Amen. Good morning everybody. Thank you so much for joining us this morning. And what
a great chapter in the Bible to be reading from. John chapter 20. John chapter 20 is
in reference to the resurrection. So the title of this message this morning is going to be
hard for some to understand and can be challenging for us in our day-to-day lives as Christians.
Title of this message this morning is doubt as a Christian. This story right here shows
us a prime example of even us as Christians experiencing doubt. Raise your hand if you've
ever experienced doubt. Now look, what is doubt? Doubt is just basically wondering if,
maybe it's not believing, not trusting, probably lack of faith. But understand this,
here's an example of a man in the Bible who lacked faith, not in reference to his salvation,
but in reference to what he was hearing and seeing. This story right here shows us Mary
Magdalene running to the tomb right when Jesus was raised from the dead. She noticed the stone
was rolled back. Now we got to have sympathy for the apostles because realize this, it's easy for
us to read the New Testament and realize that sometimes it's like, hey, why didn't they have
more faith? Why didn't they believe what they saw? But understand that at that time it was very
challenging to understand when Jesus was being literal, figurative, or spiritual. A lot of times
Jesus spoke in parables, right? He talks about things in a symbolic manner. So even the disciples
at times were questioning like, is he meaning this literally? Is he meaning this figuratively?
Is this a picture of something? So when Jesus Christ made clear that he says,
I will raise this body in three days, they didn't understand that. They're like, well,
what does that mean? So when the resurrection occurred and Mary claimed to have seen the risen
Christ, it's easy for the other disciples to challenge that. Why? Because outside of Lazarus,
they've never seen anyone else raised from the dead. Raise your hand if you've seen someone
raised from the dead before. Exactly. It's never happened. So it's okay when you hear that. And
it's like, did that really happen? Now get this, Thomas was saved. Thomas was a saved
disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. And every one of us as Christians are going to have
layers of doubt. The first thing I want you to realize is that you never need to doubt your
salvation. Because I know in my life, there have been times where I questioned if I prayed a
prayer correctly, if I asked for the right thing, did I truly believe? Was all my faith in Christ?
It's easy to spin your wheels and think to yourself, maybe it was enough, maybe it wasn't
enough. But what did Jesus say? If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, it'll grow into a
great tree. So basically, Jesus is saying if you have a little faith, but it's all on Him,
you're sealed into the day of redemption. Your sins are as far as the east is from the west.
Your sins and iniquity He will remember no more. We've preached on the subject of the eternal
security of the believer, time and time again. Once you believe, you receive everlasting life,
and it is yours forever, you can never lose it. But even Thomas here had a moment of doubt
and was wondering, is the resurrection real? Is it physical? Well, we know it's physical,
look down at your Bible if you would. At verse 25, John chapter 20 verse 25,
the other disciple therefore said unto him, we have seen the Lord. But he, in reference to Thomas,
said unto them, except I shall see in his hands the prints of the nails, and put my finger into
the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe. Now this does not
mean he will not believe in losing his salvation, this just means he doubts if it's a physical
event. Now let's go on to keep reading, it says in verse 26, and after eight days again his
disciples were with him, and Thomas with them. Then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood
in the midst, and said, peace be unto you. Then saith he to Thomas, remember because he was the one
questioning, is this real? Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands, and reach hither
thy hands, and thrust it into my side, and be not faithless, but believing. And Thomas answered,
and said unto him, my Lord and my God. Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou has seen me,
thou has believed. Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed. You know how many of
us have physically seen the Lord Jesus Christ? None. None of us. But we believe by faith that this
event has happened. Jesus just said, blessed are they who don't see this event, but still believe
in it. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. So that's
the first point I wanted you to get into, is understanding you can never lose your salvation.
You don't need to turn there, as a matter of fact turn if you would to Mark chapter 9.
Turn if you would to Mark chapter 9. While you get there I'm going to read a different section
of the Bible that clearly teaches that once you believed you can never lose your salvation.
While you turn there I'm going to read from 2 Timothy chapter 2 verse 10. You're going to
Mark 9. I'm reading 2 Timothy 2 10. Therefore I endure all things for the elect sakes,
that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.
It is a faithful saying, so it's about to come, it's trustworthy. It is a faithful saying,
for if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him. Now when it says be dead with him,
it doesn't mean die. Jesus says you must deny yourself, pick up your cross and follow after
him to be called a disciple, right? So it says if you're dead with Christ, you will live with
Christ. It goes on to read, if we suffer, we shall also reign with him. If we deny him,
he also will deny us. Now deny here does not mean deny he rose from the dead, deny here means when
Peter denied Jesus Christ to his face three times before he was crucified. They asked Peter,
do you know the man? I don't know him. I don't know him. I don't know him. Jesus prophesying
that to come. This is what the Bible says when if we deny him, a co-worker comes up to you. Are
you a Christian? I'm not a Christian. Do you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ? I don't know
what you're talking about. It's not that you don't in your heart truly believe, it's that you're
ashamed to be counted worthy for the cause of Christ. If you deny the Lord Jesus Christ,
he will deny you of blessings. He will deny you in the presence in heaven. You'll be in the pearly
gates cleaning the gates, but you might not have great rewards because you were ashamed of Jesus
while you were on this life. It says don't deny me, so I don't want to deny you,
but it goes on to read if we believe not, yet he abideth faithful, he cannot deny himself.
Now let me explain this to you. When I go out preaching the gospel to people,
I explain to them once they've received everlasting life, they can never lose this.
He that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out, right? The Bible is clearly teaching that if we
decide to stop believing, he will not hold his end of the bargain up. The Bible says,
for by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God,
and not of works, lest any man should boast. And I give unto them eternal life, and they shall
never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My father which gave them he is
greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of my hand. I and my father are one.
So if God extends his hands of grace to us, and we extend our hand of faith to him,
if we grab on to God the Lord Jesus Christ, he says I will never let you go no matter what you
do to try to pull away from God, he says I will not let go of you. So let me ask you this, let's
say there's a young able-bodied 20 year old normal guy who puts his faith in Christ, he goes riding
his motorcycle and then he bonks his head and gets amnesia, forgets who he is, forgets his name,
his parents. When that person dies where would he go? He would go to heaven. Why? Because although
he forgot the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ never forgot him. Now I'm not saying go
out and thrill seek and go ride a motorcycle and go bonk your head, but for crying out loud I know
people who suffer with dementia, you know PTSD, Alzheimer's, we can forget things, but Jesus says
I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. So God forbid you forget that you're even saved, he says
I won't forget that you're saved, and that's what the Bible teaches when it says if we believe not,
meaning it's not possible for us to stop believing. At one point in here did everyone
believe that Santa Claus was real? When I was a kid right I thought there's a fat jolly guy coming
down the chimney and my parents were like there's a fat jolly guy coming down giving me a presence
and I believed that, but then I found out my parents were giving me those presents all the time
and I got upset but that's because I was a dumb little kid and I said to myself hey you
are the one giving the presents, not this guy, and I realized Santa Claus wasn't real. Let me
ask you this, do you think you could go back and then believe that Santa Claus was real once you
found the truth? What did Jesus say? Know the truth and the truth will make you free. So the
Bible makes very clearly that once we put our faith in Christ, even if we forget him, he will
never forget us. So that's the first point, you never need to doubt your salvation. Now that
doesn't mean it doesn't happen but that's what the rest of this verse goes on to say.
These things put them in remembrance, charging them before the Lord that they strive not about
with words to no profit but to subvert of the hearers. My job, preacher's job, is to
reaffirm you on your faith. You've believed, you've been given eternal life, it is yours.
That's our job as preachers.
You're in Mark, right? Mark chapter 9. This is the second point I want to get into. How? How
do I go about my Christian life and in time to time not lose faith or lack doubt in the promises
of God? Because once you establish that you can never lose your salvation, the Bible says in
Romans 1, we live from faith to faith and as it is written, the just shall live by faith. Now that
just shall live by faith. Now that we believed in Christ for our salvation, don't we believe in
Christ for other aspects of our life? Don't we then think to ourselves like, well, I don't know
what tomorrow holds. Jesus says, take no thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thoughts
for the things of itself. Today, the evil, sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
We don't know when we're going to eat, when we're going to die, what's going to happen to our loved
ones. So how do we lack doubt as Christians in the promises of God? Well, let's take a look down
at Mark chapter 9. This is one of my favorite stories on this very subject of doubt. Why?
Because we're all going to experience it to some degree. Now notice what it says in verse 17. I'll
go ahead and start reading. And one of the multitude answered and said, Master, I have
brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit. This is a devil, this is a demon.
And it says, and wheresoever he taketh him, he teareth him, and he fometh and gnasheth with
his teeth and pineth away. And I spake to thy disciples that they should cast him out,
and they could not. He, in reference to Jesus, answered him and saith, O faithless generation,
how long shall I be with you? How long shall I suffer you? Bring him unto me. And they brought
him unto him. And when he saw him straightway the spirit tare him, and he fell on the ground
and wallowed foaming. And he asked his father, Jesus, how long is it ago since this came unto
him? And he said of a child, and oftentimes it hath cast them into the fire and into the waters
to destroy him. But if thou canst do anything, have compassion on us and help us. Now notice
what Jesus says. Jesus said unto him, if thou canst believe, all things are possible to him
that believeth. Now let's watch the father's reaction to that statement. And straightway,
the father of the child cried out. Cry doesn't mean to weep, cry means to yell. He cries out,
he says, and said with tears, Lord, I believe, help thou mine unbelief.
So here's a father who has a son who is struggling with a devil or a demon. He's foaming at him,
he's throwing him in the fire, he's throwing him in the water. This devil is trying to destroy
his son. He wants his son to be cured of this. He looks to Jesus and says, I believe that you
can do this, but I have doubt. How many of you see miracles happen every day? It's easy to flip
through your Bible and read page after page, see miracle after miracle, time after time, and think
that miracles are an everyday occurrence. But this spans hundreds of years of history. And Jesus
Christ, in the three years he was on this earth, performed miracles, healing people, lame people,
people who can't speak, blind people, people possessed with devils. So it's easy for someone
to say to someone, I know a guy, and he's casting devils out of people. He's healing blind people.
He's healing people of their ailments. Even I would double question that. That's not legit.
So here's his father who is desperate. And he wants his son to be cured. He says, I believe
you can do this, but help thou mine unbelief. And it says in verse 25, when Jesus saw that the
people came running together, he rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, thou dumb and deaf spirit,
I charge thee, come out of him, enter no morning to him. And the spirit cried, and went and swore,
and came out of him. And he was as one dead, insomuch that many said, he's dead. But Jesus
took him by the hand, and lifted him up, and he arose. And when he was coming to the house,
his disciples asked him quietly, why couldn't he not cast him out? And he said unto him,
this kind came forth by nothing but by prayer and fasting. So how do we in our lives experience
to get doubt out of our heart? Prayer. Prayer is a good way for us to cast doubt out of our hearts
and minds. If in your day you realize that you have a loved one that's experiencing something,
pray to God, speak with God, not just to God, speak with God. God is a professional athlete,
sitting on the bench, waiting for you to call him in, to tag him in. Remember wrestling? There's a
tag key? Tag you're in. Boom. Jesus is sitting there wanting nothing more than to help us.
But just as we pray for something, it does not mean we always get our prayers answered.
Ian told us last week, right? They might not happen immediately. It may take time to be answered,
right? But we need to have faith that he's going to do what he says he will do. The fervent prayer
of a righteous man availeth much. Last week we sung a song, right? And the reason why I like
the song is because it quotes the Bible passage. Since I know whom I have believed and am persuaded
that he is able to keep that which I've committed to him against that day. I am persuaded that if I
put my trust in God for salvation, that if I trust in him in my daily life, he will perform
the desires of my heart. If I line my will up with God's will, then God will perform the desires of
our hearts. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all things shall he add
unto you. Clothing, food, health, all these other things only matter if we first seek the Lord Jesus
Christ. Amen. Oh taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is a man that trusts within him.
And I got one last point for you. Okay David, we're all going to experience doubt.
Don't doubt your salvation. You don't need to. We are persuaded that he is able to keep that which
I've committed unto him against that day. He will never deny us. He will never leave us nor forsake
us. If in your life you experience doubt about prayer that you're having or some issue that's
occurring with some loved one, realize that at the end of the day like God told Job, right?
For the Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.
And the last point is how else can we get God to help us with doubt? Test God. Taste and see that
the Lord is good. Now don't misunderstand me. I am not saying tempt God. There is a difference
between tempting God and testing God. Testing God is basically doing what God tells us to do.
Following the commandments, not in light of our salvation, not to maintain our salvation. What
does Jesus say? If you love me keep my commandments and my commandments are not grievous. My yoke is
easy and my burden is light. It's the way of transgression that is hard. It is easier. God is
trying to lay out a path for us which is an easier path. Read your Bible. Pray. Sing psalms,
hymns, and spiritual songs. Fellowship with the saints. Go to church. Fellowship with each other.
Speak of the things of God. He says test me. Do that and see if you don't live a happier,
more fulfilling life. The Bible says in Malachi 3 10, bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse,
that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not
open the windows of heaven and pour out you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough
to receive it. God says to the children of Israel at that time, do what I've commanded you and tithe
to the church. Give 10% of your increase. Why? Because before that they weren't doing it and
God ripped them out of the land, sent them into Babylon. They came back to the land and they're
still living a bad life. God says just continue doing what I've asked you to do and see if I don't
rain, bring your crops up, and give you a blessing.
Throughout the Bible it says do not tempt the Lord your God, right? Now this is tricky. I just
want you guys to understand this last thing. What does it mean to tempt God? That is to provoke God.
Okay, what does it mean to test? A way to find out the nature, value, or quality of something.
Let me give you an analogy. Let's say there is a gorge to jump or there's like an area to jump
over, right? And it seems kind of far, like from me to the table. I said, Koi, do you think you
can jump across this area? I'm just testing him. I'm asking him a question. What if I was like,
ah, you can't do it. You can't jump it. No, I bet you can't jump it. See, to tempt God is to
basically look at God and say, I bet you can't rain down blessings from heaven. I bet you won't
do what I asked you. God says, do not tempt the Lord thy God. Don't test me or tempt me,
but test me. Basically saying, do what I've instructed you and see if I don't give you a
blessing. But be humble about it. Don't think within yourself. You can demand the Creator of
the universe to fulfill the desires of your heart. God sometimes doesn't answer our prayers.
And that's okay. But we're speaking about doubt. Doubt as a Christian, okay? Don't doubt
your salvation. There's no need to. Our job is to always put you in remembrance of your own
salvation. But number two, if you're doubting your day-to-day life, if God is there with you,
well test him. Put him to the test. Live godly in Christ Jesus and see if he doesn't rain you
blessings. Don't tempt the Lord your God. And the way we do this is through prayer and speaking with
God. Title of this message this morning is doubt as a Christian. Let's bow our heads and have a
word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you so much for allowing us all to gather together.
Thank you so much for letting us hear your word. Please help us in our day-to-day, week-to-week,
and month-to-month life that when we experienced doubt that we get into your word and realize that
you are faithful who has promised us not only our salvation but a good life if we would just do what
you tell us to do. If we ever have moments of doubt, help us to pray and speak with you on it
to give us joy unspeakable. One of the fruits of the spirit you said is joy and help provide us
with joy so that we can lean on you in all our ways and you direct our path. And in Jesus Christ's
name we pray. Amen. Amen. All right let's go ahead.