Number One: Some do not give because of fear. In 2 Timothy 1:7, Paul said, “…God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” And the fear of what? Well, there may be a depression next year, and this thing over in Iraq may develop into a World War. Or, my husband may get in the hospital and stay six months, and as a result of that, he loses his job. My wife may get sick, get in the bed for months and months. We could all have a nervous breakdown this morning talking like that. I don’t know what tomorrow holds. I’m living today. Let me be a faithful steward of God today! Then, if I’m [still] living tomorrow, let me be a faithful steward of God tomorrow, but this idea of refusing to give as God has prospered us because we don’t know what the future is, is contrary to every principle taught in the Word of God! We can’t live lives like that. We live today. I don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow. I don’t know what the world leaders are going to do tomorrow. I don’t know what’s going to be the future of this country. But, I’m living today! Let me be a faithful steward of God today!

Number Two: And then, some do not give because of unbelief. They just…don’t…believe what the Bible teaches on the subject. And really, I think in living the Christian life—just generally speaking—that the average person in the Lord’s church…his basic trouble is unbelief. I want you to turn with me, and in conclusion of this lesson, to the book of Hebrews. I want you to turn with me to Hebrews, the 3^rd chapter, and I want you to read for yourself…and let me tell you just a little about the context before I read the verses to you.

If you remember, God said to the children of Israel, “I’ve given you the land of Canaan [Leviticus 25:38].” Now, keep in mind that expression—God said, “I’ve given it to you!” Then, after He stated, “I’ve given it to you,” He told Moses to select 12 men to go over and spy out the land [Numbers 13]—not to see if they could take it. They were sent over to see about the fertility of the soil; they were sent over to see about the fruit trees, the prosperity of the land, where the cities were located, how high the walls were. God had said, “I’ve given it to you!” That was a promise from God—“I’ve given it to you!”

And those men came back, and ten of them said, “We can’t do it.” Well, do you hear somebody say, “Well, God said He’d given it to us?”

“Ah, it doesn’t matter what God said. I’m telling you, we’ve been over there; we saw it for ourselves, and it can’t be done!”

“But God said He’d given it to us.”

“I know that, but it can’t be done!”

Now then, I want to read to you what Moses said about those people—why they didn’t take that land—and the same thing applies to many of us today in living the Christian life. Turn to Hebrews, the 3^rd chapter, and verses 11 and 12. Notice what it says: “So I swear in My wrath, they shall not enter into My rest. Takeheed, brethren, lest there be in any of you…”—that’s talking about people like you and me—“Take heed…lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.” UNBELIEF is what Paul said their trouble was. Notice verse 19: “So we see that they could not enter in because of UNBELIEF.”

Now, notice Hebrews, the 4^th chapter, and verse 6—notice! “Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief….” Notice verse 11: “Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.”

Four times in those few words, Paul said the reason they didn’t go over and take that land—it was unbelief, unbelief, unbelief, unbelief, and then he said, “Let us take heed, brethren…” that we not fall [after the same example] of unbelief ourselves.