(Matthew 13:58) “And he did not do many mighty works there, because of their unbelief.”
“Faith” and “unbelief” are both substances, in other words they are made up of ingredient, and we could say two extreme opposites, so far apart that east and west comes to mind. Faith very powerful believes in the invisible realm where God lives and breathes and takes God at His Word, whilst unbelief very negatively impacts a life with pessimism as doubt rules the day. Do we as Christians live in both camps? Are we the glass is half empty or half full kind of people? We should be neither as both these attitudes relies on our on carnal perceptions, but it is the principle I look to reason out.
Once again you alone can examine were you stand on this subject and as it is my thought at 3am on a Monday morning, let me examine my own heart on the matter. I do fluctuate between two opinions at times and this is clearly evident in the way I act out my verdicts throughout life and it is evident by my daily choices.
It is important to understand what it is that we need to believe, in other words we need to understand the instruction in order to act upon it with precision. Have you ever heard someone say, “But I thought you meant that”? In order to act on an instruction we must understand the command from the instructor. Get it wrong and we may think we are in compliance to the instruction but when tested we will fail dismally.
Let us look to the father of faith and learn from him. Abraham believed God and for this God accounted righteousness too him. What did he believe? He believed that he would receive an inheritance from God. How did he act upon what he had heard God say? He obeyed! Obeyed how? He pack up his life and went on a journey but he had absolutely no clue where he was going all he knew is that God had promised him an inheritance and he believed God to come good on that promise. How do we know that he believe, well obviously the final authority, the Word of God tells us he did but history also proves that he believed by his actions.
Now with that mindset let us examine where we stand in relation to faith toward God in our own lives. But before we do that let us consider “unbelief” {faithlessness, which is (negatively) disbelief (want of Christian faith), or (positively) unfaithfulness (disobedience): - unbelief}. Let me use some of the daily decisions I choose as it will help me examine where I actually stand on this comparison. Money is a concern; I think about it more than once a day, why do I do this? If I am spending more than I am making, obviously common-sense sends off alarm signals. But to what extent do I let this affect me? If I find I move into the realm of doubting God to provide then I obviously walk in unbelief. As the Word of God is very clear on the subject; "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?” (Matthew 6:25-30)
My life is so full of self-preservation that it is difficult to move from the realm of self-sufficiency into the realm of the unseen in this area of my life. But I tell you that I walk in unbelief when I reason like this. And so I can examine every other area of my life to see if I am found wanting. Abraham never doubted God and so too should we never doubt God! We must find grace in every area of our lives to obey the Word of God, this then will prove our faith in action. But we must understand the instruction clearly and in order to do this we must study the manual, the Bible!
Once again Abraham proves that doubt is not from God but it comes from our own rational where we question the Word of God with our own opinionated views. This is unbelief! It is a ploy from Satan and it has always been a major weapon of his to try and unseat the believer, do not give him a foothold. If God has said it then we must believe it, even when it appears that the outcome will be inevitably futile to our common coherent thought process.
With this consideration in mind, how will we ever know our heart in a matter unless we are tested? Testing is therefore needed in our lives to prove where we stand. Welcome the test as it will fashions us to become more dependent on our God and it will teach us to walk by faith and not with a carnal mind-set; if we therefore doubt God and His Word we make ourselves his enemy, this is a serious indictment!
I suppose everything hinges on faith, look at our text; “And he did not do many mighty works there, because of their unbelief.”
“It did for the present (to speak with reverence), in effect, tie his hands: He did not many mighty works there, because of their unbelief. Note, Unbelief is the great obstruction to Christ's favours. All things are in general possible to God (Mat_19:26), but then it is to him that believes as to the particulars, Mar_9:23. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation, but then it is to every one that believes, Rom_1:16. So that if mighty works be not wrought in us, it is not for want of power or grace in Christ, but for want of faith in us. By grace ye are saved, and that is a mighty work, but it is through faith, Eph_2:8.” (Matthew Henry)
Let us conclude with an illustration from the Holy Scriptures. The promise of God was at hand and the children of Israel were about to receive their inheritance, the promise to Abraham was about to come into fruition. Moses sent out spies to spy out the land, but some doubted the promise; “And they came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the people of Israel in the wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh. They brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. And they told him, "We came to the land to which you sent us. It flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. And besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there. The Amalekites dwell in the land of the Negeb. The Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the hill country. And the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and along the Jordan." But Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, "Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it." (Numbers 13:26-30): - Why was Caleb able to talk like this? He believed God at His promise, do we? We must if we are to walk as victorious Christians in this barren land whatever the burden, as it is no match for our God! Praise the name of Jesus!
Signing off
Tyrone
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