The Silent Arsonist

17 A man in the crowd answered, “Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. 18 Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not.”…. 21 Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has he been like this?” “From childhood,” he answered. 22 “It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.” Mark 9:17-18, NIV

23 “‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for him who believes.” 24 Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” Mark 9:23-24 NIV

Jesus saw an element of faith…He understood the reality of doubt!

18 John’s disciples told him about all these things. Calling two of them, 19 he sent them to the Lord to ask, “Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?” 20 When the men came to Jesus, they said, “John the Baptist sent us to you to ask, ‘Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?’ Luke 7:18-20 NIV

Jesus gave John the Baptist evidence…it was designed to bolster his faith.

Step #1 See the Faces of D OUBT

Genetic Doubters Rebellious Doubters Disappointed Doubters Intellectual Doubters

Step #2 Balance Faith & Reason

T HE R OLE OF F AITH And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. Hebrews 11:6 NIV

T HE R OLE OF R EASON Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, 1 Peter 3:15 NIV

God has given enough reason in this world to make faith a most reasonable thing. But he has left out enough to make it impossible to live by reason alone. Ravi Zacharias, Absolute Truth in Relative Terms

K NOWING O UR F AITH IS T RUE S HOWING O UR F AITH IS T RUE I NTERNAL W ITNESS S PIRIT BY F AITH E XTERNAL W ITNESS R EASON /A RGUMENT E XTERNAL W ITNESS R EASON /A RGUMENT I NTERNAL W ITNESS S PIRIT BY F AITH

W HAT H APPENS W HEN Y OU D ON ’ T H AVE B ALANCE ?  B LIND F AITH  W EAK F AITH  T IMID F AITH

Step #3 Learn to Disarm Your Doubt

Verbalize Your Doubts Distinguish Disappointment from Doubt

“We tend to think, 'Life should be fair because God is fair.' But God is not life. And if I confuse God with the physical reality of life- by expecting constant good health for example- then I set myself up for crashing disappointment.” Philip Yancey, Disappointed with God

“I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted. 3 You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my counsel without knowledge?’ Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know. 4 “You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you shall answer me.’ 5 My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Job 42:2-5 NIV

Verbalize Your Doubts Distinguish Disappointment from Doubt Resolve Doubts One at a Time Don’t Minimize the Battle

3 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 NIV

False ideas are the greatest obstacles to the reception of the gospel. We may preach with all the fervor of a reformer and yet succeed only in winning a straggler here and there, if we permit the whole collective thought of the nation or of the world to be controlled by ideas which, by the resistless force of logic, prevent Christianity from being regarded as anything more than a harmless delusion. Under such circumstances, what God desires us to do is to destroy the obstacle at its root. J. Gresham Machen