Doubt is Still #1

Pledge

Matthew 11:1-6

1       When Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in their cities.

2       Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples

3       and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?”

4       And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see:

5       the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.

6       And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”

Title: Doubt is Still #1

Introduction

If there was a ranking system for the weapons used to derail those of faith today, DOUBT would be #1

Doubt is nothing new to mankind. We have been dealing with it since the beginning of creation.

First weapon used by Satan (Adam and Eve)

Still today - If you tell someone there is 581,678, 934,341 stars in the universe, they’ll believe you. But if a sign says, “Wet Paint,” that same person has to make a personal investigation.

We have to be careful about classifying people when it comes to doubt:

Believers of non-believers

Doubt is not always unbelief, but it is not faith either.

It wavers between faith and unbelief, unable to make up its mind what it wants to be.

It is like the hitchhiker who was thumbing a ride with his hand in one direction--and thumbing a ride with his other hand in the other direction.

He wasn't sure which way he wanted to go.

SEGWAY

So what causes Doubt?

Doubts occur when what we expect to happen isn't happening, or what shouldn't be happening is happening.

Circumstances are in direct conflict with what we believe.

This causes us to be confused and waver between the two, wondering which is right.

In this passage of scripture, this is what we are seeing …..

John is not disbelieving of the Messiah.

His circumstance is in direct conflict to what he was has believed

Let’s look at Vs 2 “Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ….”

Expound on the fact that John is in Prison

Matthew 4:12 - Now when he heard that John had been arrested

A wide diversity of messianic hopes existed in Jesus’ time.

Militaristic, political, priestly, and spiritual understandings of the Messiah competed for people’s commitment.

If John was hoping for a militaristic Messiah, he naturally would question Jesus’ ministry because it failed to challenge Roman domination.

At the least, John could have expected the Messiah to set him free from prison.

Reason for being arrested

John had criticized Herod for the sin of having taken to himself the wife of his brother Philip

Type of jail he was in

located about four miles east of the Dead Sea. It stood 3,500 feet above sea level on a rocky ridge that was accessible from only one side.

Having visitors

Though his imprisonment must have been a very grim ordeal, John was allowed to receive visitors.

In the Shoes of JOHN ….

All your life you have been the one deemed “Special”

Forerunner for the Messiah

Baptizing those and calling for repentance

Not making many friends “Brood of Vipers”

Pointed out the “Lamb of God” and baptizing him

Witnessed the “Baptism of the Holy Spirit” upon Jesus

Jesus claimed that there “was no one greater” than he.

And now He finds himself in prison and facing death at any point in time.

Direct conflict with what he was to believe.

BODY

So what does John do?

(Vs 2b-3 he sent word by his disciples …. and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?”)

This tension that was inside John has caused him to find out if Jesus is the one!

Look at Jesus’ response (Vs 4 And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see”)

Jesus doesn’t say, “Go tell John YES!”

Jesus doesn’t stop there ….

He helps them remember what they have “heard and seen.”

(Vs 5 - the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.”

This is basically an overview of Chapter’s 8-9 of Matthew!

What we see then is DOUBT trying to derail one of the “great men of faith” of that day.

Doubt will be the #1 weapon Satan will try to use against “ALL” those of faith

CLIMAX

This being the case then, how do we battle DOUBT?

How did John battle his doubt?

I see 3 things John did to battle doubt.

When facing doubt ….

Go to Jesus!

This is what John did …. (Vs 2) Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples

He went straight to Jesus.

Didn’t seek anyone else’s advice or opinion!

NO Dr Phil, Oprah, or His favorite Preacher

What if the next time you are facing doubt ….. instead of going to your girlfriends or buddies you go to Jesus.

In prayer, in your closet!

Cast all your cares upon him! Trust him, have faith in him!

I wonder sometimes if the reason the world is not having faith in Christ is because the Church (Believer) is not demonstrating faith in Christ!

When facing doubt ….

2. Go to the Testimonies!

There was a sportscaster named Warner Wolf who coined the phrase, “Let’s go to the videotape!”

Replays of what was done or said in the game.

They didn’t have videotapes in the days of Jesus but they had something, which I believe was even more influential, personal testimonies!

Jesus understood this and this is why he answered John’s question by saying, “Go and tell John what you hear and see”

I believe that testimonies, today, can have such a powerful impact on people’s lives.

When you’re facing doubt, look toward the testimonies of those who have experienced, first hand, the goodness of Christ.

What you will find is a doubt decreasing and a faith increasing.

When facing doubt ….

3. Go to the Word!

As I have stated before Vs 5 is an overview of Chapters 8 & 9.

the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.

But it’s also a reference to the O.T.

John, being the son of a priest, would have known the O.T. well.

The description of the miracles in verse 5 includes almost exact quotations from

Isaiah 29:18; 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; Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; 6 then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.

Isaiah 42:18; Hear, you deaf, and look, you blind, that you may see!

and Isaiah 61:1 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;

CONCLUSION

Have you ever doubted? Over anything?

Doubt will remain Satan’s #1 weapon.

Do you have doubt now?

Family, friends, your marriage, your walk with God, the word of God?

G. Campbell Morgan had already enjoyed some success as a preacher by the time he was 19 years old. But then he was attacked by doubts about the Bible. The writings of various scientists and agnostics disturbed him (e.g., Charles Darwin, John Tyndall, Thomas Huxley, and Herbert Spencer). As he read their books and listened to debates, Morgan became more and more perplexed. What did he do? He cancelled all preaching engagements, put all the books in a cupboard and locked the door, and went to the bookstore and bought a new Bible. He said to himself, “I am no longer sure that this is what my father claims it to be—the Word of God. But of this I am sure. If it be the Word of God, and if I come to it with an unprejudiced and open mind, it will bring assurance to my soul of itself.” The result? “That Bible found me!” said Morgan. The new assurance in 1883 gave him the motivation for his preaching and teaching ministry. He devoted himself to the study and preaching of God’s Word.

If you have doubt today I would like to remind you of the three things John the Baptist did when he doubted ….

Go to Jesus!

Go to the Testimonies!

Go to the Word!

Poem - How Often!

How often we trust each other.

And only doubt our Lord.

We take the word of mortals,

And yet distrust His word;

But, oh, what light and glory

Would shine o’er all our days,

If we always would remember

God means just what He says.

I believe there are those who dealing with doubt today. Something!

You might feel like there is a mountain in front of you and it is unmovable.

Go to Jesus …… Go to a friend’s testimony ….. but also let me leave you with the WORD!

Mark 11:23 - Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him.