Unbelief, Its Curse, Its Cause, Its Cure

By: Paul Beamon

Matthew 13:54-58

When He (Jesus) had come to His own country, He taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished and said, "Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works? Is this not the carpenter's son? Is not His mother called Mary? And His brothers James, Joses, Simon, and Judas? And His sisters, are they not all with us?.Where then did this man get all these things?" So they were offended at Him. But Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not with out honor except in his own country and in his own house." Now He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief.

After giving a powerful teaching to His disciples concerning the kingdom of God, Jesus traveled to His home town Nazareth. In Nazareth unbelief filled the hearts of His own people. It is here that Matthew says that Jesus did no mighty works because of their unbelief. The gospel of Mark records the same incident saying that Jesus could do no mighty work, and that Jesus marveled at their unbelief. Mark 6:5-6

Unbelief is a curse to the Christian and a hazard to his/her spiritual health.

So what is the curse of unbelief? The answer to this question is found in Mark 6:5

"And He could do no mighty works there." It is the lack of the power of God in a believers life that is the curse. Everything that has to do with the Christian faith is backed up by supernatural power supplied by the Holy Spirit through faith. Unbelief will stop the flow of this power and greatly hinder your growth and development in Christ. Even Jesus the mighty Son of God, who raised the dead to life again, could not do any mighty miracles because of their unbelief.

Unbelief will blind your eyes and cause you to become skeptical, it will poison your heart and cause you to become cynical, and it will rob your joy and cause you to be spiritually sterile. Psalm 78:41 says, "yes, again and again they tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel." Israel hindered the power of God time and again with their unbelief, and came near to complete destruction if it were not for Mosses intercession.

In Numbers Chapters 13-14 we see the story of Moses sending out twelve spies to check out the land of Cannan. The spies were instructed to go into the land and bring back a report of whether it was a land of leaness or fatness. When the spies returned only two out of the twelve (Joshua, and Caleb) gave a good report, the rest refused to believe that they were able to take the land as God had promised them because they saw giants there and got over into unbelief. Scripture calls the report from the ten faithless spies an evil report. Evil because it was not based on faith, and it was affecting the whole nation and dragging them all into unbelief.

Their unbelief had devastating consequences, all those who were twenty years old and over were banned from entering the promised land of Cannan. They were to wander in the wilderness for forty years until every one of them, who refused to believe, had died. That my friends was a serious curse for them to bare. However, Joshua and Caleb were to lead themselves and all those under the age of twenty into the promised land. Why? Because they chose to believe and therefore God was with them in mighty power to deliver on all His promises.

In Romans 1:16-17 Paul says that he is not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God unto salvation. In other words God has chosen to pack all of His power into the gospel, and if a man should believe it, he will be granted all the power of God that is needed to deliver him from the power of sin and any other ungodly thing that is holding him in bondage. But even though all that power is available, if a man chooses not to believe he receives nothing from God, will remain in bondage, and die in his sins.

So then, the curse of unbelief is the lack of God's power in your life.

So what causes unbelief? I believe there are two things that have a serious negative impact on faith.

1) Offence:

Notice in our text that Jesus could do no mighty work because of unbelief. Read a little further and you will see the reason for their unbelief. Verse 57 of Matthew 13 says, "And they were offended in Him." Mark 6:3 says that they were offended at Him. Jesus had traveled the county with mighty signs in His ministry, yet when He came home He could not work any mighty works except heal a few sick people. The reason? His own people new where He was born, new His family, and new His trade. To them He was just Jesus the carpenter the son of May and Joseph. When Jesus taught them the gospel they became offended because most of them thought they new Him, and thought that He was just trying to be somebody great. God Himself was visiting His own people and they did not recognise Him. Why? Because they were offended and in unbelief. Offence leads to unbelief.

Some Christians become offended with God when He does not answer their prayers exactly how they wanted Him to answer them. Or they think He answered to late to do any good. This is a particularly bad place to be in with God, just like the people in our text they will received nothing from Jesus. A believer who is offended at God soon becomes miserable, and will lose their joy. How can you know if you're offended with God? May I suggest asking yourself this question. "Am I upset with God when I see my brother/sister in Christ being blessed whilst I seem to be receiving nothing?" If you can answer yes to this question then there is a good possibility that you are already offended at God. The good news is God's love for you has not changed one bit, but you do need to recognise where you're missing it, repent and move on.

Some people become offended with their Pastor because of something he may or may not have done. This is a bad place to be because God can not minister to such people. If the power of God is present in the preaching or the laying on of hands these people receive nothing, and will continue to receive nothing until they repent from being offended at whoever has supposedly done them wrong. Dear reader, can you think of someone you find hard to forgive? If so, the love of God compels me to tell you that you're in a state of offence and its robbing you of the power of God. If you find yourself in this condition stop reading and take a moment to repent and ask God to cleanse you from all offence. He is here for you, and He is waiting for you to turn to Him. He is ready and willing to fill your life with His power and presence. Do it now! You will thank God that you did.

2)Fear:

Fear is the opposite of faith and can sometimes take you into unbelief as quick as your next breath. It will paralyze you and hinder the power of God in your life.

We can see a good example of fear in action in Matthew 14:25-31

"During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them (the disciples), walking on the lake.When the disciples saw Him on the Lake, they were terrified. "Its a ghost,"they said, and cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately said to them, "take courage it is I. Don't be afraid."

"Lord if its you, " Peter replied, "tell me to come to you on the water"

"Come, He said."

Then Peter got out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord save me!" Immediately Jesus reached out His hand and caught him. "You of little faith, he said, "why did you doubt?"

Jesus had sent His disciples on ahead of Him while He stayed behind a little while to pray. During the forth watch of the night Jesus decides to walk out to them on the water. At first sight of Jesus coming near they were afraid (terrified) thinking they had seen a ghost, but Jesus speaks to them and tells them not to be afraid because it Is Him. Peter responds by asking Jesus to tell Him to walk on the water to Jesus. Jesus said come, so Peter gets out of the boat and begins to walk on the water. At this moment Peter's faith is alive in Jesus, allowing the power of God to hold him up on the surface of the water. What a miracle! An ordinary man empowered by faith walking on water. But look what happens next, Peter takes his eyes of Jesus, looks at the raging sea, fears what he is seeing, and begins to sink. The very moment Peter began to fear was the very moment that the power of God was hindered. What a lesson to be learnt here.

There is much power available to he who is in faith, but right on the other hand fear can neutralise that power as quick as your next breath. Thank God Jesus caught Peter the moment he cried out, thank God, He will do the same for us. We need only to cry out and Jesus will be there with His saving arm.

What I have found with God is that in moments of intense fear, God has come to my rescue. However, not always in dramatic ways. It seems His preferred method has been to direct me back to His word, for it is there that faith can be rekindled.

So then, we have seen that the cause of unbelief lies with offence, and fear, and we have seen that unbelief brings with it a curse, and that curse is the lack of the power of God. What is the cure for unbelief?

The number one cure for unbelief is the Word of God.

This can't ever be said enough. I don't care if I've heard it a thousand times before because I need to hear it again, I need to be reminded over and over. Why? because we have an enemy who seeks to kill, rob, and destroy. This enemy will stop at nothing to kill your faith off so that you are ineffective as a Christian. He wants your life to be miserable, and he wants you defeated.

As Christians we must make the Word of God our priority. Romans 10:17 says, "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God." It is up to us to be students of the Word, we should read it, meditate in it, and speak it out in praise to God. A Christian who practices the word this way will find that fear has less and less dominance in his life. Scripture teaches that perfect love (God's love) casts out fear, and the knowledge of that love comes from God's Word.

We also need to be obedient to His word. For those of us who are offended at someone, we need to do as the Word says and forgive that person, Mark 11:25.

For those of us who fear, we need to get into God's Word and become students of it. Colossians 3:16 tells us to let the Word of Christ dwell in us richly in all wisdom. The only way we can do this is to spend some time reading it, and pondering (meditating) its truths. A Christian who is diligent to do this will begin to get hold of God's love for him which will eventually cast out all fear. Don't let your bible collect dust, get it out and read it. God will meet you right there in His Word, He will begin to reveal His love to you, and He will build your faith to levels you never dreamed possible.

Unbelief is a curse and it robs a believer of God's power. Offence and fear quickly leads to unbelief. Only the the continued reading, meditating, and obeying of God's Word can cure unbelief.

Article Source: http://www.articles.narrowisthepath.com

Paul Beamon Visit Life is For Living at www.life-is-for-living.com for more aticles of faith and encouragement.

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