🍚 SMC by Bill McLeod：The Sin of All Sins

Описание: Brothers and sisters, tonight I want to speak to you about the greatest and most dangerous sin of all — unbelief. Charles Spurgeon called it the bottom line of sin, the foundation on which all sin is built. Unbelief was the first sin in the Garden of Eden when Satan planted doubt in Eve’s heart, and she believed the serpent’s words over God’s truth. It was unbelief that kept the Israelites wandering in the wilderness for forty years, despite all the miracles God had done for them. And it is unbelief that still robs so many of God’s people today — robs them of joy, robs them of peace, robs them of power. The Bible calls it an evil heart of unbelief, and yet so many of us excuse it. We say, “I wish I had more faith,” as if it were simply a misfortune rather than a sin. But every time we doubt God, we are calling Him a liar. We may not say it out loud, but in our hearts, we are questioning His promises, His goodness, His faithfulness.

Think about how much unbelief grieves God. In Numbers 14, after the Israelites refused to enter the Promised Land, God said, “How long will they refuse to believe in Me, despite all the signs I have performed among them?” They had seen the Red Sea part, manna fall from heaven, water come from a rock — miracle after miracle — and yet they doubted. And because of that, an entire generation died in the wilderness. Unbelief kept Moses himself from entering the Promised Land. God told him to speak to the rock, but instead, he struck it, because deep down, he doubted that simply speaking would be enough. And God said, “Because you did not believe Me, you will not bring this assembly into the land I give them.” Unbelief has consequences.

Jesus Himself was amazed at the unbelief of the people in His hometown. It says in Mark 6 that He could do no mighty work there because of their unbelief. Imagine that. The Son of God, the One with all power, was limited — not because He lacked power, but because the people lacked faith. And still today, unbelief limits what God can do in our lives. Some of us have been praying for things for years — praying for a lost child, praying for healing, praying for revival — but deep down, we have allowed doubt to creep in. We pray, but we don’t truly believe. The Bible says that without faith, it is impossible to please God. Not difficult, not rare — impossible. Faith is the key that unlocks the door to God’s promises. Jesus said, “If you can believe, all things are possible.” And when the desperate father cried out, “Lord, I believe! Help my unbelief!” Jesus saw even that small, struggling faith and responded.

Unbelief robs us of power. In Acts 6, Stephen was described as “full of faith and the Holy Spirit,” and because of that faith, he was also full of power. The two go hand in hand. If we lack faith, we will lack power. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation — but only to those who believe. When we look at churches today, we see the effects of unbelief everywhere. Churches that once burned with revival are now cold and lifeless. People come to church expecting nothing to happen, and so nothing does. We have lost that childlike faith that believes God for the impossible. And yet Jesus said, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” Real faith doesn’t wait for proof — it takes God at His word.

So, what causes unbelief? Sometimes it is sin. The deceitfulness of sin hardens our hearts, making it harder and harder to trust God. Sometimes it is the fear of man. Jesus said, “How can you believe, when you seek honor from one another and not from God?” If we are more concerned about what people think than what God thinks, we will struggle with faith. And sometimes, unbelief comes simply because we have stopped feeding our faith. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. If we neglect God’s Word, our faith will weaken.

But here’s the good news: we don’t have to live in unbelief. The disciples once asked Jesus, “Increase our faith.” And Jesus didn’t rebuke them for asking. God wants to increase our faith! But it starts with repentance. We need to call unbelief what it is — sin. We need to come before God and say, “Lord, I have doubted You. I have excused my lack of faith. Forgive me.” And then we need to start taking God at His word. We need to step out in faith, even when we don’t see the evidence yet. Because the truth is, faith isn’t about seeing — it’s about trusting.

Tonight, God is calling us to believe again. To believe for the salvation of that lost loved one. To believe for healing. To believe for revival. To believe that He is who He says He is and that He will do what He has promised. He is standing at the door, ready to work in our lives. The only question is — will we believe?

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