1 00:00:01,500 --> 00:00:04,300 I'm very thankful to be with you again, tonight. 2 00:00:04,900 --> 00:00:09,700 I'm glad you're here too. And I'm excited to talk to you 3 00:00:09,707 --> 00:00:13,500 about something that sometimes we don't want to talk about 4 00:00:13,600 --> 00:00:15,900 especially where the one who has doubts. 5 00:00:16,300 --> 00:00:19,700 But I hope that this can be a helpful study if you're someone 6 00:00:19,700 --> 00:00:22,400 who's had questions or has had doubts. 7 00:00:23,000 --> 00:00:26,400 And I also want to acknowledge that maybe not everybody has had 8 00:00:26,400 --> 00:00:30,300 the same type of doubt and so maybe this is difficult for you 9 00:00:30,300 --> 00:00:34,400 because it's abstract and you've just never questioned. 10 00:00:34,700 --> 00:00:38,700 If there's a God you've never questioned if the Bible is 11 00:00:39,200 --> 00:00:44,000 legitimate or not and you've you know you've just been very 12 00:00:44,000 --> 00:00:46,200 strong in your convictions for the entirety of your life. 13 00:00:46,200 --> 00:00:50,400 Then I think that's wonderful. And I wish that I could be like 14 00:00:50,400 --> 00:00:57,000 you unfortunately I've had doubts and I've had times where 15 00:00:57,500 --> 00:01:00,500 instead of wanting to talk about it I would rather just try to 16 00:01:00,500 --> 00:01:04,099 bury it and I would tell you that that is a very unhealthy 17 00:01:04,099 --> 00:01:07,400 place to be. And so God bless you. 18 00:01:07,400 --> 00:01:10,500 If you've never had a doubt, but I hope what this study can be 19 00:01:10,500 --> 00:01:14,400 for you is something that is helpful so that when you talk to 20 00:01:14,400 --> 00:01:18,500 others, that you can be a listening ear, one who is 21 00:01:18,500 --> 00:01:23,800 sympathetic to their struggles because there will be a time. 22 00:01:23,900 --> 00:01:26,800 As the scripture says, we are to Bear one another's burdens and 23 00:01:26,800 --> 00:01:29,900 thus fulfill the law of Christ. There will be a time when you 24 00:01:29,900 --> 00:01:33,500 might find yourself struggling and that person is now the one 25 00:01:33,500 --> 00:01:37,500 helping you. So, Let's begin, shall we? 26 00:01:38,500 --> 00:01:42,800 We want to begin in Matthew Chapter 14, verse 31 and I'll 27 00:01:42,800 --> 00:01:47,900 paint the picture as this picture, is also painting on the 28 00:01:47,900 --> 00:01:51,000 board here. And that is about Peter, and 29 00:01:51,000 --> 00:01:54,000 here he is. He's just let go of the boat, 30 00:01:54,000 --> 00:01:58,100 right? So His Eyes Are Fixed On Jesus 31 00:01:58,100 --> 00:02:01,300 and no matter what's going on around him. 32 00:02:01,300 --> 00:02:05,200 And this moment, the winds are blowing in the water splashing 33 00:02:05,200 --> 00:02:09,400 to His Eyes Are Fixed On Jesus, until as the scriptures say, he 34 00:02:09,400 --> 00:02:13,900 does start to look around and he sees the wind and the waves, and 35 00:02:14,100 --> 00:02:18,600 suddenly, he is not fixed so firmly on Jesus and he starts to 36 00:02:18,600 --> 00:02:21,300 sink. And so when he calls out, Lord, 37 00:02:21,300 --> 00:02:25,100 save being Jesus reaches in and pulls him out of the water. 38 00:02:25,600 --> 00:02:30,900 Jesus offers this question to him, o you of little faith. 39 00:02:31,300 --> 00:02:35,600 Why did you doubt? And as you can tell, This 40 00:02:35,600 --> 00:02:38,800 PowerPoint, maybe a little bit off in its presentation because 41 00:02:39,100 --> 00:02:42,100 I built it on a Mac. And now I'm presenting it on a 42 00:02:42,108 --> 00:02:44,900 PC. And so, there you go. 43 00:02:44,900 --> 00:02:47,500 That's why the little e there is in the wrong place. 44 00:02:48,200 --> 00:02:49,700 Hopefully, I don't happen too many times. 45 00:02:51,100 --> 00:02:57,600 This scripture, it's easy to take it personally, right? 46 00:02:57,900 --> 00:03:03,100 And so we sometimes will apply this story to our lives. 47 00:03:03,100 --> 00:03:08,100 So we'll say something like so when you encounter the storms of 48 00:03:08,100 --> 00:03:13,300 life and whatever's, got you down, don't be like Peter and 49 00:03:13,300 --> 00:03:15,400 have doubts but keep your eyes on Jesus. 50 00:03:16,000 --> 00:03:20,900 I don't know if this Narrative was in the New Testament so that 51 00:03:20,900 --> 00:03:22,300 we could apply it that way. Really. 52 00:03:22,300 --> 00:03:27,200 I think what this narrative is meant to show is Jesus had the 53 00:03:27,200 --> 00:03:30,400 power over the wind and the waves and the question that the 54 00:03:30,400 --> 00:03:32,400 disciples ask afterwards is legitimate. 55 00:03:32,400 --> 00:03:35,700 What sort of a man is this that even the wind and the waves obey 56 00:03:35,700 --> 00:03:40,000 him, but we can't help ourselves sometimes by applying it to us 57 00:03:40,300 --> 00:03:44,100 and so we may beat ourselves up. Oh, you of little faith, why did 58 00:03:44,100 --> 00:03:46,700 you doubt? Oh me of little faith. 59 00:03:46,700 --> 00:03:51,800 Why would I I doubt you see doubt can be a dirty word 60 00:03:52,400 --> 00:03:57,400 sometimes. It implies weakness or little or 61 00:03:57,400 --> 00:04:01,600 lacking of Faith That You're Pitiful compared to everyone 62 00:04:01,600 --> 00:04:03,600 else. You're not like everyone else 63 00:04:04,000 --> 00:04:07,600 and as some of us were talking about it dinner tonight it's 64 00:04:07,700 --> 00:04:12,000 easy to be really hard on yourself because you look around 65 00:04:12,000 --> 00:04:15,500 and everybody else seems to have figured it all out except you 66 00:04:16,000 --> 00:04:18,700 right? So for example, Looking at me 67 00:04:19,100 --> 00:04:21,399 and I don't have a tie on, but I have a jacket. 68 00:04:21,399 --> 00:04:24,200 And I've got my shirt tucked in, I'm wearing slacks. 69 00:04:24,700 --> 00:04:27,700 And so it's easy because I'm wearing the fancy clothes to 70 00:04:27,700 --> 00:04:29,900 make it seem. Like, I've got it all figured 71 00:04:29,900 --> 00:04:32,000 out and sometimes we come to church. 72 00:04:32,000 --> 00:04:34,500 We look around everybody. Just looks like they've got it. 73 00:04:34,500 --> 00:04:35,900 Figured out, they're dressed, nice. 74 00:04:35,900 --> 00:04:38,200 They're they're they're speaking nice. 75 00:04:38,200 --> 00:04:40,000 They don't, they don't seem to struggle with what I have. 76 00:04:40,000 --> 00:04:43,800 I'm the only one who's going through this and suddenly, if we 77 00:04:43,800 --> 00:04:48,100 had doubts, then we're the only one who has doubts and I Don't 78 00:04:48,100 --> 00:04:51,000 want you to feel that way tonight. 79 00:04:51,300 --> 00:04:54,700 So here's an outline of the study I have four main 80 00:04:54,700 --> 00:04:57,600 questions. I want to ask and answer with 81 00:04:57,600 --> 00:04:59,700 you. Number one, I want to ask what 82 00:04:59,700 --> 00:05:04,000 is doubt and if we can kind of have a foundation built on what 83 00:05:04,000 --> 00:05:05,900 it is, then it's going to be helpful to answer the next 84 00:05:05,900 --> 00:05:08,500 question. What scriptures can help us? 85 00:05:09,700 --> 00:05:13,700 Third, how can I overcome doubts, when I have them? 86 00:05:14,700 --> 00:05:17,200 And I know those are three very simple questions. 87 00:05:17,600 --> 00:05:19,700 So I decided to fill the rest of the space with a very 88 00:05:19,700 --> 00:05:23,600 complicated question. Sorry that's a lot of words. 89 00:05:24,300 --> 00:05:28,700 How can we Foster a sense of trust and Truth within our local 90 00:05:28,700 --> 00:05:32,100 church community? So that when one of us has doubt 91 00:05:32,100 --> 00:05:34,900 the other can respond appropriately. 92 00:05:35,300 --> 00:05:36,900 If you're taking notes you can furiously. 93 00:05:36,900 --> 00:05:40,600 Try to write that down. I challenge you to However, it's 94 00:05:40,600 --> 00:05:42,900 a bit longer than the rest, but I think it's a really important 95 00:05:42,900 --> 00:05:48,500 question to ask and that is if I struggle, how do you prepare to 96 00:05:48,500 --> 00:05:51,800 bear that burden? So that when you struggle, I can 97 00:05:51,800 --> 00:05:54,900 prepare to help you and hopefully we can answer that 98 00:05:54,900 --> 00:05:56,600 together. So, let's begin. 99 00:05:57,100 --> 00:06:01,800 What is doubt? Now doubt comes from a Greek 100 00:06:01,800 --> 00:06:03,100 word, decree. No. 101 00:06:03,700 --> 00:06:07,900 And it's used 19 times in the New Testament. 102 00:06:08,200 --> 00:06:12,300 Now it Is translated into different English words. 103 00:06:12,300 --> 00:06:16,300 So here's an example. It's translated as to decide to 104 00:06:16,300 --> 00:06:21,900 dispute misgivings passing judgment, taking issue with or 105 00:06:21,900 --> 00:06:25,100 wavering. And so suddenly, we might be 106 00:06:25,100 --> 00:06:27,100 wondering, okay? It may be, I thought, I knew 107 00:06:27,100 --> 00:06:30,700 what dealt was but now I doubt that I know what it means. 108 00:06:30,800 --> 00:06:34,300 So I would challenge you with this that context, always 109 00:06:34,300 --> 00:06:37,000 determines how to properly translate it. 110 00:06:37,000 --> 00:06:41,200 And so, the guys who sat down with the Greek texts at to 111 00:06:41,600 --> 00:06:45,300 translate them into English, use the context to make the 112 00:06:45,300 --> 00:06:48,500 appropriate decision. And so I would like to distill 113 00:06:48,700 --> 00:06:54,300 what doubt is biblically into this phrase, a doubter is 114 00:06:54,300 --> 00:06:57,700 someone who is struggling to accept something. 115 00:06:58,100 --> 00:07:01,000 And the context really will help us. 116 00:07:01,200 --> 00:07:05,100 They're either struggling to accept it because of ignorance. 117 00:07:06,100 --> 00:07:08,400 They don't know. And so they doubt because 118 00:07:08,400 --> 00:07:11,700 they're coming from a place of a lack of knowledge or they're 119 00:07:11,700 --> 00:07:15,400 struggling to accept it because of rebellion and they know 120 00:07:15,400 --> 00:07:18,200 better but they they're just they're doing everything they 121 00:07:18,200 --> 00:07:21,400 can to question. Is this really God's Will? 122 00:07:21,700 --> 00:07:26,000 And these are the two main groups that the word doubt gets 123 00:07:26,000 --> 00:07:29,100 put into. So, here's a scripture, it says 124 00:07:29,100 --> 00:07:33,100 in James 1 verse 5. If any of you lack wisdom let 125 00:07:33,100 --> 00:07:37,600 him ask God who gives generously to To all without reproach and 126 00:07:37,600 --> 00:07:40,200 it will be given and it will be given him. 127 00:07:40,300 --> 00:07:44,500 But let him ask in faith with no doubting for the one who doubts 128 00:07:44,500 --> 00:07:48,400 is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind 129 00:07:48,500 --> 00:07:50,300 for that person. Must not suppose that he will 130 00:07:50,300 --> 00:07:54,300 receive anything from the Lord. My question is this, how does 131 00:07:54,300 --> 00:08:00,300 that scripture make you feel? When I read that verse 6, but 132 00:08:00,300 --> 00:08:03,400 let him ask in faith with no doubting for the one who doubts 133 00:08:03,400 --> 00:08:07,300 is like the wave of the sea. Suddenly I start to feel guilty, 134 00:08:08,300 --> 00:08:11,000 Well, I shouldn't doubt, I shouldn't ask questions. 135 00:08:11,400 --> 00:08:14,900 And what I'd like to suggest to you, is that this type of Doubt 136 00:08:15,700 --> 00:08:19,400 is one who is coming at it from one who is struggling to accept 137 00:08:19,400 --> 00:08:22,800 something and doesn't want to know, God's Will and doesn't 138 00:08:22,800 --> 00:08:25,400 want to obey God's Will. And it's different from the 139 00:08:25,400 --> 00:08:29,800 person who lacks knowledge and simply needs training. 140 00:08:29,800 --> 00:08:32,500 And what's good? And what God's will is so 141 00:08:32,500 --> 00:08:36,299 tonight, if you are doubting coming from a place of not 142 00:08:36,299 --> 00:08:39,500 understanding, then I Don't want you to have that guilty 143 00:08:39,500 --> 00:08:42,400 feelings, that this scripture is intended to provide. 144 00:08:42,500 --> 00:08:46,400 However, if you are doubting, the will of God, because you're 145 00:08:46,400 --> 00:08:49,400 coming from a place of you just don't want to obey God. 146 00:08:49,900 --> 00:08:54,600 Then this scripture should cause a little bit of maybe it, not so 147 00:08:54,600 --> 00:08:56,500 good feeling, as we read through it. 148 00:08:57,100 --> 00:09:00,700 So, in order to deconstruct doubt, I think we're going to 149 00:09:00,700 --> 00:09:03,400 need to learn just a bit about deconstruction. 150 00:09:03,800 --> 00:09:06,400 Now, I'm going to go ahead and present this as a general 151 00:09:06,400 --> 00:09:09,900 overview and it could That you already know everything there is 152 00:09:09,900 --> 00:09:13,900 to know about deconstruction, but maybe someone doesn't know 153 00:09:14,200 --> 00:09:17,200 what that phrase means and especially how it's being used 154 00:09:17,200 --> 00:09:21,500 in popular culture today and so bear with me for a moment as we 155 00:09:21,500 --> 00:09:26,400 talked about deconstruction. Now to deconstruct does not mean 156 00:09:26,400 --> 00:09:28,400 to demolish. Like we're not going to 157 00:09:28,400 --> 00:09:33,000 deconstruct the building by tearing it down rather, it means 158 00:09:33,000 --> 00:09:36,900 to break down or analyze something especially the words 159 00:09:36,900 --> 00:09:39,300 in a work of fiction or Non-fiction to discover it's 160 00:09:39,300 --> 00:09:42,000 true significance but not it's true significance. 161 00:09:42,000 --> 00:09:44,500 According to the author, it's true significance. 162 00:09:44,500 --> 00:09:49,800 According to you the reader and so deconstruction was part of 163 00:09:49,800 --> 00:09:54,000 the postmodern social movement and it applied to literature. 164 00:09:54,400 --> 00:09:59,000 It also applies in the field that I work in part-time in 165 00:09:59,000 --> 00:10:02,500 therapy and counseling. And so, this image here is 166 00:10:02,500 --> 00:10:06,900 intended to show that sometimes we have some negative thoughts 167 00:10:07,300 --> 00:10:10,500 and so in order, To overcome that negative thought we have to 168 00:10:10,500 --> 00:10:14,400 deconstruct all the different parts of it and then by 169 00:10:14,400 --> 00:10:18,600 deconstructing it we can better understand why we felt that way. 170 00:10:18,600 --> 00:10:23,900 So you know, an example might be that somebody feels like their 171 00:10:23,900 --> 00:10:27,700 parents hate them, right? And so, they grow up with this 172 00:10:27,700 --> 00:10:30,300 understanding that their parents, hate them, and then 173 00:10:30,300 --> 00:10:32,800 they go into therapy. And the therapist says, we need 174 00:10:32,800 --> 00:10:35,600 to deconstruct that what we're going to do is we're going to 175 00:10:35,600 --> 00:10:39,100 break down all of these reasons that You feel like your parents 176 00:10:39,100 --> 00:10:41,900 hate you? Well, maybe dad worked long 177 00:10:41,900 --> 00:10:46,100 hours and maybe Mom was stressed and by getting all of these 178 00:10:46,100 --> 00:10:49,200 pieces set aside suddenly I realized they don't they didn't 179 00:10:49,200 --> 00:10:52,900 hate me, right? We've deconstructed that hatred. 180 00:10:53,000 --> 00:10:58,400 The problem is that, that idea and that concept has been 181 00:10:58,400 --> 00:11:03,700 hijacked and so now people use deconstruction to deconstruct 182 00:11:03,700 --> 00:11:07,200 their Christian faith. Now I know some of you are new 183 00:11:07,200 --> 00:11:09,600 to the faith. So I'm not going to be very 184 00:11:09,600 --> 00:11:12,500 specific about where to go to find this and I can't stop you 185 00:11:12,500 --> 00:11:15,600 from going to look at it but I did just want to warn you. 186 00:11:15,900 --> 00:11:19,500 You get on social media and it's going to be very, very easy to 187 00:11:19,500 --> 00:11:24,800 find a lot of videos that are very popular right now where 188 00:11:24,800 --> 00:11:27,800 people are talking about how they deconstructed, they 189 00:11:27,800 --> 00:11:30,300 deconstructed out of Christianity. 190 00:11:30,500 --> 00:11:36,600 They have this issue this this hidden assumption this bias. 191 00:11:36,600 --> 00:11:39,400 So then they decided to break down their faith. 192 00:11:39,400 --> 00:11:42,000 And then they started deconstructing it to a point 193 00:11:42,000 --> 00:11:43,700 where they no longer believe this. 194 00:11:43,700 --> 00:11:46,600 So they get on social media and talk about how they're no longer 195 00:11:46,600 --> 00:11:48,800 a Christian. I'd like to give you a couple 196 00:11:48,800 --> 00:11:51,100 examples of what this actually looks like. 197 00:11:51,100 --> 00:11:56,100 So these are people who are quite famous in the, you know, 198 00:11:57,000 --> 00:11:59,700 Christian oriented circles, right? 199 00:12:00,400 --> 00:12:04,800 And one of them is a musician and one of them was an author 200 00:12:04,800 --> 00:12:08,800 who wrote books and after a while, they Be constructed out 201 00:12:08,800 --> 00:12:10,800 of the faith. And this is what they had to say 202 00:12:10,800 --> 00:12:13,000 about their process. I know this may be a little 203 00:12:13,000 --> 00:12:17,100 small, sorry, if you can't read it along with me, if not, just 204 00:12:17,100 --> 00:12:21,200 listen, this person says how many preachers fall? 205 00:12:21,200 --> 00:12:24,100 Many no one talks about it. How many miracles happen. 206 00:12:24,400 --> 00:12:27,500 Not many, no one talks about it. Why is the Bible full of 207 00:12:27,500 --> 00:12:29,900 contradictions? No one talks about it. 208 00:12:29,900 --> 00:12:33,400 How can God Be Love yet? Sin 4 billion. 209 00:12:33,400 --> 00:12:36,900 People took place all cuz they don't believe no one talks about 210 00:12:36,900 --> 00:12:38,800 it. Christians can be Be the most 211 00:12:38,800 --> 00:12:42,300 judgmental people on the planet. It can also be some of the most 212 00:12:42,300 --> 00:12:46,800 beautiful people are and loving people but it's not for me, I'm 213 00:12:46,800 --> 00:12:49,800 not in that anymore, I want genuine truth, not the, I just 214 00:12:49,800 --> 00:12:53,300 believe it, kind of Truth. Now what's this person done? 215 00:12:53,300 --> 00:12:58,800 He's taken several issues that he has with his faith and kind 216 00:12:58,800 --> 00:13:00,900 of blown them out, deconstructed them. 217 00:13:00,900 --> 00:13:03,800 And since he can't make sense of them, then he won't make sense 218 00:13:03,800 --> 00:13:08,800 of the core which is his faith in Christ as a Out of that, he's 219 00:13:08,800 --> 00:13:12,000 decided to just walk away. Now, I would like to just 220 00:13:12,000 --> 00:13:16,100 comment briefly about this final phrase, I want genuine truth. 221 00:13:16,400 --> 00:13:22,700 Not the, I just believe it, kind of Truth and friends if you are 222 00:13:22,700 --> 00:13:28,100 trying to help someone and your answer is just fake it till you 223 00:13:28,100 --> 00:13:30,900 make it, that's not an appropriate answer. 224 00:13:31,200 --> 00:13:33,100 That's not an appropriate way to help someone. 225 00:13:33,400 --> 00:13:37,400 And so I would challenge you that if in fact you're telling 226 00:13:37,400 --> 00:13:41,600 someone To just believe it until you can make it then that person 227 00:13:41,700 --> 00:13:45,200 may burn out, and I would like you to be genuine with them. 228 00:13:45,300 --> 00:13:48,400 Now, here's another person's deconstruction. 229 00:13:48,500 --> 00:13:52,200 He says, I have undergone a massive shift in regard to my 230 00:13:52,200 --> 00:13:55,200 faith in Jesus. The popular phrase for this is 231 00:13:55,200 --> 00:13:57,900 deconstruction, the biblical phrase is Falling Away. 232 00:13:58,300 --> 00:14:01,900 By all the measures that I have for defining a Christian, I am 233 00:14:01,900 --> 00:14:04,800 not a Christian, many people tell me that there is a 234 00:14:04,800 --> 00:14:07,600 different way to practice faith and I want to remain open to 235 00:14:07,608 --> 00:14:09,600 this. But I'm not there now to my 236 00:14:09,600 --> 00:14:12,200 Christian friends. I'm grateful for your prayers. 237 00:14:12,600 --> 00:14:14,100 Don't take it. Personally, if I don't 238 00:14:14,100 --> 00:14:17,600 immediately return calls, I can't join in your morning. 239 00:14:17,700 --> 00:14:22,500 I don't view this moment - Lee. I feel very much alive and awake 240 00:14:22,700 --> 00:14:25,300 and surprisingly hopeful, I believe, with my sister 241 00:14:25,300 --> 00:14:29,000 julienne, that all shall be well, and all manner of things 242 00:14:29,200 --> 00:14:33,800 shall be well. Now again, you and I, as we love 243 00:14:33,800 --> 00:14:37,700 the Lord and we want the Lord's people to just be faithful in 244 00:14:37,700 --> 00:14:42,900 the Lord, when one of our loved ones leaves, it is a painful 245 00:14:43,300 --> 00:14:47,300 process for us. And we assume that this person 246 00:14:47,300 --> 00:14:51,700 has a void that's missing because they've left and I share 247 00:14:51,700 --> 00:14:56,400 these with you because as people deconstruct their filling that 248 00:14:56,400 --> 00:14:59,200 with something else and sometimes it's hard for us to 249 00:14:59,200 --> 00:15:03,000 see and it's hard for us to understand what they've gone 250 00:15:03,000 --> 00:15:08,400 through. The problem is, I think As we 251 00:15:08,400 --> 00:15:13,400 deconstruct doubt, we've really got to put people in one of 252 00:15:13,400 --> 00:15:15,600 these circles. And this middle ground, right 253 00:15:15,600 --> 00:15:19,700 here is the word doubt. And some people don't understand 254 00:15:20,300 --> 00:15:23,600 and others don't want to understand and they will use the 255 00:15:23,608 --> 00:15:26,000 word doubt. And what we have to know is what 256 00:15:26,000 --> 00:15:28,700 are they really talking about? Are they really talking about 257 00:15:28,700 --> 00:15:30,100 how they don't understand the faith? 258 00:15:30,100 --> 00:15:33,600 And so, they're asking questions of where does God come from? 259 00:15:33,600 --> 00:15:35,200 Or where does the bible come from? 260 00:15:35,400 --> 00:15:37,800 Or are they asking questions from his age? 261 00:15:37,900 --> 00:15:42,000 Skeptical perspective of, I don't want this to be real. 262 00:15:42,000 --> 00:15:44,700 I'm going to throw anything and everything I have added to be 263 00:15:44,700 --> 00:15:46,300 so. So we're going to do the same 264 00:15:46,300 --> 00:15:51,300 thing and kind of blow up doubt and try to deconstruct it and 265 00:15:51,300 --> 00:15:57,200 see that behind, that word is several different views or 266 00:15:57,200 --> 00:16:01,100 several different opinions that are really at play here. 267 00:16:01,400 --> 00:16:04,600 So, the way that I have organized this study, I see 268 00:16:04,600 --> 00:16:09,000 three different types of doubt. The first time, type is an 269 00:16:09,000 --> 00:16:13,500 intellectual doubt. That's somebody who struggles to 270 00:16:13,500 --> 00:16:17,700 respond to rational questions, about God's character, the 271 00:16:17,700 --> 00:16:20,400 consistency of his word. And I like to give you a couple 272 00:16:20,400 --> 00:16:24,000 examples that I've dealt with. And maybe you've heard ones like 273 00:16:24,000 --> 00:16:26,700 these as well. This is an intellectual doubt. 274 00:16:27,000 --> 00:16:32,100 How can a loving God call for genocide of humanity in the 275 00:16:32,100 --> 00:16:37,000 flood? Now, maybe that's emotional, but 276 00:16:37,000 --> 00:16:39,700 that is an intellectual question, right? 277 00:16:39,700 --> 00:16:43,700 One that we should Ponder, why would God destroy so many people 278 00:16:43,700 --> 00:16:46,400 in the flood. Here's another question, how can 279 00:16:46,400 --> 00:16:49,600 you trust these documents that are seemingly? 280 00:16:49,600 --> 00:16:53,400 So riddled with errors. Again, that's not asked in a 281 00:16:53,408 --> 00:16:56,400 highly emotional state. This person is interested in the 282 00:16:56,400 --> 00:17:01,600 consistency of the Bible, and so, this type of Doubt is asking 283 00:17:02,200 --> 00:17:05,200 intellectual questions. Another type of Doubt. 284 00:17:05,599 --> 00:17:08,599 Different kind is emotional and that's when a person is 285 00:17:08,599 --> 00:17:11,500 struggling to make sense of God's character or his word 286 00:17:11,800 --> 00:17:15,099 while they're enduring a strong emotional and or irrational 287 00:17:15,099 --> 00:17:21,900 sentiment, listen. Irrational is like a word that 288 00:17:21,900 --> 00:17:24,900 we throw around at each other or trying to insult and I don't 289 00:17:24,900 --> 00:17:28,400 mean that as an insult, it's just at times, people are going 290 00:17:28,400 --> 00:17:31,300 through a struggle and so they're thinking from the heart 291 00:17:31,400 --> 00:17:34,700 emotionally irrationally rather than with their head. 292 00:17:34,700 --> 00:17:37,400 And so, this type of Doubt is different. 293 00:17:37,500 --> 00:17:43,000 The questions might be, God, didn't answer my prayer to save 294 00:17:43,000 --> 00:17:45,000 my child. Therefore, I can't believe he's 295 00:17:45,000 --> 00:17:49,100 real anymore. Now we could try to respond 296 00:17:49,100 --> 00:17:51,700 rationally to that person but they're coming from a different 297 00:17:51,700 --> 00:17:53,400 place. That's the point. 298 00:17:53,400 --> 00:17:57,600 I'm going to try to make another one that I've heard is my pastor 299 00:17:58,300 --> 00:18:02,500 was a hypocrite and therefore I won't believe in God anymore 300 00:18:02,500 --> 00:18:05,400 because this great man of Faith fell so far. 301 00:18:06,100 --> 00:18:09,700 Happens a lot. You get on the news of any kind 302 00:18:10,000 --> 00:18:12,800 and I bet once a week sometimes like they're looking for their 303 00:18:12,800 --> 00:18:17,100 hungry to broadcast men of faith. 304 00:18:17,200 --> 00:18:21,900 And how far they fall? A third type of Doubt is a moral 305 00:18:21,900 --> 00:18:26,600 doubt and this is that one that I think oftentimes does happen 306 00:18:26,600 --> 00:18:30,500 more in the, I don't want to understand type of a doubt but 307 00:18:30,500 --> 00:18:34,900 that simply is a struggle to accept God's word based on 308 00:18:34,900 --> 00:18:37,900 willful actions that contradict it. 309 00:18:38,400 --> 00:18:42,500 Now, I do think it is possible to have moral doubts that come 310 00:18:42,500 --> 00:18:46,100 from a good place. Let me read a couple real quick 311 00:18:46,100 --> 00:18:51,200 and then I'll add a third on my own What somebody might say, I 312 00:18:51,208 --> 00:18:54,200 don't really see what's wrong with drinking and I don't really 313 00:18:54,200 --> 00:18:58,000 think God cares either. So this person is doubting but 314 00:18:58,300 --> 00:19:00,600 it doesn't seem like they're very interested in learning 315 00:19:00,700 --> 00:19:04,900 their just from a place of willful ignorance, another moral 316 00:19:04,900 --> 00:19:07,000 doubt might be well that commence cultural? 317 00:19:07,000 --> 00:19:09,500 It's not for us. Therefore, I don't have to obey 318 00:19:09,500 --> 00:19:13,700 it and instead of maybe studying what the scripture says, they're 319 00:19:13,700 --> 00:19:17,600 using a argument about culture to make up for it. 320 00:19:18,000 --> 00:19:22,600 You know, there's a moral doubts that people can have the coming 321 00:19:22,600 --> 00:19:26,700 from a place rather ignorance them rebellion. 322 00:19:27,500 --> 00:19:30,800 And I'll just give this example. I Believe In First Corinthians 323 00:19:30,800 --> 00:19:34,900 chapter 11, the, the first part of First Corinthians chapter 11, 324 00:19:34,900 --> 00:19:38,200 where it talks about the covering, which is a woman's 325 00:19:38,200 --> 00:19:42,000 Glory, a woman's hair, that that scripture, refers to women, 326 00:19:42,000 --> 00:19:46,200 having long uncut hair, and men, having short, or cut here. 327 00:19:46,900 --> 00:19:51,200 And as I've preached that sermon Various places I can preview 328 00:19:51,200 --> 00:19:54,200 here too. If you want as I preached at 329 00:19:54,200 --> 00:19:56,500 various places, I have a lot of sisters that come up and say, 330 00:19:56,500 --> 00:20:00,400 you know, I wasn't in the raised in the church, this is all new 331 00:20:00,400 --> 00:20:03,300 for me, but I remember after got, I got baptized. 332 00:20:03,300 --> 00:20:05,100 Someone came up and said, okay. Now I have to stop cutting your 333 00:20:05,100 --> 00:20:07,900 hair. And never told me why you said 334 00:20:07,900 --> 00:20:11,300 you had to so I did because I just thought that's what we do 335 00:20:11,600 --> 00:20:15,100 and it wasn't until we studied this sermon that I realized it 336 00:20:15,300 --> 00:20:18,500 and so that person may have a genuine World out. 337 00:20:18,500 --> 00:20:22,100 Why are we doing this? I don't understand it and it's 338 00:20:22,100 --> 00:20:24,700 our duty to help them at this time at that time. 339 00:20:25,200 --> 00:20:28,200 So how do we respond to doubts? Well, now that we've kind of 340 00:20:28,200 --> 00:20:32,400 deconstructed it, I hope that these thoughts make sense. 341 00:20:32,800 --> 00:20:39,700 If doubts are not all the same So then our responses are not to 342 00:20:39,700 --> 00:20:43,000 be all the same so friend, if you're the one that's never 343 00:20:43,000 --> 00:20:45,100 doubted, you know, I'm kind of talking to you. 344 00:20:46,000 --> 00:20:49,100 If you've always been strong in the faith and someone comes to 345 00:20:49,100 --> 00:20:52,900 you with the doubt, it's helpful to take a moment and break down. 346 00:20:52,900 --> 00:20:55,700 Where's this doubt coming from and you may respond differently 347 00:20:55,900 --> 00:21:00,300 depending on each person. For example, when you respond to 348 00:21:00,300 --> 00:21:04,500 intellectual doubts, it may mean that you need to take some time 349 00:21:04,500 --> 00:21:07,900 to study. Things that you haven't studied 350 00:21:07,900 --> 00:21:11,800 before and now you've got to read a book or you've got a 351 00:21:11,900 --> 00:21:15,400 check out several different scriptures and then sit with 352 00:21:15,400 --> 00:21:18,900 this person for maybe an hour or two or three and just work 353 00:21:18,900 --> 00:21:23,000 through the issue. How do you respond to an 354 00:21:23,000 --> 00:21:25,800 emotional day out? Well, it I think it should 355 00:21:25,800 --> 00:21:29,900 involve Bible study but instead of maybe reading up on all the 356 00:21:29,900 --> 00:21:33,800 intellectual answers, sometimes it's about sitting with someone 357 00:21:34,100 --> 00:21:37,500 in prayer. Letting them process emotionally 358 00:21:37,500 --> 00:21:42,200 what's going on in their life. Responding to moral doubts, 359 00:21:42,200 --> 00:21:45,700 maybe a little saltier. Somebody doesn't want to obey 360 00:21:45,700 --> 00:21:48,500 God and they're throwing out questions to discredit God. 361 00:21:49,000 --> 00:21:52,300 Then it may mean that the time we spend with them is answering 362 00:21:52,300 --> 00:21:55,700 their questions but also holding their feet to the fire. 363 00:21:55,700 --> 00:21:58,700 So to speak about what God's word does say. 364 00:21:59,100 --> 00:22:05,100 Now what they all have in common is this We always respond. 365 00:22:06,300 --> 00:22:12,400 We always respond, we don't neglect, we don't leave it, you 366 00:22:12,400 --> 00:22:16,000 know, table for a future, we always respond. 367 00:22:16,100 --> 00:22:18,700 This is what I was talking about in the closing announcements. 368 00:22:18,700 --> 00:22:23,200 Last night, as I mentioned Flavel yeagley, a social 369 00:22:23,200 --> 00:22:27,800 scientist, did statistical analysis of over 2,000 people 370 00:22:27,800 --> 00:22:29,200 and why they left the church of Christ. 371 00:22:29,200 --> 00:22:31,200 In one of the number one reasons was neglect. 372 00:22:31,900 --> 00:22:37,400 So in the topic of Doubt people that are scared, Afraid to share 373 00:22:37,400 --> 00:22:42,200 this and then they take a risk. They're vulnerable with someone 374 00:22:42,200 --> 00:22:46,600 and they say, and I'm in heaven. Really questions about the 375 00:22:46,608 --> 00:22:49,500 communion. I mean, we're all like one cup. 376 00:22:49,500 --> 00:22:51,900 One cup, one cup. I just don't get it. 377 00:22:53,600 --> 00:22:56,200 And maybe it come down hard on. How can you not see? 378 00:22:56,200 --> 00:22:59,400 This is right here in the Bible, right? 379 00:23:00,200 --> 00:23:03,600 And so, we have to respond, we always respond. 380 00:23:03,600 --> 00:23:06,800 But what we're going to look at now is appropriate response. 381 00:23:07,600 --> 00:23:11,200 And it is appropriate to respond differently to different types 382 00:23:11,200 --> 00:23:14,100 of Doubt, Jude chapter 1 verse 20 through 23. 383 00:23:14,400 --> 00:23:16,800 We're in the second question. The second question is, what 384 00:23:16,800 --> 00:23:20,600 scriptures can help us? It says, but you beloved 385 00:23:20,600 --> 00:23:22,000 building yourself up in the Most. 386 00:23:22,000 --> 00:23:23,600 Holy Faith and praying in the Holy Spirit. 387 00:23:23,600 --> 00:23:25,200 Keep yourself in the love of God. 388 00:23:25,200 --> 00:23:28,700 Waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to 389 00:23:28,700 --> 00:23:32,900 eternal life and have mercy on those who doubt save others by 390 00:23:32,900 --> 00:23:35,900 snatching them out of the fire and two others show Mercy with 391 00:23:35,900 --> 00:23:37,600 fear hating, even the Garment spotted. 392 00:23:37,600 --> 00:23:41,700 It's stained by the flesh. Now I'm going to structure this 393 00:23:41,700 --> 00:23:46,000 into three different categories of people who need help, right? 394 00:23:46,100 --> 00:23:49,200 Number one is those we are supposed to have mercy on 395 00:23:49,200 --> 00:23:52,100 doubters, we're supposed to save people who are in the middle of 396 00:23:52,108 --> 00:23:56,000 the fire, the moral fire and then there's others who are kind 397 00:23:56,000 --> 00:23:59,200 of far gone and we're to have mercy and fear, but we're to 398 00:23:59,200 --> 00:24:01,800 hate the garments stained with Sim now. 399 00:24:01,800 --> 00:24:03,900 I know that may be small but I want to read to you what Adam 400 00:24:03,900 --> 00:24:08,200 Clark says about this scripture. It's kind of old school. also 401 00:24:08,300 --> 00:24:12,700 you know this is King James or Shakespeare would be the 402 00:24:12,700 --> 00:24:15,200 equivalent and I struggle sometimes with reading that so 403 00:24:15,200 --> 00:24:19,900 bear with me, You're not to deal a like with all those who have 404 00:24:19,900 --> 00:24:24,200 been seduced by false teachers ye are to make a difference 405 00:24:24,200 --> 00:24:27,700 between those who have been LED Away by weakness and imprudence 406 00:24:28,700 --> 00:24:31,400 and those who buy the pride and arrogance of their hearts and 407 00:24:31,400 --> 00:24:35,100 separated themselves from the church and become its inveterate 408 00:24:35,100 --> 00:24:37,900 enemies. So this is not a new thought 409 00:24:37,900 --> 00:24:41,300 that I'm presenting to you. People who study this and read 410 00:24:41,300 --> 00:24:43,000 it. See there's there's different 411 00:24:43,000 --> 00:24:46,100 types of doubter. There's different types of 412 00:24:46,100 --> 00:24:50,100 people that are struggling. So let's break these down these 413 00:24:50,100 --> 00:24:53,500 three and talk about them. And I'm going to go in reverse 414 00:24:53,500 --> 00:24:54,900 order. The first one I want to talk 415 00:24:54,900 --> 00:24:58,800 about is those, we're to show Mercy with fear hating. 416 00:24:58,800 --> 00:25:00,600 Even the Garment stained with sin. 417 00:25:01,200 --> 00:25:04,800 Now, what I'm going to suggest to you is that we are not to be 418 00:25:04,800 --> 00:25:08,500 the offended sea turtle, Hooves. I can't believe they're going 419 00:25:08,500 --> 00:25:12,000 through that. However, we are to hate the 420 00:25:12,000 --> 00:25:14,800 Garment stained with sin, what type of a person. 421 00:25:14,900 --> 00:25:19,100 Sin is that anyway, this is a brother or sister who has fully 422 00:25:19,100 --> 00:25:24,300 embraced sin or error and they're asking questions from a 423 00:25:24,300 --> 00:25:28,800 place of justification, they're going to do whatever it takes to 424 00:25:28,800 --> 00:25:31,900 justify that sin. Well, how are we to respond? 425 00:25:32,600 --> 00:25:37,900 Well, as this scripture says by continuing to show Mercy, right? 426 00:25:38,800 --> 00:25:45,300 But also with fear, And to show Mercy with fear mace, to be 427 00:25:45,300 --> 00:25:50,700 consistent about what the Bible teaches clearly showing that sin 428 00:25:50,700 --> 00:25:55,800 leads to damnation. That this lifestyle leads to 429 00:25:55,800 --> 00:25:59,900 ruin and that we don't want to have any part of it. 430 00:26:00,800 --> 00:26:05,600 Romans chapter 1 verse 32, says that forbids us rather from 431 00:26:05,600 --> 00:26:08,600 approving of sinful practices, not just doing them, but 432 00:26:08,600 --> 00:26:12,200 approving of them as well. So for those who are that far 433 00:26:12,200 --> 00:26:17,400 gone, we have warned, And we admonish and we invite them to 434 00:26:17,400 --> 00:26:20,900 make things right. Another group of people that 435 00:26:20,900 --> 00:26:24,900 have doubts are those as it says we save others by snatching them 436 00:26:24,900 --> 00:26:28,200 out of the fire. What type of person is doubt. 437 00:26:28,500 --> 00:26:31,500 This is a brother or sister who's in danger of giving 438 00:26:31,500 --> 00:26:35,400 themselves over to erroneous teaching or sinful behavior and 439 00:26:35,400 --> 00:26:38,400 they're asking questions, they have doubts, but maybe they 440 00:26:38,400 --> 00:26:41,300 haven't taken the plunge into complete deconstruction. 441 00:26:42,100 --> 00:26:44,600 How are we to help them? Well, as it says, we're 442 00:26:44,600 --> 00:26:48,000 snatching them out of the fire when somebody's in the middle of 443 00:26:48,000 --> 00:26:53,700 a moral problem. There are times when we may be 444 00:26:53,700 --> 00:26:58,400 able to delicately Shepherd them through but there's also times 445 00:26:58,400 --> 00:27:02,800 when their house is burning down and you're more worried or you 446 00:27:02,800 --> 00:27:06,300 should be rather more worried about getting them out then 447 00:27:06,300 --> 00:27:08,700 maybe worried about their feelings and friends. 448 00:27:08,700 --> 00:27:12,000 I want you to think about that that if this is a moment of 449 00:27:12,000 --> 00:27:15,600 danger and we're trying to rescue them and so maybe that 450 00:27:15,600 --> 00:27:19,600 means morally were shaking them. We're trying to wake them up and 451 00:27:19,600 --> 00:27:21,700 remind them of the truths of this. 452 00:27:21,900 --> 00:27:25,700 Scripture, as I mentioned last night, Simon the Sorcerer in 453 00:27:25,700 --> 00:27:28,400 Acts chapter 8 I believe he's a great example of somebody who 454 00:27:28,400 --> 00:27:31,500 was in the middle of the fire and Peter didn't mince words. 455 00:27:31,800 --> 00:27:33,800 He said your money is going to perish with you. 456 00:27:34,900 --> 00:27:38,600 And as a result of that, this being snatched out, he said, 457 00:27:38,700 --> 00:27:42,700 pray for me, and he immediately repented, of his sins, finally. 458 00:27:42,700 --> 00:27:46,400 There are those who have mercy or we're rather there are those 459 00:27:46,400 --> 00:27:50,500 who doubt and we're simply to have mercy on them and this 460 00:27:50,700 --> 00:27:54,200 command may seem to be the clearest, but it is a little bit 461 00:27:54,200 --> 00:27:58,000 more complicated than we might think there are some Scholars 462 00:27:58,000 --> 00:28:00,800 who believe that those who doubt or talking about those who are 463 00:28:00,800 --> 00:28:02,600 ignorant. There are others that believe 464 00:28:02,600 --> 00:28:04,600 it's those that are willfully ignorant. 465 00:28:04,700 --> 00:28:09,400 Rent, whichever way that it may be where to have mercy on them 466 00:28:09,500 --> 00:28:12,400 or to answer their questions to spend time with them and come to 467 00:28:12,400 --> 00:28:15,800 the truth. Having Mercy can mean a lot of 468 00:28:15,800 --> 00:28:20,100 things pity concern gentleness and compassion, but it most 469 00:28:20,100 --> 00:28:23,800 certainly does not mean to permits in order to permit 470 00:28:23,800 --> 00:28:28,600 others to remain in that doubt. Our Mercy is to give one another 471 00:28:28,600 --> 00:28:32,900 the tools to overcome doubt and the sin that so often follows. 472 00:28:33,300 --> 00:28:37,000 Now listen. This phrase in the scripture, 473 00:28:37,000 --> 00:28:40,000 I'm about to put up, there is very important because I've 474 00:28:40,000 --> 00:28:43,400 struggled with this as somebody who's confrontation. 475 00:28:43,400 --> 00:28:47,800 Isn't my forte? So I would rather not confront 476 00:28:47,800 --> 00:28:49,500 things. It's easy for me to say, well, 477 00:28:49,500 --> 00:28:51,700 having Mercy just means we're going to love them back in. 478 00:28:52,600 --> 00:28:55,200 And we can love people back into doing, what's right? 479 00:28:55,600 --> 00:29:00,100 But sometimes having Mercy is more than just love in a min. 480 00:29:01,200 --> 00:29:05,000 It means we're giving them, whatever tool is necessary for 481 00:29:05,000 --> 00:29:08,800 them to overcome sin. And the Bible says, in First 482 00:29:08,800 --> 00:29:14,200 Corinthians 3 Verse 6, love does not rejoice in wrongdoing, it 483 00:29:14,200 --> 00:29:17,900 rejoices in the truth. The truth always has to be part 484 00:29:17,900 --> 00:29:22,400 of your conversation, as we work on doubts together, we're not 485 00:29:22,408 --> 00:29:25,400 going to celebrate doubt, rather, we're going to help 486 00:29:25,400 --> 00:29:29,300 people overcome doubts. Here's a question number three, 487 00:29:29,300 --> 00:29:33,000 how can I overcome doubts? And this text may be kind of 488 00:29:33,000 --> 00:29:37,000 small. I'll do my best to summarize it 489 00:29:37,000 --> 00:29:39,400 as quickly as I can. This is a new part of this 490 00:29:39,400 --> 00:29:41,100 sermon for me. So, I've given the sermon a few 491 00:29:41,100 --> 00:29:48,300 times, but I have a dear friend who wrote about her doubts, and 492 00:29:48,300 --> 00:29:50,800 I've decided to just lift it, put it in my sermon. 493 00:29:51,400 --> 00:29:55,900 She the, the title of this article that I read that she 494 00:29:55,900 --> 00:29:59,500 wrote was how I deconstructed from my faith. 495 00:30:00,000 --> 00:30:02,700 Yet remained faithful. And I thought, oh, I need to 496 00:30:02,708 --> 00:30:04,800 read this now. After I read it, I thought I 497 00:30:04,800 --> 00:30:08,900 think Christians need to see this as much as anyone else that 498 00:30:08,900 --> 00:30:12,000 there are people in the church who have gone through this 499 00:30:12,000 --> 00:30:14,400 process, and they've come out on the other side stronger. 500 00:30:14,400 --> 00:30:18,300 So if you have ever had doubts, then I'm going to offer this to 501 00:30:18,300 --> 00:30:20,500 you and then I'm going to offer a scripture that I think 502 00:30:20,500 --> 00:30:24,500 summarizes it and so bear with me as we go through this one by 503 00:30:24,500 --> 00:30:27,400 one. This sister said the first thing 504 00:30:27,400 --> 00:30:31,400 that she did to overcome doubts was She kept going to church. 505 00:30:32,000 --> 00:30:35,500 She said that she didn't always want to be there, but she 506 00:30:35,500 --> 00:30:37,800 decided I'm not going to give up on that. 507 00:30:37,800 --> 00:30:42,100 She needed it in her life. She says, I kept reading my 508 00:30:42,100 --> 00:30:46,800 Bible and she didn't devour entire books or Testaments in a 509 00:30:46,800 --> 00:30:50,900 sitting but she did stride, it trying to stay consistent to 510 00:30:50,900 --> 00:30:54,600 reading the word. She says, I kept praying. 511 00:30:55,400 --> 00:30:58,200 I didn't pray long prayers, and some of them were silent. 512 00:30:58,200 --> 00:31:01,400 Some are pleading, some were angry but I tried to keep my 513 00:31:01,400 --> 00:31:06,500 communication with God open. I stopped consuming 514 00:31:06,600 --> 00:31:11,700 deconstruction content. I unfollowed people on social 515 00:31:11,700 --> 00:31:15,200 media who always talked about concerns deconstruction, I 516 00:31:15,200 --> 00:31:18,300 didn't watch YouTube videos where people explain how they 517 00:31:18,300 --> 00:31:22,000 abandoned their faith, even though I was curious, I knew it 518 00:31:22,000 --> 00:31:27,200 wasn't helpful. I asked for encouragement from 519 00:31:27,200 --> 00:31:31,900 someone, I trusted we may talk about this more this weekend, I 520 00:31:31,908 --> 00:31:36,300 don't think it's necessary that you tell everyone every single 521 00:31:36,300 --> 00:31:39,600 problem you have, but I do think it's important that you tell 522 00:31:39,600 --> 00:31:43,500 someone and she found that to be helpful as well. 523 00:31:44,100 --> 00:31:48,300 I reduce the number of people who had influence over me. 524 00:31:50,800 --> 00:31:54,800 Okay, I spent more time with my husband and children. 525 00:31:56,100 --> 00:32:01,000 I took it one day at a time, I quit things that were keeping me 526 00:32:01,000 --> 00:32:06,400 busy and burnt out. And finally I examined and was 527 00:32:06,400 --> 00:32:10,400 radically honest with myself, I acknowledge pain, my own flaws 528 00:32:10,400 --> 00:32:13,900 and resentment that affected, my perception of God, and the 529 00:32:13,900 --> 00:32:19,700 church and Faith friends, I think this list is incredible in 530 00:32:19,700 --> 00:32:24,200 that, it's simple, it's manageable, it's doable, there's 531 00:32:24,200 --> 00:32:26,000 been times when I've wandered Nerd. 532 00:32:26,000 --> 00:32:30,900 Is this what it's all about? Are these people who I thought 533 00:32:30,900 --> 00:32:35,400 they were and you know what? People fail, And those we love 534 00:32:35,400 --> 00:32:39,000 often, let us down. But remember, we're not in the 535 00:32:39,000 --> 00:32:41,900 Church of brother so-and-so or not in the Church of sister. 536 00:32:41,900 --> 00:32:44,200 So and so we're the Church of Jesus Christ. 537 00:32:45,200 --> 00:32:48,600 I want you to remember that you're in Jesus church, and you 538 00:32:48,600 --> 00:32:52,200 will likely fail one another in this congregation and the 539 00:32:52,208 --> 00:32:53,400 congregation. I'm a part of. 540 00:32:53,400 --> 00:32:57,000 I know for a fact, I have failed some of my brethren. 541 00:32:57,000 --> 00:33:00,900 And, and they have failed me, but we don't serve each other. 542 00:33:00,900 --> 00:33:05,700 We serve Jesus. And so, I beg you to consider in 543 00:33:05,700 --> 00:33:10,500 times where you may not want to keep that practice alive of 544 00:33:10,500 --> 00:33:13,800 going to church. Reading your Bible praying to 545 00:33:13,800 --> 00:33:16,400 God. And it's just like any 546 00:33:16,400 --> 00:33:19,500 relationship, we have a that are important, a husband and wife 547 00:33:19,500 --> 00:33:25,200 parent, child best friends. those relationships died, when 548 00:33:25,200 --> 00:33:30,800 the communication valve shuts off, And if even if it's a 549 00:33:30,808 --> 00:33:33,100 trickle, if that communication, you can stay open. 550 00:33:33,300 --> 00:33:35,300 There's hope I think a great scripture. 551 00:33:35,300 --> 00:33:38,600 Did I thought of as I read through this list was James 552 00:33:38,600 --> 00:33:42,200 chapter 4, verse 7 and 8 it says submit yourselves therefore to 553 00:33:42,200 --> 00:33:46,900 God resist the devil and he will flee from you draw near to God 554 00:33:47,300 --> 00:33:49,700 and He will draw near to. You cleanse your hands, you 555 00:33:49,700 --> 00:33:52,100 Sinners, and purify your hearts. You double-minded. 556 00:33:52,400 --> 00:33:57,100 There's some strong statements in there about how we need to 557 00:33:57,100 --> 00:34:01,300 live the life, right? That we need to be morally pure. 558 00:34:01,500 --> 00:34:04,300 I think that's part of this, but right there in the middle is a 559 00:34:04,308 --> 00:34:08,800 promise draw near to God and He will draw near to you. 560 00:34:09,699 --> 00:34:12,900 The times that I have struggled the most, I do have to perform 561 00:34:12,900 --> 00:34:16,199 an assessment. The times that others have 562 00:34:16,199 --> 00:34:17,500 struggled and they've come to me. 563 00:34:17,500 --> 00:34:19,500 I perform the same assessment with them. 564 00:34:19,900 --> 00:34:23,800 How's your Bible reading? How's your prayer life? 565 00:34:25,400 --> 00:34:28,100 How's your church attendance? It's like a, you go to a doctor 566 00:34:28,100 --> 00:34:30,400 for a checkup and they ask you, your blood pressure, your 567 00:34:30,400 --> 00:34:34,500 waiting, they're asking those things, maybe one of them is off 568 00:34:35,199 --> 00:34:37,699 and then that leads to this and at least this and then we find 569 00:34:37,699 --> 00:34:41,500 the cause and so I have found it time and time again. 570 00:34:41,500 --> 00:34:44,800 When people are struggling, it's some of these basic things. 571 00:34:45,000 --> 00:34:48,699 And so how do you overcome doubts and draw near to God? 572 00:34:48,699 --> 00:34:52,600 And this is a promise He will draw near to you. 573 00:34:53,100 --> 00:34:58,600 Number four, final Aunt, how can we Foster a sense of trust and 574 00:34:58,600 --> 00:35:01,900 Truth within our local church community? 575 00:35:02,200 --> 00:35:06,000 So that when one of us does have doubt the other can respond 576 00:35:06,500 --> 00:35:10,100 appropriately. So I have three answers to that 577 00:35:10,100 --> 00:35:12,500 question. Based on the scriptures number 578 00:35:12,500 --> 00:35:17,500 one, we can foster trust and Truth by making space for hard 579 00:35:17,500 --> 00:35:21,600 questions. May we be a people that feel 580 00:35:21,600 --> 00:35:24,700 comfortable saying, I don't know. 581 00:35:27,000 --> 00:35:29,600 I hope we can. I hope you feel comfortable 582 00:35:29,600 --> 00:35:34,700 saying, I don't know, but I can find out instead of feeling 583 00:35:34,700 --> 00:35:38,000 personally attacked. When somebody asks a difficult 584 00:35:38,000 --> 00:35:45,000 question, Jesus said in Matthew chapter 7 verse 7 and 8 ask And 585 00:35:45,000 --> 00:35:48,600 it will be given to you. Seek. 586 00:35:49,700 --> 00:35:54,200 And you will find knock, and the door will be opened. 587 00:35:55,000 --> 00:35:57,300 Jesus. Three times is communicating to 588 00:35:57,300 --> 00:36:01,400 his followers when it comes to communication with God, God 589 00:36:01,400 --> 00:36:05,600 wants us to ask He wants us to seek. 590 00:36:07,200 --> 00:36:11,500 And you know there's times when maybe we don't understand God's 591 00:36:11,500 --> 00:36:14,400 will but you know what? You're not the only one who's 592 00:36:14,400 --> 00:36:18,700 ever been at that point, you can go to Exodus chapter 3 and 4 and 593 00:36:18,700 --> 00:36:22,900 you've got Moses who is talking directly to God and and God is 594 00:36:22,900 --> 00:36:25,900 telling him what he wants Moses to do of four times. 595 00:36:25,900 --> 00:36:28,000 Moses is saying well what about this? 596 00:36:29,100 --> 00:36:31,500 And what about that? I'm not the right guy. 597 00:36:31,500 --> 00:36:33,800 I can't speak but I can listen to me. 598 00:36:34,000 --> 00:36:36,600 I don't even know what I'm supposed to call you to these 599 00:36:36,600 --> 00:36:38,100 people. All these questions. 600 00:36:38,100 --> 00:36:41,900 What's he doing? From a place of doubt, he's 601 00:36:41,900 --> 00:36:44,400 trying to find answers so that he can move on. 602 00:36:46,300 --> 00:36:49,500 Right. Paul, as we talked about last 603 00:36:49,500 --> 00:36:53,300 night, pleaded three times with the Lord, take this away from 604 00:36:53,300 --> 00:36:57,400 me, please. I don't necessarily would call 605 00:36:57,400 --> 00:37:00,400 that a place of Doubt, but he's calling on the Lord for help and 606 00:37:00,700 --> 00:37:01,600 Lord's. Given an answer. 607 00:37:01,600 --> 00:37:05,500 No, and Paul is not satisfied. So he keeps asking for it three 608 00:37:05,500 --> 00:37:07,200 times. Take this away. 609 00:37:09,400 --> 00:37:13,000 May we always make space for asking hard questions. 610 00:37:13,000 --> 00:37:18,000 Penelope is still not satisfied with my answer for her question, 611 00:37:18,400 --> 00:37:23,000 who made God she's nine years old and I keep trying to answer 612 00:37:23,000 --> 00:37:25,800 it and she's just not satisfied with it yet. 613 00:37:26,600 --> 00:37:30,600 I'm glad she asks. I hope that when she's sixteen 614 00:37:30,600 --> 00:37:36,900 or twenty five or seventy and I'm, you know, 98 years old and 615 00:37:36,900 --> 00:37:41,300 she still not satisfied that she would come find me and ask Dad, 616 00:37:41,700 --> 00:37:43,600 I still want to know where God came from. 617 00:37:45,200 --> 00:37:50,700 There's a second one. We can foster trust and Truth by 618 00:37:50,700 --> 00:37:56,500 not making doubt into an idol. I think it's very important for 619 00:37:56,500 --> 00:38:03,300 us in this discussion to remember that doubt is not a 620 00:38:03,300 --> 00:38:07,300 trophy to be awarded or claimed. The reason I say that is because 621 00:38:07,300 --> 00:38:12,000 those who have deconstructed have made doubt into their Idol 622 00:38:12,000 --> 00:38:15,200 as though they are better than those who have not doubted. 623 00:38:15,300 --> 00:38:18,400 And because they've ask the hard questions that these people 624 00:38:18,500 --> 00:38:21,500 never asked, or didn't want to ask so somehow that makes them 625 00:38:21,500 --> 00:38:24,100 better. And I've seen it time and time 626 00:38:24,100 --> 00:38:28,200 again that Pride commingled with doubt leads. 627 00:38:28,200 --> 00:38:34,500 People astray like nothing else. There are no evidences that I 628 00:38:34,500 --> 00:38:38,400 can find in the Bible where doubt is considered good and 629 00:38:38,400 --> 00:38:42,200 wholesome, as far as on its own now. 630 00:38:42,200 --> 00:38:45,900 I don't think that there's scriptures to say it's wrong to 631 00:38:45,900 --> 00:38:48,300 question God as hopefully we've seen tonight. 632 00:38:49,000 --> 00:38:55,200 But what we do find is that truth is valued as what we are 633 00:38:55,207 --> 00:39:00,900 to pursue, John chapter 1, verse 16 and 17 says for from his 634 00:39:00,900 --> 00:39:04,900 fullness, we have Have all received Grace upon Grace for 635 00:39:04,900 --> 00:39:08,900 the law was given through Moses Grace and Truth came through. 636 00:39:08,900 --> 00:39:14,300 Jesus Christ not Grayson doubt but Grace and Truth. 637 00:39:14,300 --> 00:39:19,700 Jesus said in John 8:31 if you abide in my word you are truly 638 00:39:19,700 --> 00:39:23,800 my disciples and you will know the truth and the truth will set 639 00:39:23,800 --> 00:39:32,800 you free truth freeze. Truth washes away ignorance and 640 00:39:32,800 --> 00:39:35,600 so may we never get to a point where we turned out into an 641 00:39:35,600 --> 00:39:38,500 idol. Finally, we can foster trust and 642 00:39:38,500 --> 00:39:44,100 Truth by cultivating. A culture of confession and I 643 00:39:44,100 --> 00:39:48,300 have a sermon based on this. I may or may not be preaching at 644 00:39:48,300 --> 00:39:50,400 this weekend. I haven't flipped the coin yet, 645 00:39:50,600 --> 00:39:54,300 but James 5:15 says, the prayer of faith will save. 646 00:39:54,300 --> 00:39:57,600 The one who's sick and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has 647 00:39:57,600 --> 00:40:00,700 committed sins, he will be. Forgiving therefore confess your 648 00:40:00,700 --> 00:40:04,000 sins to one another and pray for one another that you may be 649 00:40:04,000 --> 00:40:06,500 healed. The prayer of a righteous person 650 00:40:06,600 --> 00:40:11,300 has great power as it's working. The idea here is if we have 651 00:40:11,300 --> 00:40:14,800 built a culture in our congregation, whether it be a 652 00:40:14,800 --> 00:40:19,200 public confession or whether it be one-on-one, it's a lot easier 653 00:40:19,200 --> 00:40:23,100 to be vulnerable with each other and say things like, I don't 654 00:40:23,100 --> 00:40:25,700 know about that one cup. Where's that coming from? 655 00:40:26,400 --> 00:40:29,800 And then we can talk honestly about Such scriptures. 656 00:40:29,900 --> 00:40:32,700 Okay, here's my final scripture and then I'll offer gospel 657 00:40:32,700 --> 00:40:35,700 invitation, then maybe we can go outside, enjoy those fireworks. 658 00:40:36,500 --> 00:40:42,600 Mark, chapter 9, there's an account of a man who brings his 659 00:40:43,000 --> 00:40:46,500 child to Jesus. Don't look too closely at this 660 00:40:46,500 --> 00:40:48,400 image. Looks like he's healing, a man 661 00:40:48,400 --> 00:40:52,400 with a beard and so I want you to imagine. 662 00:40:52,400 --> 00:40:54,300 It's a child instead of a bearded man. 663 00:40:55,400 --> 00:40:59,700 But in this this account, I want you to put yourself into the 664 00:41:00,200 --> 00:41:02,600 shoes of the father. Okay. 665 00:41:02,600 --> 00:41:06,500 So before we read I want you to put yourself in the shoes of the 666 00:41:06,500 --> 00:41:08,800 father. Let's read a little bit. 667 00:41:10,000 --> 00:41:13,200 Jesus asked them, what are you arguing about with them? 668 00:41:13,300 --> 00:41:16,900 And someone from the crowd, answered him teacher. 669 00:41:16,900 --> 00:41:21,100 I brought my son to you for. He has a spirit that makes him 670 00:41:21,100 --> 00:41:25,900 mute and whenever it seizes him at throws him down and he Foams 671 00:41:25,900 --> 00:41:28,200 and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid. 672 00:41:28,300 --> 00:41:31,900 So I asked your disciples to cast it out and they were not 673 00:41:31,900 --> 00:41:39,300 able then he answered them o faithless generation. 674 00:41:39,700 --> 00:41:42,700 How long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? 675 00:41:43,100 --> 00:41:46,400 Bring him to me. And they brought him the boy, 676 00:41:47,400 --> 00:41:51,500 and when the spirit saw him, it immediately convulsed the boy, 677 00:41:51,500 --> 00:41:54,800 and he fell on the ground and rolled around foaming at the 678 00:41:54,800 --> 00:41:56,700 mouth. This is quite a scene. 679 00:41:58,800 --> 00:42:02,200 There's an argument to the disciples are having with this 680 00:42:02,400 --> 00:42:06,200 father and with some Pharisees who were there and it's kind of, 681 00:42:06,600 --> 00:42:10,600 you know, their pride has been hurt because they couldn't cast 682 00:42:10,600 --> 00:42:15,500 out this demon and there's probably some type of an 683 00:42:15,500 --> 00:42:19,000 argument going on here. So Jesus has to say, well, 684 00:42:19,000 --> 00:42:23,100 what's what's happening? And this is what's happening. 685 00:42:24,500 --> 00:42:27,900 Jesus asked some more questions as this child goes. 686 00:42:27,900 --> 00:42:30,700 Rigid, this demon has made him go, rigid. 687 00:42:30,700 --> 00:42:34,800 And so Jesus asks his father, how long has this been happening 688 00:42:34,800 --> 00:42:38,200 to him? And he said from childhood and 689 00:42:38,200 --> 00:42:41,300 it's often cast him into the water and it, or Into the Fire 690 00:42:41,300 --> 00:42:45,200 and into water to destroy him, but if you can do anything, have 691 00:42:45,200 --> 00:42:52,400 compassion on us and help us, I'm sensing desperation. 692 00:42:54,700 --> 00:43:01,700 Desperation of a life-long attempt to keep his son safe. 693 00:43:04,400 --> 00:43:07,700 Jesus response is one part humerus. 694 00:43:09,700 --> 00:43:13,400 And the other part convicting he says. 695 00:43:13,400 --> 00:43:20,500 And Jesus said to him, if you can notice that this man is 696 00:43:20,500 --> 00:43:25,200 coming from a place of doubt. He didn't say Lord. 697 00:43:25,200 --> 00:43:30,100 I know you can. He said if and Jesus highlights 698 00:43:30,100 --> 00:43:34,900 that If? If? 699 00:43:36,800 --> 00:43:43,500 All things are possible to the one who believes. and, I think 700 00:43:43,500 --> 00:43:47,000 it's a rebuke to the man. Now Jesus is tender and 701 00:43:47,000 --> 00:43:50,300 compassionate to these types of purses so it's not a rebuke, 702 00:43:50,300 --> 00:43:53,000 that's intended, like it would be to a Pharisee. 703 00:43:54,200 --> 00:43:59,900 If if you would believe all things are possible and this 704 00:43:59,900 --> 00:44:03,000 isn't the end of The Narrative, but I just want to show you the 705 00:44:03,000 --> 00:44:07,800 man's response. Is I think this is the heart of 706 00:44:07,800 --> 00:44:11,200 what we should be. Like whenever we have doubts 707 00:44:12,200 --> 00:44:17,500 immediately, the father of the child cried out and said I 708 00:44:17,500 --> 00:44:30,500 believe. help my unbelief and I'm just thankful that he had 709 00:44:30,500 --> 00:44:32,400 the willingness to admit that to Jesus. 710 00:44:34,000 --> 00:44:40,100 That he would actually ask help my unbelief instead of getting 711 00:44:40,100 --> 00:44:43,900 defensive. And coming up with a reason. 712 00:44:45,300 --> 00:44:47,000 He simply brings it to the master. 713 00:44:47,900 --> 00:44:50,200 I want to. Will you help me? 714 00:44:51,700 --> 00:44:54,700 And that's the invitation I want to leave with you tonight, if 715 00:44:54,700 --> 00:44:58,500 you find yourself ever in place of doubting the prayer that you 716 00:44:58,500 --> 00:45:02,200 can offer. Lord, I Want to Believe. 717 00:45:03,200 --> 00:45:07,600 Help my unbelief. Ask that to the Lord instead of 718 00:45:07,600 --> 00:45:11,700 walking away from him. and remember what the promise was in 719 00:45:11,700 --> 00:45:17,000 James chapter 4, draw near to God and He will draw near to 720 00:45:17,000 --> 00:45:20,700 you, brothers and sisters. I hope this is a helpful Bible 721 00:45:20,700 --> 00:45:22,700 study. I look forward to having 722 00:45:22,700 --> 00:45:27,200 conversation with you about it. If you have questions, and if 723 00:45:27,200 --> 00:45:31,800 you have comments, I always take the feedback on these sermons in 724 00:45:31,800 --> 00:45:35,800 as I give them in other places. Then I can utilize that. 725 00:45:35,800 --> 00:45:39,900 So, if you have scriptures and ideas that you feel would be 726 00:45:40,000 --> 00:45:43,100 helpful to improve this than please, let's keep talking about 727 00:45:43,100 --> 00:45:45,800 it. We thank you for listening to 728 00:45:45,800 --> 00:45:50,600 our podcast, put on by the Church of Christ at 22:15 plans. 729 00:45:50,600 --> 00:45:54,100 Road in Bakersfield, if you would like any additional 730 00:45:54,100 --> 00:45:57,400 information, or you would like to receive a free Bible 731 00:45:57,400 --> 00:46:02,900 correspondence, course by mail. Please email us at info at her 732 00:46:02,900 --> 00:46:05,300 Church of Christ Bakersfield.com. 733 00:46:06,000 --> 00:46:11,200 Our service times are on Sundays at 10:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. and 734 00:46:11,200 --> 00:46:15,700 Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m. Please make plans to join us. 735 00:46:16,200 --> 00:46:18,400 We would love for you to be our honored guest.