Class 1
Original URL Sunday, May 1, 2022
Transcript
asked me to do the sunday school this x morning and and figured you know i might x have some some talks in my back pocket x which i do and i i i hate to do repeats x i have a really hard time doing repeats x for some reason um you know it's it's x maybe it's my own curiosity if i'm gonna x uh you know sit down and prepare to do a x class x i'd rather do something new than brush x up on something i've already done x so i don't have anything x you know x totally monumental to share with you x this morning x uh totally x uh innovative or fresh it is x it's it's a concept it's a talk that x we're all uh probably very familiar with x uh x um the topic that i'd like to discuss is x about about faith um x it's it's such a core x tenet of our faith you know we talk x about our whole spiritual life as as our x faith and that's what it all comes down x to x so it's really a fundamental topic maybe x i should be doing the uh x maybe i should be doing the children's x sunday school or something but x you know this is something that that we x can all come back to x and and get something out of every time x and and what spurred me to sort of think x about this particular topic x was an email i got it was a an email x newsletter x and the person was you know x you know they kind of do a devotional x each week x and their x devotion was kind of along the lines of x faith and doubt and they were saying x well you know what i think that doubt is x actually something different from x faithlessness x i think i can be a faithful person x and still have doubts x and at first i thought well that sounds x pretty good you know i consider myself a x person of faith x and yet i doubt and x how do i make sense of that x um x so i wanted to kind of pressure test x that a little bit and see if it's x is it in fact true can you be a person x of faith and still have doubts x and if you're like me uh you probably x have a snap answer yes of course x absolutely you know how how could that x not be the case how does anyone not have x doubts from time to time x and i think we need to be a little more x nuanced too to realize that x the doubts we have are not always x they're not necessarily going to be x doubts in god's existence as an absolute x for example but maybe more something x along the lines of doubting how god is x going to act in a certain situation or x how he'll resolve a problem that we x might have x so that's sort of where i was coming x from and i've just put together a few x verses x it seems to me that it's very important x that we have faith and that we be x believers it's it's almost uh x it's just a fundamental thing right x consider these texts x so john 3 18 is the first one i'd like x to look at we'll look at maybe five or x six texts x and x in each one i'd like to look at what is x the object of belief each one is about x belief or faith x so what are we having faith in what is x the object of our belief x and x secondly what is the consequence if we x don't believe x so firstly if you turn to john 3 verse x 18. x john 3 18. let's see x you can start verse 16 x for god so loved the world that he gave x his only begotten son x that whosoever believes in him should x not perish but have everlasting life x for god sent not his son into the world x to condemn the world but that the world x through him x might be saved x he that believes on him is not condemned x but he that believes not is condemned x already because he has not believed in x the name of the only begotten son x of god x so x in this verse what is the object of x belief x what are we believing in x i'm looking particularly at verse 18. x anybody x christ the son of god x and not just the son of god but the name x of the son of god right x he he that believes not is condemned x already because he's not believed in the x name of the only begotten son of god x right so x the consequence of not believing in this x case is condemnation x so x we don't believe in the son of god um x there's condemnation x all right so x the next one is in john chapter 8. x just a few pages over x i said therefore unto you that you shall x die in your sins for if you believe not x that i am he x you shall die in your sins x he's talking to the jews here x so jesus says if you don't believe x in me x right jesus as messiah jesus not just as x jesus of nazareth or jesus the son of x mary and joseph x but specifically jesus as the messiah x then you're still dead in your sins x right so so again the object of belief x is in jesus x um let's leave the book of x john and go to second thessalonians x chapter 2 2nd thessalonians 2 verse 11. x this is that famous text that talks x about the the falling away x um x paul reminding x that x jesus won't come don't let anybody say x that jesus has come x until there's this falling away this has x to happen first there were some people x saying that jesus was going to come back x any day now that maybe jesus had already x come back x he says let no man deceive you by x enemies for that day shall not come x unless there's a falling away in verse x 3. so we get down to verse 11 for this x cause god shall send them a strong x delusion that they should believe a lie x that they all might be damned who x believed not the truth but had pleasure x in unrighteousness x so in this case what's the object of x belief x second thessalonians chapter 2 x and we're looking at verse 11 and 12. x that's right he's speaking about the x return of jesus um i think somebody once x said that every single chapter in both x epistles to the thessalonians reference x the return of christ is that true x that's pretty incredible um x so he wants them to get it right you x know he's saying you know some things x have to happen first x um x and and there's a delusion coming x and some people are not going to receive x the love of the truth x um so in verse 12 he says x those who believe not the truth will be x condemned that they'll be damned x so this is kind of in line i think what x i saw as i went through these passages x and maybe you're noticing this also is x that x we are to believe in christ to believe x in x the messiah to believe in the truth x and the consequences of not believing is x death is condemnation it's a state that x we are in apart from salvation x um x so that's that's the pattern here here's x one that we're we're all familiar with x hebrews 11 x uh the hall of faith x hebrews 11 verse 6. x this is one that i'm sure many of us can x kind of quote off the top of our heads x without faith it is impossible to please x him for he that comes to god must x believe that he is and that he is a x rewarder of them that diligently seek x him x so in this case the object of belief is x god himself x and not only god but believing that god x is a rewarder of those who diligently x seek him x right so the fact that that x god is true to his promises that god x will reward those who are faithful x that that's an article of faith for us x right x so so we must believe that god is a x rewarder of those who diligently seek x him x and um this this verse is uh is stated x as a positive right x you know without faith it's impossible x to please him it's not positive or x negative he that comes to god must x believe that he is he's rewarded for x them to diligently seek him so the x consequence of unbelief in this case is x god's displeasure right so we want to x please god we want to have x faith and believe in him x um there's a brief so ben is this is x this a verse that you would point to as x to distinguish between x uh x doubt and unbelief like x one can doubt and still have faith x is that was that the premise that you x began with yeah exactly x and and i'm not sure i'm i'm totally x there yet um x like at this point i think we're we're x just talking about faith and belief x yeah x when doubt starts to enter in i think x it's i think it's a little bit different x right we certainly have to have faith to x please god and to the extent that we are x not faithful uh god is not honored and x he's not pleased by that x now do when we have doubts x is god does that bring god displeasure x that we are doubtful people that x sometimes we have questions x um i don't think we'll find that that's x the case i think that god is very x patient with us x but certainly you know as a premise you x know x we we just want to show fundamentally x yes god wants us to be faithful people x i think there's a verse maybe it's in x jude it says be merciful to those who x doubt x um x yeah jude 1 22 x yeah that's uh x that's a great verse x um x so let's jump over there let's let's go x to the book of jude x now one more while we're in hebrews all x right let's do just do one more x and all these passages are talking about x faith the greek word is is pistus it's x apistus when it talks about unbelief x like a is that prefix which means the x opposite of right so x um pistus is faith apistus is without x faith x so that's what we see in hebrews 3 verse x 19. x so this is speaking about the children x of israel who who died in the wilderness x right that generation that didn't make x it through the promised land x hebrews 3 x verse 19. x this is the end of the chapter he's x concluding x let's read a few verses x verse 16. x for someone they had heard did provoke x albeit not all that came out of egypt by x moses x but with whom was he grieved so not not x everybody complained right joshua and x caleb were faithful x but with whom was he grieved for 40 x years was it not with them that had x sinned whose carcasses fell in the x wilderness x and to whom swear he that they should x not enter into his rest but to them that x believe not x for we see that they could not enter in x because of unbelief x so in this case i think it's a little x bit tricky to see well exactly what was x it that they failed to believe x i think what it comes down to is the x children of israel didn't believe that x god would deliver them they didn't x believe that was better to be with god x in the wilderness than to be in egypt in x a place of sin and bondage x didn't believe that x ultimately their time in the wilderness x would translate them into the promised x kingdom of god the promised land x and that manifested itself in a lot of x ways right there's a lot of griping x about oh there's no water there's x there's no food actually really serious x problems right don't mean to make light x of that but there was a lot of x complaints there's a lot of x manifestations of their unbelief in sort x of trivial day-to-day things so that's x kind of interesting now that we're x thinking about x our doubting and how we put our faith x into practice x and the experiences that we have in life x you know because it's all well and good x to say i i believe in god like i i x believe in a higher power x i believe that god is working in my life x and if i believe that god's working my x life well how is that belief being x manifest when i encounter difficulties x with my my spouse or my family or my x co-workers or whatever the trial of life x may be my health maybe x you know what how does that faith x exhibit itself and those are the x situations where we might say hey i'm a x person of faith fundamentally i see x myself as a believer somebody whose x identity is tied to uh the recognition x that that god is x and he's a rewarder of those who x diligently seek him right um x but in those moments when my doubts x arise and i am experiencing conflict x how is my faith brought out so so that's x where i start to see okay i'm having x doubts in these these moments of life x but in an overarching sense i i see x myself as a faithful person x and starts to bridge the gap and so well x well my faith is starting to be manifest x in how i live and how i respond to these x these trials x and then i start thinking well okay x maybe it's not right to be thinking x about faith is x as a yes no true or false i have it or i x don't sort of thing but more of a x spectrum x of um x you know x my faith is incomplete i think about x that man who had the epileptic sun right x after the mountain they come down from x the mountain transfiguration x and uh x you know peter and andrew and x john were with him in the mountains and x the rest of the apostles were down below x and they were dealing with the real x world well jesus and his disciple the x three special disciples are up in the x mountain with him having this this x incredible experience um you know x experiencing the presence of god and x seeing moses and elijah x and the other nine are in the regular x world right and they're dealing with x problems that that jesus would have x dealt with if he were there with them x and uh they're not able to heal this man x with the epileptic son x and so jesus jesus shows up on the scene x and there's that great exchange where x the man says x lord i believe x help my unbelief x and for me that shows that this this x matter of belief and whenever we talk x about belief we're talking about faith x it's the same x word in the original language right x um so faith and belief are sent they're x the same thing for all practical x purposes x so help my unbelief help my lack of x faith x i i have this this this small amount of x faith and i need it to grow x um because i'm experiencing this is one x of those nitty gritty down-to-earth x trials he's dealing with his son is sick x and the disciples weren't able to heal x him x so that's where i i see this as being x okay it's not just a on or off sort of x thing more of a more of a spectrum of x belief x so there's a few others we can go to but x um x i think that kind of x covers the the belief aspect x at least gives us an introduction you x know belief is essential we have to have x faith x but we want to see how that faith is put x into practice in everyday life x so x uh with that i'd like to x talk about the doubts that we do x encounter from time to time x and for that um i think that the the x jude reference is really the go-to here x um x that was jude chapter one well jude only x has one chapter verse 22. x jude verse 22. x all right so if you read this in the x king james version that's that's what i x my study bible is the king james x um x and somebody told me when you start x marking in all the like when you start x realizing that you're writing in another x translation in your margin x every single time because you're tr it x means maybe you should start using x another translation i love the king x james version but i'm constantly marking x in esv and asb niv something in plain x language language that helps me a little x more x and sometimes there's those newer x translations they rely on older x manuscripts also so sometimes there's x there's accuracy issues too x so as much as i love the king james i'm x going to be doing a lot of quoting from x the esv x and so x if you're like me and you have a king x james it says and if some have x compassion making a difference x the esv has x have mercy on those who doubt x and i wonder well how could this x possibly be rendered so differently in x the two translations x and some have compassion okay there's x the mercy that the esv talks about x compassion mercy those are similar x concepts x but the king james says x making a difference as this your x compassion is going to make a difference x in their life x where the esv has have mercy on those x who doubt so the doubt is being applied x to them as opposed to making the x difference being applied to us the ones x who show compassion or who have mercy x uh i don't know if you follow but x the idea of doubting is is tied to this x idea of making a difference in any case x the idea is kind of waving up two x positions and figuring out where you x land on one or the other x and that makes a difference if you land x here you land there and doubt is that x period time where you're still suspended x right you haven't settled yet you x haven't landed in x okay it's it's this or okay it's that x um x and that's a place that x if you're like me you're familiar with x that being suspended haven't haven't x completely weighed up and made a x decision on a point x um x you know there's probably many points x that we have concluded on x i think when i was a teenager and i was x realizing hey i gotta make some x decisions of my own about this this x faith this belief thing x uh it can't be my parents faith that x sustains me at some point it's got to x become my own faith right i think every x young person goes through that x and x you know at that moment i i said okay x i'm going to suspend x my my belief i'm gonna x i'm going to doubt for a moment here to x figure out whether i believe that x that x god is true god has called me that that x this this faith that i x was kind of born into and grow grew up x in x is really what it's all about x and so it gets suspended for a moment so x you can come down and say hey x i'm not this isn't something i'm going x to about doubt about anymore it's x something i'm going to come to a x conclusion on x so that's a pretty fundamental one the x the fundamental question of whether you x know god truly exists or or did this all x come out of nothing x right x um x but having decided that there are so x many other things that we kind of weigh x in our minds and and need to make x decisions about or sometimes we we might x feel like we we never get to the point x where we have enough confidence to make x a decision x and x and here we read to have mercy on those x who doubt x i i think this is fascinating and x i'm sure we could we could have a great x discussion about this uh so i'd welcome x comments and questions please x please uh share if you would like to um x have mercy on those who waver okay x yeah have mercy on those who waver x uh so wasn't there a um x wasn't there a uh robert roberts uh x publication he he wrote something along x the lines of um x true principles on certain details x is anybody familiar with that one x this this idea that x there are things that must be affirmed x that we must reach x a correct conclusion about there are x other things that uh the the uncertain x details where we say x uh maybe maybe not and uh x i think everybody draws that line a x little bit differently about like what x is essential and what is x you know we can kind of hold in x suspension like i was saying what is x what is doubtable x some people say oh no you have to you x have to have it all dialed in figured x out and it must be this and the answer x is right and all this x and other people are like well it could x be might not be x and they're okay with that x and if you're the other type of person x you're like well how can you possibly be x okay with not reaching a conclusion on x this question x and if you're the other person you say x well how can you be so dogmatic that you x are asserting this and you're requiring x everybody else to believe that also x and you know jude isn't telling us x exactly where we are to land on any of x these things in this verse particularly x he's just saying x you know have mercy on those who are are x more doubtful than you x that maybe haven't reached that x conclusion that you're so confident in x i think that's pretty interesting x because he's more concerned to speak x about x how we're supposed to deal with that x sort of situation x than x exactly coming down now x i i want to be clear in the very next x verse he says verse 23 others you know x on some have compassion some have mercy x on those who doubt on others save with x fear pulling them out of the fire hating x even the garments spotted by the flesh x so that's a lot more dramatic he's x saying there there is absolutely x situations where an intervention needs x to happen right where somebody's in x in sin and it's it's a big problem and x there's no question about that we we x have to act in those situations x um x so x you know have mercy on those who doubt x isn't carte blanche for just x tolerate everything and um x never do anything x like you said you know when i was in my x youth you know hey does this you know is x jesus really the son of god let me x investigate and of course we know yeah x you investigate we know what you're x going to find that you know clearly he x is right so it builds up your faith it's x that doubt that comes in when you don't x follow up x right it's like i doubt this and you x don't look into it right so that doubt x can be good if it forces you to get x right in there and dig dig right into it x yeah absolutely x yeah there's a time and place for for x doubt x and x because we're doing this all as an x ecclesia x and in the collegiate we have baptized x members but we also have children and x youth and we have visitors who come in x and everybody's at a different stage of x their their faith journey right so x we have to be accommodating to those who x are still working through it right and x have mercy on them to help them along x their way x not just x i'll tell them hey take my word for it x you know i looked into this before and i x i figured out the answer is actually x this because x that's not going to convince anybody x people need time x so ben when you sort of you used the x expression you suspended x your faith while you were when you were x a young man right x and explored these things were there any x particular x um x conclusions that you came to through x your studies that uh that helped you x redevelop that faith x was there anything in particular that x stands out in your mind x yeah yeah absolutely x i x and x i mean i would say that things like x like prophecy sort of the classic things x that we look to uh you know the the x archaeology the the way that the canon x of scripture was preserved and conveyed x through scripture uh fulfilled prophecy x for sure was always like one of those x things that that stuck with me i think x different things will appeal to x different people but x probably the the highest on my list was x my x regard for my parents x and x my my realization of you know x my elders in the the ecclesia and and x their life of faith i think those were x the things that really made the biggest x like why would these people be doing x this if they weren't being affected by x something outside of themselves like x this is not a self-serving thing x so i would say the personal witness of x others was kind of what won me over not x interesting yeah x thanks x and i think when you you know the x uncertain details there we think about x what we say at a at a baptism do you x believe the things concerning the x kingdom of god in the name of jesus x christ although there are a lot x contained in that statement x there's this x you know we have x can have long you know baptism questions x exams and all these x you know laundry list of things that we x want answers to x but x contained in that statement there it's x very simplified really on what it takes x to be baptized yeah x all right x let's do another verse about doubts x let's go to second corinthians chapter x four x second corinthians four verse eight x i grab that water bottle x who's got the mic x would you read ii corinthians 4 verse 8 x please jason x second corinthians 4 verse 8 x we are troubled on every side x yet not distressed we are perplexed x but not in despair x so any guesses as to where doubt is in x this verse x perplexed x perplexion x yeah so that x that word perplexion um x you look at x most of the translations i checked esv x niv and asb x they all translate is perplexed x but every other place in the new x testament where the word appears it's x doubt or doubting or something along x those lines x i think some of these uh really iconic x verses the ones that kind of were memory x verses and stick in people's minds i x wonder if sometimes the newer x translations stick with the king james x rendering because it it just captures it x so well x perplexed but not in despair i mean it x just sounds great x rendered that way but what is perplexion x um x there's some element of doubt i i think x when you're perplexed you're trying to x make sense of a situation x um x so there's a sense of doubt right when x the galatians x fall away right x when paul wrote his epistle to the x galatians he wrote to an ecclesia that x wanted to go into bondage under the law x that x um wanted to perform rites of x circumcision and saw that as as a x correct um x and necessary covenantal action x and paul's like what's going on with you x galatians he calls him the foolish x galatians right x he says i stand in doubt of you x it's the same expression where he's x talking about being perplexed i stand in x doubt of you he doesn't know where x they're going with this x it's the same thing x when jesus x tells his disciples that one of you x shall betray me it says they doubted of x whom he spoke it's the same idea of x being perplexed x appears in second corinthians four verse x eight x um there's a couple examples there um x but there's always this sense of x doubting x the position of others x and x so so what kind of doubt is paul talking x about in second corinthians four verse x eight x now if you look at the context he's x talking about x having treasures in earthen vessels in x verse 7 right x he talks he goes on to talk about being x persecuted x but not forsaken cast down but not x destroyed always bearing about in the x body the dying of the lord jesus that x the life also of jesus might be made x manifest in our body x for we which live are always delivered x to death x for jesus sake that the life also of x jesus might be made manifest in our x mortal flesh x so then death works in us x but life in you x you wonder what is he talking about x the death that works in us is life in x you x if you look at x the 11th chapter of the same epistle x that's where paul goes through x five times i was beaten uh i was lashed x three times i was beaten with rod three x times i was shipwrecked he he goes x through all this list of persecutions x that he suffered x and i feel like paul's in the same mode x here when he talks about x being delivered unto death for jesus's x sake in verse 11 x about these persecutions about this x perplexion that he's experiencing x you know paul did not have an easy life x as a disciple of christ i mean you know x paul was x stoned to death outside of derby i mean x he x definitely suffered x for his faith x and x paul saw in his sufferings an x association with jesus christ in his x death x it was actually peter who wrote about x being a x partaker in christ's sufferings x of fellowshipping with christ's x sufferings x and so x when we go through hard times uh when we x suffer for for what we believe x that can actually be life to somebody x else that's ii corinthians 4 verse 12 x the death that works in us x is life in you x so x i think this x you know it sounds negative but i don't x think paul is complaining about this x so x in this hardship there's perplexion and x there's doubting x and paul experienced that x and i x i don't think that paul's faith was x suffering because he realized you know x i'm in this perplexing state x uh x you know i i x he saw some purpose in it um x so even though there's this element of x doubt or perplexion x um x it's not coming from a lack of faith x does that make sense x i hope i've explained that all right x yeah x just another one quickly matthew 28 x verse 17 x this is after jesus has been resurrected x he tells his disciples to meet him in x galilee x right so the resurrected christ is in x galilee he's on the mountain and he x meets with his 11 remaining disciples x there x and this is where we x read the great commission x matthew 28 x verse 17. x verse 16 for context now the 11 x disciples went to galilee to the x mountain to which jesus had directed x them and when they saw him they x worshipped him but some doubted x and jesus goes on to give them the great x commission that they're going to all x preach uh the gospel to all nations make x disciples of all nations x so it says that some doubted and yet we x know that the apostles uh they x absolutely caught fire in the book of x acts um that their doubts were dispelled x ultimately x um x i think about uh doubting thomas right x who x wasn't there with him the first time x that jesus appears he says if i don't x get to put my hands in his wounds x i'll never believe x um x so there was that that element of doubt x even among the disciples x they didn't believe jesus x would be resurrected like he had told x them x they fulfilled the old testament x scripture of x i will smite the the shepherd and the x sheep shall be scattered right they were x complete disarray after jesus was x crucified x so i'm not holding that up as an example x to say x you know x we should be like that we should take x god at his word and trust him in every x circumstance of life but i think god x does does realize that the circumstances x of life sometimes put us in a situation x where where doubt happens and and we are x human so x i thank god for for passage like have x mercy on those who doubt x any thoughts or or questions so far in x doubt x and maybe uh just a question from me how x how long am i supposed to go for here x when do we wrap x cool x all right so we started by x by talking about um x the verses in scripture that tell us x about faith x right x without faith it's impossible to x to please god in hebrews 11 x he that believes not is condemned x already because he's not believed in the x name of the son of god so absolutely x faith is an essential thing that we must x have x but we also have to deal with the x reality of doubt in our lives x and x i started to think about this in terms x of well x is this a zero some sort of thing so x if i was 100 faithful would that mean i x had zero doubts x if i was like maybe 85 faithful does x that mean my doubt oh meter is at 15 x is it like one of these things x um where is it possible for me to be 100 x faithful and still have some doubts x do they operate kind of independently of x each other x i i don't know if that's the most x helpful thing for me it wasn't um x i think x where i landed was that x we have to have faith to please god x and the doubts are going to come x from time to time and we're not x necessarily doubting god we may be x doubting the situation that's got god x has put us into doubting the purpose x of being in that situation x doubting how god will resolve the x situation x there's a lot of things we can have x doubts about that x that come short of saying well i don't x believe that god can deliver me from x this situation that's a different thing x altogether x so x i i do sort of decouple the doubt and x the the faith things x um x i think that x that as we grow in our faith we're able x to deal with those situations where x um doubt would crop up more often x so i think x i'll probably just leave it there i am x supposed to go for another week or two x so x next week i'd like to look at some x scriptures that bring those ideas of x faith and doubt together where you see x faith and doubt x in the same context right so we can see x directly what scripture is saying about x because right now i'm speculating my x little doubt and faith oh meter right x here is just sort of x an illustration a way of thinking that i x have but i want to know exactly what x scripture says about the relationship x between doubt and faith faith is x essential but doubt is also something x that happens to us from time to time x that's all i've sought to establish i x guess in this first class so in the next x class we'll look at um x what exactly scripture says about their x relationship to each other x i also want to look into if we have time x where does faith come from x is faith something that we can have x by ourselves in and of ourselves x or is it something that god gives us is x like we know that god's grace is a gift x that we receive x is our faith similarly is that a gift x that we receive or is that something x that we bring to the table that god x works with x something to think aboutClass 2
Original URL Sunday, May 8, 2022
Transcript
all right so continuing um our x discussion of faith and doubt and how x those ideas relate to each other how x we're supposed to be thinking about it x um before i get into that um so the x background to the series and the reason x i was thinking about this particular x topic really had to do with this this x author i was reading who sent this note x out um emailed last x you know saying you know is it can i be x a person of faith and still have doubts x you know does x does the doubt that sometimes creep into x my mind x uh compromised my faith in some way um x how do we kind of x hold these these ideas together so x that's what got me thinking about it and x and you realize you know a lot of people x are having some sort of struggle with x faith uh nowadays maybe it's always been x an issue but x i mean we have a lot of if you think x about faith x as basically having trust right x if you have faith in another person it x means you trust them x um x and in society today right now we're x losing faith in a lot of things right x we're losing faith in the government x in corporations you know we're finding x out all these corporations have been x polluting forever they've been doing x underhand financial things they've been x robbing people x so all these institutions that people x used to look to x and admire x losing faith and as a result of that x um you know we x you know x there's there's a lot of conspiracy a x lot of people are looking x at these things and saying well i can't x believe anything you say because you've x betrayed my faith in some of these areas x so there's a lot of issues happening in x society relating to a loss of faith in x institutions x um the church in a lot of people's mind x i'm not talking about the christophian x church i'm talking about all people you x know um you know x any any sort of uh house of worship x most people are losing faith in those x institutions as well x um the other aspect i think that's sort x of driving this crisis of faith in x society is that there is a um a lot of x information that's available now things x that used to be kept under wraps people x used to control the information that got x out into the mainstream x and it's a lot more difficult to do that x now x so we actually have better information x so much information that's bewildering x uh it we can become at a loss of words x because of the information that's x available to us x um x we don't have to worry about our faith x being tested by alternative truth claims x people saying you know what what you x believe it is actually not the case here x here's another way to look at it x and so in the past x we may never have had opportunity to x have our faith challenged uh x now that's just just not the case x anymore x so x you know there's a number of things x happening in society that are x uh particularly challenging to faith and x i would say young people particularly x there's a lot of talk about faith x deconstruction people who are trying to x say oh this is my my parents faith or x this is the church i was brought up into x but now i've got some questions and i'm x i'm going to start to take this apart x and see what my faith is actually being x built on is it a legitimate faith do i x have a practical reason to build my x faith in these areas x um x and so x in the ecclesia in the in the meeting x place we have to be x cognizant that these forces are x affecting youth and more mature x believers also right not immune from x this sort of thing x um we have to recognize that this is x happening sometimes x and and be sensitive to that x um i i don't think it's helpful x to x um if somebody has questions or is x questioning their faith to ignore that x or to to treat those questions like x they're illegitimate or that you know x they just shouldn't be asked um we x shouldn't suppress those x i i would say that at every level of our x spiritual development x we're going to experience challenges you x know the most the biggest giant of faith x in our ecclesiast you know i remember um x you know many brothers and sisters as a x sunday school student i looked up to i x was like oh that person is so rock solid x they must they probably never have any x doubts x um and that perception i mean it's good x to have somebody x to role model and to an example of x spiritual maturity to try to try to grow x into x um x and that those those people may be rock x solid in their belief in god so they're x not having a lap they don't experience x lapse of faith in their belief in god x per se or that the bible is the word of x god or or to whatever extension of that x faith you want to take it but at some x level there are things in their life of x even the greatest spiritual giants x they're dealing with and scriptures just x rife with those examples x um you think about the prophet elijah or x jonah or habakkuk all these these men x and also women of scripture were dealing x with various issues of their time x so so this this question of x faith i would say is is rock saw this x one essential concept to get x and and it's a very fundamental thing x right we went to this passage last week x without faith it's impossible to please x god x for he that comes to god must believe x that he is and he is a rewarder of them x that diligently seek him x from the book of hebrews x um i'm not really like a a greek x language guy but i i'm gonna throw up a x few words on the screen x uh today i i don't think it x yeah i i think that you can totally x understand scripture trust your x translations and not ever get into the x original language but i i like to do it x sometimes i think there's a few insights x that maybe we can pull out about this x but for now the main point is that every x time that you see faith or belief x in scripture in the new testament it's x going to be this these greek words x pistio and pistus x um so x so the first one is x generally translated believe the second x one is generally translated faith x um and they're they're related words are x very closely related so x the concept is the same and in the greek x language they were expressed the same x way the same sort of words were used to x speak of either belief or faith so x having belief x is uh is faithing if you will you know x it's it's the same kind of x language x so that that's the fundamental for for x belief in faith now when you start x looking at words for doubt i mean let's x just look at the english language if you x go to merriam-webster there's three x different definitions for doubt x one being a lack of confidence or an x inclination not to believe or accept x now that that definition tells me that's x that's really about my relation to x belief x or faith you know if i have a lack of x confidence it's me that is not confident x it's my inclination not to believe or x accept x that's definition one x definition two is uncertainty of belief x or opinion that often interferes with x decision making x or 2b talks about x suspending judgment x so this is more talking about sort of x discernment and kind of figuring x understanding and coming to knowledge x so there's a little bit of a different x difference here x and it is nuanced now these are all it's x they're all definitions for doubt the x same basic word right but there's a x little nuance to it and that's what i x want to get into because i think when we x have doubts in our walk of faith x is x it doesn't always mean that we're losing x faith that we don't believe in god x so i want to kind of pick out the nuance x and see if that nuance translates into x what we read in scripture as well x that third definition is a state of x affairs giving rise to uncertainty x hesitation or suspense x now if you x look at all the places that the word x doubt appears x in the new testament well a lot of them x are things like saying x no doubt or doubtless or x basically expressions of certainty right x so when we say uh x no doubt x we mean i'm certain about this it's it's x not talking about doubt as a concept so x much it's it's more talking about x um x an expression of confidence right it's x sort of vernacular it's it's an x expression that we use in conversation x um x so i kind of ignored all those x and just looked at x scriptures that talk about doubt itself x um so there's there's three shades of x meaning i'd like to look at x and the first one we'll look at this one x last week as well in matthew 28 after x the resurrection and jesus meets his x disciples in galilee and they're on the x on the mountaintop and jesus appears to x them x says they when they saw him they x worshipped him but some doubted x and we know thomas x had had his doubts x and for any of us who would see somebody x die x somebody lose their life be crucified by x the romans x and did that see them living again x some point later x certainly three days later um probably a x little bit longer at this point in x galilee x to see jesus alive again i mean what do x you make of that what are you supposed x to think when you see somebody who's x dead alive again x i mean it's got to make you think x something right x i mean we we think about these we know x about the resurrection we've x we've been taught about x jesus's new life and they had two but x they hadn't seen it never happened x before x so so x they doubted they wavered the the greek x the strong's definition has has wavering x as a definition x so this is a x one of three greek words that are x translated doubt in the english di x statso x and that that means to waver all right x so let's look at the second definition x for doubt and a couple examples x this is the one that brother steve x brought us to last week have mercy on x those who doubt x in jude x interestingly also in jude x we have michael the archangel contending x with the devil x so not going to get into what that x account is talking about exactly but you x have x michael and the devil and there's some x dispute occurring between them x and it's described it as a contention x as contending with the devil x um x getting ahead of my notes here x but x maybe you can see there's a little x bit of a different sense x in this word that's translated doubt x it's also translated contending when you x see a word in in the greek that's x translated in different ways besides x just doubt and you can see all the x examples here x it's x translated as to judge to make a x difference x to doubt doubting contending differing x discerning x there's a lot of language about x about making a judgment here x about x deliberating x and weighing matters to arrive at a x judgment x i think that's pretty interesting x this one in romans 14 x um let's see here x i think we're going to come back to this x one on romans 14 x because that's an interesting example as x well any comments or questions so far x yes x i'm sorry x prove all things x yeah absolutely x and and if you had asked questions you x said you were discouraged from asking x questions if you did have questions x would you be looked at as if x your faith was less than in some way x that yeah okay x so x um you might be viewed as as having a x lack of faith if you're asking questions x uh that's interesting yeah x yeah that's a that's a that's a big x problem i think that's why it's so x important that we we do allow questions x and we don't say hey this is the way it x is and you know we figured it out x already so you don't have to x but he left me uh with kindness x he said uh and he gave me this little x kindness of the guiding light and let x the lord guide you where you're gonna go x which was really unusual x to have that type of a conversation x but x yeah it's x and i always felt that was a gift i x could give my children x prove it that's fine ask the question x and sometimes asking tough questions x take you to difficult places and and i'm x sure leaving the church in that x that group was was very challenging um x yeah x but necessary right x yeah x so x so i think this this greek word daiquino x is is talking about a different kind of x doubt than the previous one which talks x about wavering x the previous definition um gives the x sense that you're you're unsteady x and sometimes when you ask questions x people think oh that person's unsteady x they're they're having a crisis of faith x or they don't believe enough x you know that the wavering x and that's not necessarily true right we x were establishing that sometimes it's x not wavering so much as it's it's asking x hard questions i think that this shade x of meaning x for a greek word that's translated doubt x is giving us that sense where there is x judgment we're taking information okay x this is in favor this is against x um you're asking like to use the x parlance of science here you're you have x a hypothesis you you're you're asking a x question and then you're looking at how x the evidence stacks up against that x question to determine uh x which answer is valid or not x so x so this kind of doubt is more x questioning than anything x all right one more shade of meaning uh x and we looked at the corinthians 4 verse x 8 reference last week x uh we are troubled on every side yet not x distressed we are perplexed x but not in despair x right so so paul's saying that x that you know he talks about receiving x the beatings and being stoned x and being shipwrecked and all of these x difficulties that have come into his x life as a result of his discipleship of x choosing to follow jesus x he says you know sometimes i look around x at what's happening at me and and this i x did not choose the easy life here this x is very difficult i can't believe these x things are happening to me x he's perplexed but he's not in despair x right so he's not experiencing a christ x of faith he's just seeing x you know having a hard time of it and x trying to to comprehend x what that means for him x um so this is a the sense of doubt as x perplexity x i think is is a third x definition here all right x okay x so x here's the summary x three different words uh x the fourth one the one translated x perplexed it's aporio or sometimes it's x diaporio which uh i i don't i don't read x greek or anything but the sense i got is x that the the prefix dye is basically x doubling down on the porio it's extra x porio x so you have those two related words that x are are used and translated often x perplexed but more often doubt or x doubted doubting perplexed x doubted perplexed doubt x you can see the relative frequency of x each of those x when i do bible study i like to look at x some of the stuff and it just gives me a x little it kind of rounds out my x understanding of the meaning of a word x it's it's not necessary obviously you x can just read the english text of your x your translations we have excellent x translations back in the day we just had x the king james version that's that's x still what i use for my study bible um x but but i love to be able to use some of x the modern ones as well and they're very x suitable x um x i go into a lot of x facebook message boards sometimes where x people are talking about bible study and x scriptures and there's always somebody x that says x you know you can't trust that x translation or x you know you got to be able to read the x greek you know you got to go to seminary x and study the original languages uh x because you just can't trust these x english translations and x if that's not true i mean we should be x very thankful to have the bibles that we x do x i think peter davis gave a bible class x or sunday school about translations a x couple weeks ago i'm sure that was very x interesting i missed that one but x i think the bottom line is we have great x english bibles and so x anything anything extra edge is just x it's extra right x and this is very nuanced right x but we have to be nuanced when we're x dealing with people that are doubting in x the ecclesia because doubt is not all x equal it's not the same thing x and just as a bit of an exercise i i x wanted to ask a question x uh x a to figure out if i'm making any sense x here with the way i'm kind of laying x this out and and be to see if people are x following x but if there are three different shades x of meaning to the word doubt as x translated in the new testament x um x which one of these would you use x to i'll give you a couple scenarios x and maybe we could take a poll and see x which one of these best expresses that x kind of doubt x so x let me ask about somebody who has x experienced the loss of a loved one uh x suddenly in a in a car accident x or some other accident happened suddenly x what sort of doubt might they be x experiencing x just taken aback to kind of be at a loss x like i have no words for what's x happening in my life right now x um x now say that same person um is now x asking x why a loving god or saying that a loving x god would never allow this to happen x is that a different kind of doubt x i think i think it is x would we say that's the x definition one or two x um okay x yeah i agree that that's more along the x lines of wavering x so the third one is someone who is x struggling to understand why god allows x bad things to happen to his people x so and butch i think you answered this x one already so if if you're actually x asking that question in good faith and x you're saying well that's that actually x is a good question you know if god is x good and god is just then why does it x seem like there's so much injustice and x evil in the world x you know it seems like god is x not intervening on my timeline oh wait x it it's my time like god has his okay x and you start to figure out okay there's x there's something bigger at play here x god's teaching us through x our observations of the world the way it x is as a result of the fall in eden x and so there's reasoning happening so i x see that as being more along the lines x of discernment x so i think it's it's important to x recognize these things because it's easy x to confuse what's happening in our lives x it's easy to feel like x okay something's happened to me i'm x having a crisis of faith x um i x you know i'm feeling like my belief is x falling to pieces and it can be a lot of x things x that make us feel like our life is in x shambles x my spouse is leaving me uh my business x is failing i'm going through a x bankruptcy uh my child is is terminally x ill x i mean x some serious stuff happens in life right x and it can feel x earth-shattering for us x we feel like we're going through a x crisis of of faith x but if we probe it a little bit x you know i'm asking god questions like x like habakkuk did right you know x who's the prophet that's why why did the x wicked prosper you know i'm asking god x questions but i'm still dialoguing with x god x i'm not denying god right i'm not x wavering in my faith x i'm perplexed because i x can't believe all these things are x happening in my life right now x but i'm still asking for discernment i'm x still trying to understand what god is x teaching me in this moment x so it's it's not really a crisis of x faith it's not a lot lack of belief x that's happening in all of those cases x sometimes it is sometimes it is but but x not always so i would say not all x faith crises are x are equal x so so last week i promised that we would x look at what scripture has to say about x each of oh one one thing before we get x to that x so these three definitions for for doubt x as it appears in the new testament x if you look at how it compares to x this merriam-webster definitions x i think there's a x a decent overlay here x where the definition one wavering has to x do with us and our trust in god our x confidence in him or inclination on a x personal level whether to believe or not x the second one is it has to do with x decision making has to do with judgment x right discernment x and the third definition relating to the x state of affairs that we find ourselves x in x i think definition three can lead to x definition one or definition two x uh but x but they are different at different x times x so that was just kind of a x interesting aside x so to go ahead and look at how scripture x relates these ideas so that first x definition wavering x right x we looked at a previous definition uh x where the disciples see the resurrected x christ uh here's another case in which x that word is used x it's when they're on the sea of galilee x and peter steps out of the boat he's x walking in water to jesus and he sees x the waves and the wind and he starts to x sink x and he says oh lord save me x and jesus reaches down and grabs him by x the hand and and he pulls him out and he x says oh you of little faith why did you x doubt x i think we're familiar with this um x why don't we turn to matthew 14. x um x butch if you have the mic would you read x verses 28-33 x matthew 14 verses 28 to 33. x in pd x and peter answered and said lord x on the water and he said come x and when peter was come down out of the x boat he walked on the water to go to x jesus but when he saw the wind x he was afraid x immediately jesus x why did thou doubt x they were x both the wind ceased x and then they were in the boat came and x worshiped him saying of a truth thou art x the son of god x great thank you x so in verse 31 jesus asked peter x why he doubts x and so my question is was it was it x because he was peter's doubt because he x doubted jesus x when he said lord save me did he doubt x that jesus was able to save him is that x what jesus is rebuking him for having x little x faith or x or was it the doubt that led him to x sinking x i think i think it's the latter it's x it's x you know what when he saw the winds and x the waves he started to sink that's x that's where he doubted when he said x lord save me and he's expressing his x faith in jesus to deliver him from the x situation x so it's not like he had no faith x it's not like he was completely full of x doubt and wavering in his x his belief in jesus to save him x i think this passage tells us something x that x that about going from x what i might call an essential faith x which is believing absolutely in jesus x to save x and going to more of in applied faith x in that okay not only is jesus going to x save me that x that x he will x deliver me into his kingdom x at the very end but in the present i x believe that jesus has the power to x sanctify me and to heal me from my x infirmities x to to make me spiritually whole x presently x right on the way to perfection x right so that's more of an applied faith x where you know jesus is teaching us to x to walk on water in the present x and we know that we will slip up that x will sink and he's there to pull us up x by the hand x but he's also able to keep us from from x falling x and to deliver us from from the waters x so this this expression oh you of little x faith x is kind of it's interesting x remember how we we said that faith and x belief x is the same greek word it's the same x concept it's it's pistols x so this this expression you of little x faith x is actually um x oligopistos x it's it's one word in the greek uh and x it has that pistos in it right x um but but it's a single word we it's x not like subject predicate adjective oh x you of little faith x it's just one word he calls peter and x oligopistos x and it's almost like calling him a x faithling you know like we call like a x a little duck as a duckling or pig is a x piglet x he's a faithling x and x it strikes me that this is not an x outright rebuke of peter he's not saying x where's your faith you got no faith man x he's saying you got a little faith you x just got a little bit x there's an opportunity to grow here x um so so i don't i don't see as a as a x harsh rebuke it's more of a term of x endearment that also suggests there's x more there's more here peter take what x you have and and multiply it x um and this expression jesus uses a few x times x all right sermon on the mount x after the storm on galley and after the x feeding of the four thousand x i have the references up there we don't x need to read all of them but it's the x same expression oligopistos x that's used each time x and it strikes me x that each time it's used x it's after jesus has shown himself to be x eminently trustworthy x absolutely deserving of our faith x it's on the sermon on the mount you know x jesus points to how god takes care of x even even the grass of the field the x lilies of the valleys x the creatures the birds not one of them x falls without god knowing about it x if he cares for these little things that x he's created how much does he care for x you x god is so absolutely worthy of our faith x and we only give him a little bit x let me give them a little faith x the storm in the galley is the same x thing you know he he stills the the x waves and the the wind blow down x um x and and x it says why are you afraid of your x little faith x uh the feeling of the four thousand um x there's this x expression uh you know he x he he says uh beware leaven uh i said x herod or the sadducees in this case i x think it's the where the the leaven of x of herod x he's warning them about about herod and x his court as they sail across the sea of x galilee after the feeding of the 4000 x and they say oh it's because we didn't x bring any bread x that he's talking about levin x um and there's a real disconnect they're x talking past each other x and he's just fed 4 000 people x so so jesus is like guys it's not about x lunch you know x i'm trying to take you to a deeper x area here but you don't have enough x faith to get there x so don't worry about lunch i'm the one x that just fed 4 000 people and 5 000 x people in the chapter before that right x so x that that's not a concern for me so x um x and it makes me think that that for god x from the perspective x of god x who is faithful who's worthy of all of x our faith x and he he constantly demonstrates x himself to be worthy when we don't x respond in faith you know he looks at us x as being oh ye of little faith x oligopistos you know we're x we're not we're not bringing as much the x table as he is worthy of receiving x um x and so just as a as an x aside this is this is my oligopestos at x home x you know i i take care of her i i feed x her make sure she's got fresh water make x sure the litter box is taken care of x like i show that i am totally x trustworthy x and she just doesn't give me anything x so you can kind of see the look in her x eyes right she's got sort of that crazy x look um that's that's kona for you she's x very aloof very standoffish x she has her sweet moments but x um x you know i wonder if that's how how god x feels when we don't give him the faith x that he he deserves you know he's he's x never given us a reason to x to to doubt him um certainly x circumstances in our lives cause us to x feel like we're wavering feel like x uh we're perplexed x but god himself um x demonstrates that he is true and he is x good uh so many times in our lives um x so we he he is certainly worthy of our x our faith and trust x so that's um all the gopis does was x with respect to wavering right um x you know peter's faltering as he walks x on the water and he's you know why did x you doubt or you of low faith the second x definition is that value of discernment x and this one's really interesting x because it appears in romans 14 x we quarter past is sort of the target x okay so we've got maybe 10 minutes x um x so romans 14 right the context is is x making judgments about whether or not to x observe holidays x whether or not to eat x clean or unclean foods x do we want to turn to this one this x might be a good one to look up x so romans chapter 14. x so you see in verse 2 x one believes that he may eat all things x another who is weak eats herbs only um x is a comment on vegetarianism i don't x think so x uh it's more along the lines of acts um x peter sees the vision of the the clean x and unclean foods i think x let not him that eats despise him that x eats not let not him which eats not x judge him that eats x let's see verse five one man esteems one x day above another another schemes every x day alike x uh so talking about pagan holidays x perhaps um x perhaps talking about the jewish feast x days x there's some questions that are being x weighed and you have a lot of people x coming into the ecclesia in the first x century that have very different x backgrounds x now imagine two gentile converts to x christianity x um one who maybe was like the ethiopian x eunuch who has a background in judaism x right he's not actually jewish himself x but he's a jewish proselyte x so this is a person who came to know x christ x after converting to judaism from their x paganism so as a part of their x conversion they have taken all these x things from the law of moses like um x you know the food restrictions and x observing the holidays x and and certainly they would never eat x shellfish or pork x those things would x be tied to their identity as x coming to the one true god of israel x they've given up all these aspects of x their former life x and so for them that you know they they x observe those rituals almost as a matter x of faith and they're putting their x identity in doing those things so now x we have uh x you know x the christian era and paul's preaching x christ x and somebody x who has that background x okay now they've learned even more about x the god of israel that the god of israel x sent his son x and x jesus is the savior he's the promised x messiah x and x now we have an entrance to the gentiles x to come into the faith x and as a result of that we are also x making some allowances for the gentiles x right the circumcision went away it x wasn't binding on the gentiles x the observance of the torah x went away x that doesn't mean that somebody like the x ethiopian eunuch is going to all of a x sudden be okay with eating pork or x shellfish right they may still have x those scruples x that they obtained when they converted x judaism in the first place right it x would be very hard for them to go back x to their x to living like a pagan is how they might x see it but for somebody who had never x had that experience of being torah x observant x uh x but has come to christ and is a follower x of jesus x those those requirements weren't binding x on them so they they might choose to eat x the other might choose not to eat and x that was okay what paul said was what's x more important is x is coming to a firm conclusion in your x own mind to have a conscience that's x convicted x and not betraying that conscience and x eating unworthily x whoever has doubts x is condemned if he eats because the x eating is not from faith for whatsoever x does not proceed from faith is sin x so i i see this x this passage is very clearly x landing in that sort of discerning x definition x that is the greek word that's used here x so it's different from the others right x so this is talking about doubts in terms x of like your scruples and your judgments x about these matters of conscience if x you're saying i really shouldn't be x eating this and you do it anyway well x that wasn't a faithful act was it x but if you're absolutely convinced it's x okay to eat shrimp or x it's not okay to eat eat x shellfish then x then you're then you're okay the the x bigger issue is to be convicted in your x own mind and not to offend your brother x does that make sense x okay x okay so we'll do let's see i think i x have one more here x yeah this one's kind of interesting x because i x if you have faith and doubt not x you shall be able to x cast mountains into the sea essentially x yeah x um x this is one where i think x understanding these different x definitions of doubt has actually helped x me understand the passage a little more x and knowing that the greek word x translated out here is diacrino really x changed it because for for me i always x read this passage about having faith and x being able to cast mountains into the x sea as being x about wavering the first definition not x the second definition discernment x and i always read this as if x well if i can just summon x pure faith and just have like x as if it's like a concentration thing x like as if i can banish all doubt and x wavering from my mind for a moment and i x pray this x i can cast a mountain into the sea x and yeah i i don't think i'm going to be x able to cast him onto the sea so i am x wavering which is why i've never been x able to do it before but if i were able x to not waver i could just do it x and understanding that this is actually x talking about x doubt as x discerning and contending and making a x judgment x um that really changed the way i look at x this verse because it's not really about x mountains it's about big problems in our x lives that are beyond our ability to to x change into effect it's about those x those huge issues where you say i am x just at a loss i don't i don't know what x to do here there's no x reasoning x human reasoning in my mind that i can x take there's no strength or muscle of my x own that i can provide to to address x this issue x the mountain is too big x so i have to put in god's hands x and x the next verse says all things x whatsoever you shall ask in prayer x believing you shall receive x it doesn't say all things that you ask x for in prayer x and then go and figure out on your own x using your intellect or your strength it x just says trust in god x when the mountain's too big to x to lever out of the way or to excavate x or to dynamite away x to cast into the sea x you know you don't have any human means x of dealing with the mountain x so you have to place in god's hand right x there's no x contention and discernment no judging x that we can bring to bear that will deal x with the mountain x does that make sense x yeah it's a different way of looking at x the verse than i had x had brought to bear before x um x and it's not to say that there aren't x situations where god expects us to x um to use our intellect and our muscle x and strength on our own right to to x trust him x there's a famous quote x trust in god and keep your gun powder x dry x right and the idea is yeah x we're going to trust god to deliver us x from the enemy but we're also going to x make sure we have some x some powder reserves right take up arms x uh and there's that that old parable x about the drowning man who you know god x sends him the the boat and the x helicopter and he says i don't need it i x trust in god x it's like the point is x at some point god expects you to x to act right x and i i i absolutely affirm that i x believe that's true but i also think x there's situations where x we're just at a loss there's there's no x reasoning or human strength of our own x to bring to bear and we just absolutely x have to trust that god will show us the x answer some way x and that's that's the mountain that's x cast into the sea x um x so x just another x example x and we are added time x the last one is last definition of doubt x is perplexed perplexity x um x and there's not really a comment on it x um so i have some examples of maybe how x we deal with perplexity that i'm not x going to get into because we ran time x but basically i couldn't find uh x disciples followers of christ uh being x condemned for having a lack of faith x when they're facing perplexing x situations x um so there is a category of doubt um x that i i think is decoupled from faith x that that does not betray uh our faith x at all just because we're faced with x situations are just x astonishing to us in a way x you know the sudden death of a loved one x or the infant with the terminal disease x these things that just x were at a loss x so x hopefully that was helpful next week x we're going to talk about where faith x comes from x sources of faith how to grow in faith x and that'll be it so thank you very muchClass 3
Original URL Sunday, May 15, 2022