Doubt and Faith. He was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord. sermon notes and outline by Howard Taylor.

Remember these are only notes so do not expect full sentences, perfect grammar or even perfect spelling! (Remember too that British spelling is not the same as American spelling!)

Doubt and Faith.
Apostles preached the resurrection and said that this Jesus will one day judge the world.
Not   claiming    to    be    great philosophers or religious teachers, but witnesses.
    We saw him. Not a few but many of us.
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Sir Norman Anderson:
     If Jesus did not rise, what does that mean?
1. Disciples were hallucinating.
Possible? people hallucinate about something they expect to happen or hope may happen.
Disciples were not expecting or even hoping that Jesus might rise and they all refused, at first to believe.

Anyway if Jesus's body was still in the tomb all the enemies of Christianity could have gone to the tomb and scotched Christianity by producing the   dead body.
The crucifixion and burial of Jesus was a very public event.

2.     Disciples stole the body and agreed to make the story up.
But if they knew it was a lie why did they later give up their lives and die for their belief?
    If it was a lie they would all have agreed on the
          same story.
    But differences. (not contradictions) that is what you would expect.

Four witnesses at a road accident. not exactly the same story   but the significant things would be the same.
If identical the police would suspect collusion.
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Who is used to assessing the evidence? Lawyers.
Last two Lord Chancellors (Lord Hailsham and Lord Mackay of Clashfern) believed in the resurrection of Jesus.

Before them Lord Chief Justice of England Lord Darling said of resurrection of Jesus:
"In its favour as living truth there exists such overwhelming evidence, positive and negative, factual and circumstantial, that no intelligent jury in the world could fail to bring in a verdict that the Resurrection story is true."

Not enough to know the evidence is good.
Emmaus Road. Heard the evidence but still sorrowful.
Not until they Invite Him in.
`Behold I stand at the door ... '

Sir Norman Anderson lost two of His children in the most trajic circumstances imaginable.
Soon after his loss. Speaking about the resurrection, but then ...
    "He lives within my heart."

So why so much doubt now?
Rom 1:1,3,4
1    Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God
3    regarding his Son, who as to his human nature was a descendant of David,
4    and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.

The resurrection of Jesus:
The Holy Spirit's confirmation that the Jesus who had walked in Galilee and Jer, healed sick, taught the Sermon on Mt, confronted the religious leaders, brought forgiveness to sinner, claimed to be Son Of God, died in agony on Cross, Buried in tomb
    This man was and is God's Eternal Son.

The words of mocking: "If you be the Son of God come down from the cross and we will believe".

Dream of a medieaval Christian in Dumfries.
In the dream is a tree cut down to made into a cross.
That tree must bear the blood of the crucified one who is none other than the one in whom the whole wonderful creation holds together.

On that broken tree - there is, in agony
    - condemned instead of us -
    Jesus -
- the Creator has humbled Himself in His Son so that He might take us from:
        darkness to light, AND fear to hope and peace.

Paul says of the cross of Christ:
'The Power of God and the wisdom of God'.
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Yet after His resurrection Jesus did not appear to the chief priests
        - `You were wrong!'
       Why not? Come back to that in a minute.
He did appear to the disciples.
1    Women - 2
2    Mary Magdalene.
3    2 Disciples on Road to Emmaus.
4    10 disciples in upper room
5    11 Disciples in room
6    Several fishing at Lake Galilee.
7    500 at one time.

Did He appear to them and not the Chief Priests because they were believing?
No! They were not believing!
After the crucifixion the disciples were frightened, guilty, doubting, and disillusioned.
Frightened: Hid in a locked room. Same fate?
Guilty: Let Jesus down.
11    disillusioned: Luke 24:1921 'He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people.20    The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; 21 but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel.

12    Doubting: Simply did not believe the woman's story - Idle tale.

Any of these things could be true of the best of us.
    Fear, feeling guilty, disillusioned and let down, doubting.

If you are experiencing any of these things I would no more blame you than blame you for suffering from indigestion.

But their doubt was different than the unbelief of the Chief Priests.

Two kinds of doubt:
1.    Doubt but secretly do not want to believe.
Afraid that it might be true.
If Jesus is risen then He must be trusted and obeyed. This is the unbelief of many today.    Wilful unbelief. For that we can be blamed.
CSLewis: Atheists have to be careful not to let their minds wander from the business of this world.

2. Doubt that does want to believe. Open to truth. Simply troubled by the disappointments of life.    Born with a hesitant disposition.

Should we ever doubt?
God does not want us to spend our lives in doubt and uncertainty.
I Jn 5:13
13    I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. (NIV)
But a doubting man who is sincere in his seeking will find faith.

What was the difference between the disciples and the chief priests?

Lets go back to text.
Rom 1:3 regarding his Son, who as to his human nature was a descendant of David,
No doubt about His human nature.
His mother, bros., sisters known.
He ate, slept, was hungry and thirsty like any other man.
Wept with emotion, rejoiced.
Experienced temptation, disappointment, loneliness like other men.
AND like all other human beings he died. (though it was a premature death by execution and torture).
Ancestry could be traced back to David.
Israelite, Tribe of Judah.
No doubt about His human nature.

But what about His Divine nature?
This Q must have tormented disciples the Sabbath - day after His crucifixion.
AND it must have troubled the minds of the chief priests and Pharisees.
Certainly He had done wonderful deeds and spoken penetrating words of power.
But who was He really?

Jesus did not begin His ministry by telling people who He was.
He wanted them to respond to Him without great claims.
    (Told them not to tell others about His healing)
As His ministry continued - gradually revealed more and more of Himself to those who responded.
The more they able to accept the more He would tell them.

But to those who rejected teaching and were jealous of His healing - hardened their hearts ...
He did not tell them who He was until near the end of His ministry.
When they asked Him He would not tell until the v. last trial.
They had already - out of jealousy - determined that He must die.
When He told them they could not bear it but stopped their ears.
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Yet all through His ministry the Q in everyone's mind was: "Who is this?"
1    Paralysed man healed. Jesus: "My son thy sins are forgiven". "Who is this that forgives sins?"
2    Cast out demons. "Who is this ..?"
3    After calming of storm. "Who is this that even the wind ... "
4    On first Palm Sunday - donkey. City stirred and asked: "Who is this?"

The Chief Priests had an answer.
The crowd in Jer said: "Can this be the Messiah?"
They answered: "We know who this is and where He came from"
Jesus responded: "Do you really know that? You do not know the One from whom I came".
After Jesus had cast out demons the Pharisees gave an answer:
    "He is from the devil that is why ... "

The more the disciples responded the more Jesus revealed who He was.
But those who kept on rejecting Him - He gradually hid Himself from them.
----------------------------------------------------
At His trial when they are so full of rage they bring themselves to ask the Q:
    "Are you the Son of God?"
A: "It is as you say but in future you will see the heaven opened and the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of God and coming with power and glory."
That is what they cannot bear.

Not only Son of God but their judge on the last day.
Therefore stamp Him out.
If only they could kill Him then all right.

Haunted by the terrible Q: "Is He the Son of God and are we rejecting Him?"
Sense their great relief when He is dying.
They mock Him:
"If you are the Son of God come down from the cross."
But even after His death still worried: :Put a guard on the tomb!.
They were determined not to believe.

Some people today will go to great lengths ...

The disciples too were haunted by doubts and fears.
They had trusted Him and left all for Him.
But now He was gone.
Was He really the Son of God?
    Rom 1:4 through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.
So in the midst of their doubts and fears He appears to them.
•    Peace be with you.
•    Hands and feet. My suffering brings you forgiveness.
•    Breathed on them: Receive the Holy Spirit.
They worshipped Him.
Brought to faith.
But He did not go to Chief Priests.
After three years of appealing, inviting, warning, He let them go their own way.
Time for appealing, cajoling and warning was over.

Judgement: "He leaves us to our own determined path."
John 12:3536
35    Then Jesus told them, "You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. The man who walks in the dark does not know where he is going.
36    Put your trust in the light while you have it, so that you may become sons of light." When he had finished speaking, Jesus left and hid himself from them.
Chief Priests would not see Jesus again until heaven is opened and see the Son of Man coming in glory.'

Are there some here who have doubted the truth of Christ's resurrection?
Is it honest doubt? Would you like to believe?
Seek and you will find.
Peace - wholeness.
Forgiveness and the gift of the Holy Spirit.
By which you be filled with His faith, hope and love.