04-19-2020 - HALL Wesleyan Church
Thomas
John
20:24-31
Jesus
Appears to Thomas
John 20:24-21
24 One of the
twelve disciples, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin),
was not with the others when Jesus
came.
25 They told
him, “We have seen the Lord!”
But he replied,
“I won’t believe it unless I see the
nail wounds in his hands,
put my fingers into them,
and place my hand into the wound in
his side.”
26 Eight days
later the disciples were together again,
and this time Thomas was with them.
The doors were locked;
but suddenly, as before,
Jesus was standing among them.
“Peace be with you,” He said.
27 Then He said
to Thomas,
“Put your finger here, and look at My
hands.
Put your hand into the wound in My
side.
Don’t be faithless any longer.
Believe!”
28 “My Lord and
my God!” Thomas exclaimed.
“You believe
because you have seen Me.
Blessed are
those who believe without seeing Me.”
30 The
disciples saw Jesus do many other miraculous signs in addition to the ones
recorded in this book.
31 But these
are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the
Son of God,
and that by believing in Him
you will have Life by the Power of His
Name.
Hey
- Today - Let us do something that is fun!
·
Tell me, what is the very first thing,
That
comes in your mind when I mention the word:
o ICE CREAM
Is it that it is:
§ Cold?
§ Delicious?
§ Chocolate?
§ Vanilla?
§ My Thighs (that was my daughter’s
answer)
OK – Let’s try another.
·
Tell me, what is the very first thing,
That
comes in your mind when I mention the word:
o PICNIC
Is it:
§ Food?
§ Red and White checkered tablecloth?
§ Nice Weather?
§ Ants?
§ What about Yogi & Booboo?
Now – Let me mention a few of the disciples.
·
Tell me, what is the very first thing,
That
comes in your mind when I mention:
o
Simon Peter
§ Motor Mouth – He says what he
thinks without thinking.
§ Faith?
§ Leader?
§ Denier?
What
about:
o Judas
§ Betrayer?
§ Thief?
§ Suicide?
What about:
o
Thomas
§ Doubter!
§ In Fact,
·
Do we not focus so much
upon his doubting?
·
That we have even coined
the nickname for him:
o
The
“Doubting Thomas!”
It may surprise you to know that within the First 3 Gospels
(Matthew, Mark and Luke)
·
Within those Gospels,
·
We are told of Absolutely Nothing at all about the disciple Thomas.
But it is ONLY within the Gospel
of John, that we actually Hear and Witness
·
Thomas Emerging-from-the-ink-and-paper.
o
And even then, he only holds 155 words
§ Which
John uses to describe him.
Although within the Bible, there really
isn’t much told about him at all,
·
Even within that – Let
us be sure to note:
o
Even within just a few
Words used for him,
§ There is more than just One-Type of Description defined.
SEE – It is ONLY after - Jesus turning His Face towards Jerusalem,
·
This is when ALL of the disciples
thought
o
That this would mean of Certain death
for all of them.
This all started when Jesus - finally decided to return to Bethany.
·
Do you remember,
o It was about 2 weeks before Jesus’ final Passover meal,
§ And it came about 2 days
·
After Jesus received
word about Lazarus’ great illness.
But - Surprisingly, it was ONLY then
·
When we heard from Thomas the first
time.
o
See, it was Thomas who said:
We must understand of just HOW Courageous of a statement this was!
·
Courageous for Anyone to make.
o
It is almost something that we would
have expected from Peter.
§ But
yet, it was Thomas who stood up with this
·
Enormous Courage.
But – Even – In – This – Most – ‘Courageous Scene’
·
It is as if, Thomas’ words and his action
go without notice.
“Then let us go so that we may die
with Him!”
But even within Thomas’ 2nd famous scene,
·
When he gets labeled as the ‘Doubting
Thomas’
But even in his questioning,
·
We hear Thomas BOLDLY Declare of his
Faith,
o
With such Clarity,
o
And in - an - Unmistakably Way,
§ Even
as he overcomes his doubtfulness
·
BUT It is Thomas –
o
Who is the FIRST to make this Profession of Faith
·
Claiming: The “Holiness
of Christ!”
o
NOT Only is Jesus,
The Son of God
§ As
Peter earlier Exclaimed Him to be,
o
But here, Thomas declares Jesus to be:
§ “My
Lord, and my God!”
This Earth-Shattering Confession of
Faith comes from the ‘One of
DOUBT!’
·
NO Longer is Jesus the ‘Teacher’!
·
NO Longer is Jesus ‘Lord’!
·
NO Longer is Jesus the ‘Messiah’!
o
BUT
NOW – The Doubter Crowns Him - GOD!!!
This is the only place where Jesus is called God
·
Without having some qualification of
any kind.
Thomas Speaks with Conviction within his heart,
·
And with Clarity in his mind.
o
It is as if Thomas is simply
recognizing a Truth of the fact,
§ That
2 + 2 = 4,
§ And
that the sun is in the sky,
§ And
the Gravity holds us to the ground.
Jesus, you are not only
·
My Teacher,
·
My Lord,
·
The Messiah,
·
The Son of God
o
But You are my Lord and my God!
These are certainly not the words of a doubter.
Unfortunately, it seems that history has record
·
That one moment of weakness within his
life
·
And that has become how he is
remembered.
This scene was when the resurrected Christ
·
Made His appearance to the disciples
in a home in Jerusalem.
o
And Thomas just happened to not be present.
·
Then upon his return, he heard about Jesus’
visit,
o
And he refused to believe it.
·
Maybe this is like those many times
within our own lives when things
o
Just sound simply too good to be true.
·
And we all know of Thomas line when he
said:
o
Unless I see the nail prints in his
hands I will not believe.
Now I wonder – The ‘WHY’.
·
Why do we not ONLY Remember BUT,
·
We Also Tag this Courageous man with
his flaw?
As we started out today’s message,
·
We played the game of ‘What comes to
Your Mind First’.
o
Simon Peter – ‘Denier’
o
Judas – ‘Betrayer’
o
Thomas – ‘Doubter’
Why do so many of us come up with the Same Wording,
·
Which we Not Only use to Describe that
person
o
But we also become So Familiar with
their nickname
§ That
we can exchange the real name with their nickname
·
And we all still know who we are
talking about?
ü But
the Denier “said, “Man, I don’t know what you are talking
about.” And immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed.’”
(Luke 22:60)
ü Betrayer,
“Would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?”
(Luke 22:48)
ü But
the Doubter “replied, ‘I won’t believe it unless I
see the nail wounds in His hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand
into the wound in His side.’” (John 20:25b)
Have you ever wondered why we pick those nicknames for these
disciples?
Denier – Betrayer – Doubter
I have a thought about this that I would like for us to kick it
around a little and see IF it begins to form some Truth to it.
Most bullies act as they do because they themselves are hiding
within their bullying.
There is a hurt,
·
a weakness,
·
an insecurity,
·
possibly something which they themselves
are ashamed of
·
There is something within their lives
o
Which they are trying to cover up by
their acting out as a bully.
See – by these, usually boys, acting out as they do,
·
It gives them a false sense of self
confidence or security
o
Which in turn, seems to allow them
o
To bury that weakness of theirs,
§ Even
if it is just for that one moment.
Now, don’t get me wrong.
·
I do not believe that any of us are
bullies.
However, Behavior is Behavior.
I believe, we can All find a part of ourselves
·
Within those Same Nicknames which we
have assigned to those disciples.
Ø Yes,
Countless of Times, I have DENIED my God
o
And I have chosen to do the wrong
things.
Ø I have BETRAYED my God
o
And
I have handed Him over to my sin.
Ø I have also DOUBTED my God
o
Of
Actually - Being My-God, Himself.
SEE -
·
Countless of Times, I
have Not Believed that He was Big Enough
§ To handle my problems,
§ So,
I have not handed them over to Him
§ And
I have Kept them to myself.
·
I have Not Believed that He loved me Enough
§ To be concerned about me,
§ So,
I have shut Him out
§ And
I have Walked away without Him.
·
I have Not
Had Faith Enough
§ To allow Him to be my God,
§ So,
at times,
§ I have Followed other gods
§ Rather
than, Following the One-True-God.
So, in those so famous Nicknames – I believe,
·
At certain times within our own lives,
·
We ALL can find Ourselves within those
same Nicknames.
In verse 24, John points out right off the bat that not only was
Thomas not with the other disciples but he is also the ONLY One who is missing.
24 “One of the twelve disciples, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin),
was not
with the others when Jesus came.”
Have you ever thought about the WHY?
·
Why did Jesus set Thomas
up this way?
o
You know, with Thomas being the Only
One
§ Who
was excluded from the group.
Sure – it gives Jesus the perfect set up
·
So that He could make His wonderful
statement
o
Which He made for everyone who came before
His time
o
As well as after His time.
o
You know, that wonderful statement of
faith:
“You
believe because you have seen me.
Blessed
are those who believe without seeing me.”
But could there be another more hidden message within His visit?
In Matthew 18:20, Jesus said:
“For
where two or three gather together as my followers
[gathered
together in My Name], I am there among them.”
I believe Jesus is not only pointing out the True Definition of
Faith,
·
The act of Belief without Sight
o
Believing without Science Proof
§ Believing
without eliminating all the elements of doubt
·
Allowing Our Belief in Our Faith to be
above All!
But I believe Jesus is also giving us a Great Example to follow.
·
Showing us the necessity of us being gathered
together, in His Honor,
o
As a Group of Believers,
§ Coming
together, as a Church Body.
See – when we separate ourselves from the body
·
Then we are taking a Great Risk of
MISSING Out on Christ’s Appearances.
It is True - Christ appears most often
·
Within the community of believers
·
That we call the church.
And when we separate ourselves from the church
·
We are taking a Great Chance on
missing His unique presence.
 |
So,
what can we learn from the life of Thomas?
First
of All, Jesus did not blame Thomas for
doubting.
So often, we find the church handling doubt as disbelief and it squashes
it.
·
But Jesus never condemned Thomas for
his doubt.
·
I think that He understood that
o
Once Thomas worked through his doubts,
o
That Thomas would actually become
§ One
of the surest men within all Christianity.
I must admit to you that I am very,
·
Let’s say, ‘uncertain’ of anyone
o
Who says that they have never have any
doubts.
o
Come on, I have had so many Doubts.
§ Now
I am not saying that since I have had them,
§ Everyone
has to have them,
§ But,
don’t they?
I would have to say,
·
In the most-kindest way possible,
·
To anyone who says that they have had
no doubts
o
That by them saying that,
§ They
are placing themselves Above Christ Himself.
o
Remember - On the cross Jesus cried
out,
§ “Father,
why have you forsaken me?”
§ Yes
– Extreme Circumstances – BUT At that time, even Jesus had doubt.
Authentic, True, Reliable, Dependable Faith
·
Always begins with
o
Intelligent, Knowledgeable, Rational,
Logical Honesty,
§ And
DOUBT is the Bedrock of Honesty.
But Allow Me to put it
in Another Way:
·
FAITH Is Not the Absence of Doubt;
o
But Rather,
§ FAITH
Is the Act of Overcoming the Doubt!
If we are Honest with ourselves,
·
How many times do we repeat the words
of that one father
o
Who was seeking help for his son.
·
First, he went to the disciples but
they could not help.
·
Then Jesus came over and asked what
was going on.
o
This is when the father said those
words which I believe we all share:
“I do believe, but help me overcome
my unbelief!” Mark
9:24
 |
Secondly, we can learn from the
life of Thomas
·
That
the most
endearing things in life can never be proven.
Jesus said:
“Thomas, you have believed because
you have seen.
Blessed are those who have not seen yet they still believe.”
·
YES, it is so comforting to hear His
words of Blessings
o
When He is talking about you and me.
·
You and I will never see Jesus in this
life.
·
Now, I am Not saying that we would want
to BUT –
o
We will never have the chance
§ To
put our fingers in the nail scars.
o
We never get the chance to touch his
pierced side.
But SEE - Jesus Knows.
·
He understands it is harder for you
and for me to believe
o
Than it was for Thomas
o
And the other disciples
o
And the Great Thing About that is
§ That
He Actually Counts Us Blessed!!!
But How can we Conclusively
– Overwhelmingly Prove
·
The Qualities
of Love?
·
The Qualities
of Friendship?
·
Or the Qualities
of Faith?
For Example: How can Anyone
establish beyond a shadow-of-a-doubt
·
Of their Devotion
AND Of their Dedication
to their children?
How can Anyone Demonstrate,
or Validate that Type of Love, Actually Exists.
You know, a sceptic can always Simply Dismiss
·
The Acts-of-Love - towards anyone
o
By simply claiming it to be an Attempt of Self-Love.
§ Or
by saying that it is a NEED or a WAY of Controlling
Others.
Someone who has Faith of just the seen, really has no True Faith
at all.
Let’s take another look at this.
·
If someone could come along and
scientifically prove the resurrection,
o
Do you feel that this would change
o
The lives of All of those Who Do Not Believe?
·
But Even IF You Could,
o
What this would mean is that
§ The
People would be Living by Facts
·
And Not by Faith.
Do you remember the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus?
·
We find Jesus’ answer in Luke, Chapter
16, verse 31
“But
Abraham said, ‘If they won’t listen to Moses and the prophets,
they
won’t be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’”
So, what does this all mean?
·
We must understand that we have better
leave some room within ourselves
o
For “Spirituality” within our own worldview.
But this Does Not mean that we must Exclude
‘Science’.
·
It Does Not Mean that we have to Disqualify
‘Reason’.
·
No – not at all.
o
But what it Does Mean,
o
Is when it comes down to the
§ Most-Important-Things
Within our lives,
·
Our Faith
o
That Will
NEVER Be Conclusively Proven.
We will need to live our lives,
·
Each and Every Day
o
And Even on a Moment-to-Moment - Basis,
§ We Will Need to LIVE Our Lives “By FAITH”.
God has called us to be The-People-of-Faith!
What exist in Heaven
·
Cannot and Will Not
o
Be proven here on earth;
·
But Rather, it must be simply - Believed.
 |
And
so, Thomas teaches us a Third Lesson:
·
We
must move beyond Doubt to Faith.
It is all right to doubt,
·
But in our discipleship,
o
We should move beyond doubt.
Jesus cautioned Thomas, “Stop doubting and
believe”.
Unbelief is a normal part of life
·
But it is not healthy to remain in
unbelief.
In the early days of John Wesley’s ministry,
·
He was tortured within himself
o
With so many doubts and uncertainties.
o
So, John went to his old friend and
mentor,
§ Who
was a man of faith, Peter Bohler
§ And
John exposed his soul to him.
Now I have to say, when I first read Bohler’s response to Wesley
·
During my pastoral classes,
o
I had a hard time making sense of his
logic,
§ But
I have to say, over the years I have grown
§ To
understand the wisdom within it.
Bohler told Wesley:
“Preach
faith till you have it,
and
then,
because
you have it,
you
will preach faith.”
In other words,
act
as though you have already moved passed doubt to faith
and
because you are acting it out,
it
will eventually come to you.
Now, for some,
·
I am sure that this still sounds -
kind-of-tricky.
o
Maybe even, a play on words
§ Or
maybe, it seems that it is an act of not being truthful.
But
let me - try to explain it another way.
When you are in a city or even a small town
·
And you go outside,
o
You really can only see
clearly to the next house
§ Or to the next building
§ And then your vision is blocked by it.
§ That is all that you can see.
But when you come out to Hall Church,
·
And you look east, your
vision goes for over a mile away,
·
When you look north, it
is the same,
·
When you look towards
the south, it is the same
·
And even when you look
to the west,
o
Well there are a few
trees which may block your view.
·
But you can see clearly,
for a very-very-long-way.
But
here is the thing.
·
When we come and gather for Worship,
o
We come in Hopes to see further,
§ We
come to see the miles and miles.
·
When we gather in Worship,
o
We come to see into the Heart of our Lord
God.
But here this morning, I would not be Doing You
Right
·
If I didn’t cover this as well.
And In This – I want to get - real
with you for a moment.
I want to say something to you this morning,
·
And in all truth, I need to be saying
it to myself as well.
There are times.
·
Times in our lives when we face things
that are tough.
o
Grief,
o
Disappointment,
o
Pain,
o
And even Depression.
There are those times when
·
Things happen that Our Beliefs-In-God,
weakens.
These are times which brings true moments of deep doubt
·
That can just swallow you up.
o
But let me offer you something to hang
on to.
We should NEVER EVER –
·
DOUBT IN THE DARK,
o
WHAT GOD HAS TOLD YOU IN
THE LIGHT.
Let me say this again.
We Should Never Ever
·
DOUBT IN THE DARK,
o
WHAT GOD HAS TOLD YOU IN
THE LIGHT.
I say this because
·
It is in those moments of Spiritual Light,
o
When God shows us His True Reality.
·
These moments of Spiritual Light are
so very important,
o
Because they allow us to get through
many upon many
§ Dark
Nights of doubt and despair,
§ And
these come upon each and every one of us.
In moments of Light,
·
God has told you that He will never
desert you.
o
Don’t ever doubt that.
In moments of Light,
·
God has told you that the resurrection
is a Reality.
o
Don’t ever let the darkness cause you
to doubt that.
In moments of Light,
·
God has told you that the very hairs
on your head are numbered.
o
Don’t ever doubt that in the darkness.
o
You are Important to Him
o
And He Loves You.
So, don’t be afraid of Telling God
that You Do Believe!
And when you need to,
Also, don’t be afraid of Asking God
for His Help with Your Belief.
Yes Lord,
“I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!”
