Disarming the Giants 6

Matt. 11:2 "John the Baptist, who was in prison, heard about all the things Jesus 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?"

Now, this is the same John the Baptist who had pointed to Jesus around a year earlier at the river Jordan where John was baptizing and said,

"Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29).

And this is the same John the Baptist who, after baptizing Jesus in water, "...saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and settling on him" (Matt. 3:16).

And this same man was standing right there when, "...a voice from heaven said, "This is my beloved Son; with him I am well pleased." (3:17)

Yet now in our text we find John sitting in prison for calling out King Herod's adultery.

And rather than shining forth with unmovable resolve and confidence, he is tossed with doubt!

"Are you the Messiah we've been expecting, or do we look elsewhere?"

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If John the Baptist can experience doubt, anyone can!

Doubt is common to us all.

Doubt is simply defined as, "To be uncertain about something; to be unconvinced that something is true."

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There have been many times in my own Christian life when I had doubts about various things, and there are certain things I have doubts about today!

Now, having said that, I don't mean the essentials of the faith like the blood of Jesus, heaven, hell, the truth of God's Word, and so on.

But I do have doubts about what we might call "non-essentials" like certain interpretations of Scripture, and so on.

And that's okay! It's not a sin to doubt!

In fact, if you spend any time at all thinking about things, you're going to encounter some doubts.

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It's very important to understand that there is a difference between doubt and unbelief.

Many people think DOUBT is the evil "flip side" of FAITH, but it isn’t.

Unbelief is the evil flip side of faith.

Heb. 3:12 "Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God."

Doubt is not a sin, but unbelief is.

UNBELIEF refers to a willful refusal to believe in spite of all the facts.

DOUBT refers to inner uncertainty where a person is genuinely seeking the truth.

I call them "honest seekers."

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Someone rightly said, "If you ever arrive at a place where all your doubts are gone and all your questions are answered, take a deep breath and relax because you’ve arrived in heaven."

I really believe that above the front door of every church in the world there should be a two-word sign: "DOUBTERS WELCOME!"

If you have doubts, come inside.

If you have questions, come inside.

If you're uncertain, come inside.

If you're a skeptic, come inside.

If you're searching for truth, come inside.

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It's a historical fact that the greatest doubters have often become the strongest believers.

And honest doubts — once resolved — often become the foundation of an unshakeable faith.

I have found that no truth is so strongly believed as that which you once doubted.

My personal experience has been that God has always answered my honest doubts....

And my former doubts have proven to be the very things that made my faith stronger once they were answered.

Frederick Buechner put it this way: “Doubts are the ants in the pants of faith. They keep it awake and moving.”

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Now, doubt manifests itself in three arenas of life:

First, there are INTELLECTUAL DOUBTS.

These are doubts often raised by people outside the Christian faith.

How can the Bible the Word of God?

Is Jesus really the Son of God?

Did he really rise from the dead?

Popular books by unbelieving atheists like Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, or Christopher Hitchens...have troubled the faith of many.

Fictional novels like The Da Vinci Code have also sown the seeds of doubt.

Not to mention the pervasive belief in evolution, along with the forced teaching of it in schools.

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Second, there are SPIRITUAL DOUBTS.

These are usually the doubts of those who profess Christianity, but who are beset with questions and uncertainty about various things:

Am I really a Christian?

Have I truly believed?

Why is it so hard to pray?

Why do I still feel guilty?

Why do I still have this sinful habit?

Why is it taking me so long to experience healing?

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Then third, there are CIRCUMSTANTIAL DOUBTS.

This is the most common category because it encompasses all the “whys” and "wherefores" of life.

Why did my child die?

Why did my marriage break up?

Why am I so lonely and alone?

Why did my friend betray me?

Where was God when I was being abused by that person?

These are the questions that arise at the intersection of faith and the painful reality of living in a fallen world.

I can tell you that circumstantial doubts are the most common, and potentially the most destructive.

When we refuse to deal with circumstantial doubts, they soon become spiritual doubts, and those spiritual doubts eventually become intellectual doubts.

I have personally witnessed underlying circumstantial doubts eat away at a person's faith to the place that they eventually leave the church altogether.

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Now, it's not that we have doubts, it's what we DO with our doubts that matters most.

So I want to share three keys on how to move from doubt to faith.

First,

Bring your doubts to God.

This is what John the Baptist did!

John sent messengers to Jesus expressing his honest doubts as to whether he'd gotten it right about Him!

TESTIMONY: I have never taken a doubt to God that He did not eventually answer--sometimes in truly miraculous ways.

God is a BIG God!

He can handle our doubts.

Many of the Bibles heroes like Job and David, Abraham and Moses---took their doubts to God.

Listen to David's doubt: "Why do you stand far off, O Lord? Why do you hide in times of trouble?" (Ps.10:1)

When God reaffirmed to Abraham and Sarah that they would have a child, the Bible says "So Sarah laughed to herself..." (Gen.18:12)

This was the laugh of doubt, essentially saying "You must be joking!"

She wasn't vaporized by an angry God for doubting, but went on to receive God's promise!

So FIRST, take your doubts to God..

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Second,

II. Build your life around what you KNOW to be true.

Don't order your life around your doubts, order your life around what you are sure of.

This is what Abraham did when he first left his hometown in obedience to God.

Did he have doubts? You bet he did!

But he built his entire life around what he knew to be true---the UNDENIABLE FACT that God had spoken to him!

This is what Moses did as he left the wilderness and boldly walked into Egypt to deliver God's people.

Did he have doubts? You know he did!

But he ordered his life around what he KNEW to be true---God had appeared to him in the burning bush and sent him to Egypt!

This is what David did as he ran toward the giant Goliath with a sling and a stone.

Surely there were doubts, but David ordered his life around his faith--what he knew to be true!

And this is what Job did when, in the midst of terrible suffering, he took his stand on what he KNEW was true:

He boldly proclaimed, "For I KNOW that my Redeemer lives, and He shall stand at last on the earth; And after my flesh is destroyed, this I KNOW, that in my flesh I shall see God..." (Job 19:25-26)

Job parked his faith and built his life around the things he was convinced of, not around his doubts.

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TESTIMONY: I've told you about the imaginary file I have in my mind marked, "Things I don't understand."

That file contains several questions and some honest doubts.

But that file does not keep me from building my life around the things I am "fully persuaded of."

I am fully persuaded of the power of Jesus' blood to forgive sins,

Of the truth of God's Word,

Of Jesus being the Messiah,

Of the reality of heaven and hell and a coming judgment,

Of the reality of the Holy Spirit living in my heart, and so on.

And I have built my life around these certainties, not around my fleeting doubts!

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So first, bring your doubts to God; second, build your life around what you know is true, and THIRD:

III. Keep on walking

Don't allow doubts to steer you off the road of your spiritual journey.

Don't build a house in the valley of doubt.

David said, "Yea, though I walk THROUGH the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil..."

We could easily switch that famous passage and say:

"Yea, though I walk THROUGH the valley of the shadow of doubt, I will fear no evil.."

Valleys of doubt should not become permanent dwelling places for the child of God.

Does not the Bible say, "Weeping endures for a night, but JOY comes in the morning?"

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God's heroes always kept moving forward in spite of doubts!

Abraham kept walking.

Noah kept building.

Joshua kept marching.

David kept fighting.

Daniel kept praying.

Isaiah kept prophesying.

And Paul kept preaching!

SUMMARY: Take your doubts to God, build your life around what you know to be true, and keep on walking!