Brethren, Beware [Unbelief] and Faith as a Masticator, as a Shield and as an Overcomer

Extract

Brethren, Beware! [Unbelief] – Faith as a Masticator, as a Shield and as an Overcomer
A. W. Pink

Brethren, Beware! [Unbelief]

“Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God” (Heb. 3:12). In the context, the apostle had brought before his readers the solemn case of the most privileged of all the generations of Israel―namely, the one which had by Jehovah’s mighty hand been delivered from the cruel bondage of Egypt, and yet which failed to enter the land of Canaan. That generation perished in the wilderness, because of their unbelief. They were the fathers of those to whom he was here writing, their “type” (1 Cor. 10:2), and they are held up as a warning example unto us―for “the best of saints need to be warned against the worst of evils” (John Owen). “Take heed” says the apostle―be on your guard, walk circumspectly with regard to danger. There is a great need for Christians to be constantly watchful, for they are menaced on the right hand and on the left, both from without and from within; and a careless profession is certain to end in making shipwreck of the faith.

The Christian life is not likened to lying down upon “flowery beds of ease,” but to a warfare; and if we gird not on our armour and be vigilant in guarding against our enemies, we shall assuredly fall a prey to them. Blind confidence and reckless presumption in a course of profession are a ruinous principle and inevitably leads to disaster. It is “with fear and trembling” (Phil. 2:12) that God bids them work out their own salvation. While they be left here below, they are in the Adversary’s territory, for “the whole world lieth in wickedness” (1 John 5:19). Moreover, sin indwells them, and their corruptions are ever seeking to dominate them. God has faithfully warned us in His Word against our perils, and it is the part of wisdom to lay those warnings to heart. Only the presumptuous fool will disregard them, only the silly trifler will raise quibbles and make objections against them. …