Today we will begin with a quiz. I have been the pastor here for over three years so it’s time to find out how well you listen.
There will be the names of some of the disciples displayed with a choice of two answers to describe him. When you have the answer, shout it out for all to hear. Ready?
Simon Peter was known as a tax collector or a fisherman. Fisherman is correct. With a show of hands, was being a fisherman a bad thing?
John was known as a zealot or the disciple that Jesus loved. The self proclaimed disciple that Jesus loved is correct. Again, with a sow of hands, was making such a claim about himself a bad thing?
Matthew was known as a tax collector or a fisherman? A tax collector is correct. Was being a tax collector a bad thing?
Judas was known as a zealot or a betrayer. Betrayer is correct. He betrayed Jesus. Was being a betrayer a bad thing?
Thomas was known as a doubter or a tax collector. A doubter is correct. Was being a doubter a bad thing? Most of you raised your hands. Thomas had doubts and his name forever became synonymous with those who loose faith. The dictionary defines someone who is a “doubting Thomas” as a “person who insists on proof before he will believe anything; skeptic.”
But this was not a character flaw of Thomas. He was a follower of Jesus. He did not doubt who Jesus claimed to be. Thomas was a believer. He was not a skeptic. And he certainly did not insist on seeing proof from Jesus before he would believe. If anything, I believe that Thomas was using wisdom when he made the statement “I won’t believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in his side.” (John 20:25)
I think he recalled what Jesus had said to the disciples earlier found in Matthew 24:23-27 “Then if anyone tells you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah,’ or ‘There he is,’ don’t believe it. For false messiahs and false prophets will rise up and perform great signs and wonders so as to deceive, if possible, even God’s chosen ones. See, I have warned you about this ahead of time.
“So if someone tells you, ‘Look, the Messiah is out in the desert,’ don’t bother to go and look. Or, ‘Look, he is hiding here,’ don’t believe it! For as the lightning flashes in the east and shines to the west, so it will be when the Son of Man comes.” Perhaps Thomas was more afraid of being duped than anything else.
Reality is, we all at times have had our doubts. Are we doing the right thing? Are we going in the right direction? When life gets harsh, we wonder if God is there. We have our doubts as to whether God cares or not, especially when we lose our jobs, our health, or a loved one. We may even go so far as to question the reality of God. Does He really exist?
There is a true story of a young pastor in his early thirties. He was being influenced by some rather brilliant minds as to the validity of the scriptures. Some of these deep thinkers had come to the conclusion that since the Bible was riddled with inconsistencies that knowledge, and not Jesus, was the way to solve the world’s problems. The Bible was outdated and could not be trusted. His mind became riddled with doubt in everything he believed.
One night, at a retreat, he walked out into the woods and set his Bible on a tree stump and he cried out: "O God! There are many things in this book I do not understand. There are many problems with it for which I have no solution. There are many seeming contradictions. There are some areas in it that do not seem to correlate with modern science. I cannot answer some of the philosophical and psychological questions that are being raised. But Father, I am going to accept this as your Word-by faith! I'm going to allow faith to go beyond my intellectual questions and doubts, and I will believe this to be Your inspired Word!"
The next day he spoke at the retreat, and 400 people made a commitment to Christ. In August 1949, he would hold a crusade in Los Angeles that would go 5 weeks longer then planned. It was through his honesty about his doubts that God blessed Billy Graham with a ministry that has reached millions.
The one who helped plant the seed of doubt in Billy Graham’s heart was also an evangelist. He was from Canada. His name was Charles Templeton. Charles and Billy were good friends. Charles also began to develop doubts about the validity of the Bible. But unlike Billy, he chose the path of rejection instead of dialogue with God. A man who had at one time preached to crowds of 10 to 30 thousand people nightly became known for a book he wrote titled “Farewell to God” - My reasons for rejecting the Christian faith.
When Lee Strobel wrote his book “The Case for Faith” Templeton, now in his eighties and in the beginning stages of Alzheimer’s, was kind enough to be interviewed. This is what came from that interview. I am reading from an article by Wayne Jackson
“During the course of their conversation, Charles Templeton had again vigorously defended his disavowal of God and his rejection of the Bible. There was no apparent chink in the armor of his callused soul. Then, Strobel directed the old gentleman’s attention to Christ. How would he now assess Jesus at this stage of his life?
Strobel says that, amazingly, Templeton’s “body language softened.” His voice took on a “melancholy and reflective tone.” And then, incredibly, he said: “He was the greatest human being who has ever lived. He was a moral genius. His ethical sense was unique. He was the wisest person that I’ve ever encountered in my life or in my reading. His commitment was total and led to his own death, much to the detriment of the world.”
Strobel quietly commented: “You sound like you really care about him.”
“Well, yes,” Templeton acknowledged, “he’s the most important thing in my life.” He stammered: “I . . . I . . . I adore him . . . Everything good I know, everything decent I know, everything pure I know, I learned from Jesus.”
Strobel was stunned. He listened in shock. He says that Templeton’s voice began to crack. He then said, “I . . . miss . . . him!” With that the old man burst into tears; with shaking frame, he wept bitterly.
Finally, Templeton gained control of his emotions and wiped away the tears. “Enough of that,” he said, as he waved his hand, as if to suggest that there would be no more questions along that line.”
Doubting God is not the problem. In the Greek, the word meant to make a distinction, judge a dispute. Doubt is that inner wrestling that we do to help us distinguish the truth of God from the lies of the world. When we doubt we are facing the choice of believing God or rejecting him. Doubt is not the opposite of faith, unbelief is. Unbelief stubbornly refuses to act in accord with God’s will. Doubt is not the enemy of faith, unbelief is. Doubt prompts us to ask questions. Unbelief refuses to hear answers. Doubt is the opportunity of faith. Unbelief is the opportunity of rejection.
Billy Graham doubted. He asked questions of God. He decided to walk by faith. Templeton had unbelief. He refused to listen to God. He decided to reject him.
So today, we will look at a man burdened with doubt, and it’s not Thomas. It’s John the Baptist.
Matt 11:2 “John the Baptist, who was in prison, heard about all the things the Messiah was doing. -----”
1) Doubt begins in isolation
John is in prison. He has been isolated from his followers except for the occasional visit. They would share stories of the marvelous miracles and teachings of Jesus. Sometimes Herod would call for John to come talk with him, even though these conversations disturbed Herod. But mostly John set day after day in the darkness of a prison cell. And in that darkness doubts, like mushrooms, began to flourish.
Unbelief wants to isolate us. It wants us to be burdened with guilt when our doubts arise. It whispers lies in our ears about our lack of faith in God. It tells us that we shouldn’t share these struggles with each other. Its desire is to imprison us with our doubts.
However God says, through his word in Hebrews 10:25
“And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, ------” When we share our doubts with each other the Holy Spirit has an opportunity to address those doubts through the wisdom of others. We discover that there are moments in everyone’s life when doubt has erupted. And through this revelation we can encourage each other.
2) Doubt insists on confirmation.
Matthew 11:2-3 “John the Baptist, who was in prison, heard about all the things the Messiah was doing. So he sent his disciples to ask Jesus, “Are you the Messiah we’ve been expecting, or should we keep looking for someone else?”
Think a moment about everything John had witnessed concerning Jesus. We are told that even in the womb of his mother, Elizabeth, he leapt at the voice of Mary, who was carrying Jesus in her womb. We are told how he baptized Jesus and with supernatural sight saw the Spirit of God descend like a dove and settle on him. We are told how John, with supernatural hearing, heard the voce of God declare “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy.” John has heard all the latest news about Jesus. Everything confirms who Jesus is.
But in the isolation of prison where doubt grows in the darkness, John wonders if he was mistaken. What if Jesus was not the promised one? What if he had been scammed? So he sends a messenger to do what he can’t do and that is to confront Jesus. John insists on a confirmation from Jesus that he is the Messiah.
Are you brave enough to confront Jesus? Are you fearless enough to say to him “I know you are the Son of God and my saviour but right now I am struggling with a lot of doubt?” Are you fearful of what He will do or how He will respond? Look at his response about John. Matthew 11:11“I tell you the truth, of all who have ever lived; none is greater than John the Baptist. ----”
He does not berate John for his doubts but rather declares him to be faithful. Jesus understood the difference between unbelief and doubt. If John had developed unbelief his message to his followers would have been do not follow this phony-baloney. Instead he sent them to check him out.
3) Doubt brings restoration.
Matthew 11:4-5 “Jesus told them, “Go back to John and tell him what you have heard and seen— the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is being preached to the poor.” In other words tell him that Isaiah’s prophecy concerning the Messiah is being fulfilled. Jesus answered his doubts bringing restoration to John.
When doubts surround you allow the Holy Spirit to remind you of the times that Jesus was present in your life. Remember those times when you were burdened and He lifted you up. Recall those times of blessings that He bestowed on you. Cry out to him when you need evidence. And look to the Bible for conformation as to his promises for you and his love offered you.
We just recognized the events of 9-11 recently. Planes hit buildings in New York and Washington. One plane, believed headed for a strike in Washington, crashed in Pennsylvania due to some brave men and women willing to sacrifice their lives to save many. One of those was Todd Beamer.
In “Let’s Roll: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Courage”, Lisa Beamer reflects on the loss of her dad. She says, “Slowly, I began to understand that the plans God has for us don’t just include “good things”, but the whole array of human events. The
“prospering” he talks about in the book of Jeremiah is often the outcome of a bad event.
I remember my mom saying that many people look for miracles- things that in their human minds “fix” the situation. Many miracles, however, are not a change to the normal course of human events; they’re found in God’s ability and desire to sustain and nurture people through even the worst situations. Somewhere along the way, I stopped demanding that God fix the problems in my life and started to be thankful for his presence as I endured them.”
This could probably sum up how John felt now. Now he could endure the prison doubt free.
4) Doubt strengthens our faith.
Genesis 15:6-8 “And Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord counted him as righteous because of his faith.
Then the Lord told him, “I am the Lord who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land as your possession.”
But Abram replied, “O Sovereign Lord, how can I be sure that I will actually possess it?”
Abram who will become Abraham, the father of the Jewish nation has just been promised by God that his descendants will be as numerous as the stars. The only problem is Abram is nearing 100 years old and his wife, who is barren, is nearing 80. They have no children.
But notice Abram believes but he doubts. Like John, he feels isolated because he has do heirs. He believes yet he doubts. Like John, he needs confirmation from God. He believes yet he doubts. Like John, God answers his doubts by making a covenant with him.
Romans 4:20“Abraham never wavered in believing God’s promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God.”
Even though he doubted, his belief in God never wavered. And through this doubt he was forced to depend on his faith more than his circumstances. And God received the glory.
Don’t let unbelief choke out your faith. Question your doubts. Ask for God’s help in your doubts. Rely on your faith in the midst of doubts.
Next week we are going to continue this study about doubts. We are going to attempt to discover where doubts come from, how to handle them, and how to limit them.
But until then deal with your doubts now. Don’t let doubts isolate you from God. He will not berate you for bringing your doubts to him. Ask him for a settling in your spirit that all will be well. Read his Word to discover truths to quite your doubts. Let your doubts lead you to Jesus and not away from him. Remember doubt is not the same as unbelief. Let doubt be an exercise to strengthen your faith and not an excuse to lose it.
