How difficult that must have been, to see a miracle like that, to witness it, and yet one’s heart still to be so hard, that all they wanted to do was betray him. It doesn’t matter what evidences there are for the existence of God, or how, sometimes, you recognise the Bible is true, and all that it says about the human race. However much you may, in a transient way, feel your need of a Saviour, and understand the message of the Gospel, yet ultimately, no matter what, your heart will remain hard. What a tragedy.
Some people believe in a measure, and yet they are not saved – they hold back. They believe, but not wholly, because they believe in Christ, and they believe these things are probably true, but they still also believe in this life – so they are halting between two opinions. They can never know conversion, reconciliation with God – Christ becoming their Lord, and their friend. And some people believe in Christ, and believe in Christ as the resurrection, and the life, but they also believe in themselves, and their works – ‘But I am a good person; but I am not bad enough to need complete salvation, and to need a substitute, and to have to grovel, and repent.’ They assume, that they are already accepted by God. They think every good person is. Others believe, but they will not trust themselves to Christ, and give their lives to him, because they do not want to feel excluded, by the world around them, by their friends. They don’t want to be out of step. So they are afraid. Some people believe, but they don’t act, they don’t go to Christ because the eternal consequences of not doing so have never really dawned on them. They do not say, ‘I am going to die. I am going to be punished for my own sin. I am going to perish and know rejection - Whereas I could live, eternally.’ And some people believe, but they will not commit their souls to Christ, and become his, because they do not grasp the power and the truthfulness of his promises. If he promises to save – and he does – then he will do so and we need to fully grasp that. Still others believe, but they just won’t repent – they just won’t repent of their actual sins, they cling on to them. Some just will not trust in him, that he will save them. That is the saddest thing. ‘I believe in him, but I can’t trust my soul to him.’
All the kindness and patience of Christ is with us, even though our conviction needs to be deepened and our faith needs to be strengthened. But there comes a point when we are responsible, if we are not ever looking to strengthen our conviction and faith. We must remember the things that Christ has done for us and the many, many answers to prayer, so that we stand more firmly with greater conviction, with greater faith. Do not let us come to the point where we have to know the reproof of the Lord for our hardness or our unbelief.
If you believe in him, tell him so. It is very simple – go to him in prayer, and tell him you believe in him and what he has done, and his power of resurrection. One day you will hear that call into eternity, and one day beyond that, if the Lord hasn’t come sooner, you’ll hear that great call, when your soul is brought back into this world, and your body is raised at the voice of Christ, and joined with it, in glorified form. Believe in him, and you will see the glory of God.