Sermon 10 - Breaking The Barriers To Belief Series

Introduction:

A. Lewis Wallace lived from April 10, 1827 to February 15, 1905 and was an American lawyer, a Union general in the American Civil War, a governor of New Mexico Territory, a diplomat, an artist, and an author from Indiana.

1. Wallace’s journey of faith began with an indifference to religion.

2. He attended church sporadically but lacked strong religious convictions.

3. One day, General Wallace sat on a train with Colonel Robert Ingersoll, the famous atheist.

4. The two of them discussed how an interesting book could be written about Jesus.

5. Ingersoll encouraged Wallace to write such a book that would tear down the prevailing sentiment about Jesus’ divinity and paint him as just a man among men.

6. Wallace acted upon that suggestion and the result was Ben Hur, one of the best selling books of the 19th century.

7. Wallace immersed himself in biblical studies and historical texts, meticulously researching the life of Jesus and the world of first-century Judea.

8. This rigorous investigation led to a shift in his perspective.

9. The more he studied the life of Jesus, the more he was convinced that Jesus was more than a man, until one day, he was forced to declare: “Truly, this man was the Son of God.”

B. I believe that any person, like Lewis Wallace, who spends enough time looking at the evidence about Jesus will come to the same conclusion that Jesus is who He said He was, the Son of God.

1. Certainly, there are barriers to belief, but those barriers can be overcome through study, investigation, and reasoning.

2. Today, I would like to talk about some barriers to belief and how they can be overcome, but before we do that, let’s do a quick review of the things we have been exploring during this sermon series.

3. We started with the fact that people matter to God - He loves them and He wants to save them!

4. Then, we talked about the fact that reaching out to the lost is not easy and that there are costs involved, but the benefits certainly outweigh the costs.

5. Next, we explored a formula for outreach that includes – high potency (authenticity, compassion, sacrifice), close proximity (relationships and contact).

6. Then, we explored the many ways to be involved in outreach and that it’s important for each of us find the ways that best suit our personality and gifts.

7. Finally, most recently, we talked about how to clearly and concisely share the good news about Jesus.

8. Now, with all that in mind, let’s explore how to break the barriers to belief.

C. Let’s begin our exploration by journeying back in time to a scene just after Jesus’ resurrection.

1. This incident is recorded in John chapter 20.

2. Thomas was speaking to the other apostles - they had seen the resurrected Jesus, but he had not.

3. He said something like: “Stop trying to convince me that Jesus is raised from the dead! What do you take me for anyway, a fool? I’d have to push my finger into the wounds in His hands and His feet, and stick my hand into his side before I will ever believe that He was raised from the dead!”

4. Thomas continued, “So you can fantasize all you want about a resurrection, but what it looks like to me is that I have already wasted three years of my life. I’m not going to give up one more day on anything associated with Jesus. Don’t you get it? It’s over!”

5. Can’t you relate to what Thomas was feeling and saying? Don’t you think you might have felt the same way had you been in his shoes?

D. One week later, the apostles were huddled together again, still trying to make sense of what had happened with Jesus and what they were supposed to do next.

1. This time, Thomas with them.

2. Jesus suddenly appeared in the middle of the room.

3. He carefully looked around the room, as if trying to locate a certain person.

4. Then He locked eyes with Thomas.

E. Bill Hybils wrote that this scene reminds him of those old western movies where two guys square off in a saloon.

1. While they’re staring each other down, everyone else starts diving behind tables and chairs to protect themselves because they know that bullets are about to fly.

F. And so, I can picture Jesus squaring off with Thomas.

1. I can imagine the other disciples, who remembered Thomas’ tirade from a week earlier, felling like they needed to get out of the way.

2. I’m sure they were thinking: “Jesus is going to come down hard on Thomas. Thomas should never have opened his big mouth and expressed his doubts!”