John 20:24-29
Thomas the Doubter? How about Willing Thomas
Introduction
A. Sometimes we just associate people with what they do.
B. Let me give you a couple of Examples
C. Larry works for a printer, his real last name is Kosht
D. However to me, his last name is printer, middle name is the, and Larry
E. So you have Larry the Printer
F. There is also Steve the Copy Machine Man
G. Herb The Key Man
H. Remember the Brady bunch? You had Sal the butcher
I. Imagine being Thomas
J. You are not known as Thomas the Disciple
K. You are not known as Thomas the Servant of God
L. You are known as doubting Thomas
M. Does Thomas Really deserve that name?
N. We are going to look at the life of Thomas today
O. In the bible Thomas is mentioned three times (other then in just list of the disciples)
P. WE are going to look at Thomas’s:
a. Willing to risk his life
b. Willing to ask the hard questions
c. Willing to accept the truth
I. Thomas Willing to Risk His Life (John 11:1-16)
A. Explanation
1. The first time that we see Thomas mention is found in the passage about Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead
2. Let us read John 11:1-16
3. The disciples have a good point here. They tell Jesus hey that isn’t such a great idea
4. You know there are people out there who are trying to kill you
5. Jesus insist that they still Go
6. Vs. 11 and 12 are a bit humorous if you ask me
7. Jesus trying to be kind says that Lazarus is sleeping and the disciples respond with don’t wake him up
8. Then Jesus has to say, ok he is not sleeping he is dead.
9. Vs. 16 is what were going to key in on
10. Let’s go too – and die with Jesus.
11. Thomas, The one who we always refer to as doubting Thomas, makes the bold statement “I am willing to follow with you, Jesus, even if it means death”
B. Application
1. What can we learn from this?
2. First of all Thomas was not just a doubter
3. Thomas was willing to put in all on the line
4. In his mind there was a strong chance that he would be killed if he went to Judea
5. Thomas was willing to risk death to follow Jesus
6. Do you have that same passion to follow Jesus
7. Do you have that same desire to follow Jesus
8. Do you have the same boldness to follow Jesus?
C. Illustration
1. November 10th is the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. Hopefully you have seen the poster, and the bulletin Insert. Take out your bulletin Insert from today. Look at the 2nd Paragraph (read 2nd paragraph)
2. That is the passion to follow Jesus I am talking about
3. That is the desire to follow Jesus I am talking about
4. That is the Boldness to follow Jesus I am talking about
5. Do you have the willingness that Thomas did?
II. Willing to Ask the questions that we all were wondering (John 14:1:6)
A. Explanation
1. Thomas is also mentioned in John 14:5
2. Read 14:1-6
3. Jesus just gets done giving the disciples some comfort
4. Let us be honest, if this was the first time you heard about all this you would be confused too
5. I can see the disciples sitting around and shake there head and pretending they understand what Jesus was talking about
a) I get that look from time and time when I am preaching, I don’t think you understand what I am saying but you smile and nod anyways J
6. Thomas raises his hand and says Lord I don’t get it. I am confused. Help me understand
7. Notice Jesus did not rebuke Thomas
8. Jesus did not make fun of him for his honest question
9. Jesus used a different way and expanded on some things to answer the questions that Thomas had
10. The rest of the disciples in their mind I am sure they were saying thank you Thomas for asking that question
B. Application
1. What can we learn from this?
2. You know one biggest misconceptions that we have been taught is questions are wrong
3. Honest questions are not sin.
4. To want to know exactly how something works is not a sin
5. To want better understanding of a subject is not a sin.
6. There are something that we do not understand at first
7. I don’t know about you but I am not that fastest thinker on earth
8. It take me a while to think through something
9. While I am thinking it through I have to ask a lot of questions to myself, or whoever will listen
10. Don’t just listen, be willing to ask the questions, be willing to examine things, figure out what exactly is going on
11. Now if you are on the other side and you get that question, do not just blow it off with a “you just have to have faith answer” or a “It in the Bible answer” or a “just trust me answer”
12. Give an honest well thought out answer, hey there is nothing wrong with saying “hmm, let me think about that, let me get back to you on that one” (if you do follow through)
C. Illustration
1. I had a professor at Toccoa who is the smartest guy I ever met. He knew everything (at least I thought he did) one day in class a student asked him a question. Amazingly enough, he did not know the answer. WOW! Guess what he did? He went back to his office, looked at the verse that was in question, read some commentaries, meditated on it. Thought about it some more. He then wrote a 2-page answer the question, gave it to the student that asked the question.
2. Questions are not bad, if you ask them
3. And if someone ask you a question, respond like Jesus did, don’t give them a garbage answer
III. Thomas Willing to Accept the truth (John 20:24-29)
A. Explanation
1. I am sure that you all remember the famous story of doubting Thomas, Let look at it together
2. Read 20:24-29
3. Thomas get a bad rap here, we have to understand what was going on before
4. First thing that disciples know is that Mary said that Jesus appeared to here
5. None of the disciples believer her, if they had they would have not been in the room gathered together hiding in fear
6. Now when they were together Thomas was not there
7. Where was Thomas? The Bible does not say.
8. Thomas did not want to blindly accept what his fellow disciples said
9. He wanted to make sure that everything was correct
10. So the Lord showed up, and showed him
11. Thomas makes one of the most overlooked statements in the Bible
12. “My Lord and my God”
a) This statement is amazing, for a Jew to make that statement is incredible
b) To call an human associate “My Lord and My God” could be considered blasphemy and punishable by death
c) Thomas was willing
B. Application
1. What can we gain from this story?
2. Doubt, let us tackle this issue
3. First of all understand that doubt is not sin
4. It is not sin to doubt.
5. If it were Jesus would have said why are you sinning against me, he did not say that
6. We all wrestle with doubt from time to time
7. Let’s be honest here, we have all doubted at sometime that there is a God, let alone the whole salivation story
8. Then we go out side and look at the trees, that was no accident
9. Then we go and stare at our hand, that is no accident
10. Then we look at everybody face, that is no accident
11. Doubting is ok folks
12. Notice something here, he never doubted Jesus, he doubted his fellow disciple
13. Once Jesus showed him, he believed and admitted it.
14. Unbelief and doubt are not the same
15. Unbelief is deliberate denial, disobedience, rebellion, resistance, and is always condemned
16. Doubt is the sincere question, unbelief is the unwillingness to hear the answer
17. To doubt the resurrection is not that uncommon
a) Dead people rarely get up and our alive again
b) Add your scientific mind to that, and it does not add up all the time
c) Understand though when you ignore the possibility of the supernatural and miracles you limit truth, science is not able to explain everything
18. Another time that doubt occurs with dashed hope
a) It is hard to make faith fit in with the painful realities of life
b) This occurs when: a loved one dies, Children in this world are starving, we loose our job, our marriage falls apart
c) What is funny is we often doubt that miracles can happen, but our desire for them is even stronger
19. The writer of Psalms sometimes express much anger and sing about doubts and disappointments
a) However, they always seem to realize in the end that God is God, God cares for them, and God listens to them
20. Doubt is not sin, it is how you deal with it that is the question
Conclusion
A. I hope I have made a good case to stop calling Thomas, Doubting Thomas
B. Thomas was no were near doubting as he was willing
C. He was willing to risk his life and follow Jesus
D. He was willing to Ask some really hard questions
E. He was willing to accept the truth
F. What about you? Would you follow Jesus if it meant your life?
G. Do you have questions that you just don’t ask because you’re afraid?
a. Ask away.
H. Are you willing to accept the truth once you figure it out?
a. It is amazing to me that some people who know the truth, know everything about the situation will still be unwilling to belief, unwilling to accept, unwilling to do the right thing.
I. If you want to deal with any of these situations, I’ve said before and Ill say it again, deal with it now, don’t wait
Change My Hart O’ God
