Sermon Tone Analysis

Doubters Welcome

DOUBTERS WELCOME

INTRODUCTION:

Words from my own intellectual struggles as a young adult...

“He who has never truly doubted has never truly believed.”

a. Doubts in your own personal relationship with Christ...• Doubts that you are “really even a true Christian.”

o “Did I really mean it when I asked the Lord to forgive me for my sins?”

o “I still mess up!”

o “I didn’t feel it enough when I prayed.”

or “I felt it then and I don’t feel it now.”(Faith

has nothing to do with your feelings.)

• Doubts that “I’m really someone special to Him.”

o “After all, there are a million people who are better, more spiritual, and more talentedthan me...”

• Doubts about whether faith and prayer really work.

o “That would have happened anyway.

It’s just a coincidence...”

: Doubts about the reality of the whole Christianity ball game.

Doubts about Christianity being for real.

“How do I know that any of this is a reality?”

“What makes Christianity any different from all the other world religions?”

DOUBT DOES BECAUSE ITS PUTS YOU IN THE BERY SIGHT OF CHRIST...God doubted God

Jesus on the Cross

Feelings will come and go.

Know what you chose to believe in.

You cant harbor Doubts about key components of the Scripture.

You have to believe all of the Bible or none of it.

You can’t choose the parts you like.

“Is there really a literal heaven and hell?”

“Is the whole Bible really the inspired Word of God, or only parts of it?”

“Is Jesus Christ the ONLY Way to God or are there ‘many ways’ that a sincere person canfollow and still get to heaven?”

TWO KINDS OF DOUBT THAT WE FIND IN BIBLE

Type #1 = Skeptical, cynical, willful doubters

Like lots of the Pharisees and other religious leaders in Christ’s time.

, “Then the Pharisees came to Jesus and began to question, asking Him for a sign from heaven that He was truly the Son of God.

When Jesus heard this, He sighed and said, ‘Why do so many people in this generation demand a sign?

I say to you, ‘There shall be no other sign given to this generation.’”

Why did Jesus say this?

He knew they were not sincere in their search for reality.

They just enjoyed being cynical and questioning too much.

If they had truly wanted toknow the truth, they already had all the signs they needed.

Right before this conversation,the men had watched Jesus miraculously feed 4,000 people with 7 loaves and a few small sh.

Then they had 70 baskets of food left over!

You see, these guys didn’t really WANT TRUTH or they would have already had MORETHAN ENOUGH SIGNS to give them their answers.

Type #2 = Un-willful, honest doubting

As shown in by the father who had a son who was tormented by demons, was deaf,and could not speak.

(excerpts), “Then a man brought a young boy to see Jesus.

And the evil spirits inside of the boy began to throw him on the ground.

Jesus asked the boy’s father, ‘How long has this been going on?’

The father told Jesus that this started when he was a young child.Jesus said to the boy’s father, ‘If you can believe, all things are possible.’

But the father immediately answered back with tears, “I believe, Jesus.

Please help my unbelief!”

And Jesus healed his son.”

What an awesome model of how we are all supposed to approach times of doubt in our life: “LORD, I BELIEVE.

BUT PLEASE HELP THE PARTS INSIDE OF ME THAT STILL HAVE UNBELIEF!”

That kind of honesty and humility are things Jesus honors quickly.

WHAT ARE SOME SPECIFIC STEPS TO HELP DEAL WITH DOUBT?

1. Get serious about reading the Word of God.

, “Faith comes by hearing....and hearing, by the Word of God.”

, says every one of us is given a “measure of faith.”

It’s up to us whether our“seed of faith” remains little or is “watered with the Word” and grows to eventually become strong and fruitful.

c.

ARE YOU SAYING TO YOURSELF, “I don’t know how much I can intellectually buy into the accuracy of the Word of God?”

I understand your challenge because intellectually, I needed “hard core evidence” just like you.

But plenty of biblical writers and historians have MORE THAN proven Christianity to be for real.

It’s called the study of BIBLICAL APOLOGETICS.

Just Google, “Apologetics for the Bible,”and you’ll see tons of great books with mountains of research...from history, science,archeology, and more...all proving the REALITY and ACCURACY of Jesus and the Word ofGod.

One of the other biggest reasons to trust the VALIDITY of the Bible is the incredible accuracy of biblical prophecy which so consistently PROVES TO BE TRUE.

Let me give you just one example of indisputable facts.

HUNDREDS of prophecies given in this SAME BIBLE have ALREADY been perfectly FULFILLED.

Just take the 333 prophecies about Christ given in the Old Testament.

Someone has figured out that the PROBABILITY of all those things happening would be ONE IN 33MILLION!

And the scientific probability of those happening to the SAME PERSON would be almost INCONCEIVABLE!

Yet it was perfectly predicted in the Bible over 400 years before Christ was even born...and all t together perfectly!

Years ago, a probability experiment was conducted at California Tech.

Twelve basic prophecies in the Old Testament were put into a computer there.

The probability that they would all be exactly fulfilled in one single person’s life was COMPARABLE TO:

• “Bury the entire state of Texas under 35 feet of silver dollars.

Drop a marked coin at random from a HELICOPTER into the 35 feet of silver dollars anywhere in the state.

The probability that all 12 of the Old Testament prophecies be fulfilled is the same as the ridiculous probability that if you dropped a BLIND MAN FROM A PLANE AT RANDOM and told him to find the one marked coin, HE WOULD BE ABLE TO PICK IT UP ON HIS VERY FIRST RANDOM TRY!!!”

2. Feed your faith and doubt your doubts.

a. , “Cast down imaginations and thoughts that rise up against your pursuit toknow God.

Bring into captivity every thought in your mind, bringing your thoughts to a point ofobedience to Christ.”

3. Don’t assassinate your brains!

a. Christianity and belief are so much more than a fantasy or a “shot in the dark.”

IT IS A GENUINE HISTORICAL FACT.

• Emotions will come and go but the reality of God’s Word will stay forever.

b.

If the resurrection of Christ can be proven historically outside of the Bible (and it can)...thenChristianity sets itself apart from EVERY OTHER WORLD RELIGION.

• No other leader has ever been historically proven to COME BACK TO LIFE after His historically verified death.

That’s a pretty powerful indicator.

c.

SOME GREAT APOLOGETIC BOOKS TO READ (YOU CAN GET EASILY ON AMAZON)that will give you all the FACTS AND SCIENCE you need to mentally be excited about the trustworthiness of your faith in Christ:

Apologetics For A New Generation by Sean McDowell

Don’t Check Your Brains At The Door by Josh McDowell

The Case For Christ, by Lee Strobel (A bit more adult in its orientation...but not tough to read)

4. Get out of the “boat” and USE the faith you already have!

, talks about Peter walking on the water.

Often our faith doesn’t grow because we don’t do anything with it.

• If you’re just coming to church (even if you grew up in a family that is Christian), your “faith muscles” will become weak and abby if you don’t choose to exercise them for yourself.

5. Finally, tell Satan “I CHOOSE to believe!”