Dealing With Doubts

To learn more about dealing with life's difficulties, click here: Dealing With Problems I. The compassion of God 1. Sometimes Christians focus on the judgment and severity of God and forget about His compassion. 2. God is full of compassion (Psa 86:15; Psa 145:8). 3. Compassion - 1. Suffering together with another, participation in suffering; fellow-feeling, sympathy. 2. The feeling or emotion, when a person is moved by the suffering or distress of another, and by the desire to relieve it; pity that inclines one to spare or to succour. Const. on (of obs.). (The compassion of sense 1 was between equals or fellow-sufferers; this is shown towards a person in distress by one who is free from it, who is, in this respect, his superior.) 4. It is not God who is the roaring lion walking about seeking whom He may devour as we sometimes imagine Him to be (Lam 3:10-21). 5. God's compassions fail not (Lam 3:22-23). 6. God has tender mercy towards His children (Jam 5:11). A. Pitiful adj. - Full of or characterized by pity; compassionate, merciful, tender. B. Mercy n. - 1. a. Forbearance and compassion shown by one person to another who is in his power and who has no claim to receive kindness; kind and compassionate treatment in a case where severity is merited or expected. C. Tender adj. - III. Tender toward or in regard to others. 7. a. Of an action or instrument: Not forcible or rough; gentle, soft; acting or touching gently. 7. As a loving Father, God is pitiful towards His children (Psa 103:13-14). A. Pity v. - 1. trans. To feel pity for; to compassionate, commiserate, be sorry for. B. God is a Father to the fatherless (Psa 68:5-6). C. If parents forsake us, God will take us up (Psa 27:10; Isa 49:15-16). D. God never will forsake us (Heb 13:5). 8. God has great kindness towards His children (Neh 9:17). 9. God is merciful toward His children (Psa 103:8). 10. God is gracious toward His children (Psa 111:4). 11. Gracious adj. - Condescendingly kind, indulgent and beneficent to inferiors. 12. God loves His children (1Jo 4:10). 13. God cares for us (1Pe 5:7; Isa 63:9). 14. God is longsuffering towards His children (1Ti 1:16). II. The love and mercy of God in salvation 1. God loved his people so much that He sent His only begotten Son into the world to die for them (Joh 3:16). 2. This is how we know God loves us (1Jo 3:16). 3. There was never greater love shown by anyone than when Jesus laid down His life for us His friends (Joh 15:13). 4. This love of God toward us moved God to choose us in Christ before the foundation of the world (Eph 1:4). 5. This great love and mercy toward us moved God to quicken us (make us born-again, spiritually alive) when we were dead in sins (Eph 2:4-5). 6. God gave us a vivid and graphic description of His love and compassion towards His people in salvation (Eze 16:1-14). III. Far from rejecting one of His children who is broken because of sin, God is close to such an one. 1. God is close to a contrite heart (Psa 34:18). 2. Contrite adj.- 2. fig. Crushed or broken in spirit by a sense of sin, and so brought to complete penitence. 3. God will not despise a broken and contrite heart (Psa 51:17). IV. It is Satan, not God, who is the accuser of the brethren. 1. Satan tempted Jesus and tried to make Him doubt that He was God's son (Mat 4:1-11; Luk 4:1-13). 2. Satan does the same thing to God's children and tries to get them to doubt they are sons and daughters of God. 3. When Satan levels this attack, we need to resist him steadfast in the faith (1Pe 5:8-9). A. If Satan tries this tactic on you, know that you are not alone. B. Your brethren endure the same afflictions (1Pe 5:9). C. This temptation, like all others, is common to man (1Co 10:13). D. With every temptation, God makes a way for you to escape (1Co 10:13). E. Jesus was tempted in all points as we are (Heb 4:15-16). F. He will help you (Heb 2:18). G. Ask Jesus to increase your faith (Luk 17:5). 4. If we resist the devil, he WILL flee from us (Jam 4:7). 5. Jesus showed us how to resist the devil. A. Satan must be resisted with the word of God. B. Satan leveled his attack on Jesus casting doubt on His Sonship saying "If thou be the Son of God..." (Mat 4:3,6). C. Jesus responded by quoting scripture to the devil each time (Mat 4:4,7,10). D. Jesus knew that He was the Son of God because God publicly declared that He was (Mat 3:17) and He therefore could confidently resist the devil's attacks. E. Jesus rebuked the devil with the word of God, saying "Get the behind me, Satan: for it is written..." (Luk 4:8). F. Jesus as a man was resisting the devil by using scripture. G. When Jesus resolutely resisted the devil multiple times, the devil left tempting Him for a season (Luk 4:13). 6. We must resist the devil the same way Jesus did. A. Don't rail against the devil, resist him with the word of God. B. The devil is more powerful than us, but not God or His word. C. Even Michael the archangel didn't rebuke the devil on his own merit, but said "The Lord rebuke thee" (Jud 1:9). D. Just as God told Jesus that He was His beloved Son, God has told us that we are His beloved children (1Jo 5:13; 1Jo 3:1-2). i. The Bible tells us that as believers we are the sons of God (Joh 1:12-13). ii. The Bible tells us that as believers we have eternal life (Joh 3:36; 6:47; 5:24). iii. The Bible tells us that if we believe that Jesus is the Christ, we are born of God (1Jo 5:1). iv. If you believe what the Bible says about Jesus, then believe what it says about you! E. Therefore, when the devil comes to us and says something like: i. "If you were a child of God, God wouldn't have let that happen to you." ii. "If you were a child of God, you wouldn't have all the trouble in your life that you do." iii. "If you were a child of God, you would understand more of the Bible than you do." iv. "If you were a child of God, you wouldn't doubt that you are a child of God." v. "If you were a child of God, you would have stronger faith." vi. "You're just a pretender...you're a phony...you're a hypocrite." vii. "If you were a child of God, you wouldn't have just committed that sin." viii. "If you were a child of God, you would act more like Jesus." ix. "If you were a child of God, you wouldn't be depressed." x. "If you were a child of God, you wouldn't have this persisting temptation." F. Resist him steadfast in the faith by saying: "Get thee behind me Satan, for it is written: 'Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God'" (1Jo 5:1). G. If you resist the devil in this way, he WILL flee from you (Jam 4:7).