Profile Of A Willful Unbeliever

  During Jesus’ life on earth, He was confronted by religious leaders who had resolved not to believe that He was sent from God, no matter what He said or did.  You might say they were willful unbelievers.  Jesus told them, “…out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. (Matthew 12:34).”  In other words, what you say reveals the content of your heart. In light of this truth, we are able to profile the willful unbeliever by examining what they have said.  John the Apostle records many of their words:

• Willful unbelievers continually seek a supernatural sign or proof that Jesus is God’s Son and the Bible is His Word.  (John 2:18-21)
• Willful unbelievers refuse to look, listen or even think of anything outside of the realm of the physical.  (John 6:51-52)
• Willful unbelievers have no spiritual perception (John. 7:15-17)
• Willful unbelievers are fixed on the temporal things of this world. (John 7:31-36)
• Willful unbelievers judge others, but refuse to judge themselves. (John 8:5-7)
• Willful unbelievers measure truth by their own opinions rather than the Word of God. (John 8:13-14)
• Willful unbelievers reject the claims of Jesus. (John 8:22-25)
• Willful unbelievers trust in their moral heritage and good works to make them acceptable with God. (John 8:33,39)
• Willful unbelievers dismiss undeniable proofs found in the Bible that Jesus is who He claims to be. (John 10:19-33)
• Willful unbelievers incriminate and condemn themselves by their own words. (John 11:47-52)

   Paul writes of the unbeliever, Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled. (Titus 1:15). 

  Just this morning the story was conveyed to me of a husband and wife who were traveling down a local highway when they noticed smoke billowing out from under the car in front of them.  As the smoke turned to flames, the husband knew that if he did not do something quickly, the unsuspecting driver would be consumed by the flames.   Finally, when it seemed that time for rescue had elapsed, the car left the road, came to a stop, and was quickly engulfed in flames.  As the terrified couple looked on, the husband, without regard for his own life, decided to enter the burning vehicle and pull its now unresponsive driver to safety.  Because of the smoke and heat the effort seemed hopeless, but after the third attempt the woman was heroically delivered from a fiery demise.  The story, as it was told to me, contains every element of a newsworthy event, but there is more.  One other detail causes us to look beyond the good fortune of the unsuspecting victim and the heroic act of her deliverer to catch a glimpse of the merciful hand of God.  Neither the rescued nor her deliverer received serious injury in the incident!

  There will be those who attribute this successful rescue to good luck rather than the intervention of the Almighty, but those of us who know God personally know that, Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above… (James 1:17).

  According to the Bible, because of our sin, we are all separated from God and condemned to eternal flames that were intended for the devil and his angels.  But God, because of His great mercy has taken the penalty for our sin upon Himself.  Jesus Christ, without regard for His own life, took your place in judgment to purchase your pardon and rescue you from eternal ruin.  He died, was buried and rose from the dead to satisfy God’s just requirement for your sin.  And now, …as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: (John 1:12).  Because of Christ, your story can have a happy ending too!

  Almost every day there is some global event that causes me to think of God’s prophetic calendar as revealed in the Bible.  For centuries the world did not seem primed for the cataclysmic happenings that God has ordained for the last days, but now the stage seems set.  Though we cannot know the day and hour in which the final act will begin (1Thessalonians 5:2), we can exercise discernment as to the season in which we live (1Timothy 4:1-2; 2Timothy 3:1-9; 1John 2:18; Jude 18; 2Peter 3:3-10; Luke 17:26-37).

  According to the Bible, the next event leading up to the end of earth as we know it, will be the “catching away” of God’s saints.  At this event (the Rapture), deceased Christians will be raised from the dead to join living believers, and all will be gathered unto the Lord.  The world will view it as a strange disappearance of thousands (1Thessalonians 4:13-18).

  Seven years of judgment will then be poured out upon the earth in ways that are unprecedented in human history.  (Matthew 24:21-28; Revelation 4-19).  Many will turn to the Lord, but most will despise Him.

  Following the seven year period of judgment, the Lord Jesus Christ will come and set up His promised kingdom.  With all of the raptured saints by His side, He will reign as the King of kings for 1000 years (Matthew 24:25-31; Revelation 19-20).

  Lastly, the King will judge those from all ages who have rejected Him.  Condemned at the Great White Throne Judgment (Matthew 20:11-15), they will be cast into the Lake of Fire (Matthew 25:41).  The world will be destroyed and a new world created in which believers from all ages will dwell with God forever.  We call it Heaven (Revelation 21-22).

  My friend, this may all sound like a fairy tale to you, but consider the already fulfilled prophecy of the Bible and you will see how foolish it is to doubt the Word of God.  You need to be ready.  “He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. (1John 5:12).”

  We’ve all heard, “Those who refuse to learn from history are destined to repeat it.”  It seems to me that if this adage is true, perhaps we are the most likely civilization in the world to confirm it in our lifetime.  With all of the modern advancements in science, technology and social economics, many believe that we don’t need the archaic ideas of our primitive fathers.

  I recently read an article entitled Remembering Independence Day.  Here is an excerpt:  Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence?  Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died.  The homes of twelve of them were ransacked and burned.  Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army; another had two sons captured.  Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War… Standing tall, straight, and unwavering, they pledged: “For the support of this declaration, with firm reliance on the protection of the divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other, our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.”

  The article goes on to tell how several of these patriots died as a result of their unbending determination to establish a free and independent nation.  Some of their stories would bring tears to your eyes.

  So, what’s to learn from these die hard statesmen?  How about the price of freedom!  These men and women loved liberty more than life and paid the ultimate price for the freedoms that we now hold so loosely.  Why loosely? Because, “Those who refuse to learn from history are destined to repeat it.”  Resolved: As we celebrate our independence, let’s take another look at that old price tag.

  You should also know that, in addition to our national independence, God offers freedom from sin and hell.  It was purchased for you by the blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son.  This could be a double celebration of freedom, if you like!  The choice is yours–for now.

  It is utterly amazing to behold the wonders of modern technology and the pace at which new technology is introduced.  It hasn’t been so long since my new electric typewriter was replaced by my first new computer, etc.   Now it is possible to dictate to our cell phones and instantly beam the message to a friend on the other side of the world!  We are able to “enjoy” life in the middle of the Information Highway, while carrying all of our “friends” around in our hip pockets.  Wow!

  With the entrance of social networking, individuals who have an insatiable desire to divulge every intricate detail about themselves to the world, can now do so at the speed of light, while eating a hamburger and driving 50 miles per hour down a country road.  Amazing!

  But advancement has its hurdles.  With your information so readily available, Identity Theft has become a major issue.  But fear not; there are now companies who collect your information and, for a price, “watch it” for you.  Information collection has actually become big business.  Your good friends at Google, FaceBook, etc. have built massive depositories to hold all of your information just in case you ever need it.  It has been suggested that a little computer chip inserted under the skin on the back of your hand, might be the ultimate answer to security issues.

  Just think of it; if all of the information about you that is collected by your doctor, dentist, IRS, Google, Facebook, the military, the grocery store, etc. were merged into one massive database, whoever had access to it would know more about you than you are capable of remembering about yourself.

  The Bible speaks of such a time, a time when all of these niceties will become nightmares.  What’s the world coming to?  AN END!  Are you ready?  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16).