City Life Starter

The Word:

Numbers 23:19 “God is not man, that He should lie,

Nor a son of man, that He should repent.

Has He said and will He not do?

Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?”

Reflection Questions:

1. How much scientific evidence do you think it would it take for you (or anyone) to believe, without a shadow of a doubt, in Christ’s resurrection?
2. What kind of physical experience do you think it would take to make you unshakeable in your faith?
3. Do you think if you had only physically been with the Israelites when they walked through the Red Sea or walked with Jesus when He walked this earth, then you would believe? Or that your faith would be unshakeable?

By Heather Mattingly

This information age in which we live, where “google” has become a verb, takes many sources to prove something as true. As Christians, this is exciting because our God is “El Emet” (Hebrew for “God of Truth”). As the Scripture from Numbers above states, He cannot lie.

Pastor Chris walked us through infallible proofs of our faith to be solid. Yet many of us (myself included), if truly honest, must admit that our faith, while indeed is on the ground, often feels like shaky ground. Does this thought process sound familiar to you: “I know I should believe and be bold for Jesus, but I had this experience of _________, and I don’t believe a good God can let that happen.” Or, “there was that time I prayed for healing for ________, and it didn’t happen. And I prayed and fasted for _________, and it didn’t happen. God, are You really there? Are You really good? Did Jesus really come back from the dead? Or was it all just made up, like I hear a lot of people around me saying?”

Imagine this with me: what if you had grown up a slave in Egypt, and then a man named Moses came and delivered you on behalf of God, and led you and all your people through the Red Sea to freedom? And you saw with your physical eyes not only the waters splitting and you walking through them on dry ground, but you also saw the Pharaoh of Egypt swallowed by the waves behind you (Exodus 14). That would surely make you believe without a doubt, right?

We would like to think so, but the Bible tells us otherwise. After being saved, God led the Israelites to Mount Sinai and called Moses up to Him to receive the Ten Commandments. While Moses was on the mountain, the Bible says, “..when the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, the people gathered together to Aaron [Moses’ brother], and said to him, ‘Come, make us gods that shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’……And [Aaron] received the gold from their hand, and he fashioned it with an engraving tool and made a molded calf. Then they said, ‘This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!’” (Exodus 32:1,4)

What? How could they? Just days before, they had witnessed the mighty hand of God saving them; yet, here they are, making a calf and worshiping it as their savior.

Apparently since walking through the Red Sea can’t guarantee us firm belief, surely physically walking with Jesus while He walked this earth would cure us of any of our doubts, correct?

Yet again, the Bible proves otherwise: Matthew’s Gospel says, “When [the disciples] saw [Jesus], they worshiped Him, but some doubted.” (Matt 28:17). Mark’s Gospel says, “…when [the disciples] had heard that [Jesus] was alive and seen by [Mary Magdalene], they did not believe her.” (Mark 16:11). And Luke’s Gospel says, “When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet. But while they still did not believe for joy, and marveled…..” (Luke 24:40-41).

This is scary; for these men knew Jesus here on this earth: they had lived with Him, walked with Him, seen His miracles, seen Him calm the winds and waves, feed thousands, cast out demons, raise Lazarus and others from the dead….but they still did not believe.

Lord, increase our faith! We can’t even believe God on our own; we need God Himself to empower us by His Holy Spirit to believe Him. Faith is a gift of His Spirit, and He wants to give it to us. But we must ask.

Please be encouraged today. If your faith is shaky, it’s OK. God will meet you where you’re at. No matter what we’ve experienced to make us doubt, God will still work with us through it. He who started His good work in us will complete it. These same men that doubted Jesus all died for Him. Why? Not for renown or power or glory, but because of the love of their Lord. God refined them and they knew the Truth: that Jesus IS Lord. And He has Risen! As Pastor Chris said on Sunday, “men will die for what they believe to be true, even if it is a lie. But men will not die for what they know to be a lie.” Would these men, who initially doubted Jesus’ resurrection, have died deaths like these if their faith wasn’t true? Let’s look at how the original followers of Jesus ended their race:

Peter – died in Rome circa 65 A.D.; crucified upside down (at his request – he didn’t feel worthy to die right-side up like his Lord).

Andrew – died in Greece, date unknown; scoured and tied by ropes to an x-shaped cross. Hung for two days before dying, preaching to passersby from his cross.

James, son of Zebedee – died in Jerusalem in 44 AD, beheaded with the sword (Acts 12:1-2)

Philip – died in Syria, 54 AD; crucified upside down by hooks through his ankles

Bartholomew – died in India/Armenia; skinned alive and crucified upside down or beheaded

Thomas – died in Greece or India; lanced by idolatrous priests and burned up in an oven

Matthew – died in Ethiopia circa 60 AD, axed to death

James (Jesus’ brother) – died in Jerusalem circa 66 AD, thrown from Temple then clubbed to death

Jude (Thaddeus) – died in Greece, circa 72 AD, crucified

Simon the zealot – died in England in 74 AD, sawed in half

John, son of Zebedee – Ephesus, Turkey – circa 100AD, thrown in boiling oil, but survived unharmed. Exiled to an island of Patmos (where he wrote the Book of Revelation) and died of natural causes.

Paul (the Apostle) – died in Rome, circa 66 AD, beheaded

Again, would these men, who initially doubted Jesus’ resurrection, have died deaths like these if that they believed wasn’t true?

The only answer is: it is True. Jesus is Lord! “On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand…..”

Prayer:

Lord, I humbly ask You for more faith, for firm faith – that You become more real to me than the chair I’m sitting on. But I don’t know what to do. I have doubts; I don’t know how to believe You when _____________ has happened to me. Help me, Holy Spirit. I choose You and want to believe You more. Please help me and increase my faith. Amen.”