Theology of Unbelief
Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 4 viewsNotes
Transcript
If you have your bibles this morning open them up to John 12. I have titled this message the Theology of Unbelief. ( Let me pray for this time )
So this text we are in today, puts us really at the last public moment prior to the trial and crucifixion with Jesus, the next several chapters Jesus is going to be teaching his disciples from powerful things, some amazing truths, but in today’s text we see something we have seen a few time’s in the gospel of John. That is this idea of unbelief. The thing I have said multiple times is the biggest problem the Jews had was they themselves did not believe in Jesus despite everything he has done. In the text this morning the first thing John says is this in verse 37…
37 Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him,
And you would think that what Jesus did was enough, clearly he has done some things we have never seen in person, and yet they still dont believe. Now I want to define a few things before we get into the text this morning. One what is theology? I have read many definitions of theology and one i particularly like is theology is a set of intellectual and emotional commitments, justified or not, about God and man which dictate ones beliefs and actions.x2 What is unbelief? Now you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to say well its not believing in something, and that true, but specifically when it comes to this text, and in terms of salvation it can be defined, as the rejection of God and his Word.
And Jesus up until this point has pointed to the fact that they don’t believe in him as the savior of the world, because their own hearts are darkened to the truth that Jesus brought to them. Despite the evidence that is clearly before them. Several months ago, in February i preached a message called not without witness I have used it a couple of times after preaching it as an example to you, that Jesus has multiple witnesses to the fact that Jesus is the Christ, and in the sermon I mentioned those witnesses as, John the Baptist, Jesus works, God the Father, The word of God, Moses, and the believer, and still despite the clear testimony of all those brought to the stand, people still dont believe. A month or so later I preached a message about not rejecting the bread of life and one of those points in the sermon, was not believing in Jesus, because they have not been called. If you remember anything from that sermon I presented with scriptures pointing to this idea, that you must be called in order to believe in Jesus Christ as Lord. Just as a reminder ill read you a few of those verses.
37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.
44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. 45 It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me—
65 And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”
6 “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word.
12 While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.
and other biblical writers believe in this idea as well. One of which is Paul Ephesians 1:3-6
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.
And now Jesus himself speaks telling them why it is they do not believe for themselves despite the signs that they have been given.. But before I read the text the main Idea today I want you to see today is this… Only those who see, listen, and believe that Christ is the savior of the world will inherit eternal life.
John 12:38-43. Says this…
38 so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:
“Lord, who has believed what he heard from us,
and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”
39 Therefore they could not believe. For again Isaiah said,
40 “He has blinded their eyes
and hardened their heart,
lest they see with their eyes,
and understand with their heart, and turn,
and I would heal them.”
41 Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him. 42 Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue; 43 for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.
First thing you can take note of this morning is this…
Scripture tells us why people don’t believe.
Scripture tells us why people don’t believe.
John in this text quotes Jesus saying a few different scriptures to drive this point home.
First he quotes Isa 53:1
1 Who has believed what he has heard from us?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
And he quotes Isaiah 6:9-10
9 And he said, “Go, and say to this people:
“ ‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand;
keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’
10 Make the heart of this people dull,
and their ears heavy,
and blind their eyes;
lest they see with their eyes,
and hear with their ears,
and understand with their hearts,
and turn and be healed.”
These two texts really drive home an idea that we have seen several times so far in this gospel, and its despite them seeing Jesus works, they did not believe because they were actually blind. So much so that God himself blinded them even more so, he handed them over because of their own evil choices. Now its important to understand, that outside of Christ despite what you think our choices are naturally evil, and may appear good but truly are done out of a selfish heart. So what God did was give the people of Isaiahs time and Jesus time, a hardened heart, and that even happens today as well.. This is evidenced by Paul in the book of Romans.
24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves,
26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature;
28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.
How can we say God hardened hearts, seems a bit contrary to what some of us believe about something like free will, or our own understand about God ourselves…
Going back to the text what helped me understand was some words from a scholar where he says these four things…
First is this.. God’s sovereignty in these matters is never pitted against human responsibility. Faith, and sovereignty are intertwined with one another, Another man said. Unbelief has some place in the purpose of God, and despite God hardening their hearts they are still responsible for their actions, and they acted upon their own sinful nature. As scripture teaches us outside of being saved we all have a sinful nature, and we act upon it.
Second.. God’s judicial hardening is not presented as characterized by manipulation of an arbitrary potentate cursing morally neutral or even morally pure beings, but as a holy condemnation of a guilty people who are condemned to do and be what they themselves have chosen. ( This goes back to the idea that i said just a little while ago.. Evil people choose evil things, and do things on the basis of their own sinful hearts, as evidenced by time and time in scripture and the world we live in.
Third.. God’s sovereignty in these matters can also be a cause for hope, for if he is not sovereign in these areas there is little point in petitioning him for help, while if he is sovereign the anguished pleas of the prophet Is 63:15-19
15 Look down from heaven and see,
from your holy and beautiful habitation.
Where are your zeal and your might?
The stirring of your inner parts and your compassion
are held back from me.
16 For you are our Father,
though Abraham does not know us,
and Israel does not acknowledge us;
you, O Lord, are our Father,
our Redeemer from of old is your name.
17 O Lord, why do you make us wander from your ways
and harden our heart, so that we fear you not?
Return for the sake of your servants,
the tribes of your heritage.
18 Your holy people held possession for a little while;
our adversaries have trampled down your sanctuary.
19 We have become like those over whom you have never ruled,
like those who are not called by your name.
and of believers throughout the history of the church—make sense. ( Honestly this is what gives me the most hope about God being sovereign over all things. There are people I care so much about on this earth, that I have prayer for witnessed to, and begged God to change them, and guess what he does over and over again he changes them. People are not magically one day think I am smart enough to believe in Christ now, no they are changed ultimately by the power of God, he removed the blinders from their lives, and he changed their hearts forever. God did that for me, and if you are in Christ he did it for you, and because he is sovereign he can do it for anyone. He can come and make the blind see, the deaf listen, and the hardened heart believe. And we must depend on his sovereignty to do the work he called us to do, but be motivated that in his sovereignty he used me and you.
Forth. God’s sovereign hardening of the people in Isaiah’s day, his commissioning of Isaiah to apparently fruitless ministry, is a stage in God’s ‘strange work’ that brings God’s ultimate redemptive purposes to pass. So the pastor, scholar, theologian quotes two texts to drive this point home. First he uses Isaiah 28:21-22
21 For the Lord will rise up as on Mount Perazim;
as in the Valley of Gibeon he will be roused;
to do his deed—strange is his deed!
and to work his work—alien is his work!
22 Now therefore do not scoff,
lest your bonds be made strong;
for I have heard a decree of destruction
from the Lord God of hosts against the whole land.
Secondly he used Romans 9:22-33
22 What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, 23 in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory— 24 even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles? 25 As indeed he says in Hosea,
“Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people,’
and her who was not beloved I will call ‘beloved.’ ”
26 “And in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’
there they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’ ”
27 And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will be saved, 28 for the Lord will carry out his sentence upon the earth fully and without delay.” 29 And as Isaiah predicted,
“If the Lord of hosts had not left us offspring,
we would have been like Sodom
and become like Gomorrah.”
30 What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith; 31 but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law. 32 Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, 33 as it is written,
“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense;
and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”
God is constantly working and its Only those who see, listen, and believe that Christ is the savior of the world will inherit eternal life.
Not those who do not believe. Now continuing in the text you must see that the one whom he quoted Isaiah saw for himself the glory of Jesus Christ. Saw who he was and saw that he was going to do, and that is why he said these thing. God revealed Jesus Christ to Isaiah in a time that seemed hopeless, but in that hopeless time he saw something greater and that was Jesus himself. Isaiah is Chapter 52 and 53. of his book says some of the most powerful words about the Lord Jesus Christ, and they are this…
13 Behold, my servant shall act wisely;
he shall be high and lifted up,
and shall be exalted.
14 As many were astonished at you—
his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance,
and his form beyond that of the children of mankind—
15 so shall he sprinkle many nations.
Kings shall shut their mouths because of him,
for that which has not been told them they see,
and that which they have not heard they understand.
1 Who has believed what he has heard from us?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
2 For he grew up before him like a young plant,
and like a root out of dry ground;
he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
and no beauty that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
and as one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he opened not his mouth.
8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away;
and as for his generation, who considered
that he was cut off out of the land of the living,
stricken for the transgression of my people?
9 And they made his grave with the wicked
and with a rich man in his death,
although he had done no violence,
and there was no deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him;
he has put him to grief;
when his soul makes an offering for guilt,
he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;
the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;
by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,
make many to be accounted righteous,
and he shall bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many,
and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,
because he poured out his soul to death
and was numbered with the transgressors;
yet he bore the sin of many,
and makes intercession for the transgressors.
If you did not know any better you would think for yourself that those words came strait out of the New Testament. However those were from the prophet Isaiah seeing for himself the glory that was to come.
And as we have seen in the gospel of John, Jesus glory was revealed, so much so that many of the authorities believed in him, yet they did not truly believe because they feared the higher powers at least they thought they were higher powers the Pharisees, so they did not confess out of fear, because they did not want to be put of the synagogue. For they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.
What a sad reality unbelief brings. It brings this idea that I don’t want to lose my place in the world for Jesus. They were brought with this true dilemma confess Jesus and be put out of the synagogue. If you have been with us you might think that sounds familiar. If you remember the man born blind who Jesus sovereignly healed his parents said the same thing in John 9. Which said.
22 (His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess Jesus to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue.)
Goes to show you that belief is not based on parents or anything else, but only one-selves remember that. Christian also remember you may be kicked out of the public square for your belief, but you won’t be kicked out of heaven. and the glory man gives is only temporary, and man does it not compare to the Glory Isaiah seen, or the glory the disciples seen, or the glory we see and will continue to see for all of eternity. Romans 8:18
18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
1st point. Scripture tells us why people don’t believe.
1st point. Scripture tells us why people don’t believe.
2nd point is this…
Jesus delivers those who believe out of darkness.
Jesus delivers those who believe out of darkness.
44 And Jesus cried out and said, “Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but in him who sent me. 45 And whoever sees me sees him who sent me. 46 I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness. 47 If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. 48 The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day. 49 For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak. 50 And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me.”
Jesus connects those things that Isaiah says by connecting them back into himself. Jesus time and time again tells the Jewish people, if you really believe in the father you would have believed in me. You would have believed that I was sent by him to rescue you. You would have truly seen me for who I am the Son of God.
For those who see him, see the Father through Christ as the scripture proclaims in John 1:18
18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.
and in Colossians 1:15
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
and also in Hebrews 1:3
3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
But not only do they see but they believe. If we have learned anything in the gospel of John its one thing to see its another thing to see and believe. I have seen things in my life that I have not believed for one reason or another, but I have seen and believed that Jesus is the Christ have you, and if you have you you wont remain in darkness. Last week in the Text we saw Jesus say John 12:35-36
35 So Jesus said to them, “The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. 36 While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.”
When Jesus had said these things, he departed and hid himself from them.
Believing that Jesus is the light takes you out of the darkness of this world. But Jesus says more than see, and more than believe, but also hear. Hear his words and keep them. He says look, I dont want you to just see me, I dont want you to just believe in me, I want you to hear what I have to say… I didn’t come here to judge you I came here to save you, I came to save not only you the Jews but the whole world, I came to save all those who believe in me, but if you reject me and my words the judge which is my word will come, and you will be accountable for every last one of them. we will be accountable to God in the last day there is no denying that but know the good news that John 3:17 says this..
17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
as a final last warning Jesus tells them..
Look everything I said to you comes from the Father, the one who you say you love so much, he told me everything he wanted you to hear… And listen carefully what he has told me gives you eternal life. The Father and the Son are not at odds with one another, but in perfect unity. They work together with the Holy Spirit as we will see in a few weeks time, so that you may walk from darkness to the light.
Lets go back to the main idea I presented you this morning… Only those who see, listen, and believe that Christ is the savior of the world will inherit eternal life.
And I want to ask you this morning have you done that for yourself? Just as a reminder to you the thesis statement of John is.. John 20:30-31
30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
Have you for yourself seen the amazing works of Jesus in this gospel for yourself. Did you see the signs and the miracles for yourself, and seen that those things pointed to the fact that Jesus is the savior of the world.
Have you for yourself listened to the words that Jesus has said in this gospel. Have you taken hold of them, have you learned about who he is for yourself. Have you seen that there is only one way to God, and that is through Christ, and no-one else.
But finally have you believed. I just said a few minutes ago that its one thing to see its another thing to believe. Have you believed that Jesus is the Christ for yourself. Do you believe that Jesus died on the cross, for your sins, and rose again on the third day giving life to all those who believe in him, and transforming the darkness you once had into light.
And taking together all three of those things, those who see, listen, and believe that Christ is the savior of the world will inherit eternal life.
If you have never done that today, I pray the Lord shows you that very thing…
But third point this morning is for believers and its this, write this down… or take note of it…
Believers take what they have seen, heard, and believe out into the world.
Believers take what they have seen, heard, and believe out into the world.
Jesus had a clear mission to do what the father asked him to do, he went out to save the world, and so should we. We are called to be doers of the word, and to fulfill our mission. And our mission as I say it every week when we gather is to EXALT the Savior , EVANGELIZE the Sinner , EQUIP the Saints , EDUCATE for Maturity
and ENCOURAGE one Another.
Let me ask you this have you fulfilled that mission this week. Now I know our youth, and sponsors did. I was with them for a little while, and I saw them worship the Lord, I pray they evangelized each other, they were equipped and educated, and they encouraged one another. We have such a powerful mission statement that we can actually do here at Agape no matter how small or big we are.
So my challenge to you this week is to take what you have seen, heard, and believed out into the world with you. We have such a great and wonderful message how can we be silent?
And remember that Only those who see, listen, and believe that Christ is the savior of the world will inherit eternal life.
Let us pray.