DOUBT

[Uncertainty of Mind]

I plan to cover this subject in detail because it relates directly to the law of believing. If you are not familiar with this law, you should go back to the teaching that covers the subjects of doubt, worry, and fear. You must understand and believe that the god of this world does not want you to know and understand the source of doubt. The adversary is the one who will put doubt in your mind. Doubt is the beginning of destruction. As I said above, first you doubt, then you worry, then you fear. If you fear something in the innermost part of your being, it will absolutely happen to you. If you have done something wrong in your life, you need to turn to God for deliverance and protection. You should never dwell on doubt and you should never condemn yourself for anything that you’ve done. We should take a look at I John 1: 9.

If we confess our sins, he [God] is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. – I John 1: 9

If you are sorry for doing something that you should not have done, God will forgive you time and time again. If you are not sorry, truly sorry in your heart, God will not forgive you because you have yet to learn your lesson. Let us say that you do wrong to a certain person and you feel bad about it and confess your broken fellowship to God. Then a day or two later, you do the same thing to that same person. God may administer grace to you and forgive you the second time. But if you do it a third time, God may not forgive you because you have malice or evil in your heart.

Let us get right into the heart of the Word and talk about a subject in reference to the resurrection. We have all heard the term ‘doubting Thomas’. Let’s examine the record where this phrase has originated.

But Thomas, one of the 12, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. – John 20: 24

Thomas who was one of the 12 disciples was not there when Jesus first came to visit all of the disciples. Thomas came later and here is the record.

The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe. – John 20: 25

What a perfect example this is of the subject of doubt. Thomas was a doubter and when we doubt the Word of God in any area, we are headed for destruction. However, Thomas got his chance to rid himself of doubt as the record goes on to explain.

And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. And Thomas answered and said unto him My Lord and my God. -- John 20: 26 – 28

It’s really a beautiful record. You can almost feel the emotion of that situation. And then Jesus Christ began to teach a great principle for us who have not seen Jesus Christ in the flesh. He said the following:

Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed. – John 20: 29

That is referring to us in this day and time. None of us have seen Jesus Christ in the flesh, but yet so many of us choose to believe. We do not want to incorporate doubt into our thinking, because God will prove himself to you in time depending on your commitment. Jesus Christ said to have faith which is believing and not to be faithless – to be without proper believing. Believing has been said to be the greatest law that is written in God’s Word. Without believing, we will receive nothing from God. God only asks this one thing and that is that we believe. Can you imagine that? Now keep in mind that the world will do everything it can to get you to doubt and to not believe. But you must remain faithful to the Word of God that you have learned and applied in your life. That is how we become more than conquerors in this present world.

Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that [who] loved us. -- Romans 8: 37

The biblical texts state that we are super conquerors. Should anything in this world defeat us? Absolutely not if we believe and act and apply God’s Word in every area of our life. Obviously to do this, we do not have doubt in our mind. Doubt is from the god of this world. Why is this true? Because the only thing that defeats the god of this world is God’s Word believed. If the enemy can get you to doubt any part of God’s Word, then you sin and you need to get back in fellowship by telling God that you are sorry for your sin. Many believers may be out of fellowship and they don’t really realize it. Well, when everything is going wrong in your life, you are more than likely if not obviously, out of fellowship and somewhere out into left field. Then the enemy can control and influence your life and defeat you on every hand.

In Luke, there is a record that talks about the general influence of doubt and how, sometimes, you must perform acts with or for people that will remove doubt from their mind. Let’s look at the record.

And John calling unto him two of his disciples sent them to Jesus saying, Art thou he that should come? Or look we for another? When the men were come unto him, they said, John Baptist hath sent us unto thee, saying, Art thou he that should come? Or look we for another? -- Luke 7: 19 – 20

What exactly is taking place here? John the Baptist was born about 8 months before Jesus Christ. John wanted to be sure that Christ was the true Messiah. But we should be able to see that there seems to be some doubt by the apostles and especially John, as to whether Jesus Christ was genuine. Let’s take a look at the next verse and see what Jesus did and how he reacted.

And then that same hour he cured many of their infirmities and plagues, and of evil spirits; and unto many that were blind he gave sight. – Luke 7: 21

Jesus Christ did not reply to the disciples just then. Instead he cured many people who were very sick and possessed with devils spirits and even the blind, he gave sight. That was his answer to the disciples as to whether they should look for another and have doubts concerning the power of the genuine Jesus Christ. Then he made a remark to the disciples.

Then Jesus answering said unto them, Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, and the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached. And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me. – John 7: 22, 23

He told the disciples to go back to John and to give him the message of which they had just seen. Then John would no longer wonder if Jesus Christ was the Messiah. There were people who were even close to Jesus Christ that many times entertained doubt in their minds as to whether Jesus Christ was really the chosen one of God. This type of doubt pertains to many situations today. People look for excuses so that they don’t have to believe and study God’s Word. It is a sorry situation in the world today, but if you walk with God to the best of your ability, these negative facts such as doubt will not affect you. You can still live the more than abundant life.

Now let us continue with our topic pertaining to the subject of the return of Jesus Christ.

Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. – II Peter 3: 3, 4

Take notice that the people who were making these remarks were scoffers. They were unbelievers who were walking after their own over desires. They had doubt as to whether Jesus Christ was coming back. Their excuse for their believing was that the apostles had now all fallen asleep – they died. And because of this, they said that all things went back to or continued as they were from the beginning of the creation.

This type of talking and reasoning still continues to this day. People say that the nine manifestations of Holy Spirit disappeared with the apostles. Well, as I have said before, how can that be true? I have the ability to and I do operate the manifestations of Holy Spirit. People who do not believe and study the Word of God cannot see it because their eyes are blinded. And who blinds the minds and eyes of people? The present god of this world, Satan, blinds people from the truth. That is why we must witness the Word of God regardless of any reactions we get from people. We stand approved before God, not before people. I believe Noah witnessed for about 200 years and no one listened to a word he had to say. That’s commitment – that’s believing – that’s the love of God in the renewed mind in manifestation. And remember that the love of God never fails. Let’s move on now to the causes of doubt.

God told Adam and Eve that they were not to eat of the fruit of a certain tree. God only asked them to do this one thing. But Eve was tricked by the serpent who was Satan and she decided to eat of that one tree that God strictly forbid her to do. Did you ever know that Adam was not deceived? He simply followed along with Eve and also ate of the tree. God told Adam and Eve that if they did this, they would surely die. But what died pertaining to Adam and Eve? It was the spiritual connection that they had with God that died when they disobeyed him. Many Christians do not believe this because they do not understand. Adam and Eve went on to live for a very long time. But the following verse will show you how the devil deceived and enticed Eve not to listen to the true God. He lied.

And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: -- Genesis 3: 4

For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and you shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. -- Genesis 3: 5

The devil is a liar and the father of all lies. This is absolutely why you need to know the true Word of God. It is genuine truth and the Word allows you to separate truth from error. There is no other way. Notice how the devil enticed Eve by appealing to her five senses. Verse six goes on to say that the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was pleasant to the eyes and a tree to be desired to make one wise. Notice that Eve turned to her five senses and not to her spiritual connection with God. The enemy deceived her and he is very good at it. He can deceive you unless you know what the Word says pertaining to the subject matter at hand. To comfort you concerning the subject, I would like to tell you that you are only responsible for the Word that you know. If you do something that is contrary to the Word of God, but you were never aware of what the Word said in this area, then you will not have sinned. God has mercy and divine favor upon us. But on the other hand, you are responsible to carry out the Word that you have learned and known to be true. If not, you will face calamity from the god of this world. The more of the Word of God that you know, the more that you are responsible to God to carry out in your life.

Getting back to our subject matter of doubt, the causes of doubt is Satan. Now let’s look at another cause of doubt that we have already covered somewhat in the previous paragraph. A second cause of doubt is unbelief.

The subject matter pertains to Zacharias when an Angel told him that his wife was going to get pregnant. Pay particular attention to what Zacharias had to say to the Angel as he tried to reason (five senses) with the Angel of God.

And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years. – Luke 1: 18

This clearly shows unbelief and doubt as far as Zacharias was concerned. And he even gave an argument that he was old and so was his wife. He was trying to say, How can this be possible?

And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee these glad tidings. – Luke 1: 19

Gabriel is God’s messenger and he is telling Zacharias that he was sent by God to give him this good news. But Zacharias still had some doubt about this situation. Many of those who do not know enough of the Word of God would act in the same manner. Doubt is the device or tool that the devil uses quite often upon us. That’s why God wants us to believe and not to have unbelief. Because of Zacharias’ unbelief that would not change, this convinced Gabriel of something he had to do, but it was for Zacharias’ own good that this was about to take place. Let’s read about it in the next verse.

And behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall be performed, because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season. – Luke 1: 20

Doesn’t that sound astounding? Zacharias and his doubt could surely have gotten in the way of Elizabeth’s pregnancy. It could’ve caused a variety of different problems as a result of what Zacharias had to say. So the angel of the Lord made certain that Zacharias could not speak until the day that the things that the angel said would come to pass. This was a temporary state, but you can just imagine how Zacharias felt.

This is a powerful example of doubt and how seriously God takes the subject into His being. We have to be very careful about doubt and not let it get in our minds especially pertaining to the Word of God. Especially pertaining to our renewed mind and our walk with God. This is a very subtle trick and a very powerful one that the adversary tries to pull on us every single day. The Word says that if you keep God first and foremost, everything in your life will fall into its proper place. Now how many people can believe that this was true? They don’t even know what a Bible looks like. They don’t read it – they don’t seek God out. They know nothing about God. We all have free will to study or not to study. God has a standard pertaining to free will and he will not overstep a man’s free will. That’s how much freedom we have in this life. If we decide to doubt the integrity and accuracy of God’s Word, then God will do nothing about it. He will let us doubt. We have to make up our own minds to put unbelief out of our thinking and believe that God is here with us and He is willing to help us depending upon our own actions in this life.

The next cause of rampant doubt is worldly wisdom. Worldly wisdom permeates the whole world today. Everyone quotes this man and this philosopher and this scholar etc., etc., etc. Let us see what God has to say about this worldly wisdom whose originator is Satan.

For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish (not born again) foolishness; but unto us that are saved it is the power of God. – I Corinthians 1: 18

Have you ever witnessed? It takes real boldness to approach someone with the Word. I witnessed to many people and many turned on. But there will always be some that think you are foolish. Get away from them. If they want to go to hell, that’s their prerogative. Those people are filled with doubt as a result of adhering to worldly wisdom. God shows His anger in the next few verses.

For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. – I Corinthians 1: 19

God’s Word rightly divided does just that.

Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? -- I Corinthians 1: 20

We wonder why there are so many problems in this present world. So-called wise men have taken political positions – who is the disputer of this world? Hasn’t God made the wisdom of this world foolish? But we don’t live as fools if we believe on the Word of God and we apply it in our lives. Don’t forget the latter half of that previous sentence. We must not only know the Word, but we must apply it in our lives to see the results of the more than abundant life and to be more than a conqueror in every single situation.

I’m just going to explain verse 21. God is saying that by worldly wisdom, you cannot learn about the wisdom of the true God. Because of this, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. When I spoke the Word to many people, very few were worshipping their riches because they did not have an excess of money. If you are a simple person and tries to live a simple moderate lifestyle, then you are the type of person who will believe and act upon God’s Word. I would like to close this section about worldly wisdom with a Scripture that always intrigued me. I thought that God was and He is the greatest and most skillful and talented author in the whole universe. Listen to this next verse. God is concluding the previous subject matter about worldly wisdom.

Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. -- I Corinthians 1: 25

I was always blown away by God’s statement pertaining to men. He says that if He Himself were as foolish as He could possibly be, He would still be wiser than any man.

And if God were at his weakest possible point, that point would be stronger than any man. You see you must understand that to tap into this power, you must believe.

Without believing, you have nothing. Remember that God asks this one thing of you and that is to believe.

This teaching has gone on quite long for the point to have been gotten across. I have quite a bit more material that I could go over pertaining to the subject of doubt. But you must ask yourself at this point. Have I made my point and do you understand the purpose of this teaching? In a nutshell, we are never to doubt God’s Word. Even in our secular life, we should try not to let doubt permeate our thinking and our decisions. If you feel unsure about something, you should research it to the fullest degree to be able to make a calculated and accurate decision. I tried to make this teaching as simple as possible so that people who are classified as foundational, intermediate, or advanced would be able to understand and learn much from what was said. So remember to do one thing in your lives -- don’t be unfaithful, but be believing especially in regards to God’s Word. This all occurs in the renewed mind. The renewed mind only occurs when you study God’s Word. Then, and only then, will you see the doubt that you may have disappear. God bless you. You are the best.

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. -- II Timothy 2: 15

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