I.        DOUBT

A.      If you are a Christian who never struggles with doubts, then your tremendous faith is to be admired.  You are the ideal Christian who is thoroughly convinced of all things concerning God beyond any doubt.

B.      In reality, few (if any) Christians have mastered their faith beyond doubts.  This is evident by the failures of Christians to fully commit to Christ in every aspect of life.

                                                             1.      Consider Peter’s failure in Matthew 14:22-33.

a.       When Peter saw Jesus walking on the water, he confidently said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water” (v. 28).

b.       When Jesus commanded him, Peter “got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus” (v. 29).  What an impressive display of faith!

c.        However, it was not long before doubt overwhelmed Peter’s faith.  “But seeing the wind, he became afraid, and beginning to sink, he cried out, saying ‘Lord, save me!’” (v. 20)

                                                             2.      Peter’s failure is a common type of experience among Christians.

a.       While we are in friendly and familiar confines (without hardships, persecution, sufferings, temptation, rejection, ridicule, contrary teachings against our faith, etc.), like Peter in the boat, we confidently assert our unwavering faith to the Lord.

b.       If we are confident enough, we will step out of our “comfort zones” and trust that the Lord will support us, just as Peter stepped out of the boat onto the water.  This is the test of the faith that we have professed to have.

c.        However, when we experience the difficulties that challenge our beliefs, just as the wind challenged Peter’s faith in Jesus, we begin to waver and doubt.  This is when we fail.

                                                             3.      Therefore, let us understand what happened to Peter that we may understand what happens to us.

a.       Peter knew from his experiences in the physical world that the boat would float on the water and a man would not.  He had never seen otherwise, and so he believed it.

b.       Yet Peter’s initial faith in Christ convinced him to believe in something that he had never seen.  Therefore, he stepped onto the water and walked.

c.        Peter failed only when he turned his focus away from the Lord and back onto the physical world.  At that point, his trust in the boat was greater than his faith in Jesus.

d.       Jesus saved Peter and said, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” (Matt. 14:31).

i.         The word “doubt” here literally means “to stand in two ways.”

ii.        Peter failed when he divided his focus and trust between the Lord and the world.  He became “double-minded” (Jas. 1:6-8), and his faith failed altogether.

C.      Therefore, we must be diligent to rise up to the challenge of believing.

                                                             1.      By definition, faith requires us to believe in the unseen (Heb. 11:1) and do things we otherwise would not do.

                                                             2.      Making this kind of commitment is not easy, and staying committed is even harder.  Again, consider Peter, who was willing to step out of the boat, but began to sink once he was on the water.

II.      WHY FAITH?

A.      Did you ever wish that God would just show Himself to us so as to remove all doubts?  Did you ever ask God for a sign so that you would know for sure?

                                                             1.      This desire was expressed by the Lord’s unbelieving brothers when they advised Jesus to come out and openly show who He was, if indeed He was the Christ.  They said to Jesus, “If You do these things, show Yourself to the world” (John 7:4).

                                                             2.      This was also the attitude of the Jews who demanded signs from Jesus to prove His teachings and authority (Matt. 12:38; 16:1; Mark 8:11; Luke 11:16; John 2:18; 6:30).

B.      We want to see because we trust our eyes to prove what is real and true, just as we sometimes say, “I saw it with my own eyes,” or, “Seeing is believing.”

                                                             1.      This was the desire of Thomas when he heard that the other disciples had seen the Lord raised from the dead.  He said, “Unless I shall see…I will not believe” (John 20:25).

                                                             2.      Later, when Thomas saw Jesus, he believed.  “Jesus said to him, ‘Because you have seen Me, have you believed?  Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed’” (John 20:29).

C.      God is pleased by those who believe without seeing.  In other words, He is pleased by faith.

                                                             1.      “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Heb. 11:1)

a.       Notice that the “things hoped for” and the “things not seen” are the same things.

b.       “For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one also hope for what he sees?  But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.” (Rom. 8:24-25)

c.        In faith, we hope (confidently expect) to receive things that we have never seen before.

                                                             2.      “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.” (Heb. 11:6)

a.       Notice the imperatives of this verse:

i.         No one will ever please God without faith, i.e., the assurance of things hoped and the conviction of things not seen.  It is “impossible.”

ii.        The reason for this is that the one who “comes to God” (with the intention of pleasing Him) “must believe” in two things that he has never seen – that God exists (John 1:18) and that the unseen God will reward those who seek Him.

b.       Faith is the one thing that God has wanted from every man and woman from Adam until now.  This has been universal throughout time as witnessed by Hebrews 11.

D.      It is hard to believe in the unseen.  Why does God require something so difficult for us rather than giving us something we can see without any doubt?

                                                             1.      This is difficult to answer, but it seems to be a matter of choosing the spirit over the flesh.

a.       When we live by the rule of “seeing is believing,” then we have chosen the physical world as our guide in all that we do.

b.       However, if we “walk by faith, not by sight” (2Cor. 5:7), then we are guided by spiritual truth rather than the things we perceive with our physical senses.

                                                             2.      This must please God because “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:24).

a.       God made the physical world, but only man was created with an eternal spirit in the image of God (Gen. 1:26-27).

b.       God will be pleased when we choose to value that part of us that is like Him above the physical part, which will perish.

c.        Jesus said, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life” (John 6:63).

E.       God wants us to trust Him more than we trust the physical world.

                                                             1.      When the world’s wisdom conflicts with the wisdom of God, He wants us to choose Him, just like Peter chose to step out of the boat onto the water.

                                                             2.      Read 2Corinthians 4:16-5:10.

III.   THE REWARD FOR FAITH

A.      Although believing in the unseen is difficult, God promises an unseen reward that will outweigh any difficulty we may have because of our faith.

                                                             1.      “For our momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison.” (2Cor. 4:17)

                                                             2.      Consider the sacrifices made by the faithful men and women of Hebrews 11 who were seeking for the unseen reward (see vv. 10, 13-16, 25-26, 39-40).  To them, the sacrifices they made were worth the reward that they believed they would receive from God.

                                                             3.      “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.” (2Tim. 4:7-8)

                                                             4.      Jesus said, “Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Rev. 2:10).

B.      To please God, we must believe that He will give this reward.

                                                             1.      This belief will motivate us to live our lives in pursuit of the reward, seeking to please our God at all costs.  If we believe, then heaven is the “pearl of great value” for which we will give all that we have (Matt. 13:45-46).

                                                             2.      What do you have to lose?  If there is no unseen God to reward you for faith, what have you lost?  However, if there is a God in heaven, and you do not seek to please Him, how miserable you will be.