Dealing with Doubt | Part 1

We'll be right back. Pain is a signal there's something wrong in your body. Doubt is a signal that there's something wrong in your spirit.

Welcome to Love Worth Finding featuring profound truths simply stated by Adrian Rogers. As Christians, we have the opportunity to know without a doubt that we have eternal life. Praise God, we can be saved and know it. But we can also be saved and doubt it. As pain is a signal that there's something wrong with our physical body, doubt is a signal that something's wrong in our spirit.

If you have your Bible, turn to 1 John 5 as Adrian Rogers offers an encouraging word for those of us who are dealing with doubt. I was in the hospital a while back and I was visiting. There was a lady very near to death. Her loved ones had come in and they were standing around her bedside. And I began to talk to this lady and to witness to her. I found out that she wasn't a Christian.

She did not have the assurance of sin forgiven and Christ in her heart. So I asked her if I might have the permission to share with her how she could know Christ and know the fullness of His joy and His forgiveness in her heart. And she said, yes, I'd like that very much. So I opened the Word of God and I shared with her the plan of salvation. And then I prayed with her and led her in a prayer. She prayed and asked Christ to come into her heart. And then after I led her in this prayer, I said, if you meant that with all of your heart, would you give me your hand?

And she did. Then I just praised God in my own heart and I turned to her son-in-law who was there and I said, isn't it wonderful that your mother-in-law has been saved? Oh, he said, no one can know that they're saved. I said, but she just prayed and asked Christ to come into her heart. And the Bible says, for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

But he said, no, no one can know. You have to wait until you die and stand before God at the judgment before you can ever really know that you're saved. I said, sir, there's a verse of scripture I want you to see.

And it's the same verse I want to share with you, my dear friend. 1 John 5 and verse 13, where the apostle John says, These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God that ye may know ifs, ands, and buts, and maybes about it that ye may know that you have eternal life and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. Now, John wrote the book of John and he said he wrote the book of John, that is, the gospel of John that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ and believing you might have life through his name. That is, he wrote the gospel of John to evangelize the sinner. But he wrote this little epistle of John, it's almost a postscript, a P.S., to edify the saint. And one of the things he wants you to do is to have the assurance of your salvation.

He said, I wrote a book of the Bible. This is what I wrote that you might know that you have eternal life. And right away that tells me two things. That tells me, dear friend, you can be saved and know it.

Amen? You can be saved and know it. John said, I wrote that you might know it. But it also tells me that you can be saved and doubt it. Now, why does it tell me that you can be saved and doubt it? Because if you couldn't doubt it, why would John write that we might know it?

You understand what I'm saying? He's writing to talk to Christians who have doubts that they might get rid of those doubts. It is possible, it is possible to be saved and to have doubts. Now, doubts are not good, but there's even a bright side to doubt. You see, doubt is to your spirit what pain is to your body. If you're feeling a pain right now, does that mean you're dead? It means you're alive. You see, you couldn't feel pain unless you had life.

Now, pain is a signal there's something wrong in your body. Doubt is a signal that there's something wrong in your spirit. Doubt is to the spirit what pain is to the body. Now, I'm not trying to say that doubt is good anymore than I'm trying to say that pain is good, but pain is good when it becomes a warning signal and doubt is good when it becomes a warning signal to tell us that we need to deal with that doubt. And so I want to show you how to deal with doubt today. Now, it is possible to be saved and to doubt. A woman told the great evangelist Dwight L. Moody, she said, I've been saved 25 years and I've never had one single doubt. He said, madam, I doubt you've been saved. That'd be like someone saying, we've been married 50 years and never had an argument.

I'd say, I doubt you've been married. I'm not trying to say that arguments are good. I'm not trying to say that pain is good. I'm not trying to say that doubts are good, but I'm saying that they're facts of life. And when John said, I have written a book that you might know that you're saved, that is, it is possible to be saved and have doubts about it. And what John was trying to do was to clear up those doubts because he was writing to Christians, okay? And so what John is giving us here is a way that we can say, praise God, I know that I know that I know that my sins are forgiven.

Christ is in my heart and heaven is my home because that is very important. It is important in service. It is important in soul winning.

That's so important in service. There's some people who say, oh, you ought not to give people the assurance of the salvation. If you give them the assurance of the salvation, then they'll get relaxed.

Oh, folks, that's crazy. The assurance of your salvation is the base that you work from. You see, when I know that my future is secure, then I can concentrate on the present.

And it's so important to soul winning. What kind of a soul winner would a person be who did not have the assurance of his own salvation? A person who says, you come follow me.

I don't know where I'm going. No, listen, we want to follow people who will say with the apostle Paul, I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he's able to keep that which I've committed unto him against that day. John says, I wrote this book that you might have assurance that you might K-N-O-W, not hope, think, wish, surmise, but that you might know that you have eternal life. And then John gives us three tests. And I want to show you those tests.

They're in this book. And what I've done is to try to take the book and almost condense the book of 1 John and to extract out of it the three major tests that John gives that we might know that we have eternal life. And he tells us before each of these tests that this is a test that is a benchmark or a birthmark as it were of salvation.

So I want us to look at these tests. The first test I'm going to call the commandment test. Look with me in 1 John chapter 2 and we begin in verse 3, all right? 1 John chapter 2 and verse 3. And hereby we do know that we know him if we keep his commandments. Now, just underscore that and put a mark by it somewhere if you are one who likes to mark your Bible. And don't be afraid to wear out a Bible. If you wear out a Bible, say, praise God and get you another one, amen?

Somebody said if you have a Bible that's falling apart, you probably have a life that's not. Hereby do we know that we know him if we keep his commandments. He that saith I know him and keepeth not his commandments is a liar. I wonder why John doesn't just say what he thinks.

Why is he beat around the bush like that? He that saith I know him and keepeth not his commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him. You have the idea that John had been in some kind of a Baptist testimonial meeting where a man stood up and talked about his salvation and how glad he was to be saved and old John wants to say, liar, I know the way you live. And you say that you know him, you don't keep his commandments. You're lying.

You're lying. Listen, he goes on in verse 5, but whoso keepeth his word in him verily is the love of God perfected. Hereby know that we are in him. He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk as he walked. That is, John's logic here is impeccable.

If I'm in Christ and Christ is in me, then I'm going to be walking like Jesus walks. And Jesus, of course, keeps the command of God. A person who says that he's saved who doesn't keep the commandments of God is lying.

That's what John says. I don't care whose church he's a member of. I don't care how much theology he has in his head. I don't care what kind of experience he had at an altar. John says if you're not keeping the commandments of God, you say that you know him, you're lying. Well, let me ask you a question now. How many ever since you've been saved have kept every command of God, never broken a one? None of us.

Well, now, wait a minute. Does that mean that none of us are saved? Well, John says if we know him, we're going to keep his commandments. The key is in this word keep. This word keep is a mariner's word. Back in this day when a man would be out on the high seas, he would steer by the stars.

He would keep his eye, fix his focus on the stars, and he would steer by the stars. That keeping is the same word that John borrows here to use to tell us about keeping the commandments of God. That is, the commandments of God are going to be the standard by which I chart my course.

I order my life by the commandments of God. Now, this does not mean, of course, that a man on the high seas could not be blown off course. It doesn't mean that he might not oversteer. It doesn't mean that he might not nod at the wheel and somehow be distracted or somehow fail to keep a perfect chart.

But the goal, the aim, the desire, the controlling factor in his life are those stars as he keeps his eye on the stars. The same way with the commands of God. You see, John is not talking about sinless perfection here.

The Bible does not teach sinless perfection, but the Bible does teach that we have no right to call ourselves children of God if we do not care for God's commandments, if we don't order our lives by God's commandments. I tell you, folks, there are people who walk down the aisle of churches and shake hands with preachers and join churches like they're joining a country club. There's no change of heart. There's no change of life. They don't change their lifestyle. They live the same ungodly lives. Those people have no reason whatsoever to think that they're going to heaven. I've said it before.

I'll say it again. If your religion hasn't changed your life, you better change your religion. If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. We're not talking about sinless perfection, but I'm trying to tell you, my dear friend, that the goal, the aim of your life is to live according to the Word of God and the commandments of this book. And hereby do we know that we know him if we keep his commandments, if we chart our course by the Word of God. Now, that's the way he says it positively. Let me tell you how he says it negatively.

It's almost the same thing. Let's look, if you will, here in 1 John 3 and verse 6. Whosoever abideth in him, sinneth not. Whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him.

Well, John, he doesn't mince words, does he? Look in verse 8. He that comitteth sin is of the devil, for the devil sinneth from the beginning.

For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. And if you think that's tough, look in verse 9. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin, now watch it, for his seed remaineth in him.

That is, the nature of God remains in him. And he cannot sin because he is born of God. He can't sin. Well, you say, well, wait a minute, pastors.

If you're trying to give assurance, you're not helping me very much. Well, is John contradicting himself? Look in verse 8. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. And notice John included himself in that. He said, we, not you, but we.

John was talking about himself. And he said, if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. Look in verse 10. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar and his word is not in us.

Look in chapter 2, verse 1. My little children, these things write unto you that you sin not, and if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and if any man sin. And yet, then he says over here in 1 John 3, verse 9, Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin, for his seed remaineth in him, and he cannot sin because he is born of God.

Now, folks, on the surface, that's a contradiction. On the one place he says it's impossible for a Christian to sin, in the other place he says, if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves. Now, we almost feel like saying, John, make up your mind. But what John is simply saying in the present tense is in 1 John chapter 3, when a man is born of God, he does not habitually practice sin. And you read that in an amplified translation. If you have an amplified translation, that's exactly what John is saying. A person that is born of God cannot habitually practice sin. He cannot make sin his lifestyle. John is not talking about sinless perfection.

The first chapter makes that very clear. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. He is not talking about the life of a libertine, a person who is a church member who's had no change of lifestyle. John is saying, if you know the Lord Jesus Christ, if you have been born of God, you cannot habitually practice sin.

Why? Because your seed remains in you. What is he talking about, the seed that remains in you? He's talking about that germ of life that has come from God above.

You are born of God. You have been made a partaker of the divine nature, and that divine nature is what? Holiness. Holiness. God is holy. Now, if you can sin willfully, knowingly, deliberately, habitually, and you feel no conviction, no compunction, no sorrow, no grief, no remorse, my dear friend, you have no reason to believe that you're saved.

None whatsoever. You need to get saved. There are people who are living a lifestyle of sin who somehow hope that they're going to get into heaven.

Friend, don't be so foolish. We know that we know him because we keep his commandments. Now, we're not saved because we keep his commandments. We keep his commandments because we're saved.

I want you to understand this now. Salvation is by grace, not by commandment keeping. We're not talking here about getting saved by keeping commandments. We're talking about knowing that we've been saved because we keep his commandments. There is the commandment test.

That's the first one. Now, I want to give you another test, not only the commandment test, but the companion test, the companion test. I want you to look here now, 1 John 3 and verse 14. We know that we pass from death unto life because we love the brethren.

Again, he's telling us how to know it, isn't he? We know that we pass from death unto life because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer.

And you know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. Turn over to chapter 4 and look in verse 20 now. If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he's a liar. For he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him that he who loveth God love his brother also.

And then look in chapter 5, verse 1. Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also, that is begotten of him. It's very clear that another birthmark of the believer is love for the brethren. We know that we're of him because we love the brethren.

You see, when I'm saved, I want to be right with my brothers and I want to be with my brothers. Have you ever heard anybody say, you don't have to go to church to worship God? That's true. But have you ever heard anybody say you can worship God just as well without going to church? That's false.

That's false. The Bible says, forsake not the assembling of yourselves together as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another and so much the more as you see the day approaching. We ought to pray for these who are sick and shut in and who cannot be here. Even watching by television, listening by radio or tape is no substitute for being with the saints. For you see, listen, Jesus said we're two or three together together in my name. There am I in the midst of them. There's a very special way in which our Lord is present when the saints join together to worship the Lord.

As a matter of fact, did you know I found out something very interesting? The word saint is never used in the singular in the New Testament. It's always the saints. The saints. You see, God blesses the saints. Even Jesus, when He taught us to pray, taught us to pray, our Father, not my Father, but our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.

Dear friend, there is the companion test. If you love Jesus, you're going to love the church. And I'll tell you why. Listen. It is because of the nature of the Christian and the nature of the church. What is the nature of the Christian? Well, the nature of the Christian is the nature of God.

Let me show you here how John points it out. Would you look with me, for example, in 1 John 4, verse 7. Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God, and everyone that loveth is born of God and knoweth God, and he that loveth not knoweth not God, but God is love. Now, if you wanted to tell somebody what God is like, you'd have to say, God is love, right? God is love.

Now, notice John's logic. God is love, all right? We are born of God. That is, we have the nature of God. Now, if God is love, and I have the nature of God, then I'm going to have love in me. If I don't have love in me, I don't have the nature of God. If I don't have the nature of God, I haven't been born of God.

That's what John is saying. You see, one reason that you'll love the brethren is because of what you are as a Christian. Another reason you'll love the brethren is because of what they are. The Bible describes the church two ways. The church, number one, is called the body of Christ.

Number two, the church is called the bride of Christ. Now, the church is the body of Christ. He's the head, and we are the members of that mystical body. The church and Jesus Christ are not identical, but they are inseparable. If you take the head from the body, what do you have?

Death. Don't be so silly as to say, I love Jesus, but I don't love the church. That would be like saying, I love Adrian Rogers, I just don't love his body, only his head.

You see, that's ridiculous. Or you say, I don't love my body, I just love my head. The Bible says no man ever yet hated his own body. Now, listen, Jesus loves his body, which is the church. We are the body of Christ. It would be ridiculous, absolutely unmitigated foolishness for you to say, I love Jesus Christ, but I do not love his body, the church. If you love Christ, you're going to love what Christ loves, and Christ loves his church, the body of Christ. But not only is the church his body, the church is also his bride. Now, dear friend, what man doesn't love his bride?

And the church is the bride of Christ. Now, listen, if you really wanted to get my attention, there's several ways you could do it. One way, you could start harming my body. Maybe you could, my finger would be out there on a table somewhere, on a platform, and you could walk over and stand on my finger. Well, you would get my attention.

I would say, pardon me. You're standing on me. And you say, oh, no, I'm not standing on you, I'm standing on your finger. I'd say, well, call it what you will, but move it.

Because what affects my finger affects me. Now, you see, listen, we are members of the body of Christ. You remember when Saul was on the road to Damascus to persecute the church? Jesus met him, and Jesus said to him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? Now, Saul may have said, hey, I'm not persecuting you, I'm persecuting the church.

But do you understand what I'm saying? When you persecute the church, you persecute Jesus because we're members of his body. When you love the church, you love Jesus. When you honor the church, you honor Jesus. When you neglect the church, you neglect Jesus. We are members of his body.

He is the head, and we're members. So one way that you could get my attention would be to abuse my body. I'll tell you another way you could get my attention real quick, and that would be to abuse my bride.

I love my wife, and I'm not as good a man as I used to be. But if you fool with my bride, God gives me the strength. I'll put you on the ground as quick as I can if that's what it takes to make you leave her alone because she's my bride, and I would die for her.

I would die for her. The church is the bride of the Lord Jesus Christ, bought with his blood. The Bible says we are his body.

We are his bride. And how dare anybody say that I am saved, born again? And I don't love the brethren.

I don't love the church. And coming up tomorrow, we'll hear part two of this important message. Maybe today as you're listening, you have questions about your faith in Jesus. We'd love to offer you an insightful resource on our website, the Discover Jesus page. There you'll find answers you may need about your faith. We have a response section. You can share how this message or others have made a difference in your life. Go to lwf.org slash radio and click the tab at the top that says Discover Jesus.

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