Trusting & Obeying

An Illinois man left the snowballed streets of Chicago for a vacation in Florida.

His wife was on a business trip and was planning to meet him there the next day.

When he reached his hotel, he decided to send his wife a quick e-mail.

Unable to find the scrap of paper on which he had written her e-mail address, he did his best to type it in from memory.

Unfortunately, he missed one letter and his note was directed instead to an elderly preacher's wife, whose husband had passed away the day before.

When the grieving widow checked her e-mail, she let out a piercing scream, and fainted

Her family rushed into the room and saw this note on the screen:

Dearest Wife, Just got checked in. Everything prepared for your arrival tomorrow. Your Loving Husband.

PS: Sure is hot down here.

Historical/Cultural Context -

The Gospel of John was written between 90 AD and 100 AD. Scholars also believe that John wrote the three Epistles and the book of Revelation around the same time-frame as he wrote this Gospel. The Gospel of John was written after Matthew, Mark, & Luke had been written and circulated. John has been dubbed by most scholars as “The Spiritual Gospel.”

Biblical Text -

John 20:19–31 NKJV

Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” Now Thomas, called the Twin, one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said to him, “We have seen the Lord.” So he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.” And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, “Peace to you!” Then He said to Thomas, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.” And Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.

-[Prayer]-

Life Principle - Trust In The Holy Spirit & Walk In Faith.

Life Point- Trust In The Holy Spirit

Exegetical -

John 20:19–25 NLT

That Sunday evening the disciples were meeting behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Suddenly, Jesus was standing there among them! “Peace be with you,” he said. As he spoke, he showed them the wounds in his hands and his side. They were filled with joy when they saw the Lord! Again he said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” One of the twelve disciples, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin), was not with the others when Jesus came. They told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he replied, “I won’t believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in his side.”

Homiletical -

So the disciples are all gathered together the Sunday evening where Christ had risen from the dead and they where behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Suddenly, Jesus shows up among them and say Peace be with you.

Why were they in a locked room? Why were they scared of the Jewish leadership? Because if they put Jesus to death the most gruesome way possible, they could put them to death the same way.

When we look at the disciples here, it is not the same disciples we see later in history. What happened? Well we will get to that.

As he spoke to them He showed them the wounds. Why would he do that? We can get greater insight by going to the book of Luke

Luke 24:36–43 NLT

And just as they were telling about it, Jesus himself was suddenly standing there among them. “Peace be with you,” he said. But the whole group was startled and frightened, thinking they were seeing a ghost! “Why are you frightened?” he asked. “Why are your hearts filled with doubt? Look at my hands. Look at my feet. You can see that it’s really me. Touch me and make sure that I am not a ghost, because ghosts don’t have bodies, as you see that I do.” As he spoke, he showed them his hands and his feet. Still they stood there in disbelief, filled with joy and wonder. Then he asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he ate it as they watched.

A spirit does not have a physical body, nor can a spirit eat food. Jesus did these things to show that he was resurrected entirely. He was resurrected bodily.

There is an old gnostic teaching going around in churches today that says Jesus only appeared as a spirit after His resurrection. That He never had the same body He died in.

This is a lie straight from the pit of hell. He was and will always be 100% God and 100% man. This is called the hypostatic union. Any other teaching is heresy and should be condemned as such.

Now Jesus says that as the Father has sent me, I am sending you. Then he breathed on them and said receive the Holy Spirit.

That is the key here. That is how These believers can go from wimps to winners. From scared of the Jewish leaders to bold proclaimers of the Gospel. You know what is great? We have access to the same Spirit as believers.

I don’t know how people can walk in this world and not trust in His Word and rely on Holy Spirit to guide them into all things. That makes no sense to me. How depressed must some people feel, how hopeless to feel like you are all alone and no one knows what you are going through.

But let me tell you something. Jesus knows and the Holy Spirit is our comforter.

Hebrews 4:14–16 NLT

So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe. This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.

Here is an interesting verse where Jesus says that if you forgive sins they are forgiven and if you say they are not, they are not. What is He talking about here.

In Mark 2, when Jesus pronounced forgiveness to a paralyzed man, the Pharisees were distraught, to say the least. “Only God has the right to forgive sin,” they said. And they were right. What, then, does this verse mean? It means we as His ambassadors don’t provide forgiveness, but we do proclaim it. Therefore, to the one who says, “I don’t feel forgiven,” it is our responsibility to say, “According to the Word of God, if you open your heart to Jesus Christ and believe in His work on the Cross, your sin is forgiven. Cast as far as the east is from the west. To the one who says, “I don’t need Jesus Christ.”—it is our responsibility to say, “Your sin remains because only the blood of Jesus can wash it away.”

There are too many churches who have become self-help organizations and not churches. They no longer proclaim the Gospel of peace between God and man that was forged through the blood of Christ. They not only shy away from it, but ignore it altogether. Let that never be said of this church. Let it be said that this church pulls no punches and will proclaim that the believer is forgiven but the unbeliever remains in his sins.

Now Thomas wasn’t there. Good ole doubting Thomas. I think Thomas is given more of a bad wrap. How many times has God done something for you? Oh you know you need the money for your light bill or you could have been killed in a car crash, yet God comes through with exactly what you need, when you need it and then deep down you are surprised.

Oh you will quote Psalm 37:25

Psalm 37:25 NLT

Once I was young, and now I am old. Yet I have never seen the godly abandoned or their children begging for bread.

But when God comes through you are still shocked

Why? Because deep down you doubted God too. So don’t be too harsh with Thomas here.

Life Point - Walk In Faith

Exegetical -

John 20:26–31 NLT

Eight days later the disciples were together again, and this time Thomas was with them. The doors were locked; but suddenly, as before, Jesus was standing among them. “Peace be with you,” he said. Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!” “My Lord and my God!” Thomas exclaimed. Then Jesus told him, “You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me.” The disciples saw Jesus do many other miraculous signs in addition to the ones recorded in this book. But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life by the power of his name.

Homiletical -

So, here it is eight days later. Thomas has been in a state of doubt for eight days.

Have you ever been trying to cast your worries and anxiety on God, but you keep taking it back. Don’t think that is part of what Thomas was feeling. He was having trouble believing the testimony of the others.

This time everyone is present, including Thomas, still behind locked doors and Jesus shows up and says again “Peace be with you.”

Then Jesus gives Thomas the exact proof he had been longing for, and he tells Thomas to believe.

Thomas replies, “My Lord and My God”

Now let me tell you about another heresy that is going around churches today. There is a teaching that says you can’t pray to Jesus, pray in Jesus name only to the father. Yet here Thomas talks directly to Jesus and calls Him “My Lord and My God.” He not only talks to Jesus, which is what prayer is, but he also Worships Him by calling Him God.

Don’t fall for this false teaching. We have the ability to go to Jesus directly. He is our High priest and the one that sticks closer than a brother.

Jesus says you believe because you have seen me, but blessed are those who believe without seeing me. It takes faith to see what is not there, to go on what God’s Word proclaims and in turn what believers proclaim. Thomas had a problem with that. It had to be overcome. But Jesus says blessed are those that don’t have this problem.

So what is faith. Well the best definition is simply to Trust and Obey. That is faith. If you truly trust the Word of God, you will obey it and abide by it. Another aspect is found in Hebrews 11:1

Hebrews 11:1 NKJV

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

So where is your faith in the God man? Where is your faith in trusting His promises?

Call to Action – altar call….