Why do you suppose we worship
on Sunday instead of Saturday? I know that's the way it's been
for a long, long time. And people have done this for
many years in most any religious denomination. But it wasn't that
way in the Old Testament. All the ordinances of the Old
Testament, worship was required on Saturday, the Sabbath day.
Why do you suppose we worship on Sunday? There are a few groups
that do retain Saturday worship. We passed by Seventh-day Adventist
Church yesterday driving home. They retain an Old Testament
ordinance and require that they worship on Saturdays. And thus,
they at least give some pretense of honesty with regard to Sabbath
keeping. There are a few, back some years
ago, just A little over 100 years ago, there were a good many Seventh-day
Baptists. They worship on Saturday. And
again, seeking to profess at least to keep the Sabbath day
and live by the law, they worship on Saturdays rather than Sundays.
We worship on Sunday, the first day of the week. There was never
a commandment given to change the day of worship. Sunday was
never called the Christian Sabbath nowhere in the Word of God So
why do we worship on Sundays? Why is this set apart as John
called it in Revelation 1 verse 10 the Lord's Day Turn to John
chapter 18 chapter 20 rather and we'll begin at verse 18 John
chapter 20 and verse 18 Mary Magdalene came and said
to the disciples that she had seen the Lord. This was early
in the morning on the first day of the week, and that he had
spoken these things unto her. Then the same day, the same day
at evening, being the first day of the week, as I said in our
reading earlier, quite literally being the first day of the Sabbath,
being the first day of the Sabbath. You see, the Sabbath is no longer
a day. The Sabbath is no longer a day. The first day of the week is
the day our Lord arose from the dead. And here we're told that
it is the first day of the Sabbath. This was our Lord's first appearance
after his resurrection from the dead. Matthew tells us of another
appearance to the women who were returning from the tomb to tell
his disciples that they had seen the Lord. And then Mark and Luke
tell us about our Lord Jesus appearing to those disciples
who were walking the road to Emmaus. And all these appearances
took place on the first day after our Lord rose from the dead.
This is all on this first day of the new Sabbath, this first
day of this gospel age called the Sabbath here in Matthew and
John's gospel. We're told later that our Lord
appeared numerous other times. The Apostle Paul speaks of seeing
him, and he tells us of above 500 brethren who saw him at one
time. But after our Lord's resurrection
from the dead, the disciples always gathered for worship on
Sunday. Always. Our Lord was in the tomb
for a portion of three days. He rose early as it began to
dawn. on the first day of the week
as it began to dawn on the first Sabbath of this new week of grace. And the disciples worshiped from
that day on only on Sunday. You will never find anywhere
in the New Testament Christians, believers gathering to worship
God for the breaking of bread, preaching of the gospel, the
hearing of the word, the singing of God's praise, except on Sunday,
never again on Saturday. Never again. That does not mean
we shouldn't gather and worship on other days. That's not the
implication at all. But it is clear that the disciples
never again worshiped on the Sabbath. But Brother Don, they
went into the synagogues and reasoned with the Jews. That's
because that's where they found the Jews on the Sabbath. They
went in and preached the gospel to them. But the disciples always
broke bread and worshiped God. They always gathered for the
preaching of the Word and the singing of God's praise and prayer
on the Sabbath day. Sunday, I repeat, is not, as
many call it, a Christian Sabbath. Well, why then is this called
the first day of the Sabbath? Christ is our Sabbath. Our Sabbath is a Sabbath of faith. It is a Sabbath of believing
on the Son of God. Turn to Hebrews chapter 4. I
want you to see this. The Apostle Paul, writing by
divine inspiration, absolutely forbids Sabbath day worship in
Colossians chapter 1 or chapter 2 and verse 16. He absolutely
forbids it. He said, let no man judge you
concerning Sabbath day worship because you don't worship on
the Sabbath day. He equates it with the worship of angels, which
is idolatry. He equates it with will worship,
which is idolatry. He said, don't keep a Sabbath
day. Don't keep a Sabbath day. Don't pretend to live under the
law. You're not under the law, but
under grace. We live by faith in the Son of
God, resting in Him. What was it that God did on the
seventh day? What was it He did? He quit working. He quit working. Have I got your
attention? Look at me now. Look up here
and listen to me. This is what keeps you, you who are yet without
faith in Christ, this is what keeps you from Him. You're still
trying to do something to please God. You're still trying to do
something to make up with God. You're still trying to do something
to make things right with God for your soul. You listen to
these educated religious idiots on television. They talk about,
I believe in redemption. I believe if a congressman, whatever
he does, or a legislator does whatever he does, or a judge
does whatever he does, oh, what a horrible, but I believe in
redemption. That means if he really works
hard, he can make up for it. And that's what people think
about redemption. If I really work hard and trust
Jesus, If I really work hard at being good and trust Jesus,
if I really work hard at being a good Christian and trust Jesus,
everything will be alright. And that's the reason you do
not find rest in your soul. You keep trying to do something. Do something. What did God do
on the Sabbath day? Bob Pontzer, he quit working. He quit working. He wasn't wore
out. I got in here last night and
sat down in my easy chair and could hardly force myself to
get up, come over to the office and do some work. Time we got
done with everything last week and got in here last night because
I was wore out. I was ready to quit working because
I was wore out. God wasn't worn out. He just
quit working. He just quit working. But I'll
tell you something, you'll never quit working until God wears
you out. Until you find out there's nothing
you can do. There's no hope for your soul
in your hands. There's no righteousness in you.
No ability in you. You can't do anything to please
God. You can't do anything to make
yourself righteous. What do you do, preacher? Come
unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give
you rest. I'll give you rest. You can quit working. Quit working. All right. Let's see a picture
of it Hebrews chapter 4 verse 3 For we which had believed do
enter into rest and this word rest Everywhere you find it in
this fourth chapter of Hebrews is Sabbath everywhere you find
it We which had believed do enter into Sabbath. That's what the
word means rest Rest. We enter into rest. Believing,
we start resting. Believing, we quit working. Believing,
our souls are at calm, trusting the Lord Jesus. As he said, as
I've sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest, although
the works were finished from the foundation of the world.
Now, there are a lot of fellows who squawk about that, but that's
a hard nut for them to crack. The works were finished from
the foundation of the world. Wonder what that means. I wonder
what a fellas all-time saying in the Greek It means recently
I heard a preacher and you know folks who like to sound intellectual
They like to sound like I know more than you do that will refer
to the great in the Greek It says this and Greek it says that
and he read the word dead And he said in the Greek that word
means dead That's not too profound well this word rest here I is
Sabbath keeping, Sabbath keeping. There remaineth therefore a rest
unto the people of God. The works were finished from
the foundation of the world. For he spake in a certain place
of the seventh day on this wise, and God did rest. God did keep
a Sabbath the seventh day from all his works. And in this place
again, if they shall enter into my rest, seeing therefore it
remaineth that some must enter therein. I've come here this morning praying
that God will call some today to enter into this rest. May
God cause you to rest in Christ Jesus. I had a a letter when
I got to the office earlier this morning, an email from Brother
Jim Jemczyk. He said, I'm praying God will
save some today while you preach the gospel. Oh, God, will you
call sinners now to rest in the arms of the Savior? Some must
enter in. They must enter in because God
purposed it. They must enter in because Christ redeemed them,
because they're chosen of God. And there's a day appointed when
they must enter in. Some must enter in, but you don't. And
they to whom it was first preached, the Jews, entered not in because
of unbelief. Again, he limiteth a certain
day, saying in David, Today, after so long a time, as it is
said, Today, if you will hear his voice, harden not your heart.
For if Jesus, that is Joshua, had given them rest, then would
they not act where they have spoken of another day? There
remaineth therefore a rest. All these things were a picture
of another day. There remaineth therefore a rest, a Sabbath keeping
to the people of God. Now watch this. For he that is
entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works
as God did from his. The Lord Jesus has entered into
his rest, our great Joshua. What's that mean? He sat down. on the right hand of the majesty
on high, from henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his
footstool, because he's finished his work. He's ceased from his
work. Now he's resting. And sitting
here in your midst today, standing here talking to you today, you
are gathered with a people who have entered into God's rest, And Merle, we quit working. Cease from his works. What do
you do for acceptance with God? I trust His Son. What do you
do for righteousness? I trust Christ. What do you do
to make your conscience easy? I trust the Redeemer. I'm talking
about your works. I am too. I'm talking about Him.
He fulfilled all things for us and we rest in Him. We observe
then a Sabbath spiritually, not one day in seven, but every day,
all the time, resting in Christ. Christ is our Sabbath. All legal
Sabbath day observance is a denial of this rest in Christ. You cannot
observe both. You cannot do it. You cannot
seek to please God by keeping the Sabbath yourself and rest
in Christ who is your Sabbath. You cannot seek to please God
by your obedience to the law while you trust Christ as your
obedience to the law. You cannot seek to please God
by your works of righteousness while you trust Christ alone
for righteousness. The two cannot coexist. The one pushes out the other.
Paul put it this way. If it's of grace, it's no more
of works. If it's of works, it's no more of grace. The two cannot
exist together. All right, let's go back to John
20, verse 19. John 20 and verse 19. Oh, son of God, our savior come
today. and gladden our hearts as you
did these disciples of old with your marvelous works of grace
on our behalf. Let me show you several things
here in this last portion of John chapter 20. First, we're
reminded that the peace Christ gives gladdens the hearts of
his people. Look here in verse 19. Then the
same day at evening, Being the first day of the week when the
doors were shut, the disciples were assembled for fear of the
Jews. Came Jesus and stood in their
midst or in the midst and sayeth to them, peace be unto you. Verse 21, he said again, peace
be unto you. The next time he met down in
verse 26, he said, peace be unto you. Oh, how blessed. how gladdening it is to our hearts
to have the Lord Jesus speak peace to our souls. Peace. I find it remarkable. The Lord came here and he didn't
say anything about blame. He didn't say anything about
faulting them for their recent behavior. He didn't say anything
about their unbelief. He didn't say anything about
their obvious consternation. He stands in their midst and
says, peace be unto you. How unlike us he is. Aren't you
glad? Peace be unto you. The disciples
were gathered behind doors that were shut and bolted for fear
of the Jews. The Jews had just crucified the
Lord Jesus, and these disciples were fully aware that if they
could, they would also put them to death. And so when they met,
they met secretly, the door shut and bolted and barred, and the
Lord Jesus appeared to them. Now, he didn't just walk through
the closed door. As he came to the door, like
Peter, when he was set free from the prison later in Acts chapter
five, the door opened of its own accord by the power of God.
So when the Lord Jesus came, the door bolted against him,
was open and he appears in their midst and says, peace be unto
you. Well, how do you know that's
what happened? Because he was in a real body and a real body
doesn't float through doors. He was in a real body. The door
opens before him and he stands in their midst and says, Peace
be unto you. Peace on earth was the song in
heaven when the Lord Jesus came into this world. And peace is
the song of our souls as long as we walk with him in this world
and he walks with us. The Lord Jesus, by his obedience
to God as our substitute, by his death in our room instead,
by his ascension on high, his exaltation, by the fact that
he's seated in heaven on the throne of universal dominion,
ought to flood our souls continually with peace. He said, peace be
unto you. Peace he gives us with God. Do you know what it is to have
no peace with God? Oh, how blessed it is now to
have peace with God and peace from God. That peace that God
sends into the hearts of his children, that's abiding through
difficult times, through adversity and trouble. Peace, peace. God's people are given We're
reconciled to God now, who reconciled us to himself through the blood
of his son. We quit fighting with God, and
now we rest in him. And children of God, as we live
in this world, and God graciously bows our hearts to his will,
we walk in peace. Now, that peace is something
that only he can give and only he can perform. Suddenly find news that your
husband or your wife has died. It's tough. And I don't pretend that it's
not. Painful. Got a horrible disease. Going
to be a prolonged, difficult time in their dying. How do you
deal with this? I just don't, I don't know how
to handle it. You can't. But if you're God's, he will
eventually graciously calls you to bow to His will. And when
you bow to Him, you'll walk before Him in peace. And Bill, that
won't take away the pain, but it'll give you peace. You understand what I'm talking
about? Peace with God. Peace with His providence, knowing
that He does all things well. Knowing that He performs His
will everywhere, all the time, for you. Peace he gives, blessed
peace he gives between men and women on this earth. He's broken
down the middle wall of partition that separates us. We have sitting
here this morning white folks and black, Italian folks and
folks of German descent. We have folks here who are from
up yonder in the far north country and folks who are from down here
in the wonderful south land. We have Yakees and Southerners. We have folks who come from the
West and the Midwest and the East. Right here in this little
band of believers. All who walk together in the
sweet harmony and love and fellowship of the gospel. How can you do
that? You can't do that. But God does. He gives us peace. Peace. Uniting our hearts in Christ
Jesus so that in Christ neither male nor female, neither bond
nor free, neither barbarian nor Scythian, neither learned nor
unlearned, neither rich nor poor makes any difference. We're one
in Him. He gives us peace. And Christ
Jesus has sent us into the world to preach peace. peace by the
blood of his cross, the gospel of peace he sent us to proclaim.
We are now witnessing in our age a repeat of history. We see Mohammedanism
on the rise. It's in the news everywhere.
And our politicians are scared to death to tell you the truth
because they want the votes, you know. of folks who are inhabitants,
and they'll tell you Islam is a peaceful religion. Islam is
filthy, and Islam is violent. Oh, you don't dare say that.
Somebody put a contract out on you, they won't be the first.
Islam is filthy, and Islam is violent. Always has been. Any religion like the religion
of Mohammed that makes its converts by the sword is of hell and not
of heaven. And the same thing is true of
papacy. Any religion that will burn people at the stake because
they will not submit to it is hellish and antichrist. It's
not of God. Well, some Protestants have done
that too. Any religion, doesn't matter
what it is. Doesn't matter what it is. God's gospel, that which
is of Christ, that which comes down from heaven is that which
brings peace, peace to me. And here's the second thing.
How greatly our hearts are gladdened when our Lord comes and makes
himself known in sweet, assuring revelations of redemption. Can you imagine what this first
gathering of the disciples must have been on this first day?
They've heard from these women that the Lord Jesus has risen
again. Mary was sent specifically to tell them, tell my brethren. that I'm going to my father and
their father, to my God and your God. You go tell them that I've
risen from the dead. And Mary came and she said, fellas,
you won't believe it, but the Lord's risen. I've been talking
to him. And you know what? She was right.
They didn't believe it. They didn't believe it. They
didn't believe it. Oh, Mary, you're just a silly
woman. You don't know what you're talking
about. They didn't believe it. And here they are gathered. He
whom they trusted and believed to be the Redeemer, the Messiah,
the King, who would establish His kingdom on the earth at that
time, because they did not yet believe the word that He would
rise from the dead. Here they are, confused, terrified. What are we going to do? What
do we do now? Where are we going to go? What's
going to become of us? Will the Jews destroy us? And
just a little bit hopeful, but what if Mary knew what she was
talking about? What if he is risen after all?
And then the Lord Jesus stands in their midst. Here he is in
a physical body, in a physical body, flesh and bones, just like
you have right now. walks into that room and is talking
to him. He stands before them in this
physical appearance so as to assure them that he has indeed
arisen from the dead. It wasn't true that somebody
came and stole his body away. He rose from the dead. Look here.
See my face. Look here. See my hands. Look
here. See my side. Look here. See my
feet. I've risen from the dead. This
is not a ghost. This is not some aberration.
I stand before you, risen in a physical body. But there's
much more than that. The Lord Jesus, having showed
them his hands and his side and his feet, tells them that he
is here before them, having finished his work. Showing them his hands
and side and feet. He shows them assuring tokens
of redemption Redemption with which he was going to heaven
having obtained eternal redemption for us Redemption with which
he was going to ascend to the father and take his seat on the
right hand of the majesty on high and forever hold the reins
of the universe Those hands that were pierced for us upon the
cursed tree hold the reins of universal monarchy. He rules
everything. He's going into heaven. And with
these wounds, I will carry you. And with these wounds, I will
take your petitions. With these wounds, I will make
intercession for you at my father's throne. And you shall have the
thing that you desire of him. These wounds of our Lord. are
forever for us a proof that our Lord Jesus loved us and redeemed
us and saved us by his grace. Turn to Isaiah 53. Hold your
hands here. Turn to Isaiah 53. When you believe God, you can
read the word of God very personally. Let me read this the way I like
to read it. Isaiah 53, verse 4. Surely Christ has borne Don's
griefs and carried his sorrows. Yet Don did esteem him stricken,
smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for Don's
transgressions. He was bruised for Don's iniquities. The chastisement of Don's peace
was upon him. And with his stripes, Don Fortner
is healed. The chastisement of my peace
was upon him. And with his stripes, I am healed. The disciples rejoiced and were
glad when finally it dawned on them when finally it dawned on them,
bless God, I'm redeemed. Oh, bless God, my sins are taken
away. He's washed them away in his
blood and God's cast them behind his back in the sea of his infinite
forgetfulness. Why couldn't they believe it
before? Why couldn't they understand that before? I'm going to tell
you a little secret about prophetic scripture. Tell you a little
secret about it. It'll be verified every time
you read the scriptures. No prophecy is ever understood
until it's fulfilled. Now you mark it down. No prophecy
is ever understood until it's fulfilled. All the writings that
men make, all their conjectures, all their figures, all their
stats, all their charts, all their mumbo jumbo is just so
much stuff you find in a barnyard. Paul called it dumb. It's all
it is. It's all it is. Just stuff to
entertain men on the road to hell. Nobody understands any
prophecy until it's fulfilled. Proofs in the pudding. Peter
is with the disciples on the day of Pentecost. That's chapter
two. And the Jews saw those fellows baptized in the spirit, speaking, every man hearing the
word spoken in his own language, men and women, Jews and Gentiles. And the Jews said, these followers
of Jesus, they're just falling down drunk. And Peter said, boys,
it's not but 9 o'clock in the morning. No, they're not drunk. They're not drunk. This is that
which was spoken by the prophet of Joel and he quoted the scripture,
Joel chapter two. He says, this is what Joel said. Nobody had a clue what it was
talking about until right now. Bless God. I've seen it. Here
it is. The disciples saw the Lord risen, redeemed. They were assured of redemption,
assured of forgiveness. We know that. Peter wrote about
it. Paul wrote about it. John wrote about it. James wrote
about it. Continually, continually writing about it. Peter said,
he that has suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin. He ceased
from sin. I've seen now what the Lord did. I was redeemed. But in 2000 years
ago, The Son of God put away my sins by the sacrifice of himself. The Lord Jesus bore in his body
my own sin and my own curse upon the tree. But Charles, I didn't
know one thing about it. Not one thing about it until
the Lord Jesus came and spoke peace to my soul. And I discovered
that I too am redeemed. Oh, wondrous, wondrous grace. What gladdens the heart like
the Lord Jesus coming, assuring his disciples of redemption.
Here's the third thing. Look at verse 21, John chapter
20. Our Savior has sent us into the
world just as he was sent into the world by his father. He's
Jehovah's servant, Alan Kibbe is Jehovah's servant. Just as
much his servant as Christ was his servant. Jehovah's servant. What was he sent to do? He was
sent for the saving of God's people. That's why he came. He came here to gather his elect
out of the earth, from the north to south, the east and the west,
to call out his elect by his grace. That's why he came. Let's
see what it says. John chapter 20 verse 21. Then
said Jesus unto them again, peace be unto you. As my father has
sent me, even so send I you. And when he had said this, he
breathed on them, saith unto them, receive ye the Holy Ghost. You remember the Holy Spirit
was poured on him without measure. Now he says, receive ye the Holy
Ghost. But they had already received the Holy Ghost. Of course they
had. They were born again. They believed God. And you can't
be born again without the Spirit of God. You can't believe God
without the Spirit being within you. The same was true of those
Old Testament saints. Folks say, well, they didn't
have the Holy Spirit. Oh, yes, they did. Oh, yes, they
did. He was not yet given in the revelation of His office
capacity as He is now, but He did the same work the Old Testament
does in the New. He hadn't changed any. But here the Lord speaks
to His disciples, His gathered church, and He breathes on them
and says, you receive the same Spirit the Father has given me.
You receive the Holy Ghost. Now watch this. Whosoever sins
you remit, they are remitted to them. And whosoever sins you
retain, they are retained. The Lord Jesus has left us here
on this earth to do the work that he himself
came here to do, to gather his elect for the saving of his people. Oh, now, Brother Don, you know
you can't save anybody. I've had folks actually say that
to me. You know you can't save, as if I thought otherwise. No,
you can't save anybody. No, you can't even pick them
up, much less save them. But God Almighty uses such things
as we are for the saving of His elect. He said to Timothy, He
said, you give yourself wholly to the word, study, to prayer,
to doctrine, to the gifts God's given you. In so doing, thou
shalt both save thyself and them that hear thee. Our Lord said
to his disciples, go ye therefore into all the world and preach
the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved. He that believeth not shall be
damned. That's exactly what it says right here. It's exactly
what it says right here. He left us here as his servants,
Bob, to preach the gospel to all the world for the saving
of his elect. Oh, what an honor. What a privilege. Unto me, whom less than the least
of all saints is this grace given, that I should preach among the
Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ. Nothing so gladdens the hearts
of God's elect. as for Christ to give us his
peace, assure us of redemption, and trust us with his gospel. Trust us. He's trusted us with
his treasure. He's given it to our trust to
proclaim to the world, to give to the generation that follows
us. Our trust. I wish you could read every letter
I get. Brother Larry sent an email to
me sometime last night or earlier this morning. I don't know when
it was he sent it, but I got it when I got up here this morning.
He said, it looks like Africa's got the measles. Free Grace Radio,
folks listening, just downloading sermons all over Africa. Wonder
what God's doing. I wonder what God's doing. Wonder
what He's doing. He's using His Word to gather
His elect to our Redeemer. Was there some other honor you
wanted? A couple of weeks ago, we were
over in Lexington, and I didn't know it, but Doug had turned
over mowing the yard to Will. Now, probably in a year or two,
Will's going to wish he hadn't. I remember I was about eight
years old when I got the privilege. And it didn't matter how many
lawnmowers I broke, Daddy would always find another one. But,
oh, what an honor now. I get to mow the yard. And it's
a chore for him. Doug got one of those mowers,
like city folks have, you know, you bag your grass, and about
every third time you got to go empty the thing. That's all Will
can do, push the mower and get the bag off. But you talk about
one happy, proud boy. Pop, I got to mow the yard. Got
to mow the yard. He got to mow the yard. He said,
Nana, come look at this. Come look at this. Happiest children
on this earth. Our children who are given responsibility
and taught to fulfill the responsibility. The Lord God has given us the
responsibility and the privilege of proclaiming the gospel to
all the world. God make us faithful to that
trust. The third, fourth thing here. Verses 24 and 25. The disciples were gathered and
the Lord Jesus appeared, but Thomas wasn't there. When we absent ourselves from
the worship of God, from the house of God, when we neglect
the assembly of God's saints for worship, We deprive ourselves
of great blessings. Thomas, one of the twelve, called
Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. And the other disciples
therefore said unto him, We've seen the Lord. But he said to
them, Except I see his hands 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." What a statement. What a statement. Our Lord had
appeared to them, these disciples, He convinced
them that he was indeed risen from the dead. He convinced them
that redemption was accomplished. He convinced them that the scriptures
fulfilled. He convinced them that everything
was all right. He gave them the Holy Spirit to empower them for
the ministry of the word to the world. But Thomas wasn't there. And we don't know where he was.
We don't know what he was doing. We're never told why he absented
himself. Well, my great aunt came to town,
and I just didn't think I ought to leave her. My mama came to
town, and I don't get to see her but once a month, and I just
didn't think I ought to leave her. We had company because the
children were all in it, and they hate God, so I thought I
ought to stay at home and help them to hate God a little more.
I don't know. Surely not. Do you know I hear
that all the time? I hear that all the time. Look at what Thomas missed. He
missed the joy of seeing the risen Christ. He missed the joy
of hearing the Lord speak. Peace be unto you. He missed the peace and assurance
itself as evidenced by his words when he said, I will not believe. Children of God, neglect not
the assembling of yourselves together as the manner of some
is. It will bring leanness to your
soul. This is the only place, Bobby Estes, where God promised
he'll meet with his people. Where two or three are gathered
in my name, there am I in the midst of them. Sometimes it's
obvious that he's here. And sometimes you come by the
cause and you're anxious to hear the word and see the Lord Jesus
and you go home. Still just as cold and empty
as when you came, because that's just the way we are. But sometimes
he comes and makes himself known. And then I wouldn't take a mountain
of gold, would you? He comes and visits us in his
grace. This is the place from which
God sends out his word. This is the place where God's
people come together in the sweet fellowship of the gospel. This is the most important aspect
of your life, if you're God's. The most important aspect of
your life, if you're God's. I said to Eric the other day,
we were chatting about going off to Louisville, I said, It's
been a few weeks ago now, y'all going up to, I think, to visit
Redeemer Church, Sam, and I said, don't go where you can't worship
God. Don't do it. You young folks,
don't go to school where you can't worship God. It's not worth
it. It's not worth it. Mom and dad,
don't move off somewhere where you can't worship God. It's not
worth it. It's not worth it. You give up
too much, you lose too much. Oh, but they'll double my salary.
Take it and leave it. You just you take your job, sir,
and give it somebody else. I don't need the salary. I'm
getting along just fine. Get along just fine. Well, Brother
Don, would you do that? I have and I would. I dead sure would. Here's the
fifth thing, verses 26 to 29. After eight days, the Lord appears
to his disciples again, and Thomas is in the midst. And the Lord
Jesus says, Thomas, now, buddy, you ought to have been here last
time. You don't know what you missed,
but I've been here last time. Thomas, you ought to believe. You shouldn't have doubted. Thomas,
Thomas, now, You're going to have to be put on probation for
a while. Not a word. Not a word. They said, Thomas,
give me your fingers. Give me your hand. Oh, learned children of God.
How gracious, how merciful, how sweet, how tender our Lord Jesus
is to poor, weak, sinful men and women who are his. It is
exercising sweet, restoring grace. He says, I will not depart from
them, and they shall not depart from me. I will cause them not to depart
from me. You see, we are prone to, we
would everyone right now. Not anybody in here, not anybody
in here. I said, Merle Hart, I admire
as much as any man I know, any man I know, and Merle Hart, if
God had let you, you'd walk away from Christ right this second. There is in you and in me an
evil heart of unbelief departing from the living God. That's just
fact. That's just fact. But bless God,
he won't let you depart. Not if you're his. Whatever it
takes. Prone to wonder. Lord, I feel
it prone to leave the God I love. Here's my heart. Oh, take and
seal it, seal it. for thy courts above. Though
we believe not, yet he abideth faithful. He cannot deny himself. Here's the sixth thing. Our Lord Jesus Christ really
is God. Oh, how wonderful. How wonderful. He really is God. I recall one time Brother Watson
Dufour preached for me in West Virginia. Shortly after I went
there, I asked him to preach at one of our services. Brother
Watson's a very simple man, very brilliant man. He was preaching out of Colossians
chapter one. And he said, I'm going to tell
you something. You probably never heard it in your life. I'm going
to tell you something. Well, the fellow says that, but
pay attention. He said, Jesus is God. And you know what? I'd never
heard it in my life. I'd never heard it in my life. What? Jesus
is God. That man, Christ Jesus, he's
God. He's God. Oh, did you always
believe in the divinity of Christ? Yeah, but I'd never heard anybody
say Jesus is God. I heard he was the God man. I
heard he was the son of God. I heard he was God's son. I never
heard anybody say Jesus is God. And I've been reading a good
bit for a good long while. Studying a lot. I've been to
Bible colleges and conservative Bible colleges. Never heard in
my life Jesus was God. In fact, we were taught never
to really say that. Because you always got to separate
divinity and humanity. My Lord and my God. This man who lived and died for
me, he is God. He's the man who is God. The God who is man. In every
point, touched with the feeling of our infirmities. Sympathetic
and kind and gracious, yet omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent. Ever able to do whatever he will,
and what he will good for my soul. One more thing. One more thing. Our hearts ought to be made glad
every time we're reminded that all the wonders performed by
our Lord Jesus our God in this world are designed for us that
we might believe. Look at verse thirty. Many other
signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples,
which are not written in this book, but these are written. Now watch this. That you might
believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God, and that believing
you might have life through his name. Everything our great God
and Savior does in this world is a wonder, a miracle. Thou
art God that doest wonders, the psalmist said. All he does is
wonders. All he does. Clouds up, a few
raindrops fall, and it quits. That's a wonder. We were driving
down the road the other day, and there was a cloud in the
sky. Sun was shining so bright you couldn't hardly see, and
it poured down sheets of rain. It's a wonder, a wonder. A fly
lights on the bulb and it suddenly drops off and dies. It's wonder.
Oh, you can see, that's not a wonder. God works all things together
for good to them that love God. The minute and the great. To
them who are the called according to his purpose. He does these
wonders. He wonders. Some of them we see.
Once in a while he lets us see something. Just a little something. But all that he does is a wonder. Everything. He only performs
wonders. And all the wonders he performs are for the salvation of his
people. That you might believe. that you might believe. And that believing you might
have life through His name. Everything God does, He does
to cause His people to believe Him. And He promises life eternal
to every sinner who believes the Son of God. Oh, I pray that God will send
you home from this place today Like that publican of old, go
home justified. Believing on the Son of God,
go home with life everlasting. Amen.