Jesus Loves Doubters - Part A

You know, it could be that some of you are struggling with similar doubts like John, as to the identity of Jesus. You've wondered, is Jesus really the same guy that all these Christians tell me that he is? Can I just suggest that you do what John did? John didn't just stew in his prison cell, you know, just bouncing those questions around.

He went to find the answer by sending his men to go examine Jesus. If you've ever dealt with doubt, rest assured that you are not alone. All believers struggle with doubt, but that doesn't mean there aren't any answers. Today on Connect with Skip Heitig, Skip shares some encouragement that will help you when you struggle with doubt. Now we want to share about an exciting resource that helps you better understand the unconditional nature of God's love. People everywhere have a deep God-given need to be loved. But sadly, sometimes the people who need love the most are the most rejected.

Here's Skip Heitig. We all crave love. We will do sometimes almost anything to get it, to know that we are loved by somebody else unconditionally. No one did that better than Jesus. He loved the worst of sinners. He loved the best of saints. Jesus showed the love of God in human flesh. We want to give you a glimpse of God's relentless love for all people, including you, by sending you the Jesus Loves People four-booklet collection by Skip Heitig. All four Jesus Loves People titles, including Jesus Loves the Broken, are our thanks for your gift of $25 or more today to help connect more people to God's love through His Word.

Visit connectwithskip.com slash offer to give online securely or call 800-922-1888. Now we're in Matthew 11 and John 20 as we dive into the teaching with Skip Heitig. Dennis was a doubter. Dennis grew up in a home with a family that gave him a traditional upbringing, believing in God, going to church. But as Dennis came of age, he found himself doubting many of the things he had been taught. By the time Dennis hit college, his struggles were pronounced. He became a major in science and eventually his doubts solidified into deep convictions.

He was very secure in his unbelief. Dennis went on to become an instructor in biology at the college level and then a medical doctor eventually. By the time I met Dennis, however, he admitted to me that he knew something was missing in his life and we had great conversations. And I remember Dennis beginning to doubt his own doubts. And he revisited all of the things that he was doubting and what he had once believed. And I watched a man who at one time held to some form of belief and become a doubter and eventually unbelief to move from unbelief back to doubt and then eventually to become a bona fide, strong, vibrant believer in Jesus Christ. Great doctor, great Christian.

Dennis's story is not alone. Hundreds of people for generations have struggled with issues of faith. Did you know that people who even lived during the time of Jesus did as well? You remember the story of the man who had a son who was oppressed and brought his son to Jesus? And our Lord said, if you believe anything is possible to him who believes, and the man said, I believe, but help my unbelief.

Ever been there? I believe, but there's this part of me that struggles with doubt. Tim Stafford, who was an author, admitted this when he was in college. He said, I was supposed to hear his voice in a 2,000-year-old book. I was supposed to talk with him in prayer, but when I read the Bible, I heard no voices. And my prayers often seem more like I was talking to myself. My sense of his presence was never intense enough to form absolute proof of God.

And other people's experience, well, that was other people. And so one blustery night when the wind blew the trees high into the air, I walked for miles, asking God again and again to simply show himself to me. I shouted to heaven to shatter the silence. I did not want to work up a feeling of God.

I wanted God to break in on me. He did not. I heard no voice.

I saw no lights in the sky. I went home to my dorm room and I went to my dorm room and I went to bed and I survived. I did more than survive.

I grew. But I did not stop longing for God to be unquestionably real to me. I've discovered something, that many people like Dennis, some of the strongest believers I've ever met or read were one time struggling unbelievers.

C.S. Lewis, Josh McDowell, Francis Collins, who was the head of the Human Genome Project, medical doctor. Many, many people like those people struggled through doubts and came to vibrant faith. But you need to know that even the very closest men to Jesus had their own doubts. The apostles themselves, after the resurrection, when the women came and reported that the tomb was empty, listen to what the Bible says.

And their words seemed like idle tales and they did not believe them. We're gonna look at two skeptics today, two doubters. John the Baptist. I prefer to call him John the Baptizer because we really don't know if he was Baptist or Methodist or Presbyterian. So let's just call him John the Baptizer or J the B if you prefer. He was the one who announced the Messiah and then the other one was the classic doubter and that is Thomas.

You could call this message a tale of two skeptics. John the Baptist and Thomas. We're gonna look at these two gentlemen and then we're gonna look at their doubts and then we're gonna see how Jesus handled it. Let's begin with John the Baptizer, the first notable doubter in Matthew chapter 11. Now his problem is that he doubted the identity of Jesus. In Matthew 11 verse 1, it came to pass when Jesus finished commanding his 12 disciples that he departed from there to teach and to preach in their cities. And when John had heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples and said to him, that is the two disciples of John said to Jesus, are you the coming one or do we look for another? And Jesus answered and said to them, go and tell John the things which you hear and see, the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of me. So here's John the Baptist wondering if this Jesus is really the guy.

Are you the coming one or do we look for another? Now let's back up a little bit. At one time, John the Baptizer was very clear as to who Jesus was. He was the guy you remember when Christ came to the Jordan River and John saw him said, look, there's the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. That's a clear statement of faith.

That's the savior right there. On another time, he said, you know, this guy is so great, I'm not even worthy to bend down and untie his shoelaces, his sandal straps. That's how great he is and how not great I am. And then he said of Jesus, though John himself was older than Christ, he said, the one who comes after me is preferred before me because he was before me. Another translation says he preexisted before I was born. A powerful statement of his deity.

So you put it all together. John knew who Jesus was. He's the savior of the world and he's God in human flesh.

Now I want to add a layer to that. We know that probably John the Baptist and Jesus Christ were second cousins. Most scholars believe that Jesus' mother Mary and Elizabeth were first cousins, making Jesus and John second cousins. To me, that adds to the authenticity of the statements of John about Jesus, because who of you would ever say about your cousin? My cousin, he's God. You've said a lot of other things about your cousin, but probably not that.

My cousin, he's the savior of the world. But John growing up with Jesus, going to the festivals in Jerusalem, being at family reunions, knew him very well, believed that about him. But now, he's sort of second guessing it. It says he is in prison. And we know why he is in prison, the Bible tells us, because he was very openly preaching against one of the rulers named Herod Antipas, who dumped his wife so that he could marry his brother Philip's wife named Herodias. They were hooking up and John saw that and he preached against that, ended him up in jail. So now he's in jail and he's rethinking the whole thing. He's rotting in jail and he's wondering, so where's the kingdom?

Are you the one or do we look for another? Let's go to Thomas now in John chapter 20. Thomas, the apostle, John chapter 20, verse 24.

Now Thomas called the twin, one of the 12, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples, therefore, said to him, we have seen the Lord. So he said to them, 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.

And put my hand into his side, I will not believe. After eight days, his disciples were again inside and Thomas with them, Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst and said, peace to you. And he said to Thomas, reach your finger here and look at my hands and reach your hand here and put it into my side.

Do not be unbelieving, but believing. And Thomas answered and said to him, my Lord and my God. Jesus said to him, Thomas, because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. Okay, so Thomas was the apostle from Missouri, right? The show me state. Hey, Tom, Jesus is alive, show me.

No, really, the tomb is empty. Show me, he was that guy. He's the classic doubter. We always think of Thomas whenever there's a word association about doubt. In fact, we even call people who are doubters, we call them doubting Thomases, as if Thomas is somehow the patron saint of all skeptics. He has to live with that rap.

We usually find Thomas in the New Testament singing in the minor key. He always sees the dark side of things. I've often said if this were a Winnie the Pooh cartoon, Thomas would be Eeyore, right? Eeyore the donkey. Good morning, Eeyore.

Good morning, if it is good, which I doubt. I mean, that's Thomas. I heard about a woman who, it was the first time she had ever made Thanksgiving dinner, a turkey for Thanksgiving for her family. And she wasn't, she was anything but an expert, she was a novice. And she said to her family, look, this is my first go around. If this turkey does not turn out, I don't want to hear a word from you.

We're just going to go out and grab dinner at a restaurant. So she went into the kitchen and brought the turkey into the dining room and there was her family already dressed up in coats ready to go. Thomas was the apostle with the coat on. However, there's a couple things that I think we need to know about Thomas to sort of balance out his profile. First of all, Thomas was loyal.

Did you know that? Of all of the apostles, Thomas was the guy who was loyal to Jesus. Because there was that time when our Lord said, let's go back up to Judea. And all of the apostles said, now wait a minute, the Jews recently have sought to stone you in Judea.

Why would you go there? It was Thomas who spoke up and said, let us go with him also that we may die with him. Okay, now that's not a very encouraging statement. That's an Eeyore statement. But that's a loyal statement. That's a very courageous statement.

I am willing to follow you to death. So he was loyal. Second thing, and I love this about Thomas, he was honest. He was real. He was real.

He was the guy in the upper room after the Passover supper when Jesus said to his men, let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. In my father's house, there are many mansions.

If it were not so, I would have told you. I'm going to prepare a place for you. And if I go, I will come again and receive you to myself that where I am, there you may be also. And where I'm going, you know, and the way you know. Thomas immediately piped up and said, we don't know where you're going and how can we know the way? Pretty honest, isn't it?

I can sort of imagine the scene that all of the apostles were sort of nodding when Jesus was saying like, yeah, amen. Good, profound. Thomas is going, I don't get a word you just said. And I'm so glad he piped up and said that.

You know why? Because immediately Jesus said what I consider gold in scripture. He said, I am the way, the truth and the life and no one comes to the father but by me. But Thomas was never the guy to try to put on a spiritual mask and just say, glory to God, hallelujah, praise the Lord. If he didn't mean it, he just said, don't know where you're going?

Couldn't figure out the way. Like the little boy that came home with a bad report card, his dad looked at it and said, one thing is good with grades like this, you couldn't possibly be cheating. And I would say, Thomas with statements like that, you couldn't possibly be faking. So Thomas was a doubter but Thomas was loyal and he was real.

So those are the doubters. J the B, John the Baptist, John the Baptizer and Thomas the Apostles. John, he doubted the identity of Jesus. Thomas, he doubted the activity of Jesus that he had risen from the dead. So let's now look at the doubts that they had, the things they bring that they're struggling with to Jesus. First of all, John. Now John's doubt was based upon, listen, unfulfilled expectations.

Unfulfilled expectations. John expected certain things out of Jesus that he was not seeing or getting and therefore he doubted. John had the misconception like even the apostles had that when the Messiah comes and here he is, Jesus. So when the Messiah comes, he's going to set up his kingdom now. He's going to overthrow the Roman oppressors. He's going to stop all of that suffering.

He's going to judge them and he's going to set up his kingdom now. That's not happening to John. John's in jail and in jail now he's rethinking it. Thoughts probably like this. Didn't Jesus announce he was going to set the captives free?

Wasn't this the guy who said, I have come to set at liberty those who are bound? So you, you take those unfulfilled expectations and you add to them emotional and physical strain and you have a recipe for doubt. That's John's doubt. Unfulfilled expectations. Now let me tell you this. It is not unusual for strong believers, even Christian leaders, to from time to time struggle with uncertainty.

Did you know that? Moses second-guessed his calling a few times. Jeremiah wanted to quit the ministry altogether. Elijah wanted to end his life. You see, when a believer has faithfully and sacrificially served the Lord for years and then experiences tragedy or a series of tragedies, it's hard to figure that out.

The loss of a child, a child going astray, cancer entering into the family, the person starts asking questions. God, where are you when I really, really need you? How come you don't help?

Why did you let it happen? You know, it could be that some of you are struggling with similar doubts like John, as to the identity of Jesus. You've wondered, is Jesus really the same guy that all these Christians tell me that he is? Can I just suggest that you do what John did? John didn't just stew in his prison cell, you know, just bouncing those questions around. He went to find the answer by sending him to the men to go examine Jesus. Why don't you personally examine Christ? Now, if you are a skeptic, even an atheist, let me give you just a little challenge. I'm not going to have you go read reams of material, but simply this, a 21-day challenge, it'll take you 10 to 15 minutes a day. Erwin Lutzer came up with this, and I've always loved it. He said, every day for the next 21 days, read one chapter of the Gospel of John.

It'll take you 10 to 15 minutes to do so. Just read through it, and in the 21 days, answer one question. Who was Jesus? Who did John present Jesus Christ to be?

Begin there. Go to the source and find out about him. So that's John the Baptist. Now, let's consider Thomas's doubt. Thomas's doubt was different than John's in that Thomas's doubt was based upon personal presupposition.

Now, I need to explain that. Thomas had a pre-disposition, a presupposition, and here it is. Dead people don't get up again.

When people die, that's it. Okay, he had seen Jesus raise people from the dead, but that guy himself is now dead, and he was not expecting Jesus to ever die. If he's the Messiah, he's going to set up the kingdom now. Now he's dead, and because he wasn't expecting his death, he certainly was not expecting his resurrection. He wasn't even open to the idea at all, which places his doubt in a different category altogether. I would even label it unbelief. Now, doubt is a different category. I would even label it unbelief. Now, doubt and unbelief are different.

Doubt looks for answers. Unbelief doesn't really care that much about the answers. Doubt says, I can't believe. Unbelief says, I won't believe. Doubt is honesty. Unbelief is obstinacy. See, doubt will work through the difficulties and find a faith that is reasonable and satisfying. Unbelief is different.

It decides against faith and pushes it away at all costs. So Thomas, get this, he was one of the apostles that did not go to the tomb to see if it was empty. No record of him ever going. In fact, the first time Jesus shows up with the apostles, Thomas wasn't even with them. Look at verse 24. Thomas called the twin, one of the 12, was not with them when Jesus came.

He showed up, showed himself to them. They told Thomas, because he wasn't there, he isolated himself from other believers. Very different from John. John was put in prison.

He's suffering. Thomas is in solitude. He isolated himself from the other apostles.

He was not with them. Matthew Henry once said, there are none so blind as those who will not see. There are none so deaf as those who will not hear. Ever talk to a person who goes, I don't want to talk about that. I will not talk about faith.

I don't want to talk about Jesus. That's blindness. That's unbelief.

Don't confuse me with the facts. That's Give Heighting with a message from the series Jesus Loves People. Now we want to share about a unique opportunity to take your knowledge of Scripture to a new level. Calvary College is now open for registration. Calvary College is offering select online classes as an opportunity for individuals to take their life's calling to a whole new level, with an educational emphasis in Biblical studies. With our unique partnerships with Veritas International University and Calvary Chapel University, you will have the opportunity to obtain your bachelor's or master's degree with complete online programs. Whether you're looking to obtain an accredited online degree or take individual courses to become better equipped in your knowledge of God's unchangeable truth, Calvary College has you covered with a range with a range of opportunities. For updates on classes and registration information for Calvary College, please visit calvaryabq.college. That's calvaryabq.college.

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Again, that's 800-922-1888. Thank you. Tune in tomorrow as Skip Heitzig shares how Jesus handled two doubters, revealing the hope you can find for yourself in those encounters. If you want evidence for the historic Christian faith, it abounds. There's plenty of it. The credentials of Jesus Christ are basically these. His impact upon history, fulfilled prophecy, the claims He made about Himself, and His resurrection. Just go with those. Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never-changing truth in ever-changing times.