Unbelief, The Enemy
of Faith - Hebrews 3:12-13
3:12 take heed, brethren -
blepete - Look carefully and examine, behold, beware,
lie, look carefully, perceive with diligence.
Deut. 4:9 Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul
diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest
they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons,
and thy sons' sons;
Psalm 78:8 And might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious
generation; a generation that set not their heart aright, and whose spirit was
not steadfast with God.
lest there in any of you an evil heart
of unbelief - an evil that causes pain, sorrow, labor. “unbelief” is
apistiaV, and anti-faith.
in departing from the living God
- aposthnai - in removing, revolt spiritually,
desert, draw (fall) away, refrain.
Job 21:14 “Therefore they say unto God, Depart from us;
for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways.”
Jer. 17:5 “Thus saith the Lord, Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and
maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord.”
THE RAMIFICATIONS OF UNBELIEF
Our Personal Understanding Is Limited with Unbelief
- And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief. Matt.
13:53-58
The Lord Will Hinder Our Ministry During Unbelief -
Mt 17:13-21 And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I
say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto
this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing
shall be impossible unto you.
The Lord’s Work May Be Hindered Because of Unbelief
- And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a
few sick folk, and healed them. And he marvelled because of their unbelief. And
he went round about the villages, teaching. Mark 6:5-6
Every Word of the Lord must Be Believed or There Is
Unbelief - Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat,
and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they
believed not them which had seen him after he was risen. Mark 16:14
Our Unbelief Does Not Change the Truth of God -
For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God
without effect? Rom. 3:4
When We Believe We Become Stronger in Our Faith -
He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in
faith, giving glory to God; Rom. 3:20
After Unbelief There Is Hope for Restoration -
Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith.
Be not highminded, but fear...And they also, if they abide not still in
unbelief, shall be graffed in: for God is able to graff them in again...For as
ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through
their unbelief: Rom. 11:20,23,30
We Cannot Find the Peace and Rest That Christ Offers
Without Walking in Faith - Heb. 3:19
Heb 4:6 Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they
to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief:
Walking by Faith Is Labor and Hard Work, Requiring
Diligence - Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any
man fall after the same example of unbelief. Heb. 4:11
3:13 But exhort one another daily while
it is called today- parakaleite - to call a
person, admonish (perspective of looking to the future), urge, beseech, beg at a
comforter.
Acts 11:23 “Who, when he came, and had seen the grace
of God, was glad, and exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would
cleave unto the Lord.”
Heb. 10:24 “And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good
works.”
lest any of you be hardened -
oklhruqh - dry, hard, harsh, severe, stern,
calloused, stubborn. Exhort one another daily before the judgment of God, before
you wander in life, wasting your life away, before the deep realization that you
wasted your life and never enjoyed living for Christ! Living our own lives of
sin draws us further from our fellowship with Christ. Without realizing it we
then become hardened in our hearts and it is more difficult to come back where
we belong.
through the deceitfulness of sin
- apath - to beguile in word or deed, seduce into
error.