An Examination of Doubt
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? And in that same hour he cured many of their infirmities, and of evil spirits;
and unto many that were blind he gave sight.
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,
the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached.
Luk 7:20-22
Jesus never leaves us in the dark. He is the Word from heaven that reveals truths to all who open the door to Him.
One wonders of the prophet John as he languishes in prison. Was he contemplating his death? Did he fulfill his mission? Were these his thoughts and questions? Despite the glory revealed in Jesus Christ, which glory John was eyewitness to, he still sought confirmation as to whether Jesus was indeed the Messiah.
How often we know the truth of a matter, but doubt it. God has given us assurances in many things, but often we seek affirmation from Him. Although we walk by faith, and not by sight, we must resist the trappings of the carnal mind which will always cause us to question and doubt. We doubt God when we seek carnal remedies to spiritual issues. This is sin. The scriptures tell us that whatever is not of faith IS sin. Giving heed to doubt will break the peace that exists in the Spirit and bind us.
Let us be mindful when the spirit of doubt comes upon us and remember the one who opposed truth in the Garden:
Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field
which the LORD God had made.
And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said,
Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
Gen 3:1
Satan’s attempt to deceive Eve began with a question. Did God really say this? He then twisted the truth of the Word of God into a lie causing confusion in the Woman. This confusion caused her to remove her focus from the WORD and to look upon an object. As she contemplated the beauty of the tree, lust was conceived and it finally brought forth sin.
Eve’s fall from Eden resulted when she gave the fruit to Adam and all humankind would now be born into the fallen world in a fallen nature. Satan succeeded in corrupting what God had created as GOOD.
The coming of John the Baptist was prophesied thousands of years before the birth of Christ. He was the one chosen to manifest the Messiah to the nation of Israel. This great mission would be given only to him alone, but John was not alone. John went forth in the spirit and power of Elijah. He was filled with the Spirit from the womb, and was set apart as a Nazarite all of his life. He lived in the wilderness and clearly heard the voice of the Almighty. The preaching of John the Baptist pierced hearts and caused many to come to repentance. He was the Elijah to come and yet, despite the manifestation of the Spirit in his life, John still must experience trials of his faith. “…Shall we look for another?” Luke 7:20
The Word says that He has chosen us in Him from the foundation of the world. It further says that we are the Temple of God and the Spirit of God dwells within us. The Holy Spirit leads us and guides us into all truth and while we do not have the mission of John, we are still called to be witnesses of Christ. God has sent the Spirit (as a dove) to fall upon us, to empower His Church to proclaim the works of God and redemption found in Christ. We stand on this truth, as did John. The gates of hell cannot prevail against it.
Man does not live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. If God has revealed a truth to us, why do we sometimes behave as Eve and look elsewhere? Our faith must be stretched, purified, refined, and perfected to a glorious, shimmering gold, but this process takes time. We succeed, but we also fail. We do not become the perfection in Christ we seek without suffering for it, but as John was not alone, neither are we. The Kingdom of God is within and thereby we are empowered during these trials to overcome and to grow, from glory to glory.
I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills,
from whence cometh my help.
My help cometh from the LORD,
which made heaven and earth.
Psa 121:1-2
from whence cometh my help.
My help cometh from the LORD,
which made heaven and earth.
Psa 121:1-2
We grow from glory to glory by casting all of our cares upon Him, through repentance, by casting down imaginations and by belief in every Word of God. When the spirit of doubt falls upon us, (and it will), our first defense is to cry out to God who will bring the truth to our memory.
But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost,
whom the Father will send in my name,
he shall teach you all things,
and bring all things to your remembrance,
whatsoever I have said unto you.
Joh 14:26
The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, and we must resist carnal remedies, as we have learned in the story of Eve. Reasoning must never be mixed with imagination. We must seek Christ’s face only in all things. This is the Way. It is the state of the overcomer, and is only accomplished in Christ.
John the Baptist understood this well. The disciples carried his question to the One who could ease his mind. Our Lord’s response to John was simple. He gave John the WORD.
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,
the dead are raised,
to the poor the gospel is preached.
Luk 7:22
The Messiah was the one to bring the healing to His people, as was prophesied, and as the prophet John knew well. The Baptist received revelation of the scriptures from the Holy One, as he prepared for his mission in the wilderness.
John knew, as we do, that Christ would:
Open the eyes of the blind:
To open the blind eyes,
to bring out the prisoners from the prison,
and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.
Isa 42:7
Heal the lame:
Then shall the lame man leap as an hart,
and the tongue of the dumb sing:
for in the wilderness shall waters break out,
and streams in the desert.
Isa 35:6
Cleanse the lepers:
and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the LORD;
because they called thee an Outcast, saying,
This is Zion, whom no man seeketh after.
Jer 30:17
The deaf hear:
Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.
Isa 35:5
The Dead raised:
together with my dead body shall they arise.
Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust:
for thy dew is as the dew of herbs,
and the earth shall cast out the dead.
Isa 26:19
The Gospel is preached:
The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me;
because the LORD hath anointed me
to preach good tidings unto the meek;
he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;
Isa 61:1
Jesus never rejects a seeking heart. He will not respond to us with confusion, or doubt, but rather, with the WORD. That truth will be imparted to us with clarity and simplicity, as was His response to John.
But we all, with open face
beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord,
are changed into the same image from glory to glory,
even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
2Co 3:18
Grace and Truth are rooted in Christ. He is the Source of all knowledge and must be the one we fix our gaze upon. When we cast all of our cares upon Him, He will erase all doubt, fear and confusion. His Breath is our life and His truth is found in His Word.
When the spirit of doubt comes that says, “Shall we look for another?” (or, shall we look upon anything other than Jesus in ANY matter?) the Word says we have an unction with the Holy One. We must stand on the Rock, for Jesus Christ alone is our salvation and He alone restoreth our souls.
Morning Manna
Patti White
6/23/08
