It's good, isn't it? Very good. Where else do we get
to enjoy fellowship like this? Nowhere. Behold, my servant, I uphold mine elect in whom my
soul delighteth. I have put my spirit upon him
and he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not
cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street.
He doesn't have to beg men to let him have his way. When he
gets ready, In our day of love, He'll make us willing in the
day of His power. A bruised reed shall He not break. Are you a bruised reed? Has sin
bruised you? He won't break you. A smoking
flax, He will not quench. He doesn't put out the flame.
He gives more oil, more of His breath to fan that flame. And verse 4 says, He shall not
fail nor be discouraged till He has set judgment in the
earth. Our God, unlike The God of man's
imagination is not in the heavens wringing his hands, wishing that
men would let him have his way. He sits upon his throne uncontested
and unthreatened by the opinions of men and willing and ready
to show his grace and his power to his children. Lord, would
you do that for us this morning? Show me your grace and show me
your power. Let's stand together. Brother
Burt's going to come lead us in number 150, 185, number 185.
? Glorious things of thee are spoken
? ? Zion, city of our God ? ? He whose word cannot be broken ?
? Formed thee for his own abode ? ? On the rock of ages founded
? ? What can shake thy sure repose ? With salvation's walls surrounded
? Thou mayest smile at all thy foes ? See the streams of living
waters ? Springing from eternal love Well supply thy sons and
daughters, And all fear of want remove, Who can faint while such
a river ? Ever flows their thirst to swage ? ? Grace which like
the Lord the giver ? ? Never fails from age to age ? ? Round
each habitation hovering ? ? See the cloud and fire appear ? For
a glory and a covering, showing that the Lord is near. Glorious things of Thee are spoken,
Zion, city of our King. whose work cannot be broken,
for thee, for his own abode. Be seated, please. Good morning. Let us turn to
Matthew chapter 11 for scripture reading. We're only going to
read the first six verses. Matthew 11. And it came to pass When Jesus
had made an end of commanding his 12 disciples, he departed
thence to teach and to preach in the cities. Now when John
heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two disciples
and said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look
for another? Perhaps John the Baptist was
looking at his circumstances and he saw that Jesus did nothing
to get him out of jail, maybe, or out of prison. He was preaching
and teaching. Jesus answered and said unto
them, Go ye and show John again these things which you do here
and see. What are those things that the
Lord Jesus Christ told these two men to tell John? These are
the following things, he says. The blind receive sight. 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. So this is what the
Lord Jesus Christ was doing during his ministry and what he's doing
now still with us. The blind see, they receive a
sight. We are unable to see Christ when we are born naturally, but
the Lord Jesus reveals himself and we can see. We can see our
condition. The lame walk, we had no standing
before God, before the Lord Jesus Christ. reveal himself and he
is our standing before God the Father. The lepers are cleansed. Every believer sees themselves
as a leper full of sin. Nothing but sin. He's still doing
this. and the dead are raised up, the
deaf here, we again, unable to listen to the gospel, unable
to understand, unless he does a work of grace in us, and the
dead arise up, we are quickened together with Christ, we're given
life by the Lord Jesus Christ. And this gospel that was preached
to them, like this gospel that will be preached today are for
the poor, the poor in spirit. The poor means that we have no
righteousness whatsoever. We have nothing that recommends
us to God. We have no possessions, nothing
of value that we contribute at all. We are needy and poor. This is what the preaching, what
the gospel today is going to be for, for those who are poor. And of course, there's two kinds.
Blessed is he whoever shall not be offended of me." So either
you're offended by this Christ, that is His glory, that He takes
the whole glory and that He has salvation in His hands and not
yours, or we are blessed because we are poor. Father God, we come before you
this morning. We thank you, Father. We thank you because we have
Christ. That is the reason why we come
before you, due to his merits and to his shared blood. We thank
you for bringing us here. But we also pray for more, not
just that we hear, Father, that your Holy Spirit might be able
to make us see the Lord Jesus Christ. Father God, make us poor
in spirit. Make us need the Lord Jesus Christ
and draw us to him, Father. We need this. In Jesus Christ
we pray, amen. You who trust the great Redeemer,
sing of Him who saved your soul. By His sacrifice for sinners,
He restored and made us whole. Praise Him for His grace and
favor, praise Him for His love and care. None can rescue us
but Jesus, who with Him can e'er compare. Lo, He left His throne
of glory, Came into this wilderness, Came to save His chosen people,
Came to bring His righteousness. Sing the glories of the Savior,
? Magnify the Lamb who came ? Let our voices join together ? To
exalt the Savior's name ? For our sins the Savior suffered
? He was bruised and crucified ? With His blood He sealed our
pardon It is finished, Jesus cried. God in justice saves his
people, For the law was satisfied. Now there is no condemnation,
Christ our substitute has died. ? What though we be weak and
sinful ? ? Jesus is our mighty friend ? ? He who shed his blood
to save us ? ? Will preserve us to the end ? ? Sing unto him
hallelujahs ? ? Let us all his name adore ? Soon in heaven we
shall see him there to praise him evermore. That was good that the music
ran out. I like singing a cappella. If you'd like to open your Bibles
with me, we're going to begin in John chapter 20. John chapter
20, a very familiar passage of Scripture that we have dubbed
Doubting Thomas. Thomas, one of the apostles.
was not there when the Lord first appeared to the other disciples
that were in the upper room. And so when he came in, the Lord
had already departed. And he said, I don't believe
it. I don't believe it. Unless I see it and put my hand
into the wounds of his hand and thrust my hand into his side,
I will not believe. Now there was Thomas's problem
right there. He said, I will not believe.
Thomas, believing or not believing is not up to you. When the Lord's
ready to make you believe, you're gonna believe. You're gonna believe. He's gonna make you willing in
the day of his power. When your day of love comes,
he's gonna open the eyes of your understanding and bring you to
himself and cause you to believe. cause you to believe. But look
what Thomas says. Verse 24, Then Thomas one of the twelve, called
Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. And 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 prints of the nails,
and put my finger into the prints of the nails, and thrust my hand
into the side, I will not believe. I've got to have evidence. I've got to have proof. I've
got to see it with my own eyes and touch it with my own hands
before I believe. And so eight days later, eight
days later, his disciples were within and Thomas with him. And
then came Jesus, the doors being shut. and stood in the midst
and said, peace be unto you. The Lord just appeared. During
these days between his crucifixion and his ascension, he appeared
and disappeared on many occasions. But he never appeared to anybody
except his people. That was 2,000 years ago. And
he has yet to appear to anybody except his own. He only appears to his own. 27, then said 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 believing. And Thomas answered him and said,
no evidence that Thomas put his finger into the wound of our
Lord's hand or thrust his hand into his side. Thomas, though
we dub him doubting Thomas, and we've let this reputation carry
with him for 2000 years, he's the first man to declare my Lord
and my God. He bows. in submission, worships Christ,
my Lord and my God. And Jesus saith unto him, Thomas,
because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed. Blessed are they
that have not seen me, yet have believed. Blessed of God are those who
have not seen the physical wounds of the Lord Jesus Christ. but
they believe that those wounds were for him. Blessed are those
as the prophet Zechariah said in Zechariah chapter 12, when
the spirit of grace and supplication is poured out upon them and they
will mourn over the one whom they have pierced as one mourneth
for the loss of his only son. Blessed are they. My question
this morning is, have you seen the wounds of the Lord Jesus
Christ? Have you seen them for you? The Scripture says in Isaiah
chapter 53 that he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The wounds that Thomas saw in
the body of the Lord Jesus Christ were for Thomas. And he believed. And he bowed. And he confessed,
oh my Lord and my God. Where did the Lord suffer his
wounds? Where did he suffer his wounds?
Six wounds the scripture tells us about the Lord Jesus Christ. He suffered first a wound in
his head when they made a mock crown out of thorns, pressed
them on his head, and beat his head with a reed until those
thorns blunted themselves against his skull. He suffered horrible
wounds in his head. Why? Well, the scripture says
in Isaiah chapter 1 verse 5 that the whole head is sick. The Lord suffered wounds in the
exact same places where our sin manifest itself. That's what the scripture means
when it says that he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. Isaiah chapter one goes on to
say, from the sole of the foot, even to the head, there is no
soundness in it. At best, we are double-minded
and unstable in all our ways. We're not able to have a holy
thought. Is your head sick? You got a
sick head? I'm not talking about having
a headache. I'm talking about not being able to think straight.
Not being able to think right. Not being able to have a thought
that would honor him. You go into your prayer closet
when you're the most broken and you still can't give him your
full undivided attention. Why? Because you've got a sick
head. And that's the reason that he was
wounded in his head. Our heads are so corrupted that
even as believers, when we try to think about heaven, the best
we can do is think of an improved version of what we know in this
world. Isn't that true? Heaven's not
gonna be anything like this world, but we can't imagine it. You
know, we say all the time, when someone expresses something to
us, we often say as a figure of speech, well, I can't imagine
what that would be like. But we really could imagine what
it would be like most of the time, could we not? There's one
thing that you cannot imagine. Eye has not seen, nor has ear
heard, nor has it entered into the imagination of man's thoughts. the things that he's prepared
for us. And we're so sick in the head that when we try to
think of heaven, we just think of an improved version of this
world, don't we? We think of the things that we're
most pleased with, the things that make us the most, that give
us the most pleasure, and then we just think, well, heaven's
going to be, oh, no. That's just a manifestation of
our sick heads. That's all it is. When the Lord
looked down from heaven in Genesis chapter six, he saw that every
thought and imagination of their hearts were only evil and that
continually. We are incapable of having a
holy thought. We've got sick heads. That's
where it starts. And that's why the Lord was wounded
in his head. Thomas saw those wounds and declared,
oh, my Lord and my God. And the Lord commended him, Thomas,
you believe because you've seen, but blessed are those who have
not seen. And yet they believe. Why? As though they haven't seen with
their physical eyes. Don't believe anybody tells you
they've seen Jesus with their physical eyes. It's not true. It's a lie. But oh, when he reveals himself
through the eyes of faith. That's a better vision, isn't
it? Peter talks about that in 1 Peter when he says, we did
not bring you cunningly devised fables. We handled the word of
God. We didn't make this up. And he
goes on to discuss the experience that he had on the Mount of Transfiguration
when the veil of our Lord's humanity was taken away and the radiance
of his deity shined forth like the noonday sun and drove Peter,
James, and John to the ground. And Peter describes that mountaintop
experience. And then he goes on to the next
verse and says, but we have a more sure word of prophecy. Peter said, we've got something
more reliable than our experience. It's the Word of God. And if
God's given you eyes of faith, faith sees Him in His Word. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing
comes by the Word of God. And so we see Christ. We're not
relying upon some physical manifestation. But how we do rely upon the revelation
that he has made of himself in his word Or the only thing I
can do I can't think right But I can I can believe you by
your grace Lord I do I do You remember when Naaman came
from Syria to be healed of his leprosy to the prophet Elisha,
and Elisha won't even go out and speak with Naaman. He sends
his servant out to talk to him, and Naaman becomes angry. He's enraged with wrath, the
scripture says. And the words that come out of
Naaman's mouth was, I thought, well that was your problem, Naaman.
I thought that the prophet would come out to me. And he'd raise
his hand, he'd perform some ceremony, and he'd heal me. He wants me
to go down to the River Jordan. We've got better rivers than
that up in Syria. I thought, and here's what God says, your
thoughts are not my thoughts. Your ways are not my ways. As the heavens are high above
the earth, so are my thoughts above your thoughts. Are you sick in the head? Are you? He wasn't. Every thought he ever had, every
single imagination of his mind, every thought that he ever had
was pure and holy and spotless. He knew the thoughts of men.
The scripture says he would not commit himself to men, for he
knew what was in their hearts. He knew what was in their thoughts.
His thoughts are not our thoughts. Before the Lord reveals Christ
to us, we think that God loves everybody. God somehow obligated
to save everybody or to at least make an offer of salvation and
leave it up to man's free will to determine whether that offer
becomes effectual for him. That's what we thought. We thought
the will of man was more powerful than the will of God. We thought
Christ gave up his life for everybody. It was up to us, we could decide. How perverted were our thoughts? Thought we could do something? And when we went to the Bible,
we thought the Bible was nothing more than a book of rules and
regulations to teach us how to live our lives in such a way
as to earn favor with God. We didn't know it was a revelation
of the Lord Jesus Christ from beginning to end. Why? Because our thoughts are just He was wounded for our transgressions. Psalm 139, David said, you know
my thoughts before I think them. Such knowledge is too wonderful
for me. I cannot attain it. He had perfect thoughts all the
time. He loved God with all his heart,
all his mind, and all his soul, all the time. And that, my friend,
is what God requires of you and me. How you gonna do that with
your stinking thinking? How you gonna do that with your
sick head? How you gonna present a love
to God that is with all your mind, all the time? You can't
even love him with all your mind for a second, much less all the
time. He was wounded for our transgressions.
He had to be wounded in his head because that's where our sin
manifest itself. How many idle thoughts do you
have? He never had one. He never had
one. I can't imagine. I really can't imagine it. That's
all I do is daydream. He never had an idle thought. Every thought that he had was
perfect and holy before God. And that's what God requires.
And he won't be satisfied with anything less. Oh, I hope you're
saying with me right now, he's the one I need to stand in my
stead before God. He's the one that I need to present
himself before God on my behalf. I can't think right. First Corinthians chapter 13
says when that which is perfect is come Then that which is in
part shall be done away When I was a child, I understood as
a child. I thought as a child And when
I became a man, I put away childish things I Now Paul's not saying
I don't think like a child anymore when it comes to spiritual things
No, he's saying that I do think like a child when it comes to
spiritual things that right now that which is in part is still
part of my experience, but he's liking in it to the difference
between He's saying when I become a man, I'm gonna be in heaven
right now. I'm still a child. I Because the next verse says,
now we see through a glass darkly, but then, but then we'll see
him face to face. Oh, to see him as he is and be
made like him. We're not going to be able to
have holy thoughts until that day. Right now, we're still thinking
like children. I'm so thankful that he was wounded
in his head, because that's where my sin is. He was also wounded
in his heart. And I'm thankful that the wound
to his heart was post-mortem. Otherwise, his life would have
been taken from him. But his life wasn't taken from
him. He laid down his life. He gave up the ghost. He gave
permission for his spirit to depart from his flesh and afterwards
the soldier came by with a sword and pierced his heart and out
came water and blood. You see, he had to die in order
for us to be sanctified. That's the picture of the water.
washing of the water by the Word of God. We're not going to discover
our justification, our redemption, which is pictured by the shed
blood that came from the heart of the Lord Jesus Christ, until
we come before His Word. Faith comes by hearing. Hearing
comes by the Word of God. Of His own will begat He us with
the Word of Truth. And so the Lord uses His Word.
The water has to come first, just like in a physical birth.
Just like in a physical birth. The water has to break first,
doesn't it, ladies? Before the child can be born,
and the blood comes, and you had as much to do with your spiritual
birth as you did with your physical birth. I've said this before,
you know, people say, well, you know, a woman's nine months pregnant,
she said, that baby's ready to come. No, it's not. That baby'd
stay in there forever if he could. It's your body that's ready for
that baby to be, to be gone. Your body can't handle it anymore.
The baby has gotten to full term and you're the one that gives
birth to that child. That child's not doing anything. So it is in our spiritual birth. The water and the blood. coming from the heart of the
Lord Jesus Christ. And the reason being because
our hearts are deceitful above all things, desperately wicked. Who can know them? Thomas saw the wounds in the
body of the Lord Jesus Christ, and he knew those wounds were
there for him, because every one of them he looked at, he
thought, that's where my sin is. That's where my sin is. I've got a wicked heart. I was
born into this world with a heart of stone. I shall give them a
new heart. I'll take out that lifeless,
cold, hard heart of stone and I'll put in a heart of flesh.
I'll cause them to love me with a new heart. Turn with me to Hebrews chapter
3. Hebrews chapter 3. You know, a man can commit one
of the most heinous crimes imaginable and they'll put his mother on
TV and what will she say? He's got a good heart. He's got
a good heart. He just caught up in a bad group
or bad crowd or he's got a bad habit, but he's got a good heart.
No, mama. His problem is his heart. And
that's your problem. And that's my problem. The heart
is desperately wicked. It's deceitful. And it's because of unbelief.
That's the sin that does so easily beset us. We don't believe God. The Lord Jesus Christ believed
God with all his heart, all the time. And our faith is so mixed
with unbelief, isn't it? Lord, I do believe. You've given
me a heart that causes me to believe. Help thou mine unbelief. Look what the Lord says about
the heart. Hebrews chapter 3 beginning at verse 8 harden not your hearts
as in the day of provocation in the day of temptation in the
wilderness when your fathers tempted me proved me and saw
my works forty years wherefore I was grieved with that generation
and said they do air in their heart and they know not my ways
so I swear in my wrath They shall not enter into my rest. Take
heed, brethren, lest there be any of you of an evil heart of
unbelief. O Lord, help thou mine unbelief. In departing from the living
God, but exhort one another daily while it is called today, lest
any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. Lord,
there's my problem. I'm so thankful that the Lord
Jesus Christ was pierced in his heart by that spear. He was wounded for our transgressions. He took the punishment that we
deserved because of our wicked heart. When they knew not God,
Romans chapter 3, they glorified Him not as God, neither were
thankful, but became vain in their imagination and foolish
in their hearts, were darkened. Were darkened. Like Lydia, you and I are in
need for the Lord to open our hearts. And what great hope in
knowing that what He opens, no man can shut. Oh, Lord, open
my heart. Open my heart. The sword of God's
justice pierced the heart of the Lord Jesus Christ, showing
the evil of our hearts and satisfying the demands of God's justice. stiff-necked and uncircumcised
in heart is the description that the Lord gives of man. Out of the heart proceeds evil
thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness,
an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness, all comes from within
man's heart. Why was he wounded in his heart? Because that's where my sin problem
is. sick head, and an evil heart. Scripture says that his hands
were pierced. Thomas saw them, didn't he? Thomas
saw those wounds in his hands, and Thomas knew that his mother,
Eve, exercised the very first act of rebellion against God
when she took of the fruit. And everything that man's hand
has ever touched since that day has been defiled. Our hands are
sinful, everything we do. The Lord Jesus Christ had to
be wounded for our transgressions. He had to be bruised for our
iniquities. His hands had to be pierced because
that is where our sin manifests itself and sin had to be paid
for. God's justice had to be satisfied.
And that's what he did. That's what he did. Cain brought
to God the labor of his hands, and God had no regard for his
offering. Oh, don't bring to God something
you've made with your hands. It's defiled. It's sinful. The hands of the Lord Jesus Christ
are the only hands who shall stand in the presence of a holy
God. They which have clean hands and
a pure heart. Are your hands clean? Is your
heart pure? His were. His are. His are. His hands never did anything
that wasn't perfect. Turn with me to Luke, Psalm 18,
Psalm 18. We'll begin reading in verse
18. Psalm 18, verse 18. They prevented me in the day
of my calamity. But the Lord was my stay." Now
you know these Psalms are prophetic. These are the words of David
speaking prophetically of what the Lord Jesus Christ would go
through on Calvary's cross. They prevented me, but I trusted
in God. He was my stay. He brought me
forth also into a large place. He delivered me because he delighted
in me. The Lord rewarded me according
to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands
hath he recompensed me. Can you say that about yourself? For I have kept the ways of the
Lord, and have not wickedly departed from my God. For all his judgments
were before me, and I did not put away his statues from me.
I was also upright before him. I kept myself. from mine iniquity. Therefore hath the Lord recompensed
me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of
my hands in his eyesight." Oh, I'm so glad the hands of the
Lord Jesus Christ were wounded because my sin had to be paid
for. In Mark chapter 5, when those
grieving parents came to the Lord Jesus Christ with that 12-year-old
daughter, the Scripture says, the Lord reached forth His hand
and touched her and raised her from the dead. My hand is not
short in that it cannot save. When that leper came to Him,
he said, Lord, I know that you can heal me if you will. Now, most of the world thinks
that God wants to heal, but he can't unless you give him permission. You gotta do your part. But that
leper had it right when he said, Lord, I know thou canst heal
me if thou willest. And you know what the Lord said?
I will. And he reached forth his hand
and touched him and immediately his leprosy left him. Oh, the hands of our Lord Jesus
Christ. Perfect before God clean what David says there in Psalm
18 is true of Christ when Peter stepped out of the boat and was
walking on the water and began to look at the wind and the waves
and Started to sink in the water. What did he cry Lord? Save me
and the scripture says and Jesus reached forth his hand and Lifted
him up His hand is not short. It's able to save. And it will
save those whose hands are defiled. I need the wounded hands of the
Son of God to present themselves before God for my righteousness,
because they were undefiled, and for my justice, because God
pierced them. God pierced them. He was wounded for our transgressions.
The head is sick. The heart is deceitful and desperately
wicked. The hands can do nothing but
sin. Where else were his wounds? His feet. His feet were pierced. What's the scripture say about
our feet? Our feet are swift to shed blood, feet that be swift
to running to mischief, always walking in our own way, prone
to wander, prone to leave the God we love. And where was Mary
found? Sitting at the feet of the Lord
Jesus Christ. You got problems with your feet?
You do, don't you? They take you out of the way
all the time, don't they? Out of the way. All we like sheep have gone astray,
each unto his own way. But God has laid on him the iniquity
of us all. His feet were pierced because
his feet weren't like our feet. Revelation tells us that his
feet were tried in the fire like pure brass. His feet were holy. Our feet are, we're like Mephibosheth,
aren't we? Mephibosheth suffered crippling
in both of his feet as a result of a fall. And what did David
do? He said, Mephibosheth, you sit
here at the king's table, and we'll hide your feet under my
tablecloth, and I'll feed you with the king's fare the rest
of your life. We'll just put those crippled
feet underneath the table. Don't worry about them. My feet,
my feet have been wounded for you. Exodus chapter 3 when Moses was
at the burning bush The Lord told him take the shoes from
off your feet For the ground on which you stand is holy ground
Moses expose the fact that you are a man with feet of clay if
you're going to stand in my presence and Because my feet are the only
feet that are perfect. Even the seraphim, in Isaiah
chapter 6, remember those seraphim that were hovering over the throne
of God, crying, holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God of hosts, heaven
and earth is filled with his glory, and with two wings they
did what? They covered their eyes. And
with two wings they did what? They covered their feet. These are sinless angels, but their feet weren't
like his feet. Their feet were creature feet.
Their feet had to be covered, and his feet had to be wounded. He was wounded for our transgressions,
bruised for our iniquities. When Thomas saw his wounds, he
knew that those wounds were for him. What are we to do? You remember
when Naomi sent Ruth to go plead with Boaz in the threshing floor
that night? And Naomi said to Ruth, uncover
his feet and lie down and he shall tell you what to do. Uncover the feet of the Lord
Jesus Christ and lie down at his feet I shall make my enemies
my footstool we came into this world at enmity with God full
of sin and God causes us to sit at his feet and Mary hath chosen
that one thing needful didn't she Martha wanted to run around
with her dirty feet Taking care of all everybody's needs Not
realizing that she needed to be at the Lord's feet. Oh, he walked in the way perfectly. His feet, unlike ours, never
slipped. And when he went to the cross,
they were pierced because that's what your feet and my feet deserved. Isaiah chapter 50 says I gave
my back to the smiters Paul said who shall deliver me
from this body of death. I He's using an analogy of a criminal
having to carry the dead corpse of his victim on his back while
it decays in public. And that's what Paul likens his
flesh to. And Paul says, who's going to
deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God. The Lord Jesus Christ gave his
back to the smiters. And so he says, thanks be to
God through Christ Jesus I'm free. There's now therefore no
condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. All ye that
labor and are heavy laden, you got a burden on your back? You
got a monkey on your back? He doesn't. He doesn't. Come to me. My burden is light, my yoke is
easy. Learn of me, I'll give you rest
for your soul." That's why he was smitten on his back. To pay
the penalty of the sin that you and I bear on our backs. The governments are upon his
shoulders. His shoulders are heavy, are strong enough to carry
the weight of anything. Any sin any sadness, any disappointment,
any need, put it on him. Lay your burden upon him for
he careth for you. What's the evidence that he careth
for me? Thomas knew when he saw the Lord Jesus Christ that that
flogging that he took from those Roman soldiers were for his sin. He was bruised. for my sin, smitten
for my iniquity. And finally, the scripture says
in Isaiah chapter 52 that his visage was so marred more than
any man and his form more than the son of man. When the Lord
Jesus Christ went to Calvary's cross, he no longer looked like
a man. They had ripped his beard from
his face. And those who had any sense at
all would have diverted their gaze from him for the horrors
of what he went through. Daniel said when I saw him my
comeliness And what Daniel was saying was
I thought I was a pretty look pretty good-looking guy I Thought
I was pretty handsome until I saw him and Then my comeliness was
turned into corruption Isn't it amazing how we become
so proud of, oh Lord. My confusion is continually before
me. The shame of my face hath covered
me. The Lord Jesus Christ suffered
those wounds in his face. Because that's where our sin
is. The proud look of our face. The Lord had to put that away. Thomas saw the Lord. The Lord said, Thomas is good
for you that you believe now that you've seen me, but blessed
are those who have not seen me yet believe. Have you seen his
wounds? Has the spirit of grace and supplication
been poured out upon you? Do you know that you're the one
that wounded him? Thomas knew it. I said, well,
how do I know that? Have you fallen at his feet and
confessed, my Lord and my God? I've got no place else to go. Our Heavenly Father, we're thankful that you so loved the worldlings,
that you sent your only begotten son We thank you for the gift of
faith that enables us to believe upon him. And we ask now father
that you would cause us to see in the wounds of our Savior. The satisfying of your justice. For the manifestation of our
sin. We ask it in Christ name. Amen. For the bird. Number 340, let's
stand together. Nearer, still nearer, close to
thy heart. Draw me, my Savior, so precious
thou art. Fold me, oh, fold me close to
thy breast. Shelter me safe in that haven
of rest. Shelter me safe in that haven
of rest. Nearer, still nearer, nothing
I bring, not as an offering to Jesus my King. Only my sinful, now contrite
heart Grant me the cleansing thy blood doth impart. Grant me the cleansing thy blood
doth impart. Lord, to be thine. Sin with its follies I gladly
resign. All of its pleasures, pomp and
its pride, Give me but Jesus, my Lord crucified. Give me but Jesus, my Lord crucified. Nearer, still nearer, while life
shall last, Till safe in glory my anchor is cast, Through endless
ages ever to be, Nearer, my Savior, still nearer to Thee. Nearer, my Savior, still nearer
to Thee. Get up and get on your horse.