The Lord says to Nicodemus, if
I have told you earthly things and you believe not. Now, what
is he referring to when he says, if I've told you earthly things
and you believe not? He had been giving them the Old
Testament and New Testament teaching of the new birth. And he used
an earthly illustration to speak of the new birth. He said, you
must be born again. You must be born from above. Now, birth is something that
everyone has some familiarity with. We come into this world
because we're born, we're conceived, we're born. And he is giving
Nicodemus this truth with regard to the new birth in an earthly
illustration. Verse nine, Nicodemus answered
and said unto him, how can these things be? Jesus answered and
said unto him, art thou a master of Israel? No, it's not these
things. This is what the Old Testament is always. Taught this
thing of regeneration, this thing of the new birth. I'm going to
give you, if you want to write these down, uh, some old Testament
scriptures that certainly teach the new birth. Deuteronomy 31
through six, Jeremiah 31, 31 through 34. If you want to go
back and look at these Jeremiah 32, 37 through 41. Ezekiel 11, 16 through 20, Ezekiel
36, 16 through 29, Ezekiel 37, 11 through 14, and 21 through
28. I mean, it's throughout the Old
Testament and I couldn't help but think of what David said
when David said, create in me. That's strong language. He doesn't say, make my heart
better or change my heart. He says, create in me something
that was not there before. A clean heart, oh God. Now, the Lord says to Nicodemus,
you ought to know these things. Being a master in Israel, verily,
verily, I say unto thee, we speak that we do know and testify what
we've seen. and you receive not our witness. If I've told you earthly things
and you believe not, how shall you believe if I tell you of
heavenly things? Now he's speaking to Nicodemus
and I think that there's some indication that perhaps Nicodemus
ended up believing. The reason I believe that, I
can't be certain of it because the Bible doesn't say he did,
but he was there with Joseph of Marimathea, taking the Lord
down from the cross when all the disciples were in hiding,
but he was there. And it seems to me that he had
some understanding of who Christ was at that time at any rate,
but at this time, right now, he does not believe. He does
not believe. I've entitled this message, And
you believe not. And let me give you four things
by way of introduction with regard to unbelief. Number one, unbelief
is a choice. If I have unbelief, It's because
I myself personally choose to not believe. That's one of the
reasons why unbelief is so evil. It's a choice a man makes. And somebody says, can you show
me that from the scripture? We're turning with me to Acts
chapter 28. That's chapter 28. Now, this is always the response
to the gospel verse 24, after they heard Paul preach and some
believed the things which were spoken and some believed not. Now, when it says some believed
the things that were spoken, the word believed is in the passive. You were acted on. That's why
you believe. And if you have faith, you know
that so don't you? You know if you believe it's
because God himself acted upon you and caused you to believe. You wouldn't believe had he not
acted upon you. But where it says they believe
not, that is in the active. It's an active choice to not
believe. So I can't Say with regard to
my unbelief, I can't try to comfort myself by saying, well, I can't
help it. It's my nature. No, it's a, yeah, it is your
nature, but it's a choice you make. If you believe it's not
because you choose to believe you believe because it's the
truth. That's not, it's not like you're given two options and
you make a choice, but if you do not believe it is your choice
to not believe. Secondly, unbelief. And I hope
I say this fearfully. I don't say this callously. Unbelief is damning. The Lord
said in Mark chapter 16, verse 16, he that believeth not shall
be damned. That means sent to hell eternally,
and with God, the punishment always fits the crime. This is
where someone who chooses to not believe God ought to be. He that believeth not shall be
damned. Third thing I'd like to say about
unbelief, and he says to Nicodemus, you do not believe. The third
thing that I'd like to try to say about unbelief is you've
never been convicted of sin until you've been convicted of this
thing of unbelief. Do you remember when the Lord said, when he shall
come, he shall convict the world of sin, of righteousness, of
judgment, of sin? Why? because they believe not
on me. Let me tell you when you're convicted
of your sin, when you find out you're unbelieving and you can't
come up with faith, that's when you're truly convicted of your
sinfulness, when you're convicted of this thing of unbelief. And fourthly, unbelief is God's
judgment against someone that dies in unbelief. Let me read
this scripture. This is Paul in Acts chapter
13. He's quoting from Habakkuk chapter one, verse five. After
he finishes his message in Acts chapter 13, he says, beware,
therefore, lest that come upon you, which was spoken of in the
prophets, behold, you despisers wonder and perish for I work
a work in your days, a work which you shall in no wise believe.
the old man declare it unto you. Now that is God's judgment against
somebody. A work that you won't believe
even though it's declared very clearly to you. Now what I want
for us to do is to confine ourselves to the gospel of John. There
are many other places we could look in the scripture. Uh, but
I want us to confine ourself to the gospel of John to understand
something about this thing of unbelief. He says to Nicodemus,
I give you these earthly things, these earthly illustrations.
You don't believe. How are you going to believe
if I tell you of heavenly things and this same chapter, verse
18, John chapter three, verse 18. He that believeth on him, what
are those next three words? Is not condemned. You're not condemned. You're
justified. You stand before God without
guilt. He that believeth on him is not
condemned. Isn't that wonderful? But he that believeth not is
condemned already because he hath not believed in the name
of the only begotten son of God. Now, what could be more grievous? What could be more evil than
to choose to not believe on the name of the only begotten son
of God? Now his name is his attributes.
It's to say, I don't believe he's God. I don't believe he's
holy. I don't believe he's sovereign.
I don't believe he's immutable. I don't believe he's independent.
I don't believe. on the name of the only begotten
son of God. Now, somebody who refuses to
believe on the name of him who is altogether lovely, what could
be a greater sin than this? Nothing could be a greater sin
than this, to not believe on the name, the attributes, the
characteristics of the only begotten Son of God. This is the reason
for condemnation. This is the reason for hell because
men refuse, willfully refuse, willfully reject will not bow
to, will not believe on the name of the only begotten Son of God. Look in John chapter 4 verse
48. Then said Jesus unto him, this
is Jairus who had come to the Lord for his Not, I don't know
if it's Jairus. No, it was a nobleman. We're
not giving his name. He was a nobleman whose son was
sick. And we read in verse 46, so Jesus
came again into Canaan of Galilee where he had made the water wine.
And there was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum.
When he heard that Jesus was come out of Judea into Galilee,
he went unto him and besought him that he would come down and
heal his son, for he was at the point of death. Then said Jesus
unto him, Except you see signs and wonders, you will not believe. Now the Lord overruled all of
this and he healed the son anyway, didn't he? And it's a beautiful
picture of the gospel and him healing this young man, but he
did rebuke him. He said, except you see signs
and wonders, you will not believe. Now what's the point behind that?
Didn't the Lord say a wicked and an adulterous generation
seeketh after a sign? What's so evil about that? If I come up to you and strike
you and rob what you have and take it to myself and leave,
and you come up to me and confront me with doing that, how would
you respond if I said, give me a sign that proves you have the
authority to do this? Well, that would be ridiculous,
wouldn't it? It's obvious it was wrong. So when I'm wanting
a sign, it's because I don't want to bow to the truth. That's
the only reason somebody would want a sign, is because they
don't want to bow to what God says in his word. Except you
see signs and wonders, you will not believe. The need for a sign is simply
a refusal to believe and looking for an excuse or justification
in it. Look in John chapter five, verse 37. And the father himself, which
has sent me, hath borne witness of me. You have neither heard
his voice at any time, nor seen his shape, and you have not his
word abiding in you, for whom he has sent him you believe not." Why don't you believe? His word
is not abiding in you. If his word was abiding in you,
you know what you'd do? You'd believe. And he says to
these people, you believe not. His word is not abiding in you.
I think of that passage in John 8 37. He said, I know that you're
Abraham seed, but you seek to kill me because my word hath
no place in you. Now think about that statement.
My word hath no place in you. You don't have a heart to receive
it. You don't have a heart that I've given. There is a place
to receive my word. My word has no place in you. Stay in this same chapter, verse
42. The Lord says, but I know you.
Well, he does, doesn't he? He knows me all together. He
knows you all together. And I look, think of him saying
to these people who did not believe, he says, I know you, that you
have not the love of God in you. I'm coming in my father's name
and you receive me not. If another should come in his
own name, him you'll receive. How can you believe? Which receive
honor. one of another and seek not that
honor that cometh from God only. You can't believe unless you
seek that honor that comes from God only. Do not think that I
will accuse you to the Father. There is one that accuses you,
Moses, in whom you trust. For had you believed Moses, you
would have believed me. For he wrote of me. But if you believe not his writings,
how shall you believe my words? Now this is what everyone who
believes has in common. They believe the Bible. They
believe the words of Moses or the words of God, and they have
some understanding that Moses wrote of me. Every verse is with
regard to the Lord Jesus Christ, the salvation that's in him.
Now these fellas said, we believe, we believe Moses. The Lord said,
if you did, you'd love me. If you did, you'd believe me.
Moses wrote of me. And if you don't believe Moses
writings, which they didn't, although they may claim to do,
he said, you cannot believe my words. All who believe, believe
the scripture. Look at John chapter six. Verse 36, but I said unto you
that you also have seen me and believe not. Now what's this
all about? He looks at this group of people
and he says, you've seen me and you do not believe. Now back,
back up to verse 29. Jesus answered and said unto
them, this is the work of God, that you believe on him whom
he hath sent. They said therefore unto him,
what sign showest thou then, that we may see and believe?
What does thou work there? We have that desire for a sign.
What it is, they rejected what he said. They couldn't handle
this thing and they wanted a sign to prove. Then they say, our
fathers did eat man in the wilderness as it's written. He gave them
bread from heaven to eat. And Jesus said unto them, verily,
verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from
heaven, But my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven,
for the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven and giveth
life unto the world. Then said they unto him, Lord,
evermore give us this bread. They didn't understand what he's
talking about. They thought this was physical bread that they
could eat and live forever. And Jesus said unto them, I'm
the bread of life, He that cometh to me shall never hunger. And he that believeth on me shall
never thirst. Now this is so important. What
does it mean to come to Christ? It means to believe on him. That's
what it means. It means to believe on him. Now
let's go on reading. But I said unto you, verse 36,
you also have seen me And believe not. That's almost as if he's
saying your unbelief is no discouragement to me. I do not need your affirmation. Your unbelief is no discouragement
to me. All that the father giveth me
shall come to me. They're all going to believe.
And the fact that you do not believe, it is not, I don't need
your affirmation because I know who will believe. All that the
Father giveth me shall come to me. And him that cometh to me,
I will in no wise cast out. If you come to Christ, Don't
worry about whether or not he died for you or whether you're
elect or any, that you're not gonna be able to just figure
that out and then come. You come, you will be received. He promises. Well, how do I come
to him? Well, he tells us, he that cometh
to me shall never hunger. He that believeth on me shall
never thirst. Now, Basically, and the Lord
can speak in a way that you and I can't speak. Or maybe we can't. He says, you
see me, you don't believe, the elect will. It is that simple. You see me, you don't believe. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. Him that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out. Now look down toward the end
of this chapter in verse 64. The Lord says to this group,
the same people, but there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning
who they were that believed not. And who should betray him? Nothing
ever is past him. He sees all, he knows all. He
knew from the beginning who did not believe and who would betray
him. Verse 65, and he said, therefore
said I unto you that no man can come to me except it were given
unto him of my father. Now you don't believe. You can't
believe. And that's just given to you
of my father. From that time, verse 66, many
of his disciples went back and walked no more with him. We're
not going to listen to this. Then said Jesus under the 12,
will you also go away? Then Simon Peter answered him,
Lord, to whom shall we go? You know, you can't run off God's
sheep. Can't do it. Can't do it. To whom shall we go? Thou hast
the words of eternal life. Now they'd said, we don't like
these hard sayings. Peter says, words of eternal
life. And we believe and are sure that
thou art that Christ, the son of the living God. Now look in
John chapter seven, verse five. neither did his brethren believe
in him." Now these are the people that he grew up with. These were
his brothers and sisters. They saw a perfectly holy life and they
didn't get it. They didn't know. They just saw
him as, this is, is not this the carpenter's son? Is not this
Jesus? We know his mom. We know his dad. We've watched
him grow up. They didn't get it. What was
going on here? Verse one, chapter seven, after
these things, Jesus walked in Galilee for he would not walk
in Jewry because the Jews sought to kill him. Now the Jews feast
of tabernacles was at hand, his brethren. Therefore said unto
him, Depart hence, and go into Judea, that thy disciples also
may see the works that thou doest. Get a following, prove yourself.
For there is no man that doeth anything in secret, and he himself
seeketh to be known openly, if thou do these things, show thyself
to the world. For neither did his brethren
believe in him." Now they'd seen all these miracles. And here
they are saying, if. Why did they say if? Because
they didn't believe who he is. Nobody ever believed because
of a miracle. If I could do miraculous things right now, it wouldn't
cause anybody to believe. No one's ever believed by simply
seeing miracles. His brethren didn't believe him.
They said, if you're real, get a following. Show yourself to
the world. Now I think of The scripture
with regard to his family, a prophet is not without honor, saving
his own country and his own house. And they could not see. Look in John chapter eight, verse
24. I said, therefore, unto you,
this is the Lord speaking. Let's back up in verse 23. And
he said unto them, you are from beneath. I am from above. You are of this world. I am not
of this world. I said therefore unto you that
you shall die in your sins. For if you believe not that I
am, you'll notice the he is in italics. He's speaking of the
I am that's spoken from the bush that burned and could not be
consumed. I am that I am. If you believe not that I am
the one who spoke from the bush, If you believe not that I am
the eternal I am, the eternal, self-existent, independent creator
of the universe. If you believe not that I am,
you'll die in your sins. What a horrible thing to think. But if I don't believe that He
is the great I am that I am, I will die in my sins, but you
know what? I believe that he is the great
I am that I am. I believe he's the creator. I
believe he's the sovereign of the universe. I believe he's
all powerful. All that God is, he is because
he is God. I believe he is. I am that I
am. Stay in this chapter, verse 38. I speak that which I've seen
with my father, and you do that which you've seen with your father. They answered and said unto him,
Abraham's our father. Jesus saith unto him, if you
were Abraham's children, you'd do the works of Abraham. But
now you seek to kill me. A man that has told you the truth,
which I've heard of God, this did not Abraham. You do the deeds
of your father. They said to him, we'd be not
born of fornication. We have one father, even God.
Jesus said unto them, if God were your father, you'd love
me. For I proceeded forth and came
from God. Neither came out of myself, but
he sent me. Why do you not understand my speech? Even because you cannot
hear my word, you are unable. You are of your father, the devil,
the lusts of your father you will do. He was a murder from
the beginning and a boat not in the truth because there's
no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own
for he is a liar and the father of it. And because I tell you
the truth, you believe me not. Which of you convinces me of
sin? And if I say the truth, why do you not believe me? Here's
the answer. He that's of God, heareth God's
words. You therefore hear them not because
you are not of God. The reason you don't believe
me is you're not of God. Now, somebody says, what's it
mean to be of God? Well, here's the best way I know how to answer
that. Of Him are you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto
us. Wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
Redemption to be of God is to be in Christ. If you're in Christ, you don't
want to be anywhere else. You simply want to be found in
him. Uh, if I'm of God, I will believe. If I'm not of God, I will not
hear his words. Look in John chapter 10. Verse 22, and it was at Jerusalem,
the feast of the dedication and it was winter. And Jesus walked
in the temple in Solomon's ports. Then came the Jews round about
him and said unto him, how long does thou make us to doubt? Did the Lord ever make anybody
to doubt? Oh no, never man spake like this man. If thou be the Christ, tell us
plainly. Jesus answered them, I told you
and you believed not. He told them as plain as it can
be said, and they believe not. Remember that's a choice. I'm
not going to believe that. I'm not going to believe that. Now
let's go on reading. The works that I do in my father's
name, they bear witness of me. There's no excuse for your unbelief,
but now listen to these words. You believe not because you're
not of my sheep. He does not say, you're not my
sheep because you don't believe. He says, you believe not because
you're not of my sheep. Well, who are the sheep? Well,
he identified them in this chapter. Look in verse 15, as the father
knoweth me, even so know I the father, I lay down my life for
the sheep, the sheep. Look what he says in verse 26
Or verse 25. I told you and you believe not
the works that I do in my father's name They bear witness of me,
but you believe not because you're not of my sheep as I said unto
you my sheep Hear my voice. I know them They follow me, I
give unto them eternal life. And they shall never perish. Neither shall any man pluck them
out of my hand. My Father which gave them me
is greater than all. No man is able to pluck them
out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one. Then
the Jews took up stones again. The stone him. Why did these
people not believe? He tells them, you believe not
because you're not of my sheep. John chapter 12, verse 37. But though he had done so many
miracles before them, yet they believe not on him. in spite
of everything they'd seen, yet they believe not on him. Here's why, that the saying of
Isaiah, the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord,
who hath believed our report? And to whom hath the arm of the
Lord been revealed? Therefore they, what's it say? Could not believe. How come? Because that Isaiah said again,
he had blinded their eyes and hardened their heart that they
should not see with their eyes nor understand with their heart
and be converted and I should heal them. These things said
Isaiah when he saw his glory and spake of him. Why could they
not believe? God had hardened their heart
so that they could not believe. Now here is a very humbling.
I can believe. And I know why. It's because God put that in
my heart to believe. And I cannot not believe. I try
to not believe on Christ. I say that to every believer.
Try to not believe on Christ. Now you're dogged with unbelief.
I realize that, but you cannot not believe. You cannot not believe
that he's the son of God. You cannot believe that he's
an imposter. You cannot believe that he can
be anything but successful in what he does. But these people
could not believe. And the final verse I want to
look at is John chapter 20 verse 24. But Thomas, one of the 12 called
Didymus was not with them when Jesus came that first time. wasn't
around. I don't know what he was doing.
I don't know where he was, but for some reason he was not there. All the other disciples were
there when the Lord appeared to them and made himself known
to them. Thomas was not there. Verse 25, the other disciples
therefore said unto him, We've seen the Lord, But he said unto
them, except I shall see in his hand the print of the nails,
and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand
into his side, I will not believe. Strong language, isn't it? And
Thomas was a believer. We know that from his confession
later on. But here he is. And this is a
reminder to us that unbelief is a choice. And when you don't
believe, if you're a believer, it's because you're choosing
not to believe. You've got nobody to blame but
yourself. That's what Thomas says. I will not believe. And after eight days, verse 26,
again, his disciples were within and Thomas with him. He was there
at this time. Then came Jesus, the doors being
shut. I believe that, uh, this is a
reference to him walking through the door and his glorified body.
Closed door can't keep him out. And my hard heart can't keep
him out if he desires to come in. And he comes through those
shut doors. Aren't you thankful for that?
He walks through closed doors. Open up the door of your heart. He'll knock it down. If he intends
to come in, he always does. And he stood in the midst and
said, peace be unto you. Then saith he to Thomas, reach hither thy finger and behold my hands and reach
hither thy hand and thrust it into my side. and be not faithless,
but believing. Now, you know, when Thomas believed,
when the Lord spake to him, then saith he to Thomas, when
the Lord speaks to you, you'll believe. You see, there's such
power in his voice. The hour is coming and now is
when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God and they
that hear shall live. He spake to Thomas. And Thomas answered and said
unto him, and there's no more noble confession than this, my
Lord, and my God. He believed, didn't he? When
the Lord spoke to him, he believed. When the Lord speaks to me, I
believe. And Jesus said unto him, Thomas,
because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed, blessed are they
that have not seen and yet have believed. Nicodemus, I've told you earthly things
and you believe not. How can you believe if I tell
you heavenly things? Well, I can tell you how you
can believe. Lord speaks to him. Lord speaks to him. And I believe he did end up believing
because like I said, he was the one who with Joseph of Arimathea
at great cost to himself, took the Lord's body down from the
cross and he gave him a rich man's burial and put him in that
tomb. Lord, I believe. Let's pray. Lord, by thy grace, we do believe your gospel. We
do believe that your son is the eternal I am that I am. We do believe that he is your
fellow, your equal, your son. We believe that when he said
it is finished, Our salvation was finished and accomplished. Lord, we pray that we would, by your grace,
be delivered from unbelief, the sin that does so easily beset
us, enable us to simply believe and trust thy son. In his name
we pray, amen.