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Doubting the Divine

SERIES: Even These Believed #4 of 5

2007-03-25

PRODUCTION #: 1044

SPEAKER: Shawn Boonstra

Diego was a young Army soldier who had just been deployed to Iraq. It was early 2003, and coalition forces were gathering on the border between Kuwait and the fortress empire of one Saddam Hussein. Back home in Texas, his parents were beside themselves with concern. Would their boy come home safe from the war? Would he survive?

Lately, it must be admitted, Mom and Dad had lived on the fringes of Christianity. There were bills to pay and jobs to hold down, so church kind of took a back seat. In fact, for years now, the family hadn't darkened the door of the sanctuary that used to be their spiritual home.

But now, on this very pivotal weekend, they felt the urge to go. It would be good to pray for Diego in a church setting, and to sense that other people were praying too.

So they went. After so long a hiatus, they really didn't recognize anybody, and the pastor was new to them. But during the Bible study part of the program, they sent a written prayer request up to the pulpit.

"Our boy is heading toward Baghdad," they wrote. "Please pray for his safety."

Well, of course, the church did, and the pastor was delighted that this couple had come to visit.

But here is the hard thing I have to tell you. Just a few hours after that Sabbath morning spiritual reunion, Army vehicles came driving up to the home of these parents. A sober-faced lieutenant got out and came to the front door. He told this ashen-faced couple the news every parent fears: their boy had been among the very first casualties in battle. A car bomber had approached four soldiers and then detonated himself. All four American servicemen were instantly killed, and Diego was among them.

Now, think about it. This news comes to the family on the very day when they finally prayed! They go back to church for the first time in a decade, and a few hours later there is a massive explosion, limbs flying everywhere, and then the awful quiet of death. Where is God now? After years of spiritual neglect, and things are fine, a mom and a dad finally take their first steps toward faith again, and are hit with this tragic announcement before the sun goes down that very day.

Friend, what do you do, and what do I do, when doubt and disappointment invade our world?

Have you ever been discouraged? That's a foolish question, isn't it? Of course, we all have. Hard times come along. Money troubles loom. Our children, much as we love them, cause us emotional distress as they go down the wrong paths. And I know as well as you do the temptation, in times of emotional darkness, to begin to turn away from God.

Oh, I don't think we all stop believing; we don't move into the camp of the atheists. But something nags at our heart and says, "You know, if God isn't going to help me here, then I have to protect myself. I'll put up a shell around me; I'll refuse to be vulnerable."

Along with discouragement, doubt. Maybe the story of God's love is just a cunningly devised fable. You know, it's interesting that that Bible expression comes from the epistle of Second Peter. Peter was a man who doubted: a couple of times, in fact. Walking on the water, and then that tragic Thursday night where he denied his Lord three times in a row.

I want to tell you some good news today. Here it is. God still loves us when we struggle with doubt. In fact, there are two biblical sagas where the doubts of people close to Jesus are so severe, they spell hope for every single one of us.

One of them occurs in the heart of John the Baptist. Maybe you remember that John is Jesus' own second cousin. That's right! Mary and Elizabeth were themselves cousins, we read in Luke, chapter one, with John being born about six months before Jesus.

So here is an older cousin who knows the miracle story of Jesus' virgin birth. He has heard about and even seen healing miracles. He has heard Jesus preach. He has encouraged his own followers to switch their loyalties and follow the Messiah. He has announced to the crowds that Jesus is the Messiah, the "Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world."

John personally heard the voice of God in heaven after the baptism, announcing His pleasure in His only begotten Son.

So, if anyone should never have doubted, it would be John. He is without excuse! However, we read in Matthew 14 that King Herod had taken the fiery preacher out of his Jordan River parish and tossed him in prison. We don't know how long he was there, but you can then read back three chapters and we find the cousin of Jesus succumbing to discouragement. From his prison cell, he is able to send an entourage over to where Jesus is ministering.

Here is his question found in Matthew 11 and verse three (Matthew 11:3 NKJV): 

"...Are You the coming One, or do we look for another?"

"Should we expect someone else?" says another version.

And what does Jesus do? It must have been keenly disappointing to Him to have His own cousin and partner in evangelism express his doubts. What hope was there for this fledgling kingdom if a giant like John the Baptist was wavering?

But let's notice two key points. First, Jesus doesn't shout or launch into a tirade. He doesn't even criticize John for his moment of weakness.

The second thing Jesus does is this. He quietly reminds His cousin, through these messengers, of the evidences John had already seen (Matthew 11:5 NKJV):

"The blind receive their sight and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them."

So here is a powerful object lesson for us. When doubts creep in, when Lucifer knocks at our front door, and he is wielding the dangerous sword of discouragement, what do we do? We quickly hasten to the record book and we remind ourselves of all the evidence we have already seen, that we serve a mighty Messiah and Miracle-worker! Jesus has done great things before! He has redeemed souls and healed homes! He has changed lives and restored peace in the midst of many storms.

Even if right now, this very day, things look dark, or we are in a prison cell of sorrow like John, we still serve a Savior who liberates and drives away the shadows.

We've mentioned a number of atheists who simply allowed the hard times and the doubts to get the better of them. The Christian apologist C. S. Lewis was one of these. His mother died when he was a young boy, even though he had prayed to heaven with all of his might. After her death, he actually continued to pray for a resurrection miracle, and that didn't happen either. He soon drifted into an angry atheism that lasted for two decades.

Years later, now a man with a solid Christian faith and an abiding trust in God, he wrote in his classic treatise, Mere Christianity, about the fact that moments of doubt come our way. (They bombard the atheist too, he observed, with a wry smile.)

What can God's child do to protect himself from the wild mood swings of discouragement and doubt?

"The first step," he writes, "is to recognize the fact that your moods change. The next is to make sure that, if you have at any time in your life accepted Christianity, then some of its main points shall be deliberately held before your mind for some time everyday. That is why daily prayers and religious reading and churchgoing are necessary parts of the Christian life. We have to be continually reminded of what we believe. Neither this belief nor any other will automatically remain alive in the mind. It must be fed."

In the very next paragraph, he reasons, as a man who would know, that many people don't lapse away from their first faith relationship because some brilliant atheist reasons them out of it on a long coast-to-coast airplane ride. No. Too many believers simply "drift away." They don't store up their faith during the good times with Bible promises and Scriptural principles. They don't reflect on the fulfilled prophecies, the great stories of faith in the Old and New Testaments, and the tales of faith and God's abundant power.

Then when the storms come along, as Jesus Himself predicted in His Matthew seven parable, and as our kids sing in Sunday School or Sabbath School, "the house on the sand goes splat!"

Two loyal believers who really fell into the temporary trap of letting go of the hand of faith would have to be a disciple named Cleopas and his friend. You can read in Luke, chapter 24, about how these two men are staggering home to Emmaus on Sunday afternoon, blinded by their tears, unaware that Jesus has already risen from the tomb.

They've forgotten the incredible miracles they saw Christ do. Somehow His verbatim promises about coming out of the grave on the third day have slipped from their minds.

In fact, when a mysterious fellow traveler hooks up with them and hikes along for the seven-mile journey, he chides them for taking their eyes off the ball.

"Come on, you guys," He almost says. "Didn't the prophets tell us it would happen like this? Isn't it actually right that the Messiah should fulfill these things by suffering for a lost world, and then haven't we been told that He would enter into His glory?"

And the two men, blushing, say: "Uh, well, yes." And when they dry their eyes and look real hard at who's sitting with them at the supper table, of course their faith returns.

What else can cause a Christian to falter and go into the twin ditches of doubt and discouragement? A couple of stories in the life of Voltaire are eye-opening. Often God's people lose their way when they see some of God's other people abusing the crowns of power, or behaving like hypocrites and tyrants.

In his book, The Story of Philosophy, Will Durant tells us how this brilliant young thinker saw abuses creeping into the church of that era. He saw unbiblical practices such as the teaching that God's struggling children should be required to confess their sins to an earthly priest. It's almost a bit amusing, as Durant tells the story, because Voltaire, ever the skeptic, asked the priest, "How come?" Where in the Word of God did it say we should go sit in the confessional and bare our souls to another mere mortal man?

Well, the priest directed him to the book of James, chapter five, where we're told (James 5:16 NKJV): 

"Confess your trespasses to one another?"

All right. That was plain enough, so Voltaire placed himself in the hot seat and duly confessed his sins. But now, you and I can both smile as we hear what happens next.

In Durant's words: "When he had done he dragged the abbe from the confessional chair, placed him in the seat, and bade the abbe confess in turn. 'Come, my friend,' it is said, 'We must confess our sins to one another;' I have related my sins to you, and you shall not stir till you recount yours."

Well, the red-faced cleric wasn't willing to bare his own soul in this religious role-reversal game, and a disgruntled Voltaire left the church with yet another pillar knocked out of his faith foundation.

Has that ever happened to you? Listen, I know full well that our churches and our pastors sometimes disappoint us. I grew up attending churches that were filled with well-meaning parishioners, and led by sincere men of the cloth, and yet I saw Bible doctrines that didn't seem to square with the Bible. Should that make us abandon the Christian faith? Should we embrace our doubts or should we embrace the direct word of God with greater dedication and enthusiasm? Do you see the point?

Voltaire fell into another trap that so often ensnares Christians today. "The church is full of hypocrites," they sigh. And often they do their sighing on the way out the back door.

This gifted philosopher was a devout pacifist, a man who longed for peace among all peoples. He wrote admiringly about the Quakers, the "boldest sect of all," he declared, "who astonished all Christendom by behaving like Christians."

Around the year 1736 he also began trading flowery letters of adulation with Prince Frederick. The future king glowingly called Voltaire "the greatest man of France, and a mortal who does honor to language."

When Voltaire's letters in reply were equally gushing, Frederick downplayed his own talents, causing Voltaire to respond: "A prince who writes against flattery is as singular as a pope who writes against infallibility!"

The next package from the postman contained a copy of a document called the Anti-Machiavel, where this Prince Frederick wrote a compelling response to Machiavelli's cynical work, The Prince.

As Durant puts it: "[Frederick] spoke very beautifully of the iniquity of war, and of the duty of a king to preserve peace; Voltaire wept tears of joy over this royal pacifist."

But now get this: "A few months later Frederick, made king, invaded Silesia and plunged Europe into a generation of bloodshed."

Such full-blown hypocrisy was simply crushing to an admirer like Voltaire, and hastened his descent into disbelief and doubt.

And friend, there is one more thing. Ironically, people often find themselves in a pit of questions and doubt because of reading this book right here. That's right. Some people read the Bible, and come away with more questions than answers, and they detour into discouragement.

Let me ask you a question. Have you ever sat in a mathematics class, and felt lost or confused? Ever read a manual on how to do PowerPoint on your laptop, and couldn't figure it out? Ever read a difficult essay or newspaper editorial, and when you were done, went "Huh?"

We all have. We are finite human beings, surrounded all the time by challenges that are presently above and beyond us. Most of the time, we are mature enough to take a deep breath and keep on going. If we can't decipher a page in our automotive manual, we ask someone at the dealership. If Windows XP has us baffled, we call the toll-free number or just hit "Control-Alt-Delete" and start over. But there have been atheists who started down that path because something in God's Word seemed to contradict what they were sure was right.

I'll give you two examples. Charles Darwin, we mentioned him in previous programs, decided, first of all, that the miracles in the Bible weren't true. Then he read several passages that made him think everyone in his family, his father, his brother, most of his friends, were doomed to everlasting, eternal hellfire punishment, that they would be kept in flames by an angry God throughout ceaseless ages.

Here is another example, and this one is recent enough to have landed on our doorstep by way of the Internet. I mentioned a very good Christian book entitled A Shattered Visage: The Real Face of Atheism, by apologist Ravi Zacharias.

Well, a scholar wrote in rebuttal, posting his eleven-page reply to that book on a webpage. And one of his core arguments was that some of the bloody Old Testament stories in the Bible are simply not compatible with the grace-oriented teachings of the Christian faith. In his studies, he could not satisfactorily explain how a God of love would also reign over some events that admittedly we read with difficulty.

Now, friend, let me tell you something. I believe there are answers to both of these issues. I've been digging through God's Holy Word for most of my life, and I see a consistent picture of a loving God who is reaching out to the human race in all generations.

Sometimes He uses desperate measures. Sometimes His acts of discipline, needed to save a nation, seem baffling in this 21st century after the birth of Christ. And when I read every single verse, every Bible passage that gives us insight into what happens at the end of time to those who truly do not want to belong in God's kingdom, I'm convinced that there is a clear, loving, just way to understand the issues of heaven and hell.

But let me say something else. Listen, there are things in God's Word that I don't understand. There are passages where two or three interpretations are possible. There are doctrines where not all believers agree.

There's a book in my own Adventist faith community that many of us have read and reread over the years; it's entitled Steps to Christ, by E. G. White. Let me tell you something. The next-to-last chapter is entitled "What to Do With Doubt," and the last chapter is entitled "Rejoicing in the Lord."

I don't think that's an accident. When we have doubts about the Bible's claims, we need to hang onto the hand of God, and then keep rejoicing in the Lord!

But the author makes this point: The Bible is a saga of infinite wisdom. It comes to us from the mind and heart of an infinite God. There is not a chance in the world that finite mankind could ever comprehend it fully. Would we even want that? To fly in your little spaceship to the end of the universe, to come to the end of wisdom, and say, "Here I am. There is no more?"

Colossians, chapter two, verse two talks about the "mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ." Then verse three says (Colossians 2:3 NKJV): 

"In whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge."

First Corinthians, chapter two describes for us the "deep things of God." Second Peter concedes in chapter three that the Bible has in it "things hard to be understood," which unbelievers and infidels will twist around to their own destruction.

In these past four weeks of study here together on It Is Written, we have seen how the Bible was plainly prophetic in that regard! Intelligent people have too often come up to the chasms of human frailty, the gaps in what we know and can know, and they have departed from the faith.

So how can it be different for you and for me? On this program, I can't answer every question because I don't know every answer. But let me share from my heart two wonderful realities.

First of all, there are so many things we can know. We have a God of love. That much is plain. The Bible says it and proves it over and over. We have rescues, miracles, encouragement, hope, eternal life and forgiveness. All of these things are clearly and unequivocally declared for our encouragement.

Instead of jettisoning Christianity over the things we don't understand, why not celebrate, embrace and proclaim it for the flood of wonderful truths that we do see clearly?

Secondly, it's also true that the more we abide in God's care, continuing to trust in Him, the more questions He will answer. He wants to lead us into truth. In fact, that's the specific role of the holy spirit. I've had my mind satisfied on many issues that used to be hard questions, but are now plain. I used to grapple with the issue of hellfire and punishment, but today I'm satisfied in my mind that God's plan is a loving and everlasting solution.

Let me give you just a closing paragraph from that book I mentioned, Steps to Christ. And friend, let's always take steps TO Christ, never away from Him. What do you say?

Here is what the writer has to share with us. "Peter exhorts his brethren to, grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 3:18).

When the people of God are growing in grace, they will be constantly obtaining a clearer understanding of His Word. They will discern new light and beauty in its sacred truths. This has been true in the history of the church in all ages, and thus it will continue to the end.

"The path of the righteous is as the light of dawn, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day." (Proverbs 4:18)

And here's just a bit more. "By faith we may look to the hereafter and grasp the pledge of God for a growth of intellect, the human faculties uniting with the divine, and every power of the soul being brought into direct contact with the Source of light. We may rejoice that all which has perplexed us in the providences of God will then be made plain, things hard to be understood will then find an explanation; and where our finite minds discovered only confusion and broken purposes, we shall see the most perfect and beautiful harmony."

First Corinthians, chapter 13 and verse 12 encourages us with this (1 Corinthians 13:12 NKJV): 

"For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known."

Shall we pray?

PRAYER:
Lord, here we are in all of our frail and fragile humanity. You know us, and you know the limitations of our minds and souls. Father, when we encounter doubts and discouragements, help us to hold on to your hand. Help us to continue to embrace the mighty truths we do understand, as we patiently wait for you to reveal the glorious whole. Lead us into all truth, we pray, and help us to encourage our brothers and sisters to stay together with all of God's people on the safe road to your eternal kingdom. We pray in the loving and revealing name of Jesus our Savior, amen.

Scriptures Used in “Doubting the Divine”

"...Are You the coming One, or do we look for another?"
—Matthew 11:3 NKJV

"The blind receive their sight and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them."
—Matthew 11:5 NKJV

"Confess your trespasses to one another?"
—James 5:16 NKJV

"In whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge."
—Colossians 2:3 NKJV

"For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known."
—1 Corinthians 13:12 NKJV