Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit · Sermon No. 2890
“He.. .upbraided them with their unbelief.” Mark 16:14.
I SHALL not dwell so much upon this particular instance of the disciples’ unbelief as upon the fact that the Lord Jesus upbraided them because of it. This action of His shows us the way in which unbelief is to be treated by us. As our loving Savior felt it right to upbraid rather than to console, He taught us that on some occasions unbelief should be treated with severity rather than with condolence.
Beloved Friends, let us never look upon our own unbelief as an excusable infirmity, but let us always regard it as a sin—and as a great sin, too. Whatever excuse you may at any time make for others—and I pray you to make excuses for them whenever you can rightly do so—never make any for yourself. In that case, be swift to condemn. I am not at all afraid that as a general rule we shall err on the side of harshness to ourselves. No, we are far too ready to palliate our own wrong-doing, to cover up our own faults and to belittle our own offenses. I very specially urge every Believer in Jesus to deal most sternly with himself in this matter of unbelief. If he turns the back of the judicial knife towards others, let him always turn the keen edge of it towards himself. In that direction use your sharpest eye and your most severely critical judgment. If you see any fault in yourself, you may depend upon it that the fault is far greater than it appears to be— therefore deal more sternly with it. It is a very easy thing for us to get into a desponding state of heart and to mistrust the promises and faithfulness of God and yet, all the while, to look upon ourselves as the subjects of a disease which we cannot help—and even to claim pity at the hands of our fellow men—thinking that they should console us and try to cheer us. Perhaps they should, but, at any rate, we must not think that they should. It will be far wiser for each one of us to feel, “This unbelief of mine is a great wrong in the sight of God. He has never given me any occasion for it and I am doing Him a cruel injustice by thus doubting Him. I must not idly sit down and say, ‘This has come upon me like a fever, or a paralysis which I cannot help.’ But I must say, ‘This is a great sin in which I must no longer indulge. I must confess my unbelief with shame and self-abasement, to think that there should be in me this evil heart of unbelief.’”
Notwithstanding what I said, just now, concerning our dealings with others, I must give very much the same advice with regard to them as to ourselves, though in a somewhat mitigated form. When we see any of our friends falling into sin and unbelief, we must seek to deal wisely with them—always kindly—never harshly. Let us reserve all our severity for ourselves as I have already urged you. Still, I am sure that it is quite possible for us to be doing our fellow Christians serious harm by excusing their unbelief and by pitying them for it instead of pointing out to them, tenderly, yet faithfully, the great sin they are committing by this doubting.
Have you ever seen a “coddled” lad? I have seen one who ought to be in the open air at play, shut in a room because his parents were fearful that he was delicate and unable to do as other lads do. He ought to have been taking part in various healthy exercises that would have developed and strengthened the muscles in his body, but, instead of that, he was sitting down, tied to his mother’s apron strings and so was being made weaker than he was before! He was kept in an atmosphere which was not fit for him to breathe because his foolish parents were afraid the fresh air might be too trying for him—and long before he was ill, he was dosed and treated until he really became ill! Many a child has been murdered by
You can easily treat Christians—and especially young converts—in the same senseless fashion! If they are unbelieving, you can keep back from them the stern Truth of God about the sinfulness of such a state of heart and mind because you fear that they will be discouraged if you deal faithfully with them. That is quite as wrong as saying to the unconverted, over and over again, “Only believe,” without ever mentioning the need of repentance and regeneration! There is a way of misapplying even the promises of God to unbelieving hearts and of giving the consolations of the Gospel to those who are not in a condition to receive them as one might give sweetmeats to sick children and do them harm. People who are thus unwisely treated are apt to remain in the same sad state until their unbelief becomes chronic—and their unhap-piness becomes a lifelong burden to them. Sometimes when a man is in great pain, it is wise to give him something that will afford him even temporary relief, but the better course is, if possible, to strike at the root of his disease and eradicate it once and for all. That should be our method of dealing with the unbelief of our Brothers and Sisters in Christ. We must make it clear to them that unbelief is no trifle and that it is a thing for which its owner is not to be pitied, but to be blamed—and to be severely blamed—for it is a most grievous fault and sin. Our Savior dealt thus with the 11 when He upbraided them because of their unbelief. He did not excuse them, or comfort them, but He upbraided them! Upbraiding does not seem to be in harmony with the usual character of Jesus, does it? Yet you may depend upon it that it was the right thing for Him to do—and the kind thing, too—otherwise, He would not have done it.