Encountering the Mystery
Read: Job 23:1-10 If I go to the east, he is not there . . . I do not find him. . . . I do not see him. (vv. 8-9 NIV) Some doubt rises from our encounter with the mystery that is God. In Luke 24, the disciples’ doubt was a reaction to the […]
The Causes of Doubt
Read: Luke 24:36-45 Why do doubts rise in your minds? (v. 38 NIV) We are revisiting this story because it contains a question that must be answered if we are to deal honestly and helpfully with doubt: “Why do doubts rise in your minds?” I think it is a disappointed question. For centuries the people […]
Choosing Doubt
Read: John 11:45-53 So from that day on they plotted to take his life. (v. 53 NIV) Perhaps the most stubborn kind of doubt is volitional doubt, doubt that is rooted in our will. That kind of doubt hears Jesus say, “Go into all the world,” and replies, “No!” Volitional doubt is at bottom an […]
Species of Doubt
Read: Luke 24:36-49 Jesus himself stood among them . . . . [and] they were startled and frightened. (vv. 36-37 NIV) Yesterday we looked at how doubt can be the result of having a divided mind but can also be due to fear or uncertainty. So what kind of doubt do the disciples have after […]
What Is Doubt?
Read: Matthew 26:36-46 My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will. (v. 39 NIV) The root idea of doubt is being divided. To doubt is to have a divided mind, a mind that is torn between belief and unbelief. Thomas was […]
But Some Doubted
Read: Matthew 28:16-20 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. (v. 17 NIV) Whenever I’ve preached on the Great Commission, I’ve skipped over those three words in verse 17, because I haven’t known what to do with them. Jesus is about to ascend back to heaven, so he gathers his disciples for […]
God, Have Mercy
Read: Luke 18:9-14 God, have mercy on me, a sinner. (v. 13 NIV) Is doubt a virtue? I doubt it, if Jesus tells us to stop. Well, then, is doubt a sin? It might be, or it might not be, depending on what kind of doubt it is. I’ll talk about species of doubt in […]
Lord, Save Me
Read: Matthew 21:18-22 If you have faith and do not doubt . . . you can say to this mountain, “Go, throw yourself into the sea,” and it will be done. (v. 21 NIV) Peter had great faith until he looked away from Jesus. “When he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to […]
Great Prayer, Great Faith
Read: John 17:6-21 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. (v. 15 NIV) Our story yesterday from Matthew 14 is a picture of where we live much of the time. We row across a stormy sea, battered by the elements, struggling […]