[0:00] Well, let's turn to that passage now that we read in John chapter 20.! John chapter 20. We can read once again from verse 24.
[0:11] Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called a twin, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, We have seen the Lord.
[0:24] But he said to them, Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe. Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them.
[0:38] Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, Peace be with you. Then he said to Thomas, Put your finger here and see my hands, and put out your hand and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.
[0:56] Thomas answered him, My Lord and my God. Jesus said to him, Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.
[1:15] Isn't it telling sometimes we think of people by what we see as the negatives, or the things that maybe appear wrong in their lives, and we think of them in such a way as gives them names according to that.
[1:28] Thomas has come to be known in history as Doubting Thomas. Most people today would relate to that, because of the way that he said here, as we read, that he refused to believe the testimony of the other disciples, and would not believe unless he saw Jesus for himself.
[1:49] So he's called Doubting Thomas. But then he's also confessing Thomas. Why don't we refer to him as confessing Thomas? Why don't we focus on that more positive element in his life?
[2:03] Because as we'll see this evening, there is no other confession really in the New Testament, or even in the entire Scripture quite like it. It's a confession that includes not only a personal testimony to his relationship with Jesus, but a confession of Jesus as Lord and God.
[2:24] Within the one confession, you find that wonderful expression, my Lord and my God. That is who we should think of when we think about Thomas.
[2:34] Not that his doubting is something we just push aside as irrelevant, but here is somebody who came through the instruction and leading of Jesus himself to make this wonderful personal confession that is now forever for the whole process of time before us in the words of Scripture.
[2:55] And as we look at that this evening, we can see two things, especially just to focus on them. First of all, Christ's correction of Thomas, and then Thomas' confession of Christ.
[3:10] Christ's, first of all, Christ's correction of Thomas, and then Thomas' confession of Christ. Now, we read the previous event here from verse 19, where we find that the first time that Jesus came into the midst of the disciples, it's almost exactly the same words, and we'll refer to that in a minute, that Jesus came and stood amongst them, even with the doors being locked.
[3:36] We shouldn't wonder about that. This is the Jesus who performs miracles that people cannot completely fathom or understand, and the fact that he himself is the greatest miracle through his coming into the world as the Son of God, taking our human nature to himself and living a sinless life.
[3:55] In many respects, that is the great miracle. And where you see that great miracle, and where you think of this Jesus and who he is, and what he was able to do at other times, we should not be at all surprised or disbelieving that he actually came into the presence of the disciples here, even when the doors were locked.
[4:15] He is there with them and speaks to them in a way that we find recorded there. But Thomas was absent at that previous event. He didn't appear with them for whatever reason.
[4:27] Maybe he was tied up with something else. We're not told. We're just told that Thomas was not with them. And when Jesus came to reveal to them his hands and his side, and spoke to them in a way that said, Peace be with you.
[4:43] As the Father has sent me, even so I'm sending you. He breathed on them, said, We receive the Holy Spirit, and so on. Thomas was absent. Maybe he had good reason to be absent.
[4:54] We don't know. But from the whole tenor of the passage, it seems that he could have been there, but for some reason wasn't. And certainly when Jesus spoke to him on the second occasion, he didn't speak to him roughly, but he did speak to him critically for not having believed the testimony of the disciples who had seen him on that first occasion of his appearing amongst them.
[5:19] And you know, that's something that, in simple terms, but yet profoundly important, that you and I can say of ourselves. The fact that Christ has promised to be present in the gatherings of his people, the fact that Christ is present in the preaching of the gospel, the fact that faith comes by hearing, as Roman 10 puts it, and hearing by the word of God, or the word of Christ, that means that every gathering of God's people where Christ has promised to be present is important.
[5:48] It's significant. It's somewhere we should always intend to be. It's something we should always approach with the opinion, with the view, with the desire to actually meet with Jesus as he has promised to be in the midst of his people.
[6:05] That his Holy Spirit would bring us by his blessing, once again, to meet with Jesus spiritually. If we're not there, it's not likely to happen. And that's one of the sad things, isn't it really?
[6:17] In many ways, it's a tragedy, how few people around us and how few people even of our congregations regularly come to every occasion where Christ is present, where they can meet with Jesus, where Jesus can speak to them and show them the evidences of his love, of his death, of his resurrection.
[6:36] That's what the gospel sets out for us. That's why it's important that you're here tonight. Yes, you're here to worship along with others, and that worship includes so many things that are precious to us.
[6:46] But we're here to listen to God. You've not come here to listen to me, I hope. You've come here to listen to God speaking to you through his word. God taking the scriptures and opening up your mind and opening up the scriptures for your mind to receive them.
[7:06] This is an important occasion. And it's made important by the fact that you're coming into the presence of the King. that Jesus, through the gospel, is being presented to you once again.
[7:21] Whether it's the case that we've not yet come to trust in him, or whether we've been trusting in him for many years, we're still needy of meeting with Christ tonight. Meeting with him as our Savior, maybe for the first time, hopefully, if we've not done that yet.
[7:37] But meeting with him for the umpteenth time, perhaps. because we're always in need of being nurtured and guided and taught by Christ through his presence, through his Holy Spirit in the gatherings of his people.
[7:54] So he was missing. And he missed out on what had happened on that occasion. But then you see they come to see the disciples' testimony, verse 25, when he came, the other disciples told Thomas, who wasn't with them when Jesus came the first time, the other disciples told him, we have seen the Lord.
[8:16] But then he said to them firmly, unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails and place my finger into the mark of the nails and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.
[8:27] Now some people would say, well, Thomas was quite right surely to say that. He wasn't prepared to take anybody else's word for it. He wanted to see Christ for himself. And if Christ was really risen from the dead, was it all that wrong for him to say that he would not believe unless and until he saw him for himself?
[8:46] Yes, it was wrong. You can see that from the rebuke Jesus gave him. Don't be disbelieving, but believe. In other words, he should have listened and accepted the testimony of his fellow disciples.
[9:01] Why should they be unreliable? Why should they have told him other than the truth? Why should he insist unless he saw him for himself, he would not believe their testimony as to his resurrection from the dead?
[9:15] it was wrong of him not to accept their testimony. And we should always ourselves be open to the testimony of other people who know the Lord.
[9:31] Maybe they're from very different backgrounds to ours, very different churches to ours, very different congregations to ours. But those who genuinely sincerely know the Lord and present the Lord through their lives, let's not doubt the veracity of their life.
[9:47] Let's not doubt the genuineness of their testimony unless there are other things that make that possible. Here are people who had seen the Lord, who had heard the Lord, who had been spoken to by the Lord, who came to Thomas and said, we have seen the Lord.
[10:02] Now, I'm sure they said more than what you find there in verse 25. That's just as the Bible often does. It really summarizes what happened in a few words. You can't believe that it's all that they said was, we have seen the Lord.
[10:16] They would have undoubtedly explained to Thomas how it was they had seen him, what they had actually witnessed, what he had said to them. They wouldn't have just left it at, we have seen the Lord.
[10:29] That's not their way. But for all of that, Thomas refused their testimony. Thomas did not believe.
[10:42] Thomas insisted that he would have to prove this for himself despite the testimony of his fellow believers. And so what happened?
[10:53] Well, verses 26 and 27, what you find essentially is Jesus recreating the event. It's the same emphasis in different ways, same emphasis in many ways, though there are differences, where you find in verse 26 that they were again together eight days later and Thomas was with them.
[11:16] That's emphasized. And though the doors were locked, same as previously, Jesus came and stood among them and said, peace be with you, just as he had done before.
[11:28] And then he turned and spoke to Thomas. And when he's saying here, peace be with you, we're not going to go into that, but it is important and it's important that Jesus re-emphasized that as we'll see probably for Thomas' benefit as well as the others because they had heard it before.
[11:46] When he says, peace be with you, he's really speaking about what he has himself done in order to bring peace between themselves and God. It's the peace of reconciliation, the peace that he has effected through the cross and through his resurrection from the dead.
[12:02] He has provided them with the ground of their acceptance with God in himself. And that's why he's able to say, peace be with you. May this peace be your experience.
[12:17] And what an important point that is for us tonight as well. Isn't that what the Lord is saying to you and to me through the gospel tonight? Isn't he addressing you and addressing me with these same terms, with these same words, peace be to you?
[12:33] Isn't he emphasizing through the gospel what he has done, why he has done it, who it's for, and how it's important for us to receive it? Peace be with you.
[12:46] The peace of God, the peace of Christ, the peace that has come to be given to his people instead of condemnation. There is therefore, as Paul said to the Romans, no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus there is no condemnation to them.
[13:05] In other words, there's peace for them. They are at peace with God. They're in a relationship with God where peace is the central facet of it, where the previous relationship has been replaced, and where there is now no condemnation.
[13:24] They are forgiven their sins. There's peace between them and their God. But moving on from that, it's important to notice that this event was recreated, as we've put it, specifically for the benefit of Thomas.
[13:40] The Lord came into this gathering, and it's emphasizing that Thomas was there at the time, and then after Jesus had said, peace be to you, peace be with you, he turned to Thomas and said, put your finger here and see my hands, and put out your hand and place it in my side, and don't be disbelieving, but believe.
[14:00] In other words, Jesus had specifically arranged this meeting for whatever benefit the other disciples got out of it, I'm sure they did, but it was specifically for Thomas.
[14:11] His target was Thomas. He aimed his words at Thomas. It was for Thomas' benefit especially that he came to re-emphasize his resurrection from the dead and the peace with God that he mentioned.
[14:24] Now, isn't that interesting? Isn't that significant? Jesus didn't say about this Thomas like we might have said, well, you've had your chance, boy.
[14:36] You've had your chance. We were here before. Jesus came here previously. You missed out on it. That was your fault. No, Jesus didn't say to him, you could have been here last time, but you missed out on a very important event.
[14:51] And therefore, I can't say anything more to you at this point. No, he didn't do that, did he? Because this is the loving, kind Jesus.
[15:05] The Jesus who takes account of his people's faults and his people's failures. The Jesus who's not content to leave us in our own reluctance.
[15:16] The Jesus who comes before us in the gospel and addresses us and says, don't be disbelieving, but believe. He came here for Thomas' benefit. He didn't pass him off. He didn't say to him, you've had your chance.
[15:29] And so there's nothing more to be said about it. No, he's following it up. And that's the same for everybody here tonight.
[15:41] If you've not yet come to accept Christ and believe in him and trust in him for your salvation, be thankful tonight that he's not passed you off.
[15:52] That he's not saying to you tonight, you've had previous chances, so I'm not going to speak to you again. You should have done this the last time, so therefore this time it's different.
[16:02] I have nothing else for you. That's not the Jesus we meet with in the gospel. Jesus has come through the gospel tonight, through his spirit to this place tonight to speak to you, to speak to me.
[16:15] You might have passed him away reluctantly to believe in him, reluctant to believe in him. You might have many times refused in the past to give your life over to him, to trust in him, to deliver your life over into his hands.
[16:31] But he's not left you. You're here tonight and he's speaking to you. And he has something to say to you. And the very fact that you're here means he's not abandoned you.
[16:48] He's not saying to you, your chance is gone. Your opportunity is past. Thanks be to God. We are a patient God.
[17:02] A patient Savior. A long-suffering Redeemer. A God who does not pass us off despite our failures or for our failures.
[17:15] Now that, no way does that actually validate the kind of thought that says, well, I'll have many other opportunities then. That's not why we're saying this. That's not why it's in the Bible.
[17:27] It's not here so that we can conclude, well, because he came back to Thomas, he's bound to come back to me if I refuse him tonight. He's going to come back to me. I'll be here next week. You might not be. And even if you are, you might never hear his voice again.
[17:42] Don't guarantee yourself a hearing with Jesus if you turn away from him when he's speaking to you. He came here for Thomas' benefit.
[17:53] He's here in the Gospel tonight for your benefit. And he's addressing you as he did Thomas. Oh, the kindness of Jesus, friends, is so amazing, isn't it?
[18:07] He is so much above ourselves and different to ourselves. How patient are we with our fellow human beings? How patient are we even with our pets?
[18:20] We get annoyed. We're easily put off. But Christ comes back for Thomas' benefit.
[18:32] And that's what's emphasized for you tonight as well through the Gospel. So what does he say? Jesus, first of all, you see, he knew what Thomas had said or thought. Thomas had said before Jesus came in the second time, there was Thomas with the other disciples and Thomas saying to him, unless I actually see for myself the mark of the nails in his hands and so on, I will never believe.
[18:58] Now, Jesus wasn't physically present with them. He came moments after that into their company, but he knew what he had said. He knew what Thomas' mind had thought.
[19:09] And he addressed him exactly in accordance with Thomas' own words. It was Thomas' reluctance and refusal to accept the testimony of the disciples.
[19:20] This is what he said. Thomas, put your finger here and see my hands and put your hand out and place it in my sight.
[19:32] These were the terms that Thomas had refused him on, refused the testimony on. He said, unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, put my finger into the mark of the nails, place my hand into his side, I will never believe.
[19:43] And here is Jesus saying to him, I heard you. I heard what you said. I know what you said. And here I am. And I am now commanding you to do this.
[19:55] You refuse to accept the testimony of your brother's disciples on the previous occasion. And you said, well, unless I happen to see his hand, the mark of the nails, I will never believe.
[20:08] Well, Thomas, now you're seeing it. What are you going to do now? You see, Jesus addresses exactly the situation Thomas himself had brought about, the words that Thomas had actually spoken of.
[20:23] It's a marvelous thing in the Bible, isn't it, to realize, as it often says, that nothing of our lives is hidden from God. None of our words are hidden from God.
[20:37] God, whatever you're thinking in your mind tonight as this message goes forth, God knows what you're thinking. God knows your conclusions.
[20:50] God knows what you're saying, what you're thinking to yourself. Nobody else knows it. Nobody else sees your words floating above your head. But God knows it.
[21:01] Christ knows it. He knows it exactly. And while that, in some ways, might be disturbing to us, and indeed, there's a reason why it should be disturbing to us that God sees into our hearts and sees the very processes of our mind and the words that we're using, it's also immensely comforting, isn't it, when you come to actually see your need and express your need to God, you're not coming to a God who is ignorant of your situation.
[21:27] You're not coming to God as one who has not read your situation and who needs to be told by you what it's about. He's ahead of you there. And because He's ahead of you there, He's more than able to deal with the situation you're in and the condition of your soul.
[21:45] Remember the woman who had the hemorrhage of blood in the Gospels, Matthew chapter 5, one version of it, Matthew chapter 5, verse 30. She reached out and she said to herself, if I just touch the hem of His garment, I will be healed.
[22:01] And so she reached out and there was a huge crowd jostling around trying to see Jesus and she reached out amongst that crowd and she touched the hem of His garment and immediately she was cured of the hemorrhage.
[22:14] She knew in herself that the hemorrhage of blood had been cured, had been stemmed. And then remarkably, Jesus said, who touched me?
[22:25] His disciples were amazed. They saw the crowd around Him and yet there He is asking, who touched you? Who touched me? Well, the disciples could have said to Him, what do you mean who touched you?
[22:38] There are dozens of people here who would have touched you. Why do you want to know who touched you? Most of the people here might have touched you, those around you. But Jesus, you see, was thinking of the one specific touch that had touched Him in a way no other touch had at that moment.
[22:53] the touch of faith, the touch of trusting, the touch of looking for an answer to her predicament. And Jesus felt it.
[23:05] Jesus knew it. He knew it in Himself. And that's still the case today. But it's also the case on the other side of the issue.
[23:21] Your unbelief touches Him as well. He's not unaware of that unbelief, as it were, touching Him as you express that unbelief, as you live out an unbelief in your life, if that's the case.
[23:37] Hopefully not. But if it is, that's registered with Jesus. It's not hidden from Him. And that's one of the reasons you can be confident in coming to Him.
[23:50] Nothing is hidden from Him. Every aspect of our life is known to Him. Every part of our need, every element of our need, from the smallest to the greatest, registers with Him.
[24:06] Whether it's faith or unbelief, but it touches the Savior. He knows it. He's aware of it. And He speaks accordingly.
[24:20] So Christ knew what Thomas had said and what he had thought. And secondly, in this recreation of the event, Christ commanded Thomas to touch Him and to touch the evidences.
[24:33] That's what He said, as we read, Reach out your hand. Come and put your hand into the mark of the nails. And see my hands and put your hand and place it in my side.
[24:46] Do not be disbelieving, but believe. He commands him to touch the evidences of Christ's own resurrection. This is the very person, the very Jesus who died and was crucified on the cross and whose body was buried.
[25:04] And now He's saying to Thomas, These are the evidences of my death. The evidences now that I am risen from the dead because they are the marks of the death I died. Now reach out and touch them.
[25:18] And don't be disbelieving, but believe. It's a wonderful thing that God provides us with evidence in order that we should believe.
[25:34] Don't go by the ways of the world or the atheistic philosophies of the world that says, you know, you're telling us you believe in Jesus. You've never seen Jesus. How can you believe in somebody you've never seen?
[25:44] How can you speak to somebody and yet you've never seen Him with your own eyes? How can you trust in somebody and trust your life to somebody when you don't even know that He exists physically?
[25:56] You've never seen Him. Well, we do see Him. We do see the evidences because the Bible recreates them for us.
[26:12] And because the Bible is the Bible and the Bible is God's Word, as you read this passage and every other passage in the Word of God and every other passage that gives you such details as this, it's bringing you into that occasion and is placing you there as surely as if you had been physically there on the first occasion.
[26:32] And so you can see that tonight God is presenting you with the evidences because they are there written for you in His Word. And the evidences that are there are there for our believing so that we will reach out and touch the evidences if you like through receiving the testimony of the Word of God itself.
[26:52] God doesn't lie. Don't go along with the idea that the Bible is just far, far too old for you nowadays to believe in it when the world has moved on in such a long way so many ways from the days of the disciples.
[27:08] You know, when you come to ask, well, what does the Bible say about this? People say to you, what does the Bible have to say about this? What does the Bible have to say about that? And before you actually come to that question, there's another question that you need to ask before that.
[27:24] What is it? What is the Bible? Before you even ask, what does the Bible say? You have to begin by saying, what is the Bible?
[27:34] What's the nature of this book? Who's the author of this book? Who wrote it? Whose authority is behind it? Is it a reliable book? Is it a book you can trust in? What is the Bible?
[27:46] It is the Word of God. It is God's testimony to himself. Then you can ask, well, what does it say?
[27:57] And when you begin with what the Bible is, and then you go to what does it say, you're coming to a book then that's authoritative in what it says to you. And it remains authoritative.
[28:11] It remains a reliable book and always will be to the end of time. It is God's Word. It's God's revelation of himself. And I think in this day and generation that we belong to, that's where we have to begin our testimony to the world, not in what the Bible says so much as what the Bible is.
[28:29] And why the Bible? Why we believe the Bible to be what it is. The world's not going to accept that testimony without the blessing of God, without hearts being open to receive it, but you can't leave that out of it.
[28:41] Well, here is tonight what we're looking at in this passage. It is recreating it for us and the Bible is reliable in doing that. And it's just as if you are standing there with the disciples and with Thomas, with the Lord before you and the Lord speaking to you and the Lord addressing you and taking you out from amongst the other disciples and saying, this is what I have to say to you.
[29:11] And what did he say to him? He said, don't be disbelieving, but believe. Now, literally, in the language that's used in the New Testament, literally we could translate that as stop disbelieving and believe.
[29:32] In other words, Jesus was instructing Thomas, commanding Thomas, to stop what he was doing, which was disbelieving, not accepting the truth of what he had been presented with by the disciples.
[29:43] Stop disbelieving and believe. He said to him, you have the testimony, you see my side, you've touched my side, you see the marks of my suffering, my death, the evidence of my resurrection, I'm here myself.
[29:59] Stop disbelieving. are you here tonight unsaved? Are you here tonight and you've not yet accepted Christ?
[30:13] Are you here tonight and you're still lost, as you were when you came into the world? Are you here tonight saying, if only I had more evidence?
[30:23] If only I had more to go on. If only Jesus were actually physically present in front of me. He is, in a sense, in the words of the Bible.
[30:37] Because they're recreating for you the very occasion in which he spoke these words to Thomas. you have the evidences. You have the evidence of his resurrection.
[30:50] The Bible produces it for you. And if you haven't come to believe, to believe trustingly and savingly in Christ, he is gently but firmly saying to you tonight, stop disbelieving.
[31:08] Stop what you're doing. The evidence is there. Why should you go on disbelieving? Why should you go on not trusting in me? Why should you not come to give yourself over to me?
[31:24] To be your Savior? That's how he spoke to Thomas. And for us, the evidence is all laid out for us in Scripture, as we've said.
[31:37] And so here is his wonderful instruction to us tonight as well. And he's not just speaking to people who have not yet come to trust in him who are still unsaved.
[31:48] He's speaking to you and to me as Christian believers. Because there are many times in our life when we're guilty of disbelieving or reluctantly accepting his word. And he's saying to us as well, stop disbelieving.
[32:03] Trust me. Trust in my word. Trust what I'm saying to you. And move on. Don't stop where you are. Don't stop as if there's nothing else but just to stand there questioning and wondering.
[32:23] Stop disbelieving and believe. And it's the same. You're coming to have another communion. God willing, next Lord's Day. And as I've mentioned many times from this pulpit and elsewhere, we find many people saying, as I said myself at one time, if only I had more evidence.
[32:44] If only I had more to go on. If only I were living back in the days of the disciples, it'd be much easier for me. I could be much more persuaded then to come and take my place at the Lord's table.
[32:57] It's not that I denounce him. It's not that I don't believe that he existed. It's not that I refuse his word or anything like that. But I just wish there was something else. Well, what more do you want?
[33:14] Don't you have him speaking to you tonight in the Bible? Is that not word of Christ in the Bible as sure as if he stood here and you saw him physically speaking to you as he was with these disciples?
[33:26] If the Bible is, as we say it is, the word of God, he is speaking to you and the word that he's giving to you to come and take communion if you haven't done that before.
[33:37] And I hope I'm presenting this lovingly and not harshly. But Jesus is saying, here is my word to you. Do this in remembrance of me.
[33:51] Do it. Stop being disbelieving and believe. Do it on the basis of the truth of my word.
[34:05] So Christ knew him and Christ commanded and the time is gone. But we're going to just briefly look at Thomas' confession of Christ. My Lord and my God was his response.
[34:17] Where you find the deity of Christ so clearly set out and it's the clearest as we said really in the New Testament. The lordship that's confessed there by Thomas is a lordship using these two words my Lord and my God.
[34:33] Words that express the way in which God is God, the creator, the sustainer of the whole universe but also the Lord, the covenant Lord of his people. My Lord and my God.
[34:47] It is the complete absolute lordship lordship of Christ. And how thankful you and I should be for that tonight.
[34:59] That our saviour is the master of the whole universe. That our saviour is the Lord, the God of his people, the Lord of his people. What does that mean? It means that there's no one else that can look after your life the way he does.
[35:14] And that's for example how Samuel Rutherford put it at one time one of Scotland's greatest theologians. When he was answering in so many of his letters the ways in which people were asking for advice and so on and confounded sometimes by what was happening in the country.
[35:33] He said my faith has no other bed to rest upon than omnipotence. God the almighty, the power, the authority of God.
[35:46] my faith has no other bed to rest upon than omnipotence. And isn't that how it is for you and I tonight?
[35:59] Where is your faith going to rest? In omnipotence. In the mastery of Christ. In the lordship of Christ. In the person of Jesus as Lord and God.
[36:12] and you see how personal this is as well to Thomas. My lord and my God. It's personal because this Jesus belongs to Thomas through the faith that Thomas is placing in him and has placed in him before now but is now being once again registering with him as a believer where he says my lord and my God.
[36:39] that possessive pronoun is so important. My lord and my God. And how important that is for you as well as for me tonight.
[36:51] It's not just that we believe in the lordship of Christ in a general sense. It's not just that we believe that Jesus is lord over the whole universe because that's what the bible says.
[37:02] That's going quite far in the extent of what you believe. but it's further and it's more precious to say my lord and my God.
[37:18] Can you say that tonight? Is he your lord? Is he your god? Does he belong to you as god and lord in your life?
[37:31] Can you use this expression meaningfully tonight of him? My lord and my God.
[37:43] How precious that is that we can see of this great gigantic enormous authoritative omniscient all knowing all powerful God lord tonight I'm thankful I can say you are my god you are my lord I possess you by faith I've availed myself of all that is in you and brought it home to myself it belongs to me as the song of Solomon puts it where the expression is so often used or was used certainly in the past my beloved is mine and I am his and every believer tonight can say that my beloved is mine Jesus belongs to me and I am his I belong to him and the passage ends by
[38:50] Thomas saying my lord my god Jesus said have you believed because you have seen me blessed are those who have not seen and yet believed who are they who are these people Jesus refers to as those who have not seen and yet have believed and so are blessed well they are everybody who's come to believe and trust in him from the time that he went back to heaven to this present day blessed are those who have not seen who have not laid physical eyes upon Christ but yet believe and Jesus says blessed are they they're blessed because they've come to trust in me they've never seen me physically but they know me and I know them they are my sheep I am their shepherd and there's a sense in which that's being recreated now here in this building tonight where through the gospel
[39:55] Jesus is addressing us of our need to trust in him and emphasizing his own qualities for us to do that and where we are here in this room with Thomas as this scene is created for us the risen Jesus is standing before us in the words of scripture he's real what is our response are you tonight saying my Lord and my God let's pray Lord our God we give thanks for the gospel and we give thanks for the gospel and its contents and we thank you for especially the way it provides us with these wonderful truths about yourself about your relationship with your people the privileges that they have the blessing that is theirs even now and the blessings that are laid up in store for them in the heaven that is awaiting them we thank you Lord tonight for all that that means to your people we pray for everyone in this building tonight oh Lord you know every heart here you know the thoughts of every soul you know our relationship with you you know our need and we pray that each of us may come to leave this place tonight trusting in the
[41:26] Lord and thankful for the trust that you have given us receive us in our worship cleanse us from our sin for Jesus sake Amen our closing psalm tonight is psalm 145 the second version of psalm 145 page 444 we'll sing verses 1 to 6 O Lord thou art my God and King thee will I magnify and praise I will they bless and gladly sing unto thy holy name always psalm 145 on page 444 and these verses 1 to 6 O Lord thou art my God and King O Lord thou art my God and King they will magnify and praise who have!
[42:33] !
[42:33] !
[42:46] Each day I rise, I will be blessed, and praise thy name, thy will come, dare to be praised, and great for this.
[43:09] His greatness, dark and complete end. Great shall thy words face unto race, the mighty act sure done by thee.
[43:32] I will speak of thy glorious grace, and honor of thy majesty.
[43:46] Thy wondrous works I will report, I let the light shall be extol.
[44:04] Of all thy dreadful acts, O Lord, and I thy greatness will unfold.
[44:21] If you could kindly let me get to the main door, please, after the benediction. Now may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you now and evermore.
[44:34] Amen. Amen.
[44:55]