What do you do with your Doubts? - Prestonwood Network

"What Do You Do with Your Doubts?"

Luke 6

May 13, 2012, 11:00 AM Service ? Dr. Jack Graham

This is our series all about believing: Why Believe? Ultimately that we may say I believe in Jesus Christ. It's taken from the Gospel of Luke and we're taking time out in our Luke series... our Journey with Jesus to walk with a man who walked with Jesus, the disciples. And we've had such an interesting and... and really strong response from these messages on the disciples who became the apostles, the first friends of Christ, the inner circle of Christ who ultimately became the witnesses of the Gospel, that took the Gospel ah... to the ends of the earth. And we appreciate these men because they're so much like us, to know that Jesus called and included common people like you and me to be His disciples encourages us to no end and allows us to believe that God can use each one of us.

Take your Bibles and turn with me to the book of John, the Gospel of John, chapter 20. We find the name of this apostle, like the others in all the lists of the synoptic Gospels including Luke. But John himself, one of the disciples, gave us the most up close look at the disciple of that we are talking about today. Ah... the subject is "What to do with your doubts." So fill in the blank. We're talking today about doubting... It's not a trick question. [laughter] We're talking today about doubting... (Alright, thank you very much. I'm going to send some of you back to Sunday school.) [laughter] Ah... No, if you don't know that, that's okay.

Ah... the fact is that Thomas is a man that many of us know that the most that we know about him was that he was a doubter, but I think Thomas has gotten a bad rap. I think that's a ah... a bum description of him because in reality, while Thomas certainly dealt with doubts just like all of us, he was really more of a pessimist, a skeptic, ah... someone who had a somewhat melancholy personality who... who was not the kind of person who... who got up everyday cheering the sun up, but... but rather someone who was rather dour and sometimes down... down because he dealt with some real questions, sincere questions; because doubt is uncertain; doubt is a lack of confidence and conviction.

Thomas is known in the Scriptures as the twin or Didymus... the twin. It may be that Thomas had a physical twin. (We had several twins ah... that we celebrated today in our parent's dedication.) Ah... and so he may have had a twin sister or a twin brother. Thomas, the twin. Some Bible scholars think that Thomas' twin was Matthew; we don't know. But spiritually speaking, illustratively certainly Thomas because of his doubt was double-minded in many ways. And the word Didymus- twin in the Bible means to think twice, or to be doubleminded on the one hand, and yet on the other hand, the Bible tells us that [James 1:8] "a double-minded man is unstable in all of his ways", so there's that unsteadiness, that unsureness, unsettledness that we, listen to me, all experience in life, whether we are doubting ourselves... our ability to get something done. Maybe there's a mother here today who's wondering, "Can I do this? Can I get this done?" Or you're wondering about your child's future and there are doubts. Ah... maybe you have doubts concerning ever giving birth to a child and you have questions regarding that, and... and sincere ah... desire to... to know more than... than what you know today. That's... that's doubt, that's the lack of conviction, the lack of confidence, that double-mindedness. Maybe yes, maybe no kind of spirit that we see in this man Thomas. Or maybe you're unsettled about yourself and your faith and your future. Maybe you're... maybe you're doubting God Himself.

And can I say that doubt is not necessarily a bad thing? In fact it is a good thing when your doubts deepen your faith. We do not doubt what we do not first believe. (Let me say that again.) We do not doubt what we do not first believe. Doubt has been described as a warning light in your automobile when... when you have low fuel or tire-pressure... oil pressure, you have a warning light typically in your car that will say something's wrong with a mechanism, something's wrong with the car. And doubt is like that. It is a warning that something else is going

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on. We need to get it checked out. Check out your doubts. Ah... doubt is like what pain is to the body. Doubt to the soul is like what pain is to the body.

And in effect for the believer doubt becomes like growing pains that strengthen our faith when we do with our doubts what God tells us to do with our doubts. And that's what this message is about. Doubt can become the doorway to a deepening faith. I mean, what is better, just a shallow, superficial faith that never asks why or never asks a question? Or a growing, deepening faith that is strengthened even when we have unanswered questions and situations that seemingly are unresolvable; unrestricted, unresolved conflicts and difficulties in our life that produce doubt?

It is human... it is human to have questions. God has given us the ability to ask questions. It is in asking questions that we learn. And the greatest people... some of the greatest people in all of the Bible were doubters at one time or another, starting with Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Elijah, the mountaintop prophet... called down... prayed down fire from heaven. He had doubts and even ultimately prayed to die. Esther the great, great queen had doubts about her future and the future of her people and her nation. David... my goodness! Read the Psalms... many authored humanly by David and his questions raised and the transparency of his soul, the... the pouring out of... of his doubts and his fears and his tears. David was a doubter!

And think about this: all of the disciples doubted, all the apostles doubted, including the Apostle Paul who wondered about his future and doubted God in the darkness of a dungeon. Though there was faith there again is on the one hand, and yet on the other hand, we believe what we believe, we then doubt what we believe. Ultimately we want to get to the place where we believe our beliefs and doubt our doubts, but some of us frankly aren't there yet!

Think about this to all the mothers out there. Jesus said, "The greatest Man born of a woman..."; that's pretty... pretty strong recommendation to put on your resume! I bore, according to Jesus, the greatest Man whoever lived. His name was John the Baptist, the introducer of Jesus to the world. [John 1:29] "Behold, the Lamb of God; He takes away the sin of the world." And yet, did you know that there was a time that John the Baptist, the greatest man ever born of a woman, doubted? Sure. Because if you talk about someone born of a woman, you're talking about a human being and all human being's doubt. And John the Baptist was imprisoned, about to be beheaded. He is like... this wilderness man is like a lion in a cage and he sent word to Jesus, "Are... are you really the One? Or did we miss this? Should we expect another?" And Jesus sent back word to John the Baptist to help him to believe and encourage him in his faith. We doubt.

Mary, the mother of Jesus doubted. John Bunyan, who himself... the writer of Pilgrim's Progress, who himself knew doubt and darkness, said that every pilgrim must pass through doubting castle. Certainly Satan hurls and assails us with ah... the fiery darts of unbelief and... and even doubt itself. So none of us are exempt. And yes, Jesus said some of the most amazing things that He ever said in response to people's questions and sincere doubts. The Bible says that we are to work out our salvation in fear and trembling. That is, you know what a workout is. You're exercising your muscles, you're getting them stronger. And our salvation is like a muscle that is to be exercised and strengthened and grown. We are to work out our salvation in fear and trembling. God's works it in and then we work it out.

So doubt is one of the tools that God uses and it's some heavy lifting at times, to strengthen our faith. Doubt is not your enemy; doubt can be your friend. Now let me say that there is... before we go on and get to our text and our topic of Thomas and what to do with your doubt, let me just say that there's a big, big difference between doubt and unbelief. Between doubt, which is to doubt what you believe and doubt your faith, and doubt God from time to time, as compared to unbelief or disbelief.

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You've heard me say on numerous occasions that there are sincere doubters, honest doubters, and there are dishonest doubters. There is a professor ah... by the name of Professor Wall. I don't know that I brought it in here with me. We're going to put it on the screen for you. A Harvard professor of biology... ah... a world renowned professor who said this:

"When it comes to the origin of life, we have only two possibilities as to how life arose. One is spontaneous generation leading to evolution. (that's option one) the other is supernatural... a supernatural created act of God. (that's Genesis 1, and that's option two.) There is no third possibility," (according to Professor Wall.)

"Spontaneous generation was scientifically disproved 120 years ago by Louis Pasteur and others. That leaves us with only one possible conclusion: that life arose as a supernatural, creative act of God. (Now watch this) I will not accept that philosophically because I do not want to believe in God. Therefore, I choose to believe in that which I know is scientifically impossible: spontaneous generation leading to evolution."

So here's a man who says, "I don't know God and I really don't want to know God." That is unbelief. The Scripture says [Psalm 14:1, 53:1] "The fool says in his heart there is no God." The sentence is really in the lang... The Hebrew language in which it was written is much shorter than that. It simply says, "The fool... no God" "The fool (add for yourself `says') no God."

It's like when you have a big meal, like maybe your Mother's Day lunch and you know you've had enough, but then along comes the dessert. And if you're in a restaurant, the dessert tray! Bigger than Texas! And even though you don't need any dessert, you want dessert because it tastes good. But mustering up all the courage and confidence that you have and the discipline that you have, you say, "No dessert!"

Now that's what it is to say, I don't believe in God; no God. It's not primarily, ultimately an intellectual problem, but Jesus speaks of an evil heart of unbelief. And as we'll see a little later on in this message, it really becomes a subterfuge for doing whatever we want to do in life. So Thomas, the twin: one of the most famous doubters in history and yet, one of the closest followers of Jesus, chosen of our Lord to teach us.

I love the name Thomas. My father's name was Thomas... Thomas Benjamin Graham. His father was named Thomas. So we have some Thomas in our own family. And I can tell you that I believe very strongly and I believe more than ever... I believe God's word more than ever! I believe as the Scripture says [1 John 5:13], "These things are written that you may know that you have eternal life!" I believe with confidence in these things! And as my... my... my... my years come and go, and the more I study my Bible... the more I walk with Christ, the more that I believe! But I can tell you, I also have doubts, just like you do.

I know this message is for everyone. I've already preached it once and my phone lit up between the services, I got a couple of texts. For example: here's a text from Paul Kidron [sp?], one of my tennis buddies. He's battling cancer right now. And he's about... he's been through one round of very tough chemo treatment. And here's what he said, "Thanks for the message today. It really hit home, especially as I prepare... prepare for my next seven week chemo cycle." Doubt, questions.

I got a text from Tate and Joy Cruz... many of you know Tate and Joy. "Joy and I want to thank you for this message. Seven years ago today Connor was diagnosed." Connor, their son, powerful witness for Christ around the world really, and his testimony continues but having battled cancer for several years, went to eternity. And they said, "We needed this. God bless."

We all need this because dark times and difficult times in particular can present us with questions of doubts and we need to prepare. So what do we do with our doubts?

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We do what Thomas did, and that is each time we meet him in the brief bio that we have in the Gospel of John he's bringing his doubts, his questions to Jesus. First, in John chapter 11... we're going to get to John 20, believe me, but in the first episode with... with Thomas is in John 11:16. Let me give you a little background before I quote this verse. In 11:16 of John... before that, Jesus is out preaching in the desert and this is the most popular time of our Lord's ministry. People are... are leaving Jerusalem and the religious system, they're running out to hear Jesus and lives are being transformed, and... and it's an unbelievable experience for these disciples, they're on top of the world.

And then word comes from Jerusalem, from a little town, a little suburb of Jerusalem by the name of Bethany, where Jesus spent some off time, some retreat time with a little sweet family that He loved very much, Mary and Martha, the two sisters, and their brother Lazarus. And the word was sent to Jesus out in the Judean desert that Lazarus is sick and dying. "Come quickly, Jesus! Your friend, Lazarus, needs you!" And after some delay, Jesus determined that it was then time to go, and that's a whole other story about delays and doubts, but... But Jesus said, "Okay, we're going now to Jerusalem."

Now to Thomas and the other disciples this was a death sentence. It... it... it was walking into a firestorm, and... and there was little doubt that if Jesus got back to Jerusalem where He had already been threatened, than He was on His way to an execution. And the disciples are standing around, looking at the ground and looking around. They've got their hands in their pocket, maybe talking to each other. And Thomas says this in chapter 11 of John and verse 16: He said, "All right, let's go and let's die with Him."

16) "Come on! Let's also go that we may die with Him!"

Thomas! Maybe Thomas needed a little attitude adjustment with Zig Ziglar... I don't know. But he's so pessimistic! Do you see that? "Okay, let's go die; it's over."

Alexander White, a Bible teacher, said... I'm quoting this this morning because I just love saying this word. "He had a hypochondriacal heart!" Say it again! A hypochondriacal heart... meaning that he always expected the worst! You know, like your aunt that always had something wrong with her, was constantly complaining that she was sick and finally when she died she had put on her gravestone, "See, I told you I was sick!" [laughter] That's Thomas! Pessimistic, dour, moody! "Let's go die!"

But with that the twin, the other side... he had a hero's heart. His pessimism was a courageous pessimism. The other disciples weren't saying "Let's go die." But Thomas was betting his life on the Lord. He said, "Okay, You're going, you're not going alone. We said we'd be in this all the way and I'm in; let's go!"

The second time we meet Thomas is in John 14, a very familiar passage. This is the upper room, and in the upper room Jesus is giving his last will and testament... His final words and promises to His disciples. He said [John 14:1], "Don't let your hearts be troubled: you believe in God, believe also in Me." This is often quoted at funerals, and appropriately so, but it was like a funeral in that dark upper room that night because now they know it really is about to be over. Jesus has told them He is going to a cross; that He will die. But He said don't be worried about that. Don't be troubled about that. "You believe in God. Believe also in Me. You know where I'm going. I'm going to prepare a place for you!"

The disciples must have been thinking "What? After all of this!", and the doubts begin to form... ah... run into their brains and... and... and what about the kingdom? What about overthrowing these Romans? What about the Messiah? We thought You were the one! Now You're talking about going to heaven. We get heaven but what about us. We don't know..." And Thomas was the one bold enough and raise his hand and say, "Jesus, Jesus," And in verse 5 of John 14 he said to Him, "Lord, we do not know where you're going; how can we know the way?" There he goes again with a question; with a doubt.

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But thank God for his question! Because Jesus gave one of the most incredible statements in all the Bible regarding His personhood, His identity for verse 6, on the heels of Thomas' doubt He says, "I am the way, the truth, the life, and no one comes to the Father except by Me." He said, "I am life! I am heaven and the hope that you have in Me." Thomas asked and he received.

And then in John chapter 20, after the resurrection Jesus appears to His disciples on that first Easter morning, but Thomas is absent. He was somewhere else when Jesus first appeared to His disciples. And so in verse 24 of John 20 here's what we discover about doubt through Thomas.

24) Now Thomas, one of the Twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. 25) So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord."

Love it that these men were not willing to let Thomas go. They'd walked with this man for these years with Christ and they were unlike so many of us when somebody departs our company or walks away from the faith, or we haven't seen them in a while... I mean it's six months because... before we realize somebody's missing! But these men said, "Thomas is not here; he's got to know that Jesus is alive!." So they went and found Thomas and they said, "You've got... you've got to know this! Jesus is alive!"

25) ... "We've seen the Lord." But he said to them (verse 25), "Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe." (Show me, or I won't believe.) 26) Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. (Thomas gets to church that morning. Maybe his mother told him to go.) And although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." 27) Then He said to Thomas,... (Notice there's no condemnation or even correction so much here, but an invitation.) "Put your finger here, and see my hands' and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe." 28) Thomas answered him, (Doubting Thomas? No way! Believing Thomas!) "My Lord and my God!"

And the doubter, the skeptic, the cynic, the questioner gives... delivers one of the most profound confessions of faith ever given.

28) "My Lord and My God!"

The deity of Christ is on display here!

We have Mark Batterson with our staff this week, and he's written a book called The Circle Maker, fantastic book on prayer. I would highly recommend it. Ah... But Mark was telling our group. He said, "You know, there are some times when... when... when you have church and God shows up and that's a good thing. And then there's other times that He shows off! I love it when God shows up; I love it more when God shows off! (We've been getting a lot of that around here lately.)

Well God showed off! He said, "Look, my prints... my scar, my wounds for you!" And Thomas fell on his face and he confessed the Lord and he now believed! And he found faith. This is what you do with your doubts.

What do you do with your doubt? Well, number one, you face your doubts honestly and you admit them to Him. Don't be dishonest about your doubts. Be honest to God. God wants us to be upfront in every relationship... in every relationship it is built upon trust and transparency, whether it is a family, children and parents, husbands and wives, every relationship grows when it is based upon truth and honesty. A relationship with God

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