It's just for information. It
says in verse 1, the first day of the week Mary came. That's the day our Lord arose. Verse 19, the same day, the first
day of the week, the disciples were met together. They always met together on the
first day of the week. That's called the Lord's Day.
Our Lord laid in the grave on Saturday, didn't He? to show
us how that we are dead to the law. Saturday is the Sabbath. We don't keep the Sabbath. We
couldn't if we tried. But when we rest in Christ, Christ
is our Sabbath. He kept the law for us. We don't violate the Sabbath,
but it was fulfilled by Him. So the first day of the week,
the first day, unto them. It says in verse 19, they were
in fear, they were afraid. In verse 19, for fear of the
Jews, they were afraid. Afterward, after our Lord appeared
to them, and our Lord showed them His hands and His side,
and they knew He's alive. And he said, I'm going back to
glory. I'm going back to sit on the right hand of the majesty
on high to reign and rule over this ball of dirt and everybody
in it. Earth is the Lord's. And he did.
They saw him ascend in the clouds and sat down. Stephen said he
saw him standing. And after that, they're not afraid
of anybody. They were afraid before, but not after he rose.
Not after they saw that he is Lord. He really is. He laid down
his life and took it up again, this power he had, because he's
Lord, he's God. And so after this, they went
straight into the temple. They're not meeting in secret.
They went straight to the temple and started preaching. And they
came and got them and said, do what you will with us. We don't
fear you. Remember the Lord told them this,
don't fear them that kill the body. And after that they have
no more they can do. Fear Him who after He's killed
the body is able to cast both body and soul into hell. Who's
that? He said, I have the keys. Him. He had the keys of hell
and death, didn't He? And He won't throw anybody in
there that trusts Him. Isn't that good news? So they
weren't afraid anymore after they saw Him arisen. And if we
see His glory, hopefully our fears will be gone. The doors
were shut. Oh, I love this. Verse 19 says,
the doors were shut and the Lord came in. And verse 26 says the
same thing. Eight days later, the doors were
shut and there He stood. What does that say about this
Jesus that's standing outside everybody's heart's door and
can't get in because they won't let Him? It's another Jesus,
isn't it? We say that all the time, don't
we? How blessed we are that we know the true Christ. He is the
door. The door is being shut and He
came right in. And there He was in the midst
of them. There in the midst, Brother Patrick read from Psalm
46. I'm so glad you felt led to read
that. It keeps coming up. He stood
in the midst of them. God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble, therefore will we not fear. The
disciples were greatly troubled when they thought the Lord was
dead. He's not dead. Therefore we will not fear, though
the earth be removed. We won't. The mountains be carried
in the midst of sea. We won't. He set our feet on
a rock. God is in the midst of her. God is in the midst of His people.
She shall not be moved. God shall help her and that right
early. Let the heathen rage. Let the
kingdoms were moved when He uttered His voice. The earth melted,
but the Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our help. Selah rests right there. And he stood in the midst of
them. He stood. There he stands. I hate to kill
an old southern icon like General Stonewall, but I'm sorry. All
gods got to come down. I'm sorry. My mother's great-grandfather
was in the Civil War. He proudly served for the Confederacy.
So that makes me one, doesn't it? Thomas Jackson one time, there
was a battle, a heated battle, and they looked over and his
soldiers said, look, there he stands, like a stone wall. And so they started calling him
from that day forward, Stonewall Jackson. Well, he came down. Not shot by the enemy, by his
own men. An American sniper. He that exalted
himself. But I'll tell you who does stand
there like a stone wall and stands in the midst of us. The rock
which the builders rejected. The Lord Jesus Christ. There
He stands. I see Him like Stephen of old.
The right hand of God. And He's always standing there
for His people. That we might stand someday with
Him. I stand in Him. What you're standing
I stand in Him. And He said to them, every time
He appeared to them, verse 19, He said unto them, Peace be unto
you. Three times He appeared to them. And every time, the first thing
He said unto them, listen now, anybody have troubles? Anybody
have turmoil? Anybody have a battle raging
within you? Warring in your members? Anybody
vexed with the ungodliness of this world and tempted by it?
Anybody wrestle like Jacob with the things of this world and
your own sinfulness? Anybody? This is the first thing
He says to His disciples, Peace in you. He didn't say this to
the world. He didn't say this to anybody
but His disciples. He didn't show His hands and
feet to anybody but His disciples. In Acts chapter 1 where it says
that He appeared to over 500 disciples at one time. He only appears and shows Himself
to His people. He hides these things from the
wise and reproved it. And He says to every one of His
people, get a hold of this now, this is His His word of comfort
to you. Old Simon Peter loved this, didn't
he? Peace. God's not angry with you. Peace. There's peace by the blood
of my cross. Peace with God. You didn't make
that peace. I did, Christ said. Peace. And He showed them His hands. How do we know we have peace
with God? He showed them His hand. Now here again, they say
Jesus is outside your heart door and can't get in. And they say
He has no hands. But your hands. I've seen His
hands. Haven't you? I've seen the handwriting
on the wall. His hand. This is His hand. I see it clearly. I see that
he wrote this with the finger of God. And you know what it
says? I've weighed in the balances and I'm found wanting. The God
in whose hands our breath is. I've seen His hands. I've seen
His hands. I've seen that I've been in His
hands from the beginning. That He's provided from His gracious
hands for me all the days of my life. My life, my breath,
my food, my clothing, my everything. watched over me and protected
me by His mercy and grace. He's shown me that through His
Word that I've been in His hands all this time. The God in whose
hands my breath is, I have not glorified. I've seen that. But bless God, the hands I need
to see more than anything else, the hands that I need to see
are nail-scarred hands. Do you understand me? Let me
find somebody that understands me. It's because of those scars in
his hands that we're not in hell right now. How do I know God's
at peace with me? Because I've turned over a new
leaf? No, it's just as bad as the other side. How do I know
God is pleased with me? Because I'm a new person? Well,
there is a new man in there. But there's an old man that's
still there. How do I know God is pleased with me? Because I
try my best, it's not good enough. It shall be perfect to be accepted.
How do I know then that God has peace with me, that there's peace?
He showed them His hands. Because God made him, chastised
him, the chastisement, the whipping that I deserve, the cat of nine
tails, the law of ten commandments. Not broken. He bore it on his
back, on his shoulders. They went to Calvary's tree and
God made him to be sinned. My sin, all my iniquities on
him were laid. He bore them all to the tree. And those scars are proof that
he did that. And God accepted what he did.
God accepted what he did. That's the payment, the proof
of payment. God accepted. And like old brother
Ed Hale said, I'm going to be looking for scars up in heaven.
He said, I know I'll see Moses and Elijah and old Daniel and
Samson I'll see, but I don't have time to linger. He said,
I'm looking for the one that died for me. And we won't have
to look long like they did. He came to them and showed them
His hands. Enter thou. You're blessed of
the Father. Here's your payment. And his
side. He showed them his side, didn't
he? You know what came out of his side? He's hanging there
on that cross. And a soldier came by and took
a spear and pierced his side, ripped him open. You know what
came out of his side? The Scripture says, out of his
side flowed blood. That's the price of redemption.
That's the payment for sin. Without the shedding of blood,
there's no remission of sin. And it's not the blood of bulls
and goats. It's not possible. But the blood of God's Son. Sinless
blood. Death is what that is. And water. Water. Justification. Sanctification. Pardon for sin and cleansing
from all righteousness. Cleansing. Oh my. It came out
of his ring of bells. Peace. There's peace. And so the disciples, it says,
they were so glad when they saw the Lord. If you need peace and
you come here and the Lord's pleased to come to you through
the preaching of the gospel, and He is, He always is. Wherever
two or three, they were meeting together, two or three make together,
our Lord said, there am I in the midst. That's just not figurative,
that's actual. We can't see Him. No, but He
is. Didn't He say that? There am
I. I'll never leave you. Two or three, just two or three
gathered in my name, for my glory and my honor, not playing church,
but worshipping the Father, rejoicing in Christ Jesus, and no flesh,
but worshipping Spirit. He said, I'm right there, I'm
right there. Anybody hungry and thirsty for
righteousness, Christ, His righteousness, I'll be right there. Open your
mouth, I feel it. Anybody at war, anybody struggling,
anybody like Jacob, wrestling, He said, I'll be right there
and I'll speak peace to you. And he does. But Thomas. Look at verse 24. But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with
them when he came. The Lord told them in verse 21,
Peace be unto you." Twice now. He said, the Father has sent
me, even so I send you. Or once. This is the first time.
And He said, Peace be unto you. And so they had peace. And we
won't have peace unless the Lord speaks to us. This gospel that
I'm trying to preach won't mean anything to you unless the Lord
speaks to you. It's not by might. It's not by
power. The greatest preacher on earth
can stand up here and be preaching to you. But if the Spirit of
God does not speak to you, you won't be blessed, and you won't
have any peace. None. No peace. No peace. And there's no peace to the wicked.
God's not going to let anybody have it. No peace to those that
reject His Son. No, sir. And there's no peace
to people that don't meet with His people. No peace. Thomas didn't have
any. They didn't have any peace. Everyone
else, they seemed to have great peace. They were rejoicing. He didn't. The Lord told them,
verse 21, Father has sent me. Now they know why He came. He
kept telling them, didn't He? He kept telling them why He came.
He kept telling them what He came to do. He kept telling them
what He would do and where He would go and He would be killed.
was doing what the Father determined before to be done. And He said,
in the third day I will rise again. He kept telling them that.
I don't know why they wouldn't believe Him. But they didn't.
None of them did. And then when He arose, they
said, it's true isn't it? He said, I told you. And now
do you know that the Father sent me? Now do you know why I came
here? Put away your sins. Peace! I wish I could get over this. That's the only reason Christ
came, to bring peace. To who? Sorry sinners. Rahab's and Mary Magdalene's.
Is there a sinner out there? Oh boy. Peace be unto you. And he said, this is why I came,
this is why He sent me, and so send I you. We're going to, in
the next chapter, Wednesday night, we're going to look. Peter said,
I'm going fishing. I'm going fishing. No, Peter. And they all said it. That's
another story. But now they know their mission. Now they know their purpose.
The will of God for them and us is glorify my Son. That's it. That's the reason
He spares us. That's the reason He came, wasn't
it? That's the reason He makes us
His people, to glorify the Father. That's it. Not ourself. Not for
ourself. For Him. That's it. Now they
know. Now they know what He's going
to do with them. But Thomas, not with them. He's still confused. He has no faith. He has nothing
but doubts and fears. He doesn't have a clue. Verse
22 says, He breathed on them. Look at this. He breathed on
them. Receive ye the Holy Ghost. He breathed on them. Receive
ye the Holy Ghost. Oh, breathe on me, breath of
God. Fill me with life anew. Receive the Holy Ghost. You know,
the Holy Ghost is the one whom the Lord sends to do it all after
Christ died, to regenerate His people, to quicken His people,
to make them alive. Do you ever feel dead? Do you
feel dead to God? Do you feel dead? Do you have a hard time
hearing the Word of God? You know, the only person that
can give you ears to hear is the Spirit of God. Do you feel
dead? Do you feel blind? Do you feel halt, lame? Do you
feel all those things? You feel like you don't bear
any fruit to God? You don't have any love? You don't have any
joy? You know who gives this? Spirit
of God. Faith? Don't have any faith.
They didn't have any faith. They didn't have any faith, did
they? The disciples. Until the breath of God breathed
on them. Then they were mighty. The Holy
Spirit is the Comforter. Anybody need comfort? Anybody
need comfort? They needed great comfort. They
were sadder than they've ever been in their lives. Their Lord
was dead. They thought, they thought, He's
not dead and it's off the purpose. They breathed on Him, comfort
ye, comfort ye my people. Tell them their warfare is accomplished.
Their iniquities are pardoned. Anybody need comfort? The only
one that will give that is the Spirit of God. Where are two
or three of me? Thomas. What Thomas? He didn't
receive Him. He didn't have any comfort. He's
torn up. What a gathering they had. I
tried to imagine what it was like. Stephen, when the Lord
appeared to them, they thought He was dead. And we just read
where it says they were glad. The disciples were glad. Oh my! Glad? I can't imagine how they erupted
finally. What that room was like! There
wasn't a dry eye. There wasn't a sad countenance.
There wasn't a heavy heart. There wasn't a worry in their
minds at all. There was no worry. There was
no concern about the world. Nobody was thinking about anything
or anyone else but Him and rejoicing to high heaven. Look! Look! He's alive. Look! Everything
He said is true. Look! I'm in His hands. Look! It's all good. We thought it
was bad, bad, bad. Look! Look! They were glad? Oh! What if one of your loved ones
appeared this morning? Huh? What if he walked out of
the grave and came in this building? Well, our Lord did. He showed
Himself alive, Scripture says, by many infallible proofs. when they were together. You
wouldn't be hearing this right now if you weren't here. But Thomas was not with them. He didn't see any of this. He didn't have any of this. Sad. Sad. The Lord plainly told them, commanded
them through an angel. The angel told Mary, the angel
told Mary to tell his disciples this, a weak vessel, a woman. You remember, they didn't believe
this woman. They thought, Brother David Pledger and I were talking
about this. They thought, she's just seeing things. She just
wants to believe this is true. a weak woman. The Lord rebuked
them for not believing her. We have this treasure. I'm trying
this morning to tell you that he's alive. I'm trying to say,
trying, hoping that he will give, speak peace to somebody's heart
this morning. But you won't believe me. And you won't believe the
one rose from the dead unless he speaks to you. Spirit of God. Crying. He said, go into Galilee. He
told his disciples, all of them, through Mary, go into Galilee
and there shall you see me. That's what he said. He told them, through Mary, go
into Galilee. That's where they always gathered
together there, the same place. He said, go into Galilee and
I'll be there. You be there, I'll be there.
You want to see me? That's where I'm going. Promise, you gather
together, I'll be there. Did it show up? But Thomas didn't. It's sad, isn't it? It's sad. How many times do I
quote this verse? Do you love Jonah 2, 2, 9? You
know what that is, don't you, Mary Park? Salvations of the
Lord. You know what John 2 says? They that observe lie in vanities.
And vanity of vanities. Everything is vanity. It doesn't
matter who it is. Every man, everything, all things, all people
is vanity. That means it won't satisfy,
it won't give you anything you're looking for, no peace, no joy,
no contentment, no happiness, No answers, no understanding,
no knowledge, no rest. He won't give it. It's vanity,
vanity. He that observeth lying vanity, and Satan's the God of
this world, and he lies to every... Here, this is what you need to
do. No, there's one thing you need to do. Our Lord said that. That he that
observeth lying vanity forsaketh his own mercy. John 2.8. I quote this all the time, Isaiah
30, Egypt's help is vain. The world, Egypt, it's help is
vain. There's no purpose. And Isaiah said, I cried, I cried
about this. That's what I'm doing. I cried
saying, their strength is to sit still. Their strength is
to sit still, to come and sit at His feet and be still and
know. You say, I'm here, preacher. Hold on now. Many times. There's some in here
right now that are here but are not here. I've never seen any light in
their face. No savor of life to them. Never seen a tear in
the eye. Never seen a joy on their countenance.
A broken heart. There's some in here who are
here but don't hear. Oh yeah. It's always the case
here. But don't hear them. It's the
case. There's some who literally sleep. Literally sleep. And all of them did one time,
remember? They all did. You reckon after
the Lord rebuked them and awoke them He let go. No, he didn't. He let it happen again. Let us not sleep as do others.
There are many who are dull of hearing. There are some literally
not with us. There are some who are with us
but not with us, don't hear. There are some dull of hearing,
don't hear, don't see Christ's glory, don't see the need of
Him, haven't confessed it. And literally asleep. I ask you,
what if your husband or wife, or child slept through every
meal that you prepare. Would you be worried? Would you
think something bad is wrong? Would you? Would you warn them? Would you
warn them? If you love them, you would. But Thomas was not with
them. Where was Thomas? Where was he? Where was he? It doesn't say, does it? That's
because it doesn't matter where he was. He wasn't worth it. He
wasn't worth it. Wherever he was, there was no
refuge, no escape. He was still troubled. He couldn't
find any peace. Wherever he went, wherever he
was at the time, he had no peace, no comfort. He was full of wrath,
He was full of anger, He's full of bitterness, He's full of depression,
He's full of worry and doubt. He's full of it. The disciples
weren't. Who was He with? Who was Thomas
with? His family? They're not worth it either. Our Lord said that. Any man love,
father or mother. Husband or wife, son or daughter,
more than name, not worthy of name. Time is short. Simon Peter had a family. He was with them. He was with
the Lord and he had peace. What was Thomas doing? What was
he doing? Maybe he had some Really pressing
means to attend to. What was he doing? It doesn't
matter. It doesn't say. It just doesn't matter what he
had to do. It just doesn't matter. It wasn't
worth it. It could have waited. It could.
No one and nothing is worth missing Christ for. A sister of ours who was dying
with cancer and attended every service, Because
she lived not by bread her body couldn't hold anymore, but by
the bread of God whom she was about to face. Until she got
so emaciated that her body was too weak to get out of bed, and
lay there in bed and said these words, life is not worth living
if you can't worship God. You reckon she's with the Lord.
But Thomas, but Thomas. And eight days went
by, verse 26, eight days. Do you reckon those were the
longest eight days of his life? And you know, every one of us
had gone through dark times. Every one of us, you know, felt
dead. And prone to wander, we sang
that hymn, don't we? That's one of your favorite hymns,
isn't it? Why? Because if you're a sheep, that's... Every one of us have gone...
Isaiah 53, we've all turned our own way. Every one of us think,
this is where I need to go. This is what I need to do. This
is what I need tending to. I need this. And the Lord, in
such mercy and grace, tells us, through the preaching of the
gospel, When He brings us back, He said, no, you don't need to
do anything but this. This is one thing, David. We
all get carried away and we go long periods of time, 8 days,
8 weeks. David was about 8 months, maybe
a year or so. Call it backsliding, call it
whatever you want to, but oh, our Lord said, I'll heal their
backsliding. How does He heal? How does He
heal His people? I'm the Lord that healeth thee.
How does He do it? He told the disciples, go into all the world
and preach the gospel. And He said, heal the sick. Deliver
the captive. How? Preaching. Their strength. And in returning and rest. You
come back, He'll have you. To whom coming? You'll be saved
by Thomas. He wasn't with them. Literally,
he wasn't with them. He had no faith, no peace, no joy, no any
of what they had. He didn't have it. They all had
it. He didn't have it. He missed it. Now listen to me, and I'm
going to close. I've only been 30 minutes and
I'm going to quit. I know this is God's Word. I don't just believe
it. I know it is. How do I know it? Well, I just
do. When He reveals it to you, that's
how you know. But it's clearly His Word by the beauty of it,
the glory of it, the wisdom of it, the power of it. I've seen
its power. I've heard its power. I've felt its power. It's His
voice, the voice of the Lord breaks the cedars and makes the
hinds to calve. New birth. I know it. I've seen
the dead. Go show John again. This is God's
Word. This is what He gives new birth. I've seen those dead and trespassed
in sin. Raised to walk in newness of
life. I've seen it. Still seeing it. How? One way. One way. The Word of God. He upholds all things by the
Word of His power. I know from experience because
I'm prone to wonder. I know from experience because
I always fall. I fall all the time. But He picks
me up. One way. I listen to preaching now more
than ever. I'm a preacher. But I need to hear it. I need
for somebody to preach to me. Brother John Chapman wrote me
the nicest text the other day. He said he and his wife were
listening to my message and it gave them such peace. You know
what he's been through. He said it gave them such joy
and rejoicing. He was just thanking the Lord
for me. I said, who am I? Oh, though I preach the gospel,
I have nothing to boast in. Woe is unto me if I preach not
the gospel. This is what I've been called
to do and sent to do. This is what I do. I'm sorry
it's me, but it's what I'm doing. But I need to hear a preacher.
And I hear, when I listen to John, I call him and say, thank
the Lord for that message. Thank you. It doesn't matter
who's doing it. We need to see Christ high and
lifted up. We need to see ourselves. We need to see this world for
what it is. We need to have Him speak peace to our hearts. And
He does it one way. One way. One way, right here, it pleased
God by the foolishness of preaching to save them from belief. Come
thou with us and we'll do you good. You say, I'm here preacher.
Oh yeah, I hope so. You can't ever take it for granted.
I pray, I hope, I know this is God's Word. I know they're words
of life. He promised the Word will not
return void. I know these errors are sharp.
I felt them. I know. And I preach at a venture,
and I don't know who's coming. I just don't know. Every time
I've prepared a message for a certain person, they didn't show up.
Every time. And I don't know who was coming,
but God did. I preach this message, and I
know when Christ is preached, lifted up, He said, I'll draw.
I'll draw them. I know faith will be strengthened.
Faith cometh how? One way. Hearing the Word. Hearing, not reading. Hearing
the Word of God. This is what God has pleased
to use. Weak vessels. And I know a people will be established,
strengthened, and settled, and built up on this most holy faith.
I know because it builds me up. And I see it. I see a people
have grown in grace and knowledge of the Lord. And yet I see people that are
still dead and asleep and dull of hearing. We ought to be teachers. And so I do one thing. We do
one thing. Preach. Preach. And this is the
gospel. And I really believe, every time
I prepare a message, I really believe in my heart that the
Lord is going to bless somebody. Even if I don't get a blessing
afterward, I know that He said, where two or three are gathered,
I'll be there. I know there's going to be a Savior of life
to life. I know if somebody's hungry and thirsty, they will
be filled. I know that because Christ said it and He can't lie.
I know that. And even if I'm not filled, I preach. And I absolutely
believe every time I prepare a message, I think, this is the
one. I really do. I think, this is the one that
the Lord's going to use. Maybe this is the This is a strong
error. This is the truth. This is the
truth, able to make one wise unto salvation. If the Spirit
of God will move, if God is pleased to speak, if He's pleased, He
will. And buddy, He'll bring somebody
back from the dead. It happened not long ago, didn't
it? God sent a man from a far country. Like that Ethiopian eunuch, he
came from a far country, preached one message, went back and you
see him no more. But new life given. Same God,
same Gospel. I know, so I pray. But Thomas was not there. What if that certain person I
was talking about hadn't been there? Huh? What if yet? She'd be dead. Right? You say, no, no, no. Hold on. No, she'd be dead. Every message is life and death.
You know why the Lord said today is the day of salvation? You
know why He said that? You know why He said that? Because He
said it. Because the door of the ark is
open. How long is it going to be open? How long is it going
to be open? Anybody know? Anybody know? Have a clue. I know this. It's open right now. It's open right now. Now! So don't get excited pretty.
You reckon Noah was a champion? Ham? Japheth? Get in the ark. Oh, Dad, we've
got some time. Oh, do we now? Who said that? Come. But Thomas. But after eight days,
look at this, and I close it. It says, he was one of the twelve.
You wouldn't have known it unless the Lord said it. He's one of
the twelve. The Lord chose him. He didn't
choose the Lord. The Lord chose him. You know,
everyone that the Lord chooses will come unto Him. They may
stray. They may stay away. They're all
prone to wander. We're going to see. They all
left. They did leave before He died. They all did leave. And
after it, they all left. But He's one of the twelve. and
he lacked a lot, you wouldn't know it. If you'd have seen him
these eight days, no peace, no joy, no wisdom, all sulking and
depressed and not believing God, probably full of cursing and
bitterness, you wouldn't know he's one of God. But God said
he was, didn't He? One of the twelve. He's one of the twelve.
How do you know he's one of the twelve? He brought him back. He brought him back. Shouldn't
have. Where was he when the Lord said
he'd be there? He shouldn't have bought it. He didn't deserve
this, did he? Salvation is not the deserving,
it's the unworthy. We don't deserve to hear this
message again. God removes candlesticks. He removes angels and removes
candlesticks. And so that's it. It's over.
Douses the light. He does it all the time. He's
going to do it here. He's going to do it. But he was one of the twelve,
and how you knew was the Lord Verse 26 says, After eight days
the disciples were within, and Thomas was with them. Not but
Thomas. And Thomas was with them. He's one of the twelve. After
eight days. And the Lord came, and what did
He do for Thomas? Would He kill Thomas? Would He
show Thomas a new revelation? No. The same thing. Thomas, if
you'd have been here with him, he could have upbraided him.
If you'd have been here eight days ago, you wouldn't have been
through all this turmoil. But he didn't. He just showed
him his hands. And you know, seeing that, seeing
what our Lord did for us ought to make us give ourselves. Body and soul. Who and what? He left everything to come to
us. From now on, it's Ann Thomas.
Not Buck Thomas. Mandy and I are talking about
our young people. I preach and just beg and we
pray. You do too. And they go out of
here, hello and goodbye, you know, unmoved. I go home sad. No change, no nothing. But if God's pleased to bring
a change, it's evident. And now it's no longer but Thomas,
but and Thomas. There was Simon in chapter 21,
verse 2 says they were together, Simon, Peter, and Thomas. And Thomas. Nothing and no one
is going to keep him away now. He's learned his lesson. He knows
where peace is found. He knows where faith is found.
Sitting at Christ's feet. And Thomas. And Thomas. Nothing
out there in the world but vanity and vexation of spirit out there
in the world or home alone. Home alone. All you'll find is
you. Unless you're in love with the
Lord. And that doesn't last very long.
But in His presence is fullness of joy with His people. I love
the story of Saul of Tarsus when the Lord saved him. And the Lord
revealed Himself to him, showed him His hands inside. Old Saul
of Tarsus came and people couldn't believe it was Him. They couldn't
believe that He was with them. He went where the disciples were.
He wanted to be one of them. And it says, after finally they
all realized the Lord has done something for him. And they received
Him with open arms. It says this about Paul. It says,
He was with them, coming and going. Wherever they met, I'm
coming too. Wherever they went, I'm going
too. Just like Ruth. Your God is my God now. Your
people are my people. Where you go, I'll go. Where
you lodge, I'll lodge. Where you die, I want to die.
He's with them coming and going. No more but Thomas. It's and
Thomas. Alright, let's sing in closing
number 164, Breathe on Me, Breath of God, number 164. Breathe on me, breath of God
Fill me with life anew That I may love what Thou dost love And
do what Thou wouldst do Breathe on me, breath of God Until my
heart is pure, Until with Thee I will one day, And do to Thee
endure. Breathe on me breath of God,
Till I am wholly Thine, till all this earthly part of
me goes with thy fire divine. Breathe on me, breath of God,
so shall I never die, but live within the perfect life of mine. Say what? I said, aren't you
a blessing? Well, the word kid just can't
wait to get out of here when you're older. It just doesn't
seem long enough. Well, Hope you're doing okay,
baby. I'm doing good. Thank you. Why are you in the area? My brother-in-law's
down in Fort Lee. We drove out about a week and
a half ago because he's doing schooling for two months. I see.
So I just decided to come and see the people. I haven't seen
them in a long time. How long are you going to be here? I'm leaving Tuesday.
Okay. Good to see you. You too. Thank
you. Tell your brothers and sisters, hello, okay, if you ever see
them. Yeah, I see them all the time. Tell them to come. I know
it's a long way, but... Thank you. I'm glad. I didn't
turn this off.