Doubting Thomas

Well, once again, good evening and greetings from Bethany Baptist Church. I invite you to turn with me to John 20 again this evening. John 20, we'll be considering verses 24 -49, but so that we can get a bit more of the context, we'll read from verse 19 -29.

The Resurrection Appearance to Thomas

And when you find John 20, if you'd please stand for the reading of God's Word. John 20, beginning reading in verse 19. This is the Word of God. On the evening of that day, this is Resurrection Sunday, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, "'Peace be with you.'.

When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, "'Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.'.

And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "'Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them. If you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.'.

Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the twin, and 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 believe.'". Amen.

Please be seated. Let's unite our hearts in prayer and let's ask for the Lord's blessing and help. Let's pray together. Our Father, we ask as we've read your word, as it instructs us, we now pray that you would provide the very thing that you command, that you would give the things that you command.

We pray, Father, that we would not disbelieve, but believe. That we would not be those who only believe after we have seen, but that not having seen the final full fulfillment of all your promises in our lives, that we would yet believe you and give you glory.

Father, when you speak a thing, it is true and it is to be trusted. Therefore, Lord, we pray that we would not, like Thomas, put you to the test in various ways, that we would not demand proof beyond what you have promised, but that we would take you at your word.

That we would follow in the footsteps of those who have gone before us, the faithful who trusted you, even when your promises seemed, from an earthly perspective, impossible to be fulfilled. Father, we pray that though we do not yet see the end of all things, we would believe and that we would bring glory to your name and prove your trustworthiness.

Father, we pray for any here tonight that are not yet your people, that are outside of Jesus Christ. Father, we beg of you, we ask of you earnestly that you would awaken their hearts to the blessedness of the truth of the Gospel, that they would be envious to have Christ as their King and their Savior.

We pray that they would feel their need of Him, that they would feel their poverty and the weight of their sin and the weight of your wrath that abides upon them and that they would run to the cross of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins and to be made new and to walk as a child of God in this world for your glory.

Father, we pray, do it for your sake. Be our help. Send, we ask again. Father, give us your Holy Spirit. You have promised that you are our good Father who will give your Spirit to those who ask. And so we plead with you to send Him and that He would be the one who works in our midst and in our hearts through the Word that He has written.

Bless your church, we pray, we ask in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. We are, I love this text, we are jumping into this second appearance of the Lord recorded by John in his Gospel. We read from verse 19 onward, the first gathering, the very first Lord's Day, the day the Lord rose from the dead when He met with the 11 minus Thomas, and so there were 10 of them.

And now John reports to us this meeting that happened the following Lord's Day. And we're not told why Thomas was absent from the first gathering. It could have been because of fear of the Jews, as John mentions.

Perhaps from shame, perhaps he had gone back to fishing. We're not told. But what we do know is that Thomas clearly missed the blessing of seeing the risen Christ when he failed to gather with his church.

The Blessing of Gathering With Christ’s People

And I want you, Christian, to take note of that. You do not know how much you give up when you decide not to gather with the gathering of Christ's people. That may have been the Scripture reading, the hymns, the sermon that was prepared through which the Spirit of God would have worked mightily in your life.

And so, during the week, at least that's the way I take it, during this week, the others report to Thomas, we have seen the Lord. And they, in this meeting with Thomas, tell him, no doubt, about how not only did they see the Lord within the locked doors, but how the Lord had showed them, His hands and His side, that it was truly the Lord, Thomas.

And I would like to assume and think that they also inquired, Thomas, brother, where were you? That's another thing to take note of. When we notice a brother or a sister absent from the gathering of Christ's people, the others should go after them.

Tell them and stir them up to a sort of holy jealousy of how the Lord met with us. And brother, we want to see you back with us. But Thomas has a very resolute response to them. Now, I want to make plain, I don't think that Thomas thinks the others are all just a bunch of liars.

I believe Thomas thinks that they've just been duped. That you guys, you're the more, you know, you believe myths, you believe fables, you're too easily taken in. I don't think it was the Lord. I know you guys think you saw the Lord, but I just, I will not believe.

And it's amazing that the very thing that he kind of takes pride in, that I'm not this gullible disciple like you guys, is the very thing the Lord is going to rebuke him for. And he is very resolute, even though he should have believed the Scripture's testimony, that Jesus would rise from the dead, even though he should have believed his 10 friends' testimony, he says, unless I see the wounds, and unless I put out my hand and place them in the Lord's wounds, I will never believe.

Thomas’s Demand for Evidence

Now, notice what's happening here. Thomas, arrogantly, though I say that knowing that brothers and sisters, we can be just like Thomas, but we need to call it what it is, Thomas is setting his own demands, his own criteria.

This is what the Lord will have to do if I am to believe that he has actually risen from the dead. Brother and sister, I hope you see that's arrogance for a creature like us to say such a thing towards the Lord, okay?

This is not unlike even unbelievers. Matthew 16 .1, I made reference this morning, where they demand a sign. Or Matthew 27, verse 42, when they say, as the Lord's hanging on the cross, they say, come down from the cross and then we will believe you.

So, Thomas is thinking to himself, you guys think you saw the Lord? But how do you know it wasn't an illusion? Did you actually touch Him? Did you actually feel the wounds? It's actually interesting how Thomas here is not only putting Christ to the test, he's also being a stumbling block to his brothers.

Remember, their faith, it's true faith, but it's not exactly the strongest yet. Deuteronomy 20, verse 8, talks about how if a brother goes out to battle and his heart is filled with dread, he is to go back to the camp lest his dread be passed on to the hearts of his brothers.

So he's putting doubts in the minds of his brothers. But then notice, John says, eight days later, okay? So that is eight days starting from that first day, the day of resurrection, and according to the Jewish way of marking days, this lands us at the next Lord's Day, the next Sunday.

Okay? That's fascinating. Christ deferred coming to Thomas for a whole week. Could have met him if he wanted earlier in the week, could have resolved this whole thing, could have filled his heart with hope and courage and all these things, but he waits a week.

Why? I can think of two reasons, primarily. Number one, to rebuke Thomas that faith will be strengthened in God's way and in God's timing. Because of Thomas' unbelief, he's gonna have to wait a whole week.

He's gonna go through this whole week uncertain of what is going on. And it's his own fault. But also, secondly, I believe the Lord waits until the next Lord's Day to put special emphasis on the fact that the Lord's Day and the gathering of the saints is that particularly special time in which Christ comes to dwell and to minister to his people.

In fact, Matthew Henry, and I tend to agree with this, thinks that it's probable that Christ told the ten the week before that he would meet with them again when they gather the next Lord's Day. So Christ enters into the room the same miraculous way he did the week before.

The doors are locked, there's no human way in, and suddenly he appears in their midst and he comes with the same blessed greeting. Peace be unto you. Christian, Christ's mercies are made new to us every Lord's Day when we gather with his people.

Peace be unto you, my brothers. And he singles Thomas out and on purpose repeats to Thomas basically word for word what Thomas had said. And what's going on here is that this is a friendly rebuke from his Savior.

Even though Jesus wasn't there in a certain sense, physically in their presence, Thomas here learns the Lord was there and the Lord heard what I said. And the Lord repeats exactly his words back to him as basically saying to Thomas, Thomas, you're caught.

It's a gotcha moment for Thomas. And he condescends to Thomas. I mentioned earlier this morning how God does not owe us condescension. Thomas is in the wrong here. Thomas was in the wrong to say, I will only believe if the Lord meets these particular standards.

And yet the Lord, so as not to break the bruised reed or quench the smoking flax, he essentially says, Thomas, if that is what is required to strengthen your faith, so be it. Here are my wounds, Thomas.

Feel them for yourself. See that it is I. See that I am risen. He says, do not be unbelieving, or ESV, do not disbelieve, but believe. It's interesting in an ironic sense, Thomas' doubt, though it was sin, it actually serves to strengthen the veracity of the witness of the apostles.

Thomas proves the disciples are not just gullible men who just believe anything and run with any story. Thomas was careful. He was a careful thinker. I want to see evidence. I want to see undeniable proof.

And in that, though it was sin on his part, we see that through all of them staking their very lives on the truth of the resurrection actually proves the truth of the Gospel. And so lastly, we have this response on Thomas' part.

Thomas Confesses the Deity of Christ

He cries out, my Lord and my God. I used to know a man when I was a very new Christian. I worked in a place, in a print shop, and this was a customer, he would come in, and he was a heretic. He did all he could to deny the deity of Christ.

And he was just one of those people that no matter what clear text you took him to, John 5, John 8, John 20, John 1, he always had what he thought was a good explanation. In my opinion, they're all terrible explanations.

And I remember talking about this text, and his response was to say this, that when Thomas says this, my Lord and my God, he ascribes the first to Jesus, but the second to God the Father. As though he says, my Lord and my God.

Christian, it doesn't work. John says, Thomas said to him, my Lord and my God. Christian, Jesus is Lord, and Jesus is God. And it is not an accident that that appears here right before the conclusion of the Gospel.

What is the very first verse of John's Gospel? In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And here at chapter 20, right before the conclusion, my Lord and my God. Christian, Christ is our Savior because He is both God and man.

And don't let anyone ever convince you otherwise. Yes, He is true man of true man. And we see that. He gets hungry, He gets tired, He gets thirsty, but the very glory of the Gospel is that it is God Himself who humbles Himself, taking upon Himself the form of a man, so that He can be our Redeemer.

So that God who cannot die can die for us in the flesh. Taking upon Himself our curse and rising the third day, forevermore the God-man to live and reign in glory and to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through Him.

That brings us to our doctrine and application. I've woven these together again this evening. I've got two primary things I just want to expand on and open up, Christian. Both of these are mostly practical.

They obviously include doctrinal instruction. I think you'll be able to follow me. Two main things, and there are more, that I want us to really, Christian, let's listen in. Let's respond to the Word of God with faith.

Let's mix what we hear with faith. Lord, how would You have me respond to this passage, this portion of Your Word? Number one is, Christian, go to church, okay? Always, always, unless there are serious providential hindrances, go to church, okay?

The Christian Duty to Gather With the Church

We live in a day of overcorrection. I saw a t-shirt recently that said, Christianity is not a religion, it's a relationship. And we live in a day in which people say, well, you can go to church, and you can be religious, and not truly know Jesus, and therefore going to church is not important.

Brothers and sisters, I understand that people can go to church and not be genuinely converted. It does not follow that therefore going to church is not important, okay? That is a throwing the baby out with the bathwater, okay?

The Christian life is patterned by God, by the Christian gathering with Christ's people, where Christ uniquely meets with His people and ministers to His people once every seven days. That is God's command and design, okay?

And Christian, you must have seriously good reason for why you are not going to be there. Hebrews 10 .25, do not forsake the assembling of yourselves as is the habit of some. I mean, Christian, do you agree that in this text, it is clear Thomas missed out on spiritual nourishment and blessing from the Lord because he was absent with God's people, or from God's people.

Can we say amen to that? Okay. And no, watching online is not the same, okay? Matthew 18 .20, Jesus says, where two or three are gathered in My name, there I am in their midst. And I know that He speaks that specifically in the context of the church executing church discipline, but it is an abiding principle.

When Christ's people gather for worship in the Lord's name, He is there, yes, in church discipline, but He's there in the singing of hymns, in prayer, in the preaching of the Word of God. Christ is uniquely there.

It's a precious promise that when you, My little flock on earth, gather in My name, I will dwell in your midst. Brothers and sisters, I know you are a church that believes this, and praise God. We live in a day in which even among so-called reformed circles, the honoring of the Lord's day has fallen on hard times.

It is not a coincidence that the Lord Jesus appeared for the first two times with His disciples, Sunday and then the next Sunday. Okay, so I want to press you. This is all of you, fathers especially. Okay, one of the best commitments, disciplines, unwavering commitments you can ever make is to say, by the help of God, I will be there gathered with the church.

And I will be a good example to my family. They will sit next to me. I will instill this in my children. Not just the Lord's morning, but the entire Lord's day, okay? And if you get old, and you can't see as well as you used to when you were young, and you can't drive anymore, you won't just sink into yourself and say, I don't want to burden anyone.

I'll just stay home from church. No, reach out. All the new families starting here, I guarantee you it won't be long until there's plenty of big vans in the parking lot. Someone will get you and bring you to church, okay?

Be present, okay? Briefly, and I hope, I mean, not really a choice here, I guess, but you'll tell me afterwards. Let me give you some illegitimate reasons to miss church, okay? Because you're a sinner and you sinned that week.

Who needs church? Who needs the grace of God and the means of grace? Sinners? These disciples had just had a fall, and yet they're gathered. Couple with that, don't let shame keep you from the gathering.

Also, second reason, don't let fear keep you from the gathering of the church. Whether that be the fear of persecution, Hebrews 10 .25 is in the context of wanting to shrink back because of persecution, or fearing there's a difficult, awkward conversation I'm going to have to have if I run into so-and-so.

Go to church. Listen to the Lord's command. Third, lack of sleep is not a legitimate reason. Mark 14 .37, could you not stay awake one hour? I'm sorry, we're going to be tired. And I know the moms, you're looking at me, I'm sorry, but...

Eutychus, Acts 20. Paul preaches late into the night, it reaches midnight, Eutychus falls asleep, falls out the window. Okay, but he was there. Paul brings him back to life miraculously. What was that, four?

Fifth, sickness. Okay, I'm going to be lighter here because I don't want to over-speak. I said some harsher things to my church, but I will say this, COVID, I don't know if it absolutely changed, but it at least made very apparent, and in some ways, new ways, of the way the world thinks about the love of neighbor and sickness.

And COVID basically indoctrinated us telling that if you have the sniffles and you go around someone else, you are essentially murdering your neighbor and hating your neighbor. And I would just say, Christian, be careful about taking your ethics from an unbelieving world, okay?

Oftentimes, duty to God trumps our comfort. I have preached with fever. I have preached with chills. I have preached with severe stomach issues. One of my pastors, up until a year ago, was a pastor with me.

He used to ask people who missed the Lord's Day because of sickness, he would ask them, okay, did it keep you home from work? And if they say no, kinda raises the question, okay? What's more important?

Let me just say this, because I know, and I don't know if there's some of you here, the refrain I hear is, it is unloving towards your neighbor to show up anywhere around them sick. I wanna say that you at least need to insert this also into the ethical situation.

What if what the sick person needs more than anything is to be with Christ's people and to meet with Christ? Ought it not also to be a consideration that we are not loving them by treating them by lepers who are not welcome here when they are sick?

Faith That Trusts God Before Seeing the Fulfillment

Okay, number two. Number two, this is our last application. And I'll explain this. God is more glorified by our faith in His promise than faith that comes by seeing the answer to the promise. Okay? So, in our exposition, I didn't make much comment on what Jesus means by you have seen and believed, blessed are those who have not seen and yet believed.

What does Jesus mean by that? Let me explain it to you by way of an illustration, okay? Let's say, hypothetically, I have a son who is deathly afraid of roller coasters, okay? And I want my son to experience the thrill of roller coasters I know he will love them and I am pushing him and I'm saying, son, you're gonna love it.

And he is just squirming, trying to get away from me, he's crying, no, dad, I won't do it, I won't get on. Okay. And then finally, dad gets firm and says, you are going on this ride. And he gets on and he's crying and he's squirming and he's crying for the first five seconds and all of a sudden his face turns to just a huge smile and laughter and at the end when he gets off of it, he says, dad, you are absolutely right.

I loved it, let's do it again. Okay. Okay. Is my son now believing me? Yes. Why? Because he saw the promise come to pass, right? He's actually now experienced the promise coming to pass. That's the faith of Thomas.

That's the faith of having to see first in order to believe. But would not my son honor his father more if even though he's fearful and he's full of trepidation, I say, son, you are gonna love this. Would he not honor me more if he said, you know what, my dad never lies to me, he's never told me a false word.

I'm gonna trust him and I'm gonna get on this rollercoaster peaceful, I'm not gonna worry, and I'm gonna trust the promise of my father. That is believing without yet seeing, okay. Did seeing Christ risen from the dead strengthen Thomas' faith?

Yes, absolutely. And if he hadn't risen from the dead, it would have shown that the promise was void. But was Thomas seeing the Lord risen from the dead the only reason he should have believed that it would happen?

No, because God who cannot lie said, I will raise the third day. Turn to Romans chapter four. Romans chapter four, you probably know the context, I'll explain just briefly. We're gonna be looking at 17 through 21.

God made Abraham a promise, an extraordinary promise, okay. Abraham, you will be the father of many nations. Sarah, your wife, shall bear you a son. But there are earthly barriers to that promise coming to pass.

Aren't there? Sarah is barren. Paul says here that Abraham's body is as good as dead, being 100 years old. Same with Sarah's womb. And to be fair, even Abraham did have a lapse in faith when he said, Lord, can't Ishmael live before you?

Can't he be the heir? And God says, no, in Isaac shall your seed be called. And so what did Abraham do? Look at verse 17. As it is written, I have made you the father of many nations in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.

In hope, he believed against hope that he should become the father of many nations. As he had been told, so shall your offspring be. He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead, since he was about 100 years old, or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's womb.

No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. That is believing God before you see the promise come to pass.

Abraham did not just say, Lord, just show me one positive pregnancy test from my wife, and then I will know that you will do it. He grew strong in his faith. He believed in the God who calls into existence things that do not exist, and he gave glory to God.

That is what I mean by Christian, you most glorify God when you believe Him without seeing. I can't remember which Puritan said it, but he said, walking in the light of God's assurance is more comfortable for us, but trusting God in the darkness is more glorifying to Him.

Trusting God in Financial Need and Work

Let me give you a few examples, applications of how this might look in your life. Some Christians say to themselves, maybe things are financially tight, sometimes not even, and they say to themselves, Lord, I need this money for myself.

I cannot give to the Gospel ministry. I can't support your laborers in the vineyard. I need this. And then Scriptures come into their mind. Acts 20 .35, Paul says, it's more blessed to give than to receive.

Or Psalm 37 verse 25, I have been young and now am old and have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread. Or Matthew 6 .33, seek first the kingdom of God and all these other things will be added unto you.

But then they think, well, Lord, first let me see how you will provide and I'll support the ministry. No, first Lord, let me see the $5 ,000 deposited into my account and then I will be generous. No, trust and obey.

I don't know if this is in the hymnal, but I love this old hymn by John Newton and there's a line that says, it's mine to obey and his to provide. That's the simplicity of the Christian life. Your job, Christian, obey what God says to do.

It's his job to provide what you need. Trust his word. I've never seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging bread. Do we believe promises like Philippians 4 .19, my God will supply all your needs according to his riches and glory in Christ Jesus.

Okay, second application, example, scenario. You might be in a difficult work environment surrounded by unbelievers, surrounded by the wicked and they don't like you because you're different, obviously in a good way.

You're light and they don't like light shining on their darkness. And you think to yourself, I don't know how I will be delivered out of this. I don't know how God could protect me if I obey his commands.

If I speak the truth, there's no way the Lord could deliver me. I need to be dishonest. I need to find my own way of delivering myself out of this. I need to conceal the truth. That is not how our heroes of the faith resolved.

That is not how Daniel reasoned or Esther. They believe God will keep his promises. My job is to obey him and to glorify him and to trust him with the results. Not thinking that my wisdom is greater than his.

You may have no idea how the Lord will deliver you. Honestly, you might lose your job. You might only see the reward and the fulfillment of God's promise in heaven. But many times the Lord has ways of an incredible, just ways that we could never ask or think in his providence doing things that when we trust him, the Lord shows up for his people in ways that we never could have dreamed of.

And you look back and you realize the Lord had it all under control. I just needed to trust him. It was all gonna work out. He was gonna make good on his promise and I just needed to believe him for it.

Trusting God Through Suffering and Trials

Let me give you a third application here in closing. Mentioned last week. This last year we've had two of our members lost their 32 year old son to cancer. We have a woman who's my age who's battling with cancer.

This is a really encouraging text for people going through trials. I know some of your trials. I've talked to you guys. Health problems, concerns about family. Let me ask you, do you know that God means this season for your good?

Do you know that? You can answer. Yes, how do we know? Because he promised. Romans 8 28. All things work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose. Lord, Christian, we need to cry out to God in prayer.

Lord, I believe, help my unbelief. I promise you, the great cloud of witnesses in Hebrews 11 that has gone before us promise you that the things they saw as the most impossible, terrible, horrible situations prove to be for their eternal welfare and enjoyment of the glory of God.

And I promise you that is true for you if you are his child. And here's the thing I want to press you on. If you are going through a valley, when the Lord brings you out the other side and he answers your cries, he hears your prayers and he answers in the acceptable time, is it true that he will most likely show you in a thousand different ways as you look back on that season of trial that you will see, man, my father is a good father and he had a thousand blessings in disguise in this.

Will God probably show you that? Yes, he will definitely show you that in heaven, but oftentimes he confirms those things even in this life. But Christian, should you wait to praise his name until you get to the other side?

No. We praise the Lord now. We say his word is true. My father does not lie. Never has a word from his mouth fallen to the ground. Never has one promise failed. And therefore I will say, Job 121, the Lord gives and the Lord takes away.

Blessed be the name of the Lord. I will say now God is good. God is faithful. God is glorious. God is my comfort. That gives glory to God. That's what Abraham was doing. He grew strong in his faith. He gave glory to God.

He hoped against hope. He knew my God calls into existence things that presently don't exist and that the one who promised is able to make good on what he promised. I trust him. Like Job 13, 15, though he slay me, yet will I trust him.

So Christian, rejoice in the Lord now. Prostrate, humbled, hurting. You give glory to God when you trust him in the darkness. When you have not seen and yet you believe. I am at peace. I am comforted.

My father will not fail to make good out of this yet. Closing word. If you're here and you are an unbeliever, you're a non-Christian, you don't know Jesus Christ, don't you want the promise of Romans 8, 28 to be yours?

To know in the depth of your heart and soul all things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to his purpose. Don't you want the comfort of knowing all your sin that offends God has been taken out of the way by the blood of Jesus Christ shed for me in my place?

The Gospel Promise of Justification Through Christ

Don't you want to know that God is for me? And because he is for me, who can be against me? He, it is God who justifies, therefore who is it who will condemn? No matter what I face in this life, I know that I am safe in the arms of my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ, that his life gives me righteousness with God, that his death takes away all the debt of my sin and it absorbed the wrath of God in my behalf so that I am accepted freely by the Father and that he was raised for his and my perfect justification and that just as he rose from the dead in glory never to die again, I also shall rise to life and the resurrection unto eternal life because Jesus my Lord conquered sin and death and hell for me.

Trust in Jesus Christ. That's all you have to do. Trust him. That's the posture. Humble yourself, put away any prideful thoughts of I can give something to God. You can't give him anything except your sin.

Come to Christ with an open hand to receive his grace and he will not turn you away. He will not cast you away. He will receive you and he will clothe you in the righteousness of God incarnate and you will know the peace of believing and that there is therefore now no condemnation between me and God because of Jesus Christ my Lord.

Amen. Let's pray. Father, we pray. Lord, we pray for our faith. We pray for our obedience that flows from faith. We pray that we would be those who like Abraham trust you simply because you are trustworthy and your word cannot be broken.

Father, we thank you and we praise you that our Lord condescended to Thomas even in the weakness of his faith. We thank you that you do not utterly cast us away when we arrogantly demand to see and yet Father, we do pray.

We want to grow into that type of faith that is just so assured because of how you have proven yourself that we are able to walk through seemingly impossible things entrusting ourself to you knowing that because you promised you will do it.