It is biblical obedience to examine ourselves, concerning our faith, however, when the examination is over, we need to be perfectly settled in the matter of faith. We need to be at peace about the matter of our salvation, for several reasons:
1. Our own emotional well-being.
2. Our productivity in bearing Christian fruit.
3. Our worship.
The Reality Of Doubt
Most people have times that they deal with some doubts. Even John the Baptist, one whom the Bible portrays as the long promised forerunner of the Messiah, the one who got the attention of the multitudes with his powerful message, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand; make straight the way of the Lord.”
Remember, it was John the Baptist who was filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother’s womb. That’s not true of anybody else in the history of the world. This was not even the case with Jesus.
John the Baptist prepared 30 years for a ministry that would last six months. When he spoke of Jesus, he said, “There is One coming who is mightier than I, One whose shoes I’m not worthy to untie, and He must increase, and I must decrease.”
It was John the Baptist, who was baptizing people in the Jordon River, and he looked up and saw Jesus coming, and he said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world!”
And, it was John who baptized the Lord Jesus, then he visibly witnessed the Holy Spirit descending on the Messiah in the form of a dove.
At this point in John’s life and ministry, he had zero doubt. He was as certain that Jesus was the long awaited Messiah, as he was of his own identity.
But then, after being thrown into prison for doing nothing more than bodly proclaiming the truth of God, and after having to sit there, for what some estimate to be up to two years, just looking at those old dungeon walls, with seemingly no opportunity to do what he knew he was called to do, doubt crept into his thinking. One thing this says is that anybody can have doubts.
The Response To Doubt
I don’t want to gloss this over. Doubt is unbelief. On the other hand, I want to encourage you, if doubt creeps into you thinking, respond to it in the right way.
John could have very easily said to himself, “If Jesus was really the one, and if God really loved me, people wouldn’t be treating me the way they are treating me, I’ll just give up on the whole business.”
Every one of us know people who have done just that. I can think of a half dozen preachers without even thinking hard, who have done just that.
John couldn’t go himself, so he sent two of his disciples to Jesus.
Jesus has the answer to every problem of life. Not only does He have the answer, He is the answer! John did the right thing, when he put the matter before the Lord.
The Remedy For Doubt
It is very interesting the way Jesus handled this. He didn’t do what one might expect. You’d think He would’ve said, “Go back and tell John not to worry. Tell him to remember all the things that he’s experienced. Tell him everything is okay.
But, what he said is in verses 4-6: “Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: the blind see and the lame walk, the leapers are cleansed and the deaf hear. The dead are reaised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And, blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.”
Just as a little side note, why did Jesus say, “The poor have the gospel preached to them?” Why didn’t He say, “The poor have food and clothing given to them?” The answer is that when people hear the gospel and trust the Lord with their life and the material things that they presently have, their standard of living shoots straight up.
Now, back to what Jesus told John’s disciples. He had some very complimentary things to say about John, but He didn’t say them until John’s disciples had gone. It seems like if John had heard those those things from Jesus, it would have been very comforting to him. Why didn’t Jesus send that word to John?
Look at Isaiah 35:5-6. This is a passage that speaks of how things will be when the Messiah comes. Jesus knew that John would know this Scripture. These verses say, “Then, the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the dumb sing...”
Jesus was sending John back to the word of God for his assurance and comfort.
Settled faith is only going to happen when you apply the word of God to your situation, and you stand on the promises of God.
A preacher friend of mine, who is in heaven now, died at a young age with cancer: Bro. Danny Sparks, was pastor of Thrasher Baptist Church, and after he found out that he had cancer, and that the prognosis was very bad, he elected not to have chemo treatments, but decided to just preach until he dropped. He was always, what I considered to be, a great preacher, but after he knew he was dying, his preaching took on a whole new dynamic. He was preaching at a pastor’s conference, and he told us that when he found out the doctor’s prognosis for his situation, he went to his office, and over the back of a chair was an afgan someone had made for him. He said he turned out the lights, put that afgan over his head, and lay down in the floor and began to pray. He said, “God, I’ve preached the gospel, I’ve won people to the faith, and I’ve pastored your people, but now, before I get up from this floor, I’ve got to have a word from You that it is well with my soul.” He said God started bringing Scriptures to his mind, one right after another, Scriptures of God’s comforting promises, and he said, “When I took that afgan off my head and raised up from that floor, I had everything I needed down in my soul.”
I believe when John’s disciples came back with the word that Jesus sent them, he probably lifted his hands and his heart to the Lord in praise and said, “Well, praise the Lord, I’ve got everything I need down in my soul.”
If you are troubled with doubts, go to the Lord by going to His word, then receive that word as your security.
