Leading The Way

Guest (Male): A few tough questions from Bible teacher Dr. Michael Youssef to begin this episode of Leading the Way.

Dr. Michael Youssef: Why do you think Christians live in sin? Why do you think Christians are afraid to give God generously? Why do you think Christians do the things they do and they live just like their unbelieving neighbors? Because deep down there is unbelief. And that's the core cause of pessimism, distrust in the word of God.

Guest (Male): Welcome to Leading the Way Audio, the place Dr. Michael Youssef passionately proclaims uncompromising truth each day across the globe. You probably know people who tackle their faith with passion. And then you know others who kind of hold onto their doubts and lightly grasp their Christianity.

But how about you? Today a look at Thomas. Even as faithful a disciple of Jesus, he battled pessimism, wavering at times in his trust of Jesus. If you'd like to learn more about Dr. Youssef and Leading the Way, let me encourage you to visit ltw.org. Also consider subscribing to the monthly print magazine, My Journal. Do that later though, because right now you'll want to open to John chapter 11 as Dr. Michael Youssef begins.

Dr. Michael Youssef: Do you know somebody who is a pessimist? Today I want to tell you that there is an absolute cure for pessimism. Whether your pessimism is an inherited condition or an acquired condition, whether your pessimism is something that you're born with or it is something that you have developed through painful experience in life, whether your pessimism is a second nature to you or it is through the years of practice, there is a cure for pessimism.

The Bible tells us about a consummate pessimist and the resurrected Jesus Christ cured this pessimist once and for all. And if the power of the resurrection of Jesus Christ could have cured Thomas, surely it can cure anyone.

The story of Thomas, the disciple of Jesus, is the story of a man who was always suspicious. He is the story of a man, when he listens, he always puts out all of his defenses like radar and they were turned on full blast all the time. And with that personality, I try to imagine in my head that when Jesus was picking the draft, picking his team, and here's Thomas, most likely he stood kind of in the back a little bit and stayed away from the crowd saying to himself, "Oh, he will never pick me. I will never make it. I would just not be one of those guys. He is not going to pick me. I am sure he is not going to get me."

And so Jesus begins and starts calling out his pick of the draft and he said, "Peter and Andrew." And poor old Thomas probably standing there and said, "Yeah, of course, they are blue chippers. I mean, I could have told you that. They are pick of the bunch. They are great guys." And then Jesus continues, "I want James and John, the sons of Zebedee." Thomas standing there probably in the back saying, "Yeah, of course, they are his cousins and you got to keep it in the family and I understand that. I'll never make it."

And then Jesus continues and you can follow the call of the disciples in the Bible. And he says, "I want Philip and Nathanael Bartholomew." And Thomas said, "Well, I knew that this guy Philip has an inside track. And after all, Nathanael is such a pious guy. He is always sitting under a tree reading his Bible. I just know, but I'll never get picked." And so Jesus already halfway through and then Jesus continues and all of a sudden said, "Thomas and Matthew!"

"Me? No. Is there another Thomas here? Did I hear my name right? Thomas! Oh, you mean I'm number seven in the pick of this draft? My goodness, I can't believe it. I am number seven." Why am I telling you this imaginary story? Because I believe with all my heart as you read the scripture, this was the first step forward for the cure of Thomas's pessimism. It really was.

It was the very beginning of a process of which the resurrected Jesus Christ was going to transform Thomas's life, transform him from a pessimist to a visionary, transform him from suspicion to victory, transform him from doom and gloom to great accomplishment for God and for the kingdom of God, transform him from being down on himself to being up on God, transform him from hopelessness to the greatest mission field that was ever penetrated by one man in history.

That was just the beginning. That was the first step. As Thomas followed Jesus and then he began to see him and sense his love for him to be so genuine and his no private agenda, as it were, as he began to see the power of Jesus over nature and the power of Jesus over death and the power of Jesus over diseases, as Thomas began to see the miracles that Jesus was performing one after another, as he began to hear the teaching of Jesus, his pessimism, his feeling of inadequacy began to give way to trusting and obeying.

And then comes the setback. The setback, as indeed came to Thomas. You know, as the opposition was heating up, particularly in the south, Jesus was popular. Every time he goes north, my goodness, the opposition to Jesus heats up. They want to kill him, they want to stone him. And the disciples did not want to go up there. They want to stay where Jesus was popular and the crowd was coming and pressing.

And Thomas finds himself, every time they get a little bit north, he will already have taken two steps forward then he start taking one step back. Every time they head north. So they get to this northern part and Thomas's pessimism begins to raise its ugly head and pessimism begins to get hold of him again. And that opposition to Jesus in Jerusalem was so fierce that literally terrified poor old Thomas. Every time he thinks of the miracles, every time he thinks of the power of Jesus, he gets encouraged, but then he says, "No, those guys, they want to kill us."

And so they get to Capernaum. Now Capernaum is more closer to the north than it is to the south. And there Jesus gets a Western Union cable. Lazarus is dead. And so he tells the disciples, he said, "Our friend Lazarus has died." And all that Thomas can think about, now wait a minute. Lazarus, he's in Bethany. He lives in Bethany. Now Bethany is really only a stone's throw away from Jerusalem. Bethany is how many miles? Bethany to Jerusalem? I mean, Bethany is just a suburb of Jerusalem.

And he begins all preoccupied with how close Bethany is, especially when Jesus said we're going to go and see Lazarus. And at that moment, he begins to dread going up further north and the pessimism began to take over again. And if you want to follow this in the Bible, it's in John chapter 11, verse 18. The disciples actually said to Jesus, they verbalized it. They said to Jesus, "Jesus, let's not go up there in the north. You know what they're going to do to us. Let's not go near Jerusalem."

But you know what Thomas's reaction is? He didn't ask Jesus not to go. You know what his reaction is? "It's all over! It's all over! We're going to die! We're going to die! Let's go and die with Lazarus." That was his. It's a rough translation, but that's exactly what he said. How many of us begin to panic at the first sign of trouble? I mean, the moment you get an unfavorable diagnosis, the moment you get a negative result of a test, the moment you begin to experience some sort of financial reversal, the moment you start sitting there and listening to all these bad news bears telling you on television how bad things are?

And the first thing you want to do is say, "Man, I better cut on my giving to God. After all, I've got to be prudent." But listen, listen to me. Never think that God will bless you based on the economy. Never think for a moment that God's provision for you is determined by the Dow Jones Index. Never think that God cares for his children based on the news.

David said, "I was young, now I'm old. I have never seen the righteous forsaken. I've never seen his children beg for bread." And I'm convinced at that moment, David was older and he was looking back and he thought of the time that he was anxious and the times that he was worried and the times that he was despondent and pessimist about his future in the time when he faced Absalom in the times when he faced economic crisis. And he probably saying to himself, "What a waste of time that was. What a waste of energy that was. What a waste of effort that was."

And as Thomas enters into Bethany with Jesus, he probably saying to himself, "Man, it's all over. It's done." And then he watches Jesus stand there in front of the tomb of Lazarus. Everybody's hands on their nose because the body was stinking by that time. And Jesus said, "Move the stone." And then he moved the stone. And the Bible said with great voice Jesus said, "Lazarus, come out!"

Wow. And there old Thomas sees Lazarus walking in there, covered with the grave clothes. And he sees the mighty power of Jesus again and he begins to regain confidence. He begins to brim with optimism. "Wow. What was I worried about when Jesus can raise the dead? What was I doubting when Jesus is the God of power and might? What was I pessimistic about when Jesus is my portion?"

But this was only the second step in Thomas's process of overcoming pessimism. Let me ask you this. What area in your life does Jesus want you to take giant steps toward overcoming? Is it the area of being able to give back to God what belongs to God? Is it in the area of your unforgiveness to another person? Is it in the area of your pride that is reigning and ruling supreme? Is it in the area of your pessimism? What area is it?

And so in John 14, there you find the third step in Thomas's stepping stone toward victory over pessimism. Jesus was beginning to comfort his disciples before he faced his cross and he began to say those magnificent words in John chapter 14, verse 1, "Let not your hearts be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, would I have told you?"

And the disciples hanging on every word that Jesus was speaking, except for Thomas. I mean, Thomas's mind was wandering of all the possible predicament that they're about to face. And so he interrupts Jesus. In the midst of those incredible words of comfort, he interrupts him, "Lord, we don't know where you're going. How do we know the way?"

And I'm so glad he asked that question, aren't you? Because it gave Jesus the opportunity to tell him and to tell us once and for all who he is. He said, "Thomas, I am the way, the truth, and the life and no one can come to the Father except through me." And so finally, Thomas sees the crucifixion of Jesus and he experiences a complete meltdown. I mean, if you call that meltdown, I mean, it was done. He was completely overcome with pessimism.

And he probably most likely said to himself, "I knew it. I said so. I knew it. It was too good to last. It was too good to be true. I have never should have been involved in all of this. I was happy doing my thing. Why did I even get involved?" I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. You know what that is? It's called beating yourself black and blue. Beating yourself. Things that are absolutely not even factual.

And when Thomas reached a rock bottom, and I mean rock bottom, you can't get below that, and when that happened he wanted to be alone. How many of you know you don't have to have a PhD in psychology to know that you should not be alone when you're hitting rock bottom? But he was alone. Thomas was not with the other disciples on that first day of the week as the Lord Jesus Christ came supernaturally in the middle of the room while the doors are locked and he said, "Peace to you. Here are the marks of the wounds."

He was not there. Most likely Thomas went home, locked his door, pulled the shades down, got into bed, pulled the bedcovers over his face and pretended that what happened in the last three years did not really happen. Dear old Thomas. Here he was about to trust again. Here he was beginning to make progress. Here he was beginning to make a commitment. Here he was beginning to overcome pessimism, but now he's falling apart.

Now what would you say? "Michael, but Thomas saw with his own eyes Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. He saw with his own eyes how Jesus raised the son of the widow of Nain from the dead. He saw with his own eyes Jesus raising the daughter of Jairus from the dead. How come?" Listen to me very carefully, please. From the time of Caesarea Philippi to Calvary, a period of about three years, we don't know how many times it's recorded in the scripture several times, but we don't know exactly how many, he must have said it a hundred times. Jesus would say to Thomas and to the disciples, "I came to die and rise again. I came to die and rise again. I came to die and rise again."

But the problem was they did not want to believe him. They really did not want. They really were putting hope against hope that Jesus didn't mean what he said. Beloved, listen to me. Listen to me. The core of pessimism in life, any life, anyone, the core of pessimism is unbelief. It's unbelief. I'm not saying you're not being saved, because that happens to believers as well. Unbelief can take hold of a believer. He may know that he or she is saved, but unbelief can take hold of your heart and take a grip on you that you literally distrust God.

Why do you think Christians live in sin? Why do you think Christians are afraid to give God generously? Why do you think Christians do the things they do and they live just like their unbelieving neighbors? Because deep down there is unbelief. And that's the core cause of pessimism. Distrust in the word of God. Uncertainty if God would really, really keep his promise. That's the number one problem for believers in America or anywhere in the world today.

Oh, listen, I know we sing the songs and we say we love you, Lord. We trust you, Lord. We'll follow you wherever you lead us, Lord. I know we sing all the songs, but there's something deep down that constantly coming to us and saying, "I don't expect God to do what he said he's going to do. He did all these things back in the Bible days. He's not going to do that for me today." No. You command that thought out of your head in the name of the resurrected Jesus.

And so when the disciples go to AWOL Thomas and they say to him, "Thomas, we saw the risen Lord. He is risen, Thomas." He said, "I don't believe you. I just don't believe you." "Oh Thomas, we saw him with our eyes. We heard him with our ears. We touched him. Thomas, the Lord is risen just like he said! He came through the locked doors supernaturally. He said peace I leave with you." "I don't care what you say. Unless I touch his wounds, unless I see with my eyes, I am not going to believe you."

There's something here I don't want you to miss. It tears me up every time I think of it, actually. And it's the way the Lord Jesus dealt with Thomas. He did not say to him, "Thomas, you foolish man! Thomas, don't you remember I said what I said? Don't you believe what I told you, Thomas? Why didn't you believe me, Thomas, when I told you?" No. None of that. What a great God we have. What a great God we have.

Jesus said to Thomas, "Thomas, come. Feel my hands. Feel my feet. Feel my side, Thomas. See the marks of the wounds of your sin of unbelief in my body." And when finally Thomas makes this incredible great confession, "My Lord and my God," he was in effect saying, "This is the ultimate triumph over pessimism. This is my ultimate victory over doubt. This is my ultimate liberation from pessimism. This is my ultimate deliverance from pessimism."

And Thomas did not just say intellectually, "My Lord and my God" and then he went home and everything was usual and his life was the same. No, no, no, no. We do that, but he didn't do that. He to him the deliverance from his pessimism meant that he is going to do something great for God that nobody else has ever done. It meant that he was going to go to the toughest parts of the world at that time.

And so he took off and he went to Nineveh, modern day Mosul that you hear about it in Iraq. And there he founded the church and the church is still there. And then from Nineveh he went on to India. And there he established the church of Mar Thoma, the church of St. Thomas, which is still there today. And I have friends in Kerala in south of India where the church of Mar Thoma is thriving, evangelical church. It stands as a testimony to the power of the resurrected Jesus Christ over not only pessimism, but all of life's problems. All of life's problems.

Let me ask you this. Are you willing to trust Jesus fully? What is he calling you to do that you dragging your feet and you dragging your heels and refusing to do? Is he asking you to express his trust in him in a tangible way that you just don't want to do it? Is he asking you to get out of your cocoon and make a difference? Can you say, "My Lord and my God" and then go out into the world and prove that he is your Lord and prove that he is your God by serving him, by serving his vision for your life?

Guest (Male): A challenge to give up your pessimism and go all in with Jesus. Thank you for making time in your listening day for Leading the Way with Dr. Michael Youssef. And we want to invite you to listen to this message again or any past messages when you go to ltw.org. You can also listen through the Leading the Way app or subscribe to the podcast. Use that same website ltw.org for details about all of these great connect options and more. Now I know you've heard us mention Dr. Youssef's recent book, "An Unholy Alliance". It would be great to add to your summer reading list and share it with a friend.

For years, many have refused to talk about what's happening. It was dismissed as "over there" in distant headlines. But now, it's here. You see it on college campuses. You hear it in classrooms and conversations. Two radical ideologies, once openly hostile, now standing shoulder to shoulder. In Dr. Youssef's new book, "An Unholy Alliance", he explains why this convergence is happening, where it comes from, and why ignoring it will only accelerate the downfall of our society.

Dr. Michael Youssef: The leaders of this Islamization of the West movement, they operate on one basis, and that's fear.

Guest (Male): Most leaders stay silent. Many are afraid of the backlash. But silence has consequences. This is not about fear or political solutions. It's about truth and the responsibility we have to speak it with courage and compassion.

Dr. Michael Youssef: We are to warn and to encourage and to bring those people to come to Christ, that we would say to them, "Jesus loves you," and that's the message that we the believers have.

Guest (Male): It's one of the most urgent messages of our lifetime. And if we don't speak up now, the next generation will pay the price. Order your copy of Dr. Michael Youssef's eye-opening new book, "An Unholy Alliance", and learn how you can make a difference for Christ. To get your copy, call the resource line 866-626-4356, or you can order securely online at ltw.org. Our number again is 866-626-4356, or ltw.org.

This program is brought to you by Leading the Way with Dr. Michael Youssef. Connect further with audio and video content at ltw.org.