MAKING GOD A LIAR.

A Sermon

Delivered on Sunday Morning, May 26, 1850,

BY THE REV. C. G. FINNEY,

OF OBERLIN COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE, AMERICA,

At the Tabernacle, Moorefields.

The Penny Pulpit, No. 1,554.

Modernized by Cliff Collins

“He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son.”  (1 John 5:10)

This morning, I will concentrate on the second clause of this verse, “He who does not believe God has made Him a liar”.  I will attempt to show:

I. What unbelief is not.

II. What it is.

III. In what sense unbelief makes God a liar.

IV. Notice some of the manifestations of unbelief.

V. Briefly refer to the results of unbelief.

I. What unbelief is not.

Millions of people speak against unbelief without knowing what it is.  I must spend a few moments showing what unbelief is not, before I can show you what it is.  Unbelief is not the mere absence of faith.  It is not just a negative state of mind.  Neither is unbelief just an intellectual attitude or state caused by a lack of sufficient evidence.  Nor is unbelief a state of total ignorance of God and His truth.  Nor does unbelief consist in a state of complete ignorance of the existence and attributes of God.  Unbelief is not merely disbelief or a belief in the opposite of what the Bible says is true.  Unbelief is not an intellectual state at all.  The Bible represents unbelief as a sin; therefore, it is not an intellectual state of mind.

II. What unbelief is. 

If unbelief is sin, it must be willful.  The Bible calls unbelief a spirit that we have no right to indulge in.  It represents unbelief as a great crime for which God holds us accountable.  Now, if this is true, unbelief must be a voluntary state of mind; because if we could not help it, the Bible could not denounce it as one of the greatest of sins, and call on us to stop doing it. 

Unbelief is the opposite of faith.  What is faith?  Faith is not simply an intellectual conviction.  We know it can’t be, for the devil has that kind of faith, and so do many wicked people; they mentally agree to the truth, and that is what troubles them so much.  Faith consists in giving God our confidence, in voluntarily yielding ourselves up to Him, confiding in Him, trusting in Him, casting ourselves on Him, voluntarily receiving His truth, and committing ourselves to Him.  This is how the term faith is used in the Bible; the same term that means commit, also means faith. 

“Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator.”  (I Peter 4:19) 

“But Jesus did not commit Himself unto them, because He knew all men.”  (John 2:24) 

In these, and many other passages, the word that is used for faith is rendered ‘commit’.  Now, unbelief is the direct opposite of this; it is withholding confidence where there is sufficient evidence, and where there is sufficient light in the mind.  This withholding of confidence is represented as unbelief of the heart.  It is not just unbelief of the intellect, but it is unbelief of the heart.  Unbelief implies that the mind knows the truth.  That which constitutes saving faith is the heart trusting in God, committing itself to the truth and yielding itself up to receive the truth.  Unbelief is the opposite of all this; the heart does not commit itself to God, and does not yield itself up to receive the truth.  Now, we often see this state of mind manifested in relation to this world.  You see people withholding their confidence where there is the strongest evidence of the truth of that which they are called on to believe.  Look at that jury box; the prisoner has been tried, and the judge has summed up the evidence, and put the plain truth before the jury, but some of them will not yield to it, nor give it their confidence.  In religion, this state of mind is unbelief.  Now, there are multitudes everywhere whose minds are made up concerning the truth of the Bible; they believe it is true; agree with it intellectually, and they call this faith.  They say they believe.  Their opinions are cast in stone.  They can argue in defense of their principles, and they say they have faith in them.  You call on them to believe, and they say they do believe; while the fact is, if they are not willing to commit themselves to the truth, they don’t believe to the saving of their souls.  Intellectual belief is nothing without confidence.  The Bible says, “This is the victory that overcomes the world, even your faith”.  (I John 5:3)  Having explained the nature of unbelief, I now consider--

III. In what sense unbelief makes God a liar. 

It is said in the text, “he who does not believe God has made Him a liar”.  Withholding confidence denies that God is worthy of confidence.  Now, there is nothing more unreasonable in the universe than unbelief.  God has so created us, that, by a necessary law of our minds, we know that God will not lie.  Nobody ever believed that God is a liar; everybody knows better.  Every intelligent being on earth, in heaven or hell, knows that God will not lie; and yet, whenever someone withholds confidence in God, he or she, in practice, denies God’s trustworthiness.  They deny, in practice, what reason and conscience tells us what is true.  This is one of the most provoking forms of sin that moral agents can be guilty of.  There is nothing more provoking, even for liars, than to have their truthfulness called into question.

What an infinitely awful sin it must be to make God a liar!  But it is also harmful to ourselves, and damaging to society. Why, who does not know that if a wife withholds confidence from her husband, she would ruin herself and her husband also?  If a husband withholds confidence in his wife, he ruins his own happiness and that of his wife also.  Suppose that confidence is withheld without good reason, by a husband from his wife, how it ruins her happiness, what a trial it is for her to endure!  Suppose that a husband reproaches his wife with having committed some wrong, and withholds his confidence; and, suppose their children lose confidence in her, how can she manage to govern them?  What wrong is done to the family!  Probably the family will be ruined.  Destroy confidence in a government, and, unless it is very strong, and thus able to keep the people in awe, that government will very soon be ruined. 

The same is true with business transactions.  The world has to live by confidence in each other.  There is no community whatever that is not ruined, if unbelief and a lack of confidence becomes the law of action.  Withholding confidence when there is no reason is the greatest crime a man can commit against family or society.  Everybody must admit this.  You often find people who are extremely sensitive to their own honest reputation, who withhold confidence from God.  Some people, who call themselves Christians, too, fail to realize the truth of God that would enable them to confide fully in Him.  God has said “all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose”,  (Romans 8:28) but a great many people don’t believe in this!  They don’t rest in God’s words, and they are always troubled, distressed, and in tribulation because of their unbelief. 

Now, if you should see a man standing on a granite mountain in tremendous fear and anguish, lest the rock should not be strong enough to hold him, you would say that he is deranged.  His conduct would be completely ridiculous.  Now, the people of God are infinitely more ridiculous when they withhold confidence in God, than that man on a mountain of granite, fearing it might fall.  God’s promises are infinitely more able to support them than mountains of granite!  The strongest rocks in creation are but mere air when compared with the stupendous strength and stability of the promises of Jehovah!  Heaven and earth shall pass away, but the word of the Lord shall stand fast forever. 

Unbelief is the most blasphemous of all forms of sin.  Let any man publicly accuse God of lying, and the law of the land would lay hands on him.  He would be indicted for blasphemy.  Suppose a man should go through the streets of London, proclaiming aloud that God was a liar, you would very soon find him in Newgate, and he would deserve to be there.  If any man went through the streets, proclaiming that God was a liar, everybody would say it was the most revolting form of blasphemy.  They would plug their ears and run, to get away from him.  Nobody would want to walk on the same street with him, lest a thunderbolt should descend and destroy him, or the earth open up and swallow him up.  Now, many a man, if his conduct was put into words, and he should speak them, would be indicted for blasphemy.

Let me say that unbelief accuses God of perjury.  God has sworn the greatest oath that He could think of, in confirmation of His truth.  “Because He could swear by no greater, He swore by Himself.”  He confirmed his promise “by two immutable things in which it was impossible for God to lie”.  Now, listen!  Unbelief accuses God of lying under an oath!  It accuses God of lying under the greatest oath that God could take!  Suppose a man should, in words, accuse God of perjury, that He had not only lied, but He had sworn to a lie!  

IV. Some of the manifestations and results of unbelief. 

First, unbelief results in a lack of rest for the soul.  Now, when the soul does not rest on the promises of God, it does not believe that “all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose”.  Such a soul has no rest in Christ, does not embrace Christ, and does not rest in His faithfulness and in His promises.  Now, friends, let me ask one question of you; are you guilty of unbelief?  If so, you are among those who are charged with making God a liar! 

Another manifestation of unbelief is a lack of peace.  There is always peace and joy in believing.  Now, the lack of peace is evidence of unbelief.  The fact is, that where there is real faith, although there may be a lot to disturb and distress the mind, there is deep peace and joy in God in the midst of it all.  But where people don’t have true peace, joy, and great satisfaction in God, in His truth, and in His promises, unbelief is there.  From the very nature of the case, unbelief must be there.  The mind that has no peace and joy cannot be resting on the promises of God. 

People have no power in prayer when they have no faith in prayer to prevail with God.  In the Bible, we are told that those who have faith, have power with God, can prevail with God, and receive the spirit of their petitions.  Now, let me ask you, friends, do you have this confidence, this faith that makes you mighty in prayer.  If not, do you want this power in prayer?  If you don’t have this power, then you are guilty of unbelief.  Now, one of two things must be true if these things are lacking in your soul, if you have no confidence in the promises, no peace of mind, and no power in prayer.  Either the Bible is not true, or you don’t believe the Bible; because the Bible says that these things are true of those who believe.

Let me say again, that those who live in bondage to any form of sin are in a state of unbelief.  “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.”  (Romans 8:1)  Now, when men live under any form of worldliness, they are under the condemnation of the law.  “This is the victory that overcomes the world, our faith.”  (I John 5:4)  Now, if you are living in bondage to sin because of unbelief, you are living in a state of condemnation; your own conscience condemns you because of your unbelief. 

Another evidence of unbelief is the manifestation of a servile spirit concerning religion.  It manifests the spirit of a servant rather than the spirit of a son.  By servant, I mean slave; one who serves his master out of fear, and not out of love.  Now, a many people claim to serve God, but they don’t serve Him with the spirit of a son.  Although they profess to be the children of God, they look on religion as something that must not be neglected.  They perform their religious duties, not out of love for God, but as the least of two evils; and thus they drag out a painful existence.  Christianity, to them, is not a peace-giving religion.  They don’t have supreme delight in their religion; they don’t love it for its own sake.  It is to them something that they have to do, something that they must not neglect.  If they dared to, they would be more than happy to neglect religion completely.  They go to meetings, read their Bibles, and pray, but it is not because their hearts are filled with love for God, love for the Bible, or love for their closets.  And it’s not because they love to have communion with God.  No!  Their religious duties are regarded as a task, which they must not fail to perform.

Now; remember, that in every instance where people take this view of religion and religious duties, there is unbelief in the heart.  Such people recite formal prayers, not because they love God, but because they think it is their duty to pray.  Who does not see that approaching God with such motives is not prayer, but only an indication of a mere servile spirit, a clear manifestation of unbelief.  They don’t come to God to get anything.  They don’t expect to receive anything from God.  The Bible has promised them great things in answer to prayer, but they don’t expect them.  They pray because it is their duty.  They never run to God to make a request, as a child runs to her father for something she wants, holding up her little hands with a smile on her face, expecting to get the favor she asks. They do nothing of this sort.

They say their prayers, or perhaps read them; go through a form, and do what they call praying, and what for?  Many people pray, not because God has given them promises, not because they have something in their hearts that they want God to give, and they expect to get it, but because it is their duty to recite such a prayer.  Now, who does not see that this is a manifestation of unbelief?  They demonstrate a spirit directly opposite to the spirit of prayer, and everything that belongs to true religion.  Now, if any of you have been religious because it was your duty, you have served God from a servile spirit, and not from spontaneous love; let me urge you for once, to approach His throne to-night, and pray, expecting to receive what you ask for.  I say that, right now you are now an unbeliever.  You may call yourself what you please, but as certain as God is true, you have no faith!

A spirit of worldly-mindedness is evidence of unbelief.  I mean that state where your mind is given up to worldly pursuits and amusements, that minding of earthly things that the apostle Paul talks about, giving your mind up to them, focusing your attention on them, and constantly being influenced by worldly considerations.  Now, listen!  This is the very opposite of a state of faith, which, from its very nature, prevents this state of mind.  If you find that your mind is worldly, that you are engrossed with worldly things, you may be sure that you have no faith.  Can you pray with the world on your mind?  Can you go into the sanctuary with business transactions occupying your thoughts?  Can you receive God's truth into your mind, if it is occupied with other influences?  It is naturally impossible for you to serve God and the world!  If you are worldly-minded, I say, it is an evidence of unbelief!  And unbelief, remember, virtually calls God a liar; and the man who is an unbeliever has the guts to say, in conduct, if not in words, that God is a perjured Being, that He lies under an oath! 

The spirit of cowardice is evidence of unbelief.  People who believe God are not afraid of anybody.  Spiritual cowardice is always the result of unbelief.  Confidence in God makes the righteous as strong as lions.  Now, if you are spiritual cowards; if you are afraid to talk to sinners about their souls; if you are afraid to hold up the light, it is because you don’t believe.

Neglect of the Bible is also a manifestation of unbelief.  Nobody neglects the Bible who believes it.

Neglect to use the promises of the Bible, not pleading them in order to receive their fulfillment, is a sure indication of unbelief.

A spirit of indifference concerning the state of religion, blindness to the state of sinners, no compassion for them, a lack of interest in their conversion, are certain indications of unbelief; and I could point out hundreds of others.  But let me ask, who of us are guilty of unbelief?  If I am guilty of unbelief, I am the very wretch that stands before you, and makes God a liar!  If you are guilty of unbelief, you are the wretches who stand before God and accuse Him of being a liar!  Horrible!  Horrible!  But isn’t it true?  Doesn’t everybody know, that if a man withholds confidence from God, it is because he regards God as not worthy of confidence; and if God is not worthy of confidence, it must be that God is nothing but a liar! 

V. The results of unbelief.

Unbelief always produces a heartless religion.  Therefore, whenever you find a man whose religion is not soul satisfying, his religion is not a living principle in his soul.  Whenever you find in your own experience, that religion is not peace and joy in the Holy Ghost.  Whenever you find that your religion is not a spontaneous principle of love to God, you may conclude that the reason is because your heart is filled with unbelief. 

If you lose your faith, your religion will be legal.  When people lose their faith, they do a great many things without regard for God at all.  They no longer have an eye to God’s will, pleasure, and glory.  You cannot distinguish between them and the ungodly professing Christians.  Often, what they call their religious duties, they perform not out of love for God or a supreme regard for Him, but to promote their own selfishness. 

Another consequence of unbelief is that it makes salvation impossible.  Now, always remember that the conditions of salvation are not arbitrary; they are natural and necessary conditions.  If anybody wants to go to heaven, he must be prepared for heaven.  If an individual does not love God in his heart, it is naturally impossible that he will be happy in heaven.  What would there be in heaven to interest him?  What would he do in heaven?  To enjoy heaven and be happy there, he must be a holy man, and this only comes by faith. 

Of course, disobedience of heart to God is always a result of unbelief.  There is no heart obedience to any government, any more than individuals have confidence in that government.  The heart of man must confide in any system of government, in order to have a hearty and true obedience to it.  In respect to the governmental consequences: all unbelief rejects the Mediator between God and man.  It rejects the office, the authority, and atonement of Christ altogether.  The penalty of the law is death against those who are unbelievers.  Those who don’t believe are condemned already because they don’t believe in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

Let me close with a few remarks.  First, the first sin committed in our world, when we resolve it into its true elements as a particular form of sin, was unbelief.  Let’s look at it.  God had told Adam that he must not eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.  If he did, he would die.  The tempter told our first parents that they would not die if they ate it; and tried to make them believe that God was selfish in prohibiting them from eating that fruit; that God gave them that command because He was afraid that if they ate the fruit, they would become like God.  Now, what did they do?  Why, they dared to withdraw their faith in God.  So completely did the lies of the tempter take hold of them, that the Bible says, “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate.  She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate”.  (Gen 3:6) 

Now, what was the particular form of this sin?  Why, it was first withdrawing, and then withholding faith from God; they refused to trust what God had said, they refused to believe that prohibiting them from eating that fruit was for their own good.  They listened to the words of the tempter, and believed what he told them, that God was jealous of them and that God forbade them to eat of the tree lest they should become gods.  Therefore, they withdrew their confidence in God, and suffered the consequences.

This is the root of sin in man: withholding confidence in God.  All the forms of iniquity in this world spring from this foundation; and we could, if time allowed, trace them by philosophical methods to this source.  Withholding confidence in God is one of the worst evils.  Having no confidence in God’s wisdom, benevolence, and goodness leaves the mind a blank.  People are drawn aside into vice because they have lost confidence in God and goodness.  If a man yields his heart to God, can he be tossed around by every wind of temptation?  No, indeed!  He could not.  But when he withdraws confidence, his mind becomes darkened, and error exercises its full power in his soul.  How remarkable was the effect of unbelief in Adam and Eve!  As soon as they withdrew their confidence in God, they thought they could hide themselves from Him.  So grossly, did they fall into darkness by withholding confidence in God that they thought they could hide themselves among the trees when the Lord God walked in the garden. 

Perfect faith will secure complete holiness.  Suppose someone has perfect confidence in all that God says, could he sin?  What!  Have perfect confidence in God’s love, God’s goodness, God’s universal presence, and consent to sin?  No more than they sin in heaven; for what is the reason why they don’t sin in heaven, but because they have a universal confidence in God?  If someone has perfect confidence in God, could he sin?  Never!  Never!  Where there is any overt act of sin, there is unbelief. 

There are a vast number of professing Christians, who are grossly guilty of unbelief.  They have no peace and joy in God, no power in prayer, are worldly minded, are “careful and troubled about many things,” displaying as much evidence of being in a state of unbelief as the world around them.  Their lives, words, and actions are just the same as those who make no profession at all.  You can hardly distinguish them, unless you see them at the Communion Table.  You ask if they are believers, and they say, yes; and they persuade themselves that they are Christians.  But as certain as God is true they are unbelievers, and will perish with their profession! 

The unbelief manifested by professing Christians, is one of the greatest obstacles in the way of the conversion of the world, and tends to drive their children into infidelity and sin. 

Finally, let me urge you to reflect on the awful wickedness of unbelief.  Suppose you have withdrawn your confidence from God, what is the state of your heart?  Do you realize, you are playing the hypocrite and concealing the real state of your heart, and are thus kept from being indicted for blasphemy.  Unbelievers, in the sense I have explained, can be found in the Church as well as outside of the Church.  If you were to reveal to us the real state of your hearts, you would be disgraced before the community and chased from society. 

Now, in a little while, you and I will stand before God.  What will be our condition then?  We shall stand before Him whom we have accused of lying, withdrew confidence from, and would not believe!  But I must not continue this strain of remark.  May God have mercy on us; and let us ponder these things, and turn to the Lord with a full purpose of heart, and thus turn His wrath from us!