Brethren, Beware!. 2
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Take the case of Adam. His unbelief was more than a negative failure to believe the Divine threatening. It was a species of self-will and self-pleasing: "By one man's disobedience many were made sinners" (Romans 5:12).
Consider Israel in the wilderness who never entered Canaan "because of unbelief" (Hebrews 3:19). In their case, it was not only that they failed to accredit the good report of Caleb and Joshua—but as Moses told them, "you would not go up—but rebelled against the commandment of the Lord your God" (Deuteronomy 1:26); their unbelief was a positive thing of self-will and defiance.
Examine the condition of the Jewish nation in the days of our Lord. They "received him not "(John 1:11). But that was only the negative side of their unbelief—they "will not come to" Him (John 5:40), because they "hated" Him (John 15:25). His holy demands suited not their carnal desires, and therefore, they declared, "We will not have this man to reign over us!" (Luke 19:14). Unbelief with them, too, consisted of a determination to please their own selves at all costs.
Now, this unbelief operates in various ways and takes different forms in people, according to their several temperaments, training or temptations. But in one and all, unbelief consists of, and acts itself by a dislike against the things of God. We have but to read through the first four books of the New Testament to discover what a common thing this was in those who attended on the ministry of Christ. Some found fault with this or that in Hisdoctrinal preaching, others found His practical teaching distasteful. When He read to them from the opening verses of Isaiah 61 and declared, "This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears" (Luke 4:21), they "bore him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth" (Luke 4:22)—but as soon as He pressed on them the sovereign and discriminating grace of God—they sought to kill Him! (Luke 4:28, 29). The young ruler had such respect for Christ that he came to be instructed by Him—but when faced by His searching requirements, "he went away sorrowful" (Matthew 19:22).
This unbelief expresses itself in a dislike against the purity and simplicity of Gospel worship. Noticeably was that evidenced by the Jews of the apostles' time. They greatly admired the pompous worship of the temple, and would not be drawn off from the same, to the plainness of evangelical institutions. It was the principal objection of Pagans, that the early Christians worshiped God without temples or altars, a ritualistic priesthood or elaborate ceremonies, and therefore, they regarded them as atheists. It was this dislike of the purity and simplicity of Gospel worship which gave rise to and fostered the progress of the Papish apostasy—for fallen human nature preferred the glitter and tinsel of what appeals to their senses. "Watch out, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God" (Hebrews 3:12) through a dislike of that worship which must be "in spirit and in truth" (John 4:23, 24), rather than in outward forms and fleshly display.
This unbelief expresses itself in dislike against the doctrines and mysteries of the Gospel. When Paul preached Christ crucified, it was "unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness" (1 Corinthians 1:23). Some ridicule the imputed righteousness of Christ, and other mock at the imperative necessity of following the example which He has left us. Others rave against the doctrine of God's absolute sovereignty and Hispredestinating grace, whereby He chose certain ones in Christ unto salvation—and passed by all others.
Others refuse subjection to God's moral Law as the believer's Rule of life, and thereby display their enmity against Him (Romans 8:7). Some scoff at there being three distinct Persons in the unity of the Godhead, while others reject the truth of eternal punishment because it does not square with their idea of the Divine character. We know of a denomination, which long boasted of being "sounder" than any other, now rent asunder by some of its preachers rejecting the future resurrection of our bodies. Brethren, beware of refusing anything in Scripture because you find it contrary to your reason, or humbling to your pride.
This unbelief expresses itself in a dislike against the precepts of the Gospel. The flesh does not like to be placed under restraint—and rebels against the strictness of Christ's demands. The great work and duty of faith is to influence the soul unto universal obedience and an abstinence from all sin, out of a regard for the precepts, promises, and threatenings of the Gospel. But where faith languishes and its efficacy begins to decay—the power of unbelief sets the soul on self-pleasing. The Gospel requires us to mortify our corruptions and lusts, and while the soul is in communion with God, it desires and resolves to do so; but when communion is severed, indwelling sin endeavors to drag the soul down again into the mire. "Watch out, brethren, lest there be in any of you, an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God" (Hebrews 3:12) by failing to deny self, take up your cross daily, and follow Christ. Refuse to gratify your lusts—by opposing their first risings.
Not only is the principle of unbelief still in the Christian—but it is operative, and ever seeking to bring him under its complete dominance. All of God's children are to some degree influenced by "unbelief," and are in danger of yielding more and more unto its potency. It is for that reason God here calls upon them to take heed of this menace. To be fore-warned is to be fore-armed—if we duly attend to the warning.
The warning, as we have said, is pointed by the solemn example of that generation of Israel who were delivered from Egypt and yet never entered Canaan. We, too, are still in the Wilderness—and the wilderness is the place of temptation, of testing, of danger! This warning is also pointed by the case of those described in 2 Peter 2:20-22, who "escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ," but who afterwards turned from "the holy commandment delivered unto them," and like the dog, "turned to his own vomit again." Brethren, beware! Take heed to yourself! "Keep your heart with all diligence" (Proverbs 4:23). Cry mightily unto the Lord, "I believe; help my unbelief" (Mark 9:24).
A final word on the execution of this duty: "Watch out" is a word of caution, calling for circumspection, being alert and watching against the danger warned against. It is a call to be especially on our guard against temptations, opposition, and the difficulties of the way. We are so to "heed" as to avoid being ensnared by this peril. Our distinctive avocation, our personal circumstances, certain times or seasons each has a tendency to occasion unbelief in some particular direction; and since it is there and then, we are most likely to fail, it is at that point, we need to exercise the greatest caution and care. We are not only to consider those special occasions and causes when they are about to assault us—but to watch against all themeans and ways by which they are likely to do so. And we are to consider these dangers so as to definitely oppose them—by being wide awake, by seeking delivering grace, by exercising our graces. The more faith is in exercise, the less power has unbelief over us; the closer we cleave to the path of obedience, the further removed are we from the baits and traps of the Destroyer!
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