Deliverance From Doubt

the word john series
Hope for Today (English)
Deliverance From Doubt
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John 14:16-26

Hello friend, and welcome to Hope for Today. We are so glad you joined us. This program is produced by Heralds of Hope. We’re an international Gospel media ministry. Each week our Bible teaching broadcasts circle the globe in English and 23 other languages. And why do we teach from the Bible? Because the Bible has the answers. It is the amazing Word of God.

The Bible is like a key. If a door is locked or if a gate is closed, usually you will not be able to enter, unless you have a key. If you have the right key, you can go almost anywhere. It is amazing how such a small piece of metal made just right gives you the ability to go almost anywhere.

In the same way, the Bible is the key for us. We turn to the Bible, and it unlocks the answers to our questions. And we ask big hard questions like, where did I come from? Who am I? Why am I here? And where am I going? For these big questions, the Bible has the best answers.

We also have many smaller questions. Again, the Bible is key. This is where we go to for help with our daily struggles. The principles taught in this Book are what we need. It is the key to living life like God intended, and He knows because He made us. As usual, if you want to know about a product, talk to the person who made, that person will know all about it. In the same way, God knows all about us. And he tells us what we need to know in His Word. You might say His Word is the key to our success.

It is our privilege to share this teaching with you and with many others just like you. Thanks again for joining us. We share not only through radio but also with literature and Bibles. We receive many testimonies of lives that have been changed by the power of the Gospel. And We love hearing these testimonies. If this program touches your heart and life, we’d love to hear from you. Stay tuned, and I’ll give you our contact information at the end of the program.

Now, let’s listen to Pastor J. Mark with today’s teaching.

Do you have questions about God? Have you been searching for answers, and for some reason you are not able to find those answers? I know many people struggle with unanswered questions about God until they begin to doubt the truth. Doubt is a tool of the devil. He used it successfully in his deception in the Garden of Eden. It has tormented men in every age. It is the exact opposite of trust and faith. Doubt is destroying not only to our inner peace, but also to our thought patterns and physical welfare.

To struggle with unanswered questions is not wrong if they are honest questions. It is no sign of great intelligence to ask unanswerable questions. It is a sign of greater intelligence to find answers. Unanswered questions need not nurture doubt, and when they do, it does not mean that you cannot be delivered.

John 14:16-26 provides help for DELIVERANCE FROM DOUBT.

  1. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever.
  2. Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you and shall be in you.
  3. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.
  4.  Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also.
  5.  At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.
  6.  He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.
  7.  Judas (not Iscariot) saith unto him Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thy-self unto us, and not unto the world?
  8.  Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.
  9.  He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me.
  10. These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you.
  11.  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.

In our text, Jesus tells us by what MEANS we can be delivered from doubt. Praise the Lord! You do not need to be whipped or tormented by doubt, because Jesus gives us the means by which we can be delivered from doubt.

First, By the Abiding Presence of the Spirit.

 Observe that the Spirit comes from the Father and that He is going to be present with us forever! He is the Spirit of truth. How we search without finding! But when the Spirit of truth comes and abides with us, then we no longer need to search for truth because He ministers the truth to us. He is the Spirit of truth because He comes from the Father.

Now, I want you to notice that Jesus says He is going to send another Comforter. The Father is going to give us another Comforter. The word comforter has a great meaning in it. It means one who is called alongside, like an attorney or advocate. In one Scripture text, Jesus is called our Comforter or Advocate. We have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ. So Jesus is our Advocate with the Father, and the Spirit of truth is our Advocate from the Father.

This, of course, is only true for believers. This is a fact that only believers can claim. The Spirit comes alongside of those who believe in Jesus, to be that divine abiding presence. Yes, He comes to abide. He comes to live. He lives with us and in us: very real but not visible. This need not trouble us because we work daily with elements that we cannot see. Here is the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth, whom we can experience even though we cannot touch or feel Him with our normal sense of touch.

I point out to you the first sure means by which you can be delivered from doubt: through the abiding presence of the Spirit.

The second means is By the Assuring Promise of Jesus.

Oh, this blesses my heart, my friend, because Jesus said, “Because I live, you shall live also.” Here before His crucifixion, He was anticipating the resurrection. He knew that the grave would not be able to hold Him, so He assured the disciples and us with this precious promise that because He lives, we also will live. This should surely help you overcome any doubt.

Then I noticed also the very beautiful union that Jesus talked about, a union with us, and not only with us but with the Father. He said, “I am in the Father and you are in me and I am in you.” I will very frankly tell you, don’t understand all this. But I’m going to accept what Jesus said, and I’m going to believe that He knew what He was talking about. I am going to claim the promise that Jesus made that He is in the Father, and I am in Him, and He is in me. You can claim that promise too, by faith.

In addition, He is going to manifest Himself to us, not to the world, but to us. Judas asked that question, “Why not to the world?” Jesus answered, “If a man loves me, he will keep my words: and then my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our dwelling place with him.” The world does not love and so cannot receive.

So, we now have the Father, the Son, and the Spirit living with us. Jesus said the Spirit would dwell with us. Then when we walk in His commandments and do those things that He has asked us to do, He and the Father will come also and live with us. They will be at home with us.

Here then is the second certain means by which you can be delivered from doubt. You can be delivered from your doubt by the assuring promise of Jesus.

And the third means is By the Exciting Possibility of Learning.

Jesus said, “My words are not mine, but they are the Father’s, who sent me.” This is very clear: the authority of Jesus goes back to God the Father.

He commented again about the Comforter coming. The Father is going to send Him. We will be receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit. Now watch very carefully what this means to us. I discovered that the word spirit in the first part of our Bible, called the Old Testament, is the Hebrew word, “ruach.” It is first used in Genesis 1:3 when the “Ruach Elohim,” the Spirit of God, brooded upon the face of the deep in the creation of the world.

The New Testament word is “pneuma.” Both of these words are, in essence, non-material; that means we cannot feel and touch them. But the gift of the Spirit of God is our exciting possibility. He has a teaching position. Jesus said, “He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatever I have said unto you.” What an exciting possibility of learning! The Holy Spirit is going to teach us the things we ought to know.

I want you to notice, however, that Jesus said, “Whatever I have said unto you.” Some people, I’m sorry, claim to have such a special relationship with the Holy Spirit that they don’t need to give attention to the Bible. That is wrong. When Jesus said, “The things I have said unto you,” He meant the Spirit would teach us by the Word.

So here then is the third means by which you can be delivered from doubt, by the exciting possibility of learning. The Holy Spirit shall be the teacher.

By these means, we can be delivered from doubt: by the abiding presence of the Spirit, the assuring promise of Jesus, and the exciting possibility of learning.

I urge you to use these means which Jesus gave and meet your need to be delivered from doubt.

My friend, was this teaching helpful? If you’d like a copy, either in print or on an audio CD, just contact us and ask for it by the title. Or log onto our website heraldsofhope.org

The quickest way for you to connect with us is to send an email to [email protected]. That email address is [email protected]. Or write to Hope for Today, Box 3, Breezewood, Pennsylvania 15533. Remember, you can request a printed manuscript or an audio CD of this teaching. We’d be happy to send one to you.

And when you contact us, you can request our Bible Study Guide, Hope Herald. It follows these radio programs and will help you learn more about what we’re studying from John’s Gospel. So, ask for your free copy of Hope Herald today.

Here’s the contact information again. Our email address is [email protected]. Or write to Hope for Today, Box 3, Breezewood, Pennsylvania 15533. Remember, you can request a free copy of this teaching. It’s available in print or on an audio CD. And you can also request a free copy of our newest publication, Hope Herald. It will help you gain more value from our study in John.

And don’t forget our Bible teaching programs are available to you all the time and any time at the website, heraldsofhope.org.

Now, I urge you to tune in next week as Pastor J. Mark continues our study from John’s Gospel. You won’t want to miss it. And until then, keep looking to Jesus. He’ll give you hope for today!

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