From Fear and Doubt to Courage and Assurance

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Amen. Some wonderful songs and great theology to sing. With this morning, on this resurrection morning, as Fr.
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Keith already mentioned, this is not the only resurrection morning for the Church of the
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Living God. Every Lord's Day is a resurrection morning. It is the
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Lord's Day and we will rejoice and be glad in it. The great expository preacher
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G. Campbell Morgan said this great statement of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
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Okay, let me start over here.
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Everybody hear me? Okay, great. Thank you. Praise God. The expository preacher of the past,
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G. Campbell Morgan, said this great statement of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
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And I quote him. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the most stupendous supernatural miracle that the world has ever known.
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It supersedes everything else. Because if Christ is not risen from the dead, then everything else promised to us from God's Word totally collapses.
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He continues. Upon all the virtue of his life and the value of his death and the victory of his conflict,
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God set the seal in the sight of heaven and earth and hell when raising him from the dead.
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And then he says this wonderful statement. The resurrection is the Father's amen to the
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Son's exclamation, it is finished. Praise God.
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What a wonderful quote. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the crowning miracle of God.
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No other religion in the world has a resurrection. It is the very essence and the heart of Christianity itself.
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Ben read one of the great chapters of the resurrection part of it from 1
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Corinthians chapter 15. But I'd like to take you to where Paul takes up all that great theology is from the record itself and the testimony of God is the gospel according to John the apostle in chapter 20.
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This great chapter is also known as the resurrection chapter in the
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Word of God. So this morning, this Lord's Day, this resurrection morning, I invite you to please turn with me to this wonderful chapter,
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John chapter 20. We will be reading verse 19 through 31.
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Verse 19 through 31 to the end of this glorious chapter.
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Hear the word of the living God. I'm reading from the New King James Version, beginning at verse 19.
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Then the same day at the evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut, where the disciples were assembled, for the fear of the
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Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst and said to them, peace be with you.
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And when he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the
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Lord. So Jesus said to them again, peace to you.
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As the Father has sent me, I also send you. When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, receive the
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Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them. And if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.
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Now Thomas called the twin. One of the 12 was not with them when Jesus came.
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The other disciples therefore said to him, we have seen the Lord. So he said to them, unless I see in his hands the print of the nails and put my finger into the print of the nails and put my hand into his side,
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I will not believe. And after eight days, his disciples were again inside and Thomas with them and Jesus came.
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And the doors being shut and stood in the midst and said, peace to you.
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And then he said to Thomas, reach your finger here and look at my hands and reach your hand here and put it into my side.
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Do not be unbelieving, but believing. Thomas answered and said to him, my
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Lord and my God. And Jesus said to him, Thomas, because you have seen me, you have believed.
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Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. And surely
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Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book.
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But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God.
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And that believing you may have life in his name. Praise God to the reading of the living
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God. Now, may his word be taken now from our ears to our heart.
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As we believe through his name, let's pray. Father, this is your holy word.
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It is eternal as you are eternal. It will never pass away.
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Heaven and earth may pass away, but your words will never pass away. They are forever, forever settled in heaven.
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Father, you have exalted your word even above your name. So father, I would pray that you would give each and every one of us ears to hear and eyes to see only one, only one this morning.
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And that is your son, Jesus Christ, whom you have raised from the dead.
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The one that is at your right hand of power, make an intercession for those that are part of your church.
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Glorified and risen and soon to come again in great power and glory to gather up his bride.
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So father, may we by faith when we come before you, may we be living by faith when he comes again.
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Father, we give you all the glory and honor this morning. And we ask this in Jesus name.
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Amen. Praise God. From fear to doubt, or I should just say from fear to, from fear and I'm sorry, from fear and unbelieving to courage and assurance.
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Chapter 20, John's gospel is a glorious record of the appearances of Jesus Christ to his own followers.
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The first appearance was to Mary Magdalene, which is recorded in verse 1 through 18, in which
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I preached last year on this resurrection morning as we celebrated the resurrection of Jesus Christ on this particular day.
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We looked at verse 1 through 18 of the empty tomb and the appearance of our
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Lord Jesus Christ to Mary Magdalene. The following was the appearance of the 10 disciples in verse 19 through 23.
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Then the appearance to Thomas in verse 24 through 29. Interesting to note this, church, is that Jesus did not appear to unbelievers.
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Interesting to note because the evidence of his resurrection would have not convinced, them as all the miracles had not.
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Jesus, therefore, appears exclusively to his own followers. I love this.
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He comes to his very own as in John 17, he prays for his very own.
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That whole chapter is flooded with the prayers of the glory of God as Jesus in his prayer, the great high priestly prayer, prays to the
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Father, prays of salvation, prays of himself and the glory, but he also prays for his very own.
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Well, as in this chapter here, Jesus appears to his very own. And he does this to confirm their faith in the risen living
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Christ himself. Think of this. Such appearances were so profound that he transformed these disciples forever.
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They were never the same. They were cowardly, fearful men hiding in fear.
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And then when they were transformed, they became bold witnesses for Jesus Christ.
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They were never the same. Once again, John's purpose in recording these resurrection appearances was to demonstrate that Jesus's physical and bodily resurrection was the crowning proof that he truly is
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Lord, Messiah, the son of the living God who laid down his life for his very own.
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Now, in saying that, the title of the outline
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I'd like to break apart in two pieces. What more can he say? And what more can he do?
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You know, it reminds me of the great hymn, How Firm a Foundation, You Saints of the Lord. One of the stanzas goes like this.
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It's laid for your faith and his excellent word. What more can he say than to you he has said, to you who for refuge to Jesus have fled.
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You see, this is the account of the appearance of Jesus to his own disciples.
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Notice with me, and we'll go through this as I'll go through this as fast and as rapidly as I can because we've got a lot of territory to cover, but I believe this will be a blessing to your soul.
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First of all, in verse 19 and 20, there is a bodily resurrection.
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Second, in verse 21, we have a word of reconciliation. Third, in verse 22 and 33, a breath that's received.
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Then in verses 19 through 23, that is, I'm sorry, that is verse 19 through 23.
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Then the second half is verse 24 through 31. What more can he do?
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Fourth, you see, in verse 24 and 25, we see a low platform of a sightseer.
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Fifth, we see in verse 26 and 27, we see a mediator of mercy. Sixth, in verse 28 and 29, we see a high position of a believer.
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And last, in verse 30 and 31, we have the blessings of the believer in Jesus Christ.
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Then we will look at some personal practical applications in our conclusion.
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Now, let us begin. Look at verse 19 and 20. A bodily resurrection.
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A bodily resurrection. Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut, where the disciples were assembled for the fear of the
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Jews. Notice, Jesus came and stood in the mist and said to them, peace be with you.
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And when he had said this, he showed them his hand and his side. And then the disciples were glad when they saw the
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Lord. Now, this is the second time in this chapter, the second, that John notes and records to us of speaking of the first day of the week.
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Let me speak to you real quickly about this important text here about the first day of the week. Why? Why does he mention this?
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I believe it has great significance because of the great event of the resurrection of Jesus has a greater meaning than the old
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Sabbath. The old Sabbath, according to Genesis chapter 2, verse 1 through 3, the
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Sabbath commemorates God's finished work of creation.
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God's finished work of creation. Now, it is the day in which now, speaking of this great resurrection, it's a day when
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Christ finishes the work of redemption as a work of new creation.
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God the Father worked for, think of this, God the Father, when he created everything, worked for six days and he rested, scripture says.
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And God the Son suffered on the cross for six hours. Then he rested in the tomb.
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Isn't that glorious? You know, the former work of creation is here foreshadowed by the latter work of the new creation.
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The Sabbath was a sign in the Old Testament as the covenant that Israel belongs specifically to God.
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According to Exodus chapter 20, verses 8 through 11, chapter 31, verses 13 through 17, and Nehemiah 19, 14.
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Now, keep in mind, the nation of Israel was to use that day for physical rest and refreshment, both for man and the beast.
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Now, as time went by, hundreds of years later, and I honestly say thousands of years later, unfortunately, the scribes and the
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Pharisees added all kinds of man -made traditions to what
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God has originally put in concrete, perpetually. These all kinds of restrictions to the
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Sabbath observance until it became a day of bondage instead of a day of blessing.
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That's what the Pharisees and the Sadducees turned this day into.
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It became, it was originally intended for a day of blessing and refreshment. The market day of our souls, as the
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Puritans said. Now, although Jesus deliberately violated such Sabbath traditions,
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He did not intentionally do that in a sense of dishonoring God.
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Everything that Jesus did honored God. He honored the true Sabbath in accordance with its original intentions of resting from all works.
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But this leads me to the question, how then did the first day of the week come to be known as the
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Lord's day? Well, it's right here in the text. The answer is given to us in Scripture. Specifically in this chapter.
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Our Lord Jesus Christ made at least five appearances on the first day of the resurrection.
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Now, it's very clear in Scripture. Notice this. First of all,
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He appeared to Mary Magdalene in John 20, verses 11 through 18.
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In Matthew 28, 9 and 10, He appeared to other women. He also appeared to Peter Cephas in 1
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Corinthians 15, 5, Luke 24, 34. Also to the two disciples on the road of Emmaus in Luke 24, 31 through 32.
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All this was the first day of the week. And the disciples, minus Thomas in the text we just read in John 20, 19 through 25.
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Then, a week later, on the next Sunday, all 11 were meeting and visited by Jesus Christ again in our text.
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Now, it appears that from the beginning, the disciples and the early church also met on the first day of the week to worship
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Jesus and to commemorate His death and resurrection. And that you can find in Acts 27, chapter 20, verse 7, and 1
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Corinthians 16, 1 and 2. It is very clear in Scripture that the
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Lord's day is the first day of the week. And the reason why is because of His resurrection.
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John makes record of this. So John the Apostle makes that reference to this because of its great significance and importance to worshiping
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Jesus Christ the Lord. So it is the first day of the week, now
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Sunday, Sunday evening. We know what happened the morning He appeared to Mary Magdalene.
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Now, in the evening, the disciples were assembled together as the text says.
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Now, we don't know exactly where they were, but some commentators say perhaps they were in the upper room where they met three nights ago.
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That is a very good possibility, but we do not know exactly because the text does not tell us.
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But the text does tell us that they were behind doors that were shut, that were locked.
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Why were they behind these doors? The text tells us, for fear of the
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Jews. Think of it. They were not fearing the coronavirus. They were fearing their very lives.
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This was the same crowd that they were fearing was the one that crucified
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Jesus Christ. Since the authorities had executed their leader, now, they have no idea, they did not believe the account of what
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Mary and the other woman said, the other disciple, but they reasonably expected that Jesus' fate could be their very own as well.
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Think of this. Fear caused them to be cowards behind locked doors.
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They shut themselves up and then the text said something wonderful took place and changed and transformed them forever.
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I love this part of the text. Now, notice with me.
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In that verse, then the same day of the evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut, where the disciples were assembled for the fear of the
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Jews, Jesus came. Jesus came and stood in the midst and said to them,
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Peace be with you. Now, it seems very clear that the Lord entered the room without opening any doors.
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He could go right through the doors. This was a miracle.
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It should be remembered that his resurrection body was a real body of flesh and bones.
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Yet, he had the power to pass through barriers and otherwise act independently against all natural laws.
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So, Jesus comes to them. Everything changes when Jesus comes. Everything changes when
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Jesus comes. Supernaturally in a resurrected body, he's in a physical body.
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He's not a phantom. He's not a ghost. He's not an apparition. He comes to them personally in order to comfort them.
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And notice this. He reassures them so that just seeing Jesus Christ alone and standing in the midst was a great comfort to these disciples and a great assurance to them that he is risen from the dead.
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He's alive forevermore. But there's another step that Jesus takes.
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These fearful disciples, he gives them a word of reconciliation. What does he say?
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Peace be with you. Peace be with you. Now, that's the greeting he gives.
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Now, I want to tell you how important it is about this greeting. Why does he say peace be with you?
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This complements, beloved, this complements him saying on the cross, it is finished.
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That is the compliment from him saying it is finished. For his work on the cross accomplished peace between God and his people.
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How do we know this? Romans 5, 1. Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our
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Lord Jesus Christ. How can I not leave out Ephesians 2, 14 through 17?
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Listen to the word of God. For he himself is our peace. Who has made both one and has broken down the middle wall of separation.
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Having abolished in his flesh the enmity that is the law of commandments contained in ordinances.
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So as to create in himself one new man from the two, thus making peace.
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Notice this. He made peace because he is peace. And, verse 16, that he might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross there.
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By putting to death the enmity. And then, listen to this, and then
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Paul says, and he came and he preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near.
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Verse 18, for through him we both have access by one spirit to the father. Praise God.
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The prince of peace has brought peace because of his work on the cross.
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Beloved, the psalmist said in Psalm 103, 10. He has not dealt with us according to our sins.
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Nor has he rewarded us according to our iniquities. He has brought us peace.
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Hallelujah. The prince of peace has brought peace. So the words peace be with you, his greeting, meant something.
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It has a new meaning now to these disciples. It didn't just mean, you know, to the
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Hebrews and to the Jewish people, they say shalom. But now when
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Jesus says peace be with you, shalom, there is a new significance to it.
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He has now a new meaning because Christ has made peace by the blood of the cross. Those who are justified by faith alone in Jesus have peace with God.
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You know, Jesus does a third thing here too. He gives a great word of assurance, but he reassures them by the word and also he does it by showing them his hands and his side.
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Now, I don't know about you, if I was there seeing this, I would be literally on my face before God.
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He showed his hands and his side just to show that, okay,
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I'm not a vision, I'm not a ghost, I'm not a phantom, but to show that he was indeed their very master and their
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Lord and their savior. He proves to them that he is the same Lord who was crucified three days ago.
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He reassures them by showing the marks of his passion by which peace had been obtained.
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And so this was just more than being just a form of identification, beloved. His wounds were also the very evidence of the price of the great salvation that has been paid so that through him, man could actually have the true biblical peace of God that passes all understanding.
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You know, think of this, the basis for all of our peace, beloved, and this is the message that we have for this world that's lost and dying in darkness, that peace is found in Jesus Christ alone and none other.
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It's in his person and in his works and nothing else in this world is going to give the kind of peace that passes all understanding.
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Oh hallelujah, he died for us, he arose again for us, he lived for us, he is the victor and now he lives forevermore.
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Beloved, the tomb is empty, Christ is ascended on high and one day he's coming back for his bride.
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He comes to us graciously and he comes with peace.
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You know, I thought about this when I was reading this and he reassures us that through his word and I love this verse in Proverbs, faithful are the wounds of a friend.
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Now, I've always thought about that in the sense of rebuke and it is to the context, but faithful, think about the faithfulness, the faithful one that gave the wounds of a friend.
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What did Jesus say? Greater love has no one than this than to lay one's life down for his friends.
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And listen to what he says. You are my friends. If you do whatever
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I command you, we must obey him. And then there's a beautiful verse next.
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So Jesus said to them again, peace to you. Notice he repeats it again, how important it is.
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And then he gives a commission, as the father has sent me, I also send you. Jesus gives them a commission that this is based on the prayer of John chapter 17, verse 18.
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Notice how Jesus prays. As you sent me, he's praying to the father now. As you sent me into the world,
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I also have sent them into the world. Jesus prayed to the father.
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This is exactly what he's doing to these disciples. The disciples are to share this with others.
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They're not to hoard it up to themselves. It just wasn't for them just to know this knowledge and sit on it.
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No, Jesus said you go tell the world. Notice in the latter part of verse 20, after Jesus showed them his wounds and his marks of passion, the text says, then the disciples were glad when they saw the
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Lord. You think of it. They went from total fear to total joy.
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Everything was changed. They went from despair to glory.
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Jesus made the difference. Jesus came. I'm telling you, when Jesus comes, something happens. There's a transformation.
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The disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. There was gladness. Doesn't that say that of the
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New Testament Christians? When they met, they had gladness of heart. They had things in common.
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So when Jesus saw that the disciples' fear had now been turned to joy, he gives a commission.
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He noticed this. When they were joyful, he gives them a commission. In Warren Wiersbe's commentary,
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I like what he says here. This is Wiersbe. He said, keep in mind that the original disciples were not the only ones present there.
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Others, including the Emmaus disciples, were also in that room. This commission was not the formal ordination of a church order.
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Rather, it was the dedication of his followers to the task of world evangelism.
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We are to take his place in the world, as John 17, 18 says. What a tremendous privilege and what a great responsibility.
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And then I love what Wiersbe says here. It is humbling to realize that Jesus lives.
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I'm sorry, that Jesus loves us as the
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Father loves him. And that we are in the Father, just as he is.
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And then he says this. It is equally as humbling to realize that he has sent us into the world, just as the
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Father has sent him. As he was about to ascend to heaven, he again reminded them of their commission to take the message of the gospel to the whole world.
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Matthew 28, 18 through 20, end quote. And that's the glorious privilege that you and I have to take this gospel into the earth.
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Now, next we see this. And I don't want to spend a lot of time on this because it's a very controversial text.
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But if you notice in verse 22 and 23, notice the text. And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, receive the
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Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiving them. And if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.
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Now, this is a controversial... These two texts of scripture are very controversial. They have all kinds of different interpretations to them.
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I don't want to spend a lot of time on it. It's really a sermon in and of itself because we can really dig and break it up of the meaning of the interpretation.
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But Jesus came to the disciples to reassure them. And I want to say this. He also came to enable them through the
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Holy Spirit. Now, this reminds us, and as I was thinking of this, this reminds us of Genesis 2 -7.
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When God breathed life into the first man, Adam. Now, you notice this word breathe.
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In Hebrew and the Greek, it's the same word. And it means spirit.
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The breath of God in the first creation meant physical life. He's actually breathing life.
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And the breath of Jesus Christ, Jesus breathes on them kind of in a sense of new creation in the spiritual realm, in the spiritual life.
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I don't know about you, but I'm sure something glorious took place there when
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Jesus breathed on them. Now, the text, there's a lot of people says, how can this happen?
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The reason why this is so controversial is because this is 40 days before Pentecost.
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There's so much here that it could be said in these two verses, but much, much more. But this one, one of the most difficult verses again, but the reason is that the
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Holy Spirit was not given until 40 days later. And what's going on here?
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Jesus is breathing on them. Well, let me just put it to you this way. The Spirit could not come in his fullness until Jesus was glorified.
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We know this. And that happened when Jesus went to the Father on his right hand. He says,
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I'm going to go sin. I'm going to pray to the Father and send the Holy Spirit so that they may be effective witnesses.
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That's the purpose of because in Acts 1 .8, Jesus says, and you shall receive power.
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After that, the Holy Ghost has come upon you. Now, this was an empowering to believers as God came to make them effective witnesses.
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But here in this text, Jesus, and I've looked and looked into so many things we could just break apart.
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But overall, Jesus is giving a pledge of the Holy Spirit's coming.
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But yet at the same time, Jesus is inaugurating them. There is the privileges here granted to them, exclusively restricted to them.
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But to just those who were literally in that room that day, is it just to them?
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Well, the answer to that question, I don't think so. Why? Why do
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I say that? Because more correct literal translation of this text. If you look at verse 23, this is very controversial, but it speaks of if you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them.
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If you retain the sins of any, they are retained. Now, let me tell you what this text is saying in the original.
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This is one of the reasons why it's very controversial, because it almost sounds like Jesus has given them the authority to forgive sins.
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But that's not the case. The more literal translation in English would be, whoever's sin you forgive shall have already been forgiven because of Jesus, what he did on the cross.
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And whatever sins you do not forgive shall have already not been forgiven. And so what it's saying is, in other words, we do not provide forgiveness of sins.
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What the text is actually saying, you can look into this yourself. We are rather to proclaim the message of forgiveness.
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And don't get me wrong, we are to forgive. But can we provide that forgiveness of sins?
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Absolutely not. We proclaim forgiveness on the basis of the message of the gospel.
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So all believers, all a believer can do, all you and I can do is announce the message of forgiveness.
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That is the, in the gospel, that's the heart of the gospel, is the forgiveness of sins. God is the one that performs the forgiveness of sins.
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Only he through the blood of Jesus Christ and faith in what he accomplished can wash away the sins.
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Let me give you an example. Just like the case of Lazarus and the dead in the tomb. All we can do is roll the stone away so that the dead can hear and respond to the mighty voice of Jesus.
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You see, he's the one that has all authority. We can only declare the gospel to the sinner.
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And the sinner who believes on Christ and the finished work of faith alone have their sins forgiven.
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But we are not the ones that provides the forgiveness. God does that.
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God does that miracle. And you know, that's basically what Jesus is saying. He said, if you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them.
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If you retain the sins of any, they are retained. But in the original, he's basically saying, this, whoever sins you forgive shall have already been forgiven in the sense that because of what
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Christ did on the cross. So we've got to be careful of not mistranslating.
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This is why so many people and priests within the
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Catholic church take this verse and thinking that priests have the authority to forgive sins.
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By no means. Only Jesus has that authority. Now, let me go on here.
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I wish I could spend more time there, but that's another day. The disciples are transformed from fear to courage.
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And this was accomplished first by Christ's personal visit to them graciously dealing with them, not as in their sins and behavior, which they deserved.
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But notice this. He's always gentle. That's what Jesus says. I am meek and lowly in heart.
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He comes to them, reassuring them of this word and proof of his authenticity of commission and commissioning them to carry on his work into the world.
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And by enabling them by the power of the Holy Spirit, pledging to them that the power of the
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Holy Spirit will come upon you later on. And that's what happens. Now, let's go to the second half of this.
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Verse 24 through 31, we see a platform of a sightseer.
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Now, look at verse 24. Now Thomas called the twin. One of the twelve was not with them when
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Jesus came. And the other disciples, we don't know who they were, but there was other disciples who were plural.
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More than one disciple talked to them. There was others. And therefore said to them, to him, we have seen the
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Lord. That was their testimony right to the point. We've seen the Lord.
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And then this is what Thomas says. So he said to them, unless I see in his hands the print of the nails and put my finger into the print of the nails and I put my hand into his side,
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I will not believe. Now, this is very interesting. In Scripture, we know about Thomas a little bit, don't we?
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He's already been portrayed in Scripture as a loyal, but he's very pessimistic.
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He's loyal, but he's pessimistic. Now, I want to say this before we...
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So many people really go after Thomas thinking because of his pessimism, they have a tendency to overlook his strengths and look at his weaknesses.
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It makes people feel better, doesn't it? But there is an encouragement here for us. He's a very human, real disciple.
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We should be careful not to jump to the conclusion that Thomas should be blamed for not being present there, right?
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Nothing in the text is said to indicate the reason for his absence. I read other commentators and really scolded him.
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Well, because he wasn't there. You know, what are you doing, Thomas? Where are you?
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How dare you not be there when the Lord came? But we don't know why he wasn't there, right? The text doesn't tell us.
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All we know is that when Jesus came, Thomas was not there. Now, I will say this.
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He did miss seeing Jesus Christ. He did miss hearing his words. And he did miss receiving the commission, yes.
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He missed the blessing, yes. He had to endure a whole other week of fear and unbelief within himself.
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Think of that. There was another week within Thomas that he did not have the joy and peace that the other disciples experienced.
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That was on him. We don't know why the text doesn't tell us. And I'm not going to go beyond the text, beloved.
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Again, we don't know why he was absent. But scripture does tell us, according to John 11 6, that Thomas was courageous.
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He was a courageous disciple willing to go to Judea and die with Jesus Christ. He said that.
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And you also read in John 14 5 that Thomas seems to be spiritually minded, who wanted to know the truth.
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And he was not hesitant to ask questions to the Lord. For the same reason, because of his pessimism, personally, people have phrased him as doubting
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Thomas. Oh, doubting Thomas. Actually, I mentioned this. I was going to be ministering on this text to a deacon in the
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Baptist church. He works as a manager in a Dollar General. And that's the first thing he said.
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Oh, doubting Thomas. I said, well, you know, he's just he's known as doubting
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Thomas. But technically, if you were going to look in just a minute, he's unbelieving Thomas. As we will see from the text,
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Jesus does not rebuke him for his doubt, does he? He rebukes him for unbelief.
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I want you to look at this. Look at this with me. Look at verse 26 and 27. After eight days, his disciples were again inside and Thomas with them.
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Jesus came. Same. Jesus just shows up. The door's being shut.
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That means locked. He stood in the mist and said, peace to you. The same thing he said to the disciples when he first appeared to them.
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And then he said to Thomas, reach your finger here. Look at my hands.
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Reach your hand here and put it into my side. And notice underscore this in your Bible. Do not be what?
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Unbelieving. He didn't say doubting. He said, do not be unbelieving, but believing.
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That's that's the rebuke. Lovingly, graciously, Jesus gave and arrested. Jesus did not rebuke
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Thomas for his failure. But instead, Jesus gently, compassionately, graciously offered him proof of his resurrection.
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Jesus knows exactly what he's doing and how to get right to his heart. Now, I'll tell you why in just a second here.
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Jesus lovingly met him personally to the point of his weakness. And this is what
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Jesus does to us. He comes to the point of our weakness and he does.
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He knows how to graciously in his goodness and his patience. And that's convicting in of itself.
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When the Lord comes, it convicts me when I and he doesn't have to come scolding me.
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But in in his loving way, oh, he will give me the truth. Oh, he does not hold back the truth because he is the truth.
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But I'm telling you what, he comes to Thomas. And it's not because of doubt, but it was because of unbelief.
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Now, I could camp right there and preach a whole message about unbelief. But let me tell you a little bit about the difference between doubt and unbelief.
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Doubt is the most often an intellectual problem where the person wants to believe, but their faith is overwhelmed by problems and questions.
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Unbelief, rather, is a moral, a deep -seated heart problem because the person simply is unwilling to believe.
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I'll tell you this, Thomas had a heart of unbelief here. Hebrews 3, 12 says this and warns us.
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Take care, brethren, that there not be anyone, listen to this, be in anyone of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living
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God. There is a warning for us. So, doubt says,
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I cannot believe. But unbelief says, I will not believe. There is a difference.
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I will say that again. Doubt says, I cannot believe. Help my unbelief.
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But unbelief says, I dare not believe. I will not believe.
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That's a hardness of heart. So what happens? Hey, Jesus heard this when he made this confession, unless I see for myself.
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But Jesus heard those words. Jesus came. Again, everything changes when
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Jesus comes. He graciously stoops to our level of experience in order to lift us up where we ought to be.
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And after Jesus shows up, He shows His marks of passion to Thomas.
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And then Thomas, oh, his reaction. He was so transformed and changed, beloved.
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He went from unbelieving to belief. There's no record that Thomas ever accepted the
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Lord's invite to touch him. We don't know. But we do know this. Thomas answered and said, my
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Lord and my God. You know something? That's one of the greatest testimonies.
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It's right along with all the other great testimonies along in the scriptures of the deity of Jesus Christ.
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He says, my Lord and my God. You know, he wanted to see
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Jesus and Jesus showed up and he saw Jesus. Now you think of this, that's the need of the hour that we may see
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Jesus. Oh, that we may see Jesus. You know, the deity of Jesus Christ, he says, my
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Lord and my God. Notice Jesus does not withhold worship. He receives his worship.
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What does that tell us? That tells us that Jesus is God in the flesh. That shows you that God was manifest in the flesh.
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Jesus said, Thomas, because you have seen me, you have believed. And then he says this, blessed are those that have not seen and yet have believed.
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That's you and me. You know, it's like as Jesus foresaw the time when such tangible evidence as Thomas has received would not be available when
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Jesus ascended on high to the father. And all those who believe would do so without the benefit of seeing the resurrected
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Christ like they did. But Jesus pronounced a special blessing on those who would believe without seeing, beloved.
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And I love this as privileged Thomas was. But 1 Peter chapter 1, 8 and 9 says this, whom have not seen.
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Listen to what Peter says, whom have not seen you love, though now you do not see him yet believing.
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You rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
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So that's the special blessing that the Lord gives to those who look to him.
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Now, in verse 30 and 31, truly, Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book.
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But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name.
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So let me ask the question, what's the point about the resurrection of Jesus Christ here, the record?
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Well, the resurrection miracle of Jesus was not exclusive for those alive at that time.
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You see, it's just was not for those disciples and those witnesses and those other witnesses in that time period.
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It is for us as well in our time. So it is to be experienced by faith and trust in the word of the living
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God in every age to come. What's John's main point about believing in Jesus?
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That's really the whole focus here is to believe in Jesus.
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It comes down to this, to see Jesus. They've seen
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Jesus with their physical eyes. You know, you hear the saying, seeing is believing. But you know something? We can see with the eyes of faith.
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We can see with the eyes of faith. Romans 10, 17. So then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.
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This is a direct result of believing his word. You know, the gospel of John contains nearly a hundred references, beloved, to believing in Jesus.
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A hundred. First John 5, 9 through 13.
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If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater.
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For the testimony of God is this, that he has testified concerning his son.
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The one who believes in the son of God has the testimony in himself. The one who does not believe
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God has made him a liar because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given concerning his son.
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And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life and this life is in his son.
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He who has the son has the life and he who does not have the son of God does not have the life.
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These things have I written to you who believe in the name of the son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.
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You know, first John was written because of the same apostle that wrote the gospel. John wrote first and second and third
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John and also pinned down revelation. But the purpose of that you may know you have eternal life.
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It was to encourage the believers that you may know. So faith in Jesus.
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Christ alone. Nothing else. No one else. In Christ alone.
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The son of the living God. The Messiah who came into the world. Who died on the cross for our sins.
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Buried the third day. Rose again from the dead. That's the gospel.
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You know, think of it. I like what Ravenhill says. And he's right.
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There are only two kinds of people in this world. Those who are dead to sin and those who are dead in sin.
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You know, that's Bible. You look it up yourself. That is Bible, beloved. The overall application to the text we have today is that salvation is not an act of resuscitation.
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It is a resurrection from the dead to the living.
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It's when the power of the living God comes as we looked at last
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Lord's day of Ezekiel. God asked Ezekiel, can these bones live?
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He said, Lord, you know. The breath of God blows and he said, preach my word.
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And the power of God's word comes upon them bones and they come to life. It's not resuscitation.
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It's bringing something from the dead like a dead corpse to a living, active, vibrant body.
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It comes by the mighty word of God through the power of the Holy Spirit. And I like to call this is what scripture says, the operation of God.
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It's a miracle, isn't it? When somebody is passed from death to life, from darkness to light, from bondage to freedom, that is the power of God.
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You know, we pray for our loved ones to come to salvation. We can't, we can't transform them.
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But God can, God can. Raising dead men to life by the resurrection power of Jesus.
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And I'm telling you, that's the kind of power the gospel has. It has the power of God to raise the dead.
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You know, Jesus said this in John 11, 25. I am the resurrection and the life.
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And he who believes in me will live even if he dies. That's a promise we have, beloved.
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There's going to come a point, there's one thing for certain, we're going to die. You know, why do you think people out there are so afraid right now?
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It's not because of coronavirus. It's because they're afraid of dying. That's, that's the issue.
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Beloved, this is where the people of God can shine in darkness brighter than ever.
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Because we have a living hope. We have the hope of a risen Christ that's risen from the dead.
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That said, I am the resurrection and the life. And he who believes in me will live even if he dies.
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I like what Stephen Lawson said. The stone was rolled away from the tomb, not to let
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Jesus out, but to let the world in. Hallelujah. Salvation is not a reward for the righteous.
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It is a gift for the guilty. We're undeserving of it. And we know this.
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So we come to God and we say, Lord, it's not because of our works of righteousness we have done, but it's because of his works of righteousness.
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It's because of him. And the message is still the same. It doesn't change. Repent and believe the gospel.
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That's what the word of God says. And God's word is sufficient. You know, God is more than able to say, but he's also more than willing to say to the uttermost, to him, to those who come to him.
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Well, we always, I must always ask the question, have you repented and truly believed in the gospel?
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The 10 disciples were transformed from fear to courage and as Thomas from unbelieving to believing.
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And John invites us to trust in the living God and Jesus Christ in order to be transformed from death to eternal life.
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John 3, 36. Let me close with this. He who believes in the son has eternal life.
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Notice how to the point the word of God is. It never beats around the bush. He who believes in the son of God has eternal life.
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But he who does not believe and that some translation says that he who does not obey the son will not see life.
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But the wrath of God abides on him. We better make sure that we are believing and repentant and coming to God because repentance is not an option.
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It's a command from God. Repent and believe the gospel.
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We have the greatest news that the world has ever heard. Let's take this gospel of Jesus Christ to the lost and dying and knowing and by faith it has the power to transform people.
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If they're fearful and if they believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and they come to trust in Him as their
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Lord and Savior and Master and follow Him and take up their cross, deny themselves, Jesus promised everlasting life on the other end.
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And it begins here. I remember thinking when I first became a
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Christian, wow, eternal life is going to start when I get to heaven. And then I started reading the scriptures what the
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Bible says that you're raised up in the heavenly places now in Jesus. Hallelujah.
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I mean, I saw it like here is salvation has come to me now.
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The righteousness of God is imparted to me. It's not my righteousness. Jesus says
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I am come to give life and give it more abundantly in Him. That's not talking about possessions.
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It's talking about being rich in faith. And then I saw it different. I said, wow, I have everlasting life beating within my breast now.
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So I'm ready. If you're in Jesus, you're ready. If you're not in Jesus, well, then get ready because the wrath of God abides on you.
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And scripture says, flee from the wrath to come. Well, praise God, we have the greatest news the world has ever known.
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Let's pray. Father, we thank you for this day and not only this day that you have given.
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But Father, we thank you for every day, every Lord's day that we come to meet together, that we celebrate and we worship the living
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God, the risen, your risen son. We thank you that he is at your right hand.
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He is forever interceding for us. He forever lives and he's most glorious.
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Lord, just may our hearts be enraptured in Jesus. Lord, give us the
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Jesus of the Bible or give us nothing. Lord, make us more like unto you, son.
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May we live this life before a lost and dying world that they may see Jesus in us. And as you said to Thomas, do not be unbelieving, but believing.
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Help our unbelief, Lord. And may we cry out and confess as Thomas did, my
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Lord and my God. What a confession. What a glorious confession.
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Just as the spirit of God, as your spirit,
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Lord, revealed this to Peter. Jesus said, flesh and blood has not revealed this to you.
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As Peter said, that there are the Christ, the son of the living
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God, has nothing greater. May we believe because all these things were written that we may believe that Jesus is the
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Christ, the Messiah, the anointed one, the son of David, the son of God. And that believing we may have life in his name.
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And whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved, shall be delivered.
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We praise you for this great salvation today, and we give you glory. We ask this, and we ask this,