New Salem Baptist Church

The Sin of Unbelief

August 25, 2024

Scripture reading: Luke 5:1-9.

In this passage Jesus is standing by the lake but the crowd is pressing upon him. Why? They wanted to hear God’s word! Oh! If only people today would have this desire! We live in an age where most people just seek to have themselves entertained, or maybe just distracted, rather than desiring to hear the word of God.

When Jesus was being pressed upon, he got into a boat so he could teach from the boat. It was Peter’s boat.

When our Lord had finished teaching, he instructed Peter to go into deep water and let down his nets to catch fish.

See the order of priority. Food was second. God’s word was first. It’s when Jesus was done teaching that he then instructed Peter to cast his nets. Let us have the same priority as our Lord. What was Esau’s priority? Esau’s priority was his stomach. Food over birthright.

Do you know that, if you belong to Christ, that you have a birthright? It is a place in the kingdom that is coming. It’s a reward. But only those who exercise self-control and self-discipline regarding their bodily appetites will qualify for the birthright:

²⁴ Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. ²⁵ Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. ²⁶ So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. ²⁷ But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified. ^[1]

Prioritize as Jesus did not as Esau did! Put God’s word over your stomach.

⁵ And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.”^[2]

As we read, they caught so many fish that the nets began to tear. They caught so many fish that another boat came to help. They caught so many fish that both boats began to sink! Then we read:

⁸ But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” ⁹ For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, ^[3]

Peter says that he is a sinful man. Why does he say this? He and those with him were amazed at what had happened. Why were they amazed?

They were amazed because they were not expecting a catch and the catch was so very large. They were not expecting. But, didn’t Jesus tell them to do it? What ought to be the expectation if the Lord tells them to do something? Of course, they ought to expect that their obedience will be fruitful.

This is the very reason why Peter saw himself as sinful. It is because he did not believe that he would catch any fish. Jesus implied that he would yet, at the very least, Peter doubted.

So, we see that unbelief is a sin. It exposes our sinful condition.

Sometimes, Christians have the impression that unbelievers are not at fault for not believing. They simply need more information, they think. But this is not the biblical witness. According to revelation to not believe is a sin.

[1] It is a sin to not believe in God. According to the apostle Paul, everyone knows there is God and the suppress this truth:

¹⁸ For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. ¹⁹ For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. ²⁰ For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. ²¹ For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.^[4]

Suppress is the right word! Did you ever take a small beach ball or a volleyball into a swimming pool or lake? You try to hide it from your friends so you hold it under the water. But it’s always trying to come up because it is so buoyant. You have to expend a lot of energy to keep it under. You are suppressing that ball. So it is with the truth about God. People have to work hard to pretend they don’t know he exists.

Look at verse 21 again: all people know God already.

²¹ For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. ^[5]

By denying him their hearts are foolish and darkened. It is a sin not to believe in God.

[2] It is a sin not to believe in Christ as the unique Son of God.

¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. ¹⁸ Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.^[6]

A person is under condemnation, in sin, when they do not believe in the name of the only Son of God. To believe in his name is just another way of saying to believe in him.

This sin is somewhat different than not believing in God. We saw that everyone knows there is God. Not everyone knows that Christ is the Son of God. Many do know who are not yet saved because they were taught this as a child and the common grace of God, through the Holy Spirit, has impressed this truth upon them. They simply have not acted upon this fledgling faith. But there are others who were raised in a non-religious family or may have been raised in another religion altogether. Those sorts of people do not know that Jesus is the only Son of God. (In fact, Muslims are taught from early childhood that it is a sin to say that Jesus is the Son of God [Koran 23:91])

Thus, we are to tell those who do not know that Jesus is the Son of God.

The three ways we can do that is by:

• Recapitulating the evidence that supports his claim to be the Son of God; that is, his miracles and his resurrection.
• We can also give them one of the four gospels so that they cannot only read for themselves about his miracles and his resurrection, but also read his teaching which is soul-moving and life-changing because “no one ever spoke like this man!” (John 7:46)
• We can show them how Jesus has fulfilled prophecy. Since true prophecy is impossible for man (because man cannot know the future) this is simultaneously a proof for the divine inspiration of the Bible. (For a short list of prophesies, see the sermon Has God Spoken?)[7]

However, once they have seen the evidence and still do not believe then they are in sin.

[3] It is a sin not to believe the gospel. What is the gospel? The gospel is the good news that the Lord Jesus has come to save us from both the consequences of sin, which is hell, and the power of sin, which brings misery into our lives. He came to grant new life full of hope and goodness.

¹⁵ And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. ¹⁶ Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. ^[8]

The words of our Lord are simple and clear. Whoever does not believe the gospel is condemned. There is no other way to God except through Christ, embracing the gospel.

If you follow Muhammad, Buddha, or anyone else you are condemned. If you avoid religion altogether and just try to live a good life you are condemned. These are not my ideas. They are the words of Christ.

Do you think God is too narrow? Well, he did say that the gate to life was narrow and the road wasn’t easy (Matthew 7:13-14). You may think it is too narrow, but God has established it that way and fussing won’t change it. Thus, our only option is to accept Christ’s assessment of reality and receive it.

[4] It is a sin to not believe the words of Christ. This was Peter’s sin, remember? Jesus, in a dialogue with those who opposed him, said:

⁴⁶ Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? ⁴⁷ Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.” ^[9]

The person who is from God, that is, the one who is drawn by God’s Spirit, listens to the words of Jesus because they are the words of God. If a person does not listen to Jesus, they are not from God and remain in sin.

[5] It is a sin not to believe the words of the apostles. Our Lord, just before he went to the cross to suffer, spoke with his apostles and gave them a promise:

²⁵ “These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. ²⁶ But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.^[10]

The apostles received the Holy Spirit and knew “all things.” They knew all things! This doesn’t mean they knew all things about physics or biology. They didn’t know the temperature of the sun’s core nor did they know the chemical composition of a bombardier beetle’s explosive protection mechanism. They knew all things pertaining to eternal life and God’s desires for humanity. They knew all spiritual things necessary to live for Christ.

Jesus would also say:

¹⁶ “The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me.” ^[11]

[6] It is a sin to not believe the prophets. In the Old Testament, when the Northern Kingdom of Israel was being besieged by Syria, there was no food for the Samarians to eat. The famines was so severe that horrifying things happened.

²⁴ Afterward Ben-hadad king of Syria mustered his entire army and went up and besieged Samaria. ²⁵ And there was a great famine in Samaria, as they besieged it, until a donkey’s head was sold for eighty shekels of silver, and the fourth part of a kab of dove’s dung for five shekels of silver. ²⁶ Now as the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried out to him, saying, “Help, my lord, O king!” ²⁷ And he said, “If the Lord will not help you, how shall I help you? From the threshing floor, or from the winepress?” ²⁸ And the king asked her, “What is your trouble?” She answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.’ ²⁹ So we boiled my son and ate him. And on the next day I said to her, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him.’ But she has hidden her son.”^[12]

In today’s money, a donkey’s head (not much meat there, is there?) sold for $960. A cup of bird poop sold for $60. Worse, and horrifying, people were eating their own children to stay alive.

7 Elisha replied, “Hear the word of the Lord! This is what the Lord says: ‘About this time tomorrow at the gate of Samaria, six quarts of fine meal will sell for a shekel  and 12 quarts  of barley will sell for a shekel.’ ”  ^j

² Then the captain, the king’s right-hand man,  responded to the man of God,  “Look, even if the Lord were to make windows in heaven, could this really happen?”

Elisha announced, “You will in fact see it with your own eyes, but you won’t eat any of it.” ^[13]

God would bring relief, complete relief, in 24 hours. Elisha proclaimed it but the captain of the army did not believe it. The Syrian army had fled in the middle of the night and left all their food at the gates of the city! It was gathered and the price of food fell just as the prophet had spoken. But the captain died that very morning before it all happened. Why? Because he did not believe the prophet.

It is a sin to not believe the words of the prophets. Why? Because they speak on God’s behalf.

To review:

• We must believe in God.
• We must believe in Christ.
• We must believe the gospel message.
• We must believe what the apostles wrote.
• We must believe the prophets.

If these things are true then we must believe the Bible, all of it. This is true of the unbeliever as much as for the disciple of Christ (see Luke 16:29-31).  All must believe God’s words.

Unbelief is actually a great and wicked sin. Its not just being misinformed.

Why is unbelief so wicked? It is wicked for at least two reasons:

• It is the very first sin of humankind. [Read Genesis 3:1-6}. Because of unbelief humankind was plunged into the fallen state we find ourselves.
• Unbelief leads to other sins. Spurgeon said:

Give me an unbeliever – let me know that he doubts God’s word – let me know that he distrusts his promise and his threatening, and with that for a premise, I will conclude that the man shall, bye and bye, unless there is an amazing restraining exerted upon him, be guilty of all the foulest and blackest crimes.

Unbelief is wicked and we must flee from it with all we are.

[Application] How do we overcome unbelief? Some may desire to believe but find it difficult.

 We can choose to believe. God gave everyone a human will whereby we can use our volition to make decisions. We can choose to believe something or not to believe. We can choose matters in conveyance with our feelings but we can also choose contrary to our feelings.

Long before there were social assistance programs like welfare and unemployment, there was a man who was unemployed. He sought work for months but was unsuccessful. He was in danger of starvation and homelessness. Fortuitously, two promising jobs arose for him.

One had a pleasant work environment and the labor was not burdensome. The other did not have such a good work environment and the labor was harder. Of course, he preferred the first one but he was unable to secure it. The second job was offered to him. Even though it was not his preference, should he accept it? Obviously, he should and he did.

He gave himself to it and he discovered that the workplace was better than he had thought. He didn’t hold back. He worked hard. But the actual work was not as hard as he though it would be. So it is with believing. The Scriptures reveal that no one can believe unless the Father grants it to that person (John 6:37). But when one comes to faith they do not usually recognize the Spirit working in them at that time. They see it after the fact. So, at the time a person is seeking to believe they ought to choose to do so.

Someone may say, “Pastor, I want to believe. Maybe I do to a small degree. But it seems like I cannot fully believe. What should I do?” This very situation was faced by a man who desired his son to be freed from a demonic spirit.

[Read Mark 9:14-24]

This is the prayer that Jesus honored: “Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief.” Jesus will still honor this prayer! Oh! This is such a good prayer! If you are struggling to believe then pray this prayer often. Often! You can recite this short prayer a hundred times in one sitting. Do not just pray it once or twice but a hundred times.

Finally, if you are having difficulty believing then know that reflection leads to persuasion. Exposure leads to conviction.

Reflection leads to persuasion.

Exposure leads to conviction.

The more we are exposed to a truth the easier it is to see that it is true. Therefore, to overcome unbelief, keep reading the Bible, especially the New Testament.

To conclude, unbelief is a sin. It will condemn a person for eternity. How do we overcome it?

• We can choose to believe.
• We ask the Lord to grant conviction to us. Use the wonderful prayer, “Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief.”
• We read the Bible often.

These guiding points are true for both the one who purports to follow Jesus and for the one who has never done so. Everyone can do these things!

And once you take the job, don’t hold back!