Will you turn in your Bibles
this morning to the book of John, John's Gospel, chapter 20. We'll
crown Him Lord of all. You know, He's already crowned. What that's talking about is
there was a day when we didn't crown Him with anything. But
oh, in the day of His love, when He came to each and every one
of His children, and shine the truth of who He was in our hearts.
We crowned Him as King of all because He is King of all. We
crowned Him as King of all because He is gracious to His people.
I will be merciful to whom I will be merciful to. Oh, the grace
and the mercy our Lord has for His people. Oh, how quick! One can get a
reputation in this world. Know what I mean? Class clowns. All kinds of different reputations,
huh? Sometimes people get a reputation for something they didn't even
know they did anything. They weren't even doing anything on
purpose. It was just the way they walked through this life. Let me give you a biblical example
of one who can get a reputation. When you hear the name David,
a couple of things come to mind right off the bat. Would you
not say maybe David and Goliath? David who went up against the
giant? David whose faith was in his
God above faith in men? Or you might think of David the
psalmist. He's got quite a reputation for being David Edmondson and King David
both had something a little bit in common there, didn't they?
They both wrote songs. I don't think David Edmondson
wrote biblical hymns, but he did write songs. David has a
reputation, doesn't he? There are just some things that
stand out about some people that make you think of them whenever
you hear their name. Here in John chapter 20, we have
such a name. Christ the Lord had been crucified,
and he had been laid in the tomb. In verses 1 through 17 of John
chapter 20, we see that Mary Magdalene had gone down to the
tomb early in the morning. It was still yet dark. And then
when she had come, she had saw that the stone was rolled away.
So she comes down early in the morning, the stone had been rolled
away, and she's like, what's going on? And so she runs back,
as we see in verse two, and she comes to Simon Peter, and she
tells him and the other disciples what happened. And then they
go down, and they run down together, and the other disciples that
had outrun Peter, they got to the sepulcher first, and they
stooped down and they looked in verse five, they saw the linen
clothes, they saw that Christ wasn't there. He said, oh. Now, folks, everybody saw the
Lord die on the cross that day before. Did His disciples leave
Him? Yes, they did. They all got up
and left Him to Himself. But they were still there. They
were still hovering around the outside of the group, watching
what was going on. They all witnessed. the Lord
Jesus Christ bleeding. They all witnessed the nails
in his hands and feet. They all witnessed the sword
that pierced his side. They all witnessed the conversation
that he had with the thief. All of his disciples were there
that day. They saw what was going on. Over
in verse 10 we see Mary stood without sepulcher weeping, and
she wept and stooped down and looked into the sepulcher, and
two angels in white sitting there, the one in the head and the other
at the feet. And they said unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? And she said, Because to them,
because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where
they have laid him. And it goes on, and we see other
parts here of this story of the Lord, how they came to the tomb
after him. And then we get to verse 17,
and Jesus... Actually, let me look and see. Jesus saith unto
her, Mary. And she turned herself and saith
unto him, Rabboni, which is to say, Master. And he saith unto
her, Touch me not. She now sees the Lord. Yeah,
you know, I skipped too far. I actually should have gone to
15. Let's start there. I'm going to go back and start at 15. Jesus
saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? Whom seekest thou? She's
supposing him to be the gardener. She didn't know quite who Jesus,
this one standing before her, was yet. Unto him, sir, if they
have borne him then, tell me where thou hast laid him, and
I will take him away. Then Jesus saith unto her, Mary. And she turns and looks. The Lord
tells her not to touch him. And where I want to begin reading
verse by verse, he says, touch me not. I am not yet ascended
to my father, but go to my brethren and say unto them, I ascend unto
my father and your father and to my God and your God. Now,
I want to begin reading verse 18. Mary Magdalene came and told
the disciples that she had seen the Lord. and that he had spoken
these things unto her. Then the same day at evening,
being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut, where
the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus,
and stood in the midst of them, saith unto them, Peace be unto
you. And when he had so said, he showed
unto them his hands and his thigh. Then were the disciples glad
when they saw the Lord." Then were the disciples glad when
they saw the Lord. They were, wow, those things
you told us were true. All those times you expressed
to us and told us that you were going to go up to Jerusalem And
that the Pharisees and the chief priests were going to harm to
you and kill you. Those things were true. And you
said every single time, and on the third day, you would rise
again. Those things were true. We saw
them with our own eyes, they said. They saw them with their
own eyes. Ten disciples saw the risen Christ. Judas had already taken his own
life, and one of them was not present. He was not present at
this appearance. His name is Thomas. I began this
message with reputation. When you think of Thomas, what's
the first thing you think of? Doubting Thomas? That's what
I think of. That's all I've ever thought
of him. That's all that's ever crossed my mind is about how
Thomas doubted the Lord Jesus Christ. He was not there at this
time. Read down through 24. Then said Jesus unto them, again,
peace be unto you, as my Father hath sent me, even so I send
you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith
unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost, whosoever sins ye remit,
they are remitted unto them, and whosoever sins ye retain,
they are retained." But Thomas, so here we are, here's the proof
that what I've just said a moment ago, ten of his disciples saw
him the first time. But Thomas, one of the twelve
called Deidamus, was not with them when Jesus came. Ten disciples
saw the Lord Jesus Christ, risen Christ, right there before them,
and Thomas, doubting Thomas, when you think of him, we almost
feel sorry for him a little bit, don't you? Don't you, like, oh,
Thomas, you know, in a loving, sorrowful way. The ability to have faith as
I have? Have you ever thought that? If
he could just have the faith that I have in believing God, it's that reputation that he
received from these words. If you said his name, that's
the first thing that would come to mind, wouldn't it not be that
doubting? But in truth, I'm going to tell
you this morning, there is much more to this story of Thomas.
And then we read verses 24 through 25. But Thomas, one of the twelve
called Didavus, was not with them when Jesus came. The other
disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. Here they go. They come to Thomas
now. Thomas is off somewhere else
on the first one. Okay, so now they go to him and
they tell him, hey, we saw. We saw the Lord with our own
eyes. We saw the holes in his hands. And they came to him and
said, we have seen the Lord. But he, Thomas, said unto them,
back in verse 25, 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." I said that slowly because I
want you to grab a hold of what Thomas just said. Take a grab
and grasp that tight. He says, My title for this morning's message
is, I Will Not Believe. If you think, if John Reeves
thinks for one second that that could not be me, five minutes
after I walk out of this building, one minute after I walk out of
this building, before I even finish the message, then we are
in deep trouble. If you think this could not be
a story about you, you think more of yourself than you should.
You see, every person hearing these words right now has that
potential to do and say exactly what Thomas just said. Not me. Oh no, God's given me a strong
faith. We talked about this in Bible
study. I'm not ashamed. I'm not ashamed to speak about
who I know and who I love. I'm not ashamed to say to anybody
in the world, you know folks, Peter wasn't ashamed either. But oh, how fast he turned when
the people started accusing the Lord Jesus Christ. Peter went
to the point of saying, I've never had anything to do with
that guy. And the Lord even warned Peter that he would do this,
didn't he? We'll look at that a little deeper in a moment.
If you think that this is not a story about you, you think
more of yourself than you should. We all have the potential to
be a doubting Thomas at any time in this walk that we have through
this world. The Apostle Paul declares this
in Romans chapter 7, he says, for we know that the law is spiritual,
but I am carnal, sold unto sin. For that which I do, I will not
allow. Now this is Paul. This could
be you and I. This will be you and I at one
point or another in our lives. This will be us. In some way
or another, we will all deny our Lord at some point as we
walk in this world of flesh. For that, Paul says in verse
15, that which I do I allow not for what I would, that do I not,
but what I hate, that I do. If then I do that which I would
not, I consent unto the law that it is good. Now then, it is no
more that I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know
that in me, that is in my flesh, well is no good thing. For to
will it is present with me, but how to perform that which is
good I find not." Paul is very clearly declaring himself as
he states in verse 24, O wretched man that I am. Not that he was,
but that he is right now. God's people never get over the
fact of what we are in the flesh. We don't get any better, folks.
You know when it gets better? It's when God takes us out of
this world, takes us out of the sinful flesh, and takes us into
Heaven with Him. That's when it gets better. Until that day, O wretched man
that I am, who shall deliver me from this body of death? Then
Paul says in verse 25 the same thing all God's people say, I
thank God through Jesus Christ my Lord. So then with the mind
I serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin. Paul
was not a new convert at that point when he wrote those words.
He'd been around for a little while. God uses Paul as an example,
as an example to you and I. He makes this declaration so
we will not forget it. The flesh warreth with the Spirit. As long as the Lord has us here
in this world, the flesh will war with the Spirit. And I want
you to keep this in mind. There was a time when every one
of us gave in to sin willfully. It bothered us not, as I brought
out in last week's message. I'm not talking about a particular
sin. I'm talking about what we are.
You think to yourself, oh, I don't smoke, I don't rape, I don't
kill. If you doubt God Almighty, that's a big enough sin right
there to ward you in hell. I'm talking about what we are, what
our nature is. I'm talking about unbelief in
God's Word. I'm talking about the pride of
the Spirit. I'm talking about the weakness
of the flesh turning from the truths of God to follow the lies
of men. That was our nature. In Romans 8, 7 we read these
words, The carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject
to the law of God, neither indeed can be. The new birth, to be born again,
is the birth of a new spirit. The old flesh shall return to
the dust, but the spirit liveth on. Thomas is a very important
lesson for you and I, and as we go through this time on earth,
a lesson to be aware of at all times. Don't forget it. Oh, I
heard that message yesterday. That's okay, it's behind us.
Keep this message in front of you at all times, because the
day's coming, not when you might, But when you will, when you will,
take heed. Mark your place here, if you
would, in the 11th chapter of John, or in the 21st chapter
of John, and turn over to the 11th chapter, if you would. John
chapter 11. Thomas was one of the 12, was
he not? He did not just come upon the scene as we just read
there in the crucifixion and the resurrection of our Lord.
He did not just come upon the scene. He had been one of the
twelve who passed around the baskets of bread and fish and
fed five thousand people on the hill. That's over in Matthew
chapter 11 verse 1. He was one of the twelve whom
Christ had given them power against unclean spirits to cast them
out and to heal all matters of sickness and all matters of disease.
That's in Matthew 10, verse 1. Thomas had seen with his own
eyes the wonders of Christ's power over and over again. Let's
not forget this. The miracles of Christ could
fill more than any of the books that were written. The books of this world could
not contain all the miracles of our Lord and Savior. Thomas
was right there smack in the middle of it, watching it all,
just as all the other disciples were. He was one of the twelve
when the Lord instructed for a third time, a third time as
we read in the book of Mark, saying, Behold, this is the Lord
speaking to all twelve of the disciples, Behold, In Mark 10,
verse 33-34, saying, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and the
Son of Man shall be delivered unto the chief priests, and unto
the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death, and shall deliver
him to the Gentiles, and they shall mock him, and shall scourge
him, and shall spit upon him, and shall kill him, and the third
day he shall rise again. Christ had foretold them, his
disciples, that he would rise from the dead, and the deeds
he committed proved that he had the power to do so. No other
man had ever done the miracles Christ did. No other man had
done all those miracles. No other man had healed like
the Lord Jesus did. No other man had given sight
to men and women and children who were blind from birth. No
other man had said, be clean, and the disease was gone. No
other man had said, be whole, and the withered hand was whole. Thomas was right there with the
disciples when our Lord committed all of these miracles. Christ
had foretold him that he would rise from the dead and the deeds
he committed, he proved that he had the power to do so. The
Lord Jesus did things no man had ever done. He proved his
deity before the eyes of thousands, yet most could not comprehend
this truth. That Jesus is Christ, God Almighty
in the flesh. Thomas was with Christ right
here in chapter 11. He was there when the crowd came.
A certain man was sick, it says, look at verse Verse 1, where
we see that now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus of Bethany,
the town of Mary and her sister Martha. He was there when they
came to the Lord and told him that this certain man, this one
that he loved, was sick. He saw with his own eyes. Jesus
Christ is okay. Thank you. Alright. That's good. We'll hang out here
for a couple days. We'll just stay here for a few
days. Can you imagine what was going on through the minds of
his disciples at that time? Wait a minute. Is he going to get up and go
and save it? Is he going to do it? That's
what would have been going through my mind. The natural mind would
be going, Lord, are you going to do it? Are you going to go?
Look over at verse 11. After going for the two days,
and then after, now let's start in verse seven. Then after that,
he said to his disciples, let's go into Judea again. His disciples
said to him, master, the Jews of late sought to stone thee,
and goest thou thither again? Jesus answered and said, are
not 12 hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he
stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world. But
if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because there is no
light in him. Now that's a different message. Maybe the Lord will
bless me in a message in that future. But we go on in verse
11. These things saith him, and after he had saith unto them,
Our friend Lazarus sleepeth. But I go, that I may awake him
out of sleep. Then said his disciples, Lord,
if he sleep, he shall do well. Howbeit Jesus spake of his death,
But they thought that he had spoken, taken rest and sleep.
Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead. For I am glad
for your sakes that I was not there to the intent that ye may
believe. Nevertheless, let us go unto
him. Then said Thomas." See here? Then said Thomas. I told you
there's more to the story of Thomas than just his doubting.
There's a lot deeper story to this man who had been with God,
been with the Lord Jesus when he committed all those miracles,
when the Lord had instructed them on all the wonderful things
about what he was going to the cross for. Then said Thomas,
which is called Deuteronomy, unto his fellow disciples, let
us also go that we may die with him. Now would Thomas have said
that? without the understanding of
what the death of this flesh means. Thomas was there when Christ
fulfilled His word and raised Lazarus from the tomb. Look over
at verse 39, if you would. John chapter 11, verse 39, and
Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of
him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh,
for he hath been dead for four days. Thomas was there. He knew how long Lazarus had
been in the grave. He knew that he had been dead
and that his body had began to corrupt. Yet Jesus saith unto
her, said I not unto thee, in verse 40, that if thou wouldest
believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God. Then they took
away the stone from the place where the dead was laid, and
Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, Father, I thank thee that
thou hast heard me, and I knew that thou hurtest me always,
but because of the people which stand by, I said it, that they
may believe that thou hast sent me. And when he had thus spoken,
he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. He that was dead
came forth, bound hand and foot with grave clothes. Lazarus saw
this, I mean Thomas saw this. The very one who said, I will
not believe. And that's a picture of you and
I. That's a picture of us and what we are capable of in this
flesh. He saw this very thing. Lazarus
come forth from the grave, bound in his clothes, in his burial
clothes. and his face was bound about
with a napkin, Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him
go." Now I want you to turn over to John chapter 13. We spoke
a moment ago about Peter and him denying the Lord three times. Over here in John chapter 13,
verses 36-38, we see this declaration of that, and Thomas was there
then. John chapter 13, verse 36. Simon Peter said unto him, Lord,
whither thou goest? Jesus answered him and said,
Whither I go thou canst not follow me now, but thou shalt follow
me afterwards. Peter said unto him, Lord, why
cannot I follow thee now? I will lay down my life for thy
sake. Jesus answered him and said,
Wilt thou lay down thy life for my sake? Verily, verily, I say
unto thee, the cock shall not crow till thou hast denied the
night be thrice. He was there when our Lord declared
the way to eternal life. Look at chapter 14. Let not your
heart be troubled, he says. He's speaking to Peter after
he tells him that he'll deny the Lord thrice. After telling
him that, don't worry about it. Don't let your heart be troubled.
Ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are
many mansions. If it were not so, I would have
told you. I would have told you, I go to
prepare a place for you, and if I go to prepare a place for
you, I will come again and receive you unto myself. That where I
am, there ye may be also." Now remember, we're talking about
Thomas. Christ, his experience in being
where Christ is, having Christ speaking to him personally. Here
it goes, and whether I go, ye know not the way. Thomas saith
unto him, in verse 5, Lord, we know not whether thou goest,
and how can we know the way? And then our Lord tells him the
way. Jesus saith unto him, I am the way. I am the way, the truth, and
the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. If ye had known me, ye should
have known my Father also, and from henceforth ye know him,
and have seen him." Now I want to go back to our text in John
chapter 20. Thomas is a picture of all of
God's children. All of his elect. All of those
for whom God the Father gave to God the Son before the stars
ever twinkled in the sky. All of those for whom the Son
laid down His life for a Calvary who will someday stumble in our
sin. Not fall, but stumble. We cannot
fall to our sin, folks. Christ took all of our sin upon
Himself. But we can stumble at it. That's
what Thomas did. He stumbled with the sin of the
flesh. I will not believe. When he had
every reason to believe the One who speaks all truth. Every reason
to believe Him. He saw it first hand. Yet he
stumbled. He stumbled with unbelief. Lord,
help thou my unbelief. Isn't that what we read in Scripture? Thomas is a picture of every
one of us. every one of us for whom Christ died on the cross.
We cannot fall from His grace, but we will stumble and sin,
and our God will not leave us there, nor will He forsake us,
He says. He will lead us back to Himself,
and He does that by the preaching of His Word. How often in these
last few months have I not repeated over and over again, why do we
come together? Because we're in the world of
sin around us. Not just in the sin that's in
the world, but the sin that's in our own flesh. The weaknesses
of the flesh that we deal with every day. We come to hear, to
hear about our Savior, who is gracious to us. Who loves us
with an undying love. A never-ending love. We come
to hear about the One who has the power to save His people. Our God will not leave us nor
forsake us. He will lead us unto Himself,
and He does it by the preaching of His Word, the message of His
sovereign grace, the good news, Christ came to save sinners,
of which I am chief," says Paul. Look with me, if you would, in
verse 26 through 28 of John chapter 21. And after eight days again, his
disciples were with him. Now remember, his disciples had
just come to Thomas, and he said, I will not believe. And after
eight days, now, Ian Potts, you may have heard that name, Pastor
Ian Potts. And I share with you this, that
you may want to pray for this dear man. He's over in England,
and he's being pressured to leave the pulpit. because of his stance
on the sovereignty of God's grace. Because he will not bend to those
who want to say, Jesus loves everybody. Because he will not
bend to those who want to say, I came down and made a decision. Because he will not bend to those
who want to mix grace with works. They're trying to run him off
out of the church there in England. Now I don't know if there's other
men, but I know that that dear man is under a lot of pressure
right now. Ian Potts is his name. He brought this out in his message
that I was listening to on this subject. He goes, eight days,
eight days, plus the three in the grave, totals 11, there's
11 disciples. Remember the 12th one has already
gone and taken his own life. There's 11 disciples. After eight
days again his disciples were within, and Thomas was with them. Then came Jesus, the doors being
shut, and stood in the midst and said, Peace be unto you. Then said he to Thomas, remember
what I just said a moment ago? Our Lord will not leave us. Remember
I told you just a moment ago, our Lord comes to us. How does
He come to us? He comes to us through the preaching
of His Word. What is the preaching of His
Word? The Gospel of Jesus Christ and
Him crucified. You can't get any deeper in the
pond than that. God's love for His people is
perfect in every way. His blood being shed on that
cross for us was perfect in every way. It accomplished exactly
what it was there for. I need to hear that over and
over again. That's the message I come to
God's services to hear. That's the message I come to
this pulpit to preach. Christ in Him crucified. He saith
to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hand. That's the gospel. Christ and
Him crucified. Look at the hands that were pierced
for your sake. Put your finger in there. And
He tells each and every one of us, you and I, this very thing
today, put your finger in my hands. I have saved my people. Not might. Not possibly, but
I have saved my people. He comes to his loved ones in
the gospel preaching of his message and he says, see here and believe. Put your hands here and reach
hither thy hand and thrust it into my side and be not faithless,
but believing. And Thomas answered and said
unto him, My Lord, my God. Folks, that's the Gospel right
there. When the Lord Jesus Christ comes to one of His loved ones,
one who has walked in darkness, not ever hearing the truth of
God's Word, maybe they heard it with the ears, but they never
had a heart to hear the truth of it. They were never born again. They were never given the new
heart, the heart of flesh, the old one being cut away. that
they would hear the truth of God's Word. When they come to
Him, when He comes to them, they will cry out, My Lord, My God. I am not ashamed. He is worthy
of all glory. Look at verse 29. Jesus saith
unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed. Blessed are they which have not
seen, yet have believed. You see, this blessing wasn't
just for Thomas and those who could see him in the flesh. This blessing is for you and
I. This blessing is for all of God's children. All of those
for whom he died for. This is a blessing that will
be placed on every single one. Not one will be lost. In John 20, verse 29, Jesus said
to him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me. Now I want you
to take notice, if you will, the implication of something
being experienced. Thomas saw with his eyes, because
you have seen me, because you have seen the truth of who I
am, because you have seen that I and my Father are one according
to the word that I have expressed over and over to you in the past.
Because you have seen that my going to the cross will wash
my people clean, as I have expressed to you over and over again, as
I have cleansed those who have leprosy, as I have healed those
who are sick. You have seen with your own eyes.
It's an implication of something experienced. Remember what we
just read back in chapter 14? He says, if you have seen me,
you have seen the Father. You have now seen with your eyes
the truth, the grace of God in sending His Son as our substitute. In making His perfect and holy
Son to be sin for us. Can you wrap your minds around
that? I know some men say they can. I can't. That's too deep
in the pond for me to understand. My God, perfect and holy in every
way, was made my sin. Because you have seen your Redeemer,
the One who redeems us to the Father by the precious blood
that He shed upon that cross. Because you have seen your sanctification,
your set-apart, your holiness, your righteousness in Him. Because you have seen your justification,
because you have seen Christ as all. All to him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain.
He washed it white as snow. And then he says next, because
you have seen, thou hast believed. Our great and loving God speaks
to you and I, folks. And he says this, blessed are
they that have not seen. to be given the gift of faith
to believe God and His Word as though we see it with our own
eyes. Turn over, if you would, to the 11th chapter of Hebrews.
We won't be much longer. Hebrews chapter 11. You know,
there are very few people compared to the number of people
throughout all of the time on this earth. There were very,
very few who stood in the presence of God and saw with their own
eyes. Abraham never saw Christ. He never saw the fulfillment
of Christ with his own eyes, but he saw it by faith. God-given faith, the same faith
you and I have. Abraham saw it as it would happen. You and I see it as it has happened. We see by the eye of faith we
have been given sight where once we were blind to see the faith
that by faith the truth of his word. Are you with me in Hebrews
chapter 11? Let's begin at verse 1 now. Faith is
the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not
seen, for by it the elders, and we're going to look at that list
of elders here in just a moment, obtained a good report. They
had received they had received, they had won
a good report. Through faith we understand that
the worlds were framed by the word of God so that the things
which are seen were not made of things which do appear. By
faith, by faith Abel, Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice.
By faith, Enoch, another who had not seen Christ with his
own eyes, was translated that he should not see death. Abraham,
by faith, Noah, except verse seven, by faith, Noah, had been
warned of God, of the things not seen yet. Nobody had seen
rain yet. They hadn't even seen rain yet. The Lord watered the earth through
a dew, through a mist. By faith, Noah, being warned
of God of the things not seen yet, moved with fear and prepared
an ark. Verse 8, by faith, Abraham, when
he was called to go out to the place where he knew not where
he should after receipt for inheritance, he obeyed. By faith, Abraham
also sojourned in the land of promise as a strange country. Through faith, Sarah, his wife,
also received strength to conceive seed, even though she was old.
These all died, in verse 13, in faith, not having received
the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded. Persuaded. Convinced. Trusted. They were persuaded
to the point of trusting God's Word is true. That's the same
faith you and I have, isn't it? Is there any difference? We look
back at what Christ said, and He says, I have paid your sins
in full. We believe it. We see by the eye of faith. By
faith, in verse 17, Abraham, when he was tried, offered up
Isaac. By faith, Isaac blessed Jacob.
By faith, Jacob, when he was dying, blessed both of his sons.
By faith, Joseph, when he died, made mention of the departing
of the children of Israel. By faith, Moses, when he had
come to years, refused to be called the son of McPharaoh.
By faith, he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king.
And through faith, he kept the Passover. By faith, the children
of Israel passed through the Red Sea as by dry land. By faith, the walls of Jericho
fell down after they were compassed about seven days. And by faith,
Harlot the Rahab perished not. All these, and I mention all
that up because I want to bring you over here, and there's much
more that we can read about that here in the 11th chapter, but
I want to bring you over here to chapter 12, and we'll bring
this to a close. Wherefore, because of, after
listing all of those old saints, living by faith, Seeing we also
are encompassed about, so a great cloud of witnesses, let us lay
aside every weight and the sin which does so easily beset us.
And let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith. Folks, our faith does not save
us. We are saved by grace, period. through faith. That's what the
Word of God says in Ephesians. We are saved by grace. The graciousness
of God is sending His Son, but few there are that day to see
it in person. Our Lord speaks to you and I
through His Word, the same as He did Thomas face to face. So
let me bring these words once again to you. Our Lord says,
let not your heart be troubled. ye believe in God, believe also
in me. What does it say in verse 2 of
Hebrews chapter 12? Look unto Jesus, the author and
the finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before
him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at
the right hand of the throne of God. How did our Lord bring
his child back to him. He showed him his hands. He showed him what he came to
this world to do. He showed his loving child with
love in his heart, see here, I know you're going to forget
me. I know you're going to go out
that door and forget about your master. God has given us a gospel that
we can come back to and be reminded of why He died for us. Amen.