James 1:8
King James Version
8 A double minded man
is unstable in all his ways.
What would it take for people to believer there is a GOD?
What would it take for them to believe in the GOD of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob?
Who has clouded man's mind?
Is there hope for skeptics?
First, let Merriam-Webster define "skepticism":
1
: an attitude of doubt or a disposition to incredulity either in general or toward a particular object
2
a : the doctrine that true knowledge or knowledge in a particular area is uncertain
b : the method of suspended judgment, systematic doubt, or criticism characteristic of skeptics
3
: doubt concerning basic religious principles (such as immortality, providence, and revelation)
Note the following:
"an attitude of doubt"
"a disposition to incredulity"
"the method of suspended judgment"
"systematic doubt"
"doubt concerning basic religious principles"
Next, let the Bible give us examples of "skepticism":
Genesis 17:15-17
King James Version
15 And God said unto Abraham,
As for Sarai thy wife,
thou shalt not call her name Sarai,
but Sarah shall her name be.
16 And I will bless her,
and give thee a son also of her:
yea, I will bless her,
and she shall be a mother of nations;
kings of people shall be of her.
17 Then Abraham fell upon his face,
and laughed, and said in his heart,
Shall a child be born unto him
that is an hundred years old?
and shall Sarah,
that is ninety years old, bear?
Genesis 19:12-14
King James Version
12 And the men said unto Lot,
Hast thou here any besides?
son in law, and thy sons, and thy daughters,
and whatsoever thou hast in the city,
bring them out of this place:
13 For we will destroy this place,
because the cry of them is waxen great
before the face of the Lord;
and the Lord hath sent us to destroy it.
14 And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons in law,
which married his daughters, and said,
Up, get you out of this place;
for the Lord will destroy this city.
But he seemed as one that mocked
unto his sons in law.
Numbers 11:21-23
King James Version
21 And Moses said,
The people, among whom I am,
are six hundred thousand footmen;
and thou hast said, I will give them flesh,
that they may eat a whole month.
22 Shall the flocks and the herds be slain for them,
to suffice them?
or shall all the fish of the sea
be gathered together for them, to suffice them?
23 And the Lord said unto Moses,
Is the Lord'S hand waxed short?
thou shalt see now whether my word
shall come to pass unto thee or not.
Numbers 20:10-12
King James Version
10 And Moses and Aaron
gathered the congregation together before the rock,
and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels;
must we fetch you water out of this rock?
11 And Moses lifted up his hand,
and with his rod he smote the rock twice:
and the water came out abundantly,
and the congregation drank, and their beasts also.
12 And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron,
Because ye believed me not,
to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel,
therefore ye shall not bring this congregation
into the land which I have given them.
1 Kings 18:21
King James Version
21 And Elijah came unto all the people, and said,
How long halt ye between two opinions?
if the Lord be God, follow him:
but if Baal, then follow him.
And the people answered him not a word.
2 Kings 7:1-2
King James Version
7 Then Elisha said, Hear ye the word of the Lord;
Thus saith the Lord, To morrow about this time
shall a measure of fine flour be sold for a shekel,
and two measures of barley for a shekel,
in the gate of Samaria.
2 Then a lord on whose hand the king leaned
answered the man of God, and said, Behold,
if the Lord would make windows in heaven,
might this thing be?
And he said, Behold,
thou shalt see it with thine eyes,
but shalt not eat thereof.
Job 21:7-16
King James Version
7 Wherefore do the wicked live,
become old, yea, are mighty in power?
8 Their seed is established in their sight with them,
and their offspring before their eyes.
9 Their houses are safe from fear,
neither is the rod of God upon them.
10 Their bull gendereth, and faileth not;
their cow calveth, and casteth not her calf.
11 They send forth their little ones like a flock,
and their children dance.
12 They take the timbrel and harp,
and rejoice at the sound of the organ.
13 They spend their days in wealth,
and in a moment go down to the grave.
14 Therefore they say unto God, Depart from us;
for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways.
15 What is the Almighty, that we should serve him?
and what profit should we have,
if we pray unto him?
16 Lo, their good is not in their hand:
the counsel of the wicked is far from me.
Psalm 14:1-3
King James Version
14 The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.
They are corrupt,
they have done abominable works,
there is none that doeth good.
2 The Lord looked down from heaven
upon the children of men,
to see if there were any that did understand,
and seek God.
3 They are all gone aside,
they are all together become filthy:
there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
Psalm 78:18-19
King James Version
18 And they tempted God in their heart
by asking meat for their lust.
19 Yea, they spake against God;
they said, Can God furnish a table
in the wilderness?
Isaiah 53:1
King James Version
53 Who hath believed our report?
and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?
Matthew 11:3-5
King James Version
3 And said unto him,
Art thou he that should come,
or do we look for another?
4 Jesus answered and said unto them,
Go and shew John again those things
which ye do hear and see:
5 The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk,
the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear,
the dead are raised up, and the poor
have the gospel preached to them.
Matthew 13:53-56
King James Version
53 And it came to pass, that when Jesus
had finished these parables, he departed thence.
54 And when he was come into his own country,
he taught them in their synagogue,
insomuch that they were astonished, and said,
Whence hath this man this wisdom,
and these mighty works?
55 Is not this the carpenter's son?
is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren,
James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas?
56 And his sisters, are they not all with us?
Whence then hath this man all these things?
Matthew 13:57-58
King James Version
57 And they were offended in him.
But Jesus said unto them,
A prophet is not without honour,
save in his own country, and in his own house.
58 And he did not many mighty works there
because of their unbelief.
Matthew 17:14-21
King James Version
14 And when they were come to the multitude,
there came to him a certain man,
kneeling down to him, and saying,
15 Lord, have mercy on my son:
for he is lunatick, and sore vexed:
for ofttimes he falleth into the fire,
and oft into the water.
16 And I brought him to thy disciples,
and they could not cure him.
17 Then Jesus answered and said,
O faithless and perverse generation,
how long shall I be with you?
how long shall I suffer you?
bring him hither to me.
18 And Jesus rebuked the devil;
and he departed out of him:
and the child was cured from that very hour.
19 Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said,
Why could not we cast him out?
20 And Jesus said unto them,
Because of your unbelief:
for verily I say unto you,
If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed,
ye shall say unto this mountain,
Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove;
and nothing shall be impossible unto you.
21 Howbeit this kind goeth not out
but by prayer and fasting.
Matthew 21:32
King James Version
32 For John came unto you in the way
of righteousness, and ye believed him not:
but the publicans and the harlots believed him:
and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward,
that ye might believe him.
Mark 6:5-6
King James Version
5 And he could there do no mighty work,
save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk,
and healed them.
6 And he marvelled because of their unbelief.
And he went round about the villages, teaching.
Luke 1:18-20
King James Version
18 And Zacharias said unto the angel,
Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man,
and my wife well stricken in years.
19 And the angel answering said unto him,
I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God;
and am sent to speak unto thee,
and to shew thee these glad tidings.
20 And, behold, thou shalt be dumb,
and not able to speak, until the day
that these things shall be performed,
because thou believest not my words,
which shall be fulfilled in their season.
Luke 22:66-67
King James Version
66 And as soon as it was day,
the elders of the people
and the chief priests and the scribes came together,
and led him into their council, saying,
67 Art thou the Christ? tell us.
And he said unto them,
If I tell you, ye will not believe:
Luke 24:10-11
King James Version
10 It was Mary Magdalene and Joanna,
and Mary the mother of James,
and other women that were with them,
which told these things unto the apostles.
11 And their words seemed to them as idle tales,
and they believed them not.
John 3:10-12
King James Version
10 Jesus answered and said unto him,
Art thou a master of Israel,
and knowest not these things?
11 Verily, verily, I say unto thee,
We speak that we do know,
and testify that we have seen;
and ye receive not our witness.
12 If I have told you earthly things,
and ye believe not, how shall ye believe,
if I tell you of heavenly things?
John 4:47-48
King James Version
47 When he heard that Jesus
was come out of Judaea into Galilee,
he went unto him, and besought him
that he would come down, and heal his son:
for he was at the point of death.
48 Then said Jesus unto him,
Except ye see signs and wonders,
ye will not believe.
John 6:64
King James Version
64 But there are some of you that believe not.
For Jesus knew from the beginning
who they were that believed not,
and who should betray him.
John 10:23-27
King James Version
23 And Jesus walked in the temple
in Solomon's porch.
24 Then came the Jews round about him,
and said unto him,
How long dost thou make us to doubt?
If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly.
25 Jesus answered them,
I told you, and ye believed not:
the works that I do in my Father's name,
they bear witness of me.
26 But ye believe not, because
ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you.
27 My sheep hear my voice,
and I know them, and they follow me:
John 12:36-37
King James Version
36 While ye have light, believe in the light,
that ye may be the children of light.
These things spake Jesus, and departed,
and did hide himself from them.
37 But though he had done
so many miracles before them,
yet they believed not on him:
John 20:24-25
King James Version
24 But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus,
was not with them when Jesus came.
25 The other disciples therefore said unto him,
We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them,
Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails,
and put my finger into the print of the nails,
and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.
Being a student of the HOLY SPIRIT, all that made me cringe.
At how people didn't believe in the power of the LORD.
At how they questioned ULTIMATE authority.
We live in Satan's world.
That's why we need JESUS.
That we may overcome all this unbelief.
And never be confused, or deceived again.
Neither will our minds be subject to Satan's influence.
Or whatever propaganda, or misinformation given us.
James 1:5-6
King James Version
5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God,
that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not;
and it shall be given him.
6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering.
For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea
driven with the wind and tossed.
A born again sticks to GOD's WORD.
We follow JESUS' commands.
We obey GOD's will.
We walk the path paved by the LORD.
It's the only way to resolve confusion, and doubts.
John 14:6-7
King James Version
6 Jesus saith unto him,
I am the way, the truth, and the life:
no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
7 If ye had known me,
ye should have known my Father also:
and from henceforth ye know him,
and have seen him.
Remember this:
Satan abhors GOD.
JESUS glorifies GOD.
Satan complicates.
JESUS simplifies.
Satan confuses.
JESUS clarifies.
Satan destroys.
JESUS saves.
Satan hates.
JESUS loves.
JESUS had to contend with unbelief, even as he was tasked to save man from his sins, and perform all those magnificent miracles.
The challenge for each one of us?
It's really all about FAITH.
Hebrews 11:1
King James Version
11 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for,
the evidence of things not seen.
Now, the question is posed by JESUS:
Luke 18:8
King James Version
8 I tell you that he will avenge them speedily.
Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh,
shall he find faith on the earth?
Faith gives us peace.
And in JESUS is PEACE.
More on skepticism against GOD, and the consequences of it from this Psalm.
Related material:
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