Faith And Doubt

HEB.11:1;6 "FAITH AND DOUBT"

* Many Bible stories have mixtures of faith and doubt. * This is true of the simple account given

in Matt.8:23-27. * Jesus entered into a ship and His disciples followed Him.

* There came a great storm upon the sea. * The boat was covered with the waves, but Jesus was

asleep. * His disciples came to Him and said, "Lord, save us: we perish."

* Jesus arose & rebuked them saying, "Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith."

* Then the Savior rebuked the winds and the sea and there was a great calm.

A) This story reveals the matter of faith and doubt. * The disciples had some faith, but they

also had much doubt. * So Jesus said, "Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith."

B) In Matt.14:22-31, right after the feeding of the 5000, Peter walked on the water.

* Most of us are people of faith and doubt! * We fail to heed the Bible admonitions on how to

have faith. * Strangely, we have faith in many ways. * For example:

C) We have faith in mailing a letter. * We write it, sign it, stamp it, and put it in the mailbox.

* We believe that the letter will be delivered, we have no doubt about it! (Visitor’s letters)

D) We have faith in banking money. * We go to our bank, make out a deposit, hand it with our

money to the teller and walk away with confidence.

* We have faith in buying and eating food. * We buy with confidence & we eat w/o fear.

E) We manifest faith when we fly by plane to some distant place.

* We have faith that the plane will hold us up & bring us safely to our destination.

F) Even in the matter of drinking water, we are manifesting faith.

* We turn on the faucet, fill a glass of water, and we drink it. * The water could have poison in

it, but we have faith to believe that it is pure!

G) Even in starting a car we manifest faith. * We get into the car, hit the starter, the battery turns

over the starter, the starter turns over the motor, and off we go.

* I could go on and mention other ways that we manifest faith. * Drs., nurses, medicines,

operations, treatments, all of these are manifestations of faith we have in people & things.

H) But now, we are discussing the matter of faith and doubt, recognizing that the two are

close together. * Note with me a few things:

(1) A DISTURBED FAITH * In Matt.11:4-6 we read that John the Baptist was put in prison.

* From the prison cell, he learned of the works of Christ, and he sent 2 of his disciples saying,

"Art thou he ......." * In v.4-6 Jesus answered, "Go and show John again those things ......."

* John the Baptist was a great man of faith, but for a time, his faith was disturbed.

A) Faith Is Sometimes Disturbed By Conditions! * This was true of John the Baptist!

* The bare prison walls didn’t help to bring about faith, joy and happiness!

* Therefore, John sent out word to inquire regarding the Lord.

B) I believe in my heart he knew, but his faith had been disturbed by the things that had happened.

* The Lord Jesus of course knew of the greatness of John the Baptist, and He said in Mt.11:11,

* "Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a ......."

C) So, John’s faith was disturbed! * The disciples on the ship ....... * Peter on the water .......

* Conditions of life oft times brings disturbance. * I read about a little girl who fell down on the

sidewalk & skinned her knee. * She said to her mother,

* "Wouldn’t it be nice if all the world was cushioned?" * But the world is not cushioned!

D) And in this life we will have distressing circumstances, some unfortunate conditions that may

surround us! * Satan is gonna see to it that your life is not easy!

* There’s a primitive African tribe that believes that although God is a good God & wishes good

for all of us, he has a half witted brother who keeps getting in the way & messes things up.

* This is pagan foolishness, but there is a devil who is disturbing conditions around us all the time!

E) Again, Faith Is Disturbed By Delay! * David - "I waited patiently ..." * Waiting is always hard!

* Waiting for conditions to improve, waiting for prayers to be answered for a loved one to come