Luke The Orderly Account of Truth - The Difference Between Doubt and Disbelief - Luke 7:18-35

God, we thank you for today. We thank you for your word.

We thank you that we get to dive into it, read it, discover

what you said, what you meant, and learn how to apply it to

our lives. And so God, we just ask you to do that today.

God, that you would open up our hearts and our minds to learn

from your word and learn how we can apply it to our lives. God,

that our heart is a good soil for your gospel message to fall on,

that it produces a harvest, that the cares of the world don't choke

out what you have to say tonight, that our own that the devil doesn't

come and steal it from us. But God, that you your word lands

on the good soil of our hearts and produces a harvest. So God,

we just submit all of our plans to you, and we only want what

you want to happen tonight. And so God, we thank you for your

guidance and all this in Jesus name, everybody said a men, all right.

We've been in a series called Luke The Orderly Account of Truth. We're

going verse by verse the whole book of Luke, and it's been awesome.

Luke wrote an investigated and wrote an orderly account of everything that happened. Jesus

walk the earth so that we could know the exact truth about who Jesus is

and what he taught. Now, he wrote a specifically to Theophilus, but

we get the benefit of knowing as well because we're also an audience reading his

gospel message, so we can know the exact truth about who Jesus is and

what he taught. And last week we got to see Jesus perform an incredible

miracle. He raised a widow's son back to life. He went up and

touched the beard that the young man was lying on, his body was laying

on, and he told the young man to get up. And you know

what that young man, that dead young man did. He obeyed the Lord

and he got up. That's crazy to me. He was dead and he

sat up and began to talk. That's the kind of authority that Jesus has,

right, he has the authority to speak life into something that is dead.

And even before he raised the widow's son, he healed the centurion's dying

servant without even going to see him, which is amazing. And it's after

these things that happened that John the Baptist renswers the scene, asking Jesus a

question. You guys, remember John the Baptist. He as asking a question

that helps us understand kind of how John was feeling at the moment, or

maybe where I say, where his head was at in that moment. And

this question was also the catalyst that led Jesus to addressing the crowd that was

around them. He explains what the current generation is like. And as we

read through the text today, we're going to see that there is a stark

contrast between John's heart and the heart of the current generation. That's what we're

going to see today. Today we're gonna be talking about two big topics that

aren't always fun to talk about, but I think they are extremely crucial for

us as believers to learn and understand as we're walking out our salvation with the

Lord. So today's message is called this the difference between doubt and disbelief.

The difference between doubt and disbelief. No one likes to feel uncertain about something.

It's just I think it's just an uncomfortable feeling to be uncertain, especially

if it has to do with our faith something very important. Maybe someone asked

you a question that you've never thought about relating to your faith, something you

haven't considered yet, or maybe they point out something in the Bible you're just

not familiar with yet, or you haven't studied yet. Have you ever been

asked a question that sounded a little bit like this. If God is fill

in the blank, then why does this happen? Or why does that happen?

If God is fill in the blank, then doesn't that mean that fill

in the blank with whatever you want making assumptions. Guys have heard these questions

before, and these are not fun questions to ask, especially when we aren't

sure of the answer. They even have the potential to introduce a doubt in

our own lives, or, as I like to say, put a crack

in the foundation of our faith. That's what we're going to be addressing today

in the text, so I want to just jump into it and read through

it. We're going to be in Luke chapter seven, verses eighteen through thirty

five. It's a bigger chunk of text. If you don't have a Bible,

we do have some out near our connect booth out there, so we

would love to give you that if you don't have one. Otherwise, turned

to Luke Chapter seven, Verses eighteen through thirty five, the difference between doubt

and disbelief. John's disciples told him about these things, about all these things,

Calling two of them, he sent them to the Lord to ask,

are you the one who is to come? Or should we expect someone else?

When the men came to Jesus, they said, John the Baptist sent

us to you to ask, are you the one who is to come?

Or should we expect someone else? At that very time, Jesus cured many

who had diseases, sicknesses, and evil spirits, and gave sight to many

who were blind. So he replied to the messengers, go back and report

to John what you've seen and heard. The blind received sight, the lame

walk, those who have leprosy, or cleansed the deaf. Here the dead

are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. Blessed is

any one who does not stumble on account of me. After John's messengers left,

Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John. What did you go

out into the wilderness to see a reed swayed by the wind? If not,

what did you go out to see a man dressed in fine clothes.

No, those who wear expensive clothes and indulgent luxury are in palaces. But

what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell

you, and more than a prophet, this is the one about whom it

is written. I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare

your way before you. I tell you. Among those born of women,

there is no one greater than John. Yet the one who is leased in

the Kingdom of God is greater than he. All the people, even the

tax collectors, when they heard jesus words, acknowledge that God's way was right

because they had been baptized by John. But the Pharisees and the experts in

the law rejected God's purpose for themselves because they had not been baptized by John.

Jesus went on to say, to what, then, can I compare

the people of this generation? What are they like? They're like children sitting

in the marketplace and calling out to each other. We played the pipe for

you, and you did not dance. We sang a dirge and you did

not cry. For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine.

And you say he is a demon, the son of Man came eating and

drinking, and you say he is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend

of tax collectors and sinners. But wisdom is proved right by all her children.

It's a big chunk of text. Don't worry, going to make it

through, and we won't be here all night. But it's a big important

topic to talk about today. If you, guys, ever had a conversation

with someone who is skeptical about what you were telling them? Men, have

you ever gone fishing and caught a fish? You should have, yeah,

Dana knows us up. You should have seen the size of this fish.

It's huge, right, So you're like, you, it was the biggest

fish I've ever caught that you've ever seen. But after you tell them the

story, the response usually is like, I highly doubt that. Right.

They're like, whatever, I don't believe you highly doubt that. But once

you pull out the picture and you show them the picture of you holding that

fish, I call that the evidence. Right, you show them the evidence

of you catching that fish, then they finally believe you. Okay, that's

someone who had a doubt and after seeing the evidence, now believes what is

true. Right, But what about the person who after seeing the picture,

you show them the evidence of you holding the fish, and they respond,

well, that's gotta be photoshopped, that's not really you. What about that

person? Even after seeing the proof, they still won't believe. This is

someone who remains in disbelief, someone who refuses to believe that something is true

even when the evidence is presented right in front of them. This is the

contrast that we're going to see today based on the text we're reading. There

is a difference between doubt and disbelief. There's a difference between someone who has

moments where they aren't sure about something and someone who rejects the truth and refuses

to believe even when the facts are staring them right in the face. So

let's break down this text. Let's go back to verses eighteen and nineteen.

John's disciples told them about all these things, calling two of them, he

sent them to the Lord to ask, are you the one who is to

come? Or should we expect somebody else? These things? What things?

Well, it's the miracles that Jesus have been doing. We just talked about

two of them last week, the Centurions. For the last two weeks,

the centurion servant and the widow's son. Right, these are the things that

John or John's disciples would have seen and heard about, and they would have

gone back to John and reported to him. So that's what these things are.

So because they reported back to John, he said, two of you

guys, go to the Lord. Go to Jesus and ask him if he's

the one who is to come. John's job was to what to prepare the

way for the Lord? Right, so he wants to know, Jesus,

are you the one or not? Like, are you the one that I'm

supposed to be preparing the way for? But wait a minute, why is

John asking that question? Doesn't he already know? Doesn't he already know who

Jesus is? And I want to look back at what he said when Jesus

showed up to be baptized in John chapter one, which we already also read

in Luke. The next day, John saw Jesus coming toward him and said,

look, the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

This is the one I meant when I said, a man who comes

after me has surpassed me because he was before me. That's a brain bender.

I myself did not know him but the reason I came baptizing with water

was that he might be revealed to Israel. Then John gave this testimony.

I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him,

And I myself did not know him. But the one who sent me

to baptize with water told me, the man on whom you see the spirit

come down and remain is the one who will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.

I have seen, and I testify what that this is God's chosen one.

That was John's experience, This is what he saw, and this was

his testimony. Then why is he asking? If Jesus as the one,

why was he asking? Could it be possibly that John was having doubts?

The one that Jesus is about to say is greater than anyone else who's been

born of a woman. That guy had doubts. God has a habit of

using imperfect people. Well, first off, everyone's in perfect. Jesus is

the only perfect one, right, But I digress. Jesus has a habit

of you using people who are not nailing it. He called David a man

after his own heart, the same David that impregnated another man's wife. Had

him murdered all the while he was supposed to be a war And if God

would use David for his purposes and his plans, it's not crazy to think

that John, another man that God would choose to use, might have some

doubts. He also shouldn't be surprised anytime he decides to use you for his

purposes. But just think about John's situation here for a second. He was

told that he would prepare the way for the Lord. Right, we know

that that the savior of Israel was coming, the king would sit on the

throne of David forever. So that king showed up, Yet Israel is still

under Roman rule. See this is the conception of the Israeli. So they

thought that Jesus was going to show up and he was going to remove the

governmental powers or the governance over them and establish his own kingship over his people

and save them from their basically oppression. If they didn't understand is that was

a much bigger oppression that God had in mind to save us from. Right,

So Israel still under Roman rule. And also John when he sent his

disciples, the reason he sent them to Jesus is because he was locked up

in prison. Why was he in prison because of haird the tet shark.

He challenged him and said, you can't sleep with your brother's wife, and

which is like yeah, And he was thrown in prison because of it.

So maybe things weren't quite going the way John thought they would. He's like,

I didn't expect this to happen. I thought it was going to be

a lot different. This isn't the way I expected things to turn out.

And he had doubt. Does that sound familiar? He had doubt, which

brings me to our first I call it like a sub point's like a main

point. But this doubt, although scary, is not a bad thing.

It leads to the discovery of truth. It is scary sometimes it's not always

bad because it will push us to discover truth in and of itself. It's

not bad not addressing it, that is bad. Doubt or uncertainty can push

us to search for truth. So here we see John experiencing this doubt,

which led him to seek out the truth. He sent his disciples to Jesus

to ask them what is the truth? Let's look at that next verse,

verse twenty. When the men came to Jesus, they said, John the

Baptist sent us to you to ask, are you the one who is to

come? Or should we expect somebody else? So you look at that.

What did John's disciples do? They followed his instructions, say exactly as he

said them. John asked them to say, are you the one who is

to come? Or and we expect somebody else? And they went to Jesus

and asked exactly that. And the end destination of a student is to be

like their teacher. That's the end destination. And we just read it in

Luke six Go to Luke six forty. The student is not above the teacher,

but everyone who is fully trained will be like their teacher. We just

went through that a little bit ago, several weeks ago. And that's what

a disciple is. It's a student, it's a learner or a pupil.

You will look and act like the one that you follow, and you learn

from These disciples of John did exactly what he said to do, in exactly

the way he told them to do it. And that leads me to a

question. Do we do exactly what the one we follow tells us to do

in exactly the way we are told to do it? I think we need

to sit with that question sometimes, how are we it following exactly what we're

told to do? And this, I think is one of the biggest problems

that we have today. That we are blessed to live in a time and

I say it's the biggest problem that we're blessed, But we were blessed to

live in a time and place where we get pretty much everything we want to

preference. We get what we want, when we want it, how we

want it. Streaming movies and shows, do I need to say anything else?

You don't even have to know when they're on. You just pick what

you want to watch and play it when you're ready. Wait a minute,

I need to get the popcorn. You pause it, go get the pop

It's not like racing on a commercial break anymore, right, You pause it

and then play it when you're ready. We get things to preference. There's

so much in our world that is built around my comfort, and I think

that reinforces a false idea that I'm the center of the universe, that I'm

what this is all about. And don't get me wrong, I love these

comforts. They're awesome to have. Think it is a massive blessing and I

think from the Lord. It is a blessing that we have, but there's

also a danger to it. And the danger is that we have a tendency

to want to buffet everything in life. I'll take a little of this,

some of that. I'll take a bunch of that, and maybe a drop

of that. Stay away from the broccoli and the peas and the carrots,

right, I hate vegetables. If we can't tell my wife's good, she

makes me eat them anyway. But we want to buffet everything in life.

Following Jesus does not work like that. It doesn't work that way. We

can't pick and choose what we like about following Jesus. It's all or nothing.

I like the comfort and the blessing and the peace you bring. But

I don't know about this whole forgive my enemies thing. I'll take the f

given us an acceptance, But what do you mean turn the other cheek.

I don't know about that. And what we're basically saying is you can be

my savior, but you can't be my Lord. And that's not how it

works. That's not how it works at all. We may not always understand

why God commands us to do the things that he does command us to do,

but something that we need to remember. And I've said this a lot,

but's this on the next slide. The understanding is often found in the

obedience. The understanding is often found in the obedience. Even though I don't

think God owes us any explanation. He's God. He can say it's because

I said so, He's God, right. But sometimes we won't understand the

why behind something God tells us to do until we actually walk it out.

We have to walk out what He's called us to do. Do you think

Peter understood how he was going to get to Jesus in the middle of the

Sea of Galilee. He took a step over the edge and his foot didn't

sink, and then he understood, Oh, Jesus is gonna make me walk

on the water over to him. And then he walked. You got to

take that first step. We can't follow Jesus or part way follow Jesus.

John's disciples didn't half follow John. They did exactly what he said, in

exactly the way he said to do it. That's our call, as children

of the Most High. Let's keep moving. Let's go to verse twenty one

of our text at that very time, Jesus cured many who had diseases,

sicknesses, and evil spirits, and he gave sight to many who were blind

at that very time, means right there in front of him. And I

was reading one commentary that said, it almost seems like Jesus they came up,

asked you as the question, He's like, hold on, check this

out. And then he does all these miracles and makes him wait, and

then he addresses them because it's at that very time, right in front of

them, he does these miracles. So not only do they hear about the

miracle that Jesus was doing, but they got a front row seat to it.

They got a front row seat to see Jesus do these miracles. He

cured diseases, healed sickness, cast out demons, and gave sight to the

blind. And after he performs these miracles, then he spoke to them.

Let's look at what he said in verses twenty two and twenty three. So

it replied to the messengers, go back and report to John what you've seen

and heard. The blind receives sight, the lame walk, those who have

leprosy are cleansed. The death here the dead are raised and the good news

is proclaimed to the poor. Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account

of me, Go tell John what you've seen and what you've heard. But

what he said right after saying go tell John is what's key. The things

that John's disciples just witnessed Jesus do, the things that Jesus told them to

report back to John are all things that Isaiah prophesied that the Lord would do

when he came to his people. So we're gonna look really quick at three

places in Isaiah, and I wish we had more time to dive deeper into

these. Let's go to Isaiah twenty nine. In that day, the death

will hear the words of the scroll, and out of the gloom and darkness

the eyes of the blind will see once more. The humble will rejoice in

the Lord. The needy will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel. In

what day, the day that the Lord Almighty will come. That's from verse

six in this same chapter, the death will hear, the blind will see,

the humble and needy will rejoice'. Just fast forward to chapter thirty five.

Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way say to those

with fearful hearts, be strong, do not fear. Your God will come.

He will come with vengeance, with divine retribution. He will come to

save you. Then will the eyes of the blind be opened, and the

ears of the death unstopped. Then will the lame leap like a deer,

and the mute tongue shout for joy. Water will gush forth in the wilderness

and streams in the desert. Man, you guys got to read all with

the Bible, because when you read this stuff and you're like, oh,

I remember when that happened, and I remember when this happened, it just

makes your heart leap for joy. I think God will show up, and

when he does, he will save you. That's what we just read.

The eyes of the blind will be opened, deaf ears will be unstopped,

the lame will leap, the mute will shout. And lastly, go to

chapter sixty one. The first two verses. The spirit of the Sovereign Lord

is on me because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the

poor. He has sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim

freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners to proclaim the year

of the Lord's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort

all who mourn, said, the Lord has appointed me to do what proclaim

good news to the poor. John would have known exactly what Jesus was talking

about. When Jesus said to the disciples, go tell John what you've seen

and heard and the list he gave him. John would have known exactly what

Jesus was referencing. Jesus is confirming that he is in fact the one who

is to come. And how is he doing that by saying, look at

everything I've done and I'm continuing to do. Look at the evidence. I'm

holding the fish right here, you can see it. Let's look back at

that verse verse twenty two. So he replied, to the messers, go

back and report to John what you've seen and heard. The blind receives sight,

the lame walk those who have leprosy, or cleanse the deaf. Here

the debtor raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. The

blind see the lame walk, leprosy or disease is healed, the death.

Here the debtor raised, the good news is proclaimed. He's saying, I

have done and I am doing exactly what was prophesied long ago by Isaiah.

Look at me, I did all the things. So Jesus is saying he

was calming John's doubts. He was showing him what is true. And then

he finished this section off with one last thing in verse twenty three. Let's

look at that. Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me?

And this has lots of implications. He's saying, don't trip my guy

may. Maybe he's not saying exactly that, but he is saying something very,

very important, because this is what all the religious leaders were doing.

They were stumbling on account of him. They were stumbling on account of Jesus.

And you remember what Jesus said in Matthew chapter twenty one that he's uh.

He said, the stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. Jesus

is the rejected stone that everything is actually built upon or in alignment with.

That's who Jesus is. But Jesus said all this to confirm who he is

and to calm John's doubts. And next he shifts his focus back to the

crowd. So let's read that starting in verse twenty four, after John's messengers

left, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John. Would you go

out into the wilderness to see a read swayed by the wind? If not,

what did you go out to see a man dress and fine clothes?

No, those who wear expensive clothes and indulgent luxury are in palaces. But

what did you go out to see a prophet? Yes, I tell you,

and more than a prophet, this is the one about whom it is

written, I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your

way before you. In this conversation with John's disciples, it seems to have

been a public one. If Jesus was turning and addressing the crowd based on

what he just told the John's disciples. And this is where we hear a

shift in maybe the tone of how Jesus is speaking that it seems to shift

from an encouraging tone to one that is a rebuke or a challenge. And

Jesus asked am rahetorical rhetorical questions, who'd you go out in the wilderness to

see some persuadable weak man? Well, John definitely wasn't that. He spoke

very pointedly and authoritatively. Well, did you go out to see some fancy

guy and fancy clothes. You don't find that in the wilderness. And John

wore clothes made oft of camel's hair, so definitely wasn't that. No,

you went out to see a prophet, And that is exactly what John was,

was a prophet. He was the first prophet to break the four hundred

years of silence from God. So for those who are still waiting for an

answer from the Lord, have you waited four hundred years yet? Just kidding

it was kind of a half joke, be patient, though, and keep

asking him. But they went out to see John because he had a message

from God. He had a message from God that he was told to share,

and that's what they went out to see. His message was one that

was meant to prepare the way for God. And Jesus validates that John is

the prophet that Malachi was talking about in Malachi chapter three. Let's look at

that. I will send my messenger who will prepare the way before me.

Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple. The messenger

of the Covenant whom you desire, will come, says the Lord Almighty.

When Jesus said, this is the one about whom it is written. It

is written part in there is referencing this prophecy. Anytime the Bible says it

is written or like as it is said. Oftentimes it's a quotation of something

from elsewhere in the Bible, so always check your references. But this is

Jesus referencing this prophecy about John. But it gets better, So let's keep

reading. In Luke go to verse twenty eight. I tell you among those

born of women, there is no one greater than John. Yet the one

who is least in the Kingdom of God is greater than he. Jesus tells

us how awesome John is. But no matter how awesome John is, even

the least in the Kingdom of God is still better. And this is probably

alluding to how much better the new Covenant is through the blood of Jesus,

rather than the old covenant that God has already established. But at face value,

we can see that Jesus is saying that those who are in the Kingdom

of God are even better than John, who's the greatest dude to ever have

been born of a woman. So let's keep moving Verses twenty nine thirty.

All the people, even the tax collectors, when they heard Jesus' words,

acknowledge that God's way was right because they had been baptized by John. But

the Pharisees and the experts in the law rejected God's purpose for themselves because they

had not been baptized by John. And this is almost seems like an editorial

note from Luke in his Gospel, but he points out that the ones who

accepted Jesus' words and acknowledged God's way were the ones who were baptized by John

because they believe what he was saying. They believed and they got baptized,

which is how we do baptism right. We believe and then we follow with

baptism. But the ones who rejected all this were the religious leaders, the

Pharisees, and the experts in the law. And it makes sense that those

who rejected John rejected Jesus, and those who accepted John's word accepted Jesus's word.

It's kind of what's being said here. Does that make sense? So

let's look at the last section of today's text, which is verses thirty one

through thirty five. Jesus went on to say, to what then can I

compare the people of this generation? What are they like? They're like children

sitting in the marketplace and calling out to each other. We played the pipe

for you and you did not dance. We sang a dirge and you did

not cry. For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine.

And you say, is a demon? The son of man came eating and

drinking, And you say, here is a glutton and a drunkard, a

friend of tax collectors and sinners. But wisdom is proved right by all her

children. What is this generation like a bunch of stiff necked people who were

never satisfied and just refuse to believe my kids playing a game. We played

music and you didn't want to dance, so we sang a sad song instead,

and you didn't want to cry. What do you want? What more

do you want? John lived in the wilderness, separated himself, being completely

different than you. And what do you say? He's crazy and as a

demon. And then I come, Jesus says this, And I come,

and I'm eating and drinking. I literally came to where you are eating and

drinking, doing things just like you do. And what you say, this

guy's a glutton and a drunkard, Jesus saying, you saw John and rejected

him, and you see me and you reject me. There's nothing that's going

to satisfy you. It's nothing that will satisfy you. And there is a

huge theological topic to dive in here that we're not I'm talking to today.

But just consider that and that last verse, verse thirty five. Do you

go back one slide for me, please? But wisdom is proved right by

all her children. The results speak for themselves. Wisdom is shown to be

true, and why is based on the fruit of following it. Jesus saying,

you may reject us and what we're saying now, but just keep watching

and you will know what is true. Because wisdom is proved right by all

of her children. These people and many people today stand in stubborn rebellion against

God, even when we point to all the evidence. But even though they

are standing in stubborn rebellion, what do we do. We keep sharing the

gospel anyway, We keep sharing the gospel message, just keep pointing to the

evidence even when you don't see any fruit in their life. Then we pray

for God to do the part that is impossible for us to regenerate their heart

and open their eyes so they can see and they can believe. Can I

have the band come up? Please? But you guys see the contrast between

the two, between John's doubt and the generation's disbelief. John's doubt was him

being unsure or uncertain. I should probably put the lid on, or I

will make a mess. John's doubt was him being unsure or uncertain, which

led him to genuinely seek out the truth. But the generation that Jesus is

speaking about, the religious leaders, they just refuse to believe. They stayed

in their unbelief. And it's actually the same thing that Stephen goes on to

say later in the Book of Acts. So I'm gonna read Acts seven fifty

one through fifty three. You stiff necked people. See I didn't make up

stiff necked. I stole that from this verse. You stiff necked people,

your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised. You were just like your ancestors.

You always resist the Holy Spirit. Was there ever a prophet that your ancestors

did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous

One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him. You who have re

see the law that was given through the angels, but have not obeyed it.

They are a people who are stiff necked. Have you ever tried to

pick up a toddler when they're doing something they're not supposed to or they don't

want to stop doing, and they immediately I don't know how they make their

bodies stiff like a two by four. It's weird. That's what these people

are doing in their hearts. Stiff necked people. Those what are doing their

hearts. They refuse to believe. They have this attitude like I won't believe

you no matter what you tell me. It's just this stubborn, like,

rebellious refusal to believe. That's the difference between doubt and disbelief. And the

reality is that every single one of us will deal with doubt throughout our walk

with the Lord. Every single one of us will. And there may be

times when we look in the mirror and the person we see staring back at

us looks and acts a lot like that stubborn generation. So what do we

do with our doubt? What do we do when we see signs of unbelief,

and I want to start with doubt. The first step is this,

never ignore your doubts, address them. Never ignore your doubts, address them.

Ignoring your doubts doesn't make them go away. Pretending something isn't there doesn't

mean it's not there. And one of our first instincts when we experience doubt

can be to pretend it just doesn't exist and just sweep it under the rug.

But what happened If you'll keep sweeping something under a rug, Eventually you

have a rug that has a mountain of disbelief under it. You can't even

walk in your own living room without trippin'. You can't keep sweeping stuff under

the rug. You have to grab the doubt, bring it to your chest,

and say I'm gonna deal with you, and then you start the journey

of dealing with that doubt. The way John dealt with his doubts is the

way that we should deal with our doubts. You need to deal with them

by going to the source to find what is true. To deal with our

doubts by going to the source to find what is true. He went to

the source, He went to Jesus, and we have access to God through

prayer, the truth in His Word, and I think most importantly, God

himself, the Holy Spirit living in the you. Is it really that simple?

Yeah, yes it is. And until we've waited four hundred years,

we haven't waited long enough. But when doubt shows up, we do three

things. I need some big slides this time, so it might be a

mess up here. We do three things. We pray, read, and

trust. We pray and ask God to calm our doubts. That's absolutely what

we should do. We should pray and say, God, I have doubts

and I don't understand this. Please bring me peace. Then we read and

study His word to know what is true. We need to read and study

to know. And the last piece is we trust in His guidance to settle

the doubts. Do we actually trust in him and his power? See I

said pray. We've access to God through prayer, truth in his word,

and the Holy Spirit. God, the Holy Spirit. God, the Holy

Spirit is literally God like. We sometimes put him on a shelf and say

he's not part of the Trinity. He's not part of God. It is

God, the Holy Spirit, and that's who lives in you. So do

we trust in his guidance to settle the doubts, and what does God say

about all this? I have a ton of verses I'm going to reference really

quick. Can you put up the next slide. I want you guys to

take a picture of this on the big screen or whatever so you can actually

dive in and read these verses. I'm going to reference them and burn through

them very fast. But we know the cure for doubt is to pray,

read, and trust. So let's see what God says about these we pray.

First. Peter five tells us to cast our anxieties on God because he

cares for you. Don't forget that he cares for you. Philippians four tells

us to be anxious for nothing but to bring everything to God in prayer,

and He will bring you peace, a peace that surpasses all understanding, will

guard your heart and minds. In Christ Jesus James one says that if any

of us lacks wisdom, ask God and he will give it to us.

We must pray. God's people are praying people. We must pray. And

in the wise words of mc hammer, just to make it today, I

tried not to say that, but it was in there and I had to.

We read. Two Timothy tells us that all scriptures God breathed, giving

us everything we need to be thoroughly equipped for every good work. Walking in

disbelief isn't good. He's given us everything we need to be thoroughly equipped for

everything He's called us to do. Second, Peter tells us that God has

given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him.

Where do you get knowledge of Him in his word? He's revealed it already.

We read and study scripture, and lastly we trust. John sixteen says

the spirit of truth, that is the Holy Spirit will guide us into all

truth. That's one thing the Holy Spirit does. And Philippians too tells us

that it is God working in us to will and to act in order to

fulfill his good pleasure. Do you just trust in the guidance of the Holy

Spirit for you to will? That means to want to do something and to

act, which is actually do it. So anytime I do what God wants

me to do for his good pleasures, and I even desire it, it

was God working in me the whole time. Anyway, So do you rely

on the Holy spirits guidance in your life in these moments of doubt. This

is our cure for doubt. God has given us everything we need. But

what if after praying, reading and trusting, I find myself still refusing to

believe what is true, what is plainly un of me when I'm looking at

the evidence, or what if I see myself acting like a stiff necked person.

I just don't want to accept it. What do we do with that?

And I think we need to remember this. God is God and you

are not. This might be one of the most frustrating things to accept because

everything in our flesh wants to kick and scream against this statement. Every single

thing of our sinful flesh hates everything about what this says. God is God,

you are not. There are all kinds of hard truths that we may

struggle to understand or want to accept. But we must be willing to let

the Lord challenge our thoughts, our hearts, and our beliefs. Because we

find ourselves contradicting what he said. Who's wrong it? Thank God? Do

you remember what he told Job? When was the last time you guys read

the book of Job. It's a long one. Let's look at Job thirty

eight. We're gonna read all of it, just kidding. Then the Lord

spoke to Job out of the storm. He said, who is this that

obscures my plans with words without knowledge? Brace yourself like a man. I

will question you, and you shall answer me. Where were you when I

laid the Earth's foundations? Tell me if you understand who marked off its dimensions?

Surely you know who sketched a measuring line across it on on what were

it's footing set? Or who laid its cornerstone? While the morning stars sang

together and all the angels shouted for joy? Who shut up the sea behind

doors when it burst forth from the womb? When I made the clouds its

garments and wrapped it in thick darkness, when I fixed limits for it and

set its doors and bars in place, When I said this is for this

far you may come, and no further here is where your proud waves halt.

Have you ever given orders to the morning, or shown the dawn its

place, that it might take the earth by the edges and shake the wicked

out of it? The earth takes shape like clay under a seal. Its

feathers stand out like those of garments, or its features excuse me? Can

you go back one slide? Stand out of those like of a garment,

the wicked are denied their light, and their appraised arm is upraised, arm

is broken. Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea, or walked

the recesses of the deep? Have the gates of death been shown to you?

Have you seen the game of the deepest darkness? Have you comprehended the

vast expanses of the earth. Tell me, if you know all this,

what is the way to the abode of light? And where does darkness reside?

Can you take them to their places? Do you know the past?

To their dwellings? Surely you know, for you were already born, You've

lived so many years. This is the first half of chapter thirty eight in

Job, where God sits Job down and has to explain to him and remind

him who he is. This goes on for four chapters. God speaks about

who he is. God reminds Job who he is. This is who we're

pushing against when we refuse to believe. This is who we're in rebellion against.

Were we there when He created everything at the beginning? When God shows

us the truth and we don't want to accept it, we have one response,

that is repentance. When we want to reject his truths that he has

revealed to us, we have one response, and that is repentance. And

repentance we talk about as it relates to salvation. It's not only for salvation.

This is the constant pattern for believers. Anytime we fall into sin,

we're supposed to repent and turn back to the Lord. This is our habit.

Fall down, scrape your knee, repent and turn back to the Lord.

We are never done repenting and believing. So when doubts show up,

you pray to God, You read and study His word and the truths within.

You trust in His guidance in you through the Holy Spirit. And when

stubborn unbelief shows up those marks of our old, rebellious, rebellious flesh,

we repent and believe. Amen. Can you guys, stand to your feet,