Today on the verdict with Pastor John Monroe. Doubting Thomas. Doubting a crucial truth of the Gospel. Doubting the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Doubting the testimony of his fellow disciples.
Seeking clear, incontrovertible evidence, he's saying, of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Anyone here like that? Anyone identifying with Thomas? Welcome to the verdict, featuring the Bible teaching of Pastor John Monroe. Every day, we rely on technology or medicine that we may not fully understand.
Yet questions can be answered, and this doesn't result in a lack of trust. Today, on the verdict, we'll see that in a similar fashion, doubts or questions about God shouldn't keep us from pursuing or trusting Him. To introduce his message, dealing with doubt, here's Pastor Jean Monroe. Have you ever doubted the existence of God? I appreciate people who have the honesty to state their doubts.
about the Christian faith. Today we met a man who doubted the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. How could a man who was crucified on a cross Now be alive. Doubting the resurrection of Jesus is one of the most common of doubts. And this person was one of the disciples of Jesus.
Isn't it helpful to have this encounter recorded in Scripture?
Someone has said there is a sunnier side of doubt. That is dope. can cause us to re-examine what we believe and why we believe it. Today, confront your doubts. Let's turn to John chapter 20, verse 19.
and prepare to meet doubting Thomas. How many things do you believe with absolute certainty? What are you really certain about in life? At the beginning of the seventeenth century, Descartes, the French philosopher, Set out to demonstrate the existence of God, he said with absolute certainty. Descartes soon discovered that believing things which are unquestionably certain is far from easy.
He said that wherever he was turned, he was engulfed with the evil demons of doubt. He eventually concluded that the only thing of which he was certain was his own existence. And Descartes came with that famous saying, I think, therefore I am. Doubts. Isn't it true that we believe many things that we can't prove with absolute certainty?
There are also many realities in life which we accept, although we don't fully understand them. Although I don't understand, or certainly fully understand, the process of electricity, I do believe that when I go home and press a switch. That the electricity in my house goes on. At night you look up at the stars and you see The innumerable stars in the universe above you. But this morning as we came here, if you looked up at the sky, there are no stars.
Are the stars there during the daytime? Or does they not? Alistair McGrath gives that illustration and says that our eyes do not have the ability to pick out stars during the daytime. But most of us do accept that the stars are there all of the time, even though we cannot see them other than Yeah. The stars are not dependent upon the darkness for their existence.
But we need the darkness in order to see the stars. And only a small child would think that because he or she can't see the stars during the daytime, that they are not There. What we're saying is that being human beings places a limit on what we see. What we believe and what we can under Stand. And this of course Presents us with a problem.
Because we have a God who is infinite. And when we say that God is infinite, we say that God, unlike us, has no limitations. That's what infinite means. God is without limitations. On the other hand, we are finite beings.
We are human beings and we have many limitations. And because of that, we cannot as finite beings we cannot understand the infinite God fully. The Bible says that the secret things belong to the Lord, Moses wrote in Deuteronomy 29, verse 29. He goes on to say that there are things which God in His goodness has revealed to us. God has revealed many things to us about Himself, but He has not revealed everything about Himself to us.
There are things which if he had revealed about himself, we couldn't have understood.
So there are many things about God that we don't know. There are certainly many things in the Christian life as we read the Word of God that we cannot fully understand. But realising that there is much that we do not know. Realizing that there are many things that we cannot understand fully. Realizing that we have some doubts from time to time.
should not stop us from believing in God and growing in her faith. Just as our natural eyes cannot see the stars in the daytime.
So our minds cannot take in the fullness of the existence of God. And just because I am unable to prove the existence of God with absolute 100% certainty doesn't mean that God doesn't exist. The atheist who believes That there is no God certainly cannot prove the non-existence of God with certainty. Having doubts about some things. is part.
of a human. existence. We know that in our daily living. A young woman meets a young man and he appears to be quite nice, appears to be a quite a kind, sincere, hardworking person. But she still has some doubts.
Is this person for me? Is this person who seems to be all right? Is he really What he seems. She has doubts and even after knowing a person for some time Doubt at a certain level in a relationship may continue. In the legal world, we recognize the existence of doubt.
We recognize the wisdom of the legal principle that in a criminal case, the prosecution must prove the guilt of the accused beyond a reasonable doubt. Notice it is a reasonable Doubt. The legal principle is not that the guilt of the accused must be proved beyond any doubt at all, such as a theoretical or a speculative doubt, but the standard, wisely, is a reasonable doubt.
So perhaps you've been on a jury and you have convicted someone of the crime charge. You perhaps still had some doubts about the case. Everything was not proved with 100% certainty. But you still convicted the person because legal conviction requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt. And when we come to our spiritual beliefs and our faith, I would think all of us.
have had And do have Some doubts. From time. to time. I remember in a previous church meeting with a deacon who wasn't very happy with the direction of the church under my leadership, so it was a fairly tense meeting. And uh As we concluded the conversation, not particularly satisfactorily, I prayed with him.
And he stood up and he looked at my library and uh he said, You obviously like to study? And I said, Yes, I do. And he said uh You know, Pastor, I often have doubts about the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. He took me somewhat aback, but at least I admired the man's Honestly. Starting.
Doubts. I want to remind you that having some doubts is not a denial of faith. Faith and doubt are not mutually exclusive. There is a difference between doubt and unbelief. Lord Tennyson wrote of what he called the sunnier side of doubt.
That is, doubt can have a positive side, it can have a sunny side. If our doubt leads us to examine our faith and if in fact it strengthens and stimulates our faith. There are people perhaps, some of you today, that may think to express a doubt about the Christian faith is a sign of spiritual weakness, but we should be free to express our doubts, to express our spiritual concerns, our spiritual struggles.
So that others can help us as we struggle with these important issues in life. and so grow inner faith. I'm sure many of you here this morning identify with the man in the Gospels who said to Jesus as he saw Jesus perform a miracle. I believe Help. My unbelief.
You say that's contradictory? No, really. The man is saying, I believe. I believe possibly you're the Messiah. I believe obviously you're all-powerful.
But I still have some doubts, perhaps, as to your identity, perhaps to some aspects of my faith.
So I do believe, but Lord, help my uncle. Belief. an honest Sincere. statement. Because I would suggest this morning that an untested faith An unexamined faith is going to be very trite and is going to be very shallow.
And when your faith is then challenged, The challenger is going to have no difficulty in exposing your shallowness if you haven't thought deeply. A bite Your faith. You're not the only one here who has doubts about the Christian faith. You may have doubts about some of the fundamentals of the faith, or you may have doubts about the application of the faith, but today we're going to meet a man. Like many of us Who had doubts?
who is a kind of sceptical individual. But he confronted his doubts. And he dealt with his doubts. We're going to learn from this man about doubts And I trust you will be able to confront your doubts And deal with your doubts. Let's open our Bibles to John chapter 20.
As we continue our way through John's Gospel, we've been meeting Jesus in different circumstances and settings, and here we have this interesting story. about a man who had serious doubts. John chapter twenty. Jesus has been raised from the dead. When therefore it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, Peace.
Be with you. And when he had said this, he showed them both his hands and his side. The disciples therefore rejoiced. When they saw the Lord. Verse 24.
But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples, therefore, were saying to him, We have seen a Lord. But he said to them, Unless I shall see in his hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger in the place of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe. And after eight days, again, his disciples were inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst and said, Peace be with you.
Then he said to Thomas, Reach here your finger. And see my hands, and reach here your hand and put it into my side. And be not unbelieving. But believing Stop dotting. and believe.
Verse twenty eight. Thomas answered, and said to him, My lord, And my God. Jesus said to him, Because you have seen me, have you believed? Blessed are those who do not see and yet believed. Many other signs, therefore, Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book, but these have been written, that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.
And that believing, you may have life in his name. What an intriguing! Yeah. Of Scripture, isn't it? Followers of Jesus, we want to learn first of all this morning, followers of Jesus do have doubts.
One of the twelve, the inner circle, the twelve disciples, Thomas, who had been with Jesus for over three years, he doubted the resurrection of Jesus.
Now look at verse twenty four. Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. Jesus had revealed himself to the other disciples, but on that occasion, Thomas wasn't there. He's called Didymus. Which means twin.
No, I spent a lot of time researching this word didymis and discovered that Thomas was indeed a twin. He had a twin brother called Jeremiah, whose nickname was Jerry, so the twins were called Tom and Jerry. That's just a joke, a bad joke, but it's. I thought it was good at the time. But he was a twin.
And in the Gospel, this man Thomas, and we've seen him before as we've been studying John's Gospel. Was a somewhat gloomy and pessimistic and skeptical individual. There are people like that. In a sense, they can't really help it. And in some ways they're helpful because they perhaps are a balance to the kind of Pollyanna type of individual who is very, very gullible.
Thomas is at the other end of the spectrum. kind of gloomy, pessimistic. We call him, perhaps unfairly, we call him doubting Thomas. But I suspect that many of us would have had the same reaction as Thomas on being told that Jesus, who was crucified, was in fact raised from the dead. For some reason, Thomas wasn't present with the disciples when the risen Christ appeared to them, as we read in verses 19 and 20.
He wasn't there. Perhaps Thomas is the kind of individual who, in difficult circumstances, perhaps because he's a rather gloomy kind of pessimistic personality, he retreats into himself. And perhaps he was so devastated by the crucifixion of Jesus that he wanted to be alone. He wanted to nurse his doubts and his fears and his pessimism. I mean, what was he going to do with the rest of his life?
He'd been following this man for three years, thinking he was going to usher in the kingdom of God on earth, and now he had failed.
Now he was killed. And life for Thomas was over, and so he appears to have retreated into himself. And for over a week, eight days. Thomas is in great agony because he didn't realize that Christ was risen from the dead. And at a time when he needed to be with others, For encouragement and support, and for the strengthening of his faith, he was on his own.
Isn't that quite common?
Some of you have gone through a tough time. An illness, bereavement. loss of employment, some heartache. and you feel like retreating into yourself like a wounded animal. You don't want to be with people.
Can I say to you? It is at that time When you want to retreat. When you're Life takes a bad turn, it seems. And you wonder how you can go on, it is at that time that you most need to be with your brothers and sisters in Christ. I know it's sometimes easier to be on your own.
to be consumed with your doubts and your fears. And your worries and your anxieties and your disillusionment, but how important it is that we are together as the people of God. To hear worship, to be reminded that God is great. to be reminded of the wonder of the gospel, to be instructed and challenged by the word of God, to have people round us who can pray for us. Don't allow your doubts and your disillusionments to drive you from Christian worship.
and fellowship. and friendship.
Now here Thomas openly declares his skepticism and doubt in verse 25. The disciples were saying to him, We have seen the Lord. He's really saying to you, I don't believe you. Unless I shall see in his hands the imprint of the nail, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.
Now there is a strong statement. After all, isn't it rather difficult to believe that a man who was nailed to a cross has in fact been raised to From the dead. He doubted the resurrection of Jesus, even although Jesus had prophesied to Thomas. that he was going to be raised from the dead. Thomas also doubted the testimony of others.
That first Easter Sunday, it was Peter and John who had raced to the tomb. Although they didn't see the risen Christ first of all, they did see that the tomb was empty. They saw the linen wrappings lying on the ground and the the head cloth rolled up, according to verses five Six and seven. And look what we read in verse eight. John 28.
So the other disciple who had come first, that's John, the writer of the Gospel. This other disciple. who had come first to the tomb Entered also and he saw and believed. For John Even before he saw the risen Christ, John believed that Jesus Christ was risen from the dead. Why?
He probably remembered the prophecies that Jesus had made, and he saw the empty tomb. He looks in, and he believes that Jesus is raised from the dead. A man of great faith. But Thomas It's not there. Then there was Mary, who was standing weeping outside the tomb.
She also earlier in the chapter had had a personal encounter with the risen Christ. She also believed And announce to the disciples, verse 18. Mary Magdalene came announcing to the disciples, presumably also to Thomas, I have seen the Lord. and that he had said these things. to her.
Here is the witness of John. Here is the witness of Mary. I've seen the Lord. I believe that Jesus Christ is raised from the dead. But Thomas doesn't believe.
And then in verse twenty with the disciples gathered, with Thomas absent. They saw the Lord In their midst. Verse twenty. And when he had said this, he showed them Can you picture this scene? He showed them His hands and his side.
The disciples therefore rejoiced. The disciples were glad when they saw The Lord. Can you imagine the joy? Can you imagine the wonder and the worship of these disciples when they realized that the one who had been crucified? nailed to a cross, nails through his hands and his feet.
A spear in his side, that this one. is now raised from the dead. the Christian attorney that mentored me In my first job after law school, Roads. This little poem about this verse. He wrote, Our hearts are glad.
For we have seen the Lord. The living Lord, victorious from the grave. Oh, joy to see him. Joy to hear his word, our Lord and Master, strong to bless. And save.
His hands, his feet he showed us, and the place where deeply pierced at last the cruel spear, O precious scars. O deathless love and grace that still in those redeeming wounds appear. Most wondrous sight. All else is poor and dim to eyes that thus have viewed the risen one. All power is his, all glories meet in him.
The sinner's saviour, God's Beloved, sir.
Something. The Bible says Their hearts were glad. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the risen Lord. What a wonderful, unforgettable, life-transforming experience. Arbit Thomas.
Isn't there? And later, when the disciples come and tell Thomas, That they've seen the risen Lord. Thomas' scepticism, his doubts, his pessimism continues. I'm not going to believe. I don't really accept your testimonies, he's saying to them.
I want absolute proof, not only to see, I really need to feel the risen Christ. Unless I will see in his hands, verse 25, the imprint of the nails. And put my finger into the place of the nails and put my hand into his side. You wonder if he really knew what he was saying. It's not enough just to see the Lord.
I want to put my finger. in the very imprint. Unless I do that. There's twenty five, I will not believe.
Now there's a sceptic, isn't there? There's a person who's got real doubts. Doubting Thomas. Doubting a crucial truth of the gospel. Doubting the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, doubting the testimony of his fellow disciples.
Seeking clear, incontrovertible evidence, he's saying, of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Before my doubts are dispelled. Before I believe, I must see and feel the risen. Christ. Anyone here like that?
Anyone identifying with Thomas? Anyone who's gone through that in your own pilgrimage, I think many of you have. It's all right for others to say they know Jesus Christ and that He's transformed their life, but you're saying, I need more than your testimony. The fact is, Thomas, A follower of Christ. does have types.
This is the verdict with Pastor John Monroe and a message titled Dealing with Doubt. If you missed any of today's message or you want to catch up on another lesson from our series called Encountering Jesus, You can find all of John's teaching by going to our website at the verdict.org. Today's message is a great reminder of how fully we could rely upon our God. But in our day to day lives it can be so tempting to try to rely upon our own strength and solutions offered by our culture. That's why we're offering a resource to help you keep a Biblical perspective and pursue a God centered life that remains steady throughout the storms and surprises of life.
It's a wonderful guidebook written by John called Trusting God in Tough Times. We'd love to send you a copy completely free as our gift to you. To receive a copy of Trusting God in Tough Times, just go to our website at theverdict.org. And if these lessons and resources have helped you, Would you consider helping other listeners by supporting the verdict's gospel outreach with a donation of any amount? By helping us cover the cost to produce and distribute these biblical messages, you'll be playing an important part in sharing the gospel with new listeners and communities across the globe.
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Now, here's Pastor John Monroe. Uh Well, what's your verdict? What are some of the doubts you have had? What did you do with them? I hope you have some one you know.
who will listen to you in a non-judgmental way and try to answer your questions. Having those in questions can propel us. to think deeply about our faith. May your doubts cause you to find your answers in Jesus Christ. who is risen from the dead and is alive.
Join me next time as we continue to look closely at the subject of doubts when we encounter Jesus. Thanks for joining us today on The Verdict. I'm Michelle Davies. Today's program with Pastor John Monroe was produced and sponsored by Calvary Church in Charlotte, North Carolina.
