{"id":18844,"date":"2015-05-24T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-05-24T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sugar-land-bible-church.local\/sermon\/not-unbelieving-but-believing-part-1\/"},"modified":"2015-05-24T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2015-05-24T05:00:00","slug":"not-unbelieving-but-believing-part-1","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/slbc.org\/es\/sermon\/not-unbelieving-but-believing-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Not Unbelieving But Believing – Part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","book":[88],"series_event":[434],"sermon_service_type":[472],"speaker":[6],"class_list":["post-18844","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","hentry","book-john","series_event-john","sermon_service_type-main-service","speaker-dr-andy-woods","no-post-thumbnail"],"acf":{"sermon_title":"Not Unbelieving But Believing - Part 1","sermon_date":"20150524","sermon_month":"5","sermon_year":"2015","sermon_notes":2719,"sermon_slides":2720,"sermon_mp3":2721,"sermon_id":"517151010493","series_or_event":434,"service_type":[472],"speaker":6,"books_of_the_bible":88,"chapter_and_verse":"20:24-26","sermon_transcript":"Andy Woods\nNot Unbelieving But Believing (Part 1)\n5-24-15 John 20:24-26 Lesson 124\n\nGood morning everyone. If we could take our Bibles and open them to John 20:24, we\u2019ll maybe make it through verse 29 today, probably not, maybe verse 27, we\u2019ll see. But the title of our message this morning is Not Unbelieving But Believing. And it\u2019s sort of funny, I had been praying, I said Lord, You know, we need to let these people out of church early every once in a while; we need to beat the Baptists to the cafeteria at least one time. So I guess last week was it. But if you didn\u2019t get the e-mail one of the things I started experiencing as I was sitting there is these intense stomach pains, and I\u2019ve preached sick, half-dead, flu, and I just could not get up and do it. So I thought I was having some kind of heart attack, having never having a heart attack, maybe I\u2019m having a heart attack. We went to the ER and they gave me some medicine and whatever was going on disappeared immediately, and I haven\u2019t let that medicine out of my sight for a week. So I just went through my normal work week at College of Biblical Studies almost like nothing ever happened. I do have a specialist appointment, they wouldn\u2019t let me see him until June, so I have to hang on until then.\n\nOf course, I want to wish everybody a very happy Memorial Day, it\u2019s not Memorial Day today but it\u2019s Memorial Day weekend. And of course, this is the time where we honor the fact that freedom isn\u2019t free, so we honor the brave men and women who serve our country and those who gave their lives to preserve freedom. And beyond that I had an announcement I was going to make last week and I didn\u2019t get a chance to make it so here it is in my notes again. I just got reminded of it because I didn\u2019t have to do any sermon prep this week, it was great. We, unfortunately have lost Melanie, she didn\u2019t die, Melanie has been our church secretary, one of our two church secretaries since, I think 2007. She handles all of our accounting and payroll and all of those kinds of things. And she got a wonderful ministry opportunity at her home church Beth Messiah, and she\u2019s basically going to be over children\u2019s ministry. So she\u2019s going to be designing children\u2019s ministry and she\u2019s going to have a lot of administrative leeway over that, so we, as the staff and the elders were sorry to see her go but we\u2019re also happy for her because we think this is a great fit for her.\n\nBut the good news is we haven\u2019t lost her completely; since her church meets on Saturday she\u2019s still free on Sunday so she\u2019s going to be in the office during church hours, taking care of accounting and things like that, so she won\u2019t be here during the week but she will be putting in about four hours a weekend on Sundays. So you might come into church and see her back there feverishly working and that\u2019s what she\u2019s doing.\n\nThen to sort of pick up the slack, because she was handling a lot of other administrative type issues, we, as the elders, decided to hire Dr. Jim McGowan to fill that role. Some of you may remember Jim McAllen, he was our Christian education pastor here, I think up until about the beginning of 2010. If you call the office and hear his voice or see him in there that\u2019s what that\u2019s all about. As a matter of fact, for those of you who don\u2019t know Jim, Jim can you stand up just for a second so we can all get a gander, and thank you for letting us call you out of retirement; I appreciate that.\n\nJohn 20:24, we are continuing our movement through the Gospel of John, and as you know, we find ourselves in that final section of John which involves the death of Jesus and His resurrection. We\u2019ve already covered His death and now we\u2019re moving into, or have been studying actually for quite a few weeks the bodily resurrection of Jesus from the dead. This section is in chapters 20 and 21; it begins with the empty tomb, that\u2019s in John 20:1-10, and what follows are about five post resurrection appearances of Jesus. So He\u2019s appearing to five groups or people and that is how John\u2019s Gospel concludes.\n\nSo He has appeared to Mary Magdalene, we saw that in chapter 20, verses 11-18; and then He has appeared to, that very Sunday that He rose from the dead, He has appeared to a group of disciples that we call the ten. Judas isn\u2019t there any longer, and of course, Thomas is not in that group. But He appears to them and He reveals to them tremendous truths.\n\nAnd then what happens the next Sunday is Jesus reappears to this same crowd; they are in the same location, probably I would guess the Upper Room, but this time Thomas, so-called Doubting Thomas, is present, and so we have this whole interaction that Jesus has with this man named Thomas. In verses 24-25 we see Thomas\u2019 reluctance. This is a guy that just does not want to believe that Jesus has resurrected as he said He would. And then what follows in verses 26-29 is a growing recognition. Thomas begins to recognize that Jesus, in fact, has risen from the dead because Jesus has appeared to Thomas in a very special way. And that\u2019s what takes place there in verses 26-29.\n\nBut it is very interesting that John is the only Gospel writer who recorded this post resurrection appearance to Thomas. We don\u2019t have any record of this, that I can remember, in Matthew, Mark or Luke; it\u2019s material that seems to be unique to John. And, of course, why would John go into this information? Because John, in his Gospel, has an agenda; his agenda is to set forth Jesus Christ, explain who Jesus is, as the Son of God and the Christ. And John\u2019s hope is that the reader would exercise faith in Jesus Christ and consequently be saved and experience the gift of life.\n\nJohn is all about conversions, so it stands to reason that John would record information about this man, Thomas, as we watch His conversion here on the spot. John, of course, is including this information under the power of the Holy Spirit in hopes that other individuals and doubters, like Thomas, may respond in faith. You might know people, or you yourself might be such a person; you have a lot of doubts about Christianity. Thomas was one of those individuals, and yet we see how the Lord gradually worked with him and worked with him in a very special way, worked with him in a very caring way, and orchestrated circumstances whereby Thomas would come to saving faith in Jesus Christ.\n\nThomas, of course, has no corner on God because God is the same yesterday, today and forever. And so God desires all men to be saved. And so the same type of care that He exhibited to Thomas is the same type of care He exhibits to you, it\u2019s the same type of care He exhibits to me. He works with us where we are at, many times condescending to our level so that we can be saved, because at the end of the day God wants people in heaven with Him.\n\nAnd that, by the way, is one of the reasons the gospel is so simple. The only reason the gospel is complicated is we, as the church, have made it complicated. But when we study the Bible the gospel is very simple. God has designed it in a simple way because God wants people saved and in heaven with Him. And He is willing to work with people in great patience and forbearance to see that that would become a reality for people, because at the end of the day God loves people. And we see this here in His work with Thomas.\n\nBut notice, if you will, Thomas\u2019 initial reluctance, and the reason for his reluctance, or his reticence, or his unwillingness to believe, is found there in John 20:24. Notice if you will what the passage says, \u201cBut Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.\u201d Now Jesus has appeared to the ten in the prior Sunday. And as you drop down to verse 26, it says \u201ceight days\u201d have elapsed. So we are now in the very next Sunday, the Sunday after Jesus bodily rose from the grave, rose from the dead. Now this group of disciples is in that same location; the doors are shut, but this time Thomas is with them.\n\nWhy was Thomas unwilling to believe? Very simply put, Thomas was not present when Jesus bodily appeared to the ten the prior week. Now we\u2019re not really given the reason as to why Thomas was not present. Maybe he had a valid excuse; maybe he felt like he was having a heart attack or something along those lines. But the fact of the matter is, Thomas missed out on a blessing which he could have had if he had just been present. Thomas spends an entire week not at the same level at the other disciples were at. He spends an entire week in despair; he spends an entire week in unbelief; he spends an entire week lacking in faith, not understanding who Jesus really was. Why? Because he just was not present, for whatever reason.\n\nAnd of course, I\u2019m reminded very much of the book of Hebrews, chapter 10 and verse 25 which says this: \u201cnot forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.\u201d The fact of the matter is God wants to bless you; God wants to disclose Himself to you. God wants your level of understanding to increase; He wants you to be encouraged. But God has designed things in such a way that much of that blessing that we receive comes from His work through the local church. And if the local church is not a priority in our lives we somehow have this misguided idea that we\u2019re cheating God. Well, I\u2019m going to miss church this month, or this week, or this year, and boy, I\u2019m getting God back. What a silly way of thinking; we don\u2019t cheat God. How can you cheat God? We cheat ourselves.\n\nWhy is that? Because God has designed the church in such a way that it is where the gifts of the Holy Spirit are faithfully ministered. And one of the great purposes of the church is the edification of the saints. The gifts of the Holy Spirit are designed by the Holy Spirit, not for the wielder of the gift or gifts, but to fortify and to edify the body of Christ. The gift of teaching and preaching we think of, but that\u2019s just one of many gifts that God has given to the New Testament church. There are a plethora of other gifts. And as we avail ourselves to those gifts we find ourselves in a place of strength; we find ourselves in a place of fortitude. But if local church assembly is really not much of a priority for us, it\u2019s like missing a meal; we lack the strength and the resolve that we need for the tribulations and trials of life, simply because we have not availed ourselves to the resources of the local church.\n\nThat\u2019s why we have this command in the book, of Hebrews \u201cnot forsaking our own assembling together\u2026.\u201d Barkley, in his commentary, says this: We miss a great deal when we separate ourselves from the Christian fellowship and when we try to be alone. Things can happen to us within the fellowship of Christ\u2019s church which will not happen to us when we\u2019re alone.\u201d There are things that God wants to show you, reveal to you, strengthen you, that will only take place in the context of a local church. Of course, the church is not a building; we are fortunate here to be meeting in this building or this facility, but the early church simply met in homes and houses. The church is where God\u2019s people are; where they are regularly gathered. And God has given to the body of Christ various gifts of the Spirit, and as these gifts of the Spirit are faithfully administered we become fortified for the week. So Thomas was in a state that the other disciples were not in. Why is that? For whatever reason, assembling together with them was not a priority for him.\n\nOne of the things that\u2019s very troubling to watch and you don\u2019t really recognize this until you actually become a pastor of a local church, is sort of a revolving door in the body of Christ. People leave one church because they are upset and they show up at your church and you get on the phone with a prior pastor and you try to figure out why are these people showing up at our church, and the answer you get is well, it\u2019s basically your turn to babysit these folks for a while; you know, they\u2019ve made the rounds. And so then they get upset about something else and then they go to another church, and it\u2019s almost like a revolving door, they just bounce from place to place like a ping pong ball in a ping pong machine.\n\nAnd that is such a far cry from the design of the local church. We simply will not receive the blessings that God wants to give us until we become committed to a local assembly of believers. And I realize that there are people out there trying to find the perfect church. Let me let you in on a little secret: if you find the perfect church don\u2019t join it because you\u2019ll end up ruining it. The fact of the matter is, there are no perfect churches and the reason there are no perfect churches is because churches have people in them. People are beset by the sin nature. As long as there\u2019s people there\u2019s going to be problems. And if you\u2019re in a church with no people then you have another problem, right?\n\nSo people have this idea that they\u2019re going to come to church and everything is just going to be pristine; no problems, no personality conflicts, everything is on the up and up; we\u2019re all in this sort of resurrected sanctified state. And the fact of the matter is that\u2019s not a reality. But you become blessed in God when you become committed to a local church. It\u2019s like being married; you become blessed in God when you commit yourself to an imperfect person. And by the way, that\u2019s what love is; people define love as an emotion, or as a feeling, or as some kind of euphoria, but love is simply an unconditional commitment to an imperfect person. The two of you are committed to one another despite your many, many warts, so to speak.\n\nAnd that\u2019s basically what a church is. In marriage you\u2019re blessed as you walk out that commitment; in the life of the church you are blessed as you walk out that commitment to a local assembly of believers. I\u2019m not really in the business of trying to tell people where to go to church, just that they need to find a church and be committed to it, and watch God begin to bless and unfold things to you that you never thought possible.\n\nSo Thomas missed the blessing simply by his absence. You\u2019ll notice also here in verse 24 that Thomas is called Didymus; Thomas is his Greek name, Didymus is his Aramaic name. And the reason John is explaining these Aramaic terms and Hebrew terms as he\u2019s done many, many times in this book, John 5:2, John 19:13, 17, 20. [John 5:2, \u201cNow there is in Jerusalem by the sheep gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew Bethesda, having five porticoes.\u201d John 19:13, \u201c...and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called The Pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha.\u201d 19:17, \u201cThey took Jesus, therefore, and he went out, bearing His own cross, to the place called the Place of the Skull, which is called in Hebrew Golgotha.\u201d 19:20, \u201cTherefore may of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified near the city was written in Hebrew, Latin and in Greek.\u201d]\n\nJohn always explains to his audience what these Hebrew, or Aramaic terms mean is because John is writing to an audience that knows virtually nothing about the things of God. They don\u2019t know anything about Jewish history, because John, at the end of his life, found himself in Ephesus and in Ephesus he was the last living eyewitness to the things of Jesus Christ. And from Ephesus he was, as the last living apostle, exercising authority as sort of a bishop, if you will, over multiple churches in Asia Minor.\n\nSo John is writing to an audience that is removed from the land of Israel, that knows almost nothing about the things of God and Jewish history that preceded it. Now why is that interesting? Because this gives us insight as to why John\u2019s Gospel is written. John\u2019s Gospel, as we have said many times, is written to the person with the lowest common denominator of spiritual truth. It\u2019s not written to the religiously educated person; it\u2019s not even written to the believer. It\u2019s written to the unbeliever and this is why, if you are investigating the things of Christ, and you\u2019re unsure and you don\u2019t know much about Christianity, then the very best book you could possibly study is John\u2019s Gospel. That\u2019s why the Holy Spirit has given us this book and we need to become sensitive to this in our evangelism.\n\nMany times we direct people to the wrong book; we assume that people know more than they really do. And this is, of course, the greatest error that you could make in teaching, is you assume your audience or your students are at a certain level, but the fact of the matter is nine times out of ten they are far below what you anticipated. And so the climate that we\u2019re living in today in the United States of America is a post-Christian climate. There are people all around us that know virtually nothing about Christianity. As a matter of fact, if you use the word Old Testament, New Testament, they might not even know what that is.\n\nAnd there\u2019s a little girl that comes over to our house, she lives on our street, she comes over to play with our daughter and my wife overheard the two of them talking, and Sarah, my daughter, was mentioning something about Abraham, and she heard this little girl say well, who is Abraham? Sarah mentioned something about Noah and this little girl said well, who is Noah? She mentioned something about Jesus; well, who is Jesus. And this is the type of reality that we\u2019re in. We have kids coming up that know absolutely nothing about the things of God. In prior generations you could assume a certain base of knowledge, but that base of knowledge, for whatever reason, has been wiped out.\n\nIt reminds me, very much, of the book of Judges; towards the end of the book it says, \u201cThere arose a generation that did not know the God of Israel, nor the things that He had done.\u201d And beloved, that is exactly where we are today in this culture, a generation all around us and coming up knowing almost nothing about the things of God. And thus it\u2019s almost as if John\u2019s Gospel is tailor-made for our times, because that\u2019s what John was doing when he was communicating from Ephesus to those various churches in Asia Minor.\n\nAnd so notice, if you will, the reason why Thomas is in unbelief, but notice also the requirements. Thomas gets into the business, verse 25, of laying out requirements for God. Now we look at that and we say well, how arrogant is that? We don\u2019t require God to do anything! And at first, as Thomas lays out these requirements it does seem somewhat presumptuous, but what totally blows me away about this passage is Jesus responds to the requirements. The God of human history, the God of the universe, the One that spoke and heavens and earth leapt into existence, responds to the requirements of a human being. Does that not show us how much God loves us? Does that not show us how interested He is in our eternity? If human beings meant nothing to God, why would God respond in this sort of way to these requirements of a mere man, this man, Thomas? As I said before, God loves people and He wants people in heaven with Him. That\u2019s why He is responding in this way.\n\nBut notice, if you will, Thomas\u2019 requirements; John 20, notice, if you will, verse 25, \u201cSo the other disciples were saying to him, \u2018We have seen the Lord!\u2019\u201d Now the word, \u201csaying\u201d there is in the imperfect tense, and so the idea here is they kept saying this. So they were present when Jesus Christ had appeared on Sunday the prior week. And, of course, they were completely blown away by this, they were completely impressed. You get this idea from this passage that it\u2019s all they could talk about. Thomas, of course, not being present, never received this blessing. So he\u2019s around people that have been blessed while Thomas himself hasn\u2019t been blessed.\n\nSo consequently notice what Thomas says as he lays down these requirements there in verse 25, \u201cBut he said to them, \u2018Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and but my hand into His side, I will not believe.\u2019\u201d You\u2019ll notice here that Thomas had no problem believing in the death of Christ. He obviously believed in the death of Christ because as you study these requirements he\u2019s making reference to Christ\u2019s wounds.\n\nIt is interesting to me that there are those today that even deny Christ died. They call this the swoon theory, that Jesus really, when He was put into that tomb did not die, He kind of was in an unconscious state and He was resuscitated in the middle of the night and He snuck out of the tomb.\nFrankly, beloved, it takes more faith to believe a theory like that than it does to believe the straight\u00acforward biblical account. It is very clear from the Bible that Jesus was \u201cdead as a doornail\u201d when He was put into that tomb. You might recall John 19:30, it says, \u201cHe bowed his head and gave up His spirit.\u201d You might recall John 19:33-34 where they did not need to break the legs of Jesus Christ because after all, Jesus was already dead. [John 19:33, \u201cbut coming to Jesus, when they saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs. [34] But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out.\u201d]\n\nSo it\u2019s very clear that Jesus died. Thomas believed in the death of Christ, unlike many people today. What was troubling to Thomas, though, is not His death but His resurrection. And how critical it is and how important it is to believe, not just in the death of Jesus Christ, but in His bodily resurrection from the grave. You see, the resurrection makes Christ different than any other dead person that\u2019s ever lived. Every other dead person, before they died, said, perhaps if they were insane, I\u2019m going to rise, but guess what? None of them had. Buddha\u2019s tomb is still full, isn\u2019t it? Confucius tomb, still full! Mohammed\u2019s tomb, still full! Jesus tomb is very different, isn\u2019t it? It\u2019s empty! And Christ said I will die and I will rise from the dead. It\u2019s one thing to say it; it\u2019s quite another matter to pull it off.\nSo the resurrection of Jesus Christ proves that He is God; it proves who He claimed to be and it authenticates every other word He ever uttered. Think about this for a minute; if there is no bodily resurrection from the dead, if Jesus never rose, then how can I trust any of His other statements? But suddenly all His statements take on the scope of divine authority if this resurrection of Jesus Christ actually happened. Thomas believed He died, but he just never believed that Jesus Christ, this man Jesus Christ, rose from the dead.\n\nThis is why Paul, in his preaching, typically will include the resurrection. 1 Corinthians 15:1-4, Paul writes, \u201cNow I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, [2] by which also you are saved if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. [3] For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, [4] and that He was buried\u2026.\u201d Now you\u2019ll notice that Paul doesn\u2019t stop there. Of course, the death of Christ is very significant because the death of Christ, that in His death He bore in His body the wrath of a holy God against the sins of the world. But Paul doesn\u2019t stop there, he goes, not only was He buried, but \u201cHe was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.\u201d\n\nWe do not serve, we do not believe in a dead Messiah. We believe He did die and it was critical that He did die for the sins of the world, but on the third day He rose, bodily, from the grave. And guess what? This risen Jesus Christ is continuing His ministry as I speak, at the Father\u2019s right hand. The ministry that he is doing as He is gifting the church, empowering the church, forgiving sins, answering prayer, and all of the plethora of things that He does, He does as a live, living Savior. If Jesus was not alive because He did not resurrect from the dead, there would be no point in praying, would there? Why would you pray to someone who is dead and has no power to alter our circum\u00acstances? And so you see, this concept of resurrection becomes critical to the Christian belief system.\n\nThomas, though, had no problem with the death; the problem he had with are all of these disciples that kept saying He has risen. So consequently Thomas lays out his requirements; once again notice, if you will, verse 25, \u201cBut he said to them, \u2018Unless 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.\u2019\u201d Notice this word \u201cbelieve.\u201d The Greek word for believe is the very pisteu\u014d, you\u2019ll find it there in verse 25 mentioned one time.\n\nAs you go down to verse 27 you\u2019ll see it used two times; there it\u2019s contrasting believing and unbelieving. And as you drop down to verse 29 you see \u201cbelieve\u201d used two more times. [27, \u201cThen He said to Thomas, \u2018Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing.\u201d [29] Jesus said to him, \u2018Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.\u201d]\n\nApparently the five-fold use of this verb, \u201cbelieve\u201d is very important to this paragraph, as John has constructed it under the guidance and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Why is this significant? Because there is utter confusion today. In fact, I\u2019ve never seen it quite like this, where even the gospel itself is garbled, and the condition that God holds out to lost humanity, there is a lack of clarity on what we communicate to people so that they can be saved. And this is one of the reasons I wanted to do an in depth study of John\u2019s Gospel, because I want to drive this confusion out of our church, I want to drive it out of our minds, I want to drive it out of our midst. I can\u2019t do it, but God\u2019s Word can do it simply by studying over and over again what He calls lost people to do, which is to believe.\n\nIs it not interesting that John, as he writes to unbelievers, in fact, he\u2019s the only Gospel writer writing to unbelievers (as best I can tell), uses the word \u201cbelieve\u201d ninety-nine times. How many times does he use the word \u201crepentance?\u201d The Greek word metanoe\u014d. You\u2019ll be shocked to discover that he doesn\u2019t use that word a single time. Isn\u2019t it interesting that John, when he is writing to unbelievers uses the word \u201cbelieve\u201d 100 times and not one single solitary reference to the word \u201crepentance.\u201d Because many people ask me, should I use the word repentance in my gospel presentation? Should I use the word repentance in my gospel tract? My answer is yes, IF you have an opportunity to explain what it means. There is a way to harmonize the word \u201crepentance\u201d so that it becomes a synonym for believe. Repentance simply means to change one\u2019s mind; metanoe\u014d is the Greek word; you\u2019ll recognize the word \u201cmeta\u201d as in metamorphosis, or change. You\u2019ll recognize the word \u201cmeta\u201d as in metastasized, in other words, someone\u2019s cancer has changed from one part of their body to another, that\u2019s never a good thing, by the way, when that happens.\n\nBut these are all derivations, if you will, from the Greek word meta, metanoe\u014d is a compound word, two words sort of together in one word; meta is one word, noe\u014d is the other. Now from the word noe\u014d, that latter portion of the word, we get the word notion, or idea. Where do ideas come from? They come from the mind. What does metanoe\u014d, repentance, mean? It means to change your mind, and if you use the word that way then it becomes a synonym for believe. For example, when a person believes what exactly are they doing? They are transferring their confidence from one to another.\n\nWhen I was a teenager I heard the gospel and up until that point in time if you had asked me why am I going to heaven, my pat answer was I\u2019m good, I\u2019m a good person, I try hard, I\u2019m religious, and so forth. So in other words, I was my own savior; do you see that? I was trusting in myself. But then upon hearing the gospel I believed in it, which is to have confidence in it, and simultaneously what happened is I repented, my mind changed. I changed the way from trusting in myself to trusting specifically in Jesus Christ. I believed! A synonym for it is to repent, or change my mind. But is that word, \u201crepentance\u201d so critical to our presentation of the gospel? Apparently not, because John is the only Gospel writer writing to unbelievers and he doesn\u2019t even use the word a single time, although he does use the word \u201cbelieve\u201d about\u2026what did we say? Ninety-nine times!\n\nShould we use the word \u201crepentance\u201d in our gospel tracts and in our gospel tracts and in our gospel presentations? My answer is yes, if you have time to unpack the biblical definition. Most people today have no knowledge of Greek, and so when you throw at them the word \u201crepentance,\u201d they don\u2019t even know what you\u2019re talking about. You think it means one thing, and they receive it, or interpret it as something totally different. Do you know what it means to them? It means to don\u2019t smoke, don\u2019t chew, or don\u2019t go with girls who do.\n\nYou toss out the word \u201crepentance\u201d today in this society and you don\u2019t explain to people what it means what they think it means is clean yourself up and come to Jesus. And if we are misunder\u00acstood at that foundational level then we\u2019ve just preached the wrong gospel. We\u2019ve just preached the gospel of works. We might be very sincere in what we\u2019re doing, but in the process of miscommunication the message got garbled. Unless you have time to unpack and a receptive teachable audience to unpack what repentance actually means, my suggestion to you is just leave the word out completely. You say well, how could you say such a thing? I\u2019m just following John here. I mean, if that word, \u201crepentance\u201d was such a big deal as everybody makes it out to be, why does John never use the word a single time in evangelistic presentation.\n\nSo you\u2019ll notice this word \u201cbelieve,\u201d Thomas simply said unless I get the evidence that my intellect craves I will not believe. The word \u201cbelieve\u201d is used about 160 times in the Greek New Testament, and it\u2019s always held out as the single condition that people must respond to so that they can be saved. To believe means to trust. It means to rely upon. It means to have confidence in.\n\nI\u2019ve used this illustration many times, if you\u2019ve heard it before bear with me. But a man named Blondin used to walk across a tightrope suspended over Niagara Falls. And he became very skilled in doing this, in fact, he because so skilled at it that he would push this wheelbarrow across this tightrope, suspended over Niagara Falls, knowing full well that if he slipped in any sense his life would be over. And it was an astonishing thing to watch, as people would gather and sit there on the sides and watch him do this over and over again. And one day he calls out to the crowd, do you believe I can do this again? And of course everybody said yes. And his answer was, okay, which one of you all wants to get in the wheelbarrow?\n\nThat\u2019s different, isn\u2019t it; it\u2019s no longer intellect, now you\u2019re having to put your trust in this man and that is essentially what Jesus requires. That is it! That is the only condition that must be satisfied to enter into a relationship with God. The moment you lose that message is the moment we preach a false message AND we deprive God of the glory that He rightfully deserves, because I know this much about God, that He will not share His glory with another. I believe that\u2019s the book of Isaiah, Isaiah 42:8. [Isaiah 42:8, \u201cI am the LORD, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another, nor My praise to graven images.\u201d]\n\nHe will not share His glory with another, and so if I can somehow contribute to my salvation then I get part of the credit, don\u2019t I? I get part of the bragging rights. If salvation is mostly faith but a little bit of works, then part of the glory goes to me. And yet God has designed it in such a way so that man never receives credit nor glory in any sense. In fact, the book of Romans, chapter 3, verse 27 says the gospel itself eliminates boasting. [Romans 3:27, \u201cWhere then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith.\u201d] Does not Ephesians 2:8-9 talk about how we are saved by grace through faith; it is the free gift of God, lest any man should what? Boast. [Ephesians 2:8-9, \u201cFor by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; [9] not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.\u201d]\n\nGod is uninterested in people inhabiting heaven with Him, taking partial credit for their salvation. And this is why it\u2019s always based on believe and believing only. Thomas has it right; I won\u2019t put my confidence in this Man unless I see certain evidence. And frankly, we have made things so complicated, but it\u2019s not complicated. Why would God, who loves all people and wants to see people in heaven with Him, make the presentation of the gospel complicated, where only an elite group could figure it out? That would violate who God is, would it not, in terms of His very nature. And so humanity today is populated by two kinds of people, those that have trusted in this provision and those that haven\u2019t. It\u2019s about that simple.\nBut Thomas, after he lays out these requirements, begins to experience a recognition. He begins to see the light and he actually responds, in faith, a little bit later on in these verses. Notice, if you will, verse 26, notice the manifestation. It says this, \u201cAfter eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst and said, \u2018Peace be with you.\u2019\u201d\n\nLots of interesting things to talk about in verse 26. For example, notice it says \u201cAfter eight days,\u201d \u201cAfter eight days His disciples were again inside,\u201d they were together when Jesus rose from the dead, the prior Sunday, and now the very next Sunday they were gathering again. What is beginning to happen here? You have the beginning of Christian worship; the name \u201cChristian\u201d of course is not used; the name \u201cChristian\u201d doesn\u2019t occur until Acts 11. But whatever you call this group, these believers in Yeshua, these believers in Jesus, they were starting to move into a pattern or a habit of gathering, not the last day of the week as they had been doing for one thousand five hundred years as devout Jews, but now the first day of the week.\n\nAnd consequently this became the standard day that Christians began to gather together in the context of local churches and celebrate the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ. Acts 20:7 says, \u201cOn the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread\u2026.\u201d 1 Corinthians 16:2, as Paul is giving instructions for the offering, it says this: \u201cOn the first day of every week each one of you is to put aside and save,\u201d and to provide for the offering, and so forth. So what has happened is 1500 years of history is just changing before our eyes.\n\nAnd, you know, I don\u2019t mean to sound stereotypical but some of the most stubborn people on planet earth can be Jewish. I\u2019m not trying to put Jewish people down, I just notice that that is a dominant feature of Jewish people. Now some people think I\u2019m partly Jewish because I\u2019m very stubborn myself, but the fact of the matter is, they change their minds on something that they had been doing for one thousand five hundred years. How is that explicable? How is that explainable unless Jesus had bodily risen from the dead? Consequently I believe that the switch for the day of worship is one of the greatest proofs you can have that, in fact, something significant happened that prior Sunday and they wanted to recognize it in the subsequent Sunday\u2019s to follow.\n\nYou\u2019ll notice that this time though, eight days later, Thomas was with them so he is now in the right place, where he\u2019s supposed to be. Notice also verse 26, \u201cJesus came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst.\u201d Now this is the second time this has happened. Jesus passed through a wall in the prior Sunday to be with the ten, John 20:19, and now the exact same thing has happened. [John 20:19, \u201cSo when it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, \u2018Peace be with you.\u2019\u201d]\n\nThis is a manifestation, if you will, of the resurrected body. The resurrected body of Jesus Christ was not a \u201cCasper the Ghost\u201d scenario. It was a physical body. How do we know it was a physical body? Because Thomas is about to touch His wounds. Thomas said I\u2019ve got to see and I\u2019ve got to touch. Jesus appears and says go for it. So obviously Jesus was in a physical body. In fact, when we get over to John 21:12-13 we are going to find Jesus having a meal in this resurrected body, with His disciples. [John 21:12-13, \u201cJesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and the fish likewise. [14] This is now the third time that Jesus was manifested to the disciples, after He was raised from the dead.\u201d] And yet it was a body that was not bound by the normal laws of nature, as we know them to be. Jesus, in this very physical body, apparently could pass right through a wall.\n\nAnd I\u2019m so encouraged by the fact that His body is a prototype, if you will, of our future glorified bodies. 1 Corinthians 15:20 and 23 calls Christ\u2019s resurrection \u201cfirst fruits.\u201d [1 Corinthians 15:20, \u201cBut now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep.\u201d [23] \u201cBut each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ\u2019s at His coming.\u201d]\n\n\u201cFirst fruits\u201d obviously was very significant in the life of Israel\u2019s harvest cycle because first fruits guaranteed the rest of the harvest. First fruits, if it came in, was a virtual guarantee of the general harvest, which would come in later. Consequently Christ\u2019s resurrection is a virtual guarantee from God, who cannot lie, that we too, at the appointed time, will be placed in resurrected, glorified bodies. And yet when we study Philippians 3:21 it says, \u201c\u2026into conformity with the body of His glory\u2026.\u201d When we study 1 John 3:2 it says, \u201cwe will be like Him.\u201d If you want to know what your body will be like in its resurrected state? You simply study the body of Jesus Christ and we can get a very real clue. It\u2019s a physical body, but it\u2019s a body which is not constrained by the normal laws of nature as we experience them today.\n\nThere is one difference though; Christ\u2019s wounds will be visible in His glorified body. I do not believe any defects, abnormalities, or sicknesses or anything that has corrupted our physical bodies will be present, but Christ\u2019s wounds are on display forever. Why is that? Because when you look at Jesus Christ in our glorious eternity, you are reminded, every time you see His wounds in that body, you are reminded that you are in heaven, not because of you but because of what He has done. We are perpetually reminded of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. It\u2019s very similar to communion, isn\u2019t it? Where we partake of the bread and the cup as reminders of what Jesus has done; isn\u2019t it wonderful to know that throughout the ages we are reminded over and over again of the price that He paid to procure for us so great a salvation.\n\nIf all of this is true how can man brag? What bragging rights is there for human beings. These things have been brought into existence solely because of what Christ has done. I also believe very strongly that we have a very warped and a very distorted interpretation of what the afterlife will be like. You\u2019ll notice that Jesus is very physical in this body. Did you know that the afterlife that we will experience with Him will be very physical in nature?\n\nRevelation 5:10 says this, \u201cYou have made them to be a kingdom of priests to our God; and they will reign upon\u2026\u201d where? \u201cthe earth.\u201d You mean we\u2019re not going to be up in heaven sitting on clouds with white sheets and halo\u2019s singing The Hallelujah Chorus ten gazillion times, being bored out of our minds? NO! It\u2019s a very physical, earthly experience.\n\nIn fact, our ultimate destiny as God\u2019s people is this earth. Now following the rapture of the church there is a seven year program for us to fulfill with Him in heaven, but then we return with Him to this planet, the very planet that Adam and Eve forfeited in Genesis 3. That authority is reestablished as Jesus is reigning over this physical world and we, as His bride, are right there with Him, ruling and reigning, in physical, real bodies. That is the reality that the Bible calls the afterlife.\nAnd what introduced so much confusion into the church on this is the circle at the bottom there, in the south, a school of thought called Alexandria, Egypt. Origen and other allegorists were pupils and students and influenced by what happened at Alexandria, Egypt, and those in Alexandria, Egypt, a Christian center of thought, began to say you know, the Bible is literal, except when it comes to the end times that\u2019s not literal. The Bible is literal except when it comes to all of these descriptions of an earthly kingdom, and banqueting and feasting in an earthly kingdom; that can\u2019t be heaven, heaven is much more (what they said) spiritual than that.\n\nNow why did they start to think that way? Alexandria Egypt had been influenced by a doctrine known as Gnosticism. Gnostics taught dualism, that the spiritual world is good and the physical world is bad. And that began to seep into their theology; according to 1 John it even started to corrupt their doctrine of the physical appearance of Jesus Christ in history. But once that school began to dominate, once it took root as people like Origen began to promulgate their doctrines and then finally Augustine in the 4th century, in his book, The City of God, began to promulgate his doctrine henceforth comes into the church the dominant view, which was a wrong view, which dominated Christianity, literally from the 4th century probably up until the 1800\u2019s A.D.\n\nA doctrine known as amillennialism, \u201ca\u201d is a negation, the word \u201cmillennium\u201d is a Latin word, millennium is a compound Latin word, it comes from two words, mille which means a thousand, and annum which means years. An amillennialist is somebody who will say there is no future earthly kingdom, because all of these prophecies of an earthly, terrestrial, physical reality, those prophecies aren\u2019t spiritual, I mean, being spiritual is in heaven and we\u2019re reading all of this stuff about banqueting and feasting and eating and physical realities and we all know that the physical world is bad. And so the church has been under this cloud of confusion over this, emanating from the school of Alexandria, Egypt throughout the centuries.\n\nAnd the whole thing is wrong. There is a mentality out there today that says if the majority of Christian\u2019s believe something it must be accurate. Oh my goodness\u2026 completely false! The majority of Christians embraced amillennialism throughout the ages, and I\u2019m here to flatly tell you that that doctrine is unbiblical. Truth does not come from a majority opinion. It never has!\n\nIn fact, Jesus, did He not say, \u201cbroad is the road that leads to destruction,\u201d many there are that go that way, narrow is the road that leads to life and few are they which find it.\u201d [Matthew 7:13-14, \u201cEnter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. [14] For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.\u201d]\n\nHow do we harmonize a mindset that says the majority is always right with a statement like that, in Matthew 7? In fact, an entire generation of Jews was disinherited from Canaan; the majority of the spies came back and they said we can\u2019t take these giants. Two guys stood up and said \u201clet\u2019s get \u2018em,\u201d Joshua and Caleb. And here\u2019s another case where the majority is wrong and two guys are right.\nAnd God, do you know what He does with people that stick with Him and His truth? He ends up vindicating them, because Joshua and Caleb entered Canaan with the next generation. Now they were \u201csenior citizens\u201d at that time, we might call them seasoned citizens, God shut off an entire generation because of unbelief, He started working with their kids and He says you old-timers, you few guys that believed Me forty years ago, you can enter also.\nSo don\u2019t believe something just because it\u2019s popular. Don\u2019t believe something just because it\u2019s \u201cin vogue.\u201d Don\u2019t believe something just because it\u2019s cool. I can\u2019t tell you how many fads I\u2019ve seen (in my years as a Christian) rushing through the church. And people jump on bandwagons because that\u2019s what the majority is doing. And I\u2019m here to tell you that the majority is frequently wrong. You test truth, not by popular vote; you test truth by is it in the Word of God.\n\nThe Alexandrian school deceived multiple generations of Christians and others just bought into this doctrine of amillennialism on the grounds that well, Augustine said it and everybody believes it and that settles it. It doesn\u2019t matter what Augustine said or didn\u2019t say; I\u2019m not here to deprecate Augustine; there are things in his writings that perhaps could be useful to us. But the authority is this book right here. It isn\u2019t even Sugar Land Bible Church; it\u2019s not even this pulpit. This church and this pulpit and our Sunday School classes will have value to you to the extent that we are teaching what is in this book accurately. But should we depart from this book, then you should depart from our teaching and find somewhere to go where they\u2019re going to teach you the Word of God line by line, verse by verse, precept upon precept.\n\nAnd so we have in our minds this mindset that heaven is all celestial, it\u2019s not physical at all. Part of the problem to the whole thing is John 14:2. It says, \u201cIn My Father\u2019s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you.\u201d As many commentaries have noted, mansions, or \u201cdwelling places\u201d does not represent the best translation of this Greek noun, mon\u0113; \u201cdwelling places\u201d is the Greek noun mon\u0113. So why do we think these are mansions in the sky, because if you start seeing these things as mansions in the sky then our home is ultimately heaven. Right? Not on this earth. After all, why would God be building a mansion for me in the sky if I\u2019m supposed to return with Him to this earth to rule and reign alongside Him?\n\nSo how did \u201cmansions\u201d get into our understanding of John 14:2? As many commentaries have noted, \u201cmansion\u201d does not represent the best translation of the Greek noun, mon\u0113. This mistranslation ultimately emanates from the Vulgate. Now from the word \u201cVulgate\u201d you\u2019ll recognize the world \u201cvulgar,\u201d which means common or earthy speech. The Bible was translated by Jerome into Latin around the\u2026 I don\u2019t know, 4th century, something like that, and it became known as the Latin Vulgate. Why was it called the Latin Vulgate? It was called the Latin Vulgate because it took the Greek New Testament and Hebrew Old Testament and put into the language of the common man. And when Jerome did that translation he used the word for \u2018dwellings\u2019 that sounds an awful lot like mansions in English. I\u2019m not sure that was Jerome\u2019s intent but that\u2019s what he ended up doing.\n\nAnd consequently, Tyndale followed the Vulgate and used the English word \u201cmansion.\u201d And of course, the King James Version and many other English translations followed what Tyndale had done and they used this word \u201cmansions\u201d there, when the fact of the matter is, John 14:2 is not talking about mansions in the sky. What the word is, is mon\u0113 which means a watch house or an inn. What is a watch house or an inn? An inn is somewhere where you reside temporarily. Why are we residing with the Lord temporarily in heaven for seven years? We are temporarily there because our ultimate destination is the earth. We are going to rule and reign with Him over the earth. And yet all of these concepts through, I believe, satanic deception have clouded our minds as to what our future actually is.\n\nAnd beloved, if you don\u2019t know where you\u2019re going you have no perspective for today. You can\u2019t know what to do in this life unless you know where you\u2019ve come from and where you are going. And this celestial, Casper the Ghost, mansions in the sky, heavenly experience, is the thinking of many, many Christians, and yet there\u2019s not a shred of evidence in the Scripture to support it. In fact, those doctrines are a consequence of great misunderstanding.\n\nAll of that to say notice the physical body of our Lord Jesus Christ. Notice the eating that took place in this body. Revelation 22:2 says this about the afterlife, \u201cin the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month,\u201d now a question, what do you do with fruit? Don\u2019t you eat it? Isn\u2019t that talking about eating and the pleasures of eating and things of that nature in the afterlife? That\u2019s what Jesus is modeling in John 21, in His resurrected body; Thomas, in a moment, is about to touch that physical body of Jesus Christ.\n\nSort of finishing off verse 26, notice what Jesus says as He enters this room with the doors shut for fear of the Jews, having passed through a wall in a physical body, notice what it says, and He said, \u201cPeace be with you.\u201d Now this concept of peace being with you must be very important to Jesus because He\u2019s repeated it two other times. You\u2019ll find it mentioned in verse 19 when He appeared to the ten the prior Sunday, \u201cPeace be with you.\u201d And then in verse 21 He repeats the same idea, \u201cPeace be with you,\u201d and now as He\u2019s appearing to the eleven, with Thomas included, eight days later He repeats it a third time, \u201cPeace be with you.\u201d\n\nWhy does He keep repeating it? Because you cannot understand the meaning of Christ\u2019s ministry without that term. What is peace? Peace is a cessation of conflict. Before we trust in what Jesus Christ has done we, as fallen members, in Adam\u2019s race, are in a state of conflict with God. In fact, the book of Romans, chapter 5, verse 10, is very clear, it says, \u201cif while we were enemies we were reconciled to\u201d Him, reconciled simply means the state of conflict is called off. One of the great things that God has given us is reconciliation, the conflict that existed between us and Him because of our position in Adam has been brought to a close. There\u2019s a harmony. I remember Jacob and Esau, they didn\u2019t get along very well, did they? And yet there\u2019s this scene in Genesis, I believe it\u2019s around chapter 32 and 33 where there is a reconciliation.\n\nIn other words, that\u2019s what God has done for us. He has stepped out of eternity into time to pay a price that we couldn\u2019t pay, so that we might, by trusting in what He has done, be reconciled unto God and yet if a human being has never embraced that provision the state of conflict between them and God continues. John 3:36 says it about as clearly as it can be said, \u201cHe who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.\u201d The wrath of God is like the sword of Damocles, waiting to fall over a person at any moment.\n\nIt is very interesting to me that what Jesus did eight days, the prior Sunday, earlier, He repeats. He materialized, back with the ten, now He does that with the eleven. He passed through a door; He did that back with the ten, now He does it again with the eleven. He preached a benediction, \u201cPeace be with you.\u201d He did that with the ten and now He\u2019s doing that with the eleven.\n\nWhy the repetition? Because Jesus loves Thomas and was moving heaven and earth to see that Thomas would receive the exact opportunity to believe that the others had received the prior Sunday. Did you know that God loves people to just that degree? Did you know that 1 Timothy 2:4 tells us that He desires all men to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth? [1 Timothy 2:3b-4, \u201c\u2026God our Savior, [4] who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.\u201d]\n\nDid you know in 2 Peter 3:9 it says, \u201cThe Lord is not slow about His promises, as some count slowness, but He is patient, toward you, not wishing any to perish but for all to come to repentance.\u201d\n\nThomas, I will go ahead and fulfill your, what seemed to be childlike criteria to God, if that\u2019s what it will take for you to believe, I\u2019ll do it. And Thomas has no corner on God; God loves you the same way.\n\nAnd it\u2019s very possible that there could be someone here that has never heard this and never responded to the grace offer of Jesus Christ. But it\u2019s just as valid for Thomas as it is for us today in the year 2015. And if the Spirit of God is doing something on your life and heart as I speak, if He is convicting you of this need to enter into a relationship with the God that made you and to be reconciled unto God, then our exhortation here at Sugar Land Bible Church is to respond to that exhortation. You may not have all of the answers but the best you know how, just where you\u2019re seated, as the Spirit of God convicts believe the gospel; exercise confidence in the gospel, respond to the gospel. It\u2019s a matter of privacy between you and the Lord as the Holy Spirit places you under conviction.\n\nIf it\u2019s something that you need more explanation about then I\u2019m available after the service to talk. But it\u2019s not a matter of joining a church, walking an aisle, raising a hand, doing any type of public display, it\u2019s simply a matter of believing what Jesus has done. Our exhortation to you is to do that today, to do that now. The Bible teaches that today is the day of salvation; we simply do not know what tomorrow holds but you can control right now by responding to the free offer of Jesus Christ. Shall we pray?\n\nFather, we\u2019re grateful for Your work with Thomas and Your care. Help us, Lord, to glean truths from these verses that You have recorded for us so that we might share the gospel more accurately and understand the great love that You have for us. We will be careful to give you all the praise and the glory. We ask these things in Jesus\u2019 name. And God\u2019s people said, Amen.","series_sermon_number":""},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t