We meet together on Sunday morning
and Sunday night, and if the Lord blesses His word on Sunday
morning, I always feel so bad for asking again. I feel so unworthy. I feel so needy. I feel so, you know what
I'm saying? The Lord sent His goodness to
us, and He blessed His word to us, and I think, Lord, I'm so
sorry, but I need you again. I need you again. We can't come back and meet together
without His hand on us and without His Spirit. And we pray, and
we try to do our best to pray, but it just does not, we're not
praying like I wish we could pray. But the Lord is faithful, isn't
He? He's faithful, isn't He? And
if He will bless us tonight, we will be grateful, won't we?
We'll be so grateful. Our Lord here in John 20, after His resurrection, He came to His disciples where
they were gathered together. And he entered right into the
room, it said the door's being shut. He entered right into where
they were and he said, peace be unto you. And he breathed, it said whenever
he came in and he said that to them, he breathed the Holy Ghost
on them. Can you imagine that? And he personally gave them the
message that remits sin and condemns sin. You know what a gift it
is that he gave us the gospel? We could be walking around with
lies, couldn't we? But he gave us the message that
remits sin and condemns sin. Verse 24 says, But Thomas One of the twelve, called Didymus,
was not with them when Jesus came. Does your heart not break
for him? It's just me here tonight, unless
our Lord is truly meeting with us. It's just me standing here.
But that was God. Can you imagine missing that? It doesn't say why he wasn't
there. I don't know if he could have
been there and he chose not to come. I don't know. I don't know
if he was hindered. So many of you, so many, there's
so many circumstances, so many of you have jobs, right? And
that's the job that the Lord has given you. That's the one
he provided you with. And you have an obligation to
show up. You have to be there. That's
out of your control. But I don't know what his situation
was here. Whatever it was, whatever the
case was, my heart breaks for him. It really breaks for him. Last May in the conference in
Rocky Mount, one of the pastors that was preaching in it brought
a message and every person I talked to, I mean every person I talked
to said they've never heard anything like it. All the other pastors
told me that. Some of you were blessed to be
there and hear it. Some of you told me that. Every
person I talked to said, God descended on that place. They said His Word opened up
like I've never seen it. Our God went. And I missed it. I missed it. I couldn't help
it. He preached it on Sunday morning.
I had a responsibility to be here. I hope God blessed us that
day. I pray he did. I was there Friday
night, Saturday morning. But that was the only message
of the weekend that didn't get taped. Only one. And I missed it. Even if that message had been
recorded, God does not necessarily record
His Spirit. You know what I mean? He does
not necessarily record. The truth of a message, you can
hear a message back, and the truth of it could be a great
blessing. I listen to messages all the
time on Sermon Audio, and I hear the truth, and it blesses my
heart. It's a great blessing. But God does not record His Spirit
for us to just call it up whenever we want it. The Spirit blows
where and when it listeth. When God decides to go, that's
when it happens. And God chose to breathe on that
place at that moment in time, and I missed it. And that still
crushes me. I wrote it in my notes because
I still think about it. It just crushes me. Worship services
are held all the time, all over the place. And a lot of times, men and women
gather together because they think they're supposed to. Well,
we have to be there. We just have to be there. A lot
of times, men and women gather together for their own sake. They don't go until they get
in trouble. I have a need now, so that's why I'm going." And
our Lord said, if you have a need, you bring it to me. I'll give
you rest. You take your burden to the Lord and you leave it
there. Roll your care over to Him. He cares for you. But we
did not come here and assemble tonight just to see what we can
get out of Him, did we? That's not why we're here. God's people gather together
in His name. And the reason they do that is
because there's no place on earth they'd rather be. There's no
place on earth right now I'd rather be. God causes His people
to gather together with a heart that cries this, though He slay
me, yet will I trust Him. That's what's deep down. The
flesh tries to say, no, no, no, no. But that's what God's Spirit
says inside the heart of a sinner. Though he slay me, yet will I
trust him. God causes his people to truly
gather together in his name with a soul that wants and needs one
thing only, and that's Christ to be glorified. Christ to be
glorified. When we come into this place,
with a heart that truly says, Oh, worship the king, all glorious
above, and gratefully sing his power and his love. God said,
when that happens, I will come into the middle of you. That's what he said. Our doors right now are shut.
The door's being shut. But if God will breathe on this
assembly, and if He will give at least two sinners here a heart
to cry, not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto Thy name,
give glory for Thy mercy and for Thy true sake. If God has
done that, then God is inside this place. Is that waiting? Whenever I was studying this,
I just needed a minute. I like to put Selah sometimes. Just pause right there. I believe
Him. By God's grace and by His Spirit,
I believe what He has said. I believe we're in the presence
of the Holy God right now. That's what I believe. You know, Elijah said his servant
was so afraid, and Elijah said, Lord, open his eyes that he might
see. If God would open our eyes right now and let us see, I don't think we could even imagine
what we're in the presence of right now. The man The man who is our Savior,
the man who is our King, the one who all we want in life is
to physically see Him. Isn't that all we want? I just
want to see Him. I just want to see Him. I believe right now the door
is being shut. I believe He is here. I believe
He is here. I believe He is everywhere. He has gathered His people together.
put a heart in them to worship in his name. I believe he's right
in the midst. Now, what if I was not the pastor
here, somebody else was, and our dear brother Cody Groover
made a surprise visit from Mexico to the United States, didn't
tell anybody he was coming, and he popped in one night to our
service And the next time I came, I found
out I missed him. I missed him. I love that man.
He was here. He gathered with the saints.
He hugged all the brethren. He spoke to everybody. Joy was
in this. Everybody was so glad to see
him. And I missed him. Gabe was not with them when he
came. That would be so sad. That would
be so sad to me. But how much sadder Would it
be to find out that the saints gathered together in one of those
times when it was truly in God's name.
And our precious Lord and Savior came into this place. And through
the course of the message, he went and sat next to each one
of his children and whispered into their ear, peace be unto
you. My blood was shed for you. I chose you. You know, that's what
His Spirit says to the heart. I chose you. I don't rejoice
in election like I rejoice in hearing the fact that God chose
me. I'm so thankful for election,
but only because God chose me. I loved you. I died for you. and come to find out faith grew. Faith was increased, and true
peace grew. Contentment was strengthened,
and I missed it. I missed it. How sad would that
be? If God enables us, as it's according
to His will and purpose for us, our steps, If He enables us,
may God teach us all that gathering with the saints is so far above
the highest priority in life, it can't even be put into words.
It just cannot be put into words. Look at verse 24. It says, 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 be laid." They came and said, We saw the
Lord. Ten of them. All ten of them. Thomas, we saw
the Lord. I will not believe. Now, Thomas
is known as Doubting Thomas, isn't he? That's what everybody
calls him. Faithless Thomas. And he's also known for not being
with the others when the Lord came. And those two things go
hand in hand. Now, it is never the intent,
never, never, never the intent to put any child of God under
bondage. Never. Never. The Lord orders
our steps. The Lord in His providence, He
has caused certain things to happen to us. There are times
we can be here in His providence, times we cannot be here in His
providence. And He's going to do with us
whatever He sees fit to do with us, and that's His will and purpose.
And we leave it right there. And with that being said, now
let's all preach the Word. All right? Let's go to Romans
chapter 10. Romans chapter 10, look at verse
17. So then faith, and that's our
subject tonight, the faith of a believer. So then faith cometh
by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. That's how faith
comes. We all want more faith. When things come, when trials
come, when whatever comes, we all want more faith. Well, here's
how it comes. Faith cometh by hearing, and
hearing by the word of God. Thomas lacked faith because,
here's the reason. It only comes through hearing
the gospel preached, and he was not with them to hear it. Bless
his heart. He was not with them to hear
it. So here's the exhortation to our Lord, from our Lord to
his people. Here's what he says. Look over
at Hebrews 10 with me. Hebrews 10 verse 24 says, and
let us consider one another to provoke unto love and good works. Let's provoke each other. Let's think about each other,
consider each other, and provoke one another unto love and to
good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together
as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another, and so
much the more as you see the day approaching." I believe the
day is approaching. I really do. I believe the day
is approaching. I know with every day that passes, there's one
less day. And so he says, don't forsake the assembling of yourselves
together and exhort one another so much the more as you see the
day approaching. So it is vital, it's just vital
for a believer to assemble himself with God's saints every time
God will allow it. Every single time he'll allow
it. The reason is because a lack of faith is called unbelief, right? A lack of faith. In our text
we saw Thomas' unbelief. He said, I'm not going to believe
it. It's called unbelief. Now look with me at Hebrews 3,
verse 12. We looked at this this morning
in the Bible study. Hebrews 3 verse 12 says, Take
heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of
unbelief in departing from the living God. In chapter 10, he
said, We are not of them who draw back. We are of them who
believe. We believe. That's what God's
people do. We believe. So he said, Take heed. How do
we do that? How do we take heed? by hearing the gospel, by hearing
the gospel. Now let me show you something
on the way back to the text. Go with me to 2nd Timothy chapter
2. This is my favorite part right here.
2nd Timothy 2 verse 13. If we believe not, yet he abideth
faithful. He cannot deny himself. Isn't that relieving? Oh man, I love that. If we believe
not, I'd love to be strong in faith, but you know what? I'm
a weak person. If we believe not, yet he abideth
faithful, he cannot deny himself. What that means is our faith
is not in our faith. Well, I need to have good faith.
Well, it looks like I'm having good faith these days. Slipped
up yesterday, time to increase my faith today. Our faith is not in our faith. Our faith is in Christ and His
faithfulness. That's what faith is. True faith
is in Him. As we talk about having this
lack of faith, we get so... Every time we look within, it's
just down, down, down. And as soon as we go back to
Christ, everything gets better. True faith doesn't look right
here. We're talking about having faith, and it comes through here
in the gospel. Without hearing the gospel, we don't hear about
Christ. And all we know out there in the world is what we see right
here, and it's just so... And hearing that gospel makes
us go... And we increase our faith. True faith is in Him. Poor Thomas, he didn't have it.
Now go with me back to the text in John 20. verse 24 says, 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." Thomas is our example of what
a lack of faith looks like. He's the example the Lord has
given us. Let me show you four things about Thomas that are
evidences of unbelief. The first one is in John 11. John 11 verse 3, Therefore his
sisters sent unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest
is sick. That's Lazarus. Verse 6, When
our Lord had heard, therefore, that Lazarus was sick, he abode
two days still in the same place where he was. Then after that,
saith he to his disciples, let us go into Judea again. His disciples say unto him, Master,
the Jews of late sought to stone thee. And goest thou thither
again? Lord, if you go back to Judea,
they're going to kill you. The last time you were there,
they wanted to stone you. Don't go back there. You're going
to die. Verse 16, Then said Thomas, which
is called Didymus, unto his fellow disciples, Let us also go, that
we may die with him. I'm ready to die, too, as though
his death is not enough. It's going to be me and him,
not him alone, both of us. Now, here's the first evidence
of his unbelief. He was confident in himself. He thought, I have strong faith. Every time I do that, every time
I think, man, I am really starting to trust the Lord, here it comes. Pride comes before
a fall, doesn't it? The first sign of an extreme
lack of faith is self-confidence. Self-confidence. Here's the second
one. Look at John 14. John 14 verse 1 says, let not
your heart be troubled. You 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 you may be also. And whither I go, you know
in the way you know. Thomas said unto him, Lord, we
know not whither thou goest and how can we know the way? Thomas thought a lot of himself,
but he didn't think enough of Christ. That was a problem. He did not think enough of the
Lord Jesus Christ. He looked right at our Lord and
he said, I don't know the way. His confidence was not in Christ
alone. Really, Christ alone. Lord, tell
us what the missing link is. Tell us what needs to be added. Faith is in Christ alone. Christ alone. If it's not in
Christ alone, it's not faith. It's just not faith. Faith is
in Christ alone. All right, now here's the third
evidence. Go back to the text with me, John 20. Verse 25 says, 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. Thomas wanted an experience. And that's what everybody wants.
That's what everybody wants. He wanted an experience. He put
much emphasis on an experience. How many people put all their
hope in an experience. I have had people tell me so
many times how they were saved, when they were saved, the day,
the time, what they did, where they were, an experience. They said, we've seen the Lord.
Faith says, I believe that. I believe that. Here's the last
evidence, right here in verse 24, Thomas 1 of the 12 called
Didymus was not with them when Jesus came. He put a lot of emphasis
on an experience, but he put very little emphasis on worshiping
his Lord. And again, that's something that
we see. You know, I was so, yeah, I was
saved when this and that. Well, why don't you come worship
with us? I'll be there. Oh yeah, I'll be there. He didn't
put much emphasis on worshiping the Lord. That's a true lack
of faith. Thomas had a real lack of faith.
But God. I have nothing good to say about
Thomas. I'm Thomas. But God. Verse 26 says, 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. Same message. He didn't come in and say, Thomas,
where were you? He walked right into that group
and he said straight to Thomas. I'm sure he looked right at Thomas.
Peace be unto you. He assembled Thomas with all
the others and he came again. Our God is so kind. He's just
so kind. He said it again. All that a
believer truly can say is thank God for His faithfulness. When we're talking about faith,
that's all we can say is thank God for His faithfulness. Verse 27 says, 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 believing. And Thomas answered and said
unto him, My Lord and my God." That means God gave him what
he needed. Gave him exactly what he needed.
Faith is not of ourself. It really is a gift of God. Thomas could not take one ounce
of credit for his faith, and neither can we. Not one ounce. It's the faith of Christ. It's his faith. He gives it to
whoever he wants to, whenever he wants to. But when he gives
it, it is evident, isn't it? I mean, it's evident. Thomas
cried, my Lord and my God. That's what faith cries, my Lord
and my God. I'm low, you're high. In you, I see the way. I see
it now. I see the truth. I see the life.
Verse 29 says, Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast
seen me, thou hast believed. Blessed are they that have not
seen and yet have believed. What he's saying is, faith is
not based on sight. It's not based on sight. Hebrews
11 says, faith is the evidence of things not seen. Isn't that
right? True faith says, at thy word. That's what it says, at thy word.
God told Noah, build an ark. Noah didn't say, I will not build
an ark until I see a drop of rain. It would have been too
late. He moved with fear. At thy word. It's going to rain, Noah. Never has before, but it's going
to. Let's build an ark. The Lord said to Peter, let's
push out from the shore and let down the nets. Peter said, Master,
we have toiled all night and caught nothing. We know these
waters. And now we've come in and we
just finished cleaning all our nets. We just got all our work
done. Nevertheless, at thy word. True faith moves at Thy Word. At Thy Word. And that brings
us back to where we started. The importance of gathering together
to hear His Word. Right? At Thy Word. At Thy Word. It's all at Thy Word. Verse 30
says, And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of
His disciples. I would love to know what those
were. Our Lord didn't record them. But when he says many,
he means many other signs. Truly did Jesus in the presence
of his disciples, which are not written in this book, but these
are written at thy word. These are written that you might
believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. and that believing
you might have life through his name. Lord, bless us, bless us
by gathering us together. You know, if we gather here,
we didn't decide to come. He gathered us. He can hinder
us. He can gather us. If we're here
right now, we give him the glory for it. He brought me here. Gather
us together and feed us with your word. Feed us with your
word. Our faith is totally dependent
on His faithfulness. If we're going to come here,
He has to bring us. If we're going to be fed, He has to feed
us. We are totally dependent on His faithfulness. Our faith
is just the evidence of His faithfulness. That's all it is. So like all
those other disciples said, Lord, increase our faith. Right? Increase our faith. Gather us
together. Feed us with your word. Okay,
let's stand together.