I struggle like you with sin,
the corruptions of my nature, the depravity of my heart, but
of all the vile things with which I struggle all the time. None is so vile. None is so obnoxious. None so contrary to God as my
unbelief. Unbelief is without question
the worst of all evils in this world. The source of all other
sin, the source of depravity, the corruption of the heart of
man, The root of all evil in the universe is the horrible
sin of unbelief. It's recorded in Genesis the
third chapter that our mother Eve being beguiled by the serpent
was persuaded to unbelief. She believed the devil's lie
without any reason for doing so and refused to believe God
whom she had every reason to believe. Such is the natural
wickedness of the human heart. To this day, we are all naturally
inclined to believe the devil's lie regarding all things, and
terribly disinclined to believe God. We are inclined naturally
to believe the devil's lie with regard to all things with no
reason, and terribly disinclined to believe God, though we have
every reason for doing so. Unbelief is the original corruption
of all men. It is the deepest seeded of all
corruptions, and it is both the worst of all corruptions and
the father of all other corruptions. If pride is the mother of all
sin, unbelief is the father. The worst of all the corruptions
of fallen humanity. You see, nothing so highly honors
God as believing Him. Nothing so highly honors God
as trusting Him. and nothing so dishonors God
as not believing Him. Yet horrible as this offense
is, it is the sin we most readily excuse in rebels and the sin
we most easily and quickly justify in ourselves. preaching this
message, I want by the Word, the power, and the grace of God
the Holy Ghost to unmask this devil that yet resides in us
all. I want to expose its ugly face
and inspire our hearts to oppose it with the vengeance. Let's
begin tonight in John chapter 16, John the 16th chapter. When God the Holy Ghost comes
in saving power, when He comes to apply grace to the hearts
of chosen redeemed sinners, the first thing He does is to convince
us of sin. Our Savior said in John 16 and
verse 8, when He has come, He will reprove the world of sin,
of righteousness, and of judgment. Now watch our Lord's explanation
of this reproof, this convincing work of the Holy Spirit of sin. For this reason, here's the reproof,
because they believe not on me. He will convince you of sin because
you believe not on me. Righteousness for this reason
here's the cause Because I go to my father and you see me no
more he'll convince you of righteousness because redemptions work is done
and the proof is my resurrection and exaltation of Judgment he'll
convince you the judgment is over and because the prince of
this world is judged. The son of God came here and
bruised the serpent's head, and now judgment is taken away. Now,
let's turn to our text, Isaiah chapter seven. In the seventh
chapter of Isaiah, God sent his prophet Isaiah to confront Judah's
wicked king Ahaz. Ahaz was probably the most abominably
wicked king ever to sit upon the throne of David in the house
of Judah. This man was a rank idolater.
He revived the worship of Moloch in the Valley of Hinnom. He filled
Jerusalem with graven images to Moloch. He even caused his
sons to pass through the fire to this pagan god. And yet this
pagan king, Ahaz, pretended in the midst of all this idolatry,
in the midst of all his ungodliness, he pretended to have great reverence
for God. When the kings of Syria and Samaria
formed a confederacy to kill Ahaz and destroy Judah, Ahaz
was terrified. He was terrified. But instead
of turning to God for help, the God he professed to adore and
worship, he made arrangements to turn himself and the kingdom
of Judah over to Tiglath-Pileser, the cruel barbaric king of Assyria. And he trusted not in the Lord,
but in the arm of the flesh. He turned for refuge, not to
the Lord God of Israel, but to the armies of the Assyrians.
He leaned not upon the Lord, but leaned upon the staff of
flesh. And God sent Isaiah to Ahaz to
confront him. To warn the king, not to look
to the king of Assyria, but to the king of heaven. And to promise
Ahaz, this vile man, he promised Ahaz deliverance from the hand
of his enemies, if he would only believe God. but Ahaz was obstinate
in his unbelief. And Isaiah seven records Isaiah's
confrontation with King of Judah Ahaz. Let's read beginning at
verse nine. The last sentence of verse nine.
Isaiah speaks for God and says, if ye will not believe, surely
ye shall not be established. Moreover, the Lord spake again,
and Ahaz saying, ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God. Ask it either
in the depth or in the height above. But Ahaz said, I will
not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord. And he said, hear ye
now, O house of David, is it a small thing for you to weary
men? Isaiah says, it's one thing for
you to weary me, just a man, God's prophet. But will you weary
my God also? The word weary means to disgust,
to disgust. If ye will not believe, that's
the title of my message tonight. If you will not believe, surely
you shall not be established. Here now, O house of David, is
it a small thing for you to weary men? But will you weary my God
also? Will you disgust my God? You see, unbelief wearies the
Almighty. Unbelief disgusts him. Unbelief is the wearying of God. ever thought about those things
in the scriptures, in the scriptures that are attributed to unbelief?
Just listen. Adam, all of Noah's generation,
Lot's wife, Pharaoh, Israel, Nebuchadnezzar, the scribes,
the Pharisees, the rich young ruler, Felix, Festus, and Agrippa,
all stand out as beacons to warn us of the danger of unbelief,
of wearying God, of disgusting the Almighty. All unbelief is
a matter of the will. This you can attribute to your
will. Unbelief is a matter of choice.
Unbelief is man saying no to God in spite of all evidence
to the contrary. Our Savior, we're told in Matthew
13 and in Mark chapter 6, could do no mighty work in Capernaum
because of the unbelief of the people. says he could do no mighty
work because of their unbelief. The Lord Jesus himself marveled
because of their unbelief as he went through their streets
preaching the gospel. We're told in this book of God
that all that generation of men, every adult, all who were 20
years old and above who came out of Egypt, now consider these
people, all of them, they saw God through the land of Egypt
and smite the firstborn and save Israel. They saw God, they saw
God compel the Egyptians to take their gold and silver and give
it to them and say get out of the land. They saw the Almighty
open the Red Sea sight. Can you imagine that? Here you
are standing with Pharaoh's chariots and horsemen breathing down your
neck ready to slaughter you and God opens up the Red Sea and
it's as dry as that asphalt out there and they walked across.
And then the Lord God calls the sea to fall upon the Egyptians. And they went around the shore
after the Egyptians were fallen and gathered up everything. God
took off the Egyptians and spoiled them. For 40 years, they watched
God perform miracle after miracle, after miracle, after miracle.
They ate manna that fell from the heavens every day for 40
years. God arranged things so that their
shoes did not wear out, though they walked through the desert
for 40 years. Their clothes didn't wear out, though they walked
through the wilderness for 40 years. The Lord God Almighty,
when they were thirsty, gave them water out of a rock. God did all these things. They
saw the tabernacle fixed. And Moses finishes that work. And God's glory filled the tabernacle. And then, in those 40 years,
they said, got no reason to believe God. God had no reason to believe
God. And the whole generation, except
for Joshua and Caleb, died in the wilderness because of unbelief. You see, the fact is, sinners
go to hell because of unbelief. He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved. He that believeth not shall be
damned. He that believeth on the Son
of God hath everlasting life. And he that believeth not the
Son of God shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth
on him. I repeat what I've said to you this morning and I've
said to you many times. The issue between God and man
is his Son. God does not send folks to hell
because they're liars or thieves or adulterers or fornicators
or even sodomites or murderers. God sends people to hell because
they refuse to believe God. Because they refuse to trust
the Lord Jesus Christ. He that believeth on the Son
of God hath everlasting life. And he that believeth not shall
not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him. If they has
had only believed God, imagine this. Do you ever consider what
might have been? Say, well, that's foolish. The
scriptures speak of that. The scriptures speak of that.
Our Lord said, ha, if you had done this, what might have been? If they has had only believed
God, Judah would have been saved and Ahaz would have been established
in his throne. But he would not believe and
his unbelief was the cause of his ruin. But didn't God purpose
that? Of course he did. Of course,
man's unbelief does not thwart the purpose of God, but it is
Ahaz's fault, Ahaz's blame. He was not established. He was
brought to ruin and Judah brought to bondage because of his unbelief. This was God's word to Ahaz. If ye will not believe, surely
ye shall not be established. And this is God's word to you
and me as well. If you will not believe, surely
you shall not be established. Some of you here are yet lost
and under the wrath of God. To you, God says, will you hear
me? If you will not believe, surely
you shall not be established. And to you who are God's saints
in this world, to you and to me, the Lord God says, if you
will not believe, surely you shall not be established. This
is written in the book of God, recorded by divine inspiration
for our learning and for our instruction. Let me talk to you
just briefly about four things in this regard. First, I want
to say something about the veracity of God. How I wish I could persuade
you and fully persuade my own heart. God is true. God is true in all things and
fully worthy of utter trust. God is true in all things. He is fully worthy of our complete,
utter trust of Him in all things. We have no reason not to trust
Him in any circumstance, in any situation, with anything. And
yet, such is our depravity. We will lean for help on every
arm but his until he graciously forces us to lean on him. God
is true to his purposes. He'll perform it. God is true
to his promises. He'll perform them. God is true
to his people. Always true, always faithful. Listen to the scriptures. The
Lord is good, his mercy is everlasting, and his truth endureth to all
generations. Oh, praise the Lord, all ye nations. Praise him, all ye people, for
his merciful kindness is great toward us, and the truth of the
Lord endureth forever. The Lord God has proved the veracity
of His Word to us. Has He not? Has He not? Find
me any word of prophecy He hasn't fulfilled to the letter. Find
me any word of prophecy He hasn't fulfilled to the letter. Brother
David just read to us Isaiah 45. The Lord God spoke to a king
by the name of Cyrus. 250 years before Cyrus was born. And he said, you will bring my
people out of their captivity and you will bring them out through
this path, through the lead gates. And then some years later, Cyrus
was born and Cyrus was inclined to help the children of Israel
out of their captivity. And he said, y'all go back to
Jerusalem and build the house of God and reestablish the worship
of God. Here's some money and go out
through the lead gates. How could that happen? He's God
and he's true. The Lord God has fulfilled every
promise He's given in His Word. Is there a promise you have found
God hasn't kept? Any? Any? We have every reason
to believe Him. A good many of us have proved
His faithfulness in many, many ways for many years. Oh, how
good God in His goodness? How good in His providence? How good in His forgiveness? How good in His preservation? We have every reason to believe
God. Turn to Lamentations chapter
3, Lamentations 3. just realized I said that prophecy
was 250 years it was many years before I can't remember exactly
what it was in Isaiah 45 here in Lamentations 3 Jeremiah the
weeping prophet says in verse 21 this I recall to my mind therefore
have I hope this this that God has established I now remember
and this gives me hope It is of the Lord's mercies that we're
not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every
morning. Great is thy faithfulness. The
Lord is my portion, saith my soul, therefore will I hope in
him. The Lord is good to them that
wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. It is good that
a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the
Lord. Look at verse 31. The Lord will
not cast off forever, but though he calls grief, yet will he have
compassion according to the multitude of his mercies. Verse 55, I called
upon thy name, O Lord, out of the low dungeon. When I was When
I was in deep, deep, deep darkness, when I was in deep, deep, deep
trouble, I called on your name. Thou hast heard my voice. Hide
not thine ear from my breathing at my cry. Thou drewest near
in the day that I called upon thee. Thou saidst, fear not.
Oh Lord, thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul. Thou hast
redeemed my life. God is true. The gospel I preach
to you is true and faithful, as true and faithful as the God
for whom I speak. Whosoever believeth that Jesus
is the Christ shall be saved. He is born of God. God's covenant
is true. Redemption by Christ is true.
Righteousness brought in by the obedience of Christ is true.
Forgiveness, free pardon is true. These things are not fabrications.
The gospel of God's grace is true. If you get nothing else
out of this message, God will help you to get this. God is
true. Oh my God, teach me. You're true. me with every circumstance of
life. Teach me every moment of every
hour of every day that you are worthy of complete confidence
and trust. God who's true is God you can
trust and should trust. Second, let me show you something of
the evil of unbelief. I have said repeatedly tonight,
the greatest, most abominable evil in the world is the horrible
sin of unbelief. And yet unbelief is the nature
of man, the bent of man's will. God's history with Israel, Judah,
What a history it had been. After they came into the land
of Canaan, after that generation perished in the wilderness, God
raised up judge after judge after judge after judge and delivered
them. They said that God was faithful. They erred and God
forgave. They ran away, God called them
back. Judge after judge after judge. Every reason to believe
God. Every reason to believe him.
But when Ahaz, saw the ungodly confederacy, he sent to a godless,
reprobate, pagan king. And he said to Tiglath-Pileser,
here, let me give you some gold out of God's house, some silver
out of God's house, and you come over and help us. He trusted
that very man who was his destruction. He trusted that very man who
was bent on his destruction. He trusted that which was sworn
to his destruction, that which he had absolutely no reason to
trust, rather than believe God. Oh, God, teach me to lean on
your arm, not on another arm. Both faith and unbelief involve
the will. Our text says, if you will not
believe, surely you shall not be established. Believing is
a matter involving the will. I didn't say it was an act of
the will, it involves the will. No one believes without willing
to believe. Faith is a gift of God wrought
in us, not a gift wrought upon us. And he works in us both to
will and do of his good pleasure. By doing that, he gives us a
will to believe. Faith's not a decision, but it
is a voluntary thing. If I believe God, I do so willingly,
voluntarily. If I refuse to believe God, I
do so willingly, voluntarily. Flesh and spirit warring against
one another. If you refuse to believe God,
you do so voluntarily, choosing not to. And your unbelief is
your own fault. It's a crime for which you must
bear all the blame. My unbelief in all things is
a crime for which I must bear the blame and I alone. Merle Hart, I have no reason
ever not to believe God. And I have every reason always
to believe him. John Bunyan said something about
sin that may equally be said with regard to unbelief. Unbelief
is the dare of God's justice, the rape of his mercy, the jeer
of his patience, the slight of his power, and the contempt of
his love. Unbelief says that God is a liar. John 5 to you. I would never say God's a liar.
Oh, God forgive me. Every choice not to believe you
says you're a liar. That's what unbelief is. Unbelief says with regard to the Gospel
of God's grace for men and women who will not believe. Why? That's
not fit to be believed. I'm not that bad. I'm not that
evil that I need salvation by grace. There was no necessity
for God to send his son to die for me. I'm not that bad. Unbelief
denies the efficacy of the blood. Unbelief tramples underfoot the
blood of Jesus Christ. Unbelief is the piercing, the
crucifying of the son of God afresh. Unbelief says he deserves
to die. Crucify him. Crucify him. Unbelief. does despite to the
Spirit of grace. Unbelief is the horrible sin
for which we have no excuse. God has spoken. Your unbelief
is voluntary. You believe not because you choose
not to believe. Knowing therefore the terror
of the Lord, we persuade men. I urge you, I urge you, believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ. Now thirdly, let me talk to you
for just a minute or two about faith. What is faith? What is faith? Faith is taking God at His Word. Now listen carefully. Faith is
believing God. Faith is not believing there
is a God. Faith is not believing in God. Faith is not believing that God
is. Faith is believing God. Faith is believing God. This
dear lady over here doesn't just believe that I exist. She doesn't
just believe that I was born in North Carolina nearly 67 years
ago. She doesn't just believe that
I look like I look or act like I act. This lady believes me. She trusts me. She trusts me. So it is with faith. Faith is
believing God. And it is impossible to believe
God except by believing on his son, the Lord Jesus Christ. We
believe the word of God, the revelation of God. We believe
God concerning everything, creation, providence. Folks say, well,
boy, how can you talk about the son standing still? That's impossible.
Well, you know what? I don't know how it could happen.
And I don't know how the repercussions could be avoided, but I don't
have any question at all. When God says the sun stood still,
it stood still. I don't have any question. He's
God, it's not a problem for him. He's God. When the scriptures
speak plainly about the sun going back on the dial. Now, that mess
everything up. No, not as long as God holds
the world in his hands. Not as long as God sets on his
throne. You mean, Brother Don, you believe what God says in
his word without proof? That's the only way you can believe
what God says in his word. That's the only way you can believe
what God says in his word. If you believe because of proof,
the one you believe is not God but you. We believe God in all
that he says concerning salvation, concerning ourselves, concerning
his son, concerning redemption and grace. We believe God, trusting
him. Faith is believing on the Lord
Jesus Christ. Turn to 1 Corinthians chapter
two. Let me show you, 1 Corinthians
chapter two. To believe God, believe the testimony God has
given of His Son, the Lord Jesus. Now there's nothing short of
faith in Christ that is faith in God. And this faith in Christ
is faith in Christ as He is revealed in this book, 1 Corinthians chapter
2. I, brethren, when I came unto
you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring
unto you the testimony of God. Well, I wonder what that is.
Here it is. For I determined not to know anything among you,
save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Believing on the Lord Jesus is
doing the work of God. You remember those Jews said,
what can we do that we may do the works of God? And the Lord
Jesus said, believe on him whom the father has sent. This is
the work of God. Faith in Christ glorifies God. And faith in Christ sees the
glory of God in Christ, in the accomplishment of redemption
by Christ. God causes the light of the gospel
to shine in our hearts, to give the knowledge of the glory of
God in the face of Jesus Christ. You remember what our Lord said
to Martha at Lazarus' tomb? He said, he said, Martha, if
you would believe, you will see the glory of God. If thou wouldest believe, thou
wouldest see the glory of God. Oh God, help me to believe and
see your glory in the face of your Son, in the accomplishment
of redemption. See your glory in the wise arrangement
of all things in providence. See your glory in acts of judgment
and in acts of mercy. See your glory in adversity as
well as in blessedness. Help me, my God, to see your
glory believing you. thing, back in Isaiah 7, 9. The prophet tells us that the
cause of instability is unbelief. If you will not believe, surely
you shall not be established. First and foremost, that means
if you don't trust Christ, you will not be established in the
kingdom of If you refuse to trust Christ, you will be lost forever.
But Isaiah's words are to you who are God's children in this
world and to me, to you and I who are God's people. If you will
not believe, surely you shall not be established. I was more
than curious. I want to know what this means.
The word might be read this way. If you will not trust, you will
not be trusted. If you will not confide, you
will not abide. If you have no belief, you can
have no relief. If you will not believe, you
will not be firm and fixed, established with God. Ah, the secret to peace is believe
in God. The secret to peace is believe
in God. Let not your heart be troubled.
You believe in God, believe also in me. They that wait on the
Lord shall be like eagles. They shall mount up as eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint. Believe God and you'll be established
in the doctrine of his word. That's the secret to understanding
the doctrine of scripture. You just believe God. You just
believe God. Well, I don't see how this fits
with that. I don't actually see how it all fits. I believe God.
And if I figure out a way to make it all fit, it's because
I don't believe God, because you can't make it all fit. You
can't make it all fit. God's just, this is shocking
to folks. God's just a little bit bigger
than your puny brain. He's just a little bit bigger.
You can't fit God into your box. But as you believe God, you're
established in the doctrine of God. Established in hope and
established in serving him. Oh, I wonder what God might do
with me. if I just believed Him. If I just believed Him. I wonder
what God might do with us, with this assembly, if we just believed
Him. He says, fear thou not. Let not thy hands be slapped. Therefore, my beloved brethren,
be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the
Lord. much as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord."
Oh, perishing sinner, believe God and be established. God is more willing to forgive
than you are to sin. God is more willing to pardon
than you are to be pardoned. God is more willing to save than
you are to be saved. He bid you come to him and obtain
mercy and grace from him. And children of God, let us this
night go home and go out into the dark wilderness
of this world with the words of Jehoshaphat, the king, as
he spoke to the children of Judah when they went out into the valley
of Tekoa. Oh, Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, believe in the
Lord your God, so shall you be established. Believe his prophets,
so shall you prosper.