Leading The Way

Guest (Male): Dr. Michael Youssef with a warning about doubts in life as Leading the Way audio begins.

Dr. Michael Youssef: If doubt is not dealt with immediately, it can erode the foundation of the faith. It can cause you self-condemnation, and it can cause you depression. It can make you cynical, and it can make you critical. And that is why the Apostle John gives us ways by which we must deal with doubt as soon as it shows its ugly head.

Guest (Male): Faith life often feels like a roller coaster. You know what I mean? God's amazing grace takes you to these remarkable highs, and then as life happens, doubt drags you, your thoughts, and your emotions into devastating lows.

Welcome to Leading the Way with Dr. Michael Youssef, and in a moment, a biblical challenge to put doubt in its place, and by doing so, invite victory into your life. It's part of Dr. Youssef's series called Life at its Best. So join me now in listening to Dr. Michael Youssef's anointed teaching as he begins this episode of Leading the Way audio.

Dr. Michael Youssef: Most of us have to admit that from time to time, we go through times of doubt. The problem is there have been so many prevailing thoughts and teaching about how to deal with doubt that are not necessarily biblical. The Bible teaches that from time to time, depending on where you are in life, doubt can creep in to all of us.

The question is what you do with it and how you deal with it and when you deal with it is the most important thing. What do you do? You ignore it? No. Do you accept it? No. Do you believe it? No. Doubt must be faced head-on. Doubt must be dealt with immediately. Doubt must be acknowledged honestly. Doubt must be processed and reasoned out.

Now don't misunderstand me. Doubt is frightening. It really is. And that is why the brother of the Lord Jesus Christ, James, tells us in chapter one verses seven and eight. He said the habitual doubter, the continuous doubter, the person who lives in doubt, is a double-minded man and is troubled in all his ways.

Why do I tell you that doubt must be dealt with and acknowledged decisively and immediately? Because if doubt is left unchecked, if doubt is not dealt with immediately, it can lead to greater trouble in our lives. If doubt is not dealt with immediately, it can erode the foundation of the faith. It can cause you self-condemnation, and it can cause you depression. It can corrode your joy and your peace with God and with others. It can make you cynical, and it can make you critical. And that is why the Apostle John gives us ways by which we must deal with doubt as soon as it shows its ugly head.

Turn with me to 1 John 3, beginning at verse 11, as John gives us the tools to deal with doubt and to demolish doubt in order to continue in that journey of life at its best. Verse 14 really sums it up. We know that we have passed from death to life because we love the brethren. Now listen to me. He is not saying that sometimes we get disappointed and angry with a brother or sister in Christ. He is not saying that sometimes we strongly disagree with other believers. He is not saying that sometimes we get irritated by other believers. He is not saying that sometimes we may feel it necessary not to do business with another believer. He is not saying that.

No, he is saying what you do with these disagreements, what you do with this anger, what you do with these disappointments, is what matters the most. Why? Because if you allow these things to turn into hatred, that hatred begins to possess you. And once it possesses you, it can turn you into a murderer. And that is why he goes on to give us the example of Cain. I'm going to come to that in a minute.

But all of that process begins with doubt. The process of hatred and the process of murder in the mind begins with doubt. You say how come? It all began with doubt. I'm going to show you how come. Adam and Eve taught their boys about the Garden of Eden. They taught them why they were kicked out of the Garden of Eden. They taught them how they were evicted from paradise and why the flaming sword guarding the Tree of Life. And how God Himself killed an innocent lamb and shed an innocent blood in order to redeem them and redeem their sin. There's no doubt that they taught their children that animal sacrifice is God's way for repentance, is God's way for redemption of sin.

Abel obeyed God's instruction through his parents. Abel obeyed God's teaching through his parents. Abel followed the principle of animal sacrifice, but Cain doubted it. See, it all begins with doubt. He doubted God's Word. He doubted his parents' teaching. He doubted the validity of God's principle. And when doubt is not dealt with, it turns into hatred and anger. And when anger is not dealt with, it turns into murder.

But that's not all. In Genesis 4:7, God pleaded with Cain, "Turn away from your anger, turn away from your anger," but he wouldn't. He stubbornly refused. His doubt which turned into anger led him into killing his brother. Doubt caused him to refuse to acknowledge God's way and God's authority. And when God tried to reason with him, when God tried to explain right from wrong to him, when God tried to appeal to him to curb his anger, he turned from Him. He refused. And that conflict still rages today.

You see it on your television screen every night. The hatred that is so deep, the resentment, that could not care less who gets hurt. You see, only Jesus Christ can change a heart, and that is the business we're in. Because we know without Jesus Christ, this world will be inflamed and engulfed in hatred and murder. The bottom line is this for everyone who calls themselves a Christian, a child of God. The question is this. The bottom line is this. Is it His will or mine? That's the bottom line.

Verse 13 of chapter three, 1 John, gives us a warning. He said, "Don't be surprised when your love is met with hatred." Don't be surprised. In fact, Jesus takes this attitude of hatred further because He knows our heart. He knows our attitudes. Matthew 5:21 and 22, you know the passage, the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus said that while the world will judge the action of the hatred, namely murder, God judges the attitude. Because we can kill inside of our hearts.

He said, "You have heard that it was said to the people of long ago, 'Do not murder,' and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment. But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother or hates his brother will be subject to judgment." You see they might get out of the judgment of man, but they cannot get out of the judgment of God.

And verse 16 makes it very clear. Hatred, which is the opposite of love, can destroy another's life, whether it's by thought or deed. It destroys another's life. So what's the answer? What's the answer? John gives it to us. You keep on loving without counting the cost. You keep on loving, expecting nothing in return. You keep on loving without deciding if the person is worthy of your love or not. You keep on loving without self-interest, even if your love is met with ingratitude. You keep on loving anyway.

You say, "That's impossible." And I agree with you. On your own strength, it's impossible. But we've been given the power to do the impossible. And that's where that hatred comes in here, why it begins with doubt. It begins with doubt when you begin to doubt the power of God that is given to you to love and forgive.

Once you doubt that power, you don't have that power, and you get into this process. John asks, "How do we know that we are in the truth? How do we know that we are at peace with God? How do we know that we are the children of God? How do we know that we can overcome doubt in life? How can we receive answers to our prayer?" Look at it, it's in the text. John said even when our hearts condemn us, even when our conscience condemn us, even when others condemn us, even when Satan condemns us, God is greater. God is greater.

I know there are some people who allow Satan's condemnation upon their life to turn into self-condemnation and they really begin to believe that condemnation. Make no mistake about it. Doubt will lead to self-condemnation. And self-condemnation is going to lead you into terrible trouble. In fact, it will lead you of living away from the Lord. I want you to hear me out on this one. The Bible said that there is no condemnation upon those who are in Christ Jesus.

And when you doubt that promise of God, when you doubt that Word of God, you will buy into Satan's false accusation of you. You will believe Satan's false accusation of you. You will believe the lie of condemnation. And that will lead you to more sin every time.

Let me tell you a story that will illustrate what I'm trying to tell you. Some time ago, there was a special service in the Ohio penitentiary. It was in the chapel and there was the governor announcing the pardon and the release of some of the prisoners. And suspense was mounting. They did not know whose name is going to be called out. And they were all sitting in absolute silence and anticipation.

And so the name is read. "Reuben Johnson, come forward and receive your pardon." No one responded. No one responded. The chaplain looked at the man and he said to him, he said, "Reuben, that's you. Come on down." Reuben looked behind him, thinking that somebody named Reuben Johnson somewhere sitting there. And then he pointed directly at him and he said, "You! Come down! That's right! You're the man!" After a long pause, he slowly approached the platform to receive his pardon from the governor.

But that's not all. At the end of the meeting, as the prisoners lined up to go back to their cells, Reuben Johnson filed in in the same line in going back to his cell. And finally the warden had to yank him out and say, "You cannot go there. Reuben, you don't belong here anymore. You are a free man." Beloved, there are believers like Reuben Johnson. When they are plagued with doubt, and don't deal with it, they live as if they have never been redeemed. They live as if never been forgiven. They live as if never been Calvary's blood shed for them.

Of course, that is different from the tug of the heart upon a believer. Conscience, heart, the Bible talks about the heart meaning the totality of who we are. And that tug of the heart looms as a result of saying or doing that which is inconsistent with our new nature, which is inconsistent with God's Word. From the spiritual giants to the brand-new believers, everyone feels that tug. But that's not condemnation.

I have it on a daily basis. I feel it on a daily basis. But it is different from doubt that leads into condemnation. And the difference between self-condemnation and the gentle tug of the Holy Spirit that reminds us of the wrong things that we did, the difference are like day and night. One is like Reuben, who could not believe that he's been set free. And the other is like a judge, who's constantly probing, questioning, examining. Our heart or our conscience, which knows more about us than any other person except God, is forever tugging on us. And that's all right.

But unlike the accusations of Satan which is false, often our hearts are convicting us of the truth. Our enlightened conscience convicting us. And these are always true, not false accusation. And so what is John saying here? Right there in the text. John is saying, here's what you do with the tug. Don't ignore it. Don't shrug it off. Don't mark it down as to peer pressure, or don't pretend it exists. No. But rather face it head-on. How? By realizing that God is bigger than your heart, that God is bigger than your conscience, that God is greater than your fear.

By realizing that God is more than your heart, that God knows better than your heart. By recognizing that God knows your strength and He knows your weaknesses, that God knows your gains and your losses, that God knows your successes and failures, that God knows your measurement of love toward Him and toward others, that God knows you're imperfect, that God knows that your heart's cry to Him for more Christ-likeness, for more consistent prayer life, for more consistent Christian life. God knows that.

But listen to me. That ought to comfort us, not threaten us. That ought to bless us, not hurt us. That ought to motivate us, not discourage us. That ought to give us confidence, not terrify us. Why? Because we know that the Lord already accepted us and received us and gave us His last name. And that He never turns us away. And when you come to Him, He forgives you. He doesn't condemn you. And so we can boldly come to Him face to face because we belong to Him. Because He already lavished His love upon us.

Listen, it is so easy for some believers to become so uptight after failure and sin that they never release that uptightness through confession and repentance and seeking God's forgiveness. John said if you stay in that uptightness, that's a big mistake. It is so easy for some of us to be so hard on ourselves that we stay away from the Lord. Big mistake. It is so easy for some people not to ask God for everything that God wants for us to ask for. Big mistake. It is so easy for some of us to allow our pride to keep us from the sunshine of His love. It is so easy for some of us to call ourselves miserable failures and to tell ourselves that we can never succeed. Big mistake.

On the other hand, when we are totally resting on His grace, when we're totally resting on His mercy and love, you will pray big prayers because you will know that you have a big God and you're not in doubt. You will pray what God's desire to give you. You will pray claiming what God had promised in His Word. You will pray everything that's in His will for you. And when I was thinking about the difference between condemnation and the tug that the Holy Spirit uses to bring His children closer and closer to the Lord and asking for forgiveness on a daily basis, I thought of a story.

It was about a man in Spain who was sentenced to death. This man was an American citizen, but he was British born. Both the counselors of Great Britain and United States intervened because they felt that was a wrong accusation and the man was falsely accused. And they declared that the Spanish authority had no right to take this man's life. But their protest went unheeded. Finally, they deliberately wrapped the man with both flags, the flag of both countries, the stars and stripes and the Union Jack. And they dared the executioners to shoot and kill that man. In fact, they said, "Fire if you dare, but if you do, you will bring the power of these two great nations upon you." And the Spanish authorities did not shoot this man, who was wrapped in the two flags.

The salvation of that man was only possible not because who he was, but because of the flag in which he was wrapped. And in a similar way, beloved brothers and sisters, our hearts may condemn us, John says. Our hearts may bring us doubt. Our hearts may threaten to undo us. But because we are wrapped in the blood of Jesus Christ that was shed on Calvary, we cannot be condemned eternally. But when we come under conviction, we go to the Father in confession, brokenness, and contrite heart, knowing that there is no condemnation upon those who are in Christ Jesus. Our hearts cannot shoot to kill because we are wrapped in the Christ of Calvary who is greater than our doubts, who is greater than our fears, who is greater than all of self-condemnation.

Guest (Male): Encouragement to lean into God's grace and forgiveness. Thank you for making room in your day for biblical life-changing words from Dr. Michael Youssef on this episode of Leading the Way audio. You know, if you benefit from Dr. Youssef's teaching on Leading the Way, then let me challenge you to experience a unique digital tool designed to deliver scripturally sound answers to life and spiritual questions with immediacy and with clarity.

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Guest (Male): 37 years ago when Dr. Michael Youssef founded Leading the Way, he had a bold vision to harness the most advanced technology of the time to proclaim the gospel to the ends of the earth. And now once again, Leading the Way is leveraging cutting-edge technology with our gospel innovation, My Faith Assistant. This powerful digital tool allows seekers and believers alike to ask spiritual questions and receive clear, biblically sound answers.

Try it out at myfaithassistant.com or on the mobile app. With questions such as, "How do I share my faith with a hostile family member?" or "Is it unloving to say Jesus is the only way?" Carefully designed to provide responses rooted solely in the Bible and the trusted teaching of Dr. Michael Youssef, it is also a milestone in Leading the Way's Open Door campaign. My Faith Assistant: anytime, anywhere. Share it with someone you love who's searching for answers today.

Guest (Male): Find out more when you visit ltw.org. All right, it appears that I am out of time for today, but please do put Dr. Michael Youssef and Leading the Way on your calendar and join him next time. Remember, you can always reach the team at ltw.org or when you call us at 866-626-4356.

You can also get in touch with the ministry through the postal service. You can write to us at Leading the Way, Post Office Box 20100, Atlanta, Georgia 30325. Again, that's Leading the Way, Post Office Box 20100, Atlanta, Georgia 30325. This program is brought to you by Leading the Way with Dr. Michael Youssef. Connect further with audio and video content at ltw.org.