Easter Service 2024
Notes
Transcript
Stop Doubting and Believe
Stop Doubting and Believe
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Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”
But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though 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; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
Introduction: Jesus walking out of that tomb is the single greatest event that has ever happened in the history of this world. When Jesus walked out of that tomb victory was secured of the devil. Victory was secured over sin. It paved the way for you and I to have a relationship with God the Father. It secured your place in the family of God in the eternal home that God has prepared for us. It is also the foundation for the belief system that we all share. It is the foundational event that verifies that everything in the Bible is 100% complete and the true word of God.
Peter Stoner in his book, “Science speaks” calculated the probability that the prophetic passages in the OT being fulfilled by one man to be only 1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000
That number is 100 hundred quadrillion. One person has a chance of 1 in 100 hundred quadrillion of being the messiah. And guess who fulfills those prophetic passages? Jesus Christ completed them when He walked out of that tomb. Jesus is the only person in the history of this world that can be the messiah, to be the lamb of God. By the way the odds of winning the lottery are 1 in 300 million. Brothers and Sisters, God is very real, Jesus is the savior of the world. It is time that start leaning into our faith with the full abilities of our mind, bodies and souls.
The victory over our slavery to sin has been accomplished and our sins are not just wiped clean, there is even more to than that. In our current world, we have an apathy towards the word sin and unfortunately the world has failed to realize how deep and far sin truly runs.
Jesus takes your sins but He took everything that goes with it. The shame you feel, the fear you feel, the anxiety you feel. The depression , the addictions, all of these things Jesus took all of them on the cross, and He leaves you as God intended you to be.
Everything goes back to the garden of Eden and when Adam and Eve. Brothers and sisters you were not created for a broken world. You were created for Eden. You were not created to be slaves of sin Yet this is what sin has done to us, this is why Paul tells us
2 corinthians 5:17-18
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:
This is the Gospel, this is the good news of Jesus Christ. The old self is gone because of His victory on the cross. Through God it is all possible. This is the hope that the world needs right now, today, tomorrow and next week!
The world has become “works based” you will hear things like “your truth” or “you do you”. It sounds great, that I can make myself happy or joyful, or If I just try hard enough, etc. Here is the sad part of the world, you can’t do it by yourself. All of that is based upon your own works What Jesus did, now that is the real source of change in this world. That is the real source of power in this world. If you want lasting change in your life, it isn’t found in ourselves. I tried that for a very long time. Lasting change is found at the cross where He took all our inequities for us. So let’s dive into doubting Thomas now
Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”
But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
Unless I see the nail marks and put my finder where the nails were. At some point in our lives we have all been in Thomas’ shoes. Perhaps you faced such a great challenge in your life that you doubted. Perhaps an addiction, perhaps a medical diagnosis. There are times when things are so tough and the world so broken that we doubt.
I want you to think about Thomas has been through when he had doubts. Jesus has been taken away , unjustly put on trial, nailed to a cross and finally laid to rest in a tomb. I want to be clear about this , Jesus was dead and buried. Then Roman and Jewish authorities would go on to look for any remaining disciples of Jesus. The unofficial leader of the disciples, Peter, even denied Jesus. Thomas would have known about that too. I want you to think about all the immense pressure that would you would be under in those circumstances.
So Thomas needed to see it for himself. Here is why faith and hope are so powerful in this world because God answers those doubts, God hears our prayers, our cries and He answers. Jesus didn’t rise up out of the grave and leave us. He is still the savior, the high priest and the Son of God.
A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though 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; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
Jesus comes to Thomas. Jesus doesn’t need to do this, He doesn’t need Thomas to validate the Resurrection. No Jesus comes because Thomas needs His faith restored. Jesus is the great healer, the great physician and He needs to heal Thomas now. Thomas had been wounded and now looking at the Resurrected Jesus; Thomas says My Lord and my God.
God is faithful, The Bible is full of records of miracles, it is full of the plan of redemption so that people can be right with the Father. Do not discount God in your life. I implore to keep the faith and keep Jesus in your heart because it is in those impossible moments when everything is dark that God works and only God can work in those moments. The world was dark and Jesus walked out of that tomb. Thomas was full of doubt and his spirit was darkened and Jesus appears to him.
When God gives you a miracle in your life, When God breaks through in your life, that is God saving us. What happens after that event is how you respond to God. You can write things off as a coincidence or the universe or whatever. Or you can recognize that Jesus is still working miracles to this day and you can stop doubting and believe. You can respond just as Thomas does “ My Lord and my God”
Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
The Gospels were written so that you would believe. So that you can have new life in Jesus. We have talked before about a religious text vs the Holy Scriptures. The Scriptures are not a religious text. It is the Word of God. John writes his Gospel so that you have truth, so that you have the truth of who Jesus is and you can have that peace that surpasses all understanding.
In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.
His commands are not burdensome and because Jesus secured our victory on the cross, we can overcome the world. By the world John is talking about overcoming the unbelief, overcoming temptation, overcoming those that would take you far away from the cross.
Do not let yourselves stay in the shallow end of Christianity but instead dive deeper into the never ending well that is the Word of God. We are all here because we know that Jesus is the Son of God. We are all here because of what He did on the cross and What He did walking out of the tomb. It is the greatest news that has ever been spoken. I encourage you to make following Jesus a daily practice in your life.
I encourage you to share your faith, because if Jesus has changed your life and you believe it is the greatest news, then we have to help people find their ways back to Him. We do not share our faith because Jesus needs salesmen. We share our faith because it is the one truth path to God, it is one true path to living as God wants us to live, it is the one true path to an eternity. We need to encourage people to open their hearts and minds back to the Word of God We need to encourage each other to continue down the path that Jesus laid before us.
Cyprian of Carthage was a Bishop that lived from 210 to 258. He faced severe Roman persecution.
It is a bad world, an incredibly bad world. But I have discovered in the midst of it a quiet and holy people who have learned a great secret. They have found a joy which is a thousand times better than any pleasure of our sinful life. They are despised and persecuted, but they care not. They are masters of their souls. They have overcome the world. These people are the Christians—and I am one of them.
Cyprian of Carthage
If you would like to give your life over to Jesus or if you would like renew your commitment to Jesus, I invite you to the front, Pastor Rick and I will be up front during the last worship song.
Let us close in prayer.