mission
• parents to their children – daily in the Word
• teachers in the church who have developed a special relationship with their students
• the aged encouraging the young – the young serving the elders
• church members exhorting and encouraging each other
while it is called Today – that is, we only have a certain amount of time to draw breath – or until the day of the Lord.
Why fill up that time with bitter contentiousness?
*Instead, by encouraging each other “daily,” we guard ourselves – both corporately and as individuals – and God will bring blessings upon us!
