It's a privilege to be here.
It's an honor. In my whole life, I've heard men stand up at conferences
and say it is an honor and a privilege to be here. And I learned in
school that's a greeting and a salutation. And then I had
a pulpit. And it is an honor. I'm thankful
that you've entrusted me to tell you what the Lord says. And for
you to ask me to be here, I appreciate it. You have brethren in San
Diego. This congregation has been abundantly generous to us,
and I tell them that you are, and they are thankful for you,
and they love you, and we pray for you, and we're grateful for
you. Thank you for having me. We have
a hurricane coming through, don't we? John preached up a hurricane. I've seen the lights go out.
Powers went out before. Thunder, rumble. Paul was out
preaching for us in San Diego and the earth shook. We had an
earthquake. He didn't even know it. If you will, let's turn to John
chapter 11. I don't want to be provocative,
but I want to provoke thought. John chapter 11. This is the
living Word. There's times I read, O ye of
little faith, and I want to crawl in a closet and hide. And there's
times I read, O ye of little faith, and I said, did you hear
what he just said? He said we have faith. That makes me happy. Our attitude has a lot to do
with how we look at things, doesn't it? And most times, most times,
our attitude is just too high of ourselves. We was going to
have a chili... I can't think no more. We was
going to have potluck dinner. And somebody said, what if everybody
brings chili? And I said, well, you could be sad and say, everybody
brought the same thing. Or you can call it a chili cook-off
and sell tickets. We pay money to go to the county
fair for that, don't we? Attitude has a lot. We always
think of the Apostle Thomas. What do we call him? Doubting
Thomas. You know how easy it is for me
to call him doubting? And I'm the one that doubts all
the time. I'm the one that doubts. This is the living word. And
there's times we read that and I see my doubts. And there's
times I see how trusting Thomas was and how needful of our Lord
Thomas was. Just like you preached not too
long ago, or a couple of years ago. Lot's wife turned back to
Solomon. She was turned to salt. Don't
you turn to this world. What a warning that is. And if
we look throughout Scripture, salt's preserving. Christ said,
My people are the salt of the earth. And Lord, if I turn from
you, make me like Christ right then. Make me just like you. Take me home. Here in John 11, we'll start
with verse 16. So then said Thomas, which is
called Didymus, means twin in Hebrew and in Greek, unto his
fellow disciples let us go also that we may die with him. This all began up in verse 1,
it says, now a certain man was sick named Lazarus. Bethany,
the town of Mary and her sister Martha. Bethany is about two
miles from Jerusalem, and about a half day walk from where they
were. We read in the chapter 10, they
went back to where John the Baptist was baptizing folks. They had
about a half day's walk to get to Bethany. It says in verse
2, And that was Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped
his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. It's
that same Mary. She had went with the Lord to
die. She had been persecuted with
Him. She went and spent... We always think Mary's lazy.
Martha thought she was lazy, didn't she? She just sat at your
feet. She broke the alabaster box and
anointed His head and wiped His feet with her hair. She was working
at some point to get that box, wasn't she? And those people
made fun of her. They murmured against her in
their hearts. And our Lord looks upon the heart. He saw their
hearts and he said, why are you saying this? What's wrong with
you? Why do you condemn her for the
good she's done to me? He said, you know what's going
to happen? He said, wherever this gospel
goes forth, she is going to be mentioned. What are we doing
tonight? Are we talking about how good
Mary was? Her great faith? No. Her love
of the Lord. What's the best thing somebody
could say about you? I told them, I said, if I was
going to write, if I got to choose what somebody would say good
about me, what would I write down? I said that, and Kimberly
laughed out loud. She said, you're going to have
to have a lot of ink. I think pretty highly of myself.
Don't matter what I think of me, and it don't matter what
somebody else thinks of me. What does the Lord think of me?
That's why she didn't care if those people was murmuring. She
didn't care what they thought. She was there looking to her
Lord, serving her Lord. What did he say about it? Look
down at verse 5. John 11 verse 5. Now Jesus loved
Martha and her sister and Lazarus. To walk with the Lord, to be
loved of Him. She loved Him because He first
loved her. I love Him. He first loved me.
I think of Him, but He knows His thoughts towards me. My thoughts
may go away. The Lord may take my mind from
me. And I may not remember Him, but
He'll remember me. That's what that thief said.
Remember me, Lord. Remember me. He loved Mary. She loved Him. And she worked
hard for Him. She bought that box of ointment
for His body's burying. Why? He first loved her. And
He taught her. And He comforted her because
she was sitting at His feet. Every time he's around. Verse
3 says, therefore his sister sent unto him, saying, Lord,
behold, him whom thou lovest is sick. They didn't ask him
to do anything. They didn't instruct him. They
didn't say how much Lazarus loves you. You know how many times
you've stayed in our house? You know how many times we've cooked
for you? You know how many times more we will cook for you if
you'll do this? or the one you love. That's what
it's hinged upon. The one you love is sick. Whatever
you see fit will be right. And Jesus heard that, verse 4,
and He said, The sickness is not unto death, but for the glory
of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby. By the raising of Lazarus from
the dead, the Father is glorified. Why? Because the Son is glorified
and honored. That's why. Our Lord prayed,
Father, the hour has come. Glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son
may also glorify Thee. How is He going to do that? People
say, I want to honor God. You're going to have to kiss
the Son, lest He be angry. That's it, isn't it? How is He
going to do that? What's He going to do? We know
who He is. What's He going to do? He's going
to raise His people from the dead. You have to be dead first
to be given life. You have to be lost to be found
for a breath of toast. He said that all men should honor
the Son even as they honor the Father. He that honors not the
Son honors not the Father which sent Him. And if this world could
hear it. Oh, if I could tell somebody.
If any man serve me, let him follow me." Not a doctrine, not
a theological standpoint. Follow me. It's personal. And
where I am, there also shall my servant be. They're going
to be with me and I'm going to be with them. He dwells in his
people. And if any man serve me, if we honor the Son, him
will my Father honor. What a privilege it is. That's
not out of necessity, is it? We have to honor the Son. We
will. Everything will bow. But we know Him when we get to.
That's a privilege. Love's from that new nature.
It has instinct. It can't keep from it. You people
are children. Well, I have to love my children.
No, you don't have to love. You just love them. Can you explain
that to somebody that don't love? You can't. They've experienced
it. They know Christ is glorified
when men and women acknowledge who He is. Paul wrote and said,
but of Him, of the Lord, the Father, are ye in Christ, who
of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification
and redemption. He's all those things. That. That. That pretty well sums it
up. That's everything. That's all
you think or do. His righteousness that He's made
us. Set us apart for his service
that according as it is written. He that glorieth let him glory
in the Lord. He's done it all The Lord Jesus
Christ was glorified when men and women acknowledged who he
is and what he did and why he did it And where he is now All
this is for the glory of the Son All of them. He says so Lazarus
sickness the sickness that our brother had the sickness that
you have Sickness our friends have why? God gave it for his
glory and our good And we say we understand that and boy when
you're in the middle of it. It's hard to see it He'll show
us he'll show us it's all for his glory Christ just declared
this whole event is for His glory and the Father's glory. And now
before He begins to do anything, He tells us why. We know who
He is. We see what He's going to do.
Why? Verse 5. Now Jesus loved Martha
and her sister and Lazarus. That's what love does. Love does
something. Don't say, well, I kind of love
you. I love you over there. No, love draws not. That does
something. Did our Lord, as soon as He heard
this, did He rush to comfort Martha and Mary? Did He say,
get out of my way, and He ran to heal Lazarus? No. But He loved them. He started
with that. Look at verse 6. And when He had heard, therefore
He was sick, He abode two days still in the same place that
He was. I love them. Are we going? No,
we're staying right here two more days. Why? His thoughts are not our
thoughts. His ways are not our ways, are
they? They're infinitely higher. That's what Isaiah 55, 9 says,
for as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways
and your ways and my thoughts and your thoughts. I would do
it another way, wouldn't you? I would. Worst of all, I think.
I have an opinion. I have heresy. It's terrible. I don't want to think. Not my
will, but Thy will be done, Lord. We have a brother that's about
my age, children my age, and the Lord's stricken him with
cancer off and on. I was telling a friend of mine that, and what
an encouragement he was to me. I was telling my worldly friend
this, and he said, God did this? I said, yeah, God did this. He
said, that's too young. You know better than God? Do
you know Him? What does the fool say in their
heart? No. No. It couldn't be. No. His ways
are higher than our ways. He waited two days, didn't He?
Don't matter if I think it's right. He did it. It is right.
He doesn't do what's right. What He does is right. Verse 6 again, when he had heard,
therefore he was sick, he abode two days still in the same place
where he was. Then after that, after the two
days, he said to his disciples, let us go into Judea again. Now Thomas is here and all this
isn't he? Thomas is witnessing all this. And his disciples said
to him, Master, the Jews of late, recently, just a few days ago,
they sought to stone thee. And goest thou hither again,
Lord, don't go there. They wanted to stone you the
last time you was there. And Jesus answered, Are there
not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he
stumbleth not, because he seeth the lot of this world. But if
a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because there is no light in
him. You know what our Lord was teaching His disciples again?
That's the point I'm trying to make. It happens over and over
and over and over. We're like children. We must
be like a child in the kingdom of God. Why? I need to be told
why a whole lot. I need to be told His love a
whole lot. I need to be told His will a
whole lot. Tell me that old, old story.
Our brother just got up and said, All flesh is grass. Behold your
God. What's he teaching Thomas here?
What's he teaching me and you? All flesh is grass. Stand still
and see the salvation of the Lord. Isn't it? He said, That's
daylight. You're telling me that's going
to stone me. I'm going to write in John chapter 9, just a page.
A page or two. John chapter 9. Where's our Lord telling His
disciples again? He's saying, it's time that's given to me by my
Father to accomplish what He's sent me to do. My redemptive
work of my people. And me redeeming my people, that's
as fixed, as certain as the hours of the day. He just told me here
in John 9. It says in verse 2, And his disciples
asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man or his parents?
He was born blind. Jesus answered, Neither this
man hath sin, nor his parents. We've all sinned and come short
of the glory of God. But he said, This blindness is for something
else. But that the works of God should be made manifest in him.
I must work the works of him that sent me while it's day. I've got to save mine while I'm
here. There's a work I'm sent to do. The night cometh when
no man can work. As long as I'm in the world,
I am the light of the world. When he had thus spoken, he sped
on the ground and made clay a spittle. And he anointed the eyes of the
blind man with clay. And he said to him, go wash in
the pool of Siloam. And therefore he washed and came
to see. I'm going to give sight to people.
And you know what he did? He sped on the ground and gave
sight to a blind man. Our Lord is gracious to us. He talks to
a farmer and says, you see that seed of corn? It's got to go
in the ground and die. And it's going to come forth and bring forth
much fruit. He said, I get that. He goes to a commercial fisherman
and he says, just cast the net. Bring in the fish. I'll put them
there where I want them. I get that, don't you? Back there
in John 11. He says, verse 9, are there not
twelve hours in the day If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth
not, because he seeth the light of this world. If you walk in
Christ, you see that he's the God of this world. He's the light
of this world. But if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because
there's no light. Verse 11, 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 his sleep. Our friend. You are my friends. Did you know
that? I don't see you often. I have friends in Papua New Guinea.
I have friends in Africa, and I have friends in Australia,
and many of them, I've never even seen friends down in Mexico,
but they're my friends. They're my friends. And our Lord
said, Our friend Lazarus is asleep, but I go that I may wake him
out of his sleep. Now they just got word that Lazarus
was sick, right? What's a good thing to do when
you get sick? Rest. Take a nap. So they rebuked the
Lord, didn't they? They said to the disciples, Lord,
if he's asleep, he shall do well. His body needs the rest. Rest
is good for you. We've got to walk a half a day
for you to wake a fellow up from a nap? Why are we doing this? We're ignorant, aren't we? Howbeit
Jesus spake of his death, but they thought he had spoken of
rest and sleep. And Jesus said unto them plainly,
there's plain preaching, Lazarus is dead. I can preach and preach
and preach and preach and tell you and make you memorize things
and get a chalkboard and have you take notes. But if the Lord
don't speak to your heart through me, I'm just a mouthpiece, I'm
a voice. If He don't speak to you, it ain't gonna do no good.
If He don't tell you you're dead, it ain't gonna do, I ain't gonna
do no good. You say, oh, that's Kevin. I used to be this tall. I got a haircut high to gray
before I come out here. That's for your sakes, I didn't
want you to know. I'm new at this. John didn't
get up and tell me everything's going to be okay, did he? Like that
doctor. Our Lord's going to speak comfort to them. Lazarus is dead.
That don't sound comfortable, does it? Lazarus is dead. Our Lord said in his words, in
his language, my son, my child Lazarus is sleeping. They didn't
get it. And then he spoke in the language
they would understand. He's dead. In your language,
he's dead. In my language, he sleeps. Death
means a lot of things to a lot of deaf people, don't it? What is death? To a physician,
it's failure. They lost a patient. To a newspaper,
it's a story. It's breaking news. Somebody
died. To an insurance company, it's a claim. Paperwork's got
to be done. To a philosopher, it's a mystery.
What happens? To a theologian, this is just
a cold, dead, God's judgment against sin. That's what happens.
But the Lord, knowing our friend Lazarus, was dead in our language.
He said, he's just asleep. He's just asleep. You ever been
afraid to take a nap? I ain't afraid to take a nap.
I ain't afraid to go to sleep at night. He's just asleep. That's all he is. I know your
pastor's preached on that a few times, but the sleep of the saints
is precious, isn't it? It's precious in the sight of
the Lord is the death of his saints. It's a precious thing,
a comforting thing. And for he is, We're going to
the arms of the one that loved us before eternity. Rest in short,
His arms. That's a peaceful thing, a wonderful
thing. But I want to look just for a moment at the Lord's plain
words. Verse 14, Jesus said to them plainly, Lazarus is dead,
and I'm glad. For your sakes, I was not there. That's not precious sweet little
Jesus everybody has on a bumper sticker, is it? He's dead, and
I'm glad, for your sakes, that I wasn't there. No one's ever
died in His presence in the Scriptures. He's life, isn't He? Why would
He do that? Why would He be glad? To the
intent. Ye may believe. Nevertheless, let's go to it.
Calm to leave. I told you He's leaving. Y'all
keep back talking. Be patient. Lazarus is dead. He didn't used to be dead. He
was alive, wasn't He? But now He's dead. And He's going
to live again. And He's going to rest in me
forever. What's that a picture of? What's that a picture of?
Lazarus is a picture of the Lord saving every one of His children.
Every one of them. We, at one time in Adam, we was
alive in our seminal head. We was there in the garden of
Adam. There was no sin. They were morally innocent. We
were alive. And then He died. He didn't get wounded. He didn't
get poked for a heart and one eye. He died. We died in Him. And I come forth from the womb
after being conceived in sin, speaking lies all by myself.
I can't blame Adam. I willfully sinned against God
and thought I was doing Him a service. I used to be an apologetic. I
said, because I wouldn't apologize for you being wrong. I fought
doctrine. I had it down to a T, buddy.
You couldn't get nothing by me. And then one day God saved me. He revealed a son to me, a person
to me. He came to me. He spoke life to me. Because
I was dead. And I didn't know, just like
John said, I didn't know I was dead. Lazarus didn't know he
was dead when he was sleeping in the grave until he came out
and said, what's this? Was I in there? I didn't know I was blind
until I saw something. And the Lord said, to this intent
that you may believe. Oh, could you imagine if the
Lord said, tomorrow morning here at 9am, you are going to believe
me. You're going to have faith. You're
going to be blessed. That's what we're going to do. People camp out for a concert
on a siphon. Why don't we camp out at night
time waiting to get into his house to hear about his son preach?
His son glorified. He said, to the intent. That's
a picture of us all in Lazarus. We're all dead in sin. Wherefore,
as by one man sin entered the world, and death by sin, so death
passed upon all men for all that have sinned. That's every one
of us. And there's a bifocal text, as my pastor used to say.
And we quote things, and sometimes we need to go back and read a
verse above and a verse below, don't we? But Hebrews 9 says,
It's appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.
We understand we're all going to die. Common man knows that. They can deny it, but we haven't. No one's alive from the Civil
War. All men's gonna die. But, what's that could be referred
to too? We all died once in that garden.
Judgment, death passed upon all men. Lazarus died in this body
twice. Everyone they raised from the
dead in the Scriptures, they died again, didn't they? We don't
talk about that one. It's not recorded. And a couple
in the past did not die. Enoch, he walked with God, and
then he wasn't. They couldn't find him. Where'd
he go? He ain't there no more. He's with the Lord. Elijah and
Elisha was walking together, talking about how he's about
to go. And that chariot of fire came down and separated them. He went up in a whirlwind. This
body didn't end for him. He didn't get buried. They didn't
embalm him. He didn't have a funeral service. He's gone. He's with
the Lord. And that final day when our Redeemer
comes, the saints walking around on this earth, wouldn't that
be something if He'd come this evening? That would be precious, wouldn't
it? We can talk about being without sin, we can talk about being
made like Him and seeing Him, being in His presence and hearing
His voice, but that is way better than the... Paul said words aren't
in our language to describe what that'll be like. We can't enter
into those things. But when he comes with a shout,
the voice of the archangel, the trumpet of God, the dead in Christ
shall be raised first, those bodies that sleep. And we which
are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them
in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so shall we ever
be with the Lord. Comfort one another with these
words. Comfort them. We'll be made like Him. We'll
be with Him. A fool doesn't want to go to
hell. A heathen wants... Would you
rather eat cake or vegetables? I mean, a child... People want
to go to heaven. Heaven is a capital H. That's
my Lord. And wherever He is, that's where I want to be. That's
where life and power is, and peace and holiness. There's a death that's common
to all men born of Adam, and that's the sin death. Sin did. Oh, that we could be worried
of those things. John preached here back in 94. And he said
it'd be good if we were less worried about morality and immorality
and more worried about mortality and immortality. If we get worried
about getting our ducks in a row and start seeing that we're dead.
That's what Paul was getting at. Got him rolling in Romans
7. We quote that often about a believer's internal warfare.
It's not a skirmish. It's not a mild disagreement
inside of me. It's a war going on, tearing
from limb to limb. It's messy and it's violent. Paul said, For I was alive without
the law once, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. And the commandment which was
ordained to life I found to be unto death. Here's the law. Keep
that. I can't. I'm dead. I'm dead. I can't stand before a holy God.
That's death and destruction. For sin, taking occasion by the
commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me. I was dead in
sin. Lazarus, just like Adam, just
like Paul, just like Thomas here that's watching all this, and
just like me, he's dead. Lazarus is dead. He can't talk. He can't walk. He can't wash.
He can't work. He can't study. Man, it's been dead for 200 years. He can't do anything. He's dead.
And the Lord's going to have to come to where I am. He's going
to have to come to where you are. Preaching is a one-way conversation,
if the Lord is pleased to make it so, a one-way conversation
from Him through me to you, to your heart. And He's going to
have to come to you, not mommy and daddy, not your children,
not your buddies, come to you personally and speak life to
you and command salvation in His people. Come forth! by name. He calls them by name. He's going
to have to call me by name. He's going to have to give me
the power to stand up. He's going to have to give me
the power in His Word to draw near. And His power is the only
way I'm going to be loosed and given liberty. Physically, He's telling His
disciples, you're going to see this, and you're going to see
it by faith spiritually, too. This is the intent, and you're
going to believe Me. Well, didn't they believe already?
And then they forgot. And then I believe, and then
I forget. And I say, how in the world could
I have any fear at all in this world knowing there's a holy
God on His throne that gave His son for me? It's raining. I don't care. There's a different
senator for this state. I don't care. He put him there. One one thousand, two one thousand,
I'll be hiding in a corner. He knows our frame. And he said,
you're going to believe. He said, this sleep is not to
death. It's not to eternal death, is it? This sickness is not to
death everlasting. We're going to live with him.
Look down at verse 25, John 11, 25. Martha said, yeah, I know,
Lord. He's going to be raised at the
end. And he said of her, I'm the resurrection. The resurrection is not a doctrine.
This is me. I'm looking at you. And I'm the life. He that believeth
in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever
liveth, he gives you life. You're born again. And believeth
in me, you shall believe. He's given life. That life believes.
And shall never die. Never die. I can't die. Not that eternal death. This
body's going to stop. That's just going to go to sleep.
I'm going to be with it, to be absent from the body, to be present
to the Lord. She saith unto him, Yea, Lord, I believe thou art
the cross, the Son of God, which shall come into the world. You
and I are sitting there with them disciples. Could you imagine
that? And someone says, How exactly is this going to play out? How
exactly is he going to make this dead man come out great? I'd
have no idea. I don't know what this is going
to look like. I don't know any of it. Let me look at that. I'm going
to read you something real quick. I know not how the saving faith
to me he did impart, nor how believing in his word brought
peace within my heart. But I know whom I have believed.
What are we going to do when we get to Bethany? I don't know.
But I know whom I have believed. And what did Thomas say? Let's
go with him. And we're going to die with him. We'll die with him. Thomas died
with the Lord on the cross. He's my life. He lived a life
I could not live. He bore what I could not bear. He paid the debt I could not
pay. There in verse 16, John 11, 16, Thomas said, which is
called Didymus, to his fellow disciples, let us also go that
we may die with him. There's three viewpoints of what
he just said. There are attitudes. That's what we began with. There
can be a fatalistic attitude. Doubting Thomas says, well, Christ
is going to die. They're going to stone him. We
might as well just go with him and kick some rocks along the
way and be sad and die when he dies. I don't think that was
it. But there's days I'm like that. I just give up. When I look to myself, not to
my Lord, when I look to myself, I say, Lord, just take me home
now. I'm tired. There's an attitude of service
here. Christ is actually going to be
stoned to death. And just like Peter said before that crucifixion
took place, he said, Lord, I'll die with you. And Thomas is ready
to go chop somebody's ear off, isn't he? Go fight for the Lord. And there's an attitude of salvation.
That's what's been burning in my heart all week. I don't know
how this will take place, Lord. I'm dead like Lazarus is. I died
in Adam. I died in this body. And you
must come to me. You must speak life to me. Be ever present with
me, and you must draw me, and you must loosen me. You must
intend for me to live. You must intend for me to believe. And I will live with you forever. Let's get to dying. To this world,
to self, and wherever He is, that's where I want to be. What's
the result of Christ's preaching? Turn over to John 20. That's
where we get doubting Thomas, isn't it? Let's see now if we
have a little bit different attitude towards Thomas. Don't trust in Thomas. He believed
the words of the Lord. He might not have fully understood
it, but he believed them, didn't he? And he said, let's go die with him.
You are my life. I believe you. Here in John 20,
what's the result of the other apostles preaching? The Lord
came to the apostles. There's a door shut. The man
said, Jesus is knocking on your door. Yeah, here it says the
door's shut. And he appeared. That's his door. He is the door,
isn't it? But they appeared to him, and he showed them his hands
and his feet and his side, and boy, they rejoiced. But Thomas
wasn't with them. It's been eight days they found Thomas. John
20, verse 24. But Thomas, one of the twelve,
called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. John 20,
25. The other disciples therefore
said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them,
Except I shall see 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 can talk to you until I'm blue
in the face. And if God don't speak to your heart, if Christ
don't come to you... I love these men. They've preached to me for
30 years. You men are steady. Steady. He told me the same thing my
whole life. Steady. I love you. I appreciate
you. But if Christ don't speak to
me, that's just a man. Oh, Ebenezer Erskine was there
in England going to a conference, and one of the pastors said,
would you stop preaching to me on a Wednesday? Sure. The person came up and
heard us. That was the greatest message
I ever heard. It was fabulous. Oh, they rejoiced. And the pastor
said, on the way back next week, why don't you stop and preach
Wednesday? He said, OK. So he was heading back south
and stopped to preach that Wednesday. Same person came, listened, and
they said, that wasn't no good. And that wise pastor there, they
said, why did you come the first time? He said, I come to worship
the Lord. They said, why did you come the second time? They
said, I want to hear Brother Erskine. All right, it's a problem. That's
all you heard. You just heard a man. Thomas said, I don't want
to hear it from you. I love you. I need to hear it
from him. That's the means the Lord uses.
Preaching the gospel is no other means. I want to hear a word
from him. What's the result of Christ speaking and giving? Verse
26, And after eight days his disciples were within, and Thomas
with them. And then Jesus came, the doors
being shut. That sounds like Thomas has shut
up to Christ, doesn't it? And stood in the midst and said,
Peace be unto you. And Thomas didn't say a word.
He didn't say, Forgive me for what I said, Lord. Forgive me
for what I thought of you, the war I was against you and your
people. He said 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, just like
every child of God ever will, and said unto him, My Lord and
my God. What did the Lord tell Thomas?
He said, I'm glad this happened, glad Lazarus died, to the intent
you're going to believe. Did he make good on his word?
He ain't lying, is he? He believed. He said, my Lord
and my God. That's the Lordship of Christ
is what he saw. He's a son. If we believe him,
he's come to us and spoke life to us. We're his children. We see his Lordship, but we see
the sonship, don't we? The Pharisees came and said,
show us a sign. He said, you ain't getting a
sign. You got junk. Thomas said, I ain't going to
believe unless I touch it. He said, come here, Thomas. Come
here. Give me your hand. Here's your sign. Touch me. See my crucifixion. See what I laid down my life
for you. And he said, my Lord and my God. I wish I could trust like Thomas.
Let's go and get to dying. We say, he's the way, the truth,
and the lies. Who did he say that to? That's all I remember.
Thomas was recorded there in John 11, John 14, John 20. Thomas
said, Lord, you're gone. How do we go? We don't know where
you're going. We don't know the way. He said, I am the way, Thomas.
He told him, and told him again, and told him again, and told
him again. After that, I bet he told him two or three more
times. I need it. Do you? Amen. I want to be with
you. Thank you.