Unbelief

It's amazing to me how far away from God this country has gotten. Most people you talk to today have heard about who Jesus was, but they have no idea what it was that he really did. You can go ask anyone and half the time they will say that He was a good man who lived a long time ago and that is about the extent of what they know.

How many people know that He died for our sins ?

A lot, but after that they just picture Him as the guy who the Romans hung on a cross a long time ago and that was the end of the story. That is what I thought too for many years, I really didn't know who he was, I just knew that I had to go to a place called Purgatory, which was like a prison that lasted a long time and if I prayed enough I would after so many thousands of years get paroled by God, that is all I knew about Jesus.

And because of that thinking I just figured, what was the point in living a good life now if I was going to end up there anyway ?

If you think about that it makes a lot of sense except for one thing, there is no place called Purgatory mentioned in the bible anywhere so it can't be true.There are others who will tell you He's coming back but they don't know why, and they really don't care because, because if they did they would be changing their lives right now to make sure that they are ready to go with Him. People today are filled with so much unbelief that you wonder how anyone gets saved, but they do. Something happens in a person's life sometimes that forces people to really seek out someone to deliver them from the situations that they find their lives in.But most of the time they have to be broken to be able to hear. They have to loose hope in everything that they trust in just to be open enough to listen. Unless people have experienced loss, pain or something that stops them in their tracks they will never hear or believe. Jesus was confronted with unbelief all the time, but it was never as bad as it was anywhere like it was in His own town and home. In Matthew 13 we read:

53 Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished these parables, that He departed from there. 54 When He had come to His own country, He taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished and said, “Where did this Man get this wisdom and these mighty works? 55 Is this not the carpenter's son? Is not His mother called Mary? And His brothers James, Joses,[ ] Simon, and Judas? 56 And His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this Man get all these things?” 57 So they were offended at Him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house.” 58 Now He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief. Matthew 13:53-58

Just after Jesus told the people the most famous of all the parables during the Sermon On The Mount He went back to His own country to teach in the synagogue where He grew up. After He taught them they were astonished and said : “Where did this Man get this wisdom and these mighty works ? But what were they astonished about ? They just wanted to know where he learned to do the tricks that He was doing and where He came up with all these fresh, new ideas.

How do I know that ?

Because this is what they said after they heard Him:

“Where did this Man get this wisdom and these mighty works ?
Were they asking this question because they really understood who He was ?

No. These people knew Jesus and they also knew that before Jesus started His ministry on this earth that He had never performed any miracles. He was just an average guy like us except that He was God in the flesh who was born of a virgin, but most of the people didn't know that. They just knew His father was a carpenter and that He was a carpenter too.

It wasn't until He was baptized by John and the Holy Spirit rested on His shoulders and God said in a loud voice, “This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased”, that He even did one miracle. But here He is, healing the sick, He's casting out demons that no one else could cast out, changing water to wine and raising people from the dead.

So what did the people who knew him say and do ?

First the got mad at Him and then they wanted to know where did He get this wisdom and these mighty works, as if he went to the market place and bought them when they weren't looking. It didn't matter that he was healing blind people, causing paralyzed people to walk or even that huge crowds were following Him of whom He fed 5,000 men plus the women and children with five loves of bread and two fish. None of that mattered.They knew Him as Joseph the carpenter's son and all they wanted to know where He learned to do the magic tricks. So because of their unbelief He couldn't do any of the great things that He was doing everywhere. That is why He said “a prophet has no honor in his own home”.There was so much unbelief that Jesus himself told a story about a rich man and a poor beggar named Lazarus:

“There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. 20 But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, 21 desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. 24 “Then he cried and said, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.' 25 But Abraham said, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented. 26 And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.' 27 “Then he said, 'I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father's house, 28 for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.' 29 Abraham said to him, 'They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.' 30 And he said, 'No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.' 31 But he said to him, 'If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.'” Luke16:19-31

This is a very profound story because it deals with the attitude that has prevailed in men's thoughts for generations. You have a man who had everything, who cared nothing but about himself, who dies and goes to hell and is suffering when he looks across the chasm that is separating him from Abraham's bosom. Abraham's Bosom was a kind of paradise that those who where faithful went to before Christ was risen from the dead because at that time we were not allowed in heaven, so that was like a holding place until Christ rose from the dead. But there is the poor man that sat at his gate that he would never lift a finger to help being comforted by Abraham. He sees that going on and shouts out to Abraham because he is suffering so much torment that he wants the kind of help from Abraham that he would never give that poor man while he was alive.

What does he want ?

J ust one drop of water, one small, wet drop of water.

He went from having everything that a man could want, and now what is the most precious thing to him now ?

Just one drop of water.Just one drop of water to cool his tongue from the heat for just a brief moment. Think about a time you were so thirsty that just a swallow of water would have been all you needed just to wet your mouth.

Wasn't it nice when you finally got one ?

When you're in hell there is no drink, just a dry heat that that is so intense that you wonder how you could still live, a thirst that is so dry that it gags you continuously, and there is no way to quench that thirst. That' what hell is about. So he Abraham comforting Lazarus and yells over to Abraham to send Lazarus to his family to save them.

What does Abraham say ?

31 But he said to him, 'If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.

There could be a miracle that most people would see as a spectacular Godly event and they would still not believe.

Why ?

And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. John 3:19-20

So lets move ahead 2000 years. What is the difference between now and then ?

Most of the unbelievers now are poor and have nothing. Nothing but a pipedream they will never, ever fulfill. But they have something more devastating to them than anything else they could run into.

Do you know what that is ?

They have a complete lack of regard for God, themselves and the people around them. They are full of unbelief and skepticism. Science and false religion has replaced the one true God, the God who created all this with just a word.

What will it take for you to believe what we are telling you ?

God could raise someone we all knew from the dead to tell everyone that they needed to make a change and repent, and that would still never be enough to make you believe. You look at the times we live in with cars, commercial jets and fighter aircraft that can take out a whole city, we have the power to destroy the world with just a push of a button and we just take all of this for granted, just like we take the sacrifice of Jesus for our sins for granted.

What will it take to get you to believe that God has a better plan for your life than you do ?

What miracle could he do that would turn your thoughts from your ways to His ways ?

Do you know what the answer to that question is ?

Nothing. There is nothing God could do to make you change your heart back to Him. Nothing.

So I ask you, what is it going to take ?

Everyone needs to search their souls and ask themselves, why do I think this way and how did I form this belief ?

Are you thirsty enough now or do you have to wait until you're in torment where your thirst can never be quenched ?

If you are thirsty now then ask Jesus to come into youir life and forgive your sins. Ask Him to give you a new direction for your life Escape the torment of this life for ever lasting life in the Bosom of Jesus your Savior. Let down your prideful walls of doubt and unbelief and really put him to the test and see if He will do as He said He would do in your life.

If you really mean what you say, then He will come into your life.