I invite you to open your Bibles
now to Mark 16, verse 16. Mark 16, verse 16. He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned. He that believeth not shall be
damned." I believe that this is the most terrible declaration
to be found anywhere in the Word of God. He that believeth not
shall be damned. Now these are the words of our
Lord Jesus Christ Himself. These are not the words of a
religious fanatic. These are not the words of a
cult crusader. These are the words of him in
whom dwelt the fullness of the Godhead bodily. These are the
words of him of whom the Heavenly Father said, this is my son,
you listen to him. That's exactly what the Father
said in regard to Christ. This is my son. hear ye him. These are the words of him who
has all authority. He said, All authority is given
unto me in heaven and earth. These are the words of him who
is the giver of life, for he said, The Son quickeneth, or
maketh alive, whom he will. He that believeth not shall be
damned. These are the words of Christ.
These are the words of the Savior, and these are his last words
to his disciples before he ascended to the Father. He gathered his
disciples about him, and before he went back to the Father, he
said, You go into all the world, and you preach the gospel to
every creature. And he that believeth the gospel
shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be damned. Now what
is unbelief? Unbelief is the greatest sin. This terrible declaration of
damnation is spoken to those who do not believe. Now what
is unbelief? I think the simplest definition
is this. Unbelief is the opposite of faith. Now faith is to believe the record
that God hath given concerning his Son. I invite your attention
to 1 John chapter 5. 1 John chapter 5 verse 11. 1 John chapter 5. Let's go back and read verse
10. Now listen carefully. He that believeth on the Son
of God hath the witness in himself. He that believeth not God hath
made him a liar, because he believeth not the record that God gave
of his Son." Faith is to believe the record. This is the record,
verse 11, that God hath given us eternal life, and this life
is in his Son. We believe this record. We believe
Jesus Christ to be the incarnate Son of God. We believe Jesus
Christ to be the only Savior who came into the world to die
for our sins, who was buried and rose again, who ascended
to the right hand of God, who is the mediator between God and
men. We believe that record. This
is the record that God had given concerning his Son, that life,
eternal life, is in his Son. Now, unbelief is to believe not
that record. is to question that record. Look
back at 1 John 4, verse 3. Hereby know ye the Spirit of
God. Every spirit that confesseth
that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God. Everyone who believes that, who
confesses that, that Jesus Christ came from heaven He enjoyed the
glory of God before the world was. He left that glory and came
down here in the flesh as the God-man, as the sin offering,
as the sacrifice for sin. Died on that cross, was buried,
rose again, and went back to heaven. And hereby know we the
Spirit of God. Every man that confesseth that
Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God. Now listen to the
next sentence. And every spirit or every person that confesseth
not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God. This is that spirit of antichrist
whereof you have heard that it should come, and even now already
is it in the world. So unbelief, first of all, is
to question the record God hath given concerning His Son and
his visitation to this earth. Secondly, faith is to trust the
Son of God, in whom you trusted after you heard the word of your
salvation. Unbelief is the opposite of trust. It is to doubt his power to save. It is to doubt his willingness
to save. It is to doubt his ability to
save. It is to lean upon some other
foundation other than Christ. Thirdly, faith is to receive
Christ. It is to believe the record.
It is to trust the Son. It is to receive the Lord. It is to consciously, intelligently,
willingly, lovingly to receive Christ as prophet, priest, and
king. Prophet to reveal God, priest
to atone for my transgressions, and king to reign over me. Unbelief
says, I can know God apart from Christ. I don't need Christ to
reveal God to me. Unbelief says, I need no mediator. I can go directly to the Father
myself without any help from a mediator. I need no priest
to atone. I need no intercessor to plead. Unbelief says, we will not have
this man reign over us. That's what unbelief is. It is
to doubt the record God had given concerning His Son. It is not
to trust the Son, but to lean upon some other foundation. It's
to doubt His power to save. Unbelief is refusal to receive
Christ as our prophet, as our priest, and as our King. Now, what are the consequences
of unbelief? Christ said, He that believeth
not shall be damned. Shall be damned. a whole nation
perished in the wilderness, Paul said, because of unbelief. They could not enter in because
of unbelief. They came to Kadesh Barnea, they
turned around and wandered for forty years in the wilderness
and finally perished there, never entering the Promised Land because
of unbelief. The Scripture says concerning
one of the cities during Christ's ministry on this earth, he would
do no mighty works in that city because of their unbelief. Jerusalem was totally destroyed
in 70 A.D. because of unbelief. The nation of Israel has wandered
over the world for 1900 years without a home. because of unbelief. God hath given them the spirit
of slumber, and eyes that cannot see, and ears that cannot hear,
because of unbelief. John chapter 3 verse 18 says,
He that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not
believed on the name of the only begotten Son of God. John 3.36
says, He that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the
wrath of God abideth on him. The great George Whitefield,
who was the companion of the Wesley brothers, who ministered
in England and in America nearly three hundred years ago, in one
of his sermons said that a young man came to him and the young
man told him that he was convicted of his sins. He was in trouble
because of his sins. He said, Mr. Whitfield, I've
been a great sinner. And he began to confess his sins
to this outstanding preacher. And after he would confess a
sin, Mr. Whitfield would say, and is that
all? The young man confessed some more sins, and when he came
to a pause in the conversation, Mr. Whitfield looked at him and
said, "'And is that all?' And the young man thought up some
more things that he had done since his childhood, and he told
about pride and blasphemy and drunkenness and all manner of
evil. And when he finished, Mr. Whitfield
looked at him and said, "'And is that all?' And the young man
said, Mr. Whitfield, I've confessed unto
you great sins. I've confessed unto you sins
that every sin known to man. And after all this, you look
at me and you say, is that all? What do you mean, is that all?
And Whitfield replied, young man, you have confessed unto
me great sins. But you have not yet taken unto
yourself the guilt of the greatest sin. You have not owned your
part in the greatest sin. You have not yet confessed the
sin of unbelief. You have not believed on the
Son of God, young man. That's the greatest sin that
a man can commit. You have not trusted the Son
of God as your Lord and Savior, young man. That's the greatest
sin a man can commit. You are guilty of the greatest
sin known to man, and you have not yet confessed it. Why is unbelief such a great
sin? Why would this man, George Whitefield,
such a brilliant minister of the gospel, consider unbelief
to be the greatest sin. Why would he say to this young
man, after the young man confessed sins of unmentionable character,
why would he then look at him and say, well, you haven't yet
confessed the greatest sin? Why is unbelief such a great
sin? Christ does not say here, he
that robbeth a store shall be damned. He said, he that believeth
not. for Christ saved the thief. Why does Christ say here, He
doesn't say, He that murdereth shall be damned. He says, He
that believeth not. Christ saved many murderers. Why does He not say here, He
that is possessed with devils shall be damned? He doesn't say
that, because we read a moment ago He cast seven devils out
of one person. Christ said, He that believeth
not shall be damned. He that believeth not. I'll give
you several reasons why unbelief is such a great sin. I want you
to turn, first of all, to 1 Corinthians chapter 1. First of all, unbelief
is the greatest sin because it doubts God's wisdom. It puts a question mark on God's
wisdom. In 1 Corinthians 1.24, listen
to it, verse 23 says, we preach Christ
crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness. But unto them which are called,
both Jews and Greeks, Christ, Christ crucified. is the power
of God. Christ is not only the power
of God to save. Most people believe He is the
power of God to save by His blood, by His righteousness, by His
sin offering. We not only preach Christ the
power of God to save, God has power to raise the fallen, God
has power to cleanse the guilty, God has power to save the rebel.
Christ is not only the power of God, look at it and underscore
it, He is the wisdom of God. The wisdom of God. You know, parents get a little
aggravated with children nowadays because children put a question
mark on their parents' wisdom. When we do not believe on Christ
crucified, we put a question mark on God's wisdom. How can
God be just and justify the ungodly? Wisdom answers only in Christ. How can mercy and truth meet
together and be reconciled? Wisdom answers only in Christ. How can righteousness and peace
kiss one another? Wisdom answers only in Christ. How can the perfect law of God
be honored, honored by the sinner who is guilty of breaking that
law? Wisdom answers only in Christ. How can the raw justice of God
deal in honesty with sinners and still set them free? Wisdom
answers only in Christ. Christ is God's wisdom. Christ incarnate is God's wisdom. Christ coming to this earth as
representative of a covenant people is God's wisdom. Christ
crucified, buried, and risen again is God's wisdom. Christ at the right hand of the
Father interceding for sinners is God's wisdom. Christ preached
is the power of God to save, the power of God to cleanse,
the power of God to change. But Christ crucified is the wisdom
of God, the revealed wisdom of God. This is God's way. And unbelief makes light of the
glorious, great attributes of God and makes light of the wisdom
of God. That's why unbelief is such a
great sin. It questions the wisdom of God. Have you got a better way? That's
what you're saying when you reject Christ, when you don't believe
Christ. You're saying, God, I've got
a better way. I've got a better way. God says
salvation's only in the blood. You say, I've got a better way.
God says there's no other foundation, no other way. Christ said, I
am the way. You say, I've got a better way.
And you question God's wisdom. And that's what makes unbelief
such a horrible sin, is to put a question mark on God's wisdom,
God's infinite, indisputable, immutable wisdom. Why is unbelief
such a horrible sin? Unbelief strikes a blow at God's
love. The Presbyterians had a great,
great preacher in Daniel Baker. Daniel Baker preached, I suppose,
it's been over a hundred years ago. It's back in the Civil War
period and before. I have two books by Daniel Baker. He's a great preacher. Daniel
Baker was an orphan. When he was very small, his parents
died. Daniel Baker and his sister were
brought up in an orphanage. And his sister was older than
he, and he loved her so much, respected her, depended upon
her. And he was a mischievous little
boy. And he did something that made
his sister angry, very angry with him. So he got all of his
savings, he had some pennies and nickels saved up, and this
was years and years ago. He had managed to save fifty
cents. And he took all of those savings,
he bundled them together, and he got permission from the superintendent
of the orphanage to go downtown. He said he went downtown and
he took that fifty cents, everything that he could rake and scrape
that he had saved, and he bought his sister a present. He bought
her a beautiful vase with all kind of flowers painted on the
vase, and he brought that vase back. He'd wrapped it up, had
the clerk wrap it up, and he brought it back. His sister was
angry with him, and he brought her a gift of love, a peace offering. He came in the orphanage and
he found her, he said, and he reached out with his chubby little
old hands, with his childlike heart of love and compassion
and affection, and he handed his sister, his older sister,
that vase that he had bought for her. She was still angry.
And she took the paper off the vase and saw what it was and
then looked at him and took that vase and dashed it in pieces
at his feet. and it broke his heart. He said,
I've never, I never had anything in all of my life break my heart
quite like that rejection of my gift of love. This is what
unbelief does, and this is the reason it's an unspeakable, horrible
sin. For God so loved the world that
He gave His only begotten Son, the gift of His love, called
the unspeakable gift. An unbeliever takes a look at
that gift of God's love, that precious gift of God's unspeakable
affection, and turns away in indifference. I will not receive
it. I will not believe it. I will
not accept it." How do you feel toward that sister? Do you feel
some anger? Ah, sure you do, and I do too.
Do you say within your heart, how could she reject that offer
of love? How could she maintain her rebellion
and her antagonism to the point of dashing in pieces at that
little boy's feet the gift of his love? I'll tell you how.
She was a human being. And that's what everybody here
this morning is doing in the face of God Almighty who has
not believed on Christ. God has come to you in your rebellion,
and in your antagonism, and in your sins, and in your enmity,
and He has said, I gave my son to die for your sins, and unbelief
turns away and says, I won't have it. You name me a greater
sin. The third thing. If you'll turn
to 1 John, chapter 1, verse 10. 1 John 1, 10, the third reason
why unbelief is such a horrible sin. Unbelief calls God Almighty
a liar. In 1 John 1, 10, now the Bible
says all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. In
1 John 1, 10, if we say we have not sinned, We make God a liar. We make God a liar. Now turn
to 1 John 5, verse 10. And he that believeth on the
Son of God hath the witness in himself. Now watch the next line.
He that believeth not God hath made God a liar. That's pretty
serious, isn't it? What greater insult can you heap
upon a man than to call him a liar. And yet all men are liars. That's
what Scripture says. And yet the Scripture says, let
every man be a liar. And yet I don't know any, I don't
know anything that is a greater insult than for someone to call
you a liar. And yet the Bible says all men
are liars. But God is truth. God is truth. Let every man be a liar, but
God's word is true. And when we say we have no sin,
we make God a liar. And when we believe not the record
that God hath given of His Son, we make God a liar. Now, my friends,
when the Lord Jesus Christ was here on this earth, the greatest
rewards were bestowed because of faith. The woman with the
issue of blood, Christ said, woman, great is thy faith. The
centurion who said, my daughter is sick, but Lord, you don't
have to go to my house, all you have to do is say the word and
she'll be healed, our Lord said, great is thy faith. And his greatest
rebuke, what was the greatest rebuke of the Son of God while
he was here on this earth? What was the greatest rebuke?
O ye of little faith. O ye of little faith." And then
in John chapter 6, when the Jews ask him, in the 6th chapter of
John verse 28, when the Jews ask him, what shall we do that
we might work the works of God? A lot of people, and I suppose
you would say that the works of God are charity and assistance
and singing and preaching and contributing to those in need
and who are unfortunate. But when they asked him, What
shall we do that we might work the works of God? Have you ever
read his answer? John chapter 6, verse 29. And Jesus answered and said,
This is the work of God. that you believe on him whom
God had sent. That's the work of God. That's
the work of God. Unbelief, in the fourth place,
scoffs at Christ's sufferings. When we see Christ in the garden,
praying, weeping, His nature so torn and in such agony that
drops of blood, the Scripture says, literally fall on the ground
from the pores of His skin. When we see Christ in the soldiers'
hall, beaten, ridiculed, mocked, slapped, His beard plucked out
by the roots, the crown of thorns cruelly pressed on His holy brow,
when we see Christ on the cross under the cold wrath of men under
their own slaught of demons, the demons of earth and hell,
forsaken by the Father, wounded for our sins. Faith bows its
head in pity and compassion, and bends the knee in adoration
and worship, and falls at His feet and says, My Lord and my
God, thank You, Lord, for saving my soul. Unbelief surveys this
scene. sees him in the garden weeping,
beholds him on the cross dying. Unbelief sheds no tears. Unbelief
turns away in indifference. And the holy prophet wrote, What
is it to you, all ye who pass by? In the last place, would rob
Jesus Christ of his reward. In the book of Hebrews, the scripture
says, Christ, for the joy that was set before him, endured the
cross and despised the shame. Why did he go to the garden?
He went there for the joy that was set before him. Why did he
go to the cross? He went there for the joy that
was set before him. Why did He endure the cross?
Why did He endure the shame? For the joy that was set before
Him. What was that joy? The joy of
bringing many sons to glory. That was the joy. If unbelief
had its way, if you had your way who have not believed, you
would rob Him of that joy and deprive Him of that glory and
render the Son of God's death in vain. and keep heaven from
having its glorious inhabitants. That's what unbelief says, and
he that believeth not shall be damned. Lord, I've heard your preacher
this morning, I've heard him preach on the great sin of unbelief. which puts a question mark on
God's wisdom. Unbelief, which rejects God's
love. Unbelief, which would rob Christ
of His glory. I have heard what you said about
my sin, my sin. I've heard of your love to sinners. I've heard of your grace in Jesus
Christ. I have heard of the great gift
of your Son to save, and your preacher has made it clear beyond
question that he that believeth not shall be damned. And he has made it clear without
question that he that believeth on the Son of God, not he that
keepeth the law, not he that worketh But he that believeth,
he has made it perfectly clear, he that believeth shall be saved,
and he that believeth not shall be damned, having heard all this."
My answer is still, I will not believe. I will not believe. There is no sin under heaven
this side of hell with which God is more angry than a man
who comes face to face with his offer of mercy and says, I will
not have it. What does it mean to be damned?
It means to have all your sins fastened on your soul forever. It means to have no part in the
resurrection of life It means to be placed on the left hand
of Christ in the judgment and hear him say, Depart from me.
It is to be cast into everlasting darkness forever. It is to be
deprived of all hope, all joy, and all comfort. And he that
believeth not shall be damned. Our Father in heaven, we have
tried to be faithful to thy word. We have tried to declare the
glorious gospel of free grace, the unspeakable gift of thy divine
love. Herein is love, not that we love
thee, but thou didst love us and give thy Son to be the propitiation
for our sins. Great God in glory, we believe! We believe the record Thou hast
given concerning Thy Son. We believe that Christ died for
our sins. We believe that He rose for our
justification. We believe that He is the only
Mediator between God and men. We believe that He is victoriously
exalted and crowned at Thy right hand, the Savior of sinners,
the Lord of glory. We believe. We pray Thy mercy,
O Lord, and Thy help upon our unbelief. Strengthen our faith.
We have confessed Thee publicly before the congregation. We have confessed Thee privately
in the closet. Thou art our hope and our trust
and our stay. We have no other foundation and
no other hope. We believe that Christ is our
only Redeemer. We pray this morning that the
faith of thy people shall be strengthened, and that it may
please thee to awaken the sinner who has not believed, that thou
would impress upon every heart the wicked, terrible sin of unbelief. the warning of the Apostle Paul,
who said, Take heed, brethren, lest there be found in you an
evil heart of unbelief. Have mercy, O God, through Christ
our Lord, we pray. Amen.