How many of you have ever been given a nickname? Now, if you raised your hand, then you may know by experience that having a nickname isn’t necessarily a good thing, because the truth is some nicknames are complimentary but MOST aren’t. And once you’re labeled with a certain nickname you’re pretty much stuck with it which is especially bad if you never deserved the nickname in the first place.
This is something that I am sure the disciple known as Doubting Thomas discovered. You see, after studying his life for the past week I have come to doubt that it has been fair to brand him in this way but that’s what has happened. Thomas’ nickname has stuck firmly for the past two thousand years. Take your Bibles and look with me in the Gospel of John at the three times Thomas is mentioned in the New Testament and I think you will agree that he has deserved much better.
1. The first time we read of Thomas is in John 11 …just prior to the time Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead.
Our Lord was in the temple in Jerusalem, teaching the truth that He was-and is-God. Well, this had infuriated the Jewish religious leaders and they had tried to seize Jesus and stone Him.
But He escaped their grasp, left the city, and went back across the Jordan river. Then word came that Jesus’ friend Lazarus was dying. Three days later Jesus decided the time was right to go to Lazarus’ home, which meant a trip back to dangerous Jerusalem. This led the disciples to exclaim in verse 8, Only a short time ago the people there were trying to stone You, Jesus. Now you want to go back again?! When Jesus said, Yes, get your gear and let’s get going… only one disciple responded and it was Thomas. While the others shuffled their feet and looked at the ground or up in the clouds, Thomas said, All right, let’s go and die along with Him! In essence Thomas said, Come on you scaredy-cats! Let’s stand by Jesus! Sure, we may be putting our necks in a noose. But the Master has work to do in Bethany!
Now, I don’t know about you, but I don’t see any DOUBT in this bold statement. In fact, I see great courage! And, because of Thomas’ courage the disciples were privileged to not only see Jesus raise a man from the dead, but to hear our Lord say some of the most treasured words, He ever uttered. Remember? When they followed Thomas’ lead and went with Jesus to Bethany, He said, I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who dies believing in Me shall live again. And anyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. (John 11:25-26 ) So, thanks to Thomas, the other eleven had an experience with Jesus that taught them that death is nothing to fear for the Christian.
2. The second time we see Thomas is in the upper room the night of Jesus’ arrest.
In John chapters 13 & 14 we read that Jesus washed the disciples’ feet and foretold His betrayal and death. As He spoke of leaving them, Peter said, Lord where are you going? (John 13:36 )
And Jesus said, Where I am going you cannot follow now, but you will follow later…Let not your hearts be troubled, trust in God, trust also in Me. In My Father’s house are many rooms.
If it were not so I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with Me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going. (13:36-14:4)
Now, I think Jesus said this to solicit a response from the disciples…an answer that would indicate that they had been listening to His teaching for these past three years and understood where He was going. But instead a silence descended over the room. No one said anything because none of the twelve understood where Jesus was going. Eleven of them were afraid to ask because they didn’t want to appear ignorant but not Thomas. No, he was one of those people who can’t stand an unanswered question so he spoke up and asked what was on everyone’s mind. He said, Lord, we DON’T know where You are going, so how can we know the way? And then I think Jesus smiled approvingly…because in His kingdom there’s no such thing as a stupid question. I believe our Lord wanted Thomas to ask so that He could give the following reply, I am the way…and the truth…and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
Now, aren’t you glad Thomas asked that question! If he didn’t Jesus may never have spoken those words! You know, in some Christian circles there is the belief that ignorance is a good thing. Asking questions is frowned upon. People like this are suspicious of ministers who prepare themselves for God’s call with a seminary education. It’s like the Primitive Baptist preacher who once said, Praise be to God that I am ignorant. I would only praise Him more if I were ignoranter. Well, I admire Thomas because he was one who wanted to understand. He did not want to be ignorant of the truth. Thomas was not like many Christians, even today, who believe that those who are truly spiritual have full hearts but empty heads. He discovered that God wants us to understand as much as we can about the things of His kingdom. This is why God inspired Paul to say to the young pastor, Timothy, Study to show thyself approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. (II Timothy 2:15 )
3. And then, the final time we see Thomas is in John chapter 20.
Here we read that on that first Easter Sunday, the resurrected Jesus miraculously appeared to the disciples. He showed them the scars on His hands and His side. But Thomas was not with them. No doubt he was wandering the streets grieving like you and I do when we face a tough time and just want to be alone to think. When he returned and the disciples told him what had happened Thomas uttered his famous statement of doubt. Let’s look at the text together. It’s in John 20:24-29 .
24 – Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came.
25 – So the other disciples told Him, We have seen the Lord! But he said to them, Unless I see the nail marks in His hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe it.
26 – A week later His disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, Peace be with you!
27 – Then He said to Thomas, Put your finger here; see My hands. Reach out your hand and put it into My side. Stop doubting and believe.
28 – Thomas said to Him, My Lord and my God!
29 – Then Jesus told him, Because you have seen Me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.
Now one thing I want us to be sure and note here is that when we piece together the various gospel accounts we can see that Thomas WASN’T ALONE in his doubting. After Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene in the garden, she immediately found the disciples and told them what had happened. But Mark 16:10 records that they did not believe her. THEY doubted Jesus had risen. Luke 24 tells of Jesus’ appearance to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. When they realized their companion was the risen Christ, they went back to Jerusalem and told the disciples. But verse 41 says, Yet they believed not. Then, when Jesus appeared in their midst the Bible says, He rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe.
So, we call Thomas, Doubting Thomas but we could also call Simon Peter, Doubting Simon or Andrew Doubting Andrew or John Doubting John or James, Doubting James. Every one of the disciples doubted until they saw Jesus Christ and examined His hands and side. So, wouldn’t you agree with me that it’s not really fair to stick Thomas with this nickname?
Now, look at verse 28 again and read what Thomas said after Jesus appeared to him. Thomas exclaimed, My Lord and My God! With these five words Thomas made the highest possible confession of faith. Months earlier Peter had told Jesus that He was, the Christ, the Son of the Living God. But Thomas added the personal pronoun, and in so doing claimed Jesus as his Lord and his God. This is what anyone must do in order to become Christians not just believe that Jesus is the Son of God. Scripture teaches that even the demons believe that. We must follow Thomas’ lead, go one step further and confess our FAITH…our BELIEF…that Jesus is OUR Lord…OUR Savior. So, I for one think it would be more accurate to call him Courageous Thomas or Thomas the Believer than Doubting Thomas.
Now…I think it is good to study the life of Thomas…not only to clear up this nickname fiasco…but because ALL OF US DOUBT in some way or other.
When we doubt the future we call it WORRY. When we doubt other people we call it SUSPICION. When we doubt ourselves we call it INFERIORITY. When we doubt everything we call it CYNICISM. When we doubt what we hear on television we call it INTELLIGENCE! And then, like Thomas, all of us have times when we even doubt God in some way. Some of us question whether God has really forgiven us of our sin or we wonder whether the Bible can be completely trusted. Sometimes we doubt because we can’t reconcile the world’s suffering with a loving God. Some of us struggle with doubt after reading an article by an atheistic scientist or liberal theologian who said things that kicked the legs of our faith right out from under us and it made it hard for us to believe in a God we can’t SEE. We are like the little pastor’s son, whose mother told him that he should wash his hands because there were germs living in all that dirt.
He refused and said, Germs and Jesus! Germs and Jesus! That’s all I ever hear around this house and I’ve never SEEN either one!
Doubt CAN take many forms but ALL CHRISTIANS grapple with it, including some people, like Thomas, who were CLOSEST to Jesus. Martin Luther himself battled constantly with doubt. He once wrote, For more than a week, Christ was wholly lost. I was shaken by desperation and blasphemy against God. A church in Boston delayed the great evangelist Dwight L. Moody’s application to join because at that point in his life his beliefs seemed so uncertain. And by the way, doubting is not just a Christian phenomenon. Even atheists doubt their position from time to time. C. S. Lewis once wrote, Now that I am a Christian I do have moods in which the whole thing looks very improbable; but when I was an atheist I had moods in which Christianity looked terribly probable. Lee Strobel puts it this way, Doubt is a virus that infects all people.
Well, one way we can protect ourselves from the doubt bug is by learning to simply understand it. This begins by remembering what DOUBT IS NOT.
1. One thing doubt is not is….THE OPPOSITE OF FAITH.
The opposite of faith is UNBELIEF and that’s an extremely important distinction to grasp. Os Guinness once said, Doubt comes from a word meaning ‘TWO.’ To believe is to be ‘in one mind’ about ACCEPTING something as true; to disbelieve is to be ‘in one mind’ about REJECTING it. To doubt is to waver between the two, to believe and disbelieve at once and so to be ‘in two minds.’ So, NON-believers are people who have made a conscious choice NOT to have faith. Doubters may be uncertain whether they have real faith or may not know exactly what to believe about some things, but they still want to have faith. This means you can have a strong faith and still have some doubts. You can be heaven-bound and still have uncertainty over some theological issues. Flannery O’ Connor once said, Doubt always coexists with faith, for in the presence of certainty who would need faith at all. In Mark chapter 9 we read of the father whose son was possessed by demons. Do you remember what he said when he asked for Jesus’ help? He said, Lord, I believe. Help thou my unbelief. He had faith and doubts at the same time. So, doubt is not the opposite of faith.
2. And then, Doubt is also not…UNFORGIVABLE.
God doesn’t condemn us when we question Him. When John the Baptist was in prison he doubted that Jesus was the Son of God, so he sent messengers to ask Jesus if He was the Messiah or if he should wait for another. Do you remember how Jesus reacted? Did he criticize John for his lack of faith? No, in His reply He reminded John of scripture. Jesus quoted Messianic prophecies from the Old Testament, that He had obviously fulfilled, texts that would dispel John’s doubts. And then instead of scolding John, Jesus complimented him by saying, Among those born of women there is no one greater than John. (Matthew 11:11 ) This shows that if we have doubts and take them to God we can be assured that He won’t slam-dunk us. No, He will lovingly help us to find the answers to our questions so we can leave our doubts.
3. And then another misconception about doubt is that it is always BAD…
In fact doubt can be good for us. It can even strengthen our faith. Suppose you stood at the back of this sanctuary and we had two identical flower arrangements sitting here on the Lord’s table.
One was genuine but the other was a very high quality silk synthetic replica. From your perspective in the back of the sanctuary you could not tell which was real. But by doubting, which leads to testing, or approaching the two flowers and touching and smelling them, you would discover which was real and which was false. Well God is real. He is absolute TRUTH and honestly examining His promises will lead to a deeper faith because we will discover that He is Who He says He is and that He does keep His promises.
So doubt can be good for us. As author Mark Littleton says, Through doubt we can learn more than through naive trust. Truth can be tested. Doubt is the fire through which it passes. But when it has been tried it will come forth as gold. C. S. Lewis went so far as to say, To believe with certainty one has to begin with doubting.
Another benefit of doubt is that it can protect us from our own gullibility. I mean, what if David Koresh’s followers had questioned his bizarre biblical teaching before they were led to their destruction in Waco? What if the residents of Jonestown had doubted the teaching of Jim Jones before he lured them into the trap of mass suicide? Sometimes we experience doubt because we sense we’re being led astray and heeding that feeling can be the best step we can take. The ultimate irresponsibility is to follow unquestioned truth in an unquestioning way. Remember, the Apostle Paul said, Test everything. Hold on to that which is good. (I Thessalonians 5:21 )
Now, don’t get me wrong, doubt CAN certainly be a terrible thing.
Strobel says, If we don’t handle it properly, like a runaway virus, doubt can decimate our faith. And I want us to conclude our study by looking at some ways we can prevent this from happening. In his book, God’s Outrageous Claims, Strobel takes the word FAITH and makes it into an acronym on which he hangs five things we can do to protect ourselves from doubt’s ill effects. Let’s look at them together. When we feel overwhelmed by doubt the first thing we must do is….
1. F.ind the root of our doubt.
This is important because doubt can come from several different things…
A. Some times the source of our doubt is an incomplete understanding of God.
For example we may know about God’s love but not about His justice, holiness, and righteousness. With this limited understanding we are sure to develop doubts about why God does what He does and why He doesn’t do what we think He ought to do. Or, if we believe that He guarantees health and wealth to those who just exercise enough faith we are going to begin questioning our faith when finances and healing don’t automatically come. Or if we think our faith offers blanket protection from life’s turbulence, we’re going to develop uncertainties when difficulties continue to beset us. The problem with this kind of doubting is not God. He never promised these things in His word. The problem is that we have an inaccurate view of His promises and character because we have not studied Scripture completely.
In Luke 7 Jesus said to John the Baptist, Blessed is he who keeps from stumbling over Me. Or Blessed is the one who does not fall away on account of Me. Now, you and I stumble over something if we are looking in the wrong direction. If Jesus were a rock in the middle of a path and you were looking at the clouds you would stumble over Him. But if you were looking at the rock, you would not. So in this text Jesus is saying, Blessed is the one who sees Me the way I really am. Blessed is the one who expects Christianity to be the way God says in His Word it will be. Because if your expectations are correct you will not stumble…you will not doubt. We must stay IN THE WORD. We must let it be the main influence in our life if we are to win in our struggles with doubt.
B. Another source of doubt is found in people who base their faith solely on their feelings.
When they became a Christian they had a powerful, emotional experience. But when the feeling faded they began to doubt if their faith was real. I’ve seen this many times in teens who had a powerful experience on a youth retreat or at FUGE. It FEELS great being around hundreds of growing Christians all week long…but then they come home from that religious high and hit the real world and they begin to doubt. When this happens we must realize that faith isn’t fundamentally a feeling. It is a decision of the will to follow Jesus Christ.
C. And then, doubts can also develop among those who have been emotionally scarred from an experience in their past.
If they suffered parental abuse as a child…if they were abandoned by their parents or spouse…if they’ve felt unloved by those most important to them they may be prone to developing chronic uncertainties about God. Many of history’s all-time most famous atheists like Karl Marx, Sigmund Freud, Betrand Russel, Jean Paul Sartre, and Fredrich Nietzsche had problems like this.
They either had serious conflict with their fathers….or they died or abandoned them when they were young.
D. Doubt can also enter our lives through our own will.
I mean when we deliberately chose to disobey God we will experience a lack of peace and a sense of being separated from Him. So, many times the cause of our doubts is our own willful choice to cling to sin. Another form of this doubt root is seen in people who doubt some part of Christianity because they are looking for some excuse not to believe, some reason not to take the claims of Jesus seriously. As I told you a few weeks ago, people like this say things like, If you can tell me how a man like Jonah could live in the belly of a whale for three days…well then I’d think about becoming a Christian.
I could go on and on because there are several possible reasons that we doubt and the first thing we must do when we do is to find the cause, the root of our wavering. Then we will know how to treat it! And then a second thing we must do is…
2. A.sk others and God for help.
Remember, when John the Baptist realized that doubt was creeping into his soul…when he saw that he was no longer certain that Jesus was the Messiah, he didn’t try to cover that up. He didn’t work harder at acting spiritual. No, he did a very simple thing. He went to Jesus and asked for help. John went directly to the Lord and said, …Help me answer my question. Are You the One or not? And Jesus’ reply was exactly what John needed to hear.
So, when we doubt we must follow John’s example and go to God. He invites our questioning. In the Bible He says, Ask…seek…knock….test Me…try Me…prove me. God wants us to be honest with Him…even about our doubts. When Thomas said he would doubt Jesus’ resurrection unless he saw Jesus’ nail-pierced hands, Jesus did not rebuke him but instead responded by showing Thomas His hands. When Gideon doubted his call he asked God twice to do things to allay his fears and God did exactly what He was asked. So when you doubt, go to God. Remember, WE may be perplexed by the mysteries of life but there is no mystery to God. HE understands it all.
And then, don’t make Thomas’ mistake and wander off alone. Get with other believers. Go to others who themselves have maturing faith. Strobel shares the story of the time he was a little boy and his big brother got measles. His sick brother was showered with gifts during his illness and Lee thought, Well, if I hang around him, I’ll get measles too and then I’ll get gifts. He did and it worked. In the same way we can benefit from hanging around with people who have a deep and abiding belief in God. Faith isn’t literally contagious but we can benefit from others who have matured through their own doubts. After all, a man who comes to deep faith through intense struggle is probably best equipped to help other strugglers. This is one beggar showing another beggar where he found bread.
And the reverse is true. We should avoid friends who attack our faith…those who make fun of our belief in God. Psalms 1:1-2 says, Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord and on His law he meditates day and night. So, avoid people who will encourage your doubt to grow. And then thirdly…
3. I.mpliment a course of treatment
I think it helps to write down the specific doubts or questions that you have. This will help you decide if you should go to your pastor…or a Christian counselor or even to a friend who is obviously spiritually mature to help you find the answers you seek. If your problem is a matter of the will, ask yourself specifically where you are holding back from God. Perhaps you have not been applying the teachings of the Bible to your life. If that is true then you need to step out on faith and do so. Follow the command in Psalm 34:2 and Taste and see that the Lord is good.
When we practice Jesus’ teachings we see that they work and our faith is strengthened. Remember God doesn’t need to be explained. He needs to be experienced. And then to ward off the damage of future doubts the fourth step we must take is to…
4. T.ake scrupulous care of our spiritual health…
A body is less susceptible to viruses when it is healthy because it can fight off minor infections before they become serious. In a similar way, a strong faith is better able to fight off the doubt virus before it gains a foothold and threatens to overwhelm our defenses. As I said earlier, one way we do this by constantly studying the Word of God making it the main influence in our life.
You see the Bible is truth…truth that will help us not to fall for the lies that doubt brings to mind.
Scripture tells us that there will come evil days…tough times…when the devil will attack. He is the father of all lies and will try to fill our heads with them…encouraging us to doubt God. Ephesians 6 says that when this happens we must, Put on the full armor of God….taking the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God…so that we can take our stand against the devil’s evil schemes… And then the final step in dealing with doubt is to…
5. H.old our remaining questions in tension…
In other words we have to have faith to realize that there are some things we will not understand on this side of eternity. This is because God’s thoughts and ways are higher than ours we are limited people with limited minds so we can’t expect to understand everything about our unlimited God. There are some mysteries that won’t be unraveled during our brief life span. I know that when we get to heaven there will be a lot of arm raising because like me I know many Christians have questions and I know that when we get there and ask our questions, Jesus will give us our answers. Like the chorus to the old hymn says, We will understand it better by and by! In I Corinthians 13 Paul says as much: Now I know in part; then I shall know fully. (vs. 12) We don’t have the answers to many of our questions but we know the One Who does and there are times when doubt comes that we must trust His timing and patiently wait for the answers we seek.
So, when like Thomas we face doubt we must…
- Find the source of the doubt,
- Ask God and others for help,
- Implement a course of treatment,
- Take scrupulous care of our spiritual health, and
- Hold some questions in tension until we get to heaven.
Now, as I said earlier one way we can defeat our doubts is by talking with other people who have defeated theirs, people who have tried Jesus and found His claims to be true. Well, this morning I want you to know that long ago I chose to believe that Jesus is the Son of God…that He died for my sins. I prayed asked for His forgiveness. I invited Him into my heart and life as Savior and Lord. And He has done everything the Bible says He would do. He has given my companionship when I was lonely…guidance when I needed direction…forgiveness when I repented. So today, if you are not a Christian I can tell you without a doubt that you should be one! Make Thomas’ bold statement to Jesus your own. Experience the blessed joy that Jesus promises to people like you and me, …who have not seen and yet have believed.
We sing now to give you an opportunity to make this or any other decision public. If you feel God leading you to join this church or to take some other step of faith, come and share that with me as we stand now and sing.