{"id":1381,"date":"2021-09-19T12:41:27","date_gmt":"2021-09-19T17:41:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/?p=1381"},"modified":"2021-09-19T12:41:27","modified_gmt":"2021-09-19T17:41:27","slug":"a-heart-of-unbelief","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/2021\/09\/19\/a-heart-of-unbelief\/","title":{"rendered":"A Heart of Unbelief"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\u201cA double minded man is<\/em> unstable in all his ways.<\/strong>\u201d
James 1:8 <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The Gospel Message of Jesus is available to anyone who will\nreceive it. However, one must not only believe that message, it then must be\nreceived into one\u2019s heart and life by faith. \u201cFor unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word\npreached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it<\/em><\/strong>\u201d\n(Hebrews 4:2). When one does not believe<\/em><\/strong>, it does not profit\nthem. See why not: \u201cSeeing therefore\nit remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first\npreached entered not in because of unbelief<\/strong>\u201d (Hebrews 4:6). We can\nread in the next verse that there is a cry for one not to harden their heart\n(so that faith can enter in). See how this is described: \u201c12. Take heed,\nbrethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing\nfrom the living God. 13. But exhort one another daily, while it is called\nTo day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin<\/strong>\u201d\n(Hebrews 3:12-13). One who rejects the Gospel message of Jesus has departed\nfrom the living God in unbelief. There is no hope<\/em><\/strong> for such a one.\nRemember, in the Old Testament God\u2019s people were to obey and follow God,\nwaiting for Jesus to come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One cannot help but remember back to the Bible and a very\nreal example of one without faith. His name was Saul, the first king of Israel.\nHe was physically, everything a people could want in a king. He was\ngood-looking, and he stood head and shoulders taller than anyone else did.\nHowever, what kind of a man was Saul really? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the administration of his kingdom, we find out that Saul\ndemanded obedience to his command. He even promised death to anyone who defied\nhis command. In one instance, it turned out to be his son, Jonathan, who had\nunwillingly disobeyed his father\u2019s command. When the king was prepared to kill\nhis son, the people stepped in and saved his life. Shortly thereafter, God\nrequired King Saul\u2019s obedience in a matter. But when Saul disobeyed God, God\ndid not demand his death. God is forgiving and although there was discipline\nfor disobedience, God gave him a second chance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

God told Saul to go and utterly destroy Amalek and everything\nthey had (for they were God\u2019s enemies). He was even to kill the king. Saul\ngathered the people and went to Amalek. They took the city. \u201cBut Saul and the people spared Agag, and\nthe best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and\nall that was<\/em> good, and would not utterly destroy them: but every thing that\nwas<\/em> vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly<\/strong>\u201d (1 Samuel\n15:9). Saul did not obey God\u2019s command. God declared that Saul had turned back\nfrom following Him, and not performed His commandments. When confronted with\nthe truth of the matter, Saul lied. Read his response when questioned by\nSamuel, God\u2019s prophet. \u201c20. And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed\nthe voice of the LORD, and have gone the way which the LORD sent me, and have\nbrought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. 21.\nBut the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which\nshould have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God in\nGilgal<\/strong>\u201d (1 Samuel 15:20-21). Did you notice that King Saul blamed\nthe people for his disobedience? Because of his disobedience to God this time,\nGod removed the kingdom from Saul and his family. Samuel told him that because\nhe had rejected the word of the Lord, God had also rejected him from being\nking. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was not until the punishment had been uttered that Saul\nadmitted his fault. \u201cAnd Saul said\nunto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the\nLORD, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice<\/strong>\u201d\n(1 Samuel 15:24). Samuel completed\nthe job that Saul was to supposed do. Samuel killed the king of the Amalekites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shortly after that, God chose a man after His own heart,\nDavid. Saul spent the rest of his kingdom not trying to please God, but trying\nto destroy David. This caused his kingdom to become one mainly of defeat. We do\nnot hear of him seeking after God until right before he died in his last\nbattle. When the Philistine army gathered together against Israel\nagain, Saul gathered all of Israel\ntogether. He was afraid. Saul wanted a word from God, but he did not receive\none: for God did not answer him (see 1 Samuel 28:6). Saul then searched and\nfound a woman who had a \u201cfamiliar spirit\u201d (means a necromancer or sorcerer; a\nwitch). Saul disguised himself, went by night, and found her. He sought the\nworld\u2019s ways of seeking answers instead of waiting upon God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We can understand that the main problem of Saul was that he\nhad no spiritual foundation on which to build a godly life. Sure, he was God\u2019s\nchosen man to be king of His people, but Saul never sought God or His wisdom\nwith all of his heart. When David came into Saul\u2019s life, many of Saul\u2019s\ninsufficiencies (his lack of faith and obedience to God) revealed themselves.\nSaul openly became a double-minded man. He was a soldier pursuing David as if\nhe were Saul\u2019s enemy one day, yet the next he would acknowledge that God was\nwith David. \u201cA double minded man is<\/em>\nunstable in all his ways<\/strong>\u201d (James 1:8). We can recognize that Saul\nhad no faith. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are you one with no faith, like Saul who departed from the living God in unbelief?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Or, <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

H<\/strong>ave you received the Gospel Message of Jesus, by faith, into your heart and life?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
How to be Saved<\/a><\/blockquote>