The Doubting Believer

THE DOUBTING BELIEVER
Luke 7:18-28

INTRODUCTION

Can a believer ever doubt? Many new believers confidently declare that they will never entertain doubts about
God, about our Lord, or about the Bible. However, many genuine believers in our Lord have struggled with
religious doubts.

John the Baptist was surely a believer. He was the one who boldly identified Jesus as the Son of God who takes
away the sins of the world to his own disciples. He was also an eyewitness to the unusual phenomena at His
baptism. John heard the voice that spoke and saw the dove. John had assured his disciples, "He must increase
but I must decrease." But John became troubled by doubts. After he was imprisoned for his preaching by Herod,
he went through a time of doubt. This prompted him to send two trusted followers to Jesus to ask, "Are you the
Coming One or do we look for another?" Some have sought other explanations for the question of John, but this
would seem to be the explanation most in keeping with what we are told in the text.

If you have never been bothered by doubt, you still need to understand this text. It will equip you to help those who
are and to face your doubts when they come.

I. DOUBTS MAY COME TO ANY BELIEVER
The experience of John surely reveals this to us. A little research into the situation should help us understand why
this is true. I believe that I can see three elements that may have contributed to John's doubts. They may cause
you to doubt. Even though John was an unusual man he still showed our humanity fully.

A. Our temperament may cause us to doubt.
How do you see John the Baptist? What kind of a person was he? I was distressed by the way he was presented
by a movie made for TV a few years ago. He was presented as a wild misfit. I see him as a bold, sturdy, outdoor
type. He preferred the outdoor, simple life style. He was fearless as far as man was concerned. But his
temperament just did not lend itself to confine¬ment. When Herod locked him up, it was too much. It soon began to
create depression and doubts.

Some of us are just temperamentally more inclined in that direction. Thomas was of that type. We have probably
been too harsh on Thomas by labeling him "doubting Thomas." Temperamentally he was just turned in that
direction. Your temperament may push you in the direction of doubt. For this reason it is important that we get in
touch with ourselves temperamentally.

B. Our circumstances may cause doubt.
If you understand the circumstance of John, you can better understand his question. John had boldly declared
that Jesus had come to judge evil and to establish righteousness. He had carefully carried out his assignment from
God as he understood it. Now wicked King Herod had arrested him because he had offended his wife. He had
rightly labeled the Queen as an adulteress. The prophet was placed in prison for his declaration of the message
of God as he understood it. His days of imprisonment dragged by. John surely expected that God would
intervene in his case. It soon became evident that he was not going to intervene or deliver him from the prison.

It was then that John began to wonder and have questions. If your life has been free from doubts, it may be
because you have not faced certain circumstances. I shared with a father this week whose son has been
struggling with doubt because of some special circumstances. As a university student he had a best friend to die a
violent, senseless death. While working in a hospital emergency room, he became aware of just how much
senseless violence there is in the world. He came to his father with questions about the reality of a loving God.

Difficult circumstances can contribute to questions. Life can be hard on faith.

C. Our limited understanding can cause us to doubt.
Even though John was a special prophet of God, he was limited in understanding of things of God. God had made
clear to him what he needed to know to carry out his ministry, but not of everything. His understanding of what the
Old Testament revealed about the coming of the Messiah was limited. What he understood was right, but it was
not complete.

This is our problem. Our understanding of God and His will may be inadequate for what we face in life. This makes
our growth in understanding imperative. The very doubts with which you presently struggle may be rooted in your
incomplete understanding.

To the credit of John the Baptist, he must have sensed this. Instead of insisting that his doubts were final and
justified, he sent his two disciples in search of more light. He was ready to admit that it was possible that he had
misunderstood, but he was still committed to doing the will of God regardless.

So if even the greatest of the prophets can doubt, it is just possible that you might encounter a struggle along the
way.

II. OUR LORD HELPS THE DOUBTING BELIEVER
The response of Jesus to the questions of John is most encouraging. I have every reason to believe that He will
respond to you in the same way. There was no expression of rejection, no rebuke, no harsh word for this
struggling prophet. Rather His response was totally positive.  We must be careful that we do not reject or crush
some brother who has questions. If we had walked where he has walked, we might have questions too.

A.  Our Lord's Answer
Your first impression may be that Jesus ignored the question of John. John pointedly asked, "Are you the Messiah,
or do we look for another?" "The Coming One" was a code word for "Messiah" in that world. John was asking if
Jesus was indeed the long expected Messiah, as John had believed and declared.

John had based his expectations of the Messiah upon certain Old Testament scriptures. He had majored upon the
ones that presented the Messiah as the Judge of evil and the Restorer of the kingdom to Israel. He had ignored
the great revelation that the Messiah would be the "Suffering Servant.''

Jesus responded in a way that would help John. He said, "Go your way and tell John the things you have seen and
heard; that the blind see the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor
have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of me." John would understand
this reply. What Jesus was doing was pointing this doubting believer to other passages of scripture. In the prophet
Isaiah each of the things they had seen and heard were associated with the revelation of the Messiah. Jesus
sought to give John more light from the scriptures.

This is probably what He will do with you. He did not give John a new set of circumstances, but rather He gave him
additional light to understand the circumstances.

As a young minister G. Campbell Morgan, the great British preacher of the last generation, found himself with a
bad case of religious doubt. He was being influenced especially by the question being raised by contemporary
scholarship concerning the trustworthiness of the Bible. During that time he felt compelled to lock his library for a
long period and to study nothing but the Bible itself. He had been more devoted to books about the Bible than the
Bible. The result of this deepened study of the Bible was a deepened faith. As he walked into the fuller light of the
scripture, he walked out of the darkness of his doubts. This is what Jesus was doing for John.

B. Our Lord's Affirmation
Not only did our Lord not reject John because of his doubts, he gave Him the strongest kind of affirmation. This
affirmation was spoken to the multitude, but it doubtlessly found its way to the ears of John.

"What did you go out to the wilderness to see? A reed shaken in the wind?" This was our Lord's way of affirming
the courage and strength of John. He could not be swayed by the winds of human opinion and opposition. "But
what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft garments? Indeed, those who are gorgeously appareled and
live in luxury are in king's courts. But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you more than a
prophet." What an affirmation! John had not been a compromiser with the wicked court of Herod, but a strong,
faithful, daring spokesman for God. Jesus added, "For I say to you, among those born of women there is not a
greater prophet than John the Baptist, but he who is last in the kingdom of God is greater than he." In the Old
Testament economy, John was the greatest. We have this as the trusted evaluation of our Lord Himself. However
in privilege the least in the kingdom of God is greater. This speaks of the greatness of the kingdom that Jesus
brought  -not of the least participant. Can you imagine what this must have meant to the troubled John?

If you will bring your doubts to Jesus, He will help you in the same way. He will not reject you; He will help you to
grow through your doubts. Did this word help John? We are not told, but we do know that John died willingly for his
faith. He never wavered in his commit¬ment to rightness and his God. Our Lord will so affirm you, if you keep
coming to Him with your doubts and questions.

CONCLUSION
If you are struggling with doubt, you are still in good standing with the Lord Jesus Christ.  Let me encourage you to
seek an understanding of your doubts, and then bring your questions to the Lord. He is more than able to answer
your question. Let me encourage you to remember His words, "Blessed is he who is not offended because of me.''

If you know someone who is struggling with doubt, do not judge them too harshly. If the greatest of the prophets
had a problem with doubt, it is not unthinkable that it might just happen to another good man.