How to Deal with Doubt

Notes
Transcript

Big Idea: Jesus increases our faith.
Doubts come to all believers
Doubts are caused by circumstances and weakness
Doubts must be brought to Jesus himself
Luke 7:18–23 ESV
The disciples of John reported all these things to him. And John, calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to the Lord, saying, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” And when the men had come to him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?’ ” In that hour he healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind he bestowed sight. And he answered them, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”
John is in prison, because he had boldly preached and boldly called out Herod.
Mark 6:17–20 ESV
For it was Herod who had sent and seized John and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because he had married her. For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” And Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death. But she could not, for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed, and yet he heard him gladly.
Not marks of a man of little faith. Boldness to preach and confront evil. Yet doubts come to all. John was in prison, after proclaiming Christ as the Lamb of God. Certainly he may have thought things should be different.
Big Idea: Jesus increases our faith.
Doubts come to all believers
Doubts are caused by circumstances and weakness
Doubts must be brought to Jesus himself
Luke 7:18–19 ESV
The disciples of John reported all these things to him. And John, calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to the Lord, saying, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?”
Doubt came even to this great prophet. Remember Jesus said there was none greater than John. Yet, in prison, he began to doubt. He was likely tired, hungry, lonely, wondering why his service to God was being rewarded with prison. But doubt is not the same as unbelief.
The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter Six: Compassion in Action (Luke 7)

There is a difference between doubt and unbelief. Doubt is a matter of the mind: we cannot understand what God is doing or why He is doing it. Unbelief is a matter of the will: we refuse to believe God’s Word and obey what He tells us to do. “Doubt is not always a sign that a man is wrong,” said Oswald Chambers; “it may be a sign that he is thinking.” In John’s case, his inquiry was not born of willful unbelief, but of doubt nourished by physical and emotional strain.

So John sent two of his disciples to ask these questions of Jesus. Luke7.20
Luke 7:20 ESV
And when the men had come to him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?’ ”
These are good messengers, they bring the question exactly as John had posed it.
They came at a time when Jesus was performing many healing miracles. Thus, they could bring back an eyewitness report.
Luke 7:21 ESV
In that hour he healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind he bestowed sight.
Jesus instructs them to go and tell John their eyewitness account.
Luke 7:22–23 ESV
And he answered them, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”
Big Idea: Jesus increases our faith.
Doubts come to all believers
Doubts are caused by circumstances and weakness
Doubts must be brought to Jesus himself
Isaiah 29:18 ESV
In that day the deaf shall hear the words of a book, and out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind shall see.
Isaiah 35:5–6 ESV
Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert;
Jesus has already quoted from Isaiah 61, applying it to himself:
Isaiah 61 ESV
The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to grant to those who mourn in Zion— to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified. They shall build up the ancient ruins; they shall raise up the former devastations; they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations. Strangers shall stand and tend your flocks; foreigners shall be your plowmen and vinedressers; but you shall be called the priests of the Lord; they shall speak of you as the ministers of our God; you shall eat the wealth of the nations, and in their glory you shall boast. Instead of your shame there shall be a double portion; instead of dishonor they shall rejoice in their lot; therefore in their land they shall possess a double portion; they shall have everlasting joy. For I the Lord love justice; I hate robbery and wrong; I will faithfully give them their recompense, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them. Their offspring shall be known among the nations, and their descendants in the midst of the peoples; all who see them shall acknowledge them, that they are an offspring the Lord has blessed. I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. For as the earth brings forth its sprouts, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to sprout up before all the nations.
Big Idea: Jesus increases our faith.
Doubts come to all believers
Doubts are caused by circumstances and weakness
Doubts must be brought to Jesus himself
A Walk with God: Luke 32. Jesus and John the Baptist (Luke 7:17–30)

Remember how, after the text was read, Jesus gave a very brief sermon, declaring to the congregation, ‘Today, this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’ That bold declaration earned him the unmitigated wrath of his hearers. They didn’t miss the point; they understood that Jesus was saying that he was the fulfilment of Isaiah’s predictions of the coming Messiah. Here in this text, when Jesus returns the message to John the Baptist, he sends in the message a clue that John, being steeped in the Old Testament, would certainly not overlook. John would get the message. Jesus doesn’t give a direct answer. He just says, ‘Tell John what I am doing. Tell John to remember what the Scriptures say.’

When doubts come, bring them to Jesus. His answers come in His Word.
If someone you know is having doubt, give them encouragement through God’s Word.
And finally, Jesus reminds His followers to not be ashamed of him: Luk7.23
Luke 7:23 ESV
And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”
A Walk with God: Luke 32. Jesus and John the Baptist (Luke 7:17–30)

Then Jesus adds something to the message to his dear friend, John: ‘Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me’ (7:23). Do you like to keep your religious affections a secret, particularly from your friends who are not enamoured by Christ? Is there a sense in which Jesus, though you embrace him as your Redeemer, is still a bit offensive to you? There are many, many people who struggle with that. But Jesus said, ‘Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me.’

Something very human is going on here in this narrative. To have a loyal friend, someone on whom you can count in a time of crisis, is a great privilege. There are very few people in this world who are so loyal to other people, and care that deeply, that they will stand beside them in the worst moments of human crisis, particularly if it involves a personal risk to do so. John’s life was on the line. He would eventually be beheaded because of his faithfulness to the mission that God had given him. But Jesus pronounced a blessing on those who would not stumble over him, on those who would remain loyal to him in the midst of their doubts and in the midst of difficult circumstances.

There is something very important in this exchange between Jesus and the disciples of John. How would you feel if a close friend and supporter sent a message to you which said, ‘I am not really sure whether you are who I thought you were. Should I look for somebody else?’ The normal human reaction would be to retaliate with criticism about the other person. But not Jesus. Jesus takes this occasion, after answering the enquiry of John, to give public testimony to his own endorsement of the greatness of John the Baptist. Jesus understood the agony of the attack of the enemy on John; Jesus understood what loneliness and solitude could do; Jesus understood that John the Baptist was perhaps a bit impatient for Jesus to get on with his Messianic agenda. He also understood that John was not a cowardly weakling who blew hot and cold with every wind of public opinion.

Big Idea: Jesus increases our faith.
Doubts come to all believers
Doubts are caused by circumstances and weakness
Doubts must be brought to Jesus himself
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