“After Easter – Then What?”
March 30, 2008
“Now Thomas (called 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 it."
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 did many other miraculous 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 Christ.” John 20:24-31
Easter was fantastic for me this year. The presence of the Lord was in our services – from the morning breakfast together to the barbecue after the morning service. Maybe it was all that good food and fellowship – or maybe it was because my birthday was so close to Easter this year and everyone made me feel so loved and appreciated. It may have been the large number in attendance, too. But Easter was a great day for me.
Easter was a great day for the disciples, that first Easter, too. I can hardly imagine how depressed and discouraged they must have felt after Jesus was crucified. They were hiding behind locked doors afraid and hopeless and discouraged. Resurrection Sunday changed all that. From doom they went to delight; from tragedy to triumph; from fear to faith. What a difference one day can make. Someone once said, “It is always too soon to quit.” Easter makes that point. What a glorious, wonderful, emotional day it must have been. It changed everything. But what was going on after Easter? Let me suggest a few things.
First, some still doubted. Can you blame them? They saw Jesus killed. They saw the blood run down His side and saw His lifeless body placed in the tomb. I don’t know if you have ever seen a lifeless body – but I have seen many. And when the spirit is gone from the body – it’s dead! To think a dead body could come back to life is pretty hard to believe. It isn’t natural. Besides that – the government had begun to spread a false rumor around that the stories of His resurrection were not true. The government wouldn’t LIE to us – would they?
Thomas doubted that Jesus didn’t come back to life. I suspect that he was only one of many. But you know what? He wasn’t kicked out of the fellowship. He wasn’t shunned or scorned. He may have been pitied and prayed for – but his doubts didn’t keep him from his spiritual brothers and it didn’t keep Jesus from seeking him out. One week after Resurrection Sunday Jesus came to him. Jesus told Thomas:
"Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe."
I can almost hear Jesus’ kind and gentle words. I can almost see His tender eyes as He looked at his friend. They had spent three years together going from town to town – spreading the Good News. Thomas had seen many miracles. And yet he stilled doubled. He had a choice to make. Jesus said, “Stop doubting. Start believing.”
That’s a choice that each one of us has to make at some time in our lives. We have to choose to stop doubting and we have to choose to start believing. Belief is a choice. You can believe evolution or creation –it a choice. The facts are about the same for either side. You can believe in heaven or hell – it’s a choice. You can believe Jesus is the way to abundant life now and eternal life later – or you can believe Buddha or some other deity is the way. It’s your choice. A week after Easter Thomas was making that choice. Today people are still choosing. Have you chosen to believe? If not – now is the time.
After choosing to believe – after Easter, the believers were given jobs to do in Jesus’ absence. After choice – comes commitment. Listen to the Bible.
“When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?"
"Yes, Lord," he said, "you know that I love you."
Jesus said, "Feed my lambs."
Again Jesus said, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me?"
He answered, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you."
Jesus said, "Take care of my sheep."
The third time he said to him, "Simon son of John, do you love me?"
Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, "Do you love me?" He said, "Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you."
Jesus said, "Feed my sheep.” John 21:15-17
After the disciples had made a choice to believe in Jesus – Jesus appeared to them again to commission them to a task He had for them to do. When I was a young pastor at just about any district event, some of us would gather around and share about our churches. Some pastor would always bring up the assessment of his church as “saved, sanctified, and petrified.” The norm seemed to be, after a person got saved and sanctified, he or she would sit back and not really do anything but fill the pew. That is not the way the early church was. Everyone had a commission. The ‘Great Commission’ in Matthew 28 says,
“Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." Matthew 28:18-20
This Scripture isn’t just for the twelve. Paul wrote:
“And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.” 2 Timothy 2:2
“It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up.” Ephesians 4:11-12
The norm for the church is that everyone has spiritual gifts and everyone is using them. Why? To disciple or prepare God’s people for spiritual work. SOOO- the body of believers would be built up or so they would mature.
There is at least a couple of stages of your spiritual growth. Included in the stages are learning and teaching. When we first come to Christ, we need to spend time learning about Him and His will for our lives. The disciples spent three years with Jesus. Paul spent 3 years learning about Jesus (Galatians 1:18) before he began his missionary ministry. I spend three years at Nazarene Bible College. The point is that when we first come to Christ – we need to immerse ourselves in the Bible and in Bible Study. We need to learn those big words and what they mean. We need to study theology. But then comes a time we graduate and get into ministry ourselves. Apparently some didn’t want to do this even in the early church. The writer of Hebrews said,
“We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.” Hebrews 5:11-14
There were folks way back then who didn’t grow or mature normally. Notice that they should have been teachers. That was the expectation. But they were still spiritual babies feeding on the milk of the Word instead of feeding on the solid meat of the Gospel. The mature not only got into the meat of the Gospel – but they passed it on to others. They became teachers. They met in each other’s homes and at church and at work to disciple others.
How are you doing at this? Are you feeding on milk or meat? Are you learning and growing? Are you passing on what you know to others? In our church we say that “our purpose is to bring Christ to the community”. Are you doing that? And I want to point out – we aren’t to sit back in our homes or even in church and say “Here I am! I will share Christ with everyone that comes to me!”
Jesus said “GO – and make disciples.” He said to go to the “highways and byways” and bring them in.” The book of Acts records that every day there was a Bible Study going on somewhere in someone’s home. If you aren’t involved in a Bible study – you need to be. You need to be a student or a teacher – but everyone is expected to prepare for works of service. Everyone is commissioned to share the Good News that Christ lives.
A third thing the church was doing after that first Easter was seeking for the Holy Spirit. The Bible says,
“After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: "Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit." Acts 1:3-5
Jesus knew the early church could not accomplish anything in their own strength. They had learned wonderful spiritual truths from Him for three years -and yet they still bickered and jockeyed for position in the Kingdom. They failed Him when He needed them most. Peter, the leader and strongest of them, denied he even knew Jesus when Jesus was all alone. They were only human – and they were given a super- human job. They could not do it on their own. So Jesus told them to wait before starting until they had received the Holy Spirit.
Maybe we don’t teach or learn as we ought because we do not have the fullness of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Jesus said,
“…you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you.” Act 1:8
“But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth.” John 16:13
The Holy Spirit’s job is to guide us and empower us to do God’s work. We can be a Sunday school teacher or a small group leader or a witness at work – with His help. But we need Him. We need to be filled with the Holy Spirit. So how do we do that? Three things.
First, there must be a craving. Have you ever heard a football coach say, “You’ve gotta want it.” Some people don’t really want the filling of the Spirit because they are afraid of becoming too fanatical. They might say something or do something different than everyone else. They don’t want to be fanatical. And they won’t be - with that attitude. Being filled with the Spirit begins with a holy hunger to walk on a different level than you are used to walking. It begins with a dissatisfaction with your walk with the Lord and a desire to walk closer to Him.
Secondly, there must be a cleansing. Confessing sin is important, but denouncing it is critical to being filled with the Spirit. We need to hate sin. We need to be willing to let go of any sin – anything that is not pleasing to God. The Holy Spirit is not just a title. That is who He is - holy, and He doesn’t enjoy living in an unclean environment. He won’t live in uncleanness. We need to cleanse ourselves of anything that soils us spiritually.
Thirdly, there must be a commitment. This means we allow God to call all the shots for our lives. Like Jesus, we need to pray “Not my will – but Your’s be done.” A popular hymn years ago went “Is your all on the alter of sacrifice laid. Your heart does the Spirit control? You can only be blest, And have peace and sweet rest, As you yield Him your body and soul.
That is the key to receiving the power of the Holy Spirit. You need to die out to self and live to do God’s will. If you have reached that place of spiritual maturity – all you have to do is pray a simple prayer like this:
Dear Jesus,
I long to have the Holy Spirit in my life. I need Him to do the work you have for me. Please cleanse me from all sin. Cleanse me from anything that would hinder Him from coming into my life. With His help I will live an obedient life. Please fill me now. Fill me with the Holy Spirit.
In Jesus Name
Keep in mind that the early church prayed for many days in the upper room before the Spirit came. I think that the spirit was getting them ready – cleansing them, purifying hearts and attitudes, so He could indwell them. You may have to do the same. Keep praying; keep asking; keep seeking – until the Spirit comes.
“Is Your All on the Alter”
