Fellow Believers,

The Gospel according to Matthew closes with the Lord Jesus giving the disciples the Great Commission and assuring them that He would be with them always (28:18-21). Earlier, verse 16 reads: "Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them." What I want to talk about, though, is the verse in between: "And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted."

Can you believe that? Some of the eleven doubted!

These are the apostles that have been with Jesus for some three and a half years. Granted, before the cross, they couldn't really understand the Lord's remarks about His dying and rising again. But this is forty days after the Resurrection. He has since appeared before some or all of them many times. He has even challenged Thomas to inspect His hands and side. How can any of them have doubted?

In all fairness, before we rush to criticize these disciples, we need to each ask ourselves, "Are there times when I seriously doubted, when my faith was so weak that I even wondered if God really existed?" Remember we have the benefit of being indwelt by the Holy Spirit, who bears witness with our spirit; they hadn't, at least not before Pentecost. Yet, I'm afraid we all have to answer Yes to that question.

With that in mind, I think God is gracious in letting us know that even some of the disciples doubted. It helps us realize that insufficient faith is not all that uncommon among believers. When adversities come, we do tend to let circumstances overwhelm our trust in the Lord.

Thankfully, our faith can be strengthened. For one thing, like the man in Mark 9, we can beseech God to help us, praying with tears in our heart, "Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief." We also need to remember the truth stated in Romans 10:17: "Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." Without question, that truth is applicable to living faith, as well as saving faith.

In Romans 12, where God tells believers to each put their particular spiritual gifts to good use, He says in verse 6, "whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith." To prophesy is to declare the word of God. So, God is saying there that our ability to prophesy is proportionate to our faith. If that's the case, then our faith must be proportionate to our knowledge of the word, or our knowledge

Tom Holt, Editor

 

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