To Believe or Not To Believe... - Part A

There's a big difference between doubt and unbelief. See, doubt is looking for answers. Unbelief doesn't care about the answers. Now, I think that everybody struggles with spiritual reality. Everybody, I think, has spiritual doubts. Even the greatest biblical heroes and non-biblical heroes have.

Welcome to Connect with Skip Weekend Edition. In Indiana Jones of the Last Crusade, the ever-pragmatic Dr. Jones is asked a very important question. Up to this point, he's been pursuing the Holy Grail as merely an archaeological expedition. But when his father's life hangs in the balance, with the supposedly mystical powers of the Grail being the only thing that can save him, Indy is told, it's time to ask yourself, what do you believe?

Well, that's a good question that we should all ask of ourselves every now and again. Well, today in Connect with Skip Weekend Edition, Skip Heitzig explores why the answer is so important. And we'll get to today's study in just a moment.

But first, let's see what's going on in the Connect with Skip Resource Center this month. Attention moms, dads, and anyone who's looking to help children understand the message of the Bible. This month, we're offering the book Soaring Through the Bible for Kids.

God's Word can be a challenge to read and understand, even for adults. And this kid-friendly version of Pastor Skip Heitzig's popular book, The Bible from 30,000 Feet, gives young children and tweens a panoramic overview of all 66 books of the Bible, helping them see the context and significance of each. Soaring Through the Bible is a travel guide from Genesis through Revelation for kids. Each chapter provides a flight plan for exploring a portion of the Bible, along with a brief synopsis that shows what the chapters are about and language kids can understand. Creatively designed with kids in mind, Soaring Through the Bible also features fun illustrations and fascinating facts to keep young minds and hearts engaged and interested. Soaring Through the Bible for Kids will prepare a child for takeoff on a lifelong journey of learning and loving God's Word. We will send you a copy of this unique book along with a booklet for you by Skip titled Why Truth Matters. Simply make a donation to support and expand this radio program with a gift of $50 or more.

Call 1-800-922-1888 or order online at connectwithskip.com. Today we're going to look at some verses in John chapter 10, starting at verse 22. So if you turn there in your Bible, Skip Heitzig begins our study with a few warnings. How many of you remember 1994, the famous lawsuit with McDonald's over the hot coffee? Remember that?

Yeah. It happened here in town, by the way. A friend of mine owned one of those McDonald's, so I kind of got a firsthand view of it. But what was interesting is after that lawsuit, warning labels became very prominent, not only on cups of coffee. I think if you get a McDonald's coffee now, there's like flashing neon lights that say hot coffee.

It's pretty big and bold. And a lot of items are like that. They're warning labels that tell us what to do and what not to do. Well, I decided to go around the house and look at a few items that I had and read the warning labels. So this is from a chainsaw that I had in my garage.

Is that okay? But it does say this, warning, do not operate chainsaw while upset. This guy saw one too many movies, I think. Then I went into my refrigerator and my favorite hot sauce is called Marie Sharp's hot sauce. It's from down in Belize. It says, warning, must be strong to handle this sauce. Keep out of the reach of children.

That's a good one. Then it says, do not play tricks on the weak or elderly with this sauce. So then I went on the internet and found a website called 101 dumb warnings, literal warnings on real products, but you'll get the idea. One brand of hair color said, do not use as an ice cream topping. Yeah, there's a lot of people doing that. On a car sunshade, you know, the kind that you unfold and put in your windshield in the summer, it says, remove shade before operating vehicle.

Do they think we're idiots? One blow dryer had a warning, do not use while sleeping. I'm tired, get my blow dryer and go to bed. On a Rowenta iron, a warning label said, warning, never iron clothes while on the body. And then finally from a mattress company came this warning, warning, do not attempt to swallow. What, a mattress?

Maybe kids in a youth camp might do that, but I don't know how many people would try that. These are warning labels. There's an even more important warning label that could be affixed to the gospel of John, especially this last portion of the 10th chapter. It would read thus, warning, unbelief is hazardous to your eternal health. Unbelief is hazardous to your eternal health. Unbelief is hazardous to your eternal health.

The title of today's message is to believe or not to believe. You can tell that I stole the title from a very famous line in literature. Act three, scene one of Shakespeare's play Hamlet. He says, to be or not to be, that is the question. In that scene, Hamlet was actually contemplating suicide.

Should he suffer through his life or should he end his life? To be or not to be, that is the question. Well, Jesus wouldn't agree with Shakespeare or Hamlet. The real question, the vital question is to believe or not to believe.

That really is the central vital question because belief transports a person to ever increasing realms of joy and glory and unbelief destroys all of that. We begin today in verse 22 of John chapter 10. We'll read all the way down to the end of verse 42. This final section closes off the public ministry of Jesus Christ. After this chapter ends, Jesus, for the next several months until his crucifixion, will not give public speeches, will not do public miracles, but he will spend the time now nurturing his disciples and preparing them before he leaves.

And this is really a fitting close to chapter 10 because it sort of sums up the entire book up to this point. The theme of this section is unbelief versus belief. Unbelief versus belief. And really the theme of John is believe and that's the word he uses almost 100 times and you'll see here seven times in just this section that word comes up. Verse 22, we start, let's read all the way through it. Now it was the feast of dedication in Jerusalem and it was winter and Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon's porch, not our coffee shop but the Solomon's porch. Then the Jews surrounded him and said to him, how long do you keep us in doubt? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly. Jesus answered them, I told you and you do not believe. The works that I do in my father's name, they bear witness of me, but you do not believe because you are not of my sheep as I said to you. My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me. And I give them eternal life and they shall never perish. Neither shall anyone snatch them out of my hand. My father who has given them to me is greater than all and no one is able to snatch them out of my father's hand.

I and my father are one. Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered them, many good works I have shown you from my father.

For which of these works do you stone me? The Jews answered him saying, for a good work we do not stone you but for blasphemy because you being a man make yourself God. Jesus answered them, is it not written in your law I said you are gods? If he called them gods to whom the word of God came and the scripture cannot be broken, do you say of him whom the father sanctified and sent into the world you are blaspheming because I said I am the son of God? If I do not do the works of my father, don't believe me.

But if I do, though you do not believe, believe the works that you may know and believe that the father is in me and I in him. Therefore they sought again to seize him but he escaped out of their hand. And he went again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was baptizing at first and there he stayed. Then many came to him and said John performed no sign but all the things that John spoke about this man were true and many believed in him there.

We have 21 verses. We have two groups. One group is in Jerusalem at the temple. The second group is out in the wilderness where Jesus began his ministry. The first group comes to Jesus, they don't believe him. The second group come to Jesus, they believe him.

The first group disregards all of the miraculous signs that Jesus had done and the personal testimony about him. Second group regards both the miraculous signs and the personal testimony. There is thus a contrast, a comparison between unbelief and belief that is set up.

Something else to note. Unbelief occupies the greatest portion of textual real estate in our passage. There's 21 verses, 18 of those verses describe those who are in unbelief while only three describe those who believe. And though John is simply making the contrast, I think we have here a ratio, if you will, of reality. In reality, even in our world, a majority of people do not believe in Christ.

A minority, Christians believe in Jesus Christ. Something else to note before we jump right in. There's a two-month gap between where we left off in the last message and where we begin in verse 22. Two months exist at least between verse 21 and 22 because in verse 21 all the way back through chapter 8, that setting takes place during the feast of, do you remember what it was, the feast of? Tabernacles. Do you remember that? Okay. Feast of Tabernacles.

That took, it was, I know, it was many messages ago. Feast of Tabernacles. That takes place during the fall time of the year.

This takes place a couple of months after that during the winter months, the feast of dedication. But let's begin. Let's start looking at the difference between belief and unbelief. First of all, the sinister nature of unbelief and the simple nature of belief. Now, there's some hallmarks, characteristics, if you will, that form the nature of what unbelief is. First of all, unbelief protects its true nature. What I mean is, unbelief often wants to disguise itself as something else and not just say, I am an unbeliever.

They want to call it, well, I have doubts. Now, look at this, verse 22, it was the feast of dedication in Jerusalem and it was winter. Now, why does John say that? Why does John say it was the feast of dedication and it was winter? He says it first of all because it was winter, physically, meteorologically, that was the weather pattern, it was the winter time. But all he would have to say is, it's the feast of dedication, everyone reading it who was Jewish would know, it always happens in the winter time, 25th of Kislev every year.

But I can't help but seeing a, John I think does this a couple times, where he takes a physical reality to infer a spiritual reality. Because by this time the attitude that people had toward Jesus Christ was very icy, cold, hardened, aloof, they were on the war path, they wanted to end his life, we have seen that mounting attitude grow. So, it was the feast of dedication and it was winter, physical climate as well as a spiritual climate. It mentions that it's the feast of dedication. The feast of dedication, also known as the festival of lights, occurred every year close to what we call today Christmas, but it's a different festival. We know it as Hanukkah. Jesus is in the temple during the feast of Hanukkah. It was an eight day feast, a little background will help you understand, I think, the impact of what John is writing. Hanukkah, festival of lights, feast of dedication, was a non-biblical feast. It wasn't like Passover or Pentecost or Tabernacles. It was something that was not part of the Old Testament, but it was a festival that began between the Old Testament and the New Testament. There's a 400 year gap between the end of the Old Testament, beginning of the New, that 400 year intertestamental period was very significant.

This is what happened. During that period, there was a Syrian ruler named Antiochus who gave himself the name Epiphanes, which means the great one. Literally, it was I, the great one. He had a problem with humility. He loved all things Greek and sought to impose Greek culture, Greek language, Greek everything, on the people of the Middle East. He thought he would go into Israel and force them all to abandon their Jewish beliefs and become Greek in culture.

Well, they resisted. So in 170 BC, he conquers Jerusalem. He slaughters a pig on the altar of sacrifice, spreading swine juices throughout the temple, the most un-kosher thing anybody could do in Judaism, right? He sets up a idol in the temple area to Zeus, demands that everybody worship the false image of Zeus, puts an end to circumcision, puts an end to all the festivals. And this goes on for a few years until a group of Jewish priests just south of Jerusalem, known as Hasmonean priests, under the leadership of Mattathias, they were Maccabees, decide they're going to rebel and revolt. After three years of guerrilla warfare, Mattathias and his sons, one of the sons named Judas Maccabees, is successful, throws out the Syrians, gains independence, reestablishes correct worship in the temple, and they set up a festival called the Festival of Lights. It was an eight-day feast.

And here's why. Here's the legend, at least. The legend says that there was only one flagon of oil that was to last one day to light that seven-branched candlestick or menorah in the temple.

Remember that? Only one day's worth of oil. Miraculously, the story says, it lasted for eight days. So it became an eight-day festival, still celebrated that way today, called Hanukkah. And Jesus is walking in the temple during that time. Now, why does John give us that information? Because what happened with Judas Maccabees, that was the last great deliverance the Jews knew in their history. A guy came and overthrew their enemies and became their temporary military political messiah. And it's as if John wants us to know that that's the kind of messiah they were looking for when Jesus was walking through the temple. They were sick of the Roman bondage, the Roman oppression. We want a messiah like that one.

We want a political military ruler like that one. And so they come to Jesus. And in verse 24, notice the question.

They say, how long do you keep us in doubt? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly. It sounds like it's an honest question.

I submit to you, it is not an honest question. They simply want Jesus to say what he has always said to them. He has claimed he was the son of God.

He claimed to be God in human flesh. He claimed to be their messiah, loudly, repetitively, clearly. And they want to hear it again because they want to kill him. I think I know that because twice in the story we read, they either pick up stones to kill him or they try to seize him.

They're simply looking for a way to arrest him because they don't think he's the one who's gonna pull it off for them. But they ask him the question, how long will you keep us in doubt? They call their condition doubt. Jesus calls their condition what it really is, unbelief. He says twice, once in verse 25, I love this. Jesus answered them, I told you.

Don't you love that? How long are you gonna keep us in doubt? Tell us, I told you and you do not believe. The work that I do in my father's name, they bear witness of me, but you do not believe because you are not of my sheep as I said to you.

Here's what I want you to see. There's a big difference between doubt and unbelief. You see, doubt is looking for answers. Unbelief doesn't care about the answers. Now I think that everybody struggles with spiritual reality. Everybody I think has spiritual doubts, even the greatest biblical heroes and non-biblical heroes have. How many of you on a show of hands have ever struggled with doubts about your spiritual faith at all? You've struggled with them. Okay, great.

Put your hands down. I'm glad. How many of you never in your life ever once struggled? Okay, Sam, glad you said that because it shows you're human.

You're not some robot that you've actually fought through, struggled with and that's okay. Oz Guinness, great thinker said, find out how seriously a believer takes his doubts and you will have the index of how seriously he takes his faith. See, doubt is not the enemy of faith. Doubt is not the opposite of faith. Doubt implies faith. Doubt presupposes faith. In fact, doubt works its way through the difficulties and finds at the end a faith that is reasonable and satisfying.

Doubt does that. Unbelief is different. Unbelief decides against faith and at all costs keeps anything that would engender or produce faith completely away.

Matthew Henry put it perfectly. There are none so blind as those who will not see. That's unbelief. These people in Jerusalem didn't believe and Jesus twice says, you don't believe.

That's the problem. So first of all, it protects its true nature, it disguises itself as doubt. Second, it rejects the narrowness of Christ. Look at verse 31. The Jews took up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered them, many good works I have shown you from my father. For which of these works do you stone me? When he uses the term good, it's the Greek word kalos.

It means noble, wonderful, beautiful. Think of all the compassionate things Christ did, healing people, opening blind eyes, unstopping deaf ears, raising people from the dead, curing them of leprosy and diseases. So many noble, wonderful good works. They replied, for a good work we do not stone you, but for blasphemy because you being a man, make yourself God.

Oh, they got it. Oh, they understood exactly what Jesus was saying here and had been saying about himself in the past. Jesus couldn't have been any more plain. He told them clearly and repeatedly who he was.

Here's a sampling. Back in John chapter 6, Jesus said, I am the bread of life. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever. In John chapter 7, verse 37, if anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Out of his innermost being will flow rivers of living water. John 8, 12, I am the light of the world.

He who follows me will not walk in darkness. Again in John chapter 8, he said, before Abraham was, I am. And then he said, if you do not believe that I am, you will die in your sins.

He told him very plainly that he was it. He was the one, the guy they had been looking for, the Messiah, the son of God. And they repeatedly rejected the narrowness of his claim. That's a characteristic of unbelief. Unbelief continues to cause trouble even today. When you consider what's at stake in eternity, it's rather strange to think that someone would refuse to even consider the possibility that Jesus is who he said he is. And if you'd like a copy of today's teaching, it's available at connectwithskip.com, or you can call us and order one at 1-800-922-1888.

Each copy is just $4 plus shipping. We'll continue to examine why some believe and some don't, and the consequences of each choice next time, right here in Connect with Skip weekend edition, a presentation of Connection Communications. Make a connection, make a connection at the foot of the cross and cast all burdens on his word. Make a connection, a connection, a connection. Connecting you to God's never-changing truth in ever-changing times.