of my good I will go, of my good
I will go. Take my love, my God, I pour
at thy feet in pleasure so. Take myself and I will be All right, now turn to John, chapter
20. I was speaking to a Methodist minister on the telephone today. I asked him if they were having
services tonight. He said, yes, we have a prayer
meeting. He said, that's about all we
do. He said, I don't give them a
whole sermon. I said, well, I do. So you're
going to get a whole sermon tonight. All right, let's dive
right in here. We didn't comment on verses 21
and 22 much on Sunday night, so let's look at those verses. Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you. As my Father has sent me, even
so send I you. Now Christ is talking to his
apostles and he says that as God sent me to save the sheep
to do that work that he gave him to do. Remember, he prayed
about that work in John 17. He said, the work you've given
me to do, I've finished it. The words you gave me to give
to these men, I've given them. And so he says to them, now I'm
sending you to preach this salvation. I came to accomplish it, and
I did it, and now I'm sending you to preach it. Verse 22, And
when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive
ye the Holy Ghost. Now who is this speaking? This is none other than the same
one who breathed into Adam in the garden and he became a living
soul. Remember that? He said he created
man out of the dust of the ground and he breathed into Adam and
he became a living soul. The same one. Thomas is going
to tell us in a little bit who he is. I hear this same God manifest
in the flesh, breathes into his disciples, and he bestows upon
them a special power, unction, which none had before
them or since. Now, what is this? What is this breathing on them and them receiving
the Holy Spirit. Now, some would take this and
they do take this and run wild with it. Now, remember, he's
talking to his apostles. All right? Who's speaking? To
whom is he speaking? What's the subject? He's sending
them out, those twelve. All right? That's who was in
this upper room. And he breathed on them and they received the
Holy Spirit. Now, we looked at it before in
John 14 and John 16, how he said, what he said the Comforter would
do, the Holy Spirit. Now, what did he say that the
Holy Spirit would be sent to do? This is what the Holy Spirit
does when he comes, when he works upon men and so forth. I'll tell
you what he said. He said, he'll take the things
of mine. and show them unto you. Right? All right, now, this is not regeneration
here, because every child of God who believes Christ, they're
regenerated by his Spirit. All right? If any man hath not
the Spirit of Christ, he's none of his. You know what Romans
8 says? As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the
children of God. All right, who is the Spirit?
Christ and the Spirit are one. Here, Christ is with his apostles.
Right? Remember, he said, I'm leaving,
but I'm going to send the Holy Spirit to you. Well, and now he's going to send them
out. Joe, he's sending his apostles out. He's leaving. He's sending
his apostles out. And he said the Holy Spirit would
take the things of mine and show them unto you. So what they're given right here
by Christ is an immediate filling of the Holy Spirit. An immediate
filling of the Holy Spirit in order to understand the Scriptures and the things of Christ. He's
giving them an immediate filling of the Holy Spirit in order for
them to understand the scriptures and the things of Christ for
the purpose of going out to preach. Now, remember, up to this point,
they didn't even know why Christ had to die. You remember that? They kept
trying to keep him from going to the cross. John, they were
ignorant, weren't they? Weren't they? All right, now they're going
to go out and preach. And he's not going to send them
to a seminary. It's just like tongues. Remember,
they were given the gift of languages. They didn't have time to go to
school and learn languages. And they didn't have time to
sit in a church under a pastor. Who was the pastor? Who would
the pastor be? Christ was their pastor, but for three years.
How much did we learn in three years? It's proof that they sure
didn't learn much, did they? Does that make sense, John? Here
Christ is saying, now, receive the Holy Spirit. And he's given
them immediate feeling and understanding of the Old Testament scriptures,
the things of Christ. That's what this feeling is.
You understand that, Joe? That's what this is all about.
This is no second baptism of the Holy Spirit, like some would
say. All right? But this is for those apostles
who had to go out without They were ignorant men, but now he
fills them with this understanding. All right? Does that make sense?
I think it does. All right, now verse 23. Now
look at this. This is amazing. He says, Whosoever
sins you remit or forgive, they are remitted
unto them. And whosoever sins you retain,
they are retained. Would any mere mortal man dare
to take that verse to himself? I know the Pope does. But that's amazing, isn't it? Now, who's he talking to? He's
talking to those disciples. Now, there was eleven of them. eleven of them. Well, twelve. Well, there's eleven. Judas was gone. But he had Paul
in mind, too, didn't he? I was going to have you turn
over to Acts chapter 5. Do you remember anywhere in the
early church how that The Apostles, this happened when somebody,
they had a special power so they could discern the very thoughts
of men and women. Remember that? Remember Simon
Magus one time? Was it Peter? Looked to him and
said, your heart's not right. He could see his thoughts, John.
Your heart's not right. Then it was Ananias and Sapphira
over in Acts 5. Remember that? Ananias came in
and said what they lied to him, and Peter said, you're lying
not to me, but to the Holy Ghost, and killed him. So that's the power that these
men had. Why? Once again, nobody had one
of these. Nobody had a Bible. These men
were going out, Joe, and saying, we're come from God. The true
Christ sent us. This is a message from God. Well,
how do we know? It seems like we heard somewhere
over in the Old Testament, Deuteronomy or whatever, that if a prophet
says something, that if it comes to pass, then he's of God. If
not, he's not. So these things were credentialed.
Do you understand that? They verified these men's ministry,
that they were sent from God. And it got people's attention.
Over there in Acts 5, it said fear fell on everybody. So what
do you reckon they did? They listened to what those men
were saying. And they submitted to their leadership. They had despised them as a bunch
of old, unlearned fishermen. Do you see that? Remember at
Pentecost? Everybody said, where did these
men get this learning? Right here. That's where. That's
the purpose of all this, all right? Now, here's the subject
tonight, beginning with verse 24, as we announced. Alright, now he was talking to
ten men. Ten men. You know, Judas was not there. Judas was dead. Hung himself. And there was somebody else who
wasn't there either. Look at verse 24. But Thomas, one of
the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. I'm glad you're here tonight,
Nancy. Joe, I know it took some doing to get here, and I know
everybody else took some doing too, but you'll be glad you came.
This is necessary. underscores or underlines the
importance of us meeting like this more than this story right
here. Nothing, nothing magnifies the importance of what
we're doing here tonight more than this story right here. We're
going to see it, I hope. It says here, Thomas was one
of the twelve. He was a believer. He walked. That's what it said. He's one
of the twelve. He is one of Christ's own. He was a true disciple of
Christ. But at this time, about like Peter a little earlier is
saying, you'd have never known it, would you? If God hadn't
have written this, you'd have never known it. If Christ hadn't
him back, he would have never known it wouldn't. He would have
thought Thomas was gone. Remember Peter and Judas, the
similarity? They did the same thing, except
Judas hung himself and Peter just wept bitterly. The reason Peter didn't hang
himself was because Christ hung himself for Peter, not for Judas. So Thomas was one of Christ's
own. He was. But at this time, oh,
he was in sad shape. He wouldn't have known it by
his talk. And for eight days, eight long days, nobody would
have thought he was one of these disciples. And if he had stayed
away, he would have proved to have not been a disciple, wouldn't
he? If he hadn't have come eight days later and seen the Lord,
he would have proved that he was no better than Judas either.
Now that says, Didymus. It keeps calling him Didymus,
doesn't it? Thomas called Didymus. Why does it say that? The word
Didymus means twin. So evidently, Thomas had a twin
brother or sister. probably brother. He had a twin. That's remarkable because, well,
who made him to differ? I mean, these same two growing
up in the same house, twins, like Jacob and Esau. And God chose Thomas, didn't
he? And that's who made him to differ.
But then also something else made him different. After God
chose Thomas, what distinguishes God's people from the world?
Tonight. Tonight. What distinguishes God's people
from work? Tonight, right now. That's right. Where the carcass
is, that's where the eagles are gathered. Like Jeremiah said, is it nothing
to you, all you that pass by? No, it's not. It's nothing. What is it that distinguishes
God's people from the world? This right here. They love Christ, they love his
gospel, they love his people, and they're committed to it.
This is life. These people are running up and down the road
trying to make a life. They've missed it. They've missed
life. We're hearing about it. Life. Words of life. It says, Thomas
was not with them when Jesus came. Turn back to verse 17. Turn back there. Thomas was not with them when
Christ came. When Christ told Mary to go back
and tell the disciples, he said, You go tell my brethren. Go to
my brethren and say unto them, I sinned unto my father and your
father, and to my God and your God. Mary Magdalene came and
told the disciples that she had seen the Lord and that he had
spoken these things unto her. Thomas heard this too. Thomas heard that. He heard Mary
say that. And over in, where is it, Matthew
28, Christ specifically said, Vicki,
He said, I'm going to go before you, I'll meet you in Galilee. He told Mary to tell him that,
to tell the disciples. Thomas was there. And he told
Mary to tell him, Thomas included, I'll meet you in Galilee. Where
in Galilee? where two or three are gathered.
Wherever you all decide to gather, that's where I'll be, and where
is not important. It's who. Two or three. Thomas
heard this joke, didn't he? But Thomas was not with them
when Jesus came. Why not? We could conjecture about many
things. Why not? What was he doing? What could he possibly have been
doing that was more important? That could cause him to miss
the Lord when the Lord expressly said, I'm going to be there,
meet me there. Unless he was deathly sick. which
he wasn't. And I wonder the same thing all
the time. Now, listen to what, you know
what happened when Christ appeared the first time? You were in on
it. You saw and heard what they saw
and heard. When Christ appeared, the first
thing he did was spoke peace to them. Boy, they were all torn up before
this, weren't they, John? They were met together for fear,
and Christ said, Peace. Boy, when Christ was with them,
they weren't afraid of anything, were they? They really had to be afraid
for their lives, but when Christ was there with them, boy, we
were being afraid of. Their minds were stayed on him,
and they were in perfect peace, as long as he was there. He spoke
peace to them, and he showed them his hands. Remember that?
Oh, they were glad about that. They saw some things in his hands. Oh, words of comfort. They heard
him speak comfort and peace. They saw his glorious person.
They said the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.
And they were filled with joy, and their faith was strengthened,
wasn't it? Their faith was strengthened.
After he left, after the first time after he left them, man,
they just thought, well, we'll never not believe now. Rick, it was just a little bit.
Eight days went by and Peter said, let's go fishing. But while he was with them, they
said, Oh, man, I believe. You believe? Yes. I'll never
doubt him now. They received God's will for
them. This is what the orders that
Christ gave them. Breathe the Holy Spirit into
them. The understanding of Scriptures, immediate understanding of Scriptures,
and the things that Christ opened up to them. And it's not recorded,
but just before this is when those disciples were walking
on the road and their hearts burning within them. Understanding of Scriptures.
They received God's will for them. I remember a couple of
Wednesdays ago when we looked at what is God's will for us. Remember that? I wouldn't have
missed that for anything. But Thomas did. But Thomas did. So look at verse 25 and 26. The
other disciples therefore said unto Thomas, We have seen the
Lord. And he said unto them, Except thou shalt see in his
hands the print of the nails, and put my finger in the print
of the nails and thrust my hand in his side, I will not leave."
And after eight days, eight days, eight days went by. Now, you know what all the disciples
got from Christ? And they were living on that
for a few days at least. Their hearts were still. It lingered. The heartburn lingered. And their
understanding of the scriptures did, certainly, because he filled
them with the Holy Spirit, John, didn't he? And when, you know,
when they went fishing I don't believe they weren't
leaving Christ. We've looked at that wrong. I've
maybe insinuated that they weren't leaving Christ. No, no, he just
filled them with the Holy Spirit. They weren't leaving Christ.
They just didn't know what to do, where to go. And Peter said,
let's go fishing. And that was necessary because
wait until we get to chapter 21. It's necessary that they'd be
out on a boat fishing because he's got something to show Well,
that's another story. But for eight days, how do you
reckon Thomas? Now, Thomas wasn't there, and
he didn't get all this. So for eight days, what was Thomas
filled with? Doubt. Fear. They had peace spoken to them.
He was filled with fear. Their faith was strengthened.
He was full of unbelief. Eight days, I'm not going to
believe. We saw him! We saw him, Thomas! We heard
him! I don't believe it. Turmoil. They heard words of
comfort, didn't they? Their hearts were comforted.
They could go in the strength of that for a few days. Thomas
didn't. He didn't have any comfort. He
went out into the world, and boy, just like it, he was scared. They were filled with gladness.
He said they were glad when they saw the Lord. Not Thomas. He
didn't have any joy. He just felt trouble from within
and without. They received knowledge of God's
will. He said, I'm going to send you
out. My Father sent me and now I'm sending you. Thomas didn't
know where he was going, what his life was all about, did he?
He was full of doubt for the future. What am I going to do? They had the understanding of
the Scripture. They had some understanding of the Scripture.
And, Vicki, if Thomas got in their midst, they were talking
about Scripture, and Thomas didn't understand what they were saying. You think about that. Thomas
didn't understand what they were talking about. He couldn't enter
into it. He couldn't enter into it. Is our gathering here tonight
any less important? No, it is not. It's no less important. Christ meets with us. He promised
he would. He promised he would. And he
has invariably met with us. Invariably, just as he said he
would. Just as he said, he promised. We've seen his person, like those
disciples. I've gone away from him here
countless times, filled with gladness, haven't you? Saying
with David, I was glad when they said unto me. I was so glad I
went. And there were times when we
hadn't felt like coming, the preacher included, when we were
glad we did. Nearly every time. Well, I'd
venture to say every time. that I made a little special
effort to get here, dragged myself here. But the Lord missed it. That's
the way he works. He's not unrighteous to forget
your labor of love, unfaithful. Our hearts have been made glad,
we've been filled with joy. Last Wednesday night, Deuteronomy
8, that was just a joy, a joy. He opens our understanding of
the Scriptures and it's built, our faith is built up and increased,
the knowledge of His will and so on. And what would a man rather
have than this, than that? What would we give in exchange
for these? Honestly, there's nothing worth what we're receiving
here. Now listen to me. Took issue
with a man once about this very subject, the importance of every
service. Why? Why do I feel like every
service is important? Every gathering is important.
T-H-O-M-A-S. This right here, that's what
I said, this underscores more than anything the importance
of what we're doing here. Right? And why? Why is this so
important? This is a matter of life and
death. It really is. And like I was trying to tell
this fella, you know, every message, I feel like every message, this
could be the one God's going to use to speak to that certain
so-and-so who doesn't know Christ. That's what I think. That's what
I hope. That's what I wish and pray toward.
Every message. There's some people that come
in here and hear and sit in here who do not know Christ, have
not committed to Christ, and I think this might be the one.
I hope they're there. Is that being too serious? If I approach this any other
way, I'll get you another preacher. And we ought not to approach
hearing it any other way. You know the old saying, one
step forward and two steps back? You heard that saying? Surely
some of you are old enough to know it. One step forward and
two steps back? That applies to spiritual things. Doesn't it, Nancy? Progress,
it seems, is so slow. growth and grace and the knowledge
of Christ and faith, but boy, one step forward and if we hit
a stump by our toe, it's five steps back. Isn't it? Doesn't
it seem like it to you, John? And two days out of seven is
just not enough to combat this flesh. Isn't it? How the importance of daily worship
on your own. Christ knows our frame. He comforts us here. He knows
our frame. He knows our every case. He knows every case. He knows
who and why and where and what, because he did it. Every circumstance,
every He knows. He is the one that causes them,
directs them. Many things are to test us, though.
Right? Many things are to test us. And didn't we read? What about
those two passages we just read, Mark and Luke? Aren't those?
I was really struck by those. Weren't you, in reading those?
Christ looked around. I would like to have seen him.
It says he looked around them. No, he didn't have anything.
And he said, how hardly shall they that have riches err in
the kingdom of heaven. And then a little while later,
we read in Luke where it says a bunch of folks were following
him. It says, he turned to them and said, except you hate. Except you No, no, no. And we read there, which he said,
to every excuse, follow me, follow me, forsake that. And then I
read over in Mark, well, we read that there where Peter said,
Lord, we've forsaken all for you. We have. Do you remember
his promise there? There's not one. No man. or anyone for that matter, who
has forsaken houses or land, a father, a mother, or children
for my sake. And he was quick to point that
out. The Gospels. Christ and the Gospel
are one. The Gospel. Nobody who is forsaken
anything who has made a little sacrifice for the gospel sake,
every one of them will receive one hundredfold at this time and inherit eternal life, everlasting
life. Man, what a promise! What a promise! Now, listen to it. I'm going
to wind this up. No believer is going to miss
salvation because they miss the worship service. Breathe easy. Thomas didn't. Nobody's going to miss salvation
because they miss the worship service, but they'll miss a great
deal. And they may get in such a sorry
state that they will think they've missed salvation. See, right
there it is. It's like the Scripture. God
doesn't turn his back on us. Never. He did that to his son
on Calvary's tree one time. But we turn ours, don't we? And
we feel like He's turned His. It's not. It's not that way.
We just get in such a sorry state. Why? Due to our own foolishness. Like Thomas here. Let me repeat
that. No believer is going to miss
salvation because they miss the worship service. But they're
going to miss such a great deal that they may think they've missed
salvation. And they'll go through a sorry
time like the prodigal son just about. like the prodigal son. And they think they missed salvation.
And the sad thing, too, is if it goes on for any length of
time, everybody else thinks they've missed it, too. And neither is someone saved
by perfect attendance. If that were the case, then every
good Southern Baptist, you know, he'd make it. Nobody's saved
by perfect attendance, either. We are saved by perfect attendance,
by someone perfect attending the things, making his appearance,
his perfect attendance. But God is rich in mercy and
he providentially brought old Thomas back. Let's look at it
here. Let me say this, though, before we look at that. Christ
has promised us And he's provided the means and he's told us to
use it. Like this we're doing here, forsake not the assentment
of ourselves together. He said, I'll be there and you'll
be blessed like these disciples of old. All right, let me just
give you an illustration. You remember Nahum and the leper? Was it Elijah or Elisha? I get
them mixed up in that story. I think it was Elisha, wasn't
it? Oh, well. Told Naaman, go down and dip. Go wash in the River Jordan.
How many times did he tell him? Seven times he told him to dip.
Alright? Naaman, you know, at first he
balked a little bit. Boy. Got better things to do
than dipping the muddy Jordan, but then he realized, I'm a leper. I want clean. What did you say,
do again? Dipped seven times. How many? Seven. Awful lot, isn't it? Won't one time do it? Seven. What if Mayhem had gone down
and dipped six times? Huh? Think about it. So God's provided the means. And he said, suit me with all
your heart. Where two or three are gathered,
I'm there. You get the same thing the disciples got. Forsake not
this inward. All right? Dip seven times. Seven
times. That make sense? Alright, so
the Lord here has mercy on Thomas. After eight days, verse 26, after
eight days again, his disciples were within, and Thomas with
them. Man, by the sovereign mercy and
grace of God, restraining grace of God. Then came Jesus, doors
being shut. The doors were shut again. Doesn't
matter. He came in and stood in the midst. The door was being shut and stood
in the midst. What's the first thing he said?
And now Thomas is with them. Thomas didn't hear it the first
time, and they need to hear it again, don't they? After eight
days, a little bit of their peace had left. Thomas didn't have
any. first thing out of our Lord's
gracious mouth, blessed mouth, he said, Peace be unto you. And what does he do to old Thomas? Shows him his hands. Thomas, reach hither your finger. Behold my hands. And reach hither
thy hand and thrust it into my side. Be not faithless. Where
does faith come from? It comes by hearing. Hearing by the Word of God. Who
is the Word? Christ is the Word. It's one
and the same. Where the Word is preached, Christ is. Where
Christ is, the Word is preached. Where the Word is proclaimed,
faith is generated and strengthened. Be not faithless, but believe
in Him. Believe in Thomas, answer and
say it. My Lord and my God. If there wasn't another verse
in all the scriptures that told us who this man Jesus
was, it's been nothing. Huh? Is Jesus Christ God or is he
not? Ask Thomas. My God, Christ didn't correct
him, did he? Huh? He never said he was God.
Well, they don't know his name, for one thing, but a lot of other
people said he was God, as Thomas. And he didn't correct him. He didn't correct him. Another
time they called him Lord and Master, and he said, You call
me Lord and Master, and you say, Well, so I am. He said, My Lord
and my God. And he said, Well, so he is.
I am. If any man comes to God, he must
believe he is God. He is. So here it was again,
same thing, all over again, same thing, same blessing. Disciples
were gathered, the doors were shut, Christ stood in the midst,
said, Peace unto you, and showed them his hands. You don't reckon they said, Well,
we've heard all this before. Oh, it blessed them doubly. They
wanted to see the same thing, didn't they? Hear the same words
of peace. He said, I have obtained peace by the blood of my cross.
My hands, this is the hands of the Sovereign, the hands of your
Creator, the hands of the Savior, the hands of your Father, the
side, the cleft of the ribbon, his ribbon side, the cleft of
the rock in which your head. And the merciful, gracious God
here spoke directly, particularly pointedly to Thomas, didn't he?
Has the Lord ever spoken to you like he did to Thomas? Has he ever spoken to you where
you felt like, I know one in here he's speaking to? Huh? It's wonderful when that happens,
isn't it? Thomas answered, My Lord and my God. Jesus said unto
him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed.
Blessed are they that have not seen. And yet I believe." Now his mind
is thinking about somebody here. He looks down at his hands and
there's their names. Who's he thinking about? Whoever
hasn't seen him but believes. Whom have he not seen, Peter
said, ye love. Who's that? Two thousand years ago, right
here when he said this to Thomas, he said, Thomas, you've seen
me and you believe. But oh, blessed is Deborah Huff, whom having not seen, yet she
believed. Oh, blessed is Sam Park. He hasn't
seen me, but he believed. Blessed is Vicki Patton. She
had never seen me with eyes of flesh, but she had it with an
eye of faith. Oh, blessed is Picky Patton and
all of his people he had on his mind when he said that. And in
closing, verses 30 and 31, and many other signs, truly, did
Jesus in the presence of his disciples, right then and there,
Thomas was glad. What if Christ said, now, I'm
going to be here tomorrow? Rick, who do you suppose, make
a guess who might be there first. Who might be there? Go ahead
and say it. Who might be there? If Christ
said, I'm going to be here tomorrow, who do you reckon was there first?
Thomas! Any possibility that Thomas wouldn't
be there? Many other signs, truly, did
Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written
in this book, but these are written that ye might believe. Now, who's
he talking to now? He's talking to us. 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. Faith cometh by hearing, and
hearing by the Word of God. Be not faithless. Believe him. How shall they believe
in him whom I heard? How shall they hear without a
preacher? And how shall they preach except
they be sinned? All right, let's stand.