Sermon Notes
Series: Doubts
Sermon: Jesus Can Overcome My Doubts
Scripture: Mark 16: 1-16
Everything that took place on resurrection morning shows that His followers just did not expect Jesus to be R____________ up from the dead.
Scripture references showing their doubts and fears:
Mark 16:1-8—women were afraid, trembling
John 20: 1-2—Mary Magdalene believes that somebody has removed Jesus’ body.
Luke 24: 12—Peter went to empty tomb and wondered what happened.
John 20: 13-15—Mary thought Jesus was gardener and asked if he knew where they had taken Jesus’ body.
Mark 16: 11==Disciples didn’t believe Mary’s report.
Mark 16: 13—disciples didn’t believe report of two from country.
Luke 24:36-37—When Jesus appeared, they were afraid, thinking He was a ghost.
John 20: 25—Thomas didn’t believe other disciples’ report.
I. W____________ do we have doubts?
We doubt when we are U_______________________.
B. We doubt when we are A_______________________.
C. We doubt when we don’t T_______________________.
We may not doubt the T___________ of God’s Word, but we doubt in other areas of life.
II. How does Jesus H_____________ us overcome doubts?
Jesus C____________________ our misunderstanding.
We don’t need to know all the answers. We just need to know the O_________ who does!
Jesus Brings P_______________
Instead of asking, “Why are you doing this to me, God?” we need to pray, “Lord, help me to trust you through this fearful time.”
C. Jesus Trusts Us with His W_____________ Mark 16:15-18:
Jesus is trusting us with the task of sharing the gospel message with others. And as we are faithful in that, we can trust that Jesus will P_______________ people to receive the gospel, and will P________________ us through whatever comes and regardless of the outcome.
Series: Doubts
Sermon: Jesus Can Overcome My Doubts
Scripture: Mark 16: 1-16
Introduction
Resurrection morning was a time filled with all kinds of doubt. Even though Jesus had tried to prepare His followers for the resurrection, they just didn’t get it. Everything that took place that morning shows that they just did not expect Jesus to be raised up from the dead.
I’m going to mention several verses here, and the references are all recorded on your Note Sheet. You’ve heard all these references at one time or another, but I’m just pulling them all together to show the doubt that they had.
Mark 16:1-8 tells how several women came bringing spices to anoint Jesus’ body, which is a sure sign that they expected Jesus to be dead, and to remain dead. When the angel told them Jesus had risen, here’s what Mark writes, 8 Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.”
It doesn’t specifically mention doubt here, but when you put it together with John 20: 1-2, where Mary Magdalene is at the tomb by herself, sees the stone rolled away, and 2 So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where they have put him!" So she believes that somebody has removed Jesus’ body; not that He has risen.
John records that both Peter and John, [he refers to himself as the disciple Jesus loved] ran to the tomb to check things out. Luke just records Peter going to the tomb in Luke 24: 12, where he says, “Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.”
At some point in the morning, Mary Magdalene is back at the tomb, crying, when she sees two angels. John 20: 13 They asked her, "Woman, why are you crying?" "They have taken my Lord away," she said, "and I don't know where they have put him." 14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. 15 "Woman," he said, "why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?" Thinking he was the gardener, she said, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him."
Then Jesus makes it known that it’s him, and He tells her to go back and tell the disciples. Mark picks it back up in Mark 16: 10-11, 10 She went and told those who had been with him and who were mourning and weeping. 11 When they heard that Jesus was alive and that she had seen him, they did not believe it.
Then you have the two that Jesus was walking with going to Emmaus, and they didn’t recognize it was Jesus until their eyes were opened when they sat at the table. In Mark 16: 12-13, Mark says, 12 Afterward Jesus appeared in a different form to two of them while they were walking in the country. 13 These returned and reported it to the rest; but they did not believe them either.
Luke 24:36-37, “While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you." 37 They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost.
And, of course we all remember Thomas. Finally, Jesus came to the place where the disciples were gathered, and Thomas wasn’t there. He showed them His hands and side, and they believed, and told Thomas. But he didn’t believe.
John 20: 25 So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord!" But he said to them, "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it."
I. Why do we have doubts?
In these passages that I’ve mentioned, we see the reasons why we have doubts.
We doubt when we are uncertain.
Peter “wondered” what had happened.
Mary said, “I don’t know where they’ve taken Him!”
B. We doubt when we are afraid.
The women were trembling and were bewildered, and fled from the tomb, and said nothing because they were afraid.
John 20: 19 tells us that the disciples that were gathered together were afraid that the Jewish religious leaders might send Temple guards or even Roman soldiers after them for being followers of Jesus.
When Jesus appeared in the room, they were so afraid they thought He was a ghost.
C. We doubt when we don’t trust.
When Mary saw the risen Jesus, she came and told them, but they didn’t believer her.
The two from the country, likely the two from Emmaus, saw Jesus, and came and told them, and they didn’t believe.
Thomas had the witness of all the disciples and any others that had been gathered when Jesus first appeared to them, and he didn’t believe.
I’m sure that I could say with a lot of certainty that all of us here today don’t doubt that there is a God. We don’t doubt that Jesus is the Son of God. We don’t doubt that Jesus died for our sins. We don’t doubt that He rose up from the grave. And we don’t doubt that the Bible is God’s Word. We grew up in a time and a place where those truths were just a part of our lives. And so, we accept them.
So, I don’t think many of us here would doubt in these areas. You may know someone who does doubt that there’s a God, or Jesus, or the truth of God’s Word. But you probably don’t.
I think instead, we doubt in other areas of life. We doubt for the same reasons, but we doubt in other areas.
We doubt when we are uncertain. For example, a child or grandchild is born with a disease or birth defect that will likely cause this child to die very young. And we may look to God and ask, “How could you do this, God?” There’s a doubt there. Or a loved one is involved in an accident that may lead to their death. “Why did You let this happen, God?”
We doubt because we are uncertain.
We doubt when we are afraid.
A hurricane heads for our coast. Tornadoes are popping up all around us. And we may be afraid that disaster will strike us and cause us harm or even death. And we seem to doubt God’s control.
We doubt ultimately because we don’t trust that God is in control or that God doesn’t seems to care for what is going on in our lives. I’ve even heard the argument from people who don’t believe in God, who say, that if there’s a God, and He can see our troubles here on earth, then either He can’t do anything about them, or He won’t do anything about them. They doubt because they don’t trust a God Who doesn’t do what they think He ought to be doing.
So we, too can doubt. Maybe not the truth of God’s Word, but in the day-to-day understanding of what we believe God ought to be doing in our lives.
II. How does Jesus Help us overcome doubts?
Jesus corrects our misunderstanding.
Mark 16: 14, Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen.“
The word, ‘rebuke,’ here is thought to come from the word that means ‘to know.’ And the idea I get here is that they have been with Jesus for three years now. They’ve heard His teaching about heaven. They’ve heard Him praying to the Father. They’ve seen the miracles He performed. They’ve heard Him speak about His death and resurrection. So, with all that they have seen and heard, when they fo0und out that Jesus’ body wasn’t in the tomb, they should have known better than to remain doubtful.
We doubt sometime because we misunderstand something. We think that we ought to know all the answers. The Bible doesn’t teach us that we will know all the answers. The truth is, we don’t need to know all the answers. We just need to know the one who does!
Instead of doubting when we do not know the particular details of the future outcome of our circumstances, we can be more confident in our faith because we KNOW the God who does know all the answers. Believing that wholeheartedly can remove our doubting.
Jesus Brings Peace
In Mark 16:6 we see this in what the angel said to the women who came t the tomb. They obviously afraid and in doubt about what happened. The angel said, “’Don't be alarmed," he said. "You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him…’”
What the angel said was meant to calm their fears with the truth about the resurrection.
In John 20: 19 we hear what Jesus says to the disciples in the room, “On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!"
The word peace in the New Testament means not only to be at rest, but “to be one,” or “to be in harmony with,” not only with other people, but, also, with God.
When we are afraid that something is going to happen to us, we are not at one with God. We’re not at peace with God about that situation. We think that He’s not able to keep something from happening to us.
Instead of asking, “Why are you doing this to me, God?” we need to pray, “Lord, help me to trust you through this fearful time.” Instead of being afraid of what might happen to us in our circumstances, we accept them as things that God does or allows to challenge and strengthen our faith, so that we can rest from our worries in Him.
Jesus can bring peace in our trouble.
C. Jesus Trusts Us with His Work
We often doubt because we don’t trust that God is in control or that God will do certain things.
Amy Carmichael, missionary to India's children, said her ability to trust God began with her confidence in God's character. She believed that God is, first and always, a loving Father. She believed God was in control, and everything He allowed into her life was ultimately for her good. And as she “tucked herself into God” by trusting Him as a little child, she believed He was able to carry her through all things.
Like Amy Carmichael, we need to place our confidence in God's character, to trust that He is in control, that He is wise, and that He cares deeply for every circumstance we are in.
Sometimes we don’t trust someone unless we feel like they trust us first. Of course, if everybody did that, no one would ever trust anybody. There’s got to be someone who is willing to trust first.
Jesus did that. Jesus trusted us to keep on doing His work when He was gone. Mark’s version of the Great Commission is in Mark 16:15-18:
15 He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues (or languages); 18 they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well."
Now, there’s some of those things I don’t really want to do, like mess with snakes and drink poison. And He’s not telling us to go out and do those things as a kind of boast, saying, “I believe in Jesus, and I’m going to pick up this snake, and if it bites me, I won’t die.” I think that comes under the category of putting God to the test.
But there are times, when God protects His faithful witnesses from disease, accident, deadly animal or insect bites, poisons, so that, the people who have heard their witness will see the power of God at work, and believe the testimony.
The key here is that Jesus is trusting us with the task of sharing the gospel message with others. And as we are faithful in that, we can trust that Jesus will prepare people to receive the gospel, and will protect us through whatever comes and regardless of the outcome.
Invitation
So this morning, I ask you, Do you see that you sometimes doubt God’s working because you are uncertain, or because you are afraid of what might happen, or just because you don’t trust that God will work the way you think He ought to?
Let Jesus deal with your doubts. Let Him correct your misunderstanding. Let Jesus bring peace to your fears. And accept that Jesus has trusted you with the important task of continuing his work through you.
