Some words of encouragement for when we doubt - sent to me by my friend Mark Birch

  J. Wilbur Chapman (pictured) was a 19th century American evangelist who was greatly used by God to spread the good news of eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ. Here is what he wrote about how D. L. Moody used John 5:24 to show him that he could be sure he had eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ:

I was studying for the ministry, and I heard that D. L. Moody was to preach in Chicago. I went to hear him. Finally I got into his after meeting. I shall never forget the thrill that went through me when he came and sat down beside me as an inquirer. He asked me if I was a Christian. I said, “Mr. Moody, I am not sure whether I am a Christian or not.”

He very kindly took his Bible and opened it to the fifth chapter of John, and the twenty-fourth verse, which reads as follows: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life.”

Suppose you had read it through for the first time, wouldn’t you think it was wonderful? I read it through, and he said, “Do you believe it?”

I said, “Yes.”

“Do you accept it?”

I said, “Yes.”

“Well, are you a Christian?”

“Mr. Moody, I sometimes think I am, and sometimes I am afraid I am not.”

He very kindly said, “Read it again.”

So I read it again, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life.”

Then he said, “Do you believe it?”

I said, “Yes.”

“Do you receive Him?”

I said, “Yes.”

“Well,” he said, “are you a Christian?”

I just started to say over again that sometimes I was afraid I was not, when the only time in all the years I knew him and loved him, he was sharp with me. He turned on me with his eyes flashing and said, “See here, whom are you doubting?” Then I saw it for the first time, that when I was afraid I was not a Christian I was doubting [a promise of Jesus Himself!] I read it again with my eyes overflowing with tears. Since that day I have had many sorrows and many joys, but never have I doubted for a moment that I was a Christian, because God said it.

Jesus does not lie. And since Jesus says over and over in the Gospel of John that those who believe in Him will have everlasting life and will not perish, will not die, will not ever thirst, and will not ever be taken out of God’s hand, we must either agree with what Jesus says, or doubt His word and believe that we know better. As for myself, I believe that Jesus was speaking the truth and that I have eternal life through faith in Him, no matter what. We are eternally secure in the hands of God.