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From Pouter to Doubter to Shouter
John 20:24-29
We know less about
Thomas than some of the disciples.
We don't know his trade or how or when Jesus called him.
[unlike several others] He may have been a
twin. Thomas is Aramaic for
twin. Didymus is Greek for
twin. We could speculate
that Matthew was his twin, because they are often listed together.
But we don't know. Have you ever confused
someone for their twin? You
see your 'friend' in public and give a friendly 'hi' and they say,
'hello?' How rude! Some of you gave birth
to twins. How many of you
have a twin? Fraternal like
ours? Identical? Back in high school I
dated a girl who had a twin and I had the hardest time telling them
apart. One day it dawned on
me: Her brother was slightly
taller than she was! There are only about a
dozen verses about Thomas...all in John, most in today's passage.
And so for 2,000 years he has gotten a lot of bad press because
he doubted. What's his
nickname? Doubting Thomas! But here's a couple of
positives about him first. Courage: John 11:14-16 Why did Thomas say
this? In order for Jesus to
go to Lazarus, He has to go back to
He may be known as a
doubter but he was devoted...even unto death.
We must emulate this!
Christians are being killed all over the world today, and that could
swiftly come to a nation near you!
We have underground missionaries we support who put their lives
on the line every day. Are
you willing to follow Jesus, even unto death? Camaraderie: Thomas always wanted
to be close to where Jesus was.
John 14:1-6 You may see some
doubting in Thomas' statement, but if you look closely, you will sense
that he just wants to stay close to Jesus.
He wants to go with Him if possible, just as he intended to join
Him in going to Lazarus' tomb. Jesus answered Thomas'
question because it was sincere.
And we ought to do whatever
it takes to be as close to Jesus as we possibly can!
We should want to go where He is...which today, is heaven!
Do you need to make sure?
I don't care if you are a deacon, a s.s. teacher, a pastor's kid,
or a long time member. Put
your pride in one pocket, your dignity in the other, and do the
respectable thing and make sure! [pastor's wife!] Thomas was courageous
and loyal! But now, back to
the down side in our text...
1. Thomas
the Pouter. Jesus had been
crucified, and it was the 3rd day, and the disciples are gathered in a
room with the door bolted tight.
They thought they would soon be arrested/killed.
Jesus appeared miraculously without knocking on the door.
There are 10 of them.
We know what happened to Judas...but where is Thomas? A quick examination of
what we know about Thomas reveals his basic makeup is that of a
pessimist. Many scholars
believe he must have been off feeling sorry for himself - pouting, if
you will.
Some people see the dark
side of every situation...the dark cloud behind the silver lining.
The glass is half empty!
ill.--Eeyore:
"Mornin' Pooh...if it is a good mornin'."
"Weather's still bad...but at least we haven't had an
earthquake...lately!" Have you ever worked
with someone like that?
Lived with? He thought the worst
case scenario. [go to
Lazarus and die / Jesus is leaving us forever!]
The Christian disciple
should say, Jesus can walk on water and raise the dead...we'll be ok, no
matter what! On this day in our
text he just knows his worst fear has come true.
He would be alone and forsaken forever...his hopes were crushed.
His heart was irreparably torn.
He felt awful, and didn't want to feel better.
He certainly wasn't in the mood for socializing.
He would rather be alone.
He couldn't be in a crowd right now, even if they were friends.
So rather than attend the first ever Sunday service without
Jesus, he would wallow in his sadness alone!
What Thomas missed:
·
The presence of the Lord.
v. 19
·
The power of the Lord.
Jesus either walked
through that wall or materialized out of thin air.
What a demonstration of power!
It was a physical body that could touch and eat, and yet it was
glorified...not limited to the 3 dimensions of our world!
And one day we will have bodies like that!
·
The peace of the Lord. They weren't all
negative, but they were all human.
They had a lot of fear and nerves about all that was going on
around them. Remember when
they were in a boat in a storm?
Jesus said Peace be still, and those waves lay down like a
whipped pup. Now again they
hear Him say Peace, and it changed everything.
Thomas missed it!
·
The proof of the Lord. v. 20a Jesus now has a
glorified body, but He chose to retain His scars.
We all have scars, but we won't in heaven.
[I have one from when I was riding my bike and was struck by a
parked car. I never claimed
to be intelligent!] Even to this day in
heaven, and forevermore Jesus' scars exist as an eternal reminder to us
in heaven as to how we got there!
·
The praises of the Lord. v.
20b What an
understatement! Can you
imagine how they must've felt?
His presence leads us to praise!
Or at least it should.
Some members come to church with a face so long it'd take a week
to shave it!
·
The precepts of the Lord.
v. 21 His mandate is our
mandate. His mission is our
mission. His motive is our
motive! Thomas missed it.
·
The promise of the Lord.
vv. 22-23 This was a
foreshadowing of what would happen to them in 90 days at Pentecost, when
they would receive the Holy Spirit. Hebrews 10:25 When we forsake the
assembly of our church, whether it is because we are discouraged,
depressed, tired, hurting, whatever...it is then that we need to be
around other believers the most!
Look at what we miss out on when Jesus shows up and we do not!
And this was an evening service.
Those are often our best around here...and some of you would
never know it! I'm the Pastor, and
yet many times I don't want to come!
But there are 2 main times when I should come:
When I feel like it and when I don't! Now, people get sick
and have to work jobs or in kid's ministries.
Get online and get the message and come the next time and get the
fellowship too! You see, God is
omnipresent, He is everywhere.
And He is personally present in the life of a believer.
But in the assembly at church, He is DYNAMICALLY present!
This means there is a variation of His presence here that you
won't find anywhere else.
He's present here in a way that He is not present with you at any other
time. And we shouldn't be
able to get enough of that! "Where two or more are
gathered, there am I in the midst." - Jesus
He's not talking
about His omnipresence or His personal presence.
He's talking about a dynamic manifestation that He delivers only
to the church! And I feel
it! How about you!
In our worship, in our testimonies, in the preaching - it's real
and undeniable! There truly is
strength in numbers - the Bible said it first...and He inhabits the
praise of His people! And we
miss it all when we stay home. He works here in power
through the preaching of His Word...and it's different even than in our
private devotions. It's a
different dynamic, and it is special.
The biggest and best decisions of my life were highly impacted by
preaching services at the churches where God has put me.
Let me ask you, Where has He put you?
Might you be missing out on some of what He has planned for you? Don't let feelings
rule. I've gone to revivals
and conferences before where I walked in feeling so down and small that
I could sit on a curb and my feet would dangle.
But I left on top of the world having met with God and God's
people and having heard from God's Book and God's Spirit!
He knew exactly what I needed! There's something
uniquely special about coming together and praising the Lord together
with a group of like-minded believers in unity!
2. Thomas
the Doubter. It's not fair for him
to be forever remembered this way. When Jesus met with
all 10 disciples on resurrection Sunday He did 3 things:
·
He
reassured them as He showed them the nail prints.
Why?
Because at first they thought it was a ghost or a spirit.
Can you blame them? ill.--imagine you go
to the funeral of a good friend and see their body lying in state, and
you watch at the graveside as they lower that body into the ground.
3 days later you walk into your house and there they sit on your
couch!
They needed some
reassurance that He was real...lest they soil themselves!
·
He
re-commissioned them in v. 21 He said you will take
over for me on earth! Now He
has no hands but ours! We
are His voice on the planet.
·
He enabled
them in v. 22 Jesus doesn't just
give them orders, but ordinance! When these 3 things
happened, Thomas was not there.
The disciples soon saw him and told him they had seen the Lord,
and naturally he thinks they saw a ghost or something!
And he's not going to be set up for more disappointment. He made this one
remark and now he has this nickname for ages.
In heaven, will he have a name tag that says Doubting Thomas?!
Isn't it sad
that we can make one stupid mistake and be branded for life?!
Thomas is human, and
he is not alone. The track
record of the other disciples is no better.
They also scoffed when they first heard He was alive... Mark 16:9-11 Doubting Peter,
doubting James, doubting Matthew, doubting Philip, etc. Luke 24:9-11 All these eyewitnesses
and they don't believe.
[Women esteemed low in those days?] Mark 16:12-13 Now it is a man or
two. Also notice that in
all cases, even Thomas', it never says they doubted, but they believed
not. Unbelief is the true
problem of the human heart.
Doubt is in the mind.
Unbelief is in the heart. Those recently saved
had some doubt. They had
questions they needed answered.
Once their questions were answered, they had no more doubt.
But when
somebody doesn't believe, it's difficult to change their 'mind' by just
presenting facts. Heart
problems run deep! ill.--Lee
Strobel testimony Once his mind's
questions were answered he got saved.
But what if he had still chosen not to believe?
Then it would have been a heart problem.
Some people
cannot find God for the same reason that a criminal can't find a police
officer.
Doubt is an intellectual problem.
Unbelief is a moral problem. Jesus never rebuked
their doubt, rather their unbelief. Mark 16:14 Back to our text... John 20:27b
'Be not faithless, but believing.'
Here's where the
unbelieving heart really shows.
These guys not only don't believe the eyewitness testimonies, but
they also reveal that they didn't believe what Jesus Himself had said
about 6 months previous to this.
At least 5 times He had told them He would be killed and would
rise again. Mark 9:31 Are you not believing
God for something?
3. Thomas
the Shouter. v. 27
Jesus takes Thomas up on his offer.
He condescended to meet Thomas in his point of weakness.
He gave him the proof he desired. Ask an atheist:
Are you a moral atheist or an intellectual atheist? A moral atheist
doesn't want there to be a God to submit to. An intellectual
atheist has questions that need to be answered.
They aren't trying to kill God, they simply desire evidence and
don't feel they have any.
Let's assume
they say they are an intellectual atheist...sincere.
Ask them if they have all knowledge.
They don't. Then how
do they know He doesn't exist.
They will have to admit they aren't an atheist, but an agnostic.
They simply don't know.
Are they a moral
agnostic or an intellectual one? Challenge them to pray
every day for God to reveal Himself, and then read a page or two of the
book of John. I believe God
will reveal Himself to them! Jesus met Thomas at
his point of weakness and revealed himself. v. 28
Thomas became a shouter!
And he became a missionary to You may have walked in
a doubter, but you can leave this place a shouter, with the joy of
having your sins forgiven!
Please help keep this ministry free by honoring our system...
Please Choose:
Grace Notes Sermon Ministry:
NOTICE! Our sermons are free to download, copy and paste, edit and use as you see fit...but only our free subscribers get the newest messages, featured sermons, and some free gifts we shower on them from time to time! Help keep this service free by recommending it using the links above the sermon
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All Sermons and PowerPoint Slideshow Presentations ©Copyright Jerry Shirley and Grace Notes Ministries® unless otherwise credited. These resources are yours to use freely and uncredited, but only in public worship services or private study groups and devotions. They may not be sold, republished or retransmitted in any form without written permission.