John In Doubt
Matthew 11:1-5 (February 9,2003)
Intro:
A man fell off a cliff, but managed to grab a tree limb on the way down. The following conversation ensued:
"Is anyone up there?"
"I am here. I am the Lord. Do you believe me?"
"Yes, Lord, I believe. I really believe, but I can’t hang on much longer."
"That’s all right, if you really believe you have nothing to worry about. I will save you. Just let go of the branch."
A moment of pause, then: "Is anyone else up there?"
This illustration paints a good picture of a multitude of believers. Whenever we are hanging by a limb or when our faith is being tested, we become deceived by Satan and start doubting God.
In this mornings Scripture we read of John the Baptist. Jesus said, “Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist;
The Old Testament Prophesied the Birth of John Malachi 3:1 “Behold, I send My messenger, And he will prepare the way before Me.
John was to be the forerunner of Christ, the man who paved the way for the Messiah. This morning we are going to look at this prophet from God, the one Jesus said was the greatest who ever lived, dealing with an issue of doubt.
1. Johns Question of Doubt (Vv. 1-3)
A. Jesus Commanding His Disciples (v.1)
“Jesus finished commanding His twelve disciples that He departed from there to teach and to preach in their cities.
If you look in the previous chapter Matt 10:5 we find “Jesus sent out and commanded them. “ Jesus had commanded them to go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel (v6), to preach the Kingdom of Heaven, Heal the sick, raise the dead, and heal the lepers, cast out Demons. (v.7)
Jesus had told them he was sending them out as sheep among the wolves (v.16), He told them they would be hated (v.22) He told them to confess Christ before men (v.32)
After Jesus concluded his teachings to the disciples, “He departed” to minister in the communities around Galilee. Jesus went to theses areas for a twofold purpose the “teach” and to “preach” To “teach” means Jesus was going to instruct the people on how to live and the way’s of God. To “preach” meant Jesus was going to proclaim the truth and the kingdom of God.
Just as Jesus departed into the region to teach and preach, today he uses preachers, teachers, singers, missionaries, and The Word of God, the BIBLE to teach the way of righteousness, Holiness, sanctification, and to Proclaim salvation and the Kingdom of God
B. John In Prison (v.2)
2And when John had heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples .”
John the Baptist at this time was in prison. He had been placed in prison according to Matt 14 for Preaching against the Adulteress marriage of Herod Antipas. Herod had seduced the wife of his half brother Phillip, than divorced his wife and married Herodias, which was his brother’s wife.
John at this point had meet and baptized Jesus, but he had never heard him preach nor had he seen Jesus perform any miracles, but he had “Heard about the works of Christ”
C. Johns Question (v.3)
“Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?
John was referring to the coming of the Messiah; John knew the Old Testament prophecies concerning the coming of Christ.
He knew Isaiah 9:6-7 “For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
He knew Micah 5:2 said that from Bethlehem would come the one who would be the ruler of Israel
And now John wants to know are you the Messiah or do I look for another one.
You will remember that it was it was John who saw Jesus walking in a distance and Proclaimed “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.” John who Baptized Jesus, It was John who saw the Holy Spirit descend on Jesus like a dove out of heaven, It was John who heard God speck and say “This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.” So we have to ask, “Why did John Doubt Jesus?”
2. Johns Reason For Doubt (v.2a)
A. His imprisonment (v.2a)
John doubted because he was placed in prison. John was a man of the wilderness and now he was held captive indoors, he was a preacher and now he had been silenced.
The Bible say’s John was full of the Holy Ghost before he was born. John had separated himself for God he had taken the oath of a Nazerite which was the strictest Jewish vow. He had spent most his live in the wilderness preaching the gospel and now he is in prison. So he begins to doubt.
A Classic Illustration of Doubt comes from the Disciple Thomas. You remember the Disciples came proclaiming Jesus had resurrected from the grave and Thomas said, “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe"
(Jn.20:25).
Jesus instructed Thomas to come look at his hands and touch his side. After this Thomas believed and Jesus responded, "Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed" (v. 29).
Ill. Martyn Lloyd-Jones on Doubt
In his book, Spiritual Depression, Martyn Lloyd-Jones writes: Doubts are not incompatible with faith. Some people seem to think that once you become a Christian you should never be assailed by doubts. But that is not so, Peter still had faith (as he panicked in the storm in Matthew 14).… His faith was not gone, but because it was weak, doubt mastered him and overwhelmed him and he was shaken.…
Doubts will attack us, but that does not mean that we are to allow them to master us.1
B. Reasons People Doubt
1. Circumstances. Whenever a loved one is diagnosed with a terminal disease, whenever a young child dies, when we look at all the violence in the world, it is very easy to doubt God.
2. Prayers that seem to go unanswered. Often times when we pray for a situation and the answer does not come we began to doubt God. I want to remind that God always answers our prayers, with a yes, no, or wait. Our prayers never go unanswered, but sometimes are not answered according to our will. We need always pray as Jesus “Not my will, but thine be done.”
3. Satan. God had told Adam and Eve if they eat of the tree of the tree of life they would “Surely die” Satan than comes to eve and say’s if you eat the fruit from the tree “You will not surely die” Satan had caused eve to doubt the very words of God.
Lets look together at Mark 9:20-24 “20Then they brought him to Him. And when he saw Him, immediately the spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming at the mouth. 21So He asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. 22“And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” 23Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” 24Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”
If we are honest we will all have to admit that at some point in our walk with
God we have doubted. There may be some of you that are dealing with doubt
this very minute, I want to remind you that Psalms 53:1 “The fool has said in
his heart, “There is no God.”
A lot of people in our day and time, either doubt the existence or character of God and ask the Question “how can a loving God send people to hell,” My friends God has never sent anyone to hell, nor does he will for anyone to go there. We in our own choosing make our decision to go there. A loving God has allowed a way of escape, He provided atonement, he provided away for us to be justified, and that is through the precious blood of his son Jesus Christ.
Jesus said in Matt 26:28 ““For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. 2
3. The Answer to Doubt (Vv.2b-5)
A. Go to Jesus (v.2b-3a)
The first thing John did when in doubt, he sent two disciples Straight to talk to Jesus.
When you are in doubt before you go to the counseling, or trying to search out answers the first thing you need to do his hit your knees in prayer and go straight to Jesus tell him what you are feeling, the questions you have. Jesus understands doubt; he himself began to doubt the cross, for he cried out and prayed till he sweat blood, and said, “Father, if there is any other way let this cup pass from me.”
1 John 2:1 “we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
When we have slipped into sin, when we have our doubts, when we are down and discouraged, Jesus is pleading our case to the father, and I assure you he will meet you right where you are and bring you encouragement and give you answers to your doubts.
Acts 4 say’s the Apostles were praying And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.
When you are in doubt if you will go to God in prayer and ask him to fill you up with his Holy Spirit, He will give you the mighty power that comes from heaven, He will fill your soul up to the point there will be no way to Doubt God because he will be so real to your life, he will give you that joy unspeakable and full of glory, he will anoint you head with oil, your cup will run over, and when the devil try’s again to make you doubt you can sing boldly Blessed assurance Jesus is mine,
B. Remember The God of Your Youth (v.4)
In Luke’s Gospel he gives an account of this same story, Luke 7:20 tells us that after the disciples came and told Jesus the doubts of John and asked if he was the true Messiah v.21 say’s “And that very hour He cured many of infirmities, afflictions, and evil spirits; and to many blind He gave sight.
And after Jesus had done these miracles “Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and tell John the things which you hear and see:
Sometimes when ever we begin to doubt God we need to do as Ecclesiastes 12:1 “Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth,
We need to think back to the simple days of our youth when we knew and believed that God made the Sun, the moon, and the stars, we believed God split the Red Sea, God made sun stand still, Jesus feed five thousand with five loaves of bread and two fishes.
C. Remember your Salvation and Blessings (v.5)
Jesus said you tell John The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them.
Jesus was reminding John of his healing ministry because Isaiah had
Prophesied 35:5-6 “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ear of
the deaf shall be unstopped. Then the lame shall leap like a deer, And the tongue of the dumb sing.
He reminded John that the poor had the Gospel preached to them, because Isaiah
Prophesied 61:1 “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me,
Because the LORD has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor;
When we began to doubt we need to remember that we were as the blind man, we were walking around in darkness, we were as the leper, we were walking around unclean, we were as the dead we were alive physically, but dead spiritually,
But Jesus came into your lives and he gave the Blind man sight, John 3:19 “that the light has come into the world, , He made the leper clean, and He made you alive spiritually.
When you doubt you need to think back to the day when you as a sinner maybe hooked on alcohol or hooked on drugs, living a life of adultery, living a life with no purpose, full of sin, came to an alter and Almighty God delivered you, and cleansed your soul, and you had no doubt that there was a God because of the feeling of presence, Sometimes when in doubt we need to go back “to the Creator of Our Youth”
If you will think of what God delivered you from and where he has brought you, and how he has blessed your life, it should remove all doubt.
Ill. G. Campbell Morgan had grown up in a Christian home, never questioning that the Bible was the Word of God. But in college, his faith was severely challenged, and he began to entertain doubts. He once said, “The whole intellectual world was under the mastery of the physical scientists,” and of a materialistic and rationalistic philosophy. Darwin, Huxley, Tyndall, Spencer, Bain. There came a moment when I was sure of nothing.” What did he do? He cancelled all preaching engagements, put all the books in a cupboard and locked the door, and went to the bookstore and bought a new Bible. He said to himself, "I am no longer sure that this is what my father claims it to be--the Word of God. But of this I am sure. If it be the Word of God, and if I come to it with an unprejudiced and open mind, it will bring assurance to my soul of itself." The result? "That Bible found me!" said Morgan. The new assurance in 1883 gave him the motivation for his preaching and teaching ministry. He devoted himself to the study and preaching of God’s Word.
Conclusion:
What are you dealing with this morning are you doubting the existence of God, do you doubt God loves you, do you doubt God in your prayer life, Do you doubt God during times of difficult circumstances. Do you doubt your salvation, do you doubt your commitment.
When in doubt go to God talk to him about your situation, let him remove your doubts.
All Scriptute taken from the NKJV (1982. Thomas Nelson Publishing) unless otherwise specified.
1. Nelsons Complete Book of Storie, Ill, and Quotes (2000 Thomas nelson publishing.)
