Stop Disbelieving, just Believe

Well, let's turn to that passage now that we read in John chapter 20.

John 20 · chapter mention

! John chapter 20. We can read once again from verse 24.

John 20 · chapter mention

Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called a twin, was not with them when Jesus came.

So the other disciples told him, We have seen the Lord.

But he said to them, Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails,

and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.

Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them.

Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, Peace be with you.

Then he said to Thomas, Put your finger here and see my hands,

and put out your hand and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.

Thomas answered him, My Lord and my God.

Jesus said to him, Have you believed because you have seen me?

Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.

Isn't it telling sometimes we think of people by what we see as the negatives,

or the things that maybe appear wrong in their lives,

and we think of them in such a way as gives them names according to that.

Thomas has come to be known in history as Doubting Thomas.

Most people today would relate to that,

because of the way that he said here, as we read,

that he refused to believe the testimony of the other disciples,

and would not believe unless he saw Jesus for himself.

So he's called Doubting Thomas.

But then he's also confessing Thomas.

Why don't we refer to him as confessing Thomas?

Why don't we focus on that more positive element in his life?

Because as we'll see this evening, there is no other confession really in the New Testament,

or even in the entire Scripture quite like it.

It's a confession that includes not only a personal testimony to his relationship with Jesus,

but a confession of Jesus as Lord and God.

Within the one confession, you find that wonderful expression,

my Lord and my God.

That is who we should think of when we think about Thomas.

Not that his doubting is something we just push aside as irrelevant,

but here is somebody who came through the instruction and leading of Jesus himself

to make this wonderful personal confession

that is now forever for the whole process of time before us in the words of Scripture.

And as we look at that this evening,

we can see two things, especially just to focus on them.

First of all, Christ's correction of Thomas,

and then Thomas' confession of Christ.

Christ's, first of all, Christ's correction of Thomas,

and then Thomas' confession of Christ.

Now, we read the previous event here from verse 19,

where we find that the first time that Jesus came into the midst of the disciples,

it's almost exactly the same words, and we'll refer to that in a minute,

that Jesus came and stood amongst them,

even with the doors being locked.

We shouldn't wonder about that.

This is the Jesus who performs miracles that people cannot completely fathom or understand,

and the fact that he himself is the greatest miracle

through his coming into the world as the Son of God,

taking our human nature to himself and living a sinless life.

In many respects, that is the great miracle.

And where you see that great miracle,

and where you think of this Jesus and who he is,

and what he was able to do at other times,

we should not be at all surprised or disbelieving

that he actually came into the presence of the disciples here,

even when the doors were locked.

He is there with them and speaks to them in a way that we find recorded there.

But Thomas was absent at that previous event.

He didn't appear with them for whatever reason.

Maybe he was tied up with something else.

We're not told.

We're just told that Thomas was not with them.

And when Jesus came to reveal to them his hands and his side,

and spoke to them in a way that said,

Peace be with you.

As the Father has sent me, even so I'm sending you.

He breathed on them, said,

We receive the Holy Spirit, and so on.

Thomas was absent.

Maybe he had good reason to be absent.

We don't know.

But from the whole tenor of the passage,

it seems that he could have been there,

but for some reason wasn't.

And certainly when Jesus spoke to him on the second occasion,

he didn't speak to him roughly,

but he did speak to him critically

for not having believed the testimony of the disciples

who had seen him on that first occasion

of his appearing amongst them.

And you know, that's something that,

in simple terms,

but yet profoundly important,

that you and I can say of ourselves.

The fact that Christ has promised

to be present in the gatherings of his people,

the fact that Christ is present

in the preaching of the gospel,

the fact that faith comes by hearing,

as Roman 10 puts it,

and hearing by the word of God,

or the word of Christ,

that means that every gathering of God's people

where Christ has promised to be present

is important.

It's significant.

It's somewhere we should always intend to be.

It's something we should always approach

with the opinion,

with the view,

with the desire

to actually meet with Jesus

as he has promised to be

in the midst of his people.

That his Holy Spirit would bring us

by his blessing,

once again,

to meet with Jesus spiritually.

If we're not there,

it's not likely to happen.

And that's one of the sad things,

isn't it really?

In many ways,

it's a tragedy,

how few people around us

and how few people

even of our congregations

regularly come

to every occasion

where Christ is present,

where they can meet with Jesus,

where Jesus can speak to them

and show them the evidences

of his love,

of his death,

of his resurrection.

That's what the gospel

sets out for us.

That's why it's important

that you're here tonight.

Yes, you're here to worship

along with others,

and that worship includes

so many things

that are precious to us.

But we're here to listen to God.

You've not come here

to listen to me,

I hope.

You've come here to listen

to God speaking to you

through his word.

God taking the scriptures

and opening up your mind

and opening up the scriptures

for your mind

to receive them.

This is an important occasion.

And it's made important

by the fact

that you're coming into

the presence of the King.

that Jesus,

through the gospel,

is being presented

to you once again.

Whether it's the case

that we've not yet come

to trust in him,

or whether we've been

trusting in him

for many years,

we're still needy

of meeting with Christ tonight.

Meeting with him

as our Savior,

maybe for the first time,

hopefully,

if we've not done that yet.

But meeting with him

for the umpteenth time,

perhaps.

because we're always in need

of being nurtured

and guided

and taught

by Christ

through his presence,

through his Holy Spirit

in the gatherings

of his people.

So he was missing.

And he missed out

on what had happened

on that occasion.

But then you see

they come to see

the disciples' testimony,

verse 25,

when he came,

the other disciples

told Thomas,

who wasn't with them

when Jesus came

the first time,

the other disciples

told him,

we have seen the Lord.

But then he said

to them firmly,

unless I see

in his hands

the mark of the nails

and place my finger

into the mark of the nails

and place my hand

into his side,

I will never believe.

Now some people would say,

well, Thomas was quite right

surely to say that.

He wasn't prepared

to take anybody else's word

for it.

He wanted to see

Christ for himself.

And if Christ was really

risen from the dead,

was it all that wrong

for him to say

that he would not believe

unless and until

he saw him for himself?

Yes, it was wrong.

You can see that

from the rebuke

Jesus gave him.

Don't be disbelieving,

but believe.

In other words,

he should have listened

and accepted

the testimony

of his fellow disciples.

Why should they

be unreliable?

Why should they have

told him other

than the truth?

Why should he insist

unless he saw him

for himself,

he would not believe

their testimony

as to his resurrection

from the dead?

it was wrong of him

not to accept

their testimony.

And we should always

ourselves be open

to the testimony

of other people

who know the Lord.

Maybe they're from

very different backgrounds

to ours,

very different churches

to ours,

very different congregations

to ours.

But those who genuinely

sincerely know the Lord

and present the Lord

through their lives,

let's not doubt

the veracity

of their life.

Let's not doubt

the genuineness

of their testimony

unless there are other

things that make

that possible.

Here are people

who had seen the Lord,

who had heard the Lord,

who had been spoken

to by the Lord,

who came to Thomas

and said,

we have seen the Lord.

Now, I'm sure they said

more than what you find

there in verse 25.

That's just as the Bible

often does.

It really summarizes

what happened

in a few words.

You can't believe

that it's all

that they said

was,

we have seen the Lord.

They would have undoubtedly

explained to Thomas

how it was

they had seen him,

what they had actually

witnessed,

what he had said

to them.

They wouldn't have just

left it at,

we have seen the Lord.

That's not their way.

But for all of that,

Thomas refused

their testimony.

Thomas did not believe.

Thomas insisted

that he would have

to prove this

for himself

despite the testimony

of his fellow believers.

And so what happened?

Well, verses 26 and 27,

what you find essentially

is Jesus recreating

the event.

It's the same emphasis

in different ways,

same emphasis in many ways,

though there are differences,

where you find

in verse 26

that they were again

together

eight days later

and Thomas

was with them.

That's emphasized.

And

though the doors

were locked,

same as previously,

Jesus came

and stood among them

and said,

peace be with you,

just as he had done before.

And then he turned

and spoke to Thomas.

And when he's saying here,

peace be with you,

we're not going to go

into that,

but it is important

and it's important

that Jesus re-emphasized that

as we'll see probably

for Thomas' benefit

as well as the others

because they had heard it before.

When he says,

peace be with you,

he's really speaking

about what he has himself

done in order to bring

peace between themselves

and God.

It's the peace

of reconciliation,

the peace that he has

effected through the cross

and through his resurrection

from the dead.

He has provided them

with the ground

of their acceptance

with God in himself.

And that's why he's able

to say,

peace be with you.

May this peace

be your experience.

And what an important point

that is for us tonight

as well.

Isn't that what

the Lord is saying

to you and to me

through the gospel tonight?

Isn't he addressing you

and addressing me

with these same terms,

with these same words,

peace be to you?

Isn't he emphasizing

through the gospel

what he has done,

why he has done it,

who it's for,

and how it's important

for us to receive it?

Peace be with you.

The peace of God,

the peace of Christ,

the peace that has come

to be given to his people

instead of condemnation.

There is therefore,

as Paul said to the Romans,

no condemnation

to those who are

in Christ Jesus

there is no condemnation

to them.

In other words,

there's peace for them.

They are at peace with God.

They're in a relationship

with God

where peace is the central

facet of it,

where the previous

relationship

has been replaced,

and where there is now

no condemnation.

They are forgiven their sins.

There's peace

between them

and their God.

But moving on from that,

it's important to notice

that this event

was recreated,

as we've put it,

specifically for the benefit

of Thomas.

The Lord came

into this gathering,

and it's emphasizing

that Thomas

was there at the time,

and then after Jesus

had said,

peace be to you,

peace be with you,

he turned to Thomas

and said,

put your finger here

and see my hands,

and put out your hand

and place it in my side,

and don't be disbelieving,

but believe.

In other words,

Jesus had specifically

arranged this meeting

for whatever benefit

the other disciples

got out of it,

I'm sure they did,

but it was specifically

for Thomas.

His target was Thomas.

He aimed his words

at Thomas.

It was for Thomas' benefit

especially

that he came to re-emphasize

his resurrection

from the dead

and the peace with God

that he mentioned.

Now, isn't that interesting?

Isn't that significant?

Jesus didn't say

about this Thomas

like we might have said,

well, you've had your chance, boy.

You've had your chance.

We were here before.

Jesus came here previously.

You missed out on it.

That was your fault.

No, Jesus didn't say to him,

you could have been here last time,

but you missed out

on a very important event.

And therefore,

I can't say anything more

to you at this point.

No, he didn't do that, did he?

Because this is

the loving, kind Jesus.

The Jesus who takes account

of his people's faults

and his people's failures.

The Jesus who's not content

to leave us

in our own reluctance.

The Jesus who comes before us

in the gospel

and addresses us

and says,

don't be disbelieving,

but believe.

He came here

for Thomas' benefit.

He didn't pass him off.

He didn't say to him,

you've had your chance.

And so there's nothing more

to be said about it.

No, he's following it up.

And that's the same

for everybody here tonight.

If you've not yet come

to accept Christ

and believe in him

and trust in him

for your salvation,

be thankful tonight

that he's not passed you off.

That he's not saying

to you tonight,

you've had previous chances,

so I'm not going to speak

to you again.

You should have done this

the last time,

so therefore this time

it's different.

I have nothing else for you.

That's not the Jesus

we meet with in the gospel.

Jesus has come

through the gospel tonight,

through his spirit

to this place tonight

to speak to you,

to speak to me.

You might have passed him away

reluctantly to believe in him,

reluctant to believe in him.

You might have many times

refused in the past

to give your life over to him,

to trust in him,

to deliver your life

over into his hands.

But he's not left you.

You're here tonight

and he's speaking to you.

And he has something

to say to you.

And the very fact

that you're here means

he's not abandoned you.

He's not saying to you,

your chance is gone.

Your opportunity is past.

Thanks be to God.

We are a patient God.

A patient Savior.

A long-suffering Redeemer.

A God who does not pass us off

despite our failures

or for our failures.

Now that,

no way does that actually

validate the kind of thought

that says,

well, I'll have many

other opportunities then.

That's not why we're saying this.

That's not why it's in the Bible.

It's not here so that we can conclude,

well, because he came back to Thomas,

he's bound to come back to me

if I refuse him tonight.

He's going to come back to me.

I'll be here next week.

You might not be.

And even if you are,

you might never hear his voice again.

Don't guarantee yourself

a hearing with Jesus

if you turn away from him

when he's speaking to you.

He came here for Thomas' benefit.

He's here in the Gospel tonight

for your benefit.

And he's addressing you

as he did Thomas.

Oh, the kindness of Jesus,

friends,

is so amazing, isn't it?

He is so much

above ourselves

and different to ourselves.

How patient are we

with our fellow human beings?

How patient are we

even with our pets?

We get annoyed.

We're easily put off.

But Christ comes back

for Thomas' benefit.

And that's what's emphasized

for you tonight as well

through the Gospel.

So what does he say?

Jesus, first of all,

you see, he knew

what Thomas had said

or thought.

Thomas had said

before Jesus came in

the second time,

there was Thomas

with the other disciples

and Thomas saying to him,

unless I actually see

for myself

the mark of the nails

in his hands

and so on,

I will never believe.

Now, Jesus wasn't

physically present with them.

He came moments after that

into their company,

but he knew

what he had said.

He knew what Thomas'

mind had thought.

And he addressed him

exactly in accordance

with Thomas'

own words.

It was Thomas'

reluctance and refusal

to accept the testimony

of the disciples.

This is what he said.

Thomas,

put your finger here

and see my hands

and put your hand out

and place it in my sight.

These were the terms

that Thomas had refused him on,

refused the testimony on.

He said,

unless I see in his hands

the mark of the nails,

put my finger

into the mark of the nails,

place my hand into his side,

I will never believe.

And here is Jesus saying to him,

I heard you.

I heard what you said.

I know what you said.

And here I am.

And I am now commanding you

to do this.

You refuse to accept

the testimony

of your brother's disciples

on the previous occasion.

And you said,

well,

unless I happen to see his hand,

the mark of the nails,

I will never believe.

Well,

Thomas,

now you're seeing it.

What are you going to do now?

You see,

Jesus addresses exactly

the situation

Thomas himself

had brought about,

the words

that Thomas

had actually spoken of.

It's a marvelous thing

in the Bible,

isn't it,

to realize,

as it often says,

that nothing of our lives

is hidden from God.

None of our words

are hidden from God.

God,

whatever you're thinking

in your mind tonight

as this message goes forth,

God knows what you're thinking.

God knows your conclusions.

God knows what you're saying,

what you're thinking to yourself.

Nobody else knows it.

Nobody else sees

your words floating

above your head.

But God knows it.

Christ knows it.

He knows it exactly.

And while that,

in some ways,

might be disturbing to us,

and indeed,

there's a reason why

it should be disturbing to us

that God sees into our hearts

and sees the very processes

of our mind

and the words that we're using,

it's also immensely comforting,

isn't it,

when you come to actually

see your need

and express your need to God,

you're not coming to a God

who is ignorant

of your situation.

You're not coming to God

as one who has not read

your situation

and who needs to be told

by you what it's about.

He's ahead of you there.

And because He's ahead of you there,

He's more than able

to deal with the situation

you're in

and the condition of your soul.

Remember the woman

who had the hemorrhage of blood

in the Gospels,

Matthew chapter 5,

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

one version of it,

Matthew chapter 5,

Matthew 5:30

verse 30.

She reached out

and she said to herself,

if I just touch the hem

of His garment,

I will be healed.

And so she reached out

and there was a huge crowd

jostling around

trying to see Jesus

and she reached out

amongst that crowd

and she touched

the hem of His garment

and immediately

she was cured

of the hemorrhage.

She knew in herself

that the hemorrhage of blood

had been cured,

had been stemmed.

And then remarkably,

Jesus said,

who touched me?

His disciples were amazed.

They saw the crowd around Him

and yet there He is asking,

who touched you?

Who touched me?

Well, the disciples

could have said to Him,

what do you mean

who touched you?

There are dozens of people

here who would have touched you.

Why do you want to know

who touched you?

Most of the people here

might have touched you,

those around you.

But Jesus, you see,

was thinking of

the one specific touch

that had touched Him

in a way no other touch

had at that moment.

the touch of faith,

the touch of trusting,

the touch of looking

for an answer

to her predicament.

And Jesus felt it.

Jesus knew it.

He knew it in Himself.

And that's still the case today.

But it's also the case

on the other side of the issue.

Your unbelief touches Him as well.

He's not unaware

of that unbelief,

as it were,

touching Him

as you express that unbelief,

as you live out

an unbelief in your life,

if that's the case.

Hopefully not.

But if it is,

that's registered with Jesus.

It's not hidden from Him.

And that's one of the reasons

you can be confident

in coming to Him.

Nothing is hidden from Him.

Every aspect of our life

is known to Him.

Every part of our need,

every element of our need,

from the smallest to the greatest,

registers with Him.

Whether it's faith

or unbelief,

but it touches the Savior.

He knows it.

He's aware of it.

And He speaks accordingly.

So Christ knew

what Thomas had said

and what he had thought.

And secondly,

in this recreation of the event,

Christ commanded Thomas

to touch Him

and to touch the evidences.

That's what He said,

as we read,

Reach out your hand.

Come and put your hand

into the mark of the nails.

And see my hands

and put your hand

and place it in my side.

Do not be disbelieving,

but believe.

He commands him

to touch the evidences

of Christ's own resurrection.

This is the very person,

the very Jesus who died

and was crucified on the cross

and whose body was buried.

And now He's saying to Thomas,

These are the evidences

of my death.

The evidences now

that I am risen from the dead

because they are the marks

of the death I died.

Now reach out and touch them.

And don't be disbelieving,

but believe.

It's a wonderful thing

that God provides us

with evidence

in order that we should believe.

Don't go by the ways

of the world

or the atheistic philosophies

of the world

that says,

you know,

you're telling us

you believe in Jesus.

You've never seen Jesus.

How can you believe

in somebody you've never seen?

How can you speak to somebody

and yet you've never seen Him

with your own eyes?

How can you trust in somebody

and trust your life to somebody

when you don't even know

that He exists physically?

You've never seen Him.

Well, we do see Him.

We do see the evidences

because the Bible

recreates them for us.

And because the Bible

is the Bible

and the Bible

is God's Word,

as you read this passage

and every other passage

in the Word of God

and every other passage

that gives you

such details as this,

it's bringing you

into that occasion

and is placing you there

as surely as if you had been

physically there

on the first occasion.

And so you can see

that tonight

God is presenting you

with the evidences

because they are there

written for you

in His Word.

And the evidences

that are there

are there for our believing

so that we will reach out

and touch the evidences

if you like

through receiving

the testimony

of the Word of God itself.

God doesn't lie.

Don't go along

with the idea

that the Bible

is just far,

far too old

for you nowadays

to believe in it

when the world

has moved on

in such a long way

so many ways

from the days

of the disciples.

You know,

when you come to ask,

well,

what does the Bible

say about this?

People say to you,

what does the Bible

have to say about this?

What does the Bible

have to say about that?

And before you actually

come to that question,

there's another question

that you need to ask

before that.

What is it?

What is the Bible?

Before you even ask,

what does the Bible say?

You have to begin

by saying,

what is the Bible?

What's the nature

of this book?

Who's the author

of this book?

Who wrote it?

Whose authority

is behind it?

Is it a reliable book?

Is it a book

you can trust in?

What is the Bible?

It is the Word of God.

It is God's testimony

to himself.

Then you can ask,

well,

what does it say?

And when you begin

with what the Bible is,

and then you go to

what does it say,

you're coming to a book

then that's authoritative

in what it says to you.

And it remains authoritative.

It remains a reliable book

and always will be

to the end of time.

It is God's Word.

It's God's revelation

of himself.

And I think in this day

and generation

that we belong to,

that's where we have to begin

our testimony to the world,

not in what the Bible says

so much as what the Bible is.

And why the Bible?

Why we believe the Bible

to be what it is.

The world's not going to

accept that testimony

without the blessing of God,

without hearts being open

to receive it,

but you can't leave that

out of it.

Well, here is tonight

what we're looking at

in this passage.

It is recreating it for us

and the Bible is reliable

in doing that.

And it's just as if

you are standing there

with the disciples

and with Thomas,

with the Lord before you

and the Lord speaking to you

and the Lord addressing you

and taking you out

from amongst the other disciples

and saying,

this is what I have to say to you.

And what did he say to him?

He said,

don't be disbelieving,

but believe.

Now, literally,

in the language that's used

in the New Testament,

literally we could translate

that as stop disbelieving

and believe.

In other words,

Jesus was instructing Thomas,

commanding Thomas,

to stop what he was doing,

which was disbelieving,

not accepting the truth

of what he had been presented

with by the disciples.

Stop disbelieving

and believe.

He said to him,

you have the testimony,

you see my side,

you've touched my side,

you see the marks

of my suffering,

my death,

the evidence of my resurrection,

I'm here myself.

Stop disbelieving.

are you here tonight unsaved?

Are you here tonight

and you've not yet accepted Christ?

Are you here tonight

and you're still lost,

as you were

when you came into the world?

Are you here tonight saying,

if only I had more evidence?

If only I had more to go on.

If only Jesus

were actually physically present

in front of me.

He is,

in a sense,

in the words of the Bible.

Because they're recreating for you

the very occasion

in which he spoke

these words to Thomas.

you have the evidences.

You have the evidence

of his resurrection.

The Bible

produces it for you.

And if you haven't come

to believe,

to believe trustingly

and savingly in Christ,

he is gently

but firmly

saying to you tonight,

stop disbelieving.

Stop what you're doing.

The evidence is there.

Why should you go on

disbelieving?

Why should you go on

not trusting in me?

Why should you not come

to give yourself over to me?

To be your Savior?

That's how he spoke to Thomas.

And for us,

the evidence is all laid out

for us in Scripture,

as we've said.

And so here is

his wonderful instruction

to us tonight as well.

And

he's not just speaking

to people who have not

yet come to trust in him

who are still unsaved.

He's speaking to you

and to me

as Christian believers.

Because there are many times

in our life

when we're guilty

of disbelieving

or reluctantly

accepting his word.

And he's saying to us as well,

stop disbelieving.

Trust me.

Trust in my word.

Trust what I'm saying to you.

And move on.

Don't stop where you are.

Don't stop as if there's nothing else

but just to stand there

questioning

and wondering.

Stop disbelieving

and believe.

And it's the same.

You're coming to have

another communion.

God willing,

next Lord's Day.

And as I've mentioned

many times

from this pulpit

and elsewhere,

we find many people saying,

as I said myself

at one time,

if only I had more evidence.

If only I had more

to go on.

If only I were living

back in the days

of the disciples,

it'd be much easier for me.

I could be much more

persuaded then

to come

and take my place

at the Lord's table.

It's not that I denounce him.

It's not that I don't believe

that he existed.

It's not that I refuse his word

or anything like that.

But I just wish

there was something else.

Well, what more do you want?

Don't you have him

speaking to you tonight

in the Bible?

Is that not word of Christ

in the Bible

as sure

as if he stood here

and you saw him

physically speaking to you

as he was with these disciples?

If the Bible is,

as we say it is,

the word of God,

he is speaking to you

and the word that he's

giving to you

to come and take communion

if you haven't done that before.

And I hope I'm presenting this

lovingly and not harshly.

But Jesus is saying,

here is my word to you.

Do this

in remembrance of me.

Do it.

Stop being disbelieving

and believe.

Do it

on the basis

of the truth

of my word.

So Christ knew him

and Christ commanded

and the time is gone.

But we're going to

just briefly look at

Thomas' confession of Christ.

My Lord

and my God

was his response.

Where you find

the deity of Christ

so clearly set out

and it's the clearest

as we said

really in the New Testament.

The lordship

that's confessed

there by Thomas

is a lordship

using these two words

my Lord

and my God.

Words that express

the way in which

God is

God,

the creator,

the sustainer

of the whole universe

but also the Lord,

the covenant Lord

of his people.

My Lord

and my God.

It is the complete

absolute lordship

lordship of Christ.

And how thankful

you and I should be

for that tonight.

That our saviour

is the master

of the whole universe.

That our saviour

is the Lord,

the God of his people,

the Lord of his people.

What does that mean?

It means

that there's no one else

that can look after

your life

the way he does.

And that's

for example

how Samuel Rutherford

put it at one time

one of Scotland's

greatest theologians.

When he was answering

in so many of his letters

the ways in which

people were asking

for advice

and so on

and confounded

sometimes

by what was happening

in the country.

He said

my faith

has no other bed

to rest upon

than omnipotence.

God the almighty,

the power,

the authority of God.

my faith

has no other bed

to rest upon

than omnipotence.

And isn't that

how it is

for you and I tonight?

Where is your faith

going to rest?

In omnipotence.

In the mastery

of Christ.

In the lordship

of Christ.

In the person

of Jesus

as Lord

and God.

and

you see

how personal

this is as well

to Thomas.

My lord

and my God.

It's personal

because

this Jesus

belongs

to Thomas

through the faith

that Thomas

is placing in him

and has placed

in him before now

but is now

being once again

registering with him

as a believer

where he says

my lord

and my God.

that possessive

pronoun

is so important.

My lord

and my God.

And how important

that is

for you

as well

as for me

tonight.

It's not just

that we believe

in the lordship

of Christ

in a general sense.

It's not just

that we believe

that Jesus

is lord

over the whole

universe

because that's

what the bible

says.

That's going

quite far

in the extent

of what you believe.

but it's further

and it's more

precious to say

my lord

and my God.

Can you say

that tonight?

Is he your lord?

Is he your god?

Does he belong

to you

as god

and lord

in your life?

Can you use

this expression

meaningfully

tonight of him?

My lord

and my God.

How precious

that is

that we can

see

of this

great

gigantic

enormous

authoritative

omniscient

all knowing

all powerful

God

lord

tonight

I'm thankful

I can say

you are

my god

you are

my lord

I possess

you by

faith

I've availed

myself of all

that is in you

and brought it

home to myself

it belongs

to me

as the song

of Solomon

puts it

where the

expression is

so often used

or was used

certainly in the

past

my beloved

is mine

and I

am his

and every

believer

tonight

can say

that

my beloved

is mine

Jesus

belongs

to me

and I

am his

I belong

to him

and

the passage

ends by

Thomas saying

my lord

my god

Jesus said

have you

believed

because you

have seen

me

blessed

are those

who have

not seen

and yet

believed

who are

they

who are

these people

Jesus refers

to as

those who

have not

seen

and yet

have believed

and so

are blessed

well they

are

everybody

who's

come to

believe

and trust

in him

from the

time that

he went

back to

heaven

to this

present

day

blessed

are those

who have

not seen

who have

not laid

physical

eyes

upon

Christ

but yet

believe

and Jesus

says

blessed

are they

they're

blessed

because

they've

come

to

trust

in me

they've

never

seen

me

physically

but they

know me

and I

know them

they are

my sheep

I am

their shepherd

and there's

a sense

in which

that's being

recreated

now here

in this

building

tonight

where

through

the gospel

Jesus

is addressing

us of

our need

to trust

in him

and

emphasizing

his own

qualities

for us

to do

that

and where

we are

here

in this

room

with

Thomas

as this

scene is

created

for us

the risen

Jesus

is standing

before us

in the words

of scripture

he's real

what is

our response

are you

tonight

saying

my

Lord

and my

God

let's

pray

Lord our

God

we give

thanks for

the gospel

and we give

thanks for

the gospel

and its

contents

and we

thank you

for especially

the way

it provides

us

with these

wonderful

truths

about

yourself

about

your

relationship

with your

people

the privileges

that they

have

the blessing

that is

theirs

even now

and the

blessings

that are

laid up

in store

for them

in the

heaven

that is

awaiting

them

we thank

you Lord

tonight

for all

that that

means

to your

people

we pray

for everyone

in this

building

tonight

oh Lord

you know

every heart

here

you know

the thoughts

of every

soul

you know

our relationship

with you

you know

our need

and we pray

that each of us

may come to

leave this place

tonight

trusting in the

Lord and

thankful

for the trust

that you have

given us

receive us

in our worship

cleanse us

from our sin

for Jesus

sake

Amen

our closing

psalm tonight

is psalm

145

the second

version of

psalm 145

page

444

we'll sing

verses 1

to 6

O Lord

thou art

my God

and King

thee will

I magnify

and praise

I will

they bless

and gladly

sing

unto

thy holy

name

always

psalm 145

on page

444

and these

verses 1

to 6

O Lord

thou art

my God

and King

O Lord

thou art

my God

and King

they will

magnify

and praise

who have

!

!

!

Each day I rise, I will be blessed, and praise thy name, thy will come, dare to be praised, and great for this.

His greatness, dark and complete end.

Great shall thy words face unto race, the mighty act sure done by thee.

I will speak of thy glorious grace, and honor of thy majesty.

Thy wondrous works I will report, I let the light shall be extol.

Of all thy dreadful acts, O Lord, and I thy greatness will unfold.

If you could kindly let me get to the main door, please, after the benediction.

Now may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you now and evermore.

Amen.

Amen.