Doubt your Doubts
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Intro
Intro
Doubts and questions are something that every person has faced in their lifetime
Doubts are something that if you are a Christian you have faced at least once I am sure
To be clear this is what I mean by doubting and what I mean by questioning
Doubt: a feeling of uncertainty or lack of conviction
Questioning: the action of asking someone questions - seeking to learn/understand new things
You at somepoint have probably faced questions or doubt
Rather you lost a loved one, something bad happened, or you’re simply trying to understand how a good God can send people to hell
You’re not alone
We have all in some way, shape, or form had questions and maybe even doubts
I want to clear this up - it is not sinful to ask questions (so long as we accept the answer), it is sinful to dobut
Questions are you trying to find out and understand what is happening
Doubting is saying God can’t do it, I don’t believe what He says, He is not true
The problem is - we believe these to be the same, and they’re not
One is seeking understanding, one is already seeking disbelief
In the Gospel of John, John details one of the apostles as having doubts about Jesus and His ressurection
What we see out of Thomas’ doubts is that God doesn’t deny us because we have a dout, or because we ask questions, but that God can still work with us, and through us
Doubting Thomas
Doubting Thomas
Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “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.”
Thomas was one of the disciples that was with Jesus
He spent time with Jesus, was called to follow Jesus, saw Jesus do miracles, heard teachings, he did everything with Jesus
Yet, Thomas still doubted, his nickname is literally “doubting Thomas”
He saw Jesus die, didn’t see his ressurrected body, and then doubted it happen
I think we can all connect in that same sentiment
Thomas had the question of is this real, did this happen, what do I do
What do I believe now that I hear the Apostles telling me this happened
But he didn’t doubt alone
What happens is this: when we have questions, or Lord forbid doubts, we tend to seek it out on our own
But look at what Thomas did
Thomas seeks
Thomas seeks
Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”
SEEK JESUS THROUGH YOUR DOUBTS
Thomas seeked an answer and a solution to his doubting
Thomas could have very easily have gotten swallowed by his doubts
He could have left the faith
Ignored everything Jesus taught and showed him
Yet, instead he stayed with the others disciples
He continued to eat with them, talk with them
He continued to look for answers
This is something that we must take away
When you face questions, or doubts, you must continue to seek Jesus
The problem is that most people in their quetsions, and doubts, don’t immediately find an answer and just walk away
Or they find the answer, and don’t want to accept the answer as the answer
We cannot do that!
We must be like Thomas (never thought I’d say that huh) and continue to seek through our doubts, continue to seek Jesus through the questions that flood our brain
Continue to look for Jesus in your doubts
Continue to go to good council in our doubts
Thomas didn’t seek answers from just anyone, he seeked with people that were “further” in their walk
He seeked with the Disciples, the others that walked and talked with Jesus
We must seek answers with others who are believers
Jesus speaks
Jesus speaks
Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.”
JESUS SPEAKS DURING OUR DOUBTS
Jesus spoke to Thomas
In Thomas’ doubting Jesus spoke to Him
Verse 27 says that He SPECIFICALLY spoke to Thomas
In Thomas’ doubting Jesus spoke directly to him
I think the beauty of that is that Jesus always speaks to those that are hurting, doubting and seeking answers
If we are hurting, if we are doubting, if we are uncertain and have questions, but like Thomas we are seeking Jesus, Jesus always comes and speaks
The Lord is near to the brokenhearted
and saves the crushed in spirit.
Jesus - being the Lord - is always near to those who are hurting
And He speaks to those that are seeking
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.
If you are questioning or doubting, but continue to seek Jesus through it, we will find Him
Thomas did, and so can we
What happens though is this: we have doubts, we are uncertain, and then instead of seeking for God we just give up
Jesus doesn’t speak to us if we aren’t seeking Him, notice again what Jesus said in Matthew 7
Ask, Seek, and Knock Jesus tells us that it will be opened, we will find, if we are seeking
We have a responsibility, even in our seasons of doubting - to seek Jesus
We have a responsibility even in our questions - seek Jesus
We are image bearers, rather we are Christian, non-Christian. That means we are hardwired to glorify Jesus
That means that in questions, in doubts, in anything we are going through - we must always seek Jesus!
If we do that we are promised in Scripture that Jesus will speak to us
The He will become clear
Thomas Leads
Thomas Leads
Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”
LEAD THROUGH OUR DOUBTS
The last thing we see is that Thomas cried out “my Lord and my God” when Jesus spoke to him and answered his doubts
This was the highest confession of faith Jesus recieved in the Gospel of John
Thomas was showing that Jesus - the guy from Galilee that he followed, cried out MY LORD, MY GOD
Literally Thomas went from doubting Jesus and everything he did, to then realizing that Jesus IS God - Jesus is LORD
Jesus is the same God that we see in the Old Testament, the same God we see in the New Testament
He makes that proclimation that Jesus is God after doubting the validity of who Jesus is, after questioning everything he had done
He leads the other disciples to fully see who Jesus is and to recognize him as God
Thomas then after Jesus ascends into Heaven proceeds to go out into the world proclaiming the name of Jesus
He goes all the way to India proclaiming Jesus and salvation through Him
He proclaimed Jesus until he was killed for his faith!
Thomas went from doubting Jesus to dying for Jesus
What about us?
What about us?
So what about us?
We aren’t Thomas, we didn’t walk with Jesus
We didn’t have Him appear to us while the door was locked
What does that mean for our doubts?
Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
Jesus then looks at Thomas tells him you believed because you saw me
But blessed are the people who have not seen me, doubt, and come to believe in me
We are not depraved because we haven’t seen Jesus in person, instead we actually receive a special blessing from Jesus for our belief
He said we will recieve a blessing for believeing without seeing
And the reality is, we have something that Thomas couldn’t dream of
We have the entire Bible, from Old to New, from Creation, to New Creation
We have the entire history of all that has happened and will happened, we have the beauty of seeing the stories of the OT and seeing how it applies now
We have the entire work of God given to us to know him, Thomas didn’t
You don’t have to see, you just need to believe
Sometimes God gives us all the answers we want, sometimes he doesn’t
We must understand that sometimes our faith requires blind faith - becaus after all, we are image bearers
Our doubts don’t define who we are. Jesus does.
Our questions don’t define who we are. Jesus does.
Our situations don’t define who we are. Jesus does.
No matter what is happening, we are meant to seek, love, serve, and worship Jesus.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Questions are going to happen to all of us at one point, no matter how strong your faith is. You may find yourself with a doubt about something you go through.
That’s why we need to be like Thomas when we doubt
1. Seek God through our doubts
When we have questions or feel uncertain seek Him in the right people, in His word, in the Bible
2. Listen to Jesus when he speaks
Jesus will always answer us if we are seeking Him, just listen
3. Lead out of your doubts
Thomas after hearing and seeing and believing made the strongest praise to God, that must be us!
There is blessing for us who believe without seeing, don’t waste what God has given