Doubting, Believing, and Knowing

John 20:24-29

King James Version Chapter 20

24 But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe. 26 And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. 27 Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. 28 And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. 29 Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: sblessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed

Believe - accept that a thing is true

This can be more of a question 

I believe, but…

You believe but you don’t know it until you see it

We are called believers- we’ve seen evidence of Him but we haven’t seen Him

Doubt - uncertain, lack of conviction (fear)

If you’re not careful you’ll start to doubt when things are too hard to believe 

Or it’s taking too long 

Thomas believed until it was unbelievable then he needed to KNOW. He wanted evidence 

Know - be aware through observation

You believe God is a healer until He heals you, then you know. 

You believe Him to be a way maker but you know it when the way is made. 

Faith is our belief. Faith is our belief because it’s in what we don’t see. So we can’t say we have faith if we don’t believe it to be what God said it is. 

Hebrews 11:1 KJV 1900

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

As discussed last week

Faith is abiding trust in God.

Substance are His promises the we hope for as future fulfillment. A promise from God is a reality even if we don’t see it with our natural eyes.

So then hope is our confidence the expectation of Gods Word.

Evidence is conviction of reality. It’s when we comprehend something as a fact even when we don’t see it in the physical.

God doesn’t require faith for our benefit. God does not need our faith to do what He wills to do. God requires faith for us. In order to build our belief. So that we KNOW before it’s done. The more we see God move the more we believe in what we can’t see.

No matter how long it takes

No matter how hard it is

No matter how tired you get 

No matter how much it hurts 

John 20:29 Jesus said to him, Because you have seen Me do you now believe? Blessed [happy, spiritually secure, and favored of God] are they who did not see [Me] and yet believed [in Me].