Looking at Luke chapter 1, I'm
entitling the message from the words of the servant of the Lord,
Gabriel, found in verse 20. Gabriel declared unto Zacharias
that he was indeed the servant of God, that he was speaking
by the authority of God, and that he was sent of God to show
glad tidings. Gabriel was exactly the same
angel and servant of God that was sent to Daniel in Daniel
chapter 8 and Daniel chapter 9 declaring the coming of the
Lord Jesus Christ and the redeeming work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 20 of Luke 1, Behold, thou
shalt be dumb, unable to hear, unable to speak, not able to
speak until the day that these things shall be performed, because
thou believest not my words." Thou believest not my words,
which shall be fulfilled in due time, according to the time.
I'm entitling the message, The Sorrows of unbelief, the sorrows
of unbelief. Now all of us, myself included,
I start with me. I'm preaching to myself. All of us need to hear this message
on the sorrows of unbelief. Zacharias and Elizabeth were
believers. They were believers, no doubt
about that. Look at Luke chapter 1 verse 6. They were both righteous
before God. They were believers, walking
in all the commandments and ordinance of the Lord. And the Lord says
of them, because they were justified in Christ and made righteous
in Christ, they were blameless. Yet when faced with the impossibility,
the difficulty of having a son in their old age, their hearts
were filled with..." What? unbelief, unbelief. Likewise,
when Abram and Sarai, before God renamed them Abraham and
Sarah, Abraham and Sarah likewise, they were believers. God says
they were. Abraham believed God and it was
imputed to him for righteousness. Abraham was strong in faith,
giving glory to God, being fully persuaded of all that God had
promised God would perform. But when initially told that
he would have a son, being 99 years old, and his wife being
barren all her life and being 90 years old, both Abraham and
Sarah, their first response was, how can that be? They were faced
with unbelief, weren't they? Abraham, 99 years old. You remember
what the Lord said to Abraham and Sarah? Anything too hard
for the Lord, No, not for the Lord. Look in this same chapter,
Luke chapter 1, when Gabriel was sent unto Mary, a virgin,
who was unmarried, who never knew a man, And the angel came
unto her and said, You're going to have a special son, verse
32. Verse 31, Behold, thou shalt
conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his
name Saviour, Jesus. He shall be great, he shall be
called the Son of the Highest. And the Lord God shall give unto
him the throne of his father David, and he shall reign over
the house of Jacob forever. There shall be no end of his
kingdom, of his kingdom there shall be no end. Then said Mary
unto the angel, How shall this be? Saying, I don't know a man,
I don't have a husband. And the angel answered her, the
Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the highest
shall overshadow thee. Therefore also that holy thing
which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. Behold,
thy cousin Elizabeth, she has also conceived a son in her old
age, and this is a six-month with her who was called barren.
For with God nothing shall be impossible." Anything too hard
for the Lord? No. With God all things are possible. One old writer said, his name
is J.C. Ryle, where human wisdom begins
faith ends. Martin Luther said this, reason,
human reason is the greatest enemy that faith has. It never comes to the aid of
spiritual things, but always treating with contempt the things
of God. Natural man, the natural man
receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God. You see, the basis
and ground of saving faith is divine revelation from the Word
of God. The foundation of faith is not
feelings, is it? The foundation of faith is the
Word of God. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing
by the Word of God. You remember the words of Martin
Luther also, where he said, feelings come and feelings go, and feelings
are deceiving? My warrant is the Word of God,
nothing else is worth believing. You see, the basis and ground
of faith is the Word of God and God revealing the Word unto us. The basis of unbelief is human
wisdom, reason, and logic. When you start reasoning in yourself,
that's not faith, is it? Unbelief is found in the heart
of the strongest believers. I say it again, unbelief is found
in the heart of the strongest believers, sadly it is so. I'll give you one example. Elijah,
the prophet of God, faced down and killed 450 prophets of Baal. Remember on Mount Carmel? The
God that entered by fire, he indeed is God. And yet when Jezebel
found out about it and put a contract out on Elijah, instead of Elijah
standing and facing down Ahab and Jezebel, you know what he
did? He ran and hid. Why? Unbelief. You see, here
was a man used of God, blessed of God, a man who believed God,
and yet he had unbelief. Nothing so honors God as believing
Him. Nothing so dishonors God as unbelief. He that believeth on the Son
hath everlasting life. He that believeth not shall not
see light, but the wrath of God abide on him." You see, without
faith it is impossible to please God. He that cometh to God must
believe that He is, and that He is the rewarder of them that
do believe. Now, I want you to find this
Scripture with me. Turn to Mark chapter 9. You remember
the Father. who had a demon-possessed son,
and he brought his demon-possessed son unto some of the disciples,
and the disciples could not help this father at all. And when
he sees the Lord Jesus Christ coming, he approaches the Lord
Jesus Christ, look at verse 19, he answers him and says, O faithless
generation, This is Mark 9 verse 19. How long shall I be with
you? How long shall I suffer you? Bring him unto me. And they
brought him unto him, and when he saw him, straightway the spirit
tear him. And he fell on the ground and
wallowed, foaming, and he asked his father, How long is it ago
since this came upon him? And the father of this child
said, Since he was a baby of a child. And oftentimes it cast
him into the fire, and into the waters to destroy him. But if
thou canst do anything, have compassion on us and help us."
Why didn't he say, you can do all things? We know you can do
all things, you're God, if thou canst do anything. He had doubt,
didn't he? Look at verse 23. And the Lord
said to him, if thou canst believe, all things are possible to him
that believeth. And straightway the father of
the child cried out and said with tears, Lord, I believe. What's that next part? Help thou
my unbelief. Help my unbelief. Now turn to
Luke chapter 17. No wonder the disciples asked
the Lord, in Luke 17 is recorded, about this thing of faith. Look at verse 3. Luke 17, Take
heed to yourselves, if thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke
him, and if he repent, forgive him. And if he trespass again
against thee seven times a day, seven times in a day, turn again
to thee, saying, I repent, thou shalt forgive him. And the apostle
said unto the Lord, Increase our faith. Now, it takes faith
to forgive. It takes faith, believing God,
to forgive. Lord, increase our faith. Lord,
I believe, help thou my unbelief. Now, this problem of unbelief
goes back to the Garden of Eden, when Adam and Eve sinned against
God. The original sin, you know what
it was? unbelief. The original sin, Adam's
rebellion against God was a sin of unbelief. And that sin of
unbelief plunged the whole human race into what we call total
sinful depravity. That is, in Adam all sinned. In Adam all died. You remember the Lord God said
to Adam and Eve, of every tree of the garden you may freely
eat, but that one tree Don't eat it. And in the day that you
do eat it, you'll die. You remember what Adam and Eve
did? They believed Satan's lie. You remember what Satan said?
You surely won't die, but you'll be like God. They believed Satan's
lie and disregarded God's truth. Adam and Eve believed the devil's
lie, disregarded God's truth, And such is our state by nature,
loving darkness, hating light, hating the truth. Satan is called
the liar, the originator of it, and the father of it, and by
nature. born in sin, shapen in iniquity,
all we have is unbelief. It is one of the most deep-rooted
sins by which every believer is plagued, from which he is
never entirely freed until he dies. Until this robe of flesh
I'll drop and rise to seize the everlasting prize and shout while
passing through the air Won't have to pray anymore. Lord, forgive
me. Lord, forgive me. Lord, forgive me. Lord, help
my unbelief. but shouting through the air, farewell, farewell,
sweet hour of prayer. Faith will end in sight. Now,
let us not be too hard on Zacharias and Abraham. You see, his fault
and their fault is our fault as well. Let us not be too hard
on Peter, not too hard on Paul. Turn over here to 2 Timothy chapter
2. You see, every believer is a
believer. by God's grace, but he still
is plagued with an evil nature, a sinful nature that is prone
to unbelief and doubt. 2 Timothy 2, verse 10. Now watch this carefully. 2 Timothy
2, verse 10. Therefore I endure all things
for the elect's sake, that they may also obtain the salvation
which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. This is a faithful
saying, for if we be dead with Him, crucified with Christ, we
shall also live with Him, reign with Him. If we suffer, we shall
also reign with Him. Now watch this. If we deny Him,
He will also deny us. Now look at verse 13. If we believe
not. Yet, he abided faithful, he cannot
deny himself. Yes, I am a believer, but yes,
I too am plagued with unbelief." If you look back at 2 Timothy
chapter 1, 2 Timothy chapter 1, when Paul was in prison, this
is his prison epistle to young Timothy, and he writes back to
him to remind him in verse 7, For God hath not given us the
spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord
Jesus Christ. Timothy was a believer, and yet
he had times of doubt and unbelief, as every believer must confess. Now, we're all plagued with this
sin of unbelief to one degree or another. Not to confess this is to call God a liar. We all
have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Whatsoever
is not of faith, what is it? It's sin. It's sin. Now, what are the consequences
of this unbelief? Well, not to believe the gospel
at all is to incur the eternal wrath of God. But even as a believer, what are the consequences of
unbelief? Well, in our story here, Zacharias
was told by the messenger of God, verse 20, Behold, thou shalt
be dumb. He was unable to speak or talk
for the nine months while Elizabeth was carrying John. What were
the consequences of unbelief? Zacharias lost his ability to
hear and speak. He was miserable for nine months. Why? Because the angel said,
Thou believest not my words which shall be fulfilled in their season. Gabriel was sent with a message
of God. And this man did not believe. Not at first he didn't. Now let
us learn from his story and others. And let us learn from the story
of Israel wandering for forty years in the desert country. Why were they given 40 years
to wander about in the wilderness? Why didn't they just march right
out of the Egypt, cross the Sinai Peninsula, and right into the
land of Israel? Why did they spend 40 years going
around and around and around and around? Why didn't they just
enter in? Do you know why? Let's see if we can find out.
Turn to the book of Hebrews chapter 3. You remember they sent 12
spies into the land to spy out the land? And they spent 40 days
spying out the land, and they came back, and 10 of them said,
there's giants in that land. There's no way we can take that
land. Joshua and Caleb said, oh, we
can take the land. God is with us. Let us march
in. And they believed the 10 men. rather than the two faithful
witnesses. And God said for every day they
were in there, I'm going to give you a year. Forty years of wandering
around because of unbelief. Hebrews chapter 3 verse 14, For
we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our
confidence steadfast to the end. What is said today, if you will
hear His voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, to children of Israel. For some,
when they heard, did provoke, howbeit not all that came out
of Egypt by Moses. But with whom was he grieved
forty years? Was it not with them that had
sinned, whose carcasses fell in the wilderness? To whom he
swore that he should not enter in, to his rest, but to them
that believed not?" Verse 19. So we see that they could not
enter in because of unbelief. It's a plague. It is a plague. You see, unbelief... I'm talking
to believers now who believe the gospel. Unbelief robs us
of inward peace in our heart before God. Being justified by
faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
But unbelief and doubt and fear robs us of that inward peace
and assurance we have before God. Secondly, unbelief takes
the joy out of our salvation. You remember what David prayed
when David sinned against God? He said, "...against thee and
thee only have I sinned, and done this evil on thy sight."
You remember what he prayed, Lord? Give me and return unto me the
joy of thy salvation." What took the joy away? Unbelief. Unbelief. Unbelief also destroys patience. Patience. I mean, I'm talking
about waiting upon the Lord. And again, I say, wait upon the
Lord. Unbelief makes contentment impossible. The Scripture said, all things
work together for good to them who love God, to them who are
called according to His purpose. Our light afflictions don't work
against us, they work for us. And yet when things go contrary
to the way we think they should go, we get upset, we get impatient,
and it brings heartache and sorrow upon us. Unbelief brings shame upon our
conscience before God because of our unbelief. Unbelief. How many fearful nights have
you spent in bed, unable to sleep, unable to rest? Unbelief. Unbelief. I'm talking about where
we really live. I'm preaching to myself. Unbelief. Unbelief. Unbelief brings cloud
over our hope before God. I can cry with him, Father, Lord,
I do believe, help thou my unbelief." You see, we have a good hope
in Christ. Let's look at a few scriptures
here to help us find 2 Thessalonians. Lord, I do believe, I do believe,
but I find in my heart unbelief as well. Find 2 Thessalonians. Now, Lord Jesus Christ Himself
and God, even our Father, who has loved us and He has given
us an everlasting consolation and a good hope through grace,
now comfort your heart. Comfort your heart. Be established
in every good word in every good work. Unbelief brings clouds
over our hope before God. Unbelief brings shame upon our
conscience before God. Now turn to Romans chapter 15.
Romans chapter 15. It makes you cry out with the
Apostle Paul, O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver
me from this body of death? I thank God through Jesus Christ
our Lord. That's our hope. Lord help my
unbelief. Look at Romans chapter 15 verse
13. There is hope and peace. Romans 15 verse 13. Now the God of hope fill you
with all joy and peace in Now there is joy and peace in believing
that you may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Spirit. What is the source of our own
unbelief? What is the source of it? I'll
tell you what it is. It's our own sinful flesh, isn't
it? We're dragged down by this sinful
flesh. We battle with this flesh every
day. As it says over here in Galatians chapter 5, turn over
there, Galatians chapter 5. Galatians 5, verse 16, this I say, Then walk
in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh,
Galatians 5, 17, For the flesh lusteth against the spirit, and
the spirit against the flesh. These things are contrary one
to another, so that you cannot do the thing that you would.
I would just divorce this flesh completely and trust God always
and only, and I do, but I find in my heart so much unbelief.
I'm just being brutally honest with you. There is another element
involved here in our unbelief as well. Look back to the text
again. Did you pick this up? The messenger
Gabriel said, these things shall be performed and you have not
believed my word. My word. Here's the other element, not
only my sinful self, my sinful old Adam, rotten, fallen nature,
but there's another element involved here in our unbelief. Thou believest
not my words. There shall be a performance
of God's Word. Nothing more lends and contributes
to our own willful unbelief than disregarding, neglecting the
written Word of God and the preaching of the Word. Faith comes by hearing,
and hearing by the Word of Truth. Turn to John, the book of John,
John 20. Thou hast not believed my words. Oh, to hear the word of God as
it is in truth. We're going to read that in just
a moment. But look at John chapter 20, verse 31, verse 30. Many other signs truly did Jesus
in the presence of the disciples. John 20, which are not written
in this book, but these are written that you might believe that Jesus
is the Christ. When you find yourself in a time
of turmoil and unbelief, back to the Word. As Jacob said, back
to Bethel. Thou believest not. These things are written that
you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God,
and that believing you might have life through His name. Now,
turn to 1 Thessalonians, 1 Thessalonians chapter 2. 1 Thessalonians chapter
2, Peter said, "...desire the sincere
milk of the word that you might grow thereby." 1 Thessalonians
chapter 2 verse 13, "...for this cause also thank we God without
ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard
of us, you received it not as the word of men, but as it is
in truth the word of God, that effectually worketh in you who
believe." Hearing the Word of God. Let us hear the Word, receive
the Word, believe His Word, trust His Word, and let us beware of
the monster of unbelief, the sorrows of unbelief. Now, I'm
not making any excuse for unbelief. I'm not at all making any excuse
for unbelief. But thanks be unto the Lord our
God that even the sin of unbelief is daily and eternally cleansed
by the blood atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. Even my unbelief,
He's already made atonement for my unbelief. And again, I'm not
making any excuse for unbelief. But thanks be unto God that His
blood atonement cleanses us from all our sin, even my doubt, my
fear, and my unbelief. Second thing is this. Thanks
be unto God that our unbelief does not change the purpose of
God. Now get a hold of this. Again,
I'm not making any excuse for unbelief. Our unbelief does not
change the purpose of God." Both Sarah and Abraham laughed. Does
that mean they're not going to have a son? No, God said, you're
going to have a son. Both Elizabeth and Zechariah
said, there's no way we can have a son. They did not believe at
first. Did that change the purpose of
God? No, God said, look what it says there in the text. God
said, these things shall be performed. You're going to have a son. Again,
I'm not making any excuse for unbelief, but it does not change
the purpose of God. You see this word down here,
verse 20? There shall be a performance of those things. Again, in verse
45 of Luke 1, turn over there. Blessed is she that believed,
For there shall be a performance of those things which were told
her." This is Elizabeth telling Mary. There shall be a performance
of those things. Look at verse 72. Later, Zacharias
prophesied and he said in Luke 1... Luke 1, verse 72, "...to
perform the mercy promised to our fathers to remember His holy
covenant." To do what? To perform the mercy of God. You see, salvation is based upon
His performance, not ours. Our unbelief does not affect
the outcome of the Lord's salvation or the Lord's purpose, nor His
power, nor His grace over us. His people shall be willing in
the day of His power, as many as were ordained to eternal life,
they will believe the gospel. Now, I remember years ago, I
don't know where this got started, but there was an old religious
saying that went around, and you maybe have heard it, maybe
you haven't, but there was an old religious saying. Now, don't
make any comment, just listen to me. The religious saying went
this way, God said it, I believe it, and that settles it. Y'all
heard that? It's not a good statement. But rather, God said it, that
settles it, whether I believe it or not. Now, believers believe
the Word of God, but our unbelief does not alter or change the
purpose of God. God said, I've spoken it, I bring
it to pass, I've purposed it, I will do it. I'm the Lord, I
change not, therefore you sons of Jacob shall not be consumed.
Zacharias' unbelief? Abraham's unbelief, David's unbelief
did not change the purpose of God. Oh, it affected them. They had heartache. They had
sorrow. But it did not change the Lord's
purpose. His purpose is an eternal purpose
that He purposed in Christ Jesus the Lord to save His people.
And His purpose and His will will be done. Isaiah 14. Remember, for the Lord of hosts
hath purposed, who shall disannul it? His hand is stretched forth,
who shall turn it back? He worketh all things after the
purpose of His own will, His eternal purpose. Now back to
our story. In spite of the unbelief of Zechariah
and Elizabeth, Elizabeth conceived, You remember what it says here?
Turn over to Luke chapter 1. And it came to pass that as soon
as the days of his ministration were accomplished, verse 23,
he departed to his own house, and after those days his wife,
His wife Elizabeth conceived and hid herself five months.
Thus hath the Lord dealt with me in the days wherein He looked
upon me to take away my reproach from among men." You see, their
unbelief didn't change the purpose of God, did it? She did. conceived and did bring forth
a son. Verse 25, I like what it says
there, what she says there, the Lord, did you notice that? The
Lord hath dealt with me. The Lord dealt with her in mercy,
not justice. The Lord dealt with him, Zechariah
and Elizabeth, Abraham and Sarah. The Lord dealt with them in grace,
not in wrath. Now, turn to Psalm 103. Psalm 103. Lord, I do believe, by your grace,
I do believe, but I find yet in my heart unbelief as well. The Lord hath not dealt with
us after our sin. That's the Scripture I'm looking
for. Psalm 103 verse 8. The Lord is merciful, gracious,
slow to anger, plenteous in mercy. He will not always chide, neither
will He keep His anger forever. He hath not dealt with us after
our sins. Isn't that what Elizabeth says?
Isn't that what every believer says? He's not dealt with us
after our sin, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
Aren't you glad that salvation depends upon His faithfulness,
not ours? For as the heaven is high above
the earth so great is His mercy toward them that fear Him, As
far as the east is from the west, so far hath He removed our transgressions
from us, like as a father pities his children, so the Lord pities
them that fear Him." Now look at verse 14. He knoweth our frame,
He knows that we are but dust. Dust. Or His dust. All flesh
is grass. Now, conclusion. What a blessing
it is to believe the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. He that
believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. But what great hindrance
it is not to believe. Faith is the precious gift of
God purchased with the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
why faith is called precious. Every good gift and every perfect
gift is from above. But I also know this. Every gift
that God gives is perfect, but I don't have perfect faith. Does
that make sense? Every gift that God gives is
perfect, but I don't have perfect faith. By His grace, I do have
faith. For by grace are you saved through
faith, and that not of yourself, but the gift of God, not of work
that any man should boast. I don't have perfect faith, but
I have a perfect Savior. I have a perfect salvation. I
am a sinner saved by the grace of God, subject to the frailties
of this flesh. Not by works of righteousness
which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us. To every believer we know that
the Lord has given us faith to trust Him for all of salvation.
Now listen to this carefully. Our faith does not accomplish
salvation. Now I didn't misstate that. Our
faith does not accomplish salvation, but rather, The faith of God's
elect, the faith that's God's given, receives the Lord Jesus
Christ who did accomplish salvation. We also know the sad reality
of our life. We do believe the gospel, but
we still battle the flesh of our old sinful nature that is
prone to wonder, prone to unbelief and fear. Turn to Psalm 23. I can illustrate
this for you very, very easily. In Psalm 23, all of you know
Psalm 23. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall
not want. He maketh me to lie down in green
pastures. He leadeth me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leadeth
me in paths of righteousness for His namesake. Yea, though
I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I'll fear
no evil." Well, that's faith, isn't it? That's faith. For thou
art with me, thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. Thou
preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies. Thou anointest my head, my cup
runneth over, surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all
the days of my life. Now dwell in the house of the
Lord forever. Now, find Psalm 77, and this is the same heart,
the same man, the man after God's own heart. Psalm 77. Now, this
is just the reality of our frailness of this flesh. Psalm 77. Look at verse 5. I have considered
the days of old, the years of ancient times. Psalm 77. I call
to remembrance my song in the night. I commune with mine own
heart and my spirit, made diligent search. Will the Lord cast off
forever? Will He be favorable no more? This is the same man. Is His
mercy cling on forever? Does His promise fail forevermore? What is this? Unbelief. Has God
forgotten to be gracious? Wait a minute. Surely goodness
and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. What's going
on here? You see, Lord I believe, help
Thou my unbelief. Hath God forgotten to be gracious?
Hath He in His anger shut up His tender mercies? And I said,
verse 10, this is my infirmity. I will remember the years of
Thy right hand, the Most High God. Now, I want to close the
message with this. All of you have sung many, many,
many times the song of John Newton, Amazing Grace, how sweet the
sound. that saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost, but now I'm found, was blind, but now I see."
John Newton, the famous, famous preacher over in England back
in the middle 1700s. Amazing grace. But not too many
people know that he wrote this song as well. "'Tis a point I
long to know, and often causes anxious thought. Do I love the
Lord, or no? Am I His? Or am I not? If I love, why am I thus? Why this dull and lifeless frame? Hardly sure can they be worse
who have never heard His name. Could my heart so hard remain,
and prayer a task of burden prove? Every trifle give me pain, if
I knew the Savior's love. When I turn my eyes within, all
is dark and vain and wild, filled with unbelief and sin, can I
deem myself a child? This is John Newton. If I pray
or hear or read, sin is mixed with all I do. You who love the
Lord indeed, tell me, is it thus with you? Yes, it is. Yet I mourn
my stubborn will, find my sin a grief and thrall. Should I
grieve at what I feel if I did not love it all? Could I joy
his saints to meet, choose the ways I once abhorred, find at
times the promise sweet if I did not love the Lord? Lord, decide
this doubtful case, Thou who art the people's son, Sense that
work of grace. Shine upon this work of grace,
if indeed it begun. Let me love Thee more and more.
If I love at all, I pray. If I have not loved before, Lord,
help me to begin today. Lord, I do believe, but I find
in my wicked heart sorrow of unbelief. I'm ashamed of it. and confess it and thank God
it's forgiven by the blood atonement of Christ.