In the 20th chapter of John's
Gospel we read the account of how on the first day of the week
Mary Magdalene came to the sepulchre and found the stone rolled away
and how she ran and went to Simon Peter and the disciple whom Jesus
loved, who we take to be John himself, and how they come and
follow her to the sepulchre And how Peter went in and found that
Christ was not there. He found the linen clothes lying
and the napkin wrapped together. And how they discovered that
Christ was risen from the dead. And then Mary at the tomb, weeping,
meets with the two angels. who say unto her, woman, why
weepest thou? And she saith unto them, because
they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have
laid him. And then she turns, and there is Jesus, who says unto her, woman, why
weepest thou? Whom seekest thou? And she, supposing
him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou hast borne
him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take
him away. And Jesus saith unto her, Mary. And she turned herself, and saith
unto him, Rabboni, which is to say, Master. Jesus saith unto
her, touch me not, for 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. Mary Magdalene
came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord and that
he had spoken these things unto her. What a remarkable event. But then from verse 19 we read,
that 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 and said
unto them, Peace be unto you. And when he had so said, he showed
unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad
when they saw the Lord. Then said Jesus to them again,
Peace be unto you, as my Father hath sent me, even so send I
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, one of the twelve,
called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. 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. And after
eight days again, his disciples were within, and Thomas with
them. Then came Jesus, the doors being
shut, and stood in the midst and said, peace be unto you. Then saith he to Thomas, reach
hither thy finger, and behold my hands, and reach hither thy
hand, and thrust it into my side, and be not faithless, but believe
him. And Thomas answered and said
unto him, My Lord and my God. Jesus saith unto him, Thomas,
because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed. Blessed are they
that have not seen, and yet have believed. And many other signs,
truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not
written in this book, but these are written, that ye might believe
that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing
ye might have life through his name. So we read of how the risen Christ,
Jesus, appeared unto his disciples. He said unto them, Peace be unto
you. And showed them the wounds in
his hands and his feet, and the wound in his side. And they saw
the risen Lord and believed. And we read of how Thomas, not
present, doubts and says he must see for himself. And again, Jesus
appears unto the disciples, including Thomas. And Thomas, seeing the
wounds, seeing his Lord, cries out, my Lord and my God. Thomas needed to see. Thomas
had been with Christ a long time. He had seen many figs. But to believe that Christ indeed
was risen from the dead took some faith. And only God could
make him see. When the other disciples had
come to the tomb, despite Them, like Thomas, also having been
with Christ and seen many things and heard much from him, despite
the fact that Christ had plainly said elsewhere that he must die
and rise again, they did not understand. They did not understand. Says in verse 9, for as yet they
knew not the scripture that he must rise again from the dead.
They'd been told. And yet they did not understand.
And Thomas had been told. And yet when he heard the report
that Christ is risen, so amazing was it. So unbelievable
was it that he says, unless 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.
And then Christ appears under him. Now it's easy. to read this account
and read how Christ appeared unto the disciples and how Thomas,
who wasn't present, echoes these words of doubt that I must see
for myself. It's easy to read that and as
it were disparage Thomas. But really, Thomas is presented
to us as a picture of us all. The other disciples who saw Christ
the first time could have had exactly the same attitude as
Thomas. But Thomas is singled out, he's
separated so that he didn't see Christ the first time that Christ
appeared in the room to the other disciples. He was set back to
teach us something, to show us our natural unbelief. The other
disciples, Simon, Peter and John, who came to the tomb and found
it empty, even though they knew that Christ had died, and even
though they had heard Christ say that He must die and He must
rise again, didn't understand. For as yet they knew not the
scripture that he must rise again from the dead. They didn't understand
it, they didn't believe it. It was only when they found that
he had risen and only when they saw the risen Lord when he appeared
unto them that they truly understood and believed. And here likewise, Thomas says,
except I see it, I will not believe. And you and I are just like Him. By nature we do not believe. We can hear the Gospel preached
a thousand times. We can read the Gospels in the
Scriptures. We can read the Scriptures from
cover to cover thousands of times and know it all. And ultimately
our heart says, unless I see Him, unless the Lord appear unto
me, unless I see the wounds in His hands and His feet and the
wound in His side, I will not believe. That is your heart's
response to the gospel. That's my natural heart's response
to the gospel. We're all the same as Thomas.
We cannot believe it, no matter how much we've been told, no
matter how much we've seen, no matter how much we've heard.
Our natural heart is unbelieving. We are dead by nature. Dead in
trespasses and sins. Blind to the truth. Deaf to the
truth. Without understanding. Rebellious. We will not believe. And yet Jesus appears unto Thomas. And Jesus, when he appears under
him, says under him, behold, reach hither thy finger and behold
my hands 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 and my god there came a day when jesus the risen
jesus having died for Thomas's sins, having borne Thomas's sins
away, having suffered under the wrath of God and the judgment
of God against Thomas's sins, having shed his blood for Thomas,
he appears, he appears under Thomas and he says under him,
behold, look upon me, look upon me by faith Thomas, And be not
faithless, but believe it. He appears, and when He appears,
the Holy Spirit, the Holy Ghost comes upon Thomas. Receive ye
the Holy Ghost, Jesus says unto the other disciples earlier.
And at this point, when he appears under Thomas, Thomas receives
the Holy Ghost and in receiving the Holy Ghost, faith enters
into his heart and he looks and believes. He'd heard with the
outward ear before that day. he'd seen with the outward eye
before that day, he'd lived with the physical Jesus, he'd lived
with the man Jesus, he'd heard him, he knew him, and yet he
didn't believe until God in the Spirit came under him and quickened
him unto life and gave him the faith to believe. And that moment
That moment when Jesus appeared under him, and God the Spirit
entered into him and gave him faith, Thomas cries out, my Lord
and my God. And the day that God comes unto
you, and comes unto you in the gospel by power, and comes in
the Holy Ghost, and enters into your heart, into your dead soul,
and causes you to live, you will see, and Jesus will appear unto
you and say, behold, behold my hands and my side, and you will
see, and you will no longer be faithless, but believing, and
your response will be, my Lord and my God. Until then, you and
I are blind. dead lifeless but when Jesus
appears and calls unto you and says behold then you believe
And John, at the end of this account, at the end of this chapter,
says of these events, says of these signs which have proceeded
in his gospel, says of the seven signs that he has recorded in
his gospel, From the first chapter to this, he says, and many other
signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which
are not written in this book, but these signs, these signs
that I've recorded, these events that I've recorded, These are
written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the
Son of God, and that believing ye might have life through his
name. This gospel exists, it's recorded
and preserved for us to read and hear today in order that
through these signs we might believe. But God must take them. And God must preach them unto
us in his gospel, and God must through them cause us to see,
because otherwise they're just words, just like they were to
Thomas, until Christ appeared unto him and said, Behold. Jesus responds to him, Thomas,
because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed, blessed are they
that have not seen. and yet have believed. Blessed
are they that have not seen and yet have believed. If you're
brought to believe on Christ, if he comes to you in power in
the gospel and says unto you, behold, behold my hands and my
side and believe, be not faithless but believing. If you're brought
to believe without ever seeing the physical Christ on earth,
but you're brought to believe through the signs that John records
in his Gospel, through the preaching of the Gospel, and because Christ
by His Spirit comes in that preaching, comes through that Gospel, comes
through those signs, and causes your eyes to be opened that you
have faith to see. If you're caused to believe,
then blessed are you indeed. Because you don't have the advantage
that Thomas and the disciples did of having walked with Jesus
upon this earth. But you are exactly the same
as them. In the sense that despite their
advantage, they couldn't believe until Jesus by his Spirit appeared
unto them. And if he appears unto you, then
you will believe with the same faith that Thomas had. has he
appeared unto you? Or are you yet in the darkness,
yet blind to the truth, yet dead to the truth, unbelieving, saying
in your heart of Jesus Christ, 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. Is that the echo of your heart
each and every day? Every day you go to bed at night
and you wake up in the morning and God preserves your life and
God preserves the beating of your heart and he brings you
up in the morning and he raises the sun in the sky as a pointer
under his sun. And every day he says through
creation and the world around you, my son is risen from the
dead and the light shines forth and every day you shut your eyes
to it. And every day you get out of
bed and you go off about your business, about your studies,
about your labor, about your entertainment, consumed with
what you will do, consumed with what you are, consumed with self,
and you shut your ears to the truth, your eyes to what God
will show you, your mind to all true understanding. Every day. Every morning, every time the
sun rises, your heart responds and says, except I shall see
in Jesus' 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. You may do that consciously,
you may do that unconsciously. The sun may rise in the east,
and the light shines forth and God through it says unto the
world my son is risen and you may not even think about it but
that message enters the world it comes unto you and your ears
are shut and your eyes are closed and your heart says I will not
believe and you will not believe until
Jesus comes where you are even though the doors may be shut
and stands in the midst and says peace be unto you. You see this
room where the disciples were with shut doors is a picture
of you and your heart. There you dwell with the hard
walls of your heart all around, blocking out the truth. There
you dwell with the door to your heart firmly shut and you will
not listen and you will not look and you will not seek. You don't
seek Jesus Christ, you don't care for Christ, the door is
shut. Nothing enters in. And yet a
shut door was no obstacle to the risen Christ to appear under
Thomas. And the shut door of your heart
and the hardness of your unbelief is no obstacle to the risen Christ
and the power of his gospel for him to enter in. If you're his,
one day, even though the door of your heart is firmly shut,
He will appear within and He will stand in the midst and He
will say unto you, peace be unto you. Even though your heart raged
against Him, though your heart may be at war, at enmity with
God, though your ears may be shut and your eyes closed, He
will appear in the midst, door shut, and say, peace be unto. What a remarkable power there
is in the gospel. And what a remarkable thing to
happen to Thomas, how blessed he was in the end. Yes, he had
to see, but he had the blessing of Christ coming unto him, door
shut, standing in the midst, and saying, peace be unto you.
He saw him. He believed. And he cried out,
my Lord and my God. But this isn't the first time
we encounter Thomas called Didymus in the scriptures. You see, this
account in John 20 is made all the more powerful based upon
the fact that we have encountered Thomas several times earlier
in John's Gospel. As well as one or two references
where his name is listed amongst the names of the other disciples,
there are two main places where he is mentioned previously. We first encounter him specifically
in John chapter 11, at the death of Lazarus. and the resurrection of Lazarus. And then we encounter him again
when he speaks unto Jesus in John 14 and asks Jesus, Lord
we know not whither thou goest and how can we know the way?
And Jesus makes known unto his disciples in that chapter how
He is the way, the truth and the life. How no man can come
to the Father but by Him. He shows unto His disciples the
unity of His people with Him and with the Father. The oneness
of God's people with Christ and the Father. and how there is
no way unto God and no salvation except you are one with Christ,
except you go where Christ goes. And the way that Christ went
was a way that led him to the grave, to the cross, a place
of execution. From thence to the grave. and
from thence rising and ascending to the Father. This was shown under Thomas in
chapter 14. Thomas was told something of
the truth and shown something of the truth which he has yet
doubted. even when Christ was risen from
the dead. He was shown powerful things.
He saw how Lazarus, Jesus' friend, had died. He saw how Lazarus
rose again from the dead. He was shown that Jesus is the
way, the truth, and the life. And then when Christ died, like
Lazarus, and when Christ was buried, like Lazarus, and when
Christ came forth from the tomb, like Lazarus, even then, Thomas
says, except I see him, I will not believe. How dead are our
hearts by nature. How blind we are. how deaf we
are. No matter what you or I may be
shown, no matter what we may see, no matter how many witnesses
there are to the truth, except God speaks and says unto our
soul, live, we remain dead. But Thomas is brought to us in
these three main places, chapter 11, chapter 14 and chapter 20. There's a free-fall sequence
leading to his salvation. And first of all in chapter 11,
we read of him at the death of Lazarus. Firstly, what is impressed
upon Thomas and impressed upon us through the account regarding
him in chapter 11 is the fact that the way that Jesus goes,
the way unto the Father, the way unto everlasting life is
a way of death. A way of death. In chapter 11 we read of Lazarus
dead in the grave. We read from verse 11 how Jesus
says, these things said he and after that he 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 he had spoken of taking of rest and sleep.
Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead. Lazarus is dead. And I am glad for your sakes
that I was not there to the intent ye may believe. Nevertheless,
let us go unto him. Then said Thomas, which is called
Didymus, under his fellow disciples, let us also go that we may die
with him. What a thing for Thomas to say. They're told plainly that Lazarus
is dead. And Jesus says, let us go unto
him. And Thomas says unto the fellow
disciples, let us also go, that we may die with him. Thomas'
love for Christ and love for their friend Lazarus was such
that he was willing to die. If Lazarus dies, he was willing
to die. He would go with Christ wherever
Christ went. And if the Jews were to take
Christ and slaughter him, as was clear from their reaction
to him at various points, then Thomas was willing to die with
him. His love for Christ was so great,
he was willing to go wherever. And if the other disciples, or
if Christ, met with their death at the hands of their enemies,
Thomas was willing to go that way. So though we read in chapter
20 of Thomas' unbelief, as it were, nevertheless we read he
had great devotion under his master. He's willing to die. And they come. Lazarus' grave. Then when Jesus came, he found
that he had lain in the grave four days already. Now Bethany
was nigh unto Jerusalem, about fifteen furlongs off, and many
of the Jews came to Martha and Mary to comfort them concerning
their brother. Then Martha, as soon as she heard
that Jesus was coming, went and met him, but Mary sat still in
the house. Then said Martha unto Jesus,
Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. But
I know that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will
give it thee. Jesus saith unto her, thy brother
shall rise again. Martha saith unto him, I know
that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.
Jesus saith unto her, I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me, though
he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth
in me shall never die. Believest thou this? She saith
unto him, Yea, Lord, I believe that thou art the Christ, the
Son of God, which should come into the world. And when she
had so said, she went away, and called Mary her sister secretly,
saying, The Master is come, and calleth for thee. As soon as
she heard that, she arose quickly, and came unto him. Now Jesus
was not yet come into the town, but was in that place where Martha
met him. The Jews then, that were with
her in the house, and comforted her, when they saw Mary, that
she rose up hastily, and went out, followed her, saying, She
goeth unto the grave to weep there. Then when Mary was come
where Jesus was and saw him, she fell down at his feet, saying
unto him, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not
died. And Jesus therefore saw her weeping,
and the Jews also weeping, which came with her. He groaned in
the spirit and was troubled, and said, Where have ye laid
him? They said unto him, Lord, come
and see. Jesus wept. Then said the Jews,
behold how he loved him. And some of them said, could
not this man which opened the eyes of the blind have caused
that even this man should not have died? Jesus therefore again
groaning in himself, cometh to the grave. It was a cave and
a stone lay upon it. Jesus said, take ye away the
stone. Ah, for the sister of him that
was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh, for
he hath been dead four days. Jesus saith unto her, said I
not unto thee that if thou wouldst believe thou shouldst 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 hearest 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. And he that was dead
came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face
was bound about with a napkin. And Jesus saith unto them, Loose
him, and let him go. Then many of the Jews which came
to Mary, and had seen the things which Jesus did, believed on
him. But some of them went their ways
to the Pharisees, and told them what things Jesus had done. Now what a remarkable account
this is of the death and the resurrection of Lazarus. and
how much there is here which is similar to Jesus' own death
and resurrection. Lazarus was laid in a grave,
a cave with a stone rolled over it. When he came forth he was
bound in grave clothes with a napkin about his face. And Mary comes
to the grave. Mary weeps over the death of
her brother. And Jesus cries out, Lazarus,
come forth. And he arose. And Thomas was
there. Thomas and the disciples were
there. Thomas has said, let us go also
that we may die with him. They saw that Lazarus was dead. And they saw that Jesus rose
him from the dead. Loose him and let him go, Jesus
says. Lazarus, come forth. Loose him
and let him go. They saw this miracle right before
their eyes. Oh, will you see the significance
of this? How Thomas is mentioned specifically
in this account. Thomas that we read of in chapter
20, the first real mention of Thomas called Didymus that we
read of is this mention at the death and the resurrection of
Lazarus. He saw what happened. He said,
let us go also that we may die with him. He saw and Lazarus
came forth from the tomb. The fact of death, burial and
resurrection was right before him. He could not have seen it
in a more miraculous way. And yet when Jesus rose, His
natural heart still said, unless I see Him, I will not believe. He'd seen a man raised from the
dead. He'd seen the miraculous power
of God before. And yet, still, when Jesus rose,
he could not believe until God by His Spirit gave him that faith
to see the risen Lord. But in this account, in this
miracle of Lazarus, Thomas is shown the way unto life. He's shown that we must die,
be buried in the grave that we may live. He's shown the consequence
of sin. That as sinners, we die. And as sinners, we must die. As sinners, the old man, the
corruptible old man of Adam that we are, sinners by nature, we
must die. Sin must be judged. Sin must
be put in a grave. before we can come forth in newness
of life and follow Jesus unto the Father. We must die. Having seen all this, later in John, Jesus says something
under his disciples in chapter 13 regarding the need for the
Son of God, the Son of Man, to die. Simon Peter says unto him, Lord,
whither goest thou? Jesus answered him, 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, Wilt thou
lay down thy life for my sake? Verily, verily, I say unto thee,
the cock shall not grow till thou hast denied me thrice. Let
not 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 go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place
for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself. That
where I am, there ye may be also. And whither I go, ye know, and
the way ye know. Thomas saith unto him, Lord,
we know not whither thou goest. And how can we know the way? Jesus saith unto him, I am the
way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. I am the way, the truth, and
the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. Jesus spake of his betrayal in
chapter 13. He conveys to the disciples that
he will be taken. He will be betrayed. They have
been told that he must die. And Simon Peter conveys the same
sentiment as it were that Thomas did in chapter 11. Lord, why
cannot I follow thee now? I will lay down my life for thy
sake. We will follow you wherever you
go. We're willing to die for you. But Jesus says, Wilt thou? Will you, Peter? Verily, verily,
I say unto you, The cock shall not crow till thou hast denied
me Christ. You say this. You want to be
with me. But in your natural state, you have neither the strength
nor ability to go where I go and naturally speaking when it
comes to it you doubt and you disbelieve but he says don't be troubled
I'm going to my father and I'm going to prepare a place for
you and you're going to join me there you don't know where
I'm going now but you know You will know, you will follow. I'm
going the way of death. My pathway will take me to the
cross, to crucifixion, to death. I'm going to the grave and I'm
going through it taking your sins, bearing your sins and bearing
the condemnation and judgment and wrath of God against them
that I may purify you, that I may save you, that I may bring you
unto my Father. Thomas says, Lord, we know not
whither thou goest and how can we know the way? How do we go
this way? I am the way, Jesus says. I am the truth and the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. And in this chapter Christ goes
on to show His disciples His oneness with the Father and their
oneness with Him. The unity between He and His
Father and His people and Him. And if you're to get to heaven
If you or I are to be saved, if Thomas was to be saved or
Peter was to be saved, it was through being one with Christ
and going the way that Christ went. There's only one way unto the
Father, through Christ. What is the way, Thomas asks. I am the way, Christ says. I
am the truth. and I am the life and to come
to the father you'll come through me and to come through me you'll
go where I go and I go to die to be laid in the grave and to
rise again and if you're to come to the father this way then you
will die in me and you will be laid in the grave in me and you
will rise again and live in me. How the truth of the gospel is
presented to Thomas here. It is the truth which leads him
by the way of death in Christ unto eternal life. I am the way,
the truth and the life. This is the way. In verse 29 of this chapter,
Jesus goes on to say, Now I have told you before it come to pass,
that when it is come to pass, ye might believe. I've told you
before it comes to pass, before I die, before I'm laid in a grave,
before I rise again, I'm telling you about it. That when it comes
to pass, ye might believe. and yet despite being told and
despite being shown and despite seeing it in picture in Lazarus's
death and Lazarus in the grave and Lazarus rising again despite
it all being shown unto them they still couldn't believe except
God in the gospel opened their eyes and yet he shows them this
is the way This is the way. Walk ye in it. Turn not to the
left hand or the right. This is the way. I am the way,
the truth and the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. Follow me. And the disciples followed him.
And they followed him unto the end. They were with him at that
day when he was betrayed. They saw him taken away. They
saw the mock trial. They saw the people cry out,
crucify him, crucify him. They were powerless to stop it
and all they could do is watch. And they took their saviour and
they nailed him to a tree and they pierced his hands and his
feet. and they saw his hands nailed to the cross and they
saw him lifted up and suffering in the midday sun and suffering
in the darkness. They heard his cries from the
cross. They heard him cry out, Eli,
Eli, lama sabbath fani, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken
me? They heard his cries. They saw
their Saviour as He bore their sins. They saw Him pierced in
His side and out came blood and water. They saw Him taken down
and laid in the grave and the stone rolled over it. They were
there and though they had seen Lazarus in a tomb with a stone
rolled over it, And though they had heard Jesus come unto Lazarus
and say, come forth, Lucifer. Though they'd seen Lazarus walk
and live in newness of life, yet they mourn when Christ dies,
yet they mourn when he's laid in a grave, and yet when he arises,
naturally, they cannot believe. John 20, but Thomas, one of the
twelve called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. He was not with them. Jesus appears,
risen again from the dead, unto his disciples on the evening
of the first day of the week, the third day since he died. He rose on the third day, the
first day of the week. And here in the evening, as the
day comes to its conclusion, he appears unto his disciples,
assembled in that room with the doors shut. And Thomas wasn't
there. And the other disciples say unto
him, We've 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. And then we read, And after eight
days again, his disciples were within and Thomas with them.
Then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst
and said, Peace be unto you. Eight days later. After three
days, Jesus appears unto the disciples. The work of the triune
God in salvation was complete. The Father and Son had perfected
the covenant. The Son was risen from the dead
and He appears under His people. But one disciple is kept back. One of the remaining eleven is
kept back to see again later. The twelfth, Judas, betrayed
Christ. There are now eleven of the twelve
remaining. The ten see him on that occasion,
and the eleventh is kept back, Thomas, until eight days later. And on the eleventh day, since
Christ was crucified, here Thomas, the eleventh apostle, is brought
to see the risen Christ. Eight days after the third day. And Jesus appears unto him again
and says, Peace be unto you. No matter how far off you may
be from these events, no matter how much time may have
passed, salvation is wrought the same way. Thomas wasn't there
with the others on the evening of the first day of the week,
the third day. but he was there eight days later.
And God knew the day when he would bring faith into the heart
of his 11th apostle. On the 11th day, the 11th apostle
believed and cried out, my Lord and my God. And many others since,
have heard this Gospel, and many others since have seen their
Lord and their Saviour by faith appear unto them and say unto
them in the Gospel, Peace be unto you. And no matter that
they may be the 10,000th person to believe and believe 10,000
days after the death of Christ, and no matter that you may be
years later, even so, if you're Christ's, If you were chosen
by the Father and given unto the Son, and if He suffered and
died in your stead, then there will come a day when He will
come unto you, and though the door of your heart may be shut,
He will enter in and stand in the midst and say unto you, Behold! Behold my hands, and reach hither
thy hand and thrust it into my side, and be not faithless but
believing. I am the way, the truth and the
life. And if you're his, you will cry
out, my Lord and my God. Oh, what a picture Thomas is
for us. What an encouragement he is. Though he was there on
the day when Lazarus rose from the dead though he was there
though he was willing to die for Christ though he was shown
that yet his natural heart still doubted though he had been shown
the need to be one with Christ, to follow Him in the way, to
go through the grave, through death unto life, though he knew
from Christ's own lips that Christ is the way, the truth and the
life and no man can come to the Father but by Him, yet when he
heard the report from his fellow disciples he could not believe.
And though you may have heard the gospel many times, and heard
the report of those that know Christ as their Saviour, and
heard them many times testify that God sent his son and his
son was crucified and his son rose again and his son bore the
bore away the sins of his people his son lives and reigns today
though others may testify of their risen savior and their
faith in him and the joy and the peace they have in knowing
their sins forgiven though you may have heard it all in the
gospel and from other believers Yet you may, like Thomas, still
in your heart say, except I see, I cannot believe. And yet, the
encouragement of Thomas is that no matter how hard our hearts
No matter how foolish and unbelieving we may be, no matter how blind
we may be, if God in the Gospel, in the power of the Gospel comes
unto us, today, even today, He can come in power by His Spirit
and come in the midst and stand in the midst and say, believe. Reach hither thy finger, and
behold my hands. Reach hither thy hand, and thrust
it into my side, and be not faithless, but believe in. And today, even
today, if he does that for you, you, like Thomas, will be given
that faith that will cry out with assurity, my Lord and my
God. my Lord and my God. Oh may God have mercy upon us
and come unto us in power and stand in the midst even though
the doors may be shut and say behold. Reach hither thy finger
and behold my hands reach hither thy hand and thrust it into my
side and be not faithless but believing.