1. Unbelief –10th
August 2016
“They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn asideto myths” (2 Timothy4:4).
Studiesshowthat “unbelief” isindeedonthe rise these days.We are livinginincreasinglyseculartimes,
and,unfortunately,thosewhodonotbelieveinthe truthof Scripture oftenseemtohave the loudest
voicesinthe publicdomain.Skepticsare becomingbolderandmore vocal,and theirinfluenceisseenin
education,entertainment,courtsystems,andgovernment.Theyhave made significantprogresstoward
theirgoal of havingGod’sname entirelyremovedfromthe publicrealm. Addtothisthe fact that we are
livinginwhatsome call the most“biblicallyilliteratetimes,”andit’sapparentwhyunbeliefisonthe rise
and whymoral standardscontinue todeteriorate.Otherfactorscontributingtotoday’sunbelief include
the church’s halfheartedadherence tothe hardtruths foundin God’sWord. Furtherto same,the
pervasivenessof ‘worldlyhumanism’, the significantgrowthof othereasternreligions,the attemptsto
redefine the family,the postmodern rejectionof absolutes,andthe aggressive rise of the ‘New Atheists’
has furtheraddedtothe quagmire.
The bottom line isthis—weliveinafallenworld,and“the godof thisage has blindedthe mindsof
unbelievers,sothattheycannotsee the lightof the gospel” We can learnthisfrom 2 Corinthians4:4,
“The godof this age hasblindedthe mindsof unbelievers,so that they cannotsee the lightof the
gospel that displaysthe gloryof Christ,who isthe imageof God”. Ashistorymovesforward,manywill
move furtherawayfromsoundbiblical doctrine,andunbelief spreads aswe can learnfrom 1 Timothy
4:1,“The Spiritclearly saysthat in later times somewill abandonthefaith andfollowdeceivingspirits
and thingstaughtby demons.” There are plentyof false teacherstokeepthe lostblindedandaidthem
intheirflightandmove away from God.The Gospel of Matthew tellsus: “
At that time many will turn
away fromthe faithandwill betray andhate each other, 11
andmany falseprophets will appearand
deceive many people.(Matthew 24:10–11).
We can alsolearnfroma timelyadvice givenin 2Timothy 4:3; “Forthe time will come when peoplewill
not put up withsounddoctrine. Instead,to suit their own desires,they will gather aroundthem a
great number of teachers to say what their itchingears want to hear”.AnydevoutChristian will
observe thatthisis increasinglyhappeningall overthe worldtoday! The sadtruth isthat mostpeople do
not see the Bible asthe absolute authorityanymore.AsGod’sWordcontinuestobe marginalized,
unbelief will continuetoincrease aroundthe world. Therefore we canreadof an advice givenbythe
Apostle John: “Dearfriends,do notbelieve every spirit,but test the spiritsto see whether they are
from God,becausemany falseprophets have goneout into the world”(1John4:1).
The Bible warnedagainstunbeliefand apostasy whichmeansrenouncingordisassociatingoneself from
religiousbeliefs - nearlytwothousandyearsago: “They will turn their ears away fromthe truth and
turn asideto myths” (2 Timothy4:4). Alongthese lines,JohnMacArthurhasstated, “Our societyhas
grown steadilydarker; and the message the church is now giving to the world is more confusedand
confusingthan perhaps any time since the Dark Ages. The churchneeds to get back to the Wordof
God.” Indeed,gettingbacktothe Word is the onlysolution;todoanythinglessistohide ourlightunder
a bushel aswe can learnfrom Luke 11:33, “Noone lightsa lamp andputs it ina placewhere it will be
hidden,or under a bowl.Instead they put it on its stand,so that thosewho come in may see the light”.
If we wantpeople tobelieve,we mustgive themsomethingtobelieve in…
The servantof Christshouldnotlose heart.Despite the increasingunbelief andthe growingtide of
2. hostilitytowardChristianity,there isgoodnews.Jesustoldusthat,before the endcomes,Hisgospel
wouldbe preachedinthe whole world aswe readfrom Matthew 24:14, “Andthis gospel of the
kingdomwill be preached in the whole worldas a testimonyto all nations,andthen the end will
come…”. Portionsof the Bible have nowbeentranslatedintomore than3,850 languages,covering98
percentof the world’spopulation.Christianradiobroadcastsare now accessibletonearly78 percentof
the earth’spopulation.God’sWordisbeingpreachedaround the worldwithtremendoussuccessby
multitudesof Christians,manyof whomrisktheirliveseverydaytospreadthe gospel.
Evenin communistChinawhere itisbelievedoverone hundredmillionpeople are followingJesus
Christ.The World Christian Encyclopedia reportsthat nearlyseventeenmillionpeople acceptJesus
Christeveryyear. Butwe must alsobear inmindthat scofferswill multiply:“Theysaidto you,“In the
last timesthere will be scoffers whowill followtheir own ungodlydesires” (Jude1:18). In the same
way we can expect thatunbeliefwillgrow,but asChristianswe needtobe steadfastinourfaithin Jesus
whois the Lord of the harvest,itisstill Hisharvestfield, andtherefore insteadof “givingup”we must
share Gods Word withas manyas we can andin additionkeepprayingtoGod to sendforthHisworkers.
We can learnwhenJesussaid: “Theharvest isplentiful,butthe workers are few. Ask the Lord of the
harvest, therefore, to send out workers into hisharvest field” (Luke 10:2).
