Rev. David Holwick ZI Encountering Jesus in John
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey (very well received)
November 1, 2015
John 20:24-31
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I. We live in an age of doubt.
A. Even Christians can be torn by it.
Agnes Bojaxhiu [AN-yes boya-GEE-u] was a professional
Christian.
She was also racked by an emotional vacuum in her
relationship with God.
In a personal diary she wrote, "The more I want [God], the
less I am wanted."
Sometime later she wrote, "Such deep longing for God --
and...repulsed, empty, no faith, no love, no zeal...
Heaven means nothing."
Most people wouldn't find these thoughts that earth-
shattering, but Agnes wasn't your ordinary Christian.
She was actually one of the most influential believers of
our time and preached to peasants and presidents.
Agnes is better known as Mother Teresa.
#31330
B. How many doubts do you have?
1) You may have a problem with certain doctrines.
2) Perhaps you wonder if there really is a God.
3) How do you deal with your doubts?
C. The ancient world had doubts as well.
1) People who lived long ago are often portrayed as simpletons
who believed anything that came down the pike. Not so.
a) Several disciples doubted the resurrection even after
they had heard reports that it had happened.
b) This shows that the appearances of Jesus after his death
were not hallucinations caused by wishful thinking.
2) Thomas was not different, just a more committed materialist.
a) In John 11:16 and 14:5 Thomas appears as a loyal,
outspoken and rather pessimistic person, and close
to Jesus.
b) He was from Missouri - "Show me."
c) In many ways, he was a very modern man.
II. Doubting is normal.
A. The Bible doesn't warn against "doubt" as such.
1) Many in the Bible express doubt: Job, Jeremiah, even Jesus.
2) Thomas is not sinning by having doubts.
a) Notice that Jesus does not rebuke him.
b) Instead, he challenges Thomas to take the test he
suggested, and touch his wounds.
1> (Thomas must have been a little stunned when
Jesus quoted his request word for word.)
B. Doubt is the act of questioning, the expression of uncertainty.
1) Doubt is the humility of a mind asking real questions and
seeking real solutions.
a) For all the answers we have, rather significant
questions still remain.
b) The biblical expression of doubt is simply an honest
admission that things do not always seem to fit.
2) Real doubt, coming from a reverence for truth, is from God.
a) It does not forbid questions, nor does it answer
questions prematurely.
b) Instead, it reaches beyond understanding and asks honest
questions.
C. Doubt and belief are compatible.
1) Without beliefs, you cannot question.
Mark Buchanan met a man who told him didn't believe the
Bible because he was a skeptic.
Buchanan asked him if he had read the Bible.
"No, not really. I told you, I'm a skeptic.
I don't believe it."
Skepticism is not an excuse for evasion, an alibi for
laziness.
True skeptics are passionate about finding truth out.
They want to believe, but don't want to be hypnotized by
the power of that wanting.
2) You can doubt and believe at the same time. Mark 9:24
Jesus once met a father who was desperate to have his son
healed.
He asked Jesus to do it, if he could.
The hesitancy prompted Jesus to ask him if he believed.
The man responded, "I do believe; help me with my unbelief."
Abraham Lincoln was one of the only presidents who never
joined a church.
During political campaigns he was often challenged about
his faith - or lack thereof.
He once responded, "Probably it is my lot to go on in a
twilight, feeling and reasoning my way through life,
as questioning, doubting Thomas did.
But in my poor, maimed way, I bear with me as I go on
seeking, a spirit of desire for a faith that was with
him of olden time, who, in his need, as I in mine,
exclaimed, 'Help thou my unbelief.'"
#7101
3) Honest doubt is better than dishonest faith.
a) Christians who have rock-solid certainty about
everything are probably rather shallow in their
understanding of the things of God.
b) Christians need to learn to ask serious questions,
just as the world does.
III. Doubt can exist in three forms.
A. Unbelief.
1) They are not identical - unbelief is sin.
a) Deliberate denial, disobedience, and rebellion is
always condemned in the Bible.
b) Doubt is the sincere question, but unbelief is the
unwillingness to hear the answer.
c) Unbelief is the condition of being closed and out of
touch with God.
2) We often use doubt to rationalize disobedience.
a) We face the hard words of the Bible, and suddenly we
are not quite sure of our faith.
b) Is this honest doubt, or simply sin?
c) We must bring our doubts, and our motives, under the
scrutiny of the Bible.
B. Intellectual scorn.
1) Blanket assertions that something is impossible.
a) "Laws of nature" are often alluded to.
b) But our understanding of nature is always limited.
2) The resurrection of Jesus is a frequent target.
a) Not unusual to doubt it, it flies against our experience.
In March 1992 Newsweek magazine mentioned a letter from
the Greenville County, S.C., Dept. of Social Services.
The letter was written to a dead person. It read:
"Your food stamps will be stopped effective immediately,
because we received notice that you passed away.
May God bless you.
You may re-apply if there is a change in your circumstances."
#2625
This is funny to us because we all know that dead people
don't tend to change their circumstances.
Dead people tend to stay dead.
Thomas knew this, and the other disciples did as well.
b) Steeped in science, we should expect to have doubts.
c) This is why the victory of Jesus is such incredibly
good news!
3) When dealing with intellectual doubt, make sure you are
playing with a full deck.
a) By ignoring the possibility of the supernatural and
miracles, you are limiting truth.
b) Honest investigation requires you to allow for all
answers.
4) There are mysteries everywhere.
a) Alister McGrath notes that the things in life that
really matter cannot be proven with certainty.
1> Ethical values like respect for human life.
2> Social attitudes like democracy.
3> Religious beliefs, no matter what the religion is.
b) There will always be an element of doubt in any
statement that goes beyond the world of logic.
Anyone who wants to talk about the meaning of life has
to make statements that rest on faith, not absolute
certainty.
#12173
C. Doubt caused by dashed hope.
1) It can be hard to make faith fit with the painful realities
of life.
a) This is what forces the question for most of us.
1> We lose a job, or a marriage.
2> Someone we love dies.
3> Children facing hunger, or washed up on a distant
beach, like the refugee child in Turkey.
b) How can a good God be so powerless?
2) Our anger at God is an expression of doubts that He is
running the world the best that he can.
a) The psalms express much anger and sing of doubts and
disappointments.
b) They conclude that God is there and cares to listen;
the psalmists are angry but still believe.
c) By contrast, in a state of unbelief our anger would be
completely pointless and absurd.
3) Jesus expresses doubt on the cross, but keeps faith. Ps 22.
IV. Our faith is still under construction.
A. Doubt can be grown out of - faith can be grown into.
1) Jesus admonishes Thomas, "Stop doubting and believe." 20:27
2) There comes a point where we have to make a decision.
3) This requires faith, but every human decision does.
B. When Thomas came to faith, he came completely. John 20:28
1) For a Jew to call another human associate "my Lord and
my God" would be almost incredible.
a) It would be blasphemy and punishable by death.
b) Both are titles for God.
2) Faith changes the direction of an entire life.
V. Can you believe?
A. Some people resist in spite of evidence.
In the movie "O Brother Where Art Thou," the three heroes,
for lack of a better term, are on the run from the law.
As things come to a close they receive a governor's pardon.
Once safe from harm, Everett (played by George Clooney) returns
home to retrieve the wedding band for his wife.
But at the homestead they are captured by a sheriff who hasn't
received news of the pardon.
Apparently the punishment for their crimes is to be death and
this lawman is ready to give it to them.
As their execution is prepared Everett prays to God for
salvation, promising to be a better and more faithful man
if God will deliver them from impending doom.
The two companions who found God earlier in the movie are
shocked by his sudden transformation, but welcome his faith.
As he prays with the noose around his neck, Everett notices a
tiny trickle of water at his feet.
Then abruptly the entire forest is flooded and the three heroes
find themselves floating in a field of debris amidst the
treetops.
One of Everett's companions mentions his promises to God and
that this surely must be a sign.
But Everett insists that it couldn't be from God because this
flooding was government ordered and had been planned for
months.
He says it was just a coincidence.
Everett had laid down his stipulations, given God a request
and God proved faithful.
Everett, however, did not.
The evidence was not enough and he was not willing to move
from doubt to faith.
Thomas is the opposite of Everett.
Everett got exactly what he asked for and refused.
Thomas was offered what he asked for and changed his doubt to
belief.
#64980
B. What would it take for you to believe?
1) For some, it is seeing your true nature from God's
perspective...
2) Others need a supernatural experience or answered prayer.
3) Still others are convinced by the character of Jesus,
how his love for us was stronger than our hate for him.
C. God will meet any honest seeker.
1) Jesus appeared to Thomas and gave him what he asked for.
2) Bible is written so that we might believe in Jesus. 20:31
3) Do you believe? ... Is he your Lord and your God?
a) Faith is not certainty, it is trust.
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
# 2625 “Re-apply If There Is a Change In Your Circumstances,” Dynamic
Preaching (www.sermons.com) Disk, Spring 1993 "A".
# 7101 “Lincoln Saw Himself As A Seeker,” Jon Meacham; edited by David
Holwick; Newsweek article: “More a Matter of Mystery Than
Magic,” July 21, 2008, page 30.
#12173 “A Doubting Thomas,” Alison Thomas, A Slice of Infinity: Ravi
Zacharias International Ministries, March 20, 2008;
<http://www.gospelcom.net/slice/>.
#31330 “The Christian Secret,” Cyril Georgeson, A Slice of Infinity:
Ravi Zacharias International Ministries, November 1, 2007;
<http://www.gospelcom.net/slice/>.
#64980 “His Doubt Refused To Turn To Faith,” Bil [Bill?] Thompson,
Moorpark Presbyterian Church (PCUSA) of Moorpark, California,
Kerux Sermon #21499, March 24, 2005.
These and 35,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be
downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
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