p. 1 | DANGER OF UNBELIEF by Eld. S. B. Whitney

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jun 14, 1867

DANGER OF UNBELIEF.

By Eld. S. B. Whitney

BY ELD. S. B. WHITNEY.

TEXT. “Nevertheless, when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?” Luke xviii, 8.

Our text stands connected with a parable of our Saviour containing a valuable lesson of instruction relative to the duty of prayer, and especially of perseverance in prayer. Yet in the text, our Lord intimates that in the “days of the coming of the Son of man” there will exist a great dearth of that important principle, faith, so necessary to the proper performance of this and every other duty; as “without faith it is impossible to please God;” and it is to this point that I wish to call your special attention at this time.

The language of the text is often quoted as applying to the unbelieving world and nominal professors of religion, and the evidences are so numerous and so strong that it needs no argument to prove to us its application to them; but it seems to me that our Lord had his mind also upon the “elect,” mentioned in the parable, and that he designed to teach this class that they were not entirely out of danger in this direction, and to stir them up to greater diligence in making their “calling and election sure.” In support of this supposition, allow me to direct your attention to a portion of the book of Hebrews.

In chapter i, 1, 2, we are informed that “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto our fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son.” In the remainder of the chapter is given a description of his character and appearance; and the superiority of his position and authority as compared with that of the angels is also shown; in view of which, the apostle remarks in chapter ii, 1: “Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip, (margin, run out as leaking vessels).” Here, he not only urges a consideration of the superior agency by which God is speaking, but clearly intimates the danger of our carelessly losing the influence of what is spoken from our hearts.

In verses 3 and 4 may be seen how this is applicable to us, where, referring to what is being spoken, he says, “which at first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him: God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles and gifts of the Holy Ghost according to his own will.” By this we are shown that by the “testimony of Jesus,” which is the spirit of prophecy, God is as really and virtually speaking to us by his Son as to believers in any previous generation, and the exhortation to take the more earnest heed lest we let these things slip, is as forcible now as ever.

I will now endeavor to show that the danger of which the apostle apprises us, arises from an evil heart of unbelief. Continuing in this chapter the comparison between the Son of God and the angels, he finally tells us that it behooved our Lord to be made like unto his brethren, by partaking with them of flesh and blood and suffering through temptation, that he might be a merciful and faithful High Priest, and then adds in chapter iii, 1, “Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus;” and, after comparing Moses and Christ, one as a servant and the other a son, over their respective houses, he assures us in verse 6 that we are Christ’s house, “if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.”

But, we inquire, what is the occasion for this exhortation? Let the apostle himself answer, in verses 7–15, omitting the parenthetical clause. “Wherefore, . . . take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God. But exhort one another daily, while it is called to-day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we are made partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end; while it is said, To-day, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.”

Here the apostle comes directly to the point, and in strong language instructs and warns us of the danger of unbelief and the deceitfulness of sin; and enforces his exhortation by alluding to the children of Israel, whose experience, he informs us in 1 Cor. x, was typical of ours and was written for our admonition.

But he does not stop here; for, after assuring us that they could not enter in because of unbelief,” verse 19, he continues in chapter iv, 1, “Let us therefore fear, lest a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.”

Again we inquire, what occasion for fear? and again will we let him answer: “Let us labor, therefore, to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.” Verse 11. What can be more clear than this? and who, after carefully comparing the history of the children of Israel with our experience thus far, can for a moment doubt that this instruction was intended especially for us? And right here, let me say, brethren, that it is my honest conviction, that, while, in the direction of an increase of faith, the Lord is bringing to our aid the light upon the Health Reform, and calling upon us to step out fully upon it, and heed the counsel of the faithful and true Witness, in preparation for the solemn scenes connected with the close of the third angel’s message, we have come to the Jordan in our experience, and it remains for us to say whether we will go up and possess the land, or fall after the same example of unbelief. And the example of the children of Israel, followed by their mournful doom, furnishes a most solemn admonition and warning against unfaithfulness, especially at this important point in our history, when there is not only especial danger of unbelief, but unbelief seems to be especially dangerous; being, of itself, almost a fatal error, or, at least, calculated in its tendency to lead us into fatal errors and irrecoverable apostasy.

And this idea may assist us in understanding the strong expression of the apostle in chapter vi, 4–6. “For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, if they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.” Understanding this as referring to those who have had a deep experience in this truth, in connection with which the gifts of the Spirit are to be fully developed, and who, when they fell away, are left to go to such extremes in opposing the work and Spirit of God, it is no longer obscure or difficult; and who, in view of the remarkable examples already before us, can fail to perceive the correctness of this application? for in nearly, if not quite, every such instance, unbelief lies at the root of their apostasy.

But the apostle does not thus carefully point out to us our imminent danger and faithfully delineate the consequences of apostasy, without also opening before us a door of hope. Turning back to chapter iv, in verse 14, he again exhorts us in view of the existence of our great High Priest, to hold fast our profession, and encourages us to faithfulness by the following considerations; verses 14, 15: “For we have not an High Priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” In this perilous time, there is a source to which we may come without fear or hesitancy, where mercy for the past and grace for the future may both be obtained, and from Him who “Knows what sore temptations mean For he hath felt the same.”

But the apostle further instructs us as to how we shall approach the mercy seat in order to be successful in our suit, in chapter x, 19–22: “Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest [Greek, plural, holy places] by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say his flesh; and having an high priest over the house of God; let us draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.” Here we discover the importance of having the heart well established when we worship the Lord toward the sanctuary, hoping to have our cases favorably considered in the judgment now progressing there.

In perfect harmony with this, and showing the necessity of faith in still stronger terms, if possible, is the testimony of James, which we understand as applying to us, being addressed to the twelve tribes scattered abroad, yet whom he calls brethren, as a servant of our Lord Jesus Christ. In chapter i, 6, 7, he says, instructing those who ask of God, “but let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea, driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord.”

But Paul continues his exhortations to hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering in verse 23 and onward, and again in verses 26, 27, shows the certain destruction of those who willingly apostatize through unbelief or the deceitfulness of sin. “For if we sin willfully, after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins; but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation which shall devour the adversaries.” This is clear, when we consider, that, as we are having the last message of mercy, and our High Priest is doing his last mediatorial work for the world, those who willfully reject this work, after once having known it, must, of course, reject the last opportunity for the offering of a sacrifice for their sins, and nothing can remain but the certain and fearful doom of which the apostle speaks.

Yet, notwithstanding it is a “fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God,” he would again encourage us by having us “call to remembrance the former days,” in which, after we were illuminated, we “endured a great fight of afflictions,” intimating that this experience is to be repeated; and in view of the deliverance then wrought, exhorts us as follows: “Cast not away therefore your confidence which hath great recompense of reward. For ye have need of patience, that after having done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry. Now (in respect to time), the just shall live by faith; but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.” Verses 35–38.

From this we learn, that in this patient waiting time of the saints, though it be but a little while, we have especial need of faith by which to live; and as it always is the object of Satan to oppose the special work of God, his effort now is to bring us into bondage through unbelief, that we may ultimately be given over to hardness of heart and blindness of mind to be spued out of the mouth of the Lord. And having once lost our confidence, we become his easy prey and are soon thrown into despair, or led into presumptuous sins.

With this idea in our minds, we are prepared to understand and appreciate the language of the apostle in chapter xii, 1, 2: “Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin that doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.” The “great cloud of witnesses” of which he speaks, is the extended list of ancient worthies mentioned in the previous chapter, whose wonderful manifestations of the power of faith are recorded in connection with a definition of faith itself; and as faith is the burden of discourse, and it is upon this subject that these witnesses testify, the inference is logical and even necessary, that the sin which so easily besets us is unbelief. And this exhortation

is especially needed by us as a people at this time; for our present lukewarmness with its train of attending evils, our slowness to heed the counsel of the True Witness and zealously repent, are in a great measure attributable to this cause. But the Lord is graciously leading us away from these things; for by the light of the Health Reform, many of the weights are being discovered to us, and by laying them aside we are better prepared to receive and obey the present truth, by which we may be sanctified wholly.

Let us, then, dear hearers, receive the testimony of these witnesses, heed the exhortation of the apostle, come up fully to the work of the Lord, walk in all the light, seek meekness and righteousness, and get a deep and living experience in the things of God, that we may be able to run with patience the race before us, continually looking to Jesus, who having begun our faith will not leave the work incomplete, considering how much he has joyfully suffered for us and that he is still laboring in our behalf, “lest we be wearied and faint in our minds.” And may we not forget the exhortation concerning the chastening of the Lord, but “lift up the hands that hang down and the feeble knees, and make straight paths for our feet,” “looking diligently, lest any man fail of the grace of God.”

And as we “are not come to the mount that might be touched,” but unto the “Mount Sion,” let us see that we refuse not “Him that speaketh from Heaven,” whose voice will “shake not the earth only, but also heaven;” and having the promise of a “kingdom which cannot be moved,” “let us hold fast grace whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear,” remembering that “our God is a consuming fire.”

Dear brethren, when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth? This is for you and me to answer, “though we know a remnant will be saved” and that a little company of faithful ones will be found ready to meet their Lord. Happy shall we be if found among the wise virgins, who shall have made their faith perfect by their works, unto whom it shall be said, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” Amen.