Mothers; Reflections Of God’s Love

God created mothers for the special purpose of giving us an earthly example of His heavenly love toward us. Each stage of motherhood reflects a different aspect of God’s love.

THE PREGNANCY

Even in the womb the mother loves her baby. She knows his every move – she knows when he’s awake or sleeping or playing.

This reminds us of how intimately our God knows us. “O LORD, You have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off. You comprehend my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word on my tongue, but behold, O LORD, You know it altogether. You have hedged me behind and before, and laid Your hand upon me.” (Psalm 139:1-5)

THE DELIVERY

Think of how a mother puts her baby’s needs ahead of her own. She’s willing to endure great pain to see her child face-to-face.

The same is true with God who endured the great pain of seeing Jesus on the cross so that we will one day be able to see Him face-to-face. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)

NURTURING THE BABY

Think of a mother feeding her baby. It’s just the two of them. The mother telling her child how much she loves him as he looks into her eyes with complete love. She cares for his every need.

It reminds us of God feeding us His Word. We can picture our heavenly Father cradling us, telling us how much He loves us, providing everything we need, all the while we look to Him with complete love. “Your words have upheld him who was stumbling, and you have strengthened the feeble knees.” (Job 4:4)

RAISING THE CHILD

Notice the mother setting boundaries for her child. Rules are put into place. The difference between right and wrong is taught. She does this to keep her child safe - she only wants the best for him. He rarely understands this though and thinks Mom is out to ruin his fun. But one day it will become clear to him that she has his best interest at heart.

So it is with God who sets boundaries for us as well and, like Mom, is often view as a “bad guy” because we don’t understand that He’s only looking out for our safety. But, just like this child, one day we will understand too. “Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” (Hebrews 12:11)

ALL GROWN UP

No matter how big he is or how successful (or unsuccessful) he becomes he will always be his mother’s baby, she will always love him with all her heart.

And here again we see a reflection of God’s love. He loves you deeply and continually thinks of you (Psalm 139:17-18). “I have loved you with an everlasting love.” (Jeremiah 31:3)

“As a mother comforts
O words of gentle worth!
So will I comfort you,” declares
The Lord of all the earth.

He patient is, as mothers are
Who love their children well;
Our faults and failings He forgives;
His mercies—who can tell!

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Let The Healing Begin

“Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.” (Exodus 20:12)

Family is so precious. It’s absolutely priceless.

God knows that, and that’s why he places such high value on the family. Relationship with God, then relationship with family. That’s not by accident, that’s by design.

For those of you we prayed for (In the Introduction), I pray God has been able to speak to you. Really what I am praying for is this would be a freeing message. God is not asking you to live in denial. He is not asking you to deny your feelings. He is asking you to be honest with them, and face them, so that you are not holding on to bitterness or unforgiveness and just passing them on.

God is calling us to grow up. God is calling us to maturity, God is calling us to honesty.

Then you can be the training center within your homes that God intended you to be. I want to challenge you, if you struggle with this, find one thing to honor your parents for.

I came from a broken home, an abusive home, and my Dad left. As an adult, I had to find a reason to love my Dad because I knew that God had called me to love him.

Well, I love going to the beach. I love people, I love to talk, I love to learn, I drive around this area and I think we live in one of the most beautiful places in the country. I love life, despite of how I was raised. And you know what? My dad gave me my life.

So I want to challenge you, find one thing that you can honor your parents for.

Howard Hendricks, a professor at Dallas Theological Seminary, taught a class and there was a couple in there by the name of Bill and Kathy Piel.

It was the first day of class and Howard said, “I want you to take out a piece of paper and I want you to divide it down the middle. On one side, I want you to write down all the positive things your parents have invested in your life. On the other side, I want you to write all the negative things.

So the class began to do this and Kathy, who did not have a great childhood or great parents began to list all the negatives. She could not think of one thing positive, not one good influence. A little bit of bitterness and a little bit of resentment mingled with a little bit of pride and she said, “Isn’t it amazing how well I turned out considering all the things they didn’t invest in my life.”

Howard asked the class to put their pencils down and said, “If you cant think of anything to put on the positive side, anything that they did right, then you are living your life from a base of extreme immaturity.”

For those of you who have had some real pain, that can be pretty tough to hear. But it’s the truth. I determined as a young man that I am not going to use anybody else as an excuse for the way I live my life or my emotional well being. I refuse to do it.

God is calling us to grow up. God is calling us to maturity, God is calling us to honesty. This Commandment is not impossible, but in order for it to work we must experience God’s grace in our lives. We need to work out these issues, to resolve them, we need to ask for and receive forgiveness.

It is possible and it is worth it.

Kathy then found a poem that fit right along with this:

“As you travel, my brother, whatever be your goal,
keep your eye on the doughnut, and not on the hole.”

God’s Word, and the power of the Holy Spirit changes lives. If you don’t see your life changing, let me suggest two things.

One: You are not in his Word enough. Two: You are not giving the Holy Spirit the freedom to move in your life.

I challenge you because that is the only way this commandment can be lived out.

Let’s pray…

Jesus, thank you for loving me. I come to you today just as I am and I am receiving your gift. I am sorry for my sin. I have broken your heart and I am separated from you. I acknowledge that, I confess my sin. Please forgive me and I am receiving your love, Jesus.

Thank you for not giving up on me and I ask you teach me how to live for you day by day. Jesus, you know me, my heart, my family dynamics, you know I need you. You know I need this lived out in my life and through my life. I cannot do it on my own, I need your help and I need your Holy Spirit. Jesus, help me work through the issues in my family. Thank you Jesus, thank you for wholeness, in your name, Amen.

- Pastor Terry Gurno

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How We Honor Our Parents?

“Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.” (Exodus 20:12)

Why Should We Obey Our Parents?

Why should we obey our parents? Because God promises you a long life. Notice at the end of this Commandment it says, “Honor your father and mother so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.” (Exodus 20:12).

So not only live long, but notice it says, “In the land your God is giving you.” He is not talking about individuals, He is talking about society and when the family unit breaks down, the society breaks down.

Nobody knows that better than the United States of America because it is the greatest battle, and it is the greatest challenge that we face. The preservation of the family unit is the preservation of generations to follow. The family is the backbone of society. “That you may live long in the land as a society, as a unit,” that’s what God is really talking about.

We are not to raise a family of negotiators. We need to settle the issue when they are young, because that’s when the issue can be settled.

We should obey our parents so that it may go well with you. Nobody cares more for our personal well being outside of our parents than God. God knows this is a blessing that is given to us. Healthy families produce healthy people.

Obeying your parents is the right thing to do. If we really want to learn things about living together in a family and a society, if we want to learn conflict resolution, financial management, love, acceptance, communication, it is the right thing to do.

“Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.” (Colossians 3:20). Do you want to know how to please God? Find out what pleases the Lord. Find out with an intimate ongoing relationship with God. Obeying your parents pleases the Lord. Honoring your parents pleases the Lord.

How Do We Honor Our Parents?

How do we learn to honor our parents? How is that lived in our life today?

Children…

As children, we are to obey our parents. Obedience to God is learned by obedience to parents, and we can’t accept anything less. We are not to raise a family of negotiators. We need to settle the issue when they are young, because that’s when the issue can be settled. The question that goes through their mind is “Who’s in charge here?” and if we’re not careful, we’ll let them answer and say “I am” and that’s the way they will act.

Obedience isn’t easy. In my own family, our kids are so different. If we had their Christmas gifts in our room, we could tell our oldest, “Don’t go in that room, your Christmas gifts are in there unwrapped and under the bed,” and guess what? She wouldn’t.

Now my son would wait until we were gone, go out to the porch to see that we were out of sight, run up there and not only look at them, he would probably play with them. And my youngest daughter would do the same thing.

Those are our kids, and they are your kids, they have those types of personalities. We are not talking about easy work, we are not talking about teaching obedience, its consistency, its being consistent with what we say,
but as children we obey our parents, that’s how we honor.

Teenagers…

If you are a teenager, you honor your parents by showing them respect. We are not talking about having to like everything your parents say, or even agreeing with it. What we are talking about here is respecting their wishes.

We are talking about acting and talking in a way that shows respect. This means that you do not have the room to show disrespect with your body language or with your words, but if there is something you want to talk about, parents should be willing to talk about it.

Adults…

As adults how do we honor our parents? We treasure our parents. We treat them with dignity.

There is a Chinese proverb that says, “When you have children, you understand what you owe your parents.” Isn’t that true?

In 1990, Newsweek magazine came out with an article called “The Daughter Track” and it said, “An American woman will spend more time caring for her aging parent than she will raising her own children.” This is a cycle.

My wife Nancy and I realize our parents are getting older. We’ve talked about this and we will be the ones who will take care of our parents. We’re now very serious about selling our home, buying a piece of property, and building a home that would accommodate them. We are going to this, it’s just a matter of time.

Because you know what? It would be an honor for me to take care of my mom or for Nancy to take care of her parents, and we embrace that. Someday I hope my kids will feel the same way about me.

- Pastor Terry Gurno

Tomorrow - Let The Healing Begin

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Five Things Family Teaches Us

“Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.” (Exodus 20:12)

This commandment is so important because it lists the value of your family. The family is the birthplace of a lot of things, and we are going to talk about five of those things in this study.

1) FAMILY IS THE BIRTHPLACE OF YOUR VALUES

Your family is the birthplace of your values. It teaches us those things that you hold to be important, those things that you would literally give your life for. We know that values are caught much more than they are taught.

By the time that your child is a teen, they identify with their parents values, not by what they said, but by what they lived. The same is true for you. When you were a teen, you could identify with your parents values, not by what they said, but by how they lived.

A child learns to obey God by first learning to obey his or her parents.

One of the biggest frustrations, one of the biggest internal battles people face is balancing the things they say are valuable with the way they live their lives. Although we say we value something, unless our behavior matches that, it is incongruent values and it creates this tension inside of us. Values are really taught in the home.

2) FAMILY IS A RELATIONSHIP TRAINING CENTER

The second thing about a family is that it’s a relationship training center. We learn how to interact with one another, how to treat each other, we learn how or how not to express affection for one another

I am very affectionate towards my family, not only verbally, but with touch, and with other people, I am not. Some of us have what they call public space and private space and intimate space. I will admit, as much as I love people, there was a time in my life where I did not appreciate anyone getting into my intimate space by reaching out to simply pat my shoulder or hug me.

It was not uncommon for someone to get close to me and be talking and I would be backing up and tuning them out, trying to reate a comfortable distance between us, not even knowing I was doing that. Some of you do the same thing.

You know why? Because there was no verbal or physical demonstration of love in our family. None. I was so uncomfortable telling my mother I loved her, because I never had. I felt it, but it was a struggle to say those words.

In the past three years, preaching here among this church of huggers, I have been transformed. I have learned that backing away from friendly affection is not someone I am or want to be again. Your relationships at home were the birthplace of how you handle spoken and unspoken conflict and affection..

3) FAMILY IS WHERE WE LEARN ABOUT AUTHORITY

What a person learns about authority in the home will result in how they relate to authority once they leave home. There are many authority figures in our lives: coaches, teachers, government officials, pastors, and ultimately God.

A child learns to obey God by first learning to obey his or her parents. Family is literally the boot camp for life. If we don’t learn respect for authority figures in the home, God will teach us in other places.

There once was a young man who said, “You know what? I am fed up with the rules. I want to do what I want to do. Nobody is going to tell me what to do, where to go, when to come back, when to get up, when to go to bed, I am joining the Marines!” And what’s the first thing the Marines are going to teach him? Respect for authority.

The sad thing is there are some parents who would rather be their children’s friend, than the authority figure in their child’s life. I heard it as a youth pastor, and I have heard it as a Pastor, from teens who think it is so cool that their dad is willing to crack open a cold beer with them and sit down and just talk. They think that is so cool.

Here’s what I believe: I don’t think that child thinks its cool, not really, because we all want values to be modeled for us. We just don’t want someone to be like us, or to act like us, we want someone we can be like. We want models.

4) FAMILY IS WHERE WE LEARN OUR VALUE AS A HUMAN

We first learn our value as a human being in the home. We literally see ourselves through the eyes of our parents, brothers and our sisters. So the way we are treated in the home, good or bad, shapes us. It shapes the way we see ourselves.

If we were accepted, encouraged, praised, if we were ignored, criticized, belittled, all of that shapes us and we determine our worth and value as a human being.

5) FAMILY IS WHERE WE LEARN ABOUT FAITH

Most children leave home with a very similar faith of that of their parents. I know that is true of me. So if our parents modeled a genuine faith in God in the home, there is a good chance by the time the child leaves, or shortly after they leave, they have a genuine faith in their lives.

Not always, not 100%, but at some point, they are going to come back to that. Home is literally a training ground for relationships, not only with one another, but with God.

And so, are we modeling faith? Are we praying together as a family for our needs? Do we believe our needs are needs that only God can meet? Do we allow our children to see the miracles? And does God work miracles? Absolutely!

In fact, a nurse down at the hospital on the oncology floor recently shared a story about a young lady who has had leukemia since September and who has been blind for the past 60 to 90 days. Last night she went into remission and can now see, just like that. I would like to call that a miracle of God. But if we are not praying for those kind of miracles, how can we identify them as miracles?

- Pastor Terry Gurno

Tomorrow - How Do We Honor Our Parents

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Struggling To Honor Parents

“Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.” (Exodus 20:12)

I know that when I read this commandment there are some people, and I am one of them, who have struggled to work through this commandment in our life. Some of you right now didn’t even like the way that verse read or sounded because honestly you don’t know why or how or what would be the reason to literally honor your mother and father.

The truth is, they did not do a lot for you. You experienced abandonment, pain, neglect, and you have wrestled with this commandment. Even as a Christian, you have wrestled with it. I understand that. I have walked that mile myself.

There is hurt, there are memories that God wants to heal you from and not have you continue to live in…

What I want to do is this, I want to pray that the Holy Spirit would have access into your heart, that you would say, “God, I am open.” Because if you respond with, “I can’t do it, they don’t deserve it,” it tells me there are some walls in your life that are keeping you from knowing God the way He intended.

There is hurt, there are memories that God wants to heal you from and not have you continue to live in. We serve a real God who can help us deal with real life circumstances. The worst thing we can do as adults is to hang on to bitterness and resentments for our parents because it affects our children — we pass this on to them.

Maybe you are a parent and you feel guilty. You are saying to yourself, “There really is no reason that I deserve my children’s honor.” And I want to pray for you as well. That whatever happened, God would give you the grace to assume your role and your responsibility in what happened. Not to shrink back from it, but to assume it. Ask God for genuine forgiveness.

Let’s pray…

Lord, in our relationships with our families, there‘s nothing more important, there’s nothing that prepares us to live in society outside of our homes like what happens inside of our family.

So God, we lay this message before you. We are so dependent upon your grace, in Jesus name, Amen

- Pastor Terry Gurno

Tomorrow - Five Things Family Teaches Us

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Why Do We Need To Be Born Again?

A look at the doctrine of original sin.

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Closer Than A Brother

A man who has friends must himself be friendly, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. - Prov 18:24

What a tie that binds us to Christ, closer than any earthly relationship could ever be! He cleaves to us through all earthly experiences. We are bone of His bone and flesh of His flesh.

Live to love Him. Live to honor Him. Live to glorify His name!

We are one -WITH- Him. There is no power on earth or in heaven which can seperate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Live to love Him. Live to honor Him. Live to glorify His name!

Holy Spirit, fill our hearts with love for our Lord Jesus, and guide us in seeking to bring others into blessed fellowship with this “Friend that Sticketh Closer than a Brother”. Amen.

- Charles Spurgeon

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Spiritual Prayer

Prayer is spiritual when it is:

Prayed with knowledge (Eccl 5.2; 1 Cor 14.15)
When the incense of prayer burns, the lamp of knowledge must be lit. We must know the majesty and holiness of God, so that we may be deeply affected with reverence when we come before him. He that prays he knows not how, shall be heard he knows not when.

Prayed with heart and spirit (1 Sam 1.13; Ro 10.1)
If the heart does not accompany duty, it is speaking not praying

To pray in the name of Christ is not only to name Christ in prayer, but to pray in the hope and confidence of Christ’s mediation.

Prayed with fervency (Ro 8.26; Jas 5.16)
Fervency is the wing of prayer by which it ascends to heaven
When the heart is inflamed with prayer, a Christian is carried as it were in a fiery chariot up to heaven.

Prayed with a broken heart (Ps 51.17)
It is not a voluble tongue but a melting heart which God accepts. God accepts broken expressions when they come from broken hearts.

Believing prayer (Mt 21.22)
The reason why so many prayers suffer shipwreck is because they split on the rock of unbelief. Praying without faith is shooting without bullets. When faith takes prayer by the hand then we draw near to God.

Holy prayer (Ps 66.18; Mal 3.3; 1 Tim 2.8)
Prayer must be offered on the altar of a pure heart. Sin lived in makes the heart hard and God’s ear deaf. It is foolish to pray against sin and then to sin against prayer.
If the heart is holy, this altar will sanctify the gift.

Humble prayer (Gen 18.27; Ps 10.17; Lk 18.13)
The lower the heart descends the higher the prayer ascends.

Prayed in Christ’s name (Jn 14.13-14; 16.23-26)
To pray in the name of Christ is not only to name Christ in prayer, but to pray in the hope and confidence of Christ’s mediation. As a child claims his estate in the right of his father who purchased it, so we come for mercy in the name of Christ who has purchased it for us in his blood. Unless we pray thus, we do not pray at all; we rather provoke God.

Prayed out of love to prayer (Is 56.7; Job 27.10)
A godly man is carried on the wings of delight. He is never so well as when he is praying. He is not forced with fear but fired with love.

Has spiritual goals (Jas 4.3)
There is a vast difference between a spiritual prayer and a carnal desire. The sinner prays more for food than grace. This, God does not interpret as praying but as howling
Prayers which lack a good aim lack a good answer.
A godly man engages on the trade of prayer so that he may increase the stock of grace.

Using the means (Ex 17.8-16; Is 38.21; Acts 6.4; Ro 10.1)
When Hezekiah was sick he did not only pray for recovery, but he laid “a lump of figs to the boil” (Is 38.21). When we pray for grace and use opportunities to the full, this is laying a fig on the boil which will help us recover. To pray for holiness and neglect the means is like winding up a clock and taking off the weights

Leaves a spiritual mood in the heart
A Christian is better after prayer. He has gained more strength over sin as a man by exercise gets strength. Having been with God on the mount, Moses’ face shone. So having been on the mount of prayer, our graces shine and our lives shine. The gift of prayer is ordinary, like culinary fire. But spiritual prayer is more rare and excellent, like elemental fire which comes from heaven

- Thomas Watson

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The Three Steps of Repetance

“Godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation…” - 2 Corinthians 7:10

To repent means to change one’s attitude towards sin and God. It’s a change that must occur in both the mind and the heart. In Matthew 27:3 Judas repented in his mind but not his heart. In other words, he had a sense of regret or remorse, but he remained in his sin instead of turning to God for forgiveness.

Repentance of the mind and the heart leads to salvation and consists of three steps:

1) Recognize your guilt and sinfulness

The idea here is that we understand who we are and where we stand before God. 1 John 1:8 tells us that “if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” While Romans 6:23 tells us the “wages of sin is death”.

The first step in repenting involves understanding that we are sinners and stand under God’s judgment.

Once we have repented and come to Christ for forgiveness Ephesians 2:19 tells us we are “no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household.”

2) Trust that God will forgive you

In Psalm 51 David wrote, “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.”

Repentance is not only acknowledging our sin, it’s also recognizing that God is willing and able to forgive our sin.

We’re promised in Hebrews 8:12 that God will “forgive our wickedness and will remember our sins no more.”

The second step in repenting involves believing that God will forgive us.

3) Turn from sin to God

Once we realize that we stand before God guilty of sin, and that He is willing to forgive us, we must then come to Him to receive that forgiveness. We come to God the Father though Jesus Christ, who is God the Son.

John 3:16 declares that “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” 1 John 4:10 tells us that Christ is “the propitiation [or payment] for our sins.”

Because Christ paid for our sins, Romans 3:24 tells us that we have been “justified freely” through Him, and we now stand before God innocent.

The final step in repenting involves calling on Christ to save us from the penalty of sin. Acts 2:21 promises that whoever calls on the name of the LORD Shall be saved.

Once we have repented and come to Christ for forgiveness Ephesians 2:19 tells us we are “no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household.”

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Faith vs Unbelief

Faith believes the Word of God; but unbelief questions the certainty of the same (Psa 106:24).

Faith believes the Word, because it is true; but unbelief doubts thereof, because it is true (1 Tim 4:3; John 8:45).

Faith sees more in a promise of God to help, than in all other things to hinder; but unbelief, notwithstanding God’s promise, says, How can these things be? (Rom 4:19-21; 2 Kings 7:2; John 3:11,12).

Faith will make thee see love in the heart of Christ, when with his mouth he gives reproofs; but unbelief will imagine wrath in his heart, when with his mouth and Word he says he loves us (Matt 15:22,28; Num 13; 2 Chron 14:3).

Faith will help the soul to wait, though God defers to give; but unbelief will take huff and throw up all, if God makes any tarrying (Psa 25:5; Isa 8:17; 2 Kings 6:33; Psa 106:13,14).

Faith will give comfort in the midst of fears; but unbelief causes fears in the midst of comfort (2 Chron 20:20,21; Matt 8:26; Luke 24:26,27).

Faith will suck sweetness out of God’s rod; but unbelief can find no comfort in his greatest mercies (Psa 23:4; Num 21).

Faith makes great burdens light; but unbelief makes light ones intolerably heavy (2 Cor 4:1; 14-18; Mal 1:12,13).

Faith helps us when we are down; but unbelief throws us down when we are up (Micah 7:8-10; Heb 4:11).

Faith brings us near to God when we are far from him; but unbelief puts us far from God when we are near to him (Heb 10:22; 3:12,13).

Where faith reigns, it declares men to be the friends of God; but where unbelief reigns, it declares them to be his enemies (John 3:23; Heb 3:18; Rev 21:8).

Faith puts a man under grace; but unbelief holds him under wrath (Rom 3:24-26; 14:6; Eph 2:8; John 3:36; 1 John 5:10; Heb 3:17; Mark 16:16).

Faith purifies the heart; but unbelief keeps it polluted and impure (Acts 15:9; Titus 1:15,16).

By faith, the righteousness of Christ is imputed to us; but by unbelief, we are shut up under the law to perish (Rom 4:23,24; 11:32; Gal 3:23).

Faith makes our work acceptable to God through Christ; but whatsoever is of unbelief is sin. For without faith it is impossible to please him (Heb 11:4; Rom 14:23; Heb 6:6).

Faith gives us peace and comfort in our souls; but unbelief works trouble and trial, like the restless waves of the sea (Rom 5:1; James 1:6).

Faith makes us to see preciousness in Christ; but unbelief sees no form, beauty, or comeliness in him (1 Peter 2:7; Isa 53:2,3).

By faith we have our life in Christ’s fullness; but by unbelief we starve and pine away (Gal 2:20).

Faith gives us the victory over the law, sin, death, the devil, and all evils; but unbelief lays us obnoxious to them all (1 John 5:4,5; Luke 12:46).

Faith will show us more excellence in things not seen, than in them that are; but unbelief sees more in things that are seen, than in things that will be hereafter;. (2 Cor 4:18; Heb 11:24-27; 1 Cor 15:32).

Faith makes the ways of God pleasant and admirable; but unbelief makes them heavy and hard (Gal 5:6; 1 Cor 12:10,11; John 6:60; Psa 2:3).

By faith Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob possessed the land of promise; but because of unbelief, neither Aaron, nor Moses, nor Miriam could get thither (Heb 11:9; 3:19).

By faith the children of Israel passed through the Red Sea; but by unbelief the generality of them perished in the wilderness (Heb 11:29; Jude 5).

By faith Gideon did more with three hundred men, and a few empty pitchers, than all the twelve tribes could do, because they believed not God (Judg 7:16-22; Num 14:11,14).

By faith Peter walked on the water; but by unbelief he began to sink (Matt 14:28-30).

Thus might many more be added, which, for brevity’s sake, I omit; beseeching every one that thinks he hath a soul to save, or be damned, to take heed of unbelief; lest, seeing there is a promise left us of entering into his rest, any of us by unbelief should indeed come short of it.

- John Bunyan

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