Mark 9:14-24      I Have No Doubts!

Rev. David Holwick   K                             Lies Christians Believe

First Baptist Church

Ledgewood, New Jersey

March 15, 2015

Mark 9:14-24


I HAVE NO DOUBTS!



  I. Is certitude a good thing?

      A. We are a nation of convinced people.

          1) Go to Google, type in "I have no doubts about my faith" and

                you will get 20,700 results.

              a) Perhaps you would claim that for yourself.

          2) If that's the case, plenty of people have doubts about you.


             A comment on an online Yahoo religious forum:


             When a religious person says, "I have no doubts about my

                beliefs," are they lying?

             Because how could one not have doubts about something for

                which absolutely no corroborating evidence exists?

             It's just not possible, is it?


             There will always be some level of doubt, won't there?

             I mean, sure the human mind is quite capable of

                malfunctioning severely ... but I'm talking about the

                   people you see in Wal-Mart.

             You know, the average [joes] who make up the general

                populace;

             These are the people who insist on having their beliefs

                and morals dominate everyone else in society and they

                   claim to be certain about their beliefs ...


             They're lying, aren't they?

                They just can't be certain...

                                                                  #64786


          3) Apart from the judgmental tone and faulty logic - how could

                he know there is "absolutely" no evidence for our faith

                  - are Christians wrong to claim they have no doubts?


      B. Supreme confidence is a Christian virtue.

          1) We lie about our certainty because reality is complicated

                and we want our faith to be simple.

          2) We want to persuade other people, and doubts make you

                less convincing.

          3) Sometimes, we are just trying to convince ourselves.


      C. Plenty of Christians DO have doubts.

          1) Gary Habermas wrote a book on the topic and he found that

                almost everyone he interviewed admitted to having doubts.

              a) It wasn't always about big items like the existence of

                    God.

              b) They might be convinced of that, but have questions on

                    why allows some of the things he does, like pain.

              c) Others are convinced there is a God, but doubt their

                    own faith in him.                              #63049

          2) Doubt and faith are fascinating topics with many levels.

              a) Sometimes doubt becomes unbelief, which the Bible

                    condemns.

              b) But doubt can also signify a healthy faith like Abraham

                    had.

              c) If Isaiah 55:8 is right and God's thoughts are not our

                    thoughts, we should not expect absolute certainty

                       until we are glorified in heaven.

                 In this life you just cannot completely figure him out.


II. Other people have doubts about what we believe.

      A. The well-known conflict with science.

          1) A scientist can be a believer, but the majority are not.


             A survey of hundreds of scientists in the elite National

                Academy of Sciences found that only 8% believed in God

                   and an afterlife; the rest did not.             #64583


          2) Ordinary people struggle with it, too.


             Andrea Dilley grew up in a missionary family in Kenya,

                then moved to the Pacific Northwest and was raised in

                   a Presbyterian church.

             It was an intelligent, educated church, not a bunch of

                wackos.

             Yet during her junior year in college, she took a butter

                knife from her mom's kitchen and scraped the Christian

                   fish decal off her Plymouth hatchback.


             A few years later, listening to a sermon in her brother's

                church, she leaned over to her father and said, "This

                   is baloney" and marched out of the sanctuary.

             It wasn't just the sermon, which was on Psalm 91's promise

                that God would deliver us from suffering.


             It was about all the spiritual questions that had been

                plaguing her.

             Why does God seem to distant and uninvolved?

                Above all, why does God allow suffering?            #6662


      B. Keep in mind that doubting is not limited to Christians.

          1) Every human should hold their convictions lightly.

          2) Kyle Simpson is 27 years old and was raised Christian.

             He has a tattoo on the inside of his wrist that says

                in Latin, "Salvation from the cross."

             It bothers him when people ask him about it because

                he is not sure what he believes anymore.

             He tells people the Latin means, "I made a mistake when

                I was 18."


             But when he first got the tattoo he remembered thinking it

                would be good for him because if he ever had trouble

                   believing in God, he would just look at his wrist.

             And that is exactly what has happened.


             Kyle struggles with faith, but when he looks at evolution

                and science, they don't necessarily have answers either.

             He asks, "What about love?  What about the idea of

                forgiveness?

             I like to believe they are true and they are meaningful."


             "I think having a God would create a meaning for our lives,

                 like we're working toward a purpose...

              and at the end of the day we will maybe move on to another

                 life where everything is beautiful.

              I love that idea."

                                                                   #64448


III. It all depends on how you deal with doubt.

      A. The Bible takes several approaches to the issue.

          1) With Job and Doubting Thomas, their doubt is rebuked.

              a) They are told not to do it.

              b) At the same time, they are not rejected by God.

                  1> Job is shown God's power in a brilliant display

                        (theophany).

                  2> Thomas is given the evidence of seeing Jesus

                        himself, and his wounds, and he is finally

                           convinced.

          2) Abraham and Paul expressed doubts but were not rebuked.

              a) Abraham doubted how God could carry out his promise

                    to give him children.

              b) He also questioned God's plan to condemn Sodom and

                    Gomorrah, and argued with God over those cities.

              c) Paul said he was perplexed by the toughness of the

                    persecution against him - but he did not despair.


      B. We don't have to prove God, we just have to trust him.

          1) Lyn Anderson says faith is a choice we must make without

                having all the complete information we'd like to have.

             If we had complete information, it would no longer be

                 faith, but knowledge.                             #62995

          2) Believers like Job and Abraham learned that God could be

                trusted even when they couldn't figure everything out.

          3) They discovered that they already know enough about God to

                have confidence in him in those things they didn't

                   understand.

                                                                   #63049


IV. Doubt can be a sign we are moving toward God.

      A. It highlights our tension with reality.


            Today's passage is about a desperate father.

               His son has a self-destructive condition.

            To us, it sounds a lot like epilepsy.

               The gospel attributes it to a demon.

            The disciples were failures in dealing with it.

               Jesus calls all of them unbelievers.                  9:19


            The child is brought to Jesus.

               Immediately the boy has an attack.

            Jesus doesn't do anything right away, but asks about his

               condition.

            The man fatefully says, "If you can do anything, take pity

               on us and help us."

            It is touching that he feels he needs the Lord's pity as

               much as his son does.


            Jesus keys in on the "if you can."                       9:23

            He reminds the man, "Everything is possible for him who

               believes."

            Immediately the man responds, "I do believe; help me

               overcome my unbelief!"                                9:24


            He is a conflicted man - but we can feel for him.

               Faith and confidence in God are usually not 100%.

                  Maybe for you it is 95 or 97%.

            But there is always a little doubt, especially when you are

               asking God to do something for you.


            Apparently Jesus accepts the desperate man's partial faith

               and completely heals his boy.


      B. Update on Andrea Dilley, the missionary kid.


         After she walked out of church, she lived a secular life.

            She smoked cigarettes and drank hard liquor.

               The local bars became her temples.

         She got involved with men twice her age.

            She said she wanted to have a break from being good.


         But then one Sunday morning two years later, she got up,

            climbed in her car, and drove to a church service.

         Andrea says she never had a dramatic reconversion moment,

            but she has steadily come to peace with God.

         She also came to realize her doubts belong in church.


         With all its faults, she still associates the church with the

            pursuit of truth and justice, with community and shared

               humanity.

         It's a place to ask the unanswerable questions.

         She says, "No other institution has given me what the church

            has: a space to search for God."


         Andrea agrees with Catholic writer Flannery O'Connor, who loved

            today's passage in Mark.

         O'Connor said the man's response to Jesus, "I believe, help my

            unbelief," is the foundation prayer of faith.

         We should pray it often.

                                                                    #6662


  V. Doubt is part of the journey but not the destination.

      A. Your questions should lead you to dig deeper.

          1) Some answers can be revealed by God.

          2) Search the Scripture, search your heart.

          3) One of the great privileges of being a pastor is being

                able to wrestle with these timeless challenges.


      B. You don't have anywhere else to turn.


         The First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas, has been a leading

            institution in the Southern Baptist Convention.


         W.A. Criswell was its pastor for 48 years and is considered

            one of the greatest Baptist preachers of all time.


         In 1994, Dr. Criswell gave his last interview to the Dallas

            Morning News.

         At one point the interviewer asked, "Do you have any doubts?"

         Dr. Criswell replied, "Oh boy.  Along this pilgrim way,

            sometimes I think I am an infidel."


         The interviewer responded, "How can that be?"


         "I don't know, I just have, sometimes, I have a hard time

            believing.  I just do.

         The things that happen in life, the things that I see and

            the things that I watch.

         Ah, I just struggle with it.

            I struggle with evil in this world.

         Why doesn't God do something?

            And I struggle with that.


         And I struggle with the presence of death.

            Just you and I talking here and we face that inevitable day.

         Oh, sometimes I struggle.

            I've just battled through those times.


         "The reason is very obvious.

            One is that I have no place to go.

         If I turn aside I don't have anything to turn to.

            It's just ultimate despair.


         And second, I don't care what, it is a blessing to love the Lord

            and trust in the Lord and even when we don't understand.

         We believe that he'll make it plain in the by and by.

            So we'll just trust him for it."


         Dr. Criswell learned to trust the Lord even when he did not

            understand.

         He clung to a faith that said God would make it plain some

            day.

         That's what God calls any of us to do.

                                                                  #64357


         Believe in God.

            He'll help you with the unbelief.



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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:


# 6662  Returning To Church, Despite My Doubts, Andrea Palpant Dilley,

           CNN Belief Blog, May 5, 2012;

           <http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/05/05/my-faith-returning-to-church-despite-my-doubts/comment-page-7/>


Kerux Sermon #62995  How To Deal With Doubt, Rev. Jim Hammond,

           Verde Valley Christian Church of Cottonwood, Arizona;

           <http://www.vvchristianchurch.net>


#63049  Dealing With Religious Doubt, Gary Habermas, adapted from his

           online book, The Thomas Factor.  This book was very useful

           for my sermon.  <http://www.garyhabermas.com/books/thomas_factor/thomas_factor.htm>


#64357  Even Criswell Doubted, Rev. Coy Wylie, Kerux Sermon #17368,

           January 13, 2002; <http://www.cornerstonebc.com/sermon.htm>


#64448  Having Doubts But Loving the Idea of God, NPR Staff, January 15,

           2013.  From the episode "More Young People Are Moving Away From

           Religion, But Why?" from the special series "Losing Our Religion."

           <http://www.npr.org/2013/01/15/169342349/more-young-people-are-moving-away-from-religion-but-why>


#64583  Leading Scientists Still Reject God, Edward J. Larson & Larry

           Witham, Nature, Vol. 394, No. 6691, p. 313 (1998) © Macmillan

           Publishers Ltd; <http://www.stephenjaygould.org/ctrl/news/file002.html>


#64786  Can We Be Certain? anonymous questioner;

           <https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080816202615AA5te6U>


These and 35,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be

downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html

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