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Please turn in your Bibles to 
John, Chapter 20. John, Chapter 20. A few men yesterday 
were discussing the issue or the situation of Thomas. Many have called him and referred 
to him as doubting Thomas. So I wanted to take up that study 
this morning, specifically Jesus encounter with Thomas and verses 
24 to 29 of John chapter 20. But I'll just pick up reading 
in verse one so we can see the larger context. Now, the first 
day of the week, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early while 
it was still dark and saw that the stone had been taken away 
from the tomb. Then she ran and came to Simon 
Peter and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and said to 
them, They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we 
do not know where they have laid him. Peter therefore went out, 
and the other disciple, and were going to the tomb. So they both 
ran together, and the other disciple outran Peter and came to the 
tomb first. And he, scooping down and looking 
in, saw the linen cloths lying there. Yet he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following 
him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying 
there, and the handkerchief that had been around his head, not 
lying with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place 
by itself. Then the other disciple, who 
came to the tomb first, went in also. And he saw and believed. For as yet they did not know 
the Scriptures that he must rise again from the dead. Then the 
disciples went away again to their own homes. But Mary stood 
outside by the tomb weeping. And as she wept, she stooped 
down and looked into the tomb. And she saw two angels in white 
sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet, where 
the body of Jesus had lain. Then they said to her, Woman, 
why are you weeping? She said to them, Because they 
have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have 
laid Him. Now, when she had said this, she turned around and saw 
Jesus standing there and did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus 
said to her, Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking? She, supposing him to be the 
gardener, said to him, Sir, if you have carried him away, tell 
me where you have laid him and I will take him away. Jesus said 
to her, Mary. She turned and said to him, Rabboni, 
which is to say teacher. Jesus said to her, Do not cling 
to me, for I have not yet ascended to my father, but go to my brethren 
and say to them, I am ascending to my father and your father 
and to my God and your God. Mary Magdalene came and told 
the disciples that she had seen the Lord and that he had spoken 
these things to her. 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 certainly 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 hand. 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. Amen. Let us pray. Our Father, we come now to consider 
your holy scripture and we cry out to you for the aid of your 
Holy Spirit. We know that he illumines us, 
that he guides us, he leads us into all truth. We know that 
it is by inspiration of God that the scriptures were penned. So 
we pray for your aid this morning. We pray that you would encourage 
our hearts, that you would strengthen us. God, for any and all here 
that do not believe the gospel. We pray that today would be the 
day of salvation. That today men, women, boys and 
girls would believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and know the joy 
of everlasting life. Do forgive us now for all of 
our sins and all of our transgressions and anything that would darken 
our minds and our understanding. And grant us the grace to take 
every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. And it's 
in His name that we pray. Amen. Well, John, in his gospel, 
has a very specific agenda. He wants to set forth Jesus Christ 
as the divine savior and to call men to faith. In this particular 
section, we have another assertion of Christ as God. Pastor Kim 
read from John chapter one, in the beginning was the word and 
the word was with God and the word was God. We know as we trace 
through the argument, the word there is the Lord Jesus Christ. And so the gospel of John starts 
with an assertion of the glory of Jesus, the God man. And it 
ends on that same note, calling us to believe on him. Now, the 
interaction between Jesus and Thomas, I believe, is most instructive 
for us. It's instructive for believers. 
It's instructive for unbelievers. Just a little bit of background 
concerning this man, Thomas. He was one of the twelve. But 
as we trace through the gospel, he had what the old boys called 
a melancholy spirit. He was given to a bit of a depressive, 
a depressed state. He was one of those, the glasses 
half empty sorts of guides. He seems to have this bent to 
his character. If you look back in chapter 11 
at verse 16, it tells us that Thomas, asserts or expresses 
his willingness to die with Jesus in John 11, 16. Then Thomas, 
who is called the twin, said to his fellow disciples, Let 
us also go that we may die with him. Of course, as you remember, 
all of the disciples fled from Christ. All of them forsook Christ. Thomas did not carry through 
with this expressed declaration. In John 14, in verse 5, in the 
upper room discourse, we find Thomas is perplexed about the 
way that Jesus is speaking. Notice in John chapter 14, verse 
5, Thomas said to Jesus, Lord, we do not know where you are 
going. And how can we know the way? And it's on the basis of 
this question that Jesus then makes this great statement of 
verse six. Jesus said to him, I am the way, 
the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except 
through me. So through Thomas's question, 
Jesus uses the opportunity to make this grand statement in 
John 14, six. And what we find in John 20 is 
that through Thomas' skepticism, through Thomas' unbelief, through 
Thomas' obstinance, Jesus uses the opportunity not only to deal 
graciously and mercifully with Thomas, but also to declare something 
concerning his glory, concerning his majesty, concerning who he 
is in terms of redemptive history. Turning back to John 20, You'll 
notice the sections. The empty tomb is discovered 
in verses one to ten. The Lord then appears to Mary 
Magdalene, verses 11 to 18. And then the Lord appears to 
the disciples without Thomas in verses 19 to 23. And so we pick up now on the 
Lord's appearance to the disciples. This time, Thomas is present. And we're going to take up this 
thing or this this section under four considerations. First, the 
character of Thomas. We've sketched it a little bit, 
but we need to investigate a little bit more fully. What's up with 
this man, Thomas? Secondly, we'll notice the grace 
of Jesus Christ. Thirdly, the lofty confession 
of faith. that Thomas makes, and then fourthly, 
the Lord's last beatitude. A beatitude is a statement of 
well-wishing, a statement of blessedness pronounced on a particular 
people group. But notice the character of Thomas 
in verses 24 and 25. I'm going to say some things 
this morning that will probably challenge what you know about 
Thomas. Again, we often categorize him 
as sort of this doubting Thomas. Well, he wasn't a doubter in 
this particular episode. He was an obstinate man. He made 
that statement as I read it there. I will certainly not believe. Now, we don't want to neglect 
the fact that he was a hurting man. I don't want to pick on 
him needlessly. He spent three years with the 
Lord Jesus. Certainly, when Jesus died, Thomas 
was hurting. Thomas was aching. Thomas had 
some distress in his particular soul. John does not specifically 
tell us why Thomas was not with the ten when Jesus appeared to 
them on that first Lord's Day. Why wasn't Thomas there? the 
week prior? Well, we just don't know. Maybe 
he was so hurt that he neglected the means of corporate worship. 
Maybe some other thing took his attention. I think by way of 
an aside, there's an implication here. We ought to be where the 
disciples of Christ gather. We never know. We might see the 
Lord in a wonderful and powerful expression. But the second thing, 
not only was Thomas hurting, I will assert here that Thomas 
was obstinate. Thomas stubbornly refused. This wasn't a bit of, you know, 
sort of a simple doubt that he entertained just for a fleeting 
moment. He stubbornly refused to believe what the apostles 
were telling him. Thomas dictates the terms by 
which he would believe. Unless I see. Doesn't that sound 
like so many people in our own day? Unless I see, then I won't 
believe. We actually think that it's okay 
for us to enter into negotiations for grace. God has promised to 
freely save. God has promised to freely redeem. God has promised to freely forgive 
and impute a perfect righteousness to all comers. And we have the 
gall, the Jews say, we have the chutzpah We have the guts to 
actually stand and face God and say, unless I, unless you meet 
my conditions, unless you meet me in this particular place, 
unless you negotiate God or you perform in a way or in a manner 
that I'm willing to accept, I'm not going to believe you. He 
was obstinate. Again, I don't want to minimize 
his hurt. But he adopted the wrong posture. In your hurt, 
in your depression, in your melancholy, in your distress, the answer 
is never to raise the fist at God. That is simply unacceptable 
for man the creature to call into contention God the Creator. You don't do it. That is simply 
unacceptable. Thomas makes an emphatic denial. This is not a case of doubting, 
but a willful act of rebellion against the living God. Unless 
I see, he says, in his hands, 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. I will 
certainly not. He uses two negatives. See, in 
English, we can't do that. Two negatives make a positive. 
In Greek, you can string together two negatives to make it that 
much more of a denial, to make it that much more of a negation. 
To say umme meant to say, I will certainly not believe this. John 
Calvin comments on Thomas here. He says the stupidity of Thomas 
was astonishing and monstrous, for he was not satisfied with 
merely beholding Christ, but wished to have his hands also 
as witnesses of Christ's resurrection. Thus, he was not only obstinate, 
but was also proud and contemptuous in his treatment of Christ. I'm 
kind of pouring this on. in a very specific way, citing 
this passage from Calvin, highlighting my own opinion that he was obstinate, 
not because I'm not, not because you're not, not because we're 
not like Thomas, but it will illustrate something of the graciousness 
and the compassionateness of our Lord Jesus. But we do need 
to appreciate this about Thomas. What did Thomas reject in this 
assertion? He didn't believe the Old Testament. 
She wasn't just simply New Testament teaching that Jesus would rise 
from the dead. In fact, we saw that in John 
chapter 20. If you look back at verse 9, 
for as yet they did not know the scripture that he must rise 
again from the dead. The Old Testament foretold the 
resurrection. Psalm 16 is that passage that 
David quotes on the day of Pentecost to highlight the fact of the 
empty tomb. The prophets highlight the reality 
that this suffering servant would rise again. There would be a 
resurrection from the dead. There would be a champion sent 
to Israel. There would be a victor over 
the grave. There would be one who rendered 
death and the grave powerless to sting the people of God. So 
he rejected that teaching. He also rejected the teaching 
of the Lord Jesus. What's Jesus say in John chapter 
3 verse 14? As Moses lifted up the Son of 
Man in the wilderness, so also what must the Son of Man be lifted 
up? John, Chapter 12, the Lord Jesus 
says, And if I am lifted up, I will draw all men to myself 
in the synoptics, Matthew, Mark and Luke. Jesus tells about the 
fact that he's going to go to Jerusalem. He will be tried. 
He will be executed and he will raise on the third day. Thomas 
had that information. And then Thomas resists apostolic 
testimony. Remember, Thomas is, as we've 
seen, one of the twelve. Who are the twelve? They are 
the apostles of our Lord. Those men hand chosen by our 
Lord for the task of propagating the gospel, for the task of preaching 
and disciple making and planting churches. Some of them would 
take pen to paper and inscripturate the very word of God. Those men 
come to Thomas and they say, we have seen the Lord. What's 
he doing? What does he do, brethren? Think 
about this. He says, that's not good enough. 
That isn't enough for me. Unless I see. Unless I touch. Unless I verify. Unless I put 
Jesus under the microscope. Unless I take the sovereign God 
and put Him under my scrutiny. You see what Thomas has done 
here? He has done what C.S. Lewis called putting God in the 
dock. See, the reality is God is the 
throne or on his throne. God is the judge presiding over 
all the earth. We are the center in the dock, 
in the stand. And yet, man in his reversal 
of roles says, you know what, God? I want you to testify. I want you to impress me. I want 
you to satisfy my requirements. I want things turned around. 
Man sets himself up as judge and jury, and he makes the parameters 
for which he will believe. That's unacceptable. Again, it's crazy. Imagine if 
you were convicted of a capital crime. You're called before the 
judge, and the judge says, I'm going to give you a pardon. Well, 
unless you do this, judge, or unless you do this, or unless 
you do this, I'm not going to accept your pardon. You'd be 
thought mad. People on TV, because everybody 
watches a good court case nowadays, would say, did you see that? 
The guy's nuts. The judge told him, I'm going 
to give you a pardon. And you know what he actually 
had the goal to do was put the judge in the witness stand and 
make him have to perform before he would accept the pardon. The 
guy's crazy. He deserves to be thrown away. 
He deserves to go to the chair. He deserves to be hung. He deserves 
to spend his life in prison because he's mad. He's out of his mind. 
And yet every single day, and I suspect right in this very 
room, there are sinners who are saying the exact thing to God. 
Unless you do this. Unless you do this. Unless you 
do this. I will not believe. Oh really? Is that the case? Notice the 
grace of Christ. This ought to blow our minds. 
Notice what He says here in verse 26. Peace to you. This isn't 
a cheap wish, the way you and I might say, hey, peace, brother. 
When Jesus says, my peace I give to you, it expresses something 
of His kindness, His grace, His compassion, and His mercy. Is it any wonder that peace makes 
it into every greeting in just about every letter in the New 
Testament? We need that peace. Therefore, 
having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through 
our Lord Jesus Christ. We as Christians ought to relish 
in that peace. We ought to delight in the fact 
that God and sinners are reconciled. We ought to delight in the fact 
that there is not enmity between us and heaven anymore. That God 
has taken it away. Jesus comes to his disciples 
and again he wishes peace through them. And then he deals very 
graciously with Thomas. Notice in verse 27. Then he said 
to Thomas, reach your finger here and look at my hands and 
reach your hand here and look into my side. Do not be unbelieving, 
but believing. Excuse me. Jesus hears his disciples 
when he is not physically present. It's interesting, he uses the 
exact same language that Thomas does. Well, where was Jesus at 
the time? He wasn't there. Now he's there 
and he addresses Thomas in the exact language. Why? Because he's God. Because the eyes of the Lord 
are in every place. And then Jesus removes all the 
grounds of unbelief here. He says, 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. Calvin said that Thomas was stupid. Calvin said that he was obstinate. 
Calvin said he was proud and contemptuous in his treatment 
of Christ. I basically echo Calvin all along the way, not suggesting 
again for a moment that I wouldn't be there. doing the same exact 
thing that you wouldn't be doing the exact same thing. But look 
at how Jesus deals. Praise God, Calvin and Jim aren't 
Jesus. What does Jesus do? He removes 
all of the ground of unbelief. He answers Thomas according to 
Thomas Thomas's expression. Again, I don't believe that we 
should therefore challenge God and put him in the witness stand 
and scrutinize him and put him under the microscope. But it 
is important for us to see just how gracious our Lord Jesus Christ 
is in this particular instance. You have to marvel at the way 
Christ deals with his people. He doesn't say, you dirty, rotten, 
contemptuous wretch. You didn't listen to the scriptures. 
You didn't listen to my earthly ministry. You didn't listen to 
my apostles. So away with you. Depart from 
me into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. 
That's not what he does. So I'm here to tell you this 
morning, if you've challenged God, repent. There's hope for 
you. If you've said, unless, repent. There's hope for you. You've 
raised your fist. Put it down. There's hope for 
you. Jesus is a Savior full of grace, 
full of compassion, full of mercy, full of kindness. He comes to 
Thomas and deals gently with him. And then that brings upon 
this lofty confession of faith. What does Thomas do at this point? 
He does what faith does. He says, my Lord and my God. It's very important for us to 
understand that Thomas says this to Jesus. He's not cursing. He's not saying something like, 
my word, or oh my whatever. Some teach, Jehovah's Witnesses 
especially teach, that this is just an exclamation. Much like 
if you stubbed your toe, you'd say, oh my, and whatever might 
follow. That's not what Thomas is doing. 
He says it to Jesus. My Lord. And my God, this wasn't an acknowledgment 
either that Jesus was a God, one among the many, a little 
G God, one who takes his place among the others in the pantheon. 
That's not it at all. He says that you are God. This 
is a gracious discovery of Christ, as John Owen says. It was the 
appropriate worshipful response. It is consistent with the prologue. 
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and 
the Word was God. The Word became flesh and dwelt 
among us, John says, and we beheld His glory. Thomas has had the 
veil pulled away. Thomas, by God's grace, is now 
seeing Jesus for who he is. And all he can respond to him 
is my Lord and my God. Beasley Murray says it comes 
about that the most outrageous doubter of the resurrection of 
Jesus utters the greatest confession of the Lord who rose from the 
dead. No accident, John has constructed 
his gospel in a most beautiful way. It is all leading to that 
purpose statement in verses 30 and 31. He has taken his reader 
by the hand at the very beginning and set forth Jesus as God. And 
all along the way, he is showing us Jesus as God. It comes to 
this blessed climax in the statement of Thomas, who sees Christ and 
he says, my Lord and my God. He goes on to say his utterance 
does not simply acknowledge the reality of the resurrection of 
Jesus, but expresses its ultimate meaning as revelation of who 
Jesus is. D.A. Carson said the most unyielding 
skeptic has bequeathed to us the most profound confession. You see what God's grace does. 
Take this man who was saying, unless I see, unless I touch, 
unless I verify, unless I exercise my empirical observation abilities, 
I will certainly not believe God's grace comes. And what does 
he say now? My Lord and my God. And don't 
you love that as well? This is an abstract theology. 
This is personal salvation. Do you say that Jesus is Lord? Jesus is God? But you can't own 
him as my Lord and my God. You acknowledge that amongst 
the world's religions, Christianity makes the best sense of them? 
Out of all the various philosophies out there, Christianity answers 
the most questions in terms of being or existence, in terms 
of knowledge, in terms of ethics. Do you nod your head in assent 
and say, well, yes, Christianity is consistent as a system? You 
come to the place with doubting Thomas to bow before Jesus and 
confess him as my Lord and my God. That is a gracious discovery 
of the glory of Jesus Christ. Not enough just to acknowledge 
him as a great religious teacher. It's not enough to acknowledge 
Him as just the founder of Christianity. It's not enough just to see Him 
as the One who came in the manger to save the world from their 
sins. It must be the confession of faith. My Lord and my God. Have you made that gracious discovery? Is He your Lord and your God? Is He your Savior? Can you sing 
with the hymn writer, He is mine and I And yes, the grace of God 
took this skeptic and made him the great confessor in the Christian 
church. Notice the Lord's response here. 
What does he do? We'll get on to his his discussion 
with Thomas in just a moment, but it's very interesting to 
notice what he didn't do. There's an account in the book 
of Acts and Acts 14, when Paul and Silas go amongst some heathen 
people. And these heathen people see Paul and Silas do some amazing 
things. And so these heathen fall down 
before Paul and Silas and begin to worship them. It's interesting 
because Paul and Silas do what I hope any of us would do. No, 
don't worship me. Don't worship me. I'm just a 
servant of the living God here. Remember John, who was exiled. 
He was on the island of Patmos for the word of God and the testimony 
of Jesus. Remember that on a couple of 
occasions there, he saw the angel and he fell down before the angel. He wanted to give honor and homage 
to the angel. What did the angel say? Don't 
do that. I'm a fellow servant of the apostles 
and of the prophets. I am not to be worshipped. I 
am not to be exalted. I am not to be glorified. Notice 
the absence of such a response in Jesus. Notice that he doesn't 
reprove Thomas for making this statement, my Lord and my God. 
Notice that Jesus doesn't deflect this. Jesus doesn't say, look, 
Thomas, this is only religious language and verbiage that is 
directed to God most high, who is in heaven. Jesus accepts it. 
Jesus receives it. In various instances in the gospel 
accounts, men fall down and worship the Lord Jesus and he receives 
it. They weren't misdirected. They 
weren't misguided. They understood all too well 
that this Jesus was God. This is why the disciples were 
afraid when Jesus told the wind and the waves to settle down. 
When the wind and the waves actually obeyed Him, it says the disciples 
were exceedingly afraid. They asked, what manner of man 
is this? When they saw Jesus walking on the water, they were 
amazed by this because God is the ruler of the waves. They 
were amazed by this when Jesus would raise people from the dead. 
The point is, is that Jesus receives this confession. It attributes 
or highlights what Christ is. He is Lord and he is God. We 
are not serving a little g-god. We are not serving one among 
many. Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life. He is 
the second person of the blessed God, Ed, the triune God, Father, 
Son, and Holy Spirit. The Father chose. The Son redeems. The Spirit brings it to pass. We worship a triune God in glorious 
beauty and in glorious unity. That brings us to consider the 
Lord's last beatitude. Notice in verses 29, Verse 29, 
it says, Jesus said to him, Thomas, because you have seen me, you 
have believed. Blessed are those who have not 
seen and yet have believed. I think he's saying, Thomas, 
you're on a lower rung. Thomas, you're going to be sort 
of in between heaven and hell. Thomas, there's a special place 
for God. That's not what he's saying. He's saying there's a 
transition period in place. The disciples had seen Jesus. 
The apostles had witnessed with their eyes. In fact, that was 
one of the requirements of apostleship, is that one see Jesus, see Him 
resurrected from the dead. There's a transition, though. 
The gospel is going to be preached. And it's blessings pronounced 
upon those who believe that gospel. Jesus is at the right hand of 
the Father right now. And Jesus is calling all men 
everywhere to repent and believe his truth. And he says, those 
who believe, those who have not seen and yet have believed, blessed 
are they. They're the happy ones. They're 
the encouraged ones. They're the ones that don't have 
to make demands of God. Brethren, he is describing, in 
a real sense, us. The apostles operated based on 
what they had seen. However, the time was soon coming 
when the risen Lord would be the ascended Lord and his gospel 
would be preached without his physical presence. Sometimes 
people struggle with this. Why doesn't he just give me a 
sign? He has. It's called the Bible. Why doesn't 
he just speak to me? He has. It's in the Bible. People 
looking for signs and extras usually don't know the scriptures. 
That bothers me. I don't know about you. People that want extra who aren't 
familiar with what Jesus has said. You know, we might say 
something like, wow, we haven't seen God part the Red Sea like 
he did back in, you know, in liberating Israel out of Egypt. 
But it's written there for us. It's for our instruction, it's 
for our admonition, it's no less true because we read it instead 
of having viewed it. Who do we think we are? God has 
to make an appearance before we'll believe. God has to raise 
this pulpit before we'll believe. I shared with a few of the brothers 
yesterday, there's a famous debate. It's called the Great Debate. 
It was conducted in the 1980s by Dr. Greg Bonson and by Dr. Gordon Stein. The proposition 
under consideration was this statement, does God exist? Dr. Bonson favored the position that 
there is a God, the God of Christian theism, the God revealed in Holy 
Scripture. Dr. Gordon Stein rejected that. He was an atheist. Well, after 
all the debate, there was a period of question and answer. And somebody 
raised their hand and asked Dr. Stein, Dr. Stein, what would 
it take for you to believe in the existence of God? Dr. Stein's answer was very informative, 
and I think very characteristic of modern man. Dr. Stein jokingly 
said, well, you know, we meet together as the free thinkers, 
as the atheists. We have a meeting on Tuesday 
night. If God put in an appearance there, then I'd believe in him. 
Ha, ha, ha. Chuckle, chuckle, chuckle out 
in the audience. Or if God caused this podium to rise up into the 
air, and it was obvious that it wasn't attached to cables, 
there was no motor, there was no smoke and mirrors. If this 
podium rose up in the air, then I would believe in the existence 
of God. You know what Dr. Bonson reported? He said, neither 
of those things would convince you. Neither of those things 
would convince you. People saw Jesus during his earthly 
ministry. People saw his mighty miracles 
during his earthly ministry. He said, Dr. Stein, if this podium 
raised up, you would just retreat back to your study and you would 
scratch your head and you would think and try to explain in a 
naturalistic way how strange things happen in this world. 
It is not miracles. It is not necessarily the presence 
of God that make men Christians. You must be born again. You must be regenerate. Your worldview must change. You 
must be saved. You must believe. You must come 
to Christ and say, my Lord and my God. And yet on this side, 
we have become the judge and the jury. God doesn't satisfy 
me, then I will certainly not believe. If that's your attitude 
this morning, I pray that God will root it right out of your 
heart. that you'll go from skeptic or obstinate to confessor. My 
Lord and my God. John ends his gospel with his 
purpose. Verses 30 and 31. And truly, 
Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, 
which are not written in this book. Why did John write verse 
31? 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. You ever wonder why 
John the Apostle, the one referred to in this passage as the disciple 
whom Jesus loved, why he took up his pen and wrote this account? 
There it is. That's his thesis. That's his 
purpose. That's why John chapters 1 to 
21 are existent. It's so that you may believe, 
that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, 
and that by believing in this, you will have everlasting life. 
That's his purpose in this. This is why ultimately he ended 
up on Patmos, for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus 
Christ, so that God would be glorified and sinners would be 
saved. This is what the Bible exists 
for. So you see, it's a real affront when we demand more from 
God, when we don't come to the scriptures and believe what he 
said. A couple of lessons and then we close. First, we see 
here the deity of Jesus Christ, my Lord and my God. Contrary 
to what others may teach, the Bible clearly asserts the deity, 
the Godhood of the Lord Jesus. Calvin again says, and indeed 
he who After having received those striking proofs which are 
to be found in the gospel, does not perceive Christ to be God, 
does not deserve to look even at the sun and the earth, for 
he is blind amidst the brightness of noonday. If you miss this, 
you're not going to get the sun. If you miss the deity of Christ, 
you've missed everything. If you come through John's gospel 
and conclude, scratch your head and say, yeah, this Jesus seems 
like he was all right. He had some good lessons. I'm 
going to go down and do likewise. You've missed the point. It's 
unfortunate. That's how a lot of people interpret 
the Good Samaritan, too. I just got to go down and do 
likewise. I'm good to people. I'm nice to people. And God will 
save me. Now, that came on the heels of 
his reproof of a man who sought to justify himself. How could 
he bring that man to an end in himself by telling a story like 
that, so that he could see how far short he falls? He speaks 
the law to that man, to humble him under his mighty hand, so 
that he would look to grace, he would look to mercy, he would 
look to full, free forgiveness. The Lord Christ is God. John Owen takes a bit of a different 
tack. He says, many men, so far as I can observe, are fallen 
into such a dislike of the Christ of God that everything concerning 
his person, spirit, grace, is an abomination to them. It is 
not want of understanding to comprehend doctrines, but hatred 
unto the things themselves, whereby such persons are seduced. See, 
Jesus, as a regular, everyday, normal guy, is no threat. Is 
he? Didn't bother us. I've often 
suspected that's why people are so favorable to him at Christmas. 
He's a little baby, a little manger. I could pick him up. 
He's no threat. He's not the Jesus revealed in 
Revelation 19, riding his white horse with that sword proceeding 
from his mouth. He's a little helpless babe that 
we can control, that we can domesticate, that we can keep down, that is 
dependent on his mother's milk. That's no threat. You see, the 
Jesus of the Bible is a threat. So men go for the throat. They 
go for the throat of deity. He's not God. He's just a man. What's Owen say? It's not because 
the Bible isn't clear, it's because they hate him. They hate him. Owen doesn't pull punches. You've 
ever heard the story about how Jews were so afraid to pronounce 
the sacred name of Yahweh? Owen says it's not anything to 
do with that. They knew they rejected Yahweh. They were under 
God's curse. They were afraid and ashamed 
to take that blessed name upon his lips. Owen kind of puts things 
a little bit blacker and whiter than many of us are willing to 
do. We need to appreciate in this passage the deity of Jesus 
Christ. But secondly, we do need to see 
the compassion of Jesus Christ. He is full of grace, full of 
truth. Isn't that what Pastor Cam read 
in John chapter one when he speaks about the bit of a contrast between 
old and new covenants? He's not saying there was no 
grace, there was no truth in the old covenant. He is simply 
saying that as mediator of the old covenant, Moses represented 
primarily law. As mediator of the new covenant, 
Jesus represents primarily truth. Grace and truth. And the Word 
became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, 
the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace 
and truth. Verse 16, and of His fullness 
we have all received. And grace, notice, for grace. One grace isn't enough. When 
we talk about Jesus who is God and compassionate, we have to 
heap grace upon grace. For the law was given through 
Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. Verse 18, 
no one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son who is 
in the bosom of the Father. He has declared Him. He has exegeted 
Him. He has explained Him. In His 
earthly ministry, He taught us some things about the Father. 
God is Spirit. He told us God is holy. God is 
righteous. God is true. But God is full 
of grace and full of compassion. We need to understand that in 
Jesus dealing with Thomas. He doesn't yell at him. He doesn't 
cast him off. There is a simple rebuke, a simple 
chiding. But all in all, Jesus holds out 
grace and mercy and kindness to this man, Thomas. J.C. Ryle has a good comment here 
I'll read. I think it's instructive for us. I think that's why Ryle 
wrote it. I mean, not just for us, Free 
Grace Baptist and 21st Century Chilliwack, but for the church. His point here is that we need 
to be like Jesus. What would Jesus do? Would he scream at 
him? Would he yell at him? No, Jesus 
would extend mercy to him. Ryle says, it is impossible to 
imagine anything more patient and compassionate than our Lord's 
treatment of this weak disciple. He does not reject him or dismiss 
him or excommunicate him. He comes again at the end of 
a week and apparently for the special benefit of Thomas. He 
deals with him according to his weakness, like a gentle nurse 
dealing with a froward child. Reach here your finger and behold 
my hands. Reach here your hand and thrust 
it into my side. If nothing but the grossest, 
coarsest, most material evidence could satisfy him, even that 
evidence was supplied. Surely this was a love that passes 
knowledge and a patience that passes understanding. A passage 
of scripture like this, we need no doubt, was written for the 
special comfort of all true believers. The Holy Spirit well knew that 
the dull and the slow and the stupid and the doubting are by 
far the commonest type of disciples in this evil world. Please listen 
to that statement. We need more Riles. We need more 
Owens. We need guys who just tell us 
the truth. Listen to what he says. A passage of Scripture 
like this, we need not doubt, was written for the special comfort 
of all true believers. The Holy Spirit knew well that 
the dull and the slow and the stupid and the doubting are by 
far the commonest type of disciples in this evil world. You're in 
good company. I'm in good company. He goes 
on to say, let us take care that we drink into our Lord's spirit 
and copy his example, let us never set down men in a low place 
as graceless and godless because their faith is feeble and their 
love is cold. Let us remember the case of Thomas 
and be very compassionate and of tender mercy. Our Lord has 
many weak children in his family, many dull pupils in his school, 
many raw soldiers in his army, many lame sheep in his flock. Yet he bears with them all and 
casts none away. Happy is that Christian who has 
learned to deal likewise with his brethren. There are many 
in the church who, like Thomas, are dull and slow. But for all 
that, like Thomas, are real and true believers. It's a great 
reminder, a great encouragement, and hopefully a great help to 
us as we move our way through this world onto Emmanuel's land. And finally, if you are here 
and you are not a believer like Thomas, you're not struggling 
with a particular instance, you're not You've fallen into some pattern 
of sin or some backslidden state, but you're an unbeliever. There 
is a special message in this passage to you. The gospel is 
really quite simple. It really is. I mean, look at 
verse 31. These things are written. What 
things? Things about Jesus' life, things about Jesus' death, things 
about Jesus' resurrection. These things are written. What? 
That you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, 
and that believing you may have life in his name. Christ lived, 
died, and rose again for sinners. Believe on him and you will have 
everlasting life. Beware. Beware of inserting your 
unless. Unless. This is the whole process 
of the scientific mind, unless I see, unless I'm satisfied, 
unless the evidence that demands my verdict is presented, I will 
certainly not believe. But it's not just those unlesses 
that men employ. How about this? Unless you change 
my poverty into riches, I will certainly not believe. So unfortunately, 
there's a wing of evangelicalism, not even evangelicalism, a wing 
of the professing church that says, OK, we'll change your poverty 
into riches. You don't do that. You may stay 
poor. You may never strike it rich. 
You may not drive the nicest car or have the nicest home or 
the nicest jewelry. Beware of stipulating that as 
a reason not to believe the gospel. What about this one? Unless you 
answer all my questions, I will certainly not believe. What? You got to have every question 
answered until you cast your your gaze upon Jesus. Where is 
that in the scripture? These things are written so that 
you may believe. Beware of this. Or what about 
the unless? Unless you alleviate the suffering 
of everybody else, I will certainly not believe. These are things 
that happen. These are things that people say outside of the 
church. We need to be on guard against such things. The Bible 
is complete. The answer is here. These are 
written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ. If 
God is offering you salvation for your sins, believe. Believe. And you will be saved. And blessed 
be God, you will learn all the things that you have questions 
about. You will come to the Scriptures. You will be teachable. You will 
be humble. You will listen to the Lord. 
But first, say, My Lord and My God. Confess Christ as your Savior. Well, let us pray. Father, we 
thank You for this passage of Holy Scripture. We thank You 
for our Lord's dealing with Thomas in grace and in compassion. And 
father, we just pray that any and all who would say unless 
they would be brought to Christ this morning, not only here, 
God, but throughout Chilliwack and the churches that are preaching 
the gospel throughout Canada. We pray that your word would 
run swiftly and be glorified and that you would be praised 
and honored among your saints. And we pray through Christ the 
Lord. Amen.