40 Days with the Lord
Part 5 – Thomas and the Holy Spirit
Rev. Bruce A. Shields
First Baptist Church of Tawas City Michigan
www.tawasbaptist.org
WELCOME
INTRODUCTION
Let us review where we began a few weeks ago.
It was Sunday evening, and Jesus had appeared to the disciples.
They thought they were seeing a ghost and couldn’t believe Jesus was alive.
When Jesus had left Mary Magdalene at the tomb, He had told her “Do not touch me, for I have not ascended yet to our Father in Heaven. Go and tell the others that I am going to our God and Father in heaven.”
Now He is telling them, “Look! I am flesh and bone, see the wounds in my hands and feet. Look at my side. Touch me!”
So we know by this time He has received His resurrected body.
To prove He was flesh and bone and not an apparition or ghost, Jesus asked for something to eat.
They brought Him fish and a honeycomb, and He ate in front of them.
This is where we left off.
SCRIPTURE READING
John 24:20 – 25 Thomas and the Holy Spirit
20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
21 Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you."
22 And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit.
23 If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven."
24 Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came.
25 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."
PRAYER FOR THE HOLY SPIRIT & UNDERSTANDING
Thomas and the Holy Spirit
We see how Jesus showed Himself to the disciples this day.
He knew their fears, and their doubts.
And it wasn’t just Thomas who doubted, it was all of them.
Even John did not believe until he saw the empty tomb for himself.
We, like the disciples, have doubts in our lives and in our minds when it comes to Jesus.
With some of us, all we need to encourage us and remove our doubts is the smallest of signs.
For John it was simply seeing an empty tomb.
John didn’t need a “mountain top experience”, or even to see Jesus face to face.
When He saw the empty tomb, he remembered all that was said by Jesus, and He believed in Jesus’ words.
Some of the others needed a little more.
Even when they saw, they didn’t believe Jesus was flesh and bone.
For them on this Sunday evening, seeing was not believing.
They needed a little more for their faith to kick in.
And Jesus provided what they needed to believe what His word said.
They touched Him, and saw His wounds, and watched Him eat, and as verse 20 says in the King James Version, “THEN were the disciples glad when they saw the Lord.”
Thomas on the other hand was not there when Jesus appeared that first time to them.
Why Thomas wasn’t with the others when they met that Sunday evening to worship isn’t clear, we’re not told.
But we do know that the others were gathered to worship together, and for some reason, Thomas wasn’t present.
And later, when the disciples told Thomas they had seen the Lord, Thomas simply replied,
"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."
Thomas, perhaps if you would have been there worshipping God with your brothers that Sunday Evening, you would have met with Jesus and saw for yourself.
Then you wouldn’t have to rely on the words of others.
Many do this today.
Try and have a life of faith on the words of others instead of searching and finding for themselves.
Jesus wants a personal relationship with you, not vicariously through someone else’s experiences with Him.
He wants you to experience Him.
We meet Thomas’ many times in our lives with people who refuse to believe Jesus is alive, yet do not make the effort to seek.
If you do not seek, you will not find.
You see, Thomas needed faith.
Perhaps this is why he wasn’t worshipping with the others that evening.
Sometimes when things don’t go the way we expect them to, we lose heart.
Perhaps after the crucifixion, Thomas felt like all was lost and gave up.
Remember, the disciples were meeting to worship, and it had only been a couple of days since Jesus died.
How quickly we sometimes lose our faith when tragedy hits.
How quickly we sometimes run away from the one place we need to be.
All of the disciples were doubters in the beginning.
This is human nature, to doubt, to question.
It is so hard for us to understand spiritual things.
We have these other senses, hearing, sight, touch, smell, taste; they all tie us down to this world around us, while we only have one sense for the spiritual world.
A still and quiet voice within us, the Holy Spirit.
How easy it is to focus on the five senses of this world, ignoring the one sense for the Spiritual.
God doesn’t mind doubters, or questions, it’s expected.
This is why He says “Seek and you shall find…”
Having questions is not rejecting Christ, it’s usually an attempt to get to know Him better.
This is why I welcome any questions someone may have about God or the scriptures.
A question unanswered can sometimes become the very foundation from which the devil will build a stronghold in our lives to keep us from full relationship with the Lord.
Sometimes these questions CAN be answered, thus removing doubt, increasing faith, and helping that person grow spiritually.
Now, not all questions can be answered.
“If God can do anything, can He make a rock so big He can’t lift it?”
This paradox was presented to one of my professors in seminary, to which He replied, “I know He can make one so big you can’t lift it.”
An example of a question that can become a building block for the devil is a story about forgiveness.
A man I know felt like he could never really have a relationship with Christ because of the sin in his life which was so horrid.
This caused him to feel unaccepted.
And of course, the devil seeing an opportunity to build on this lie which he propagated to begin with, the devil made this man feel like he was unworthy of anything a Holy and Just God had to offer.
The devil constantly whispered in his ear,
You are worthless.
God hates you because of what you’ve done and continue to do.
He could never love someone like you.
You can’t go to church, they would know you are a sinner and reject you.
Look at yourself.
This one little question of full acceptance by Christ as a sinner looking for redemption was the foundation for years of lies from the devil.
Each lie another brick in the wall separating this man from the love of God.
But one day this man began to read the Bible.
And his faith began to grow because of the thing he read.
And he began to see that many of the great followers of God were some of the biggest sinners in the Bible!
And that God’s forgiveness comes when one asks for it and repents of those sins.
And anyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved!
And with the faith from reading God’s word, the little question of acceptance was answered, destroying the foundation that the lies of the devil had been building on for years.
And the walls came tumbling down!
Praise God!
If you have questions, ask.
You need to read God’s word, increase your faith and destroy the very foundation that the devil is building walls on in your life!
You are to have one foundation!
Jesus Christ.
Only truth can set upon that foundation!
And when you build your house on that foundation, the storms will come, the waters will rise, but you will still stand!
For the Lord is your rock, your shield, your mighty fortress!
1 John 4:1
“Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.”
How do you test the spirits?
Measure EVERYTHING with the Word of God!
God will not contradict Himself.
Diligently seek Him, and He will show Himself to you.
When the disciple had doubts, He showed Himself, and He did it in a way they would understand.
Jesus didn’t HAVE to eat.
The resurrected body has no NEED for food.
He did that for the disciples.
He showed Himself in a way that they would understand, and in a way their faith needed.
We know that the scriptures tell us that faith comes by hearing the Word of God.
You must believe in the Word to have faith.
Thomas was having trouble believing the Word and what Jesus had said, even though the tomb was empty, and the others had seen Him.
We read in Luke 24:45 week before last that Jesus opened their understanding of the scriptures.
Our understanding of God’s Word comes only from Him.
Our faith will grow as we grow spiritually.
Our spiritual growth depends on our relationship with God.
Our relationship with God grows as we read His Holy Word, and pray, and talk with Him.
By the way, praying to God and talking with Him are two different things.
Jesus says to them again, “Peace be with you.” He continues with
“As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven."
Wow.
As followers of Christ, we, as the disciples, have been given that task of spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
As God sent Jesus into the world, not to condemn it, but to save it, so were we sent by Jesus into the world to do the same.
We have a purpose while we are here.
In our Teen Class we spoke about how do you show love to someone you cannot see or touch, speaking about showing God love?
The scriptures are very clear; Jesus said “If you love Me you will obey my commands.”
Jesus has given us the command to love our neighbor as we love ourselves.
If we have done what we need to do to make ourselves right with God, then we need to do what we can to help our neighbor make themselves right as well.
We loved ourselves enough to get right, now we need to show our neighbor that same love.
One of the great truths of the Gospel is the fact that “I love Him because He first loved me.”
How is the world to know the love of God and the Gospel of Jesus?
Through us!
Isaiah 52:7
“How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation…!"
Are you proclaiming salvation today?
If we do not take the Gospel to the lost, if we do not love the lost, how are they to know the love of God!
Jesus said, “I haven’t come to judge the world, but to save it!”
There is a lie that’s been floating around that is destroying God’s ministry in the world today.
We know that Satan is the father of all lies, so it started with him, who knows when.
This lie is;
“GOD HATES SINNERS”
WRONG!
Romans 5:8
“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Not after we got better.
Not after we changed the things in our lives that hurt God and ourselves.
Not after we got rid of that little habit or problem.
Not after we stopped sinning…please!
By the way, is there anyone here today who never sins?
HE LOVED US WHILE WE WERE SINNERS.
The scriptures say quite clearly; THAT is how God demonstrated His love for us!
What does God hate? Well, there are a few things, but that will have to be another sermon series.
So God wants us to take His love and show it to the world, spreading His Good News!
But Jesus knows that there is an enemy waiting for us.
An enemy roaming about, looking for those he may devour.
The destroyer.
Satan and his minions.
Remember when we did the Sermon Series on the Whole Armor of God?
Ephesians 6 tells us that we do not battle against flesh and blood, this is speaking of the human body (remember when the scriptures described Jesus in His resurrected body it says ‘flesh and bone’), although the devil may use people, they are just his pawns, but we battle against principalities, against powers, and against the rulers of the darkness of this world.
If we are to survive this spiritual warfare, we need to be spiritual.
This is why God gives us the Holy Spirit, so that we can have the Whole Spiritual Armor of God.
He gives us His Holy Word, which is our Spiritual Sword.
Remember when Satan confronted Jesus in the desert, Jesus fought back, not by punching the devil in the face, although I would have liked to see that, but by the Word of God!
The Word of God is your Spiritual Sword for Spiritual Battles!
The more you study the truth, the bigger and stronger your sword is.
His Holy Spirit will allow us to have the Spiritual gifts needed to do God’s work on earth and edify (or build up and strengthen) the body of Christ.
His Holy Spirit WILL (not should) produce Spiritual fruit for all to see and enjoy!
If you’re not producing Spiritual Fruit, then you have a problem, not the Holy Spirit.
Everything we are in God, everything we do in God, and everything we accomplish in the name of the Lord, is only possible through God’s Holy Spirit within us!
Jesus knows this, His ministry didn’t start and He did no miracles UNTIL AFTER He was baptized and received the Holy Spirit!
He came as an example…
He knows our needs, and He knew the disciples needs for their journey ahead.
And Jesus said unto them, “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit.”
Jesus knew that they needed the Holy Spirit; He saw the need and met it.
After that Jesus said to them, “If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven."
Jesus is saying that when the Gospel of Christ is preached and accepted by sinners, the preacher of the Gospel, (or any believer), can announce unequivocally to the New Believer, that all of his sins are forgiven!
What a blessing. That day we first believed.
In the same token, if the Gospel is refused, the believer has the obligation to inform the Christ-rejecter that, despite whatever else he might do, he is still in his sins, and barring repentance will suffer the consequences.
See, sometimes we get it backwards.
We want to treat the lost as though they have already rejected Christ before we have even introduced them to Christ.
And that is our fault.
We need to share Christ and His love, allowing the sinner to see the truth before we tell them they are not forgiven.
So Jesus prepares the disciples, except for Thomas who was not there, for their upcoming duties to God.
Did you know, it wasn’t until 8 days later when the disciples and Thomas were meeting again, Jesus came in and the doors were shut and Jesus stood there with them?
In John 20:26 Jesus says to them once again, “Peace be with you.”
Then in the next verse, Jesus approaches Thomas, and He says to Him, “Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.”
Do you see this?
Do you see what Jesus is doing for Thomas?
Remember what Thomas said? He told the disciples why his faith was lacking.
“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.”
Jesus met Thomas where Thomas’ understanding was because He knew just what Thomas needed to grow spiritually.
Jesus saw Thomas’ question, and answered it.
Thus, removing the foundation of doubt, leaving the devil nothing to build on.
Te roadblock that was keeping Thomas from having a relationship with Jesus had just been removed and now Thomas could go forward.
There is no evidence that Thomas actually touched Jesus’ wounds, but it is recorded that he answered Jesus and said to Him, “My Lord and My God”
Thomas, though he was slow in faith, was actually the first to give Jesus this title, other than the prophets predicting these events.
Jesus said to Thomas, “Thomas, because you have seen me, you have believed: blessed are they who have not seen, and yet have believed.”
If you have questions, or doubts, seek and you will find.
Read the Holy Word, and your faith WILL come!
Ask and it shall be given to you.
Preach the Good News.
Receive the Holy Spirit so you can be prepared for the Spiritual battles in your life.
Receive the whole armor of God, the spiritual gifts for building and strengthening this body of Christ, and you too will produce GOOD spiritual fruit.
CLOSING
