Because of Unbelief

From the Pastor: Dr. M. J. Seymour, Sr.

“And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them. And he marveled because of their unbelief. And he went round about the villages, teaching.” (Mk. 6:5-6)

This passage hits hard with pin-point accuracy at the root of the corrosive spiritual poverty of the churches (not buildings – assembled believers). The guilt is not upon the abilities of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Healing begins with an honest acknowledgement of the gross rebellion of unbelieving hearts. The absence of the mighty work of God in His churches is because they are so self-consumed that they are incapable of looking unto the Lord from whence comes our salvation. The work of God is unconditionally dependent upon the God of the work. His churches are empowered by the lifeline of unwavering faith.

The great Apostle Peter began to sink in the troubled waters because he interrupted his unwavering faith in the Lord by doubting His power over His creation. Jesus told Peter, “O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?”(Matt. 15:31) Doubt is the great evil that prevents believers and their assemblies from elevating spiritually. God’s people have always been penalized because of unbelief.

When the Lord’s first church suffered under persecutions and intimidations they knew of only one course of action. Jesus is the Head of the church; therefore, it must be to Him they look for overcoming power. It is written, “And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.”(Acts 4:31) Power with God and from God comes by faith, not pretentious faith, but the kind that moves the Holy Spirit.

Jesus did not squander His work “there” due to their unbelief. It does not have to be so where we are, if we would exercise the kind of faith that can bring the quickening power of God down upon us.