Overcoming Doubt

1 Peter 1:6–13 NASB95

In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls. As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries, seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things into which angels long to look. Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

INTRO: Today is Resurrection Sunday! While we celebrate this reality every Sunday, this day each year is special. Earlier this morning, several of us gathered outside and rejoiced in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We read the account of the empty tomb and the assurances of the angels who declared “He is not here, for He is risen!” It was cold, but the warmth of the fellowship of the saints more than made up for that.

The resurrection of Jesus from the dead is absolutely pivotal to our faith. His resurrection is the proof that His atoning sacrifice was accepted. Paul explained it this way to the Corinthian church

1 Corinthians 15:14–19 NASB95

and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain. Moreover we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.

Without the resurrection, there is no hope of salvation. In his letter to the Roman church, the apostle Paul tells them that belief in the resurrection is necessary for salvation.

Romans 10:8–9 NASB95

But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;

I imagine that most of you this morning grasp the centrality of Christ’s resurrection to the Christian faith. But here’s the thing: Jesus’ resurrection is difficult for many people to believe. In fact, there is a good possibility that some of you here this morning are skeptical… that’s understandable.

You see, being raised from the dead goes against all natural law.

ILL: If someone were to come here and tell you that gravity turned off for a day, you’d probably look at them a bit sideways. That’s not possible.

It’s not all that rare that people struggle with this- it’s happened for nearly 2000 yrs! Scripture records that this was difficult even for Jesus’ closest friends and followers.

When Mary approached the tomb, she was going there to place spices on a dead man’s body. She initially thought someone had moved Him. It took her seeing Jesus, hearing His voice before she believed.

When Mary told 10 of the disciples that Jesus had raised from the dead, they refused to believe her… Luke’s Gospel records that these words of Mary’s were ‘nonsense’. But Jesus appeared, showed Himself to them and they believed.

And then there’s Thomas… We call him ‘Doubting Thomas’. Poor guy- how would you like to be referred to by all Christianity as “doubting Thomas”? Peter, James, and John all doubted too, but they didn’t earn such a nickname.

Anyway, Thomas missed Jesus’ 1st visit to the disciples, and even though 10 men and the ladies were all telling him that Jesus was in fact alive, he refused to believe. And in Jesus’ grace towards him, He showed up and gave Thomas the proof he demanded. Only then, did he proclaim, “My Lord and My God...”

Nevertheless, Jesus leaves Thomas with these words:

John 20:29 NASB95

Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.”

Belief in the resurrection was difficult then for the same reasons it is difficult now. Being raised from the dead is not possible. But we serve a God of the impossible. He made the natural laws, so it’s no stretch of the imagination that He can accomplish that which is outside the natural law.

Yet, in the 21st century, we wrestle with doubts about Jesus’ resurrection. After all, you and I have never witnessed anything like this. So, how do we overcome this unbelief or doubt?

Now, there are some good resources that investigate the resurrection using scientific studies, secular history, and other such resources. A quick google search will give you some of these. I recommend “The Case for Easter” by Lee Strobel as a concise argument for Jesus’ physical resurrection.

This morning, we’ll focus our time on overcoming doubt using the passage we read a few minutes ago. My prayer is that you will be encouraged and emboldened in your faith as we study our passage in 1 Peter this morning. If you picked up a bulletin, I invite you to follow along as we learn together. The message is titled, Overcoming Doubt. Let’s dive in.

The first and most important step we must take in overcoming doubt is to:

Accept the Authority of God’s Word (10-12)

Let me read 10-12 again (READ)

Here is what Peter is saying: All of Scripture testifies to God’s plan to redeem mankind. The BIG picture (from Genesis on) tells of God’s character, creation, the fall of man, of Christ’s coming, His death, and His resurrection - all that was done to restore man to God as we look to the glorious Kingdom of Heaven that is to come.

IOW, The very Gospel message that you have heard - that we were dead in our sins, but God so loved the world that HE sent Jesus to die (to take our penalty upon Himself), that He would raise Him from the dead and offer redemption to us. THIS GOSPEL was predicted, prophesied, and proclaimed even before it happened.

How did we get this Scripture? Through the direction of the Holy Spirit, God spoke to man and provided us with a clear picture of what was necessary for our redemption and how God would offer such redemption to us.

Indeed, it was because of God’s Word recorded through the voice of the prophets that we can confidently identify Jesus to be the promised Messiah and we can trace His life and teachings as they lead Him to the cross. The same Holy Spirit who inspired the prophets indwells believers today and enables us to receive and proclaim the full gospel of Jesus Christ.

Peter explains that you and I are the fortunate recipients of the Word of God. We, in 2023, have even more than the NT church had, for we have the New Testament in print, bound together with the OT. Later in the same chapter, Peter quotes Isaiah

1 Peter 1:24–25 NASB95

For, “All flesh is like grass, And all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, And the flower falls off, But the word of the Lord endures forever.” And this is the word which was preached to you.

This is the word that was preached to you… And just as the OT prophets didn’t fully understand all that they were given, but trusted in the authority of God, so too you and I, when we accept the authority of God’s Word, can entrust our doubts to the hands of the One who is the Word of Life.

Next we can overcome our doubt as we:

Align Our Actions With God’s Authority (13a)

Verse 13 begins with “prepare your minds for action”. This literally means, “gird up the loins of your mind”

I think Peter is harking back to the Passover in Egypt when God commands the Hebrews to be ready to move even as they partake of the Passover meal.

For us, we need to grasp is that it is essential that we move our beliefs to action. Stated another way, we will act out what we really believe.

You cannot be idle and believe the Gospel. You cannot really believe God’s word and never become a doer of God’s word. Either God’s authority is real in your life, or it is not.

If we are to overcome our doubts, then we must ready ourselves for real action. Allow me to give you a picture:

If you were going to move quickly back in Bible days, you had a problem: you weren’t wearing sweat pants or athletic shorts, but a robe. Ever try to run in a big flowing robe? If you didn’t tie it up, you’d trip and fall flat on your honker.

Early Christians faced the challenge of overcoming their doubts even as they were receiving the Great Commission. But, let me show you what they did:

Matthew 28:17 NASB95

When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some were doubtful.

Do you see that? The worshiped Him, even though some were doubtful. They didn’t align their actions with their feelings or doubts, but rather aligned their actions with God’s Authority!!!

Likewise, you and I need to align our actions with God’s authority even when we are struggling. In doing so, we will be able to surrender our doubts to God’s Authority. After all, Where else could we turn?

Acts 4:12 NASB95

“And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.”

Verse 13 goes onto say, “keep sober in spirit”. Another way of saying this is to practice self-control… to say no to things that are unhealthy or untrue.

Self control is one of the most difficult disciplines, for it requires us to deny ourselves in order to submit to God’s will and way. In this, we are not just aligning our positive actions with God’s authority, but we are refusing certain other actions.

When it comes to our doubts regarding the resurrection, we are many times the products of the influences around us. If we continue to entertain worldly lusts, then we will most certainly reject the authority of God and thus reject the offer of salvation through Christ.

ILL: I was watching a video of an atheist and a Christian apologist. The apologist asked if the atheist would follow God if the apologist could convince him of God’s existence. The atheist replied- “No. I wouldn’t want to give up my lifestyle”

Truly one of our biggest obstacles in belief is not that the evidence for the resurrection is not good, but rather that we love darkness rather than light. The worldly influences can thus cloud our minds so much that we do not spend adequate time considering the implications of the resurrection.

Even Steve Jobs understood that “Deciding what not to do is as important as deciding what to do”

To overcome our doubt, we must Accept the Authority of God’s Word and Align our actions with God’s Authority. Finally, we see that we must:

Aim for Glory! (13b)

Let’s read the second half of v.13 (READ)

We will, one day, see Jesus! One day, every ounce of doubt will be gone- God will fulfill His plan and we who have trusted in Him, even though we can’t explain it, we will experience the glory of eternity. Speaking of eternity in heaven,

Revelation 22:3–4 NASB95

There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him; they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads.

One day, we who have placed our faith in Jesus, who died for our sins and was raised on the 3rd day - we will breath the air of heaven and enjoy the glory of the Lord!

One day, we will perfectly reflect His holiness and will get to offer Him the worship that He deserves.

One day, we will get to see the nail scarred hands as Thomas did and then we will praise God for His grace that afforded us the Gospel on earth. Let us aim for glory!

But until then, as Peter wrote

1 Peter 1:6–9 NASB95

In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.

On this Resurrection Sunday, it is my prayer that your doubts will be overcome by the power of God as He draws you near. Will you, like these 2 young girls surrender to His authority today?

If you are still uncertain, or if you want to take the step to place your faith in the resurrected Christ, this is your invitation to come. I’ll be down front as we sing, and at the rear doors as you leave. I’d love to speak with you.

[PRAY]

What are common objections to the resurrection?

The Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection (Luke 20:27). What Old Testament passages point to the resurrection?

What are the implications of the resurrection for us?