John 20:24-29 (New Creation Faith)

Well as we begin this morning, I'd like to start by just saying that it's often been said that seeing is believing and That is not biblically true. Now we'll get into why that's not biblically true. But before we do I'd like to just give a little bit of a recap on where we've been.

We've been in John 20 and We've been in John 20 for a couple weeks now and we've been seeing that there's a theme of new creation. That is all over these passages if you remember in the first week We talked about how Jesus has put away the old world when he rose from the dead on the first day of a new week he said Through his word that he's bringing new creation.

That means that the old temples and the Sacrificial system and the priesthood and the festal calendar are being put away by Christ because he's the new creation temple. He's the new creation sacrifice.

He is the festal calendar that we feast upon and enjoy every week at the Lord's table. He is The author of new creation and he's brought us into this new creation By his resurrection. And we've seen this in several different ways.

Week one we looked at Mary and how Mary was the most unlikely person of all to be the recipient and the first deliverer of the gospel and We see even in that that Jesus is bringing new creation. And week two We saw how the disciples were confused in the upper room.

They were terrified and clinging to their safety thinking that they were public enemy number one. They were not going to leave the upper room and then Jesus shows up in a new creation body without opening doors.

Essentially teleporting right into the midst of the upper room. Breathing the Holy Spirit upon them and calling them to be new creations. Last week we talked about how when Jesus breathed his spirit out upon the people it wasn't so that we can live in perpetual isolation.

Which is a great sin of modern America. What we saw is that he has united us together as a unique people as A people who are bought and paid for bound by his own blood to live in community with each other.

For the building up of his kingdom until he returns. We live in a new creation kingdom. That is not just you. It's Jew and Greek male and female slave and free. Now the question we're gonna answer today is how do you get into such a community?

How do you gain entrance? What's the cost? What do you have to pay? What's the admission fee? And what we're gonna see is That from Thomas all the way down to us. It is by faith and faith alone by the grace of Christ alone to the glory of God alone.

Not from yourselves not of your own work so that none of us can boast. It is by faith and that faith is a gift. So today we're gonna look at what is faith and we're gonna see four things from this passage on what faith is.

Faith is something that you and I like Thomas Rejected in our flesh so we will see how faith can be rejected. But also we will see that how faith is a gift like Thomas when we are regenerated. We receive the gift of faith.

That's the end of the ours. I didn't alliterate this week how also when we are regenerated when we do become believers we have a Confession that we declare and as we declare that confession Faith becomes a lifelong Blessing to the people of God.

So we'll look at each of those this morning if you will turn with me to John chapter 20 getting close To the end of John 20 and John 21, which is our final chapter of the book. But for today John 20 verse 24 through 29 as we explore what faith is.

Together.

John 20 this is the word of the Lord. But Thomas one of the twelve called Didymus Was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples were saying to him we have seen the Lord. But he said to them unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails and put my finger into the place of the nails and put my hand into his side I will not believe.

Now after eight days his disciples were again inside and Thomas was with them and Jesus came the doors having been shut and Stood in their midst and said peace be to you. And then he said to Thomas reach here with your finger and See my hands and reach here with your hand and put it into my side and do not be unbelieving but believing.

Thomas answered and said to him my Lord and my God. And Jesus said to him because you have seen me have you believed. Blessed are they who did not see and yet believed. Let's pray. Lord we thank you For this wonderful passage and the great confession of faith that is on the lips of Thomas Lord, I pray that today as we examine it and as we look at it and as we reflect upon it that Lord his Confession would increasingly become our own and that Lord as you described the blessing of what faith looks like a.

Faith.

That often is in opposition to sight that Lord we would see with a different set of eyes and We would hear with ears that have been awakened by the Spirit and we would learn to love. Even though our sight sometimes is so limited.

Lord would you help us in these things? It's in Jesus name. We pray. Amen. Now I guess we need to start off with answering the question who is Thomas or this man named Didymus. Now there's less information about Thomas in the synoptic Gospels than most of the other other apostles.

He shows up in a couple lists of who the disciples are and I think that some of that information is instructive. You've got Matthew 10 mark 3 Luke 6 which lists the disciples in order they're not listed randomly and in every one of those Thomas shows up right in the middle of the disciples and in some sense.

If you are a middle child, you will know how easy sometimes it is to be overlooked. Thomas in the synoptics Doesn't get a lot of attention. He's right in the middle. Now also you may be interested to know that the list of apostles are listed in three sets of four there's the first set which is Peter James and John and I can't remember the fourth one.

Andrew no Andrews in the fifth. He's the fifth. I can't remember the fourth but in that list whoever's listed first in the way that Hebrews did things is the leader of that group. Then there's a second set.

Andrew is the first one who's listed in that group. He's the leader of the second group and then you have James the son of Alpheus who is listed as the first of the third.

Group.

So you have three groups of four and the head of each of those list is the leader of that small section with Peter being the leader of the first group being the leader of the entire apostolic community.

Now Thomas is not only in the middle of the twelve. He's in the middle of the second group. He's not the leader of the second group and he's not the one who's last in the second group. He's right in the middle and I think this speaks a little bit to the fact that Thomas is a middle-of-the-road kind of.

Guy.

Thomas is a man who? Believes what he can see. He's a logical. Practical earthy kind of guy if he can't see it. He doesn't believe it. He's highly practical and we see this in John's gospel because John gives us more detail on Thomas than the rest of the Bible combined.

We see in John that Thomas is a highly practical man who lives by sight lives by human wisdom. He calculates things and makes decisions and You've probably heard his nickname doubting Thomas. I actually don't like that nickname because I don't think that it quite captures who Thomas is.

He doesn't doubt everything. He just doubts the things he can't see. So I would like to call Thomas seeing Thomas because he's so. Because he's so is so dependent upon his sight for faith. That often when we come to the things of God, he can't see and therefore he doesn't have faith.

Let me give you an example. John chapter 11. Jesus has just left Jerusalem and Jerusalem wants to kill him. Jesus has done great miracles. He's been at the Feast of Tabernacles and John 9 and 10 and they are ready to pick up stones and kill him so they leave and Thomas says great decision.

When anybody is wanting to form a brute squad and kill you probably a good idea to leave the thieves forest. Hypothetically Jesus however surprises Thomas and the rest of the discipleship community by saying that he's ready to go back.

Ready to go back quickly. Jesus doesn't let the atmosphere in Jerusalem settle. The Hornets nest is still in a fear in a fervor. The Hornets are still buzzing and Jesus is ready to walk right back into it.

The only reason he stayed away as long as he did is because he was letting the body of Lazarus work up a good stink. So by the time that he raises him from the dead, it's only by the power of God that this man was raised.

So Thomas hears that Jesus wants to go back and he says that's not what I would have done. That's not a part of my calculus. The city wants to kill you and therefore common wisdom would say don't go back.

He says I think sort of sarcastically. Let us also go that we may die with him. John 11 16. Thomas saw the writing on the wall if We go back. We're gonna die if we go back. We're going to be killed. You don't get involved in a land war in Asia.

Or you don't go up against Fassini when death is on the line and you certainly don't go back to Jerusalem after John 10. Unless you wanted to die. That's the first example. He saw the practical situation very clearly and what Jesus wanted to do didn't make good practical sense.

And he objected. The next example is John 14. They're in the upper room this is during the Last Supper where Jesus is speaking about leaving and going to heaven and That it's better that he goes and that he's gonna send the Holy Spirit in his place and Thomas couldn't see What Jesus was talking about he had no idea what it looked like for Jesus to go to heaven and rule from the right hand of God and send his Holy Spirit and Jesus says that I am the way and Thomas says we don't know what way you're going.

Why because he couldn't see? He had earthly eyes trying to see heavenly things and he could not see them. His common wisdom wasn't working for very uncommon supernatural truths. He blurts out Lord. We do not know where you were going.

How can we know the way. We we can sometimes in Christian movies, especially from the 80s. Here that is Lord. We do not know where you were going. How can we know the way? That's not how Thomas said this.

He's like Lord. We have no idea where you're going. How can we know the way. He was so confused his sight was getting in the way his eyes were getting in the way he had no idea how to see What Jesus was talking about.

He saw problems brewing in Jerusalem. He saw Jesus had just set fire to a bunch of different institutions and he saw that Jesus was getting ready to abandon them and They were going to be by themselves and they were going to be public enemy number one and he thought I have no idea what Jesus is doing and You know what?

We had a thought the same thing. John 20 is our third example of Thomas. Thomas had seen we have to remember this. He had seen a man raise another man from the dead. He saw Jesus against all his best human wisdom.

It was wrong to go back to Jerusalem. But or sorry to Bethany, but when they did he saw Jesus raised someone from the dead. So he had that in his back pocket. He saw that but what he had never seen is a man raised himself from the dead.

He had seen in the scriptures how Elijah Had raised someone from the dead. He had seen in the scriptures how a dead body fell on the bones of Elisha and That person was risen from the dead. He had never seen a man raise himself From the dead and Thomas after Jesus died must have looked around and said well, we are all out of dead raisers.

We are all out of people with resurrection gifts. So his practical vision in that moment was I can't believe I Can't believe it because I can't see it. If I can't see it. I will not believe it that's exactly what he says unless I see the marks of the nails and Place my finger in the mark of the nails and place my hand into the side.

I will never.

Believe.

Because Thomas is a man who is his entire faith is built upon sight. He's walking by sight walking by human wisdom if he can see it. He believes it. And you know, it's so funny how that phrase seeing is believing.

Matches up so well with Thomas's life and yet it doesn't match up at all with what Jesus was doing. Jesus is unwilling to let Thomas live in his blindness forever. So he comes and he brings a vision. Now you may ask yourself.

Why did Jesus wait? He waits three days before he goes back to heal Lazarus and he waits eight days before he comes back to Thomas.

Why does Jesus do this?

Well number one. I Think it's because Jesus knows the heart of men and that Thomas would never own his own find sight. Blind eyes never see. So Jesus knew he had time. He knew that Thomas wouldn't somehow stumble upon the truth until he got there.

Jesus knew that he was.

Essential.

To Thomas getting sight because he has human inability his blindness that can't be overcome by human wisdom. So I think that's first. The second is Because Jesus is bringing new creation. You remember that we've said so far that on the eighth day the eighth day represents new creation the eighth day.

You have seven days of the old creation. So why does Jesus rise on the eighth day? We were like me he didn't. He rose on the third day. You're right. From when he was buried. But it also says that he rose on the first day of the week, which is the eighth day.

You have seven days the original creation and you have now an eighth day. What is he saying that I am the author of a brand new creation? Jesus could have found Thomas on Monday. He could have found Thomas on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

But he waited until the eighth day to demonstrate to Thomas and to all of us that faith Does not come by human effort but by the power of God alone. That faith comes by the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit alone without Jesus coming Thomas would never believe His friends.

You have to imagine for seven days are trying to work on him, but we saw him. I Don't care. I don't want to talk about it anymore. He was there. He came into our midst. I'm going to go get a sandwich.

Which is what men do when we can't explain something. And I also think it was highly intentional that Thomas wasn't there. When Jesus first showed up why? Because Thomas was so reliant upon his sight.

That Jesus was going to take away his vision his commitment to his earthly vision for a little bit. So that he could show him a different and better kind of vision. Jesus did not want Thomas relying on his eyes anymore.

He didn't want him sitting in that room and seeing Jesus and relying upon his physical sight. He's done that his whole life. He's a practical man. He's relied on his human seeing and Jesus to say no. I'm going to sovereignly make sure you're not there when I appear to the other ten.

And.

I'm going to Sovereignly make you sweat it out for seven days and come to you on the eighth day to show you that your sight isn't good.

Enough.

Thomas's denial was based on seeing he says if I would have seen I still wouldn't believe and he assumes That the disciples are only believing because they're seeing and in that way he's right. The disciples are not believing just because they saw.

You remember the disciples when Jesus first appeared they were shocked. They were startled and they thought he was a ghost. That's hardly a Christian confession. They saw Jesus through their old eyes, too.

They saw him as a ghost. It wasn't until Jesus breathed out the Holy Ghost That they actually saw him for who he was. So even with the ten disciples their faith did not come by sight. It came by the gift of the Spirit of God awakening them to see who Jesus was.

Jesus gave them new eyes of the Spirit that we talked about two weeks ago and In this we learned that regeneration comes before sight if you and I are not awakened out of our slumber and out of her death and out of her blindness and out of Her and out of her brokenness.

We can't see Jesus. Our eyes are not gifted to see the things that Jesus is talking about to see who he is to see who he really is. We are dead in our trespasses. We are blind in our sins. We are nothing better than a corpse in a coffin with no agency or no ability without God.

Awakening the death in our eyes. We can't see that's why in our in Our passage for God's greeting this morning. We talked about the eyes of the heart and not just the eyes of the head. Because we all need regeneration we can't see without Jesus giving sight.

Thomas was absent from the meeting stuck in his blindness and he could not see he was right. Even if I see I will not believe he was right. Jesus is told in the parable with Lazarus That even if I send them Moses and the prophets they will not believe.

That is the state of every fallen man spiritually dead destitute. Unresponsive to the things of God incapable of knowing Jesus without Jesus's help. No one can be saved without his intervention. We see that here, don't we?

There's two great examples. I think we're talking about if you will Calvinism. There's two great examples of this.

Lazarus.

Lazarus did not in the tomb fill out his I have decided to follow Jesus card. He was dead and it was not until he was resurrected from the dead that he came out. And such is the case for all of us. The second is Thomas.

Thomas did not stand in that room and start singing. I have decided To follow Jesus. No, he did not. He decided to unbelief just like all of us did. It was not until the power of God met with him and Awakened him that he was able to cry out my Lord and my God.

That confession is reserved only for those who the Spirit of God has awakened. Jesus repeats things that he did to the other disciples so that he could walk Thomas back through it. He comes on the eighth day.

That's a repetition bringing new creation. He says peace unto you to Thomas just like he did to the disciples. He repeats the communal setting where he doesn't come to Thomas individually notice. He waits until Thomas is a part of the group and Then he repeats Thomas's ultimatum.

Remember Thomas said even if I see and stick my finger in his wound and put my hand in the side I will not believe notice what Jesus says.

Okay.

Stick your finger in the wound. Put your hand in my side. But do not go any longer unbelieving. Jesus does not rebuke Thomas for being blind. Have you noticed that? He doesn't say you wicked servant, why didn't you see.

Why didn't you see. Jesus knows the answer he knows the heart of man. He knows that he could not see. Can you imagine how insensitive it would be if you walked up to a blind man who tripped over. You know a threshold between two between two rooms and you went and you said well, why didn't you open your eyes?

Why do you see that? Wouldn't how insensitive would that be? Jesus knows the state of man. He knows that Thomas is blind. He doesn't rebuke him for his blindness. Instead. He gives him eyes to see. He awakens him.

He regenerates his heart. That heart that was dead that was broken that those eyes that were blind. He brings new creation. Ephesians 2 8 through 9 says that this is not based off of good works not based off of sight lest anyone should boast.

But faith is the gift of God. Faith is the gift of God. Which means that all of us here today are only here because God has been kind to you all of us here are worshiping Christ because he has been sweet and Gentle and tender to us.

Let no one sitting here think. That you are righteous on your own accord that you are smart that you are that you figured out the secret to life. The only progress that you have made in your faith has been because God willed it and Because he gifted it.

That is the great reality that crashes upon us in the narrative of Thomas that in our human flesh. We are incapable of sight. We're incapable of love and we are incapable of confessing who Christ is. It is only through his love and intervention.

That we awaken now we have to talk about something. I think we've already covered it a little bit, but I just want to hint at it a little bit. We are not better. We look at this narrative and we say Thomas.

Well, you really swung and missed on that one pal. And the heart behind that is if we would have been there than we would have seen it. No, you wouldn't have. This man walked with Jesus for three years this man.

Eventually, we'll talk about it turns parts of Asia upside down for Christ this man. This man was better smarter more holy more sanctified than you and I and this man missed it. We were just as blind as he was.

Before we were called we were totally dependent upon his grace before we ever saw his face. Romans 3 says we don't seek God. No one does. No one does good. No one is righteous. All of us have fallen short of the glory of God but God.

Ephesians 2 being rich in mercy because of his great love which he has loved us made us alive. Together with Christ you see do you see whose power was involved in your salvation? We said this in Sunday school shameless plug again.

That.

The only thing that you contribute to your salvation is the sin that made it necessary. So if you want to clap if you want to pat yourself on the back, that's what you're clapping for from the moment that the earth was created you were foreknown and You were predestined and you were sanctified and you have been justified and you will be glorified.

Because of God doing all the work on your behalf you are a recipient of eons of grace. That you did not work for earn and never could. It would be like working at a job where you made $10 a day, but your bills were a billion dollars a day every day you go further in debt and You're never gonna make up the sum of it.

It was if it were not for Christ. Brothers and sisters, we need new eyes so that we can see. It was true for Thomas. It's true for us and we need to abandon our Tendencies towards physical sight and we'll talk about that more in just a moment.

But I do want to say that right after he becomes a Christian. Right after he sees the reality of who Christ is. Do you see what happens to him the first thing that happens to him my Lord and my God. What an incredible Profession from a man who needs to see in order to believe.

What he did see was a man Jesus standing right in front of him. He saw his nose. He saw his face and all the familiar features that he had known for three years. He saw the man but for the first time he saw something different deeper better bigger.

He saw God. Can you imagine? The reality of standing in front of the man that you've been walking with for three years and it Happens upon you that he's now that he's God. That that's how big you missed it in a moment.

His eyes were open and he saw the universe's creator Standing in front of him. He saw the one who designed Saturn's rings standing in front of him. He saw the one who fashioned Adam in the dirt standing in front of him who breathed life into Adam.

Standing right in front of him. Can you imagine that when Jesus breathed over the disciples that now Thomas was starting to understand that he was in the presence of God? He saw Noah's God the God who rescued his people with the ark.

He saw Abraham's God who called them out of her and called them into the land of promise. He saw the one who wrestled with Jacob. He saw the one who gave Joseph his dreams. He saw the one who took down Pharaoh and delivered God's people through the Red Sea.

He saw the one who led Joshua into battle. He saw the one who gave Solomon wisdom. He saw the one who gave the prophets clarity on the things that were to come and he saw the one who his mother had read him stories about from his childhood standing right in his presence and What happened necessarily.

When the eyes of his heart were open is his lips also came unstuck and he said my lord and my god. That is the essence of the Christians confession not faith by sight. But faith in who God is fully God fully man a confession rooted in a truth that we can't comprehend.

A Triune God three-in-one a confession rooted in what we cannot possibly fully comprehend. Confessions are not rooted in my circumstances. Confessions are not rooted in my in my last five minutes or my trial or the things that I've been through in my life confessions are Rooted in the nature and the character of God and your eyes may not see that.

But your ears can certainly hear that and your lips can certainly speak that my lord and my god. Even if it doesn't match with your current circumstance, do you see how limited our eyes are? I was saying this again in Sunday school that we as a people tend to rely on our eyes if I ask every single person.

In this room, would you rather lose your sight or would you rather lose your hearing all of us? I.

Think.

There is some people. But all of us would say gosh, I'd rather lose my hearing. I don't want to lose my sight and Yet in the Bible Sight is put under hearing. Faith doesn't come by seeing. Faith comes by hearing.

Faith doesn't come by what you can see all around you. Faith comes by believing the promises of God. Seeing happens later. Seeing happens much later oftentimes for Thomas. Seeing happened later faith came first and Faith this will be where we close.

Leads to great blessings when it is not reliant upon our sight. John 20 29 says Jesus said to him because you have seen me. Have you believed. Blessed are they who do not see and yet believe. This is a very sweet rebuke from our Lord to Thomas and it is also an encouragement to all of us.

None of us in this room were in that upper room. None of us in that room have seen the face of Christ. None of us in this room have spoken to God. Directly to the Son of God and yet by the Spirit of God.

He has led us into belief blessed. Are you who believe and you have not seen? Blessed are you who believe and your eyes did not have anything to do with it. It's the same thing for Thomas don't misunderstand.

Thomas did not believe by his sight. He didn't see Jesus and then repent and believe. The Lord gave him sight and gave him faith. And then he declared my Lord and my God and that applies to us in our salvation.

We were given sight and then we see. I think about it like this. You're on you're in a casket and the Lord grabs you and puts you on the operating table and he shocks you back into life and you Open up your eyes and you say Lord would you be my Savior.

And then you think in the moment you had something to do with it? We all did that the moment you and I were saved. We thought I'm so glad I made that decision. Sight doesn't come till later. Vision doesn't come till later when you say I didn't have anything to do with that.

I Was dead then I was alive and the first thing I said was my Lord my God. But all that work that he did before that I had nothing to do with that. Sight came later. Sight comes later. Faith comes first.

That's true in our salvation, but it's also true in our life. There are situations that you are going through right now that look bad. That look awful. But I would challenge you To not look at them with your eyes.

But to instead look at them through the lens of faith. Because faith comes first faith is what leads you and guides you and directs you for instance your job. Maybe you've lost your job, or maybe you think you're about to lose your job.

Seeing comes later. Don't trust your eyes. Don't look at your balance sheet. Don't look at your stack of bills. Don't look at any of that because that is gonna lead you into despair and frustration and it's gonna cause you to feel like all Sorts of negative things that aren't from the Lord.

Yes.

Use wisdom.

But.

Trust that he who began the good work and you will see it through to completion that he will work out his good plan in You and that if you seek first the kingdom of God, he will provide everything that you need.

It's not a bird that falls to the ground that that he doesn't know about. He closed the lilies of the field. How much more important are you than flowers that are here today and gone tomorrow? Don't look at your finances.

Don't look at your lost job and despair. That's not Christian. Instead cling to the promises of God. He loves me. He cares for me. He will protect me. He will keep me secure and he will not allow me to go through a single thing.

That is not for his glory and for my good. Faith must come before sight because if you let sight lead you it'll lead you into despair. Maybe someone here today struggling in your marriage and you think there's nothing That I can see in this that doesn't look like it's heading to disaster.

If you look with your eyes and you let your sight lead you. You probably will end up divorced and you probably wind up with a decade of pain and brokenness. Don't let your eyes lead you. Cling to faith.

Cling to a sight that will come later. Shannon and I. It appears today as though we have a perfect marriage and we have a really incredible marriage but our first couple years were really hard and if I opened my eyes and I looked and I said man, this looks bad and I was most of the problem.

Man this I'm being honest. I'm not man-hating. I'm not just generically saying the man's always at fault this time. It was true if I would have looked at that and I would have said like Thomas before he knew Jesus.

Hey, this doesn't look good. I'm gonna run. I Wouldn't have the blessings that I have in my life. I wouldn't have my four children. I wouldn't have all of the good gifts that God has given me through my life.

I Would have missed so much because I've got sight lead me instead of faith. Don't walk by sight. Walk by faith. You can't see everything that God is doing. Do you remember Job when he went to the mountain and he said?

Where were you when I did this and when I did this when I did this when I did stop using your eyes. They're unreliable. You can't possibly see what I'm doing behind the scenes live by faith not by sight.

This is what my friends changed Thomas forever. And I pray that it changes us forever. The practical Thomas the one who lived by sight. You know what? He did after this. He hung around in Jerusalem for a little while until Pentecost until persecution happened and then he went and he moved to Asia.

He started off in a man named or in a place called Parthia. Where it's like modern-day Iran and he suffered for the sake of Christ, then he went to India and 52 AD and He started a Christian community there that today is known as st Thomas's Christian community and his his time from our historical records is marked by Preaching by some miracles that he did and by leading many people to believe in Christ.

The man who was unwilling to go back to Jerusalem for Jesus now was willing to go anywhere for Jesus. Because Jesus did something he did an eye transplant. He did a heart transplant. He did a He did a total overhaul and brought in new creation.

And when he did that Thomas now became not the practical man who lives by sight with the man who lives by faith and the man who was afraid to Go back to Jerusalem because he was afraid to die. Joyfully received his death in India in A land that was not his home when a spear was stabbed right through his heart and he went to heaven singing brothers and sisters remember this we're all blind before Christ came in and Now that Christ has came in because he sought us because he found us because he gave us sight.

We should be the people who cried to the rooftops with the loudest confession. My Lord and my God and We should be the people who don't live by sight. It's not reliable. It's unworthy of the Christian live by faith in the promises of God and you will see the joy That God has promised you.

Amen. Let us stand and let us continue our service today with singing but let's pray first. You can stand as we pray. Lord we thank you. That you are the one who calls us to live. To live in the promises of God there is nothing more reliable than the promises of God.

You will not forsake us. You will not abandon us. You are God. We are your people over and over and over throughout the scriptures. They're replete with these great promises that are I and retina defying.