Sermon: Faith that Overcomes Doubt
Series: 40 Days of Extraordinary Faith
Text: John 20:24-31 April 7, 2013 AM
John 20:24–31 (NIV84) 24 Now Thomas (called 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 it.” 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 did many other miraculous 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 Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
Mark 11:23 (NIV84) 23 “I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him.
INTRODUCTION
All kinds of people are doubters.
Remember when people said
Nobody needs a cell phone?
Home computers are just a fad...
Just this week I heard about 2 instances
That could raise doubts in a Church family
You may have heard
That Rick Warren’s youngest son, Matthew
Committed suicide on Friday
According to the family
He was a young man of faith
But he struggled with mental illness
And depression all his life
I also heard this week about a Church
That lost pastor to suicide this week
And I am reminded that
Even the strongest among us is weak from time to time
I think those Churches
Are struggling with doubt this morning
And maybe you are too
I hope nothing so devastating as suicide
But a financial setback can bring doubt
A bad report from a doctor
A week when the car breaks down
The Hot water heater dies
And the dog eats your homework
Can bring doubts to mind...
Is God really up there?
Does He really care?
Out memory verse this week is:
“I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Mark 11:23 (NIV)
Doubt is natural, but doubt can also be deadly.
Honest doubt seeks answers,
It can be a sign of a seeking heart.
But there is a dishonest doubt that disguises cynicism,
It hides from evidence
And overlooks the truth clearly presented.
Thomas’ words in our key passage today
Help us to see the difference
Between doubt and unbelief.
QUOTE: WIERSBE: What was it that Thomas would not believe? The reports of the other Christians that Jesus Christ was alive. The verb said in John 20:25 means that the disciples “kept saying to him” that they had seen the Lord Jesus Christ alive. No doubt the women and the Emmaus pilgrims also added their witness to this testimony. On the one hand, we admire Thomas for wanting personal experience; but on the other hand, we must fault him for laying down conditions for the Lord to meet.
Doubt says, “I am struggling to believe
I need help, answers, direction”
But Unbelief says, “I will not believe
I refuse to accept the evidence
Even if I see it!
Rodney Buchanan: The reason the Christian faith has grown from one little band of disciples to the place where it has conquered kingdoms and the hearts of people of every age is that it is based on truth.
Listen, it takes outrageous faith to trust God
In the midst of a world gone wrong.
But only outrageous faith
Will bring us the peace we need.
Only through outrageous faith
Can we build homes, families,
And even Churches that will weather the storms.
I. FIND FAITH IN FELLOWSHIP
John 20:19–23 (NIV) 19 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!” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. 21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
John 20:24–31 (NIV84) 24 Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came.
Elijah
1 Kings 19:1–4 (NIV84) 1 Now Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. 2 So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, “May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them.” 3 Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, 4 while he himself went a day’s journey into the desert. He came to a broom tree, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.”
John the Baptist
Matthew 11:2–3 (NIV84) 2 When John heard in prison what Christ was doing, he sent his disciples 3 to ask him, “Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?”
Hebrews 10:25 (NIV84) 25 Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
God made us for fellowship.
In the Garden there was one thing
The Lord said was not good
And it was that man was alone.
Doubt often rises in the darkness of loneliness
When the only voice we hear is our own
We need the encouragement of other believers.
We need the face to face
ILL: The Little Boy with bad dreams:
I want someone with skin on!
Overcoming doubt means trusting God,
But it also means trusting one another.
The pathway to outrageous faith
Cannot be walked alone.
We will all face obstacles
And stumbling blocks,
And we will all need helping hands along the way.
II. TAKE TIME TO HEAR TESTIMONY
John 20:25 (NIV84) 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.
1 John 5:9–10a (NIV84) 9 We accept man’s testimony, but God’s testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which he has given about his Son. 10 Anyone who believes in the Son of God has this testimony in his heart.... Anyone who does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because he has not believed the testimony God has given about his Son. 11 And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
A Positive Testimony
Wanting the same experience
“For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you...1 Corinthians 11:23a (NIV)
Every believer has a testimony.
Each one of us has a story of how we came to faith
But a testimony powerful enough
To help us overcome doubt,
Requires a daily walk with the Lord.
We need to be able to point to regular evidence
Can you point to times
When God provided for you financially?
Can you talk about a time
When God healed a hurting relationship?
We need an ongoing testimony with the Lord
And we also need the testimony of others
Their testimonies of how the Lord
Has worked in their lives.
A testimony of cancer survival
Gives new hope to someone just diagnosed.
If I am struggling with anger,
It is good to hear that the Lord
Helped someone else overcome anger.
When I am feeling down and defeated,
It is good to hear how the Lord
Lifted another brother or sister up!
Outrageous faith means knowing how God has worked
And is working in our lives.
And in the lives of others
III. BE READY FOR A REVELATION
John 20:24–31 (NIV84) 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.”
Ephesians 1:17 (NIV84) 17 I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.
Hanging on Despite Doubt
He was there!
Meeting Jesus in the Moment
A voice
A face
An offer - hands and side
“Whoever gives heed to instruction prospers, and blessed is he who trusts in the Lord.” Proverbs 16:20 (NIV)
Doubts and fears can shout so loudly in our ears that it is hard for us to listen to the Lord. That is one goal of the Devil, to make us deaf to God’s Word. And yet the Lord promises that if we will pay attention to Him, we will receive His blessing.
Overcoming our doubts and fears means digging into God’s Word, learning about God’s faithfulness. It means seeing God’s faithfulness to Abraham when he left his home and family to follow the Lord. It means learning about David trusting God even when facing a giant. It is getting caught up in Paul’s journeys as God uses him to spread the good news with all the world.
Letting God’s Word speak to us means learning about His love as we see the glory of the cross unfold. It means rejoicing in the empty tomb and realizing that our greatest fears have been conquered in Christ.
To listen to the Lord means to be in fellowship with His people. It means to hear their testimonies and rejoice in God’s mercies. It is to hear the Word of God preached and taught and cherished.
To listen to the Lord means to spend time in prayer. Seeking to know Him and be known by Him. It is crying our your fears, seeking answers for your doubts, and finding strength to face each day.
When we listen to the Lord in those ways, His Word takes root in us.
IV. BE WILLING TO BELIEVE
John 20:24–31 (NIV84) 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 did many other miraculous 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 Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
John 1:12 (NIV84) 12 Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—
Faith that Overcomes Doubt!
A promise - Seen and believed
Blessing for those who believe who have not seen
Mark 9:24 (NIV84) 24 Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”
SIMPLY BELIEVE
“Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” John 1:12 (NIV)
To believe means to place your trust in Jesus, to have faith in Him.
It is in fact so simple that we are afraid it can’t be true. Our doubt kicks in because we wonder how such wonderful mercy and grace could be so freely given. We wonder how the Holy and Mighty God could possibly care so much for us, and yet He does!
To believe, to have faith is an act of the will. It is a choice to place all your hopes in Jesus and trust Him. It is an all or nothing kind of thing, that is why I think some people call it childlike faith. My Grandson has occasionally thrown himself off the stairs and into my arms, even when I’m not ready! He trust me to catch him no matter what. So far, thankfully, his faith has been justified!
The point is he holds nothing back! He is all in and totally committed.
Outrageous faith is leap off the stairs kind of faith.
Doubt is defeated because trust is complete.
Outrageous faith gives Gideon the strength to beat an army of over 100,000 with only 300 men. Outrageous faith gives Peter the courage to walk on water.
And outrageous faith gives believers the courage to start Bible studies in the workplace and in the school house.
It gives His children the energy to go to New Mexico or Haiti or Canada.
Outrageous faith gives a Church the courage to believe that through obedience to God, they can change the world.
INVITATION
Illustration: A famous theologian came upon a boy flying a kite. The kite was so high that it couldn’t be seen; it was out of sight in the mist, in a low cloud. The professor asked the boy, "How do you know it’s there?" And the boy replied, "I can feel the tug of it."
Not long afterwards, someone asked the professor, "Why do you believe in God and in spiritual reality?" He said, "I believe because I feel the tug of it."
What doubts are you wrestling with right now?
