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Lesson For Sunday Afternoon May 31st, 2020
The Object of Our Faith
Scripture:
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. 2 We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the Champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting Him, He endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now He is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. 3 Think of all the hostility He endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up. (Hebrews 12:1-3 – NLT)
We all struggle with doubt. Some Christians struggle with doubt from time to time, and others struggle with doubt every day. We sometimes doubt because of our persistent weakness to sin or because of the weakness of our faith. We sometimes doubt our salvation. We sometimes doubt God’s love for us. We sometimes doubt in times of trial. We sometimes doubt that God hears us when we pray. We sometimes doubt that God’s promises will come to pass. And we sometimes doubt that God is really working all things together for our good.
Adam and Eve doubted when they ate of the fruit. Abraham doubted when he had no heir. Moses doubted when he stood before Pharaoh. Israel doubted when they made the golden calf. David doubted in anger and fear when he did not take the ark of the covenant home. And Thomas doubted when he heard about the risen Christ. Throughout all of Scripture we see stories of God’s people as they wrestled with doubt. Yet God was merciful to them, and He is merciful to us. So ought we to have mercy on others who doubt (Jude v22).
Doubt is real, and we should not pretend it does not exist. We need to be honest about our doubts before God in prayer and before one another as we pray for one another. Nevertheless, we should not celebrate doubt. Doubt enters our minds for all sorts of reasons, but ultimately, doubt is fueled by the weakness of our flesh and the pride of our hearts. Worry, fear, and doubt are close companions, and they conspire together to try to destroy us. Doubt is one of the Devil’s chief weapons in his arsenal as he seeks to undo us and jeopardize our eternal salvation.
Doubt is a result of sin, and we sin when we wallow in the mire of doubt. But when we doubt, we ought not despair or become fixated on our circumstances or trust our ever-changing feelings. Rather, we ought to gaze upward at the cross. We must remember the unchanging promises of God. When we look at our sin, we must lift our weary heads and look to Christ, the author and finisher of our faith. For our assurance of salvation is not based on our circumstances, our feelings, or our perfection — but on our understanding from Scripture of who Jesus is, what He taught us, and our active belief (faith) in those truths. Our Father is the source of our assurance, Christ is the ground of our assurance, and the Spirit is the sustainer of our assurance. And our assurance is not established on the strength of our faith but on the object of our faith, Jesus Christ. Therefore, when we doubt, let us remember that when Abraham counted the stars, he was counting you and me and all those who display an active belief in Christ and His word.
Author: Daniel Seay, public speaker, writer, consultant and child of God
The Object of Our Faith
Scripture:
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. 2 We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the Champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting Him, He endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now He is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. 3 Think of all the hostility He endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up. (Hebrews 12:1-3 – NLT)
We all struggle with doubt. Some Christians struggle with doubt from time to time, and others struggle with doubt every day. We sometimes doubt because of our persistent weakness to sin or because of the weakness of our faith. We sometimes doubt our salvation. We sometimes doubt God’s love for us. We sometimes doubt in times of trial. We sometimes doubt that God hears us when we pray. We sometimes doubt that God’s promises will come to pass. And we sometimes doubt that God is really working all things together for our good.
Adam and Eve doubted when they ate of the fruit. Abraham doubted when he had no heir. Moses doubted when he stood before Pharaoh. Israel doubted when they made the golden calf. David doubted in anger and fear when he did not take the ark of the covenant home. And Thomas doubted when he heard about the risen Christ. Throughout all of Scripture we see stories of God’s people as they wrestled with doubt. Yet God was merciful to them, and He is merciful to us. So ought we to have mercy on others who doubt (Jude v22).
Doubt is real, and we should not pretend it does not exist. We need to be honest about our doubts before God in prayer and before one another as we pray for one another. Nevertheless, we should not celebrate doubt. Doubt enters our minds for all sorts of reasons, but ultimately, doubt is fueled by the weakness of our flesh and the pride of our hearts. Worry, fear, and doubt are close companions, and they conspire together to try to destroy us. Doubt is one of the Devil’s chief weapons in his arsenal as he seeks to undo us and jeopardize our eternal salvation.
Doubt is a result of sin, and we sin when we wallow in the mire of doubt. But when we doubt, we ought not despair or become fixated on our circumstances or trust our ever-changing feelings. Rather, we ought to gaze upward at the cross. We must remember the unchanging promises of God. When we look at our sin, we must lift our weary heads and look to Christ, the author and finisher of our faith. For our assurance of salvation is not based on our circumstances, our feelings, or our perfection — but on our understanding from Scripture of who Jesus is, what He taught us, and our active belief (faith) in those truths. Our Father is the source of our assurance, Christ is the ground of our assurance, and the Spirit is the sustainer of our assurance. And our assurance is not established on the strength of our faith but on the object of our faith, Jesus Christ. Therefore, when we doubt, let us remember that when Abraham counted the stars, he was counting you and me and all those who display an active belief in Christ and His word.
Author: Daniel Seay, public speaker, writer, consultant and child of God