Would you turn back to John Chapter
20? While you're turning there. Tonight,
I'm going to speak on this subject. Sibyleth or Shibboleth. The passages from Judges Chapter
12. The first six verses where some men who mispronounced Shibboleth
and said Sibyleth instead were put to death. 42,000 men put to death because of the
mispronunciation of a word. Now what's behind all that? Sibyleth
or Sibyleth? John chapter 20. I've entitled this message An unbelieving believer. An unbelieving believer. An oxymoron? A contradiction
in terms? A paradox? Perhaps, but real
nonetheless. Thomas. Didymus. The word Didymus means twin.
He's very much a twin to you and I. Just like us. An unbelieving believer. Was Thomas a true believer when
he said, I will not believe? Was he born of God? Look what he says in verse 28. And Thomas answered and said
unto him, My Lord and my God. There's not a more noble confession
in all the word of God than right there regarding the Lord Jesus
Christ. My Lord and my God. Yes, he was a believer, but what
a statement. He said, I will not believe. And the first thing that comes
to me when I read this passage of scripture regarding Thomas,
when he says, except I shall see in his hands. the print of
the nails and put my finger into the print of the nails and thrust
my hand into his side. I will not believe. The first
thing I see from this is unbelief is a choice. If I tell you the truth. And
you say. I'm not going to believe that. You're choosing. To not believe. Now, we don't choose to believe. I don't hear something that's
true and say, I'm going to make a choice. I'm going to believe
that. No, you believe something because it's true. Not because
you choose to believe, but because it's true. I've given this illustration
before. I don't choose to believe two
plus two equals four. I believe two plus two equals
four because it's true. One, two. 3, 4. 2 and 2 is 4. I don't choose to believe that.
I believe it because it's so. But for me to believe it's 3,
I'm going to have to make a choice, aren't I? For me to believe it's
5, I'm going to have to choose to believe that. Unbelief is
a choice. Thomas said, I will not believe. Now, here's the next thing I
notice about unbelief in Thomas. Who was the doubting disciple?
Thomas was. Everybody knows that. He's the
one who did not believe. Now, look at this information
we're given regarding Thomas in verse 24. But Thomas, one
of the twelve, called Didymus. was not with them when Jesus
came. Who was the one who was not there
when the Lord Jesus appeared to his disciples? Thomas. And the fact that it
says, but Thomas was not there implies that Thomas should have
been there. We don't know what his reason
for not being there was, but he was not there when the Lord
first appeared. Now, this is a crude illustration,
but for those of you who were not here this Wednesday, you
don't know what was said. And if you were not here last
Sunday, you don't know what was said. You missed something. You missed something very important. Thomas did not hear what the
Lord said in verse 19 of this same chapter. Then the same day at evening,
being the first day of the week when the doors were shut, Where
the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, Jesus came,
Jesus, and stood in the midst and saith unto them, Peace be
unto you. Thomas wasn't there. He missed
out on this. He didn't hear this. And when
he had so said, verse 20, he showed unto them his hands and
his side. He actually showed them his wounds,
the tokens of his love, the seals of his actual death, the marks
of his identity, the signs of his finished work, and he spake
peace to them. And Thomas wasn't there. He didn't hear any of this. He saw none of this. Then look
at verse 21. Then said Jesus to them again. And remember, Thomas is not there.
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 and said unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost,
whose sins soever you remit, they're remitted unto them. And
whose sins soever you retain, they're retained. And Thomas
was not there. He missed out on all of this.
I repeat, who was the one doubting disciple? Thomas. And who is the one of whom it's
pointed out? He was not there when the Lord
appeared to them. Now, the Lord caused this incident
to be recorded to show us the importance of church attendance,
the public assembly of God's saints. Now, in our worship services,
every one of them, Sunday morning, Sunday night and Wednesday night,
Christ is present. He said in Matthew 1820, where
two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the
midst of them. Now, you may be providentially
hindered from being here from time to time. I understand that. But if we can be here, We ought
to be here every time the doors are opened because He's here. He's here. And you decide to stay at home?
You let something take precedence over that? When He's here? When His gospel is preached and
you stay home? There's a good meal prepared
every time and he is here. And why would you choose something
over that? Very important, and the Lord
points this out, Thomas was not there when the Lord appeared,
and it's sad to see in some how that you can easily miss public
worship when he's here. It's real sad when you see some
who there was a time when they wouldn't and now they will. But
I repeat, he is here. You hurt yourself and you discourage
others. Thomas was the one disciple who
was not there. And beloved, if not providentially
hindered, we should always be here when he's here. And we should
be afraid of what we'd miss if we're not here. You see, every
time we meet, the Lord speaks from His Word, His Gospels preached.
He's here, and I'm afraid to miss out. Look what Thomas missed
out on from not being there. Now, the disciples, look at our
text, verse 25, the other disciples, therefore said unto him, We've
seen the Lord. But he said unto them, except
I shall see in his hand the print of the nails, and put my finger
into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand in his side,
I will not believe." Verse 26, And after eight days again his
disciples were within, and Thomas with them. Then came Jesus, the doors being
shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. And he was speaking to Thomas,
too. He didn't say this is for everybody but Thomas. He wasn't
there. No. He says, Peace be unto you. Then he gave a special
word to Thomas. Then saith he to Thomas, Reach
hither thy finger, and behold my hands. And reach hither thy
hand, and thrust it into my side, and be not faithless, but believing. And Thomas answered and said
unto him, My Lord and my God. You know when you'll believe?
I can tell you when you'll believe. When Christ says believe, you'll
believe. And until then, you and I will
be faithless. But when He says believe, will
believe. The old nature never believes.
The new nature believes. Verse 29, Jesus saith unto him,
Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed. Blessed
are they that have not seen, and yet have believed. Now there we have it. An unbelieving
believer. An unbelieving believer. I have no doubt that we have
a few Thomas in our midst this morning. I certainly understand
Thomas. I can identify with him so much.
You know, Thomas, if you look at everywhere he's mentioned
in the scripture, I think this is interesting. It's not mentioned
very many times, but Thomas was a gloomy person. He was a gloomy
person. You look in John chapter 11,
where the Lord said he's going back to Judea and the disciples
say, no, don't do that. And he said, yes, and Thomas
said, well, let's let's go with him and let's die with him. Let's
die with him. I mean, you just let's go die
with him. And then then there's a time in John, chapter 14, where
the Lord says, the way, you know, and Thomas said, we don't know
the way. We don't know the way, we don't even know what you're
talking about. He had kind of a negative, pessimistic outlook
on things. I can relate with that. The optimist
believes we have the best of both worlds. The pessimist fears
that's true. Glass half empty, half full. Two different ways of looking
at the same thing. But Thomas shows us what hinders faith. The unbelieving believer. Let's look in John chapter 11. Now, in Thomas, I see what hinders
true faith. John, chapter 11, verse 7. Then after that, saith he to
his disciples, let us go into Judea again. And his disciples
said unto him, Master, the Jews of late sought to stone thee,
and goest thou thither again? I mean, all they could see was
if we go back to Judea, You'll get stoned, and we'll get stoned.
Verse 16, at the same chapter. Then said Thomas, which is called
Didymus, a twin, unto his fellow disciples, Let us also go, that
we may die with him. I admire that. I admire that. Thomas was totally
sincere, and we admire his courage, his love to the Lord. He believed
the Lord would be stoned in going back to Judea. He thought this
was over. Well, let's go die with him.
We love him. Let's go die with him. Now, while he did say this
and we admire this, where was he when the Lord did die? He was in hiding somewhere. He
spoke very nobly. But he was nowhere to be found. Now, he should have said, Lord,
if you don't keep me. And preserve me. I'll be the
biggest coward to ever live. And I won't confess you, I'll
run if you don't keep me, I know myself enough to know that if
you don't keep me and preserve me, I know what will happen. If the Lord said, one of you
shall betray me, who's the first person that would come into your
mind that would do it? Every one of the disciples said,
Lord, is it I? Except for one, Judas. He waited,
and after what he saw, everybody else said, and another said.
He knew the right words. is it I? But there was insincerity
in what he's saying. But the disciples all said, is
it I? Now here is the first great hindrance
to faith. Too high an opinion of yourself. That's the first great hindrance
to faith. Too high an opinion of yourself. Thomas says, let's go die with
it, fellas. Now, a high view of yourself
is based upon falsehood. In Galatians 6, verse 3, we read,
If a man think himself to be something when he is nothing,
he deceives himself. If I see myself as anything other
than weak and sinful, it is a false perception
of myself. The first great hindrance to
faith is too high an opinion of yourself. You see, a high
view of self is contrary to the gospel. In Romans chapter 5,
verse 6, we're told who Christ died for. For when we were yet
without strength, in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. Now, here's a twofold description
of the people that Christ died for. Those without strength and
those who are ungodly. And if I'm anything higher than
that, I put myself out of the realm of the folks who Christ
died for. You see, a high view of yourself is contrary to the
gospel. of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
a high view of self prevents us from looking to Christ. Now,
listen to me real carefully. He is not all to me. We just
heard that song. He's all to me. He's not all
to me unless I am nothing. And if I'm nothing, He's all
to me. But if I'm something, He ain't
all to me. It really is that simple. Oh, that person who's
nothing in and of themselves but sin. How precious is the
righteousness of Christ when you have no personal righteousness?
How precious is His precious blood when you have nothing to
offer God? How precious Christ is to that
one who has a low, albeit an accurate, opinion of themselves? The first great hindrance to
faith is too high a view of yourself. In reality, child of God, you
have some idea of what you are. Where do we get these high views
of ourselves? Contrary to the gospel of Christ. John 14. Here we have Thomas again. Thomas saith unto him, Lord,
we know not whither thou goest, and how can we know the way?
Now, Thomas didn't realize this, but what he said was actually
demeaning to the Lord Jesus Christ. He's looking at the way. He said, we know not the way. And the Lord said, Thomas, I'm
it. I am the way. And when you say, you know, not
the way what you're saying is demeaning toward my glorious
person. I am the way, not I'll show you
the way or I'll lead you along the way. But I myself am the
way. So if you're in me, you're there.
I am the truth, not I'll tell you the truth, I'm it. I'm the
life, not I'll give you life or show you life. I am the life
before God. If you have life before God,
I'm the life. I'm the way, the truth, and the
life. No man comes to the Father but by me. Wherever you have
too high an opinion of yourself, you know what you have next?
Every time, too low an opinion. of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now here's the next great hindrance
to faith. Too low a view of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Wherever there's too high an
opinion of self, this always comes along with it. Too low
an opinion of Christ. We get sin on our conscience
and we try and manufacture a way, the way of our repentance, the
way of our sorrow, the way of our tears, the way of our intention
to never do it again. That ain't the way. Christ is the way to the Father. Is it possible to think too highly
of him? Is it possible to think too highly
of any of his glorious attributes, his sovereignty, his justice,
his holiness, his grace, his power, his wisdom? He's the way. Thomas, you have too low an opinion
of the Lord Jesus Christ. So here we see the first two
great hindrances to faith, too high of you to yourself and too
low of you of the Lord Jesus Christ, and how criminal that
we could in any way think of him in a low way. The third great hindrance to
Thomas' faith is he had too high a view of experience. Look once
again in John, chapter 20, verse 25. The other disciples therefore
said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them,
Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put
my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into
his side, I will not believe. He couldn't believe the testimony
of the other disciples. And remember, the Lord said,
I'm going to die and raise from the dead. But he couldn't believe
he had to be able to see, touch, taste, and feel. He had too high
a view of experience. Now, we know we ought to simply
believe, don't we? Believe the testimony of God.
We know we simply ought to believe, but we get stuck. I could believe if. If what? If Christ died? Oh, no, I believe
that. I could believe if I had more
power in my life. I could believe if I had more
victory over sin, if I could feel my sin more, if I could
see more. Oh, I could believe if I, yeah,
that's believing alright, that's believing in yourself. That's
not believing in Christ, that's believing in yourself. He had
way too high an opinion of experience. If I could see the nail prints,
if I could put my hand in his side, if I could, then I could
believe. Thomas, blessed is that person
who hadn't seen and believed. Now, this is all I need for assurance. I want to have assurance, though,
too. I want to have assurance that God loves me. I want to
have assurance that I'm accepted and a beloved. But this is all
I need for assurance. If God be for us, who can be
against us? He that spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also
freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. Who
is he that can condemn? It's Christ the God. I need no other argument. I need
no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died
and that he died for me. That's all I need for my assurance. I don't need an experience. All
I need is to hear the gospel. That's it. If my assurance is
derived from anything that I see, feel, or experience, it is a
false assurance. My assurance is that salvation
is of the Lord. Too high a view of experience
is a hindrance to faith. Believe the gospel. Believe. And fourth, the fourth hindrance
to Thomas' faith is that he had too low a view of public worship. He was not there when the disciples
met together. Now perhaps he had a good reason
for not being there, but like I said at first, is there ever
a good reason for not being here if the Lord's here? Is there
ever a good reason for not being here? If the Lord is here, if
he's making himself, if his gospel is being preached, Thomas was
not there. Now, remember, faith cometh by
hearing. And hearing by the word of God. It pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching. to save them that believe. God
has manifested his word through preaching. Coddus 1.3. The way
faith comes is through what we're doing right now. God's people
meeting together and the gospel being preached. Would I ever
be better off staying home watching TV when the gospel is being preached? What is the best thing I can
do for myself and for my family? Hear the gospel. hear the gospel. Too low a view of public worship
is a great hindrance to faith. Now, somebody says, well, private
worship is more important than public worship. That sounds good,
I suppose, but people who neglect public worship, I guarantee you
they neglect private worship. I guarantee you they do. Now, would you turn with me to
Matthew chapter 8? Four great hindrances to faith. Too high an opinion of yourself.
Too low an opinion of Christ. Too high an opinion of experience. And too low a view of public
worship. Now look here at Matthew chapter
8, verse 10. When Jesus heard He marveled. He was actually very impressed.
And said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have
not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. That's a pretty
impressive combination of this man's faith, isn't it? The Lord
said, I say unto you, this is the greatest faith I've ever
seen. Now, what is it about this man's
faith that was so impressive that the Lord would commend it
as the greatest faith he'd ever seen? Well, look in verse five. And when Jesus was entered into
Capernaum, Matthew eight, verse five, and when Jesus was entered
into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion beseeching him
and saying, Lord, my servant lied at home sick of the palsy
grievously tormented. And Jesus said unto him, I will
come and heal him. The centurion answered and said,
Lord, I'm not worthy that thou should
come under my roof, but speak the word only and my servant
shall be healed. Now here's the first thing that
I see about this fellow who had the greatest faith in all of
Israel. He had a very low opinion of himself. He said, I'm not
worthy for you to come under my roof. The Lord said, I'll
come and heal him. The Lord said, I'm not worthy for you to come.
I'm not worthy for you to come. He had a low view of himself. Lord, you don't want to be around
me. You don't want to come under
my... I'm not worthy. He had a low opinion of himself. Now look what it says next, verse
8. The centurion answered and said, Lord, I'm not worthy that
thou should come under my roof, but speak the word only and my
servant shall be healed. For I am a man under authority,
having soldiers under me. And I say to this man, go. And
he goes. And to another, come. And he
comes. And to my servant, do this. And he doeth it. I understand
something about authority. And I know all you have to do
is will it. And it comes to pass. If you
will the salvation, if you will the healing of my servant, he'll
be healed. Nothing else needs to be done.
You're the Lord. You have absolute control of
all things. I love the way he said, Lord.
He's the Lord. He's the dictator. He's the controller. He's the absolute sovereign.
He had a high opinion of the Lord Jesus Christ. I understand
authority. I say to my servant, go, he goes
another, do this, and he does it. You have all authority. And if you will it, it'll take
place. He had a high view of the Lord
Jesus Christ. And thirdly, this man had a low
opinion of experience. Look what it says in verse seven,
and Jesus saith unto him, I'll come and heal it. The centurion
answered and said, Lord, I'm not worthy for thou shalt come
under my roof, but speak the word only. I don't need any experience. I don't need you to come under
my roof. I don't need to feel this. All you've got to do is
say it, and it's so. Speak the word only, and my servant
shall be healed. He had a low view of experience,
and he had a high view of worship. Look what it says in verse 5.
And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him
a sedentarian beseeching him. He came to him. He came to where
he was. And that's what we do in worship.
We come to where he is. He speaks from his word. I come
to hear. He came to the Lord where he
was. Verse 10. When Jesus heard it,
He marveled and said to them that followed, barely I say to
you, I've not found so great a faith, no, not in Israel. And
I say unto you that many shall come from the east and from the
west and shall sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in
the kingdom of heaven. But the children of the kingdom
shall be cast out in the outer darkness and there shall be weeping
and gnashing of teeth. And Jesus said unto the centurion,
go thy way. And as thou hast believed. Had he believed? Well, he believed there wasn't
anything to him. I'm not even worthy for you to
come under my roof. He believed that Christ is God,
and all he had to do was will it, and his servant would be
healed. He had a high view of the Lord
Jesus Christ. And he had a low view of experience.
He said, you don't need to come. All you've got to do is will
it. But, oh, what a high view he had of the Lord Jesus. He
knew he had to get to where he was. He had a high view of the
Lord Jesus. And Jesus said unto the centurion,
Go thy way, and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto
thee. And his servant was healed in the self same hour. Hindrances to faith. Oh, may
the Lord bring this home to us. Too high a view of yourself.
Too low a view of the Lord Jesus Christ. Too much emphasis on
experience. And too low a view of worship.
What are the elements of great faith? A low view of yourself. A high view of Christ and His
righteousness. Not putting any emphasis on your
experience, but on the Word of God and a high view of worship. May the Lord enable us to have
this man's faith. You know, Doubting Thomas can
be just like this by the grace of God. And I pray that this
might be me and this might be you. Let's pray together.