The First Easter part 4 - Christ Appears to Thomas

I appreciate that worship. You might not know this but one of my habits when I am worshiping sitting down there my usual spot is I'll jot the title of the songs that really resonate with me as they speak to the message. Well this morning I really didn't have enough room at the top of my page. I call your attention to some of the things that we have just sung. O for a faith that will not shrink. What is the chorus? Help our unbelief. Are we not like Thomas? Many times we need the Lord to just help us in our unbelief. That last song, "He will hold me fast." We are familiar with that song.

When we cannot hold ourselves we need him to hold us fast. I really appreciate that worship. Not just the music but the lyrics, the words, the truth that's behind all of that. Thank you Keith. Well go ahead and take your Bible and turn back with me to John chapter 20. Like I said earlier this is a familiar place in your Bible and my Bible and we'll be dividing verses 24 to 29 verses 24 to 29. Now we're about to finish up chapter 20. I think that that is obvious. We'll have one more message in the chapter covering verses 30 to 31 and then we'll be waiting off into chapter 21.

I think I have said that said this many times that chapter 21 is one of my favorite chapters in the Bible. I look forward to chapter 21. Now as we have progressed along in our study of chapter 20, the two parallel stories I have used another word, narratives, they have become firmly fixed in our understanding of all of these verses. I believe we can see these two narratives much like the braids of a strong rope. First we see the braid of the individuals that are involved. We have Mary, we have Peter, we have John and the other disciples and then finally we have Thomas.

Each of these individuals are very different yet they are woven together to form this one braid, those who are the followers of Christ in this story. Second we have the braid of the resurrected Christ. He is the third person of the Holy Trinity. He is the only begotten of God. He came to earth as a man, the God-man, explicitly to die that substitutionary death on the cross for man. And in chapter 20, Jesus has risen from the dead and is revealing himself to his people. Now all along I have tried not to make too much of the individuals here that are involved.

Yes we are learning from these individuals and I believe we're learning greatly, wonderfully. Primarily I have tried to exalt the risen Christ above and beyond all. As I have said numerous times we must see the great victory that is within the resurrection. The resurrection is the victory parade. I use that language again. It is the victory parade of Christ Jesus throughout time and eternity. The main event of this victory parade is the spectacle of defeated foes. Satan, sin, death, and the grave are shackled and defeated foes.

They are led captive in this victory parade and so we must see the resurrected Christ is the main character, if I can use that language, within all of these verses here in chapter 20. Now this morning we'll have our fourth message in chapter 20. We have studied Mary and the disciples as they came to the empty tomb. We have studied Mary and the disciples as Jesus revealed himself to them and this morning we finally get to the one who's been missing all along. That being Thomas, the disciple Thomas, we're familiar with this one called Doubting Thomas. Now that brings me to the title of the message. It just progresses along.

It fits with everything that we've looked at. We're looking at the first Easter because this is not the morning anymore. Obviously, part four, Christ appears to Thomas. Now we will have five major truths in our outline this morning. As I always do, I give you these truths so that you can write them down. We want to be good stewards as we study God's Word. I've always been faithful to challenge you to take notes so that you can study on your own. I know that we give you adequate amount of information so that you can digest what the Lord wants to teach us in these verses. So let's go back to our verses starting in verse 24.

"But Thomas, one of the twelve, the one called Didymus or twin, he was not with them when Jesus came." Like I said earlier, this refers to the events where Jesus had revealed himself to the disciples. Verse 25, "The other disciples therefore were saying to him, 'We have seen the Lord.' But he said to them, 'Unless I shall see in his hands the imprint of the nails, but my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.' And after eight days, again, his disciples were inside, and Thomas with him.

Jesus came, the doors having been shut or bolted or locked, and he stood in their midst and he said, 'Peace be with you.' Then he said to Thomas, 'Reach here your finger and see my hands, and reach here your hand, and put it into my side. And be not unbelieving, but--" What is he saying? "Be believing." Verse 28, "Thomas answered, and he said to him, 'My Lord and my God.' And Jesus said to him, 'Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who did not see me, and yet they have believed.'" Now you see how we're going to divide these verses? So let's start off with our first major truth in our outline.

Notice the absence of Thomas. We have the absence of Thomas. We see this right here in verse 24. "But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came." Now all throughout chapter 20 we have not seen or heard from Thomas. This makes us ask a few questions. Who was this Thomas here in verse 24? Where has he been all this time? Were not these some very serious events that are going on on this very first Easter? Why was it Thomas involved? Well, we will answer those questions and then some, and I'll make four observations out of verse 24 and that'll help us see and deal with this absence of Thomas.

Notice right away that he was one of the twelve. He was one of the twelve. It says at the beginning there in verse 24 that he was one of the twelve. Now the phrase one of the twelve means that he was one of the original disciples. We know that Jesus called to himself twelve men and he appointed them as apostles. We see one of the listings of the twelve in Matthew 10 verses 1 to 4. So Thomas, this Thomas, he was one of the twelve apostles, the twelve disciples. Of course we know that traitor Judas was not here with the group. Then second, our second observation, notice he was the twin. The text says that he was called Didymus or the twin.

The new American that I'm reading from, the King James uses this word Didymus. The English standard, it simply says twin. Now this means that they called him by this term twin or Didymus. Simply this means that he had a nickname. We're familiar with things like that. This is important for us to know because we see this nickname in different places throughout the Gospels. This need not be confusing for us. Also this shows us that he was a real person. So he was a real person involved in these real great events. And then third, notice that he was not with the disciples earlier. Go back to the verse.

But Thomas, one of the twelve, the one called Didymus or the twin, was not with them when Jesus came. Here we see that he was not with the disciples throughout all of these events in the chapter. The other Gospels do not give us any information here besides in the the lists of the Apostles. The synoptic Gospels do not give us any information concerning Thomas. So here we see who this Thomas was. But we have not answered two other questions. Where was Thomas during this time and why was it Thomas with the other disciples? Now the text does not condemn Thomas for this absence. That might surprise some of you.

So we see that Thomas was not with the disciples. He wasn't condemned for this behavior, nor was he condoned for this behavior. He did not go to the empty tomb. He did not see the risen Christ earlier there in the upper room. He got into these events much later on in the timeline of things. Let's move on. I want us to see our second major truth. Notice the disciples they approach Thomas. Look at verse 25.

"The other disciples therefore were saying to him, 'We've 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 we do not know if the disciples went to Thomas or if Thomas went to the disciples. I believe it is safe to assume that Thomas, he went to the disciples. It seems that the disciples were accustomed to meeting in that familiar place. We know of the upper room. Maybe Thomas went to where he knew the other disciples would be meeting.

No matter who approached to, here we see that the disciples give Thomas a report of all that had been going on in his absence. Now there are two specifics that I want us to see here. Notice first what the disciples were saying. Notice what the disciples were saying. Go back to verse 25. "The disciples therefore were saying to him, 'We have seen the Lord.'" Now to understand the depth of what these men are saying here, we need to have an understanding of the original language. The construction of the original language tells us that the disciples kept on saying. So what do we see?

"We have seen the Lord." "We have seen the Lord." "We have seen the Lord." Now let's imagine Thomas. He had been absent from all of these events. Maybe he comes to this familiar upper room meeting place. The other disciples immediately bombard him with great excitement saying over and over and over, "We have seen the Lord. He is alive. He is alive." That is what the language is communicating here. There was a great excitement from these disciples as they repeatedly told Thomas that they had seen the risen Lord Jesus. But the second observation, notice Thomas was skeptical. Go back to verse 25.

"Now the other disciples were saying to him, 'We've seen the Lord, but..." Remember we see these transitions? "...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 the hyssod, I will not believe.'" Here we see Thomas does not believe a word that they say. Now let's think about this for a minute. Thomas has 10 men testifying to him that they have seen the risen Savior and simply he says, "I don't believe it." He says to the 10, "Unless I see proof, I will not believe." Is that not what we see here in the text? Go back to the verse. What does he say?

Look at the end of the verse. He says, "I will not believe." What is he saying? I have to have proof. So let's take a step back here and let's see what we have here in this absentee disciple, Thomas. Now normally this is where I offer a summary of what we have been looking at when we divide these verses. We can't do that with Thomas in these circumstances. We need to see more. I want us to see there's a pattern of behavior in this disciple, this one named Thomas. Now this first pattern is seen back in John chapter 11. John chapter 11 and this is when Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead.

In verse 7 Jesus stated that he wanted to return to Judea but his disciples, they resist and they resist in word. In verse 8 they questioned the judgment of Jesus' decision and they said, "Teacher or rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you and are you going there again?" Now notice how Jesus responds to their fears, the disciples' fears. Verse 11, "This he said, and after that he said to them, 'Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go, that I may awaken him out of his sleep.' The disciples therefore said to him, 'Lord if he's fallen asleep he will recover.'" See they didn't want to go.

Verse 13, "Now Jesus has spoken of this death but they thought he was speaking of literal sleep. Then Jesus therefore said to them plainly, 'Lazarus is dead. I'm going for your sake that I was not there so that you may believe but let us go to him.'" Now, now notice what Thomas says. Verse 16, "Thomas therefore, who is called Didymus or the twin, he said to his fellow disciples, 'Let us also go that we may die with him.'" What do we see? This is nothing more than pure pessimism. This is nothing more than gloom and doom that is just oozing out of Thomas' mouth.

We see this pattern again in what scholars call the farewell discourses, specifically John chapter 14. Jesus is in the upper room and he's preparing his disciples for his departure. Jesus speaks straight towards his departure and notice Thomas' response starting in verse 1 of chapter 14, "Let not your heart be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in me. In my father's house are many dwelling places or rooms. If it were not so, I would have told you so. And for you I go and prepare a place for you.

And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself that where I am there you may also be." But notice Thomas, "For you know the way where I am." Thomas said to him, "Lord, we do not know where you are going. How do we know the way?" Again, what do we have? Pessimism. We have gloom and doom coming out of the lips of Thomas. Now here's where I offer us our summary. What do we see here? Thomas is absent from all of these glorious events here in chapter 20. When he finally does reunite with his long-term friends and his longtime partners in ministry, they give him very exciting news. Remember what they said?

"We've seen the Lord. Oh Thomas, we've seen the Lord. He's alive." But pure pessimism leaps out of his mouth. He has a gloom and doom attitude. Go back to verse 25. What do we see at the end of verse 25? "I will not believe unless I see proof." I like how John MacArthur describes Thomas. I think he describes him perfectly. And I quote, "Thomas was the eternal pessimist. Like Eeyore in the Winnie the Pooh series or stories, he has a melancholy person with an uncanny knack for finding the dark cloud in every silver lining." Isn't that the truth? What's the silver lining? The disciples. He is risen.

But Eeyore Thomas, he steps up and says, "I don't believe it." Now, application. I want to start off by asking a question. You ever known someone like that? Years ago, Brother Keith and I ministered to a fellow, bless his heart. He was a young Christian and growing in the Lord. He's still growing in the Lord today. And I'm telling you, he was a classic Eeyore. Always saw the gloom and doom. It just came out in the tone of his voice. Always pessimistic. Always gloom and doom. It was always negative. You hear what I'm saying? Now, I want to step back to an even greater picture.

Notice all of the different personalities that we have in chapter 20. We have Mary, the over-emotional one. Remember? She's just weeping and broken there at the tomb. But, oh, she was as near to Jesus as she could get. And then second, we have the disciples. They were the fearful ones. Oh, they were locked up for fear of the Jews. But yet, the scripture says that John did believe when he saw that the tomb was empty, although it was a partial belief. And then third, we have Thomas, the pessimistic one. Oh, this is the gloom and doom one. This is the Eeyore out of the bunch. And we must see that God has all kinds within the work of the church.

All kinds of people. And some of you need to see that we all have strange ways. We all have strange hang-ups. And some of us, even in this very room, get very frustrated with people because we expect our brothers and sisters to be just like us. We're all different. Don't we see great differences just with these individuals here? And I've said this, and I'll say it again, this should show us that we all need patience with one another as we journey together in the life of the church. Now, I'm not excusing sin. Don't read me wrong. I'm not excusing sin. We just have our ways, our quirks, our hang-ups, our propensities.

But we must be faithful to be patient with one another. Was not Jesus patient with all of these different individuals? I think the answer to that question is obvious, and that is yes. Now, let's look at our third major truth. Notice the revelation to Thomas. This is Christ and his revelation to Thomas. We see this starting in verse 26 and on down to verse 27. "And after eight days again his disciples were inside." Now, Thomas was with them. Jesus came.

The doors having been shut are locked, and he stood in their midst, and he said, "Peace be with you." Then he said to Thomas, "Reach here at your finger and see my hands, and reach here your hand, and put it into my side, and be not unbelieving but believing." Now, before we pass judgment on Thomas, we need to examine how Jesus dealt with this problem disciple, if I can use that language. Remember that Thomas did belong to Christ. He was a true born-again Christian. He was a genuine Christian, a genuine disciple, and a part of genuine apostolic work. He was not a fake.

So let's hold back on our judgment and let's see how Jesus deals with his pessimism, his gloom and doom, this Eeyore disciple. Four observations I want to make here. As we see how Jesus revealed himself to Thomas. Notice it was the first day. It was the first day. Look at verse 26 and after eight days. Now, here, I believe, we begin to see a distance in time between verses 24 and 25, and what starts here in verse 26. That's important to see. There's a distance in time. But notice the language here in the verse. Now, all of the Bible commentators say that this is an idiomatic explanation of the Jewish numbering system.

Simply, this means that the disciples were meeting here again on the first day of the week. That is Sunday. Now again, John is emphasizing that the disciples were meeting on the first day, which was Sunday. We've seen this pattern all along. Again, John is repeating this for a reason. He is emphasizing that Christian worship was on Sunday and not the Jewish Sabbath, which was Saturday. He is emphasizing that these major events took place on Sunday. Second, notice where they were meeting. Where they were meeting. The second part of verse 26 says that Jesus came. The doors having been shut are locked or bolted.

Now, the text does not say that the disciples were in the upper room. Just like before, the text says that they were behind locked doors or closed doors. Now, most scholars believe that they were in that familiar upper room. Yet, there is one new item here that we must notice. Thomas is there. He's right there with him, and I have said this before. He is in his rightful place. Third, notice Jesus greeting. What does he say in verse 26? "Peace be with you." We've seen this greeting all along. This is familiar to us. This was a common Jewish greeting in that day. Also, Jesus had a purpose with this greeting.

He was seeking to comfort his disciples. He was seeking to squash their fears, to dispel their despair. This was meant to draw these men closer to him in his love and in his grace. Even Thomas, the one who had been absent, Jesus desired to draw him close. And then fourth, notice Jesus' revelation. Jesus' revelation. Verse 27, "Now Jesus said to Thomas, 'Reach here your finger, see my hands, and reach here your hand, and put it into my side, and be not unbelieving, but believing.'" Now, in verse 27, we see that Jesus went straight to his pessimistic disciples. He went straight to his greatest weakness, straight to his dogmatic doubting.

Jesus called Thomas to touch the very wounds. Thomas said that he must see to believe. Here Jesus did two things for Thomas. First, he gave Thomas a compassionate rebuke for his doubt and unbelief. Remember what Thomas said in verse 25? What did he say? "I'm not gonna believe." Jesus goes straight to this dogmatic doubt that possessed Thomas. And then second, Jesus offered Thomas undeniable proof that he was alive. Notice this is the proof that Thomas seemed to demand. If I can create a visual for us, it's almost like with one arm, Jesus hugged Thomas. With the other arm, he rebuked Thomas, putting his hands in his wounds.

Now, in summary, what do we see here? Truthfully, there is a lot in verse 26 and 27. Truthfully, this is really, really heavy. Jesus reveals himself to his disciples, but mainly to doubting Thomas. Jesus goes straight to Thomas and his problem. Doubt and pessimism. That Eeyore gloom and doom attitude that possessed him. If I can use this language, Thomas had a personality problem, yet it was much deeper than that. This affected his ability to believe. This impacted his faith. Jesus gave Thomas a loving rebuke. Jesus gave Thomas the proof that he needed, but at the same time, he addressed the problem of his heart.

Now, for us, we must see that Christ can and will come to our greatest need, our greatest spiritual hang-up, our greatest problem. Yes, even you, even me. Jesus did that work in the upper room. I believe that's where they were, and he does that work now in the life of the church. Might say, "Pastor, how's that the case?" Oh, listen folks, you must see that when the Word of God is taught, when the Word of God is read, when the Word of God is explained, God uses the Word of God to do this very work in our life. And many times, he does this work through what we call body life.

As we live life around Christian brothers and sisters, around people who can speak into our life, who can correct us and teach us and encourage us, we must see that the Living Lord who did this work for Thomas can do this work for us, no matter what kind of personality quirk we may have. Oh, no matter what hinders us in our faith. But I'll give you a warning here. This is a serious warning. Beware of those so-called Christians who think they can live this so-called Christian life without the body of Christ, without being connected to the body, without being connected to brothers and sisters, and out from under the Word of God.

Listen, beware of those who would disconnect. Thomas couldn't live disconnected. I believe I know why he went back to those disciples. Oh, his heart just drew him there. That wasn't his heart. That was the Spirit of God. Oh, but one more thing in application. We also need to see that major events took place on God's day, Sunday, the Lord's day. Listen folks, God, major events take place on Sunday, God's day. Major events take place. That is the declaration of God's Word associating with brothers and sisters in Christ. Oh, it's the work of the church. Those are major events, the greatest events that we could ever be a part of.

Now let's continue on. I want us to see our fourth major truth in our outline. Our fourth major truth in our outline, we see the confession of Thomas, the confession of Thomas. Now here I choose to separate Thomas, his reaction from Jesus and his revelation. Now there are a lot of scholars, Bible commentators that I read that they did not do that. They kind of put that all together. I believe it is very important to examine Jesus' revelation. We've done that. We need to see how Jesus revealed himself to Thomas and how Jesus revealed Thomas to Thomas. Isn't that what he did?

But we must take an adequate amount of time to see Thomas' reaction to this revelation of Christ in his life. Now there are two specifics that I want us to see here concerning this confession. First notice, Thomas confessed Jesus as his Lord. Go back to verse 28. Thomas answered and he said to him, "My Lord and my God, Thomas here in confessing Christ as Lord was affirming Jesus' lordship over his life." Like I said earlier, Thomas was a true follower of Christ and our language, he was a born-again Christian. So what was Thomas saying with this confession? Jesus had corrected, rebuked, comforted and encouraged Thomas.

There are not enough words to adequately describe all that Jesus did in Thomas previously and Thomas is affirming Christ's lordship over his life. He is saying, "You are my Lord and I love you and I adjust my life to you as you are Lord over my life." Even my problems. Then notice second, Thomas confessed Jesus as God. Isn't that what he says? "My Lord and my God." Just with these three words, "and my God," we have two major realities that we must see. First, Thomas confessed Jesus as God, deity, God in the flesh. And second, Jesus does not rebuke Thomas in this confession. He accepts what Thomas said.

By not correcting Thomas here, Jesus is claiming to be God. So in summary, what are we seeing here? This confession by Thomas. Here we have one of the greatest confessions in Scripture. This confession is right up there with Peter's confession in Matthew chapter 16 verse 16. Remember in verse 15 in chapter 16, there is a great discussion about who people say Jesus is and Jesus turned that to the disciples and he says, "But who do you say I am?" Verse 16, Simon Peter replied, "You're the Christ, the Son of the Living God." And Jesus answered and he said to him, "Blessed are you Simon, blessed are you Simon, for flesh and blood is not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven." Now again, notice what Thomas says in his confession.

"You are my Lord and my God." But here we must also see what takes place between verse 27 and verse 28. Go back to the verses. "Then he said to Thomas, 'Reach here your finger, see my hands, and reach your hand and put it into my side, and be not unbelieving but believing.' And Thomas answered to him and he said, 'My Lord and my God.'" Now you might say, "Pastor, I don't see anything between those verses." We must see the great work that took place in Thomas's heart. There was a great heart change here in this revelation. Now notice the progression in Thomas's life.

Thomas comes to the disciples, or the disciples come to Thomas, we really don't know, but what happens? The disciples bombard Thomas. "Oh, they're overly excited. We've seen the Lord. We've seen the Lord. He's risen, Thomas. He's alive." Thomas says, "I don't believe. I won't believe unless I see." Jesus appears to Thomas and speaks right to his pessimism, right to that dogmatic doubt. Jesus addressed his personality problems, this perpetual personality problem, which points to a greater problem, a lack of faith. Now notice how Jesus does this. He does it with words and with his eyes. He does it with words in sight.

He speaks to Thomas and he reveals those wounds to Thomas. And then comes Thomas' confession. But we must see the heart change that is behind the confession. I've said it like this before. This was more than a Sunday school answer. This represented a great work that Christ had done in his heart. Simply Jesus had changed Thomas right there. Now an application for you and for me. Listen, crisis comes. All kinds of circumstances come. Look, trials we learned back in our study of James. Trials can be negative and trials can be positive, but all type of experiences come, especially when crisis and trial come. And oh, Christ reveals himself to us.

He comes to us because we are his own and he works in our life personally. Now this always brings us to a question. Pastor, how does the living Christ speak to us? He speaks to us from his Word. Oh, he speaks to us from his Word. Now this brings us to other questions like, well does God continue to speak? Oh yeah, there are people you know they want to hear God speak audibly. I'll give you a good example of how you can hear God speak audibly. Just read the Word of God out loud. Read the Word of God out loud. Listen, what am I trying to show you folks? When we're in crisis and in circumstances, Christ reveals himself in his Word.

Oh, and this brings about a great heart and moral change in our life. I like what the old Southern Baptist evangelist Manly Beasley said. When God works in our life, there's a moral change. What is he talking about? He changes who we are in our being and that's what took place with Thomas. So this is more than a confession. This is more than a right theological declaration. This is more than a great profession of accurately who Christ is. It represented a changed heart. Now a little more an application here folks. Oh, when God does this for me, when God does this for you, that's when the rejoicing comes. Oh, that's when the rejoicing comes.

And see that same brother and sister over there who's walked with you through that trial, maybe they've been used of God in that trial. Maybe they've encouraged you. Maybe they've corrected you. Maybe they've rebuked you. Oh, that same brother and sister over there, they get to see you rejoice and praise God. I think about those disciples. Maybe they nudged each other and said, "Man, what a change in Thomas. Oh, he's rejoicing with them." And they all praise God. This is a confession that indicates a great life change. And then our fifth major truth in our outline, verse 29.

And Jesus said to him, "Because you have seen me, you have, have you believed?" It's a question. But then Jesus changes. Blest are they who did not see and yet believed. Here we have the conclusion of Jesus' interaction with Thomas. But also we have Jesus speaking to others beyond Thomas. Those who would come after Thomas and many, many more. Now there are two observations I want to make here. First notice that Thomas saw and he believed. Isn't that what the beginning of verse 29 says? This is Jesus and his testimony. "Because you have seen me, have you believed?" Here we see the obvious. This statement has been proven in the events before.

Thomas was in a place of pessimism and unbelief. In verse 25 he said, "Unless I see his hands, the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, unless I place my hand into his side, I will never believe." But Jesus gracefully revealed himself to Thomas. He revealed his wounds. And what do we see? Thomas comes to this place of seeing and believing. But then second, notice that others will not see, yet they will believe. Isn't that what the verse says? "But blessed are they who did not see and yet believe." Here we have what Bible scholars call this second beatitude from John's gospel.

You might say, "Pastor, I thought they were only beatitudes in Matthew's account." No, they're two. Two in John's gospel. Back in chapter 13 verse 17 we see the first, "While Jesus was washing the disciples feet," what does he say? "If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them." In other words, if you do as I have done for you. Now a question. What is going on here in this portion of verse 29 when he says, "Blessed are they who did not see and yet believed." Jesus is saying that those who do not physically see Jesus, yet believe they will be blessed by God in a unique way. Unique as opposed to these disciples who did see.

This is a special unique work that God does for us. John MacArthur explains what Jesus is saying here very well, I think. And I'm quoting, "They who will never see physical evidence of Christ's rising will have a greater measure of the Holy Spirit to empower faith in the resurrection." So Jesus is speaking beyond his disciples here, even to the people in our time, those who will never see any physical evidence of the resurrection. So in summary, what do we see here? Thomas saw and he believed.

Even as he struggled in his lack of faith, even as he struggled in this gloom and doom spirit, Jesus graciously revealed himself to Thomas and he believed. But there are those who are blessed of God in a unique manner so as to believe without ever seeing the resurrected Christ as these men did. That would be us. That would be you and me who are in Christ Jesus today. Now as we bring the message to a conclusion, what have we seen here? Really a whole lot. The wagon has been loaded. Thomas finally comes on the scene, this absentee, doubtful disciple.

The disciples bombard Thomas with great excitement saying repeatedly that they have seen the risen Christ. Imagine their great zeal. In his gloom and doom, Thomas says, "I will never believe that Jesus is alive unless I see those wounds." Jesus then lovingly yet correctively reveals himself to Thomas. Thomas has a great and wonderful heart changed. He goes from floundering faith to one of the greatest confessions in the gospel and this great confession represented a great and mighty heart change. Now in my imagination, I wonder if something happened like this after verse 28. Go back to verse 28 with me.

Thomas answered and said to him, "My Lord and my God." After Thomas said, "My Lord and my God," after this great and mighty work that took place in Thomas, maybe Thomas stepped up right in front of those disciples and maybe he said something like this, "I serve a risen Savior. He's in the world today. I know that he is living whatever me and I say. I see his hand of mercy. I hear his voice of cheer and just the time I need him." Oh, didn't Thomas need him? He's always near. Oh, but I'm still using my imagination here, folks.

Maybe the disciples stepped up and interrupted Thomas and maybe they said, "You know, Thomas, when you know we're not with us, when Jesus revealed himself to us before, oh, we sing it like this. We serve a risen Savior. He's in the world today. We know that he is living whatever me and I say. We see his hand of mercy. We hear his voice of cheer and just the time we need him, he's always near." And I believe they went on. He lives, he lives. Christ Jesus lives today. He walks with us and talks with us a long life's narrow way. He lives, he lives salvation to impart. You ask us how we know he lives. He lives within our heart.

Oh, I don't know if they sing that song. I'm sure they didn't, but I know that song captures the hearts of these men. I sure hope you can sing that song with us today. I do. Us, meaning those of us who've been born of God. See, if you're here this morning and you've been born of God, oh, the Spirit of God welled up within you. And in your heart of hearts, in your mind, you sing that along. Why? Because you've been born of God, you've seen the risen Savior. You have this unique work of faith that Jesus talked about in verse 29. Oh, but let's get honest, folks. You see, I'll never forget one of the greatest preachers of the 20th century, A.W.

Tozer said, "You know, folks today, they sing lies. They sing lies. Let's don't sing a lie today, because many of you can't sing this song honestly. You cannot sing this song honestly. It's because you do not know the risen Christ as your Savior. He is not in your heart, in your life. You are outside of the saving grace of God. You are estranged from a saving knowledge of God. And, oh, I urge you please come to Christ today. Please come to repentance today. Please come and trust in Christ today. I urge you to come to Christ as He enables you to come to Christ.

I'm so thankful that one faithful day when I was 20 years old, He enabled me to come to Christ. And I can sing this song because he is my risen Savior.