Losing your Doubts (Be the Biggest Loser in 2012 series, #1) Jan. 8, 2012
Text : John 20:24-31
24 Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 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.”
26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
30 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
This morning I’m glad you are here, I’m looking forward to looking to God’s Word in these next four weeks as we discuss how to be the biggest loser, we are going to be talking about four very important issues, things that we all deal with…and if you say you don’t deal with these things, then my week five sermon will be on lying or denial…one of the two…What are these four areas? Today we are going to tackle our Doubts. Over the next 3 Sundays we will be talking about how to lose our Fear, our Pain, and our Guilt. So the first step is to admit that these areas play a part of our lives, so let’s be real and let God speak to us about how we deal with these real issues.
I’ve been reading Lee Stroble’s book, “The Case for Christ”, and I found this quote that I thought was appropriate for today… “he said there are 3 kinds of people in the church. Those who are struggling with doubt right now, those who have no doubts now but will struggle with them in the future. And those who have no doubts and will never have any doubts because they are basically brain dead.” I will let you decide which of the 3 groups you fall into…
Jude 1:22 says, 22 Be merciful to those who doubt;
This morning, if you find yourself in a place in your life where you are doubting, whether your doubting God, doubting yourself, doubting the circumstances you find yourself in…whatever it is, you are in a safe place this morning.
James Dobson tells the story about a lady who was watching a butterfly as it struggled to work its way of the cocoon. After a while the lady began to feel sorry for the butterfly, so she got a tiny little knife and carefully cut the cocoon just enough to help the butterfly work its way out. And sure enough, the beautiful butterfly got out and stretched out its wings and began to flutter for just a second. Then w/o any reason at all it fell to the ground and was soon dead.
This lady discovered too late that the struggle to get out of the cocoon is what makes a butterfly’s wings strong enough to fly. So w/o the struggle the butterfly has no life. I’ve got a feeling that God uses doubt in many of our lives like that cocoon. He forces us to struggle with the realities of our faith, not because he wants us to fail but because he wants us to spread our wings and fly.
This morning I want to look at this passage and I want us to look at how Jesus deals with Thomas, and the doubts that are real in his life.
Let’s start with John 20:24-25
24 Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 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.”
1. Thomas was not disqualified or kicked out because of his doubts…
There is no question that Thomas doubted that Jesus was alive, and he wanted physical proof so that he would be sure. Let’s put ourselves in Thomas situation for just a minute. Thomas was one of the 12, he had followed Jesus for 3 years, he was close to Jesus, he saw the miracles, and he witnessed firsthand Jesus divine power, his divine nature…His love. Thomas had to be heartbroken, distraught, and confused. Earlier in chapter 20 we see that Jesus appears to the disciples, but Thomas is not there, we don’t know why, but we can make some guesses.
All the disciples were hiding behind locked doors thinking the Romans would be coming to get them next; they were scared for their lives. I could see Thomas thinking, you know if we all hang out in the same place, it sure will make it easy for the authorities to find us…I think I will find a more secluded spot to wait this thing out. Maybe he needed time to think and to remember the teachings of Christ in an effort to make sense of this horrible ending.
We are not sure where he was, but I want to tell you’re this morning, if you’re having doubts; the best place for you is with your brothers and sisters in Christ, for the fellowship and the encouragement that Christian fellowship can provide. Thomas didn’t stay away with his doubts; he brought them back to the fellowship of his brothers, because he wanted answers.
I believe God can use our doubts to drive us to search for HIM. Two of the Christian authors that I enjoy reading the most are former doubters, former atheists who because of their doubt, they set out to prove Christianity to be false… Lee Strouble and Josh McDowell both decided to search for the truth…and guess what they found? They found that their doubts were unfounded, they found Jesus Christ as their personal savior, and now serve as defenders of the faith.
This morning if you are struggling with your faith, then make a choice to use those doubts to fuel your search for the truth, you dig into God’s Word, and ask God to reveal Himself to you in a way that will strengthen your Faith in Him. Not only Dig into the Word, but Get into the Fellowship of the Church, ask God to use the fellowship, the relationships right here in the church to help you with any doubts you are having. We can use our common experience and what God has taught us individually to strengthen the body, amen?
Doubt is not a sin, but it can take us away from God. The question is, what are you going to do with your doubts? Thomas wasn’t kicked out because of his doubts, but he did chose to come back into fellowship, he chose to seek Christ for his answers.
26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
2. His Presence drives away the doubts and brings Peace.
I don’t know how doubt comes to you, but here is how it tries to invade my life. Normally the doubts don’t come when everything is going great. Just in case you’re wondering, Satan, our enemy is the one who plants these thoughts, these doubts into our minds, and I don’t normally have these thoughts come dancing through my consciousness when everything is great, it’s when I’m down, it’s when things are going bad.
Have you found that to be true? When something that you thought was going to happen and it doesn’t, you’re disappointed and magically, doubt shows up. That’s not a coincidence by the way, Satan plans it that way.
When you experience a great loss, I would guess this is when most people find themselves asking the big questions in life, “What am I doing here?” “Is there really any purpose?” “Where is God when I need Him?” I read somewhere this week that 60% of the book of Psalms is a Crying out to God….in a sense, where are you? Even these great men of God who wrote the book of Psalms had these feelings, these times of struggle.
When the things that you have always believed in, somehow they are challenged, that can bring on a struggle with doubt. Do you remember when you finally learned that Santa Claus wasn’t really a real person? I remember it like it was yesterday, I was about 5/6 years old, we had just opened all of our Christmas presents, and I mean we had a great Christmas, presents everywhere, and my twin brother, stands up and asks that question that turned out to be the end of Santa in our house….He asked, “Is this all we get?” If Santa is not real, then what else is not real?
When your students go to school, especially in Jr High through College, their Christian belief system is going to be challenged, and they are going to deal with doubts. We need to understand that having doubts is natural; the question is where do we take our doubts? Who are we going to go to for answers?
In our passage, Thomas went to be with the Disciples, and something amazing happened. I want you to know that Jesus wants to deal with your doubts, He wants to you to draw close to Him, and when you do…He will draw close to you and bring you His Peace.
Jesus shows up and says, “Peace be with you!” Jesus brings Peace into our lives.
Personally, there have been some times in my life where doubt tried to work its way into my heart. Each time is when I have been disappointed in some way. When I say that I have experienced doubt, it’s been like… “Am I giving my life to what is really true?” “I don’t want to waste my life on something or someone that doesn’t exist.” Have you ever had those thoughts?
What did I do?
I cried out to Him like I never have before….praying for His presence, His assurance that He is who I believe Him to be. I have three times in my mind where I felt desperate, and each time it wasn’t long before I experienced God’s presence, His Peace, His quite voice that assured me that He loved me, assured me that I was doing exactly what He called me to do, and He always told me that no matter what happened in this life, He would be there.
Not only did I cry out to Him, I also searched God’s Word for that assurance, and it never fails. God reveals Himself to us through His Word.
God has also put people in my life who are sensitive to His leading and who encourage me are instruments of God’s grace because of their faithfulness.
When you go through those times of real doubt, I challenge you to Cry out to God and see if He doesn’t reveal himself to you. Jesus came to Thomas, Jesus had Thomas put his fingers in his side, in his hands…Jesus desires to help us overcome our doubts and be strong men and women of Faith.
28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
3. Make your declaration and Believe!
The more Truth that we possess in our minds and hearts, the less doubt can remain. In fact, when we grow and believe God’s truth about Him, about ourselves and how valuable we are to Him, doubts don’t have a chance against His Truth. Many of our doubts come from our own insecurities, when we let God teach us about How Much He Loves Us, His love brings a real healing that transforms how we think about ourselves, and then in turn how we think about others.
God’s Word is the foundation for this Truth. Just as Thomas did, make your mind up and get intimate with Jesus, let Him teach you His truth. Thomas made this declaration, and then he went out and shared this good news, tradition tells us that he went to India and gave his life sharing about His Risen Savior Jesus Christ. Have you ever wondered what turned those disciples who were hiding from the authorities behind locked doors, into the brave men and women who would stand before Kings and mobs and declare their belief in Jesus? What was it that transformed their minds? It was the Truth. They saw Jesus alive, and there was no doubt that He was the Son of God, all that He claimed to be.
I can tell you this morning that I have no doubt that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and that there will come a day where this belief could cost me my freedom, maybe my life, but God has proved to me without any doubt that He is alive and that He loves me, and I count it a privilege to stand for Him.
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