INTRODUCTION
• SLIDE #1
• This week concludes our Haunted Series. If you missed one of the messages and would like to hear what you missed, go to the FCC web site and click on the audio sermons link.
• You can also subscribe to our pod caste on ITunes. Search First Christian Church and you will see us under the Pod Castes in the ITunes Music Store.
• Today we will examine a subject that we all struggle with on various levels; however, it is a misunderstood subject.
• Haunted by doubt.
• Doubt Is defined by the Bing Dictionary as follows: to feel unconvinced or uncertain about something, or think that something is unlikely
• - to suspect that somebody is not sincere or trustworthy, or that something is not true, likely, or genuine
• - a feeling or state of uncertainty, especially as to whether somebody is sincere or trustworthy, or as to whether something is true, likely, or genuine
• No one can go through life without facing doubts; however, we do not need to be haunted by doubt.
• Doubt is a tricky subject for the Christian because we are told by well-meaning people that doubt is of the devil or that if you have faith you should not doubt.
• For the person who has doubts these well-meaning statements can drive a deeper wedge between their faith and their doubt because now they are led to believe that REAL Christians have no doubts.
• Through the course of this message we will get a picture of what doubt is and what it is not.
• Understanding the issue of doubt can help us not to give up on our faith when we start to doubt something concerning God.
• Let’s look at the passage we will examine together this morning as we wad through the paradox of doubt.
• SLIDE #2
• James 1:6 (HCSB) But let him ask in faith without doubting. For the doubter is like the surging sea, driven and tossed by the wind.
• SLIDE #3
SERMON
I. Faith is the key to receiving blessings.
• Before we dig into the issue of doubt we need to begin our examination by looking at the relationship between faith and blessings.
• You will need to follow me close on this one so that when we get to the issue of doubt we will understand what James is and is not saying.
• In the context of the passage, James is talking about wisdom and how if one lacks wisdom, one can ask of God and He will be more than happy to help bestow wisdom to the one who asks.
• James shares a caveat as far as receiving the blessing one is asking for, they must ask in FAITH.
• In order to comprehend doubt, we need to understand what faith entails.
• There are a few ways in which one can define “FAITH”; however, for our purposes let us define faith as WHOLE-SOULED TRUST IN GOD’S WORD AS TRUE BECAUSE OF THE SUFFICIENCY OF THE EVIDENCE. (Gareth Reese Commentary on Acts p. XXXVIII)
• Faith in direct connection with God would be Faith is a complete commitment to God in trusting obedience. Holman New Testament Commentary - Holman New Testament Commentary – Hebrews & James.
• So faith in simple terms is trust. It is a strong enough trust which allows one to follow God’s lead.
• When James is speaking of asking in faith, he is not suggesting one has zero doubts about a situation. He is not suggesting we put on a pretend display of emotions to show we have no doubts.
• Faith to James is a single-minded commitment to God that trusts because God is God.
• Faith allows one to God, to trust God even in the midst of one’s doubts.
• Your faith gets put to the test on a daily basis by the grind of life and some of the difficulties that plague you.
• In the previous verses to verse 6, James speak on the subject of the testing of one’s faith and how said testing can produce a deeper, stronger faith.
• When you are in a situation you may harbor some doubt because you do not know how God is going to work through the difficulty or even how He could possibly carry out Romans 8:28 through the difficult situation.
• SLIDE #4
• Romans 8:28 (HCSB) We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose.
• You may not know the answers, nevertheless, you KNOW your God will deliver!
• Your, experience, your heart, and your mind tells you that you can lean on God.
• When Abraham left everything for God’s call, do you think he had some lingering doubts?
• SLIDE #5
• Galatians 3:6 (HCSB) Just as Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him for righteousness,
• When Abraham was about to thrust the knife into his son, he trusted God!
• SLIDE #6
• Hebrews 11:17–19 (HCSB) By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac. He received the promises and he was offering his unique son, the one it had been said about, Your seed will be traced through Isaac. He considered God to be able even to raise someone from the dead, and as an illustration, he received him back.
• Abraham was not stupid, his eyes probably told him not to do it, had Abraham asked 100 friends if he should sacrifice his son, most likely all 100 would have said NO!
• Abraham rusted God amidst the doubts and circumstances.
• When Daniel’s friends were about to become bar-be-que, look at what they said.
• SLIDE #7
• Daniel 3:18 (HCSB) But even if He does not rescue us, we want you as king to know that we will not serve your gods or worship the gold statue you set up.”
• Faith is a single-minded devotion to God.
• SLIDE #8
• Hebrews 11:6 (HCSB) Now without faith it is impossible to please God, for the one who draws near to Him must believe that He exists and rewards those who seek Him.
• When we approach God, we fully trust God, even if we have no clue as to how He is going to work in the situation we are faced with.
• You faith that gets tested by various trials every day, that same faith needs to be centered on God when we ask of Him.
• When we have lingering QUESTIONS about God, or our faith, God is not afraid of those questions.
• When Jesus confronted DOUBTING THOMAS, Jesus did not write him off, rather, Jesus invited Thomas to come see and touch.
• Thomas walked away changed.
• Now let’s dig a little deeper in the passage as we enter the next leg of our journey.
• SLIDE #9
• James 1:6 (HCSB) But let him ask in faith without doubting. For the doubter is like the surging sea, driven and tossed by the wind.
• SLIDE #10
II. Doubt is the killer of blessings.
• From this point it appears as though DOUBT is a sin and if you possess any hint of doubt, you will receive nothing from God!
• Is it sinful to doubt?
• Without doubting is not an injunction against raising questions about facts, alleged or otherwise, nor an appeal to blind belief.
• There would be no progress in knowledge and understanding in any field, including religion, if questioning were taboo.
• Now let us get to the gist of what the word doubt means in the biblical sense.
• Doubting means to be “DIVIDED IN ONE’S MIND” or “TO DEBATE”.
• The term does not describe momentary doubt but rather a divided allegiance.
• So in the context of asking, it denotes one who cannot decide whether to trust God FULLY or to rely on one’s own.
• The phrase "without doubting" is not connected with new faith or weak faith or faltering faith. If it was, none of us would have our prayers answered.
• It is not honest intellectual doubt or lack of clarity about the solution. It is not confusion over whether it is right to ask.
• It is divided loyalty. It is doubting that God cares, that he is powerful, or that he is good.
• So to doubt means "a divided mind." Doubting here has nothing to do with doubting whether God can do something; rather, it describes a one who is "divided" between being self-centered and being God-centered.
• Abraham as example, he was ready and willing to thrust the knife into the son he loved so much. Had he not trusted God, had he been riddled with doubt Abraham would have drug his feet or hesitated, or maybe not even gone on the trip.
• Abraham was 100% committed to God, even though doing other times in his life he struggled a bit.
• When we are pierced with doubt we place the character of God into question, which will inhibit receiving blessing from Him.
• SLIDE #11
• Matthew 21:21 (HCSB) Jesus answered them, “I assure you: If you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you tell this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ it will be done.
• When we cannot decide whether to trust God or trust self, we are in peril of relying on self without God.
• Let’s look at the analogy James shares with us concerning doubt.
• SLIDE #12
III. Doubt reveals deeper issues.
• When we are double-minded, which biblically that is what doubt is, James compares us to the surging sea, driven and tossed by the wind.
• The sea is at the mercy of the wind.
• The picture is graphic. The doubter is “one who lives in inner conflict between trust and distrust of God.
• For the Christian the implication is that one who is in constant doubt between self and God will be unstable in their walk.
• Look at verse 7-8
• SLIDE #13
• James 1:7–8 (HCSB) That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. An indecisive man is unstable in all his ways.
• In the worship service this person is caught up in the music, the words of praise, or the exhortation of the sermon and trusts God completely.
• Outside of worship, the same person faces the winds of adversity, and ridicule so rather than trusting despite feelings, gives in and believes that only his or her own resources and cleverness can help.
• Like wind-tossed water, an unstable Christian sways back and forth.
• The flipping back and forth between faith and unbelief will cause us nothing but frustration and discouragement.
• At some point we have to decide that even though I do not have all the answers that I choose to trust God.
• I get wanting to know the answers, but if you are waiting to have all the answers before you trust God, you will never trust Him.
• The Holman Commentary on James reminds us: Not only does the doubter forfeit all legitimate expectation that his prayers may be answered, but something else appears in this verse, namely, that that one who is a wavering Christian, or unfaithful in the area of his highest responsibility, will also prove to be unstable and undependable in all other areas likewise.
• Too many Christians are living like corks on the waves, excited for Jesus one moment, then walking away the next.
• Being driving the winds of circumstances and what other people think shows a lack of maturity.
• SLIDE #14
• Ephesians 4:14 (HCSB) Then we will no longer be little children, tossed by the waves and blown around by every wind of teaching, by human cunning with cleverness in the techniques of deceit.
CONCLUSION
• There is nothing wrong with seeking answers to questions. James is not condemning seeking truth or seeking answers; however, what gets us is when we vacillate between trust in God and trust in self.
• God can be trusted, He has a track record we can follow.
• WE all have questions, I have some; nevertheless those questions I am willing to wait and ask God because I have had enough of them answered that I can trust Him.
• How long does it take for one to trust their husband or wife? Does it take months, days, hours, weeks, years?
• If it takes years, maybe you are putting yourself in a higher state of importance than one should.
• God loves you and you can trust Him, especially when you understand His upper Story and how He has been pursuing you with His love.
• We also tend to look at everything in the context of TODAY, so there are some things in the Old Testament which make zero sense in today’s world, but put in the context of the time of the writing, it makes it more understandable.
• Are you ready to trust Jesus?
