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So please turn with me in your 
Bibles to John chapter 20. John chapter 20. John 20, we'll begin reading 
in verse 1. 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, stooping 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, and 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 to 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 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. Amen. Well, let us 
pray. Blessed Father and Holy God, 
we gather in the presence of the Father, Son, and Spirit today, 
and we praise and worship and glorify you. We thank you for 
the written word. We acknowledge its profitability 
to us in all manner of life, in all areas of life. We pray 
this word would thoroughly furnish us unto every good work. And 
certainly the worship of God is a good work. And as we see 
Christ as He is displayed so clearly in this passage as the 
one that is altogether lovely and chief among 10,000, may our 
hearts be drawn out in worship and in praise and in adoration 
to our great King, to our Savior who laid His life down for us 
and who rose again on the third day. As well, our Father, for 
those who are outside of Christ, those who are dead in their trespasses 
and sins, we pray that John's purpose would be realized, that 
sinners would believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and that believing 
they might have life in his name. Do that which is impossible with 
us, Lord God. Do that which is impossible with 
man. God, save sinners by your grace 
and for your glory. Send forth the Holy Spirit to 
work in our hearts, to bless, to encourage, and to apply the 
word. We ask now that you would forgive 
us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness, that you would guide us as we 
study scripture, and we pray these things through Jesus Christ, 
our Lord. Amen. Well, John the Apostle, in this 
gospel according to John, certainly has a specific purpose, and that 
purpose is to set forth Christ as the divine Savior and to call 
sinners to faith. In fact, John begins his gospel 
presentation with an assertion of the deity or the divinity 
of our Lord Jesus. In John chapter 1, in what's 
called the prologue to John's gospel, we read, in the beginning 
was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. That Word is identified in verse 
14 as the Word who 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. The Word, of course, is the second 
person of the Trinity, the Lord Jesus Christ. And so John starts 
his gospel presentation with a declaration concerning the 
divinity of Christ, and John ends his gospel presentation 
on that selfsame high note, that confession of Thomas, my Lord 
and my God. Chapter 20 is the end of the 
gospel. Chapter 21 is a bit of an epilogue, 
tells us some additional material to be sure, and it's absolutely 
crucial that we understand it. But properly, I think that John 
1, 1, and John 20, 28, and John 20, 30, and 31 certainly are the emphasis, or the declaration, 
or the main thrust that the apostle wants us to appreciate. Well, in this particular passage 
we see, of course, the resurrection. Peter and John at the empty tomb 
in verses 1 to 9. We see Jesus appear to Mary Magdalene 
in verses 10 to 18. And then in verses 19 to 23, 
Jesus appears to His disciples And then in verses 24 to 29, 
Jesus appears again to the disciples, this time with Thomas. And that's 
our focus this morning, verses 24 to 31, the post-resurrection 
appearance to the disciples, including Thomas, and then the 
purpose of the fourth gospel as a whole. Now, Thomas is an 
interesting fellow. If I were to suggest or say, 
rather, what do you know about Thomas, you would probably or 
most likely say he was a doubter. We refer to Thomas as Doubting 
Thomas, and that's not without warrant, but I'll submit later 
that it's a whole lot worse than just a simple doubt. But he was 
one of the twelve, but obviously, it seems to be, rather, he was 
given to a more melancholy spirit. He seems to be a sort of a The 
cup is half empty sort of a guy. In chapter 11 at verse 16, he 
expresses his willingness to die with Jesus. Now that's certainly 
a good thing, but when we get to the passion narratives, it 
is conspicuous that he doesn't. die with Jesus. In John 14, he 
is perplexed about the way that Jesus is speaking concerning, 
and it's on the heels of that that Jesus makes that glorious 
declaration in John 14 6, I am the way and the truth and the 
life. No one comes to the Father except through me. So his perplexity 
about the way gave room for Christ to make that excellent declaration 
concerning the way. And I would suggest that here 
in verses 24 to 29, the same sort of thing is seen. His unbelief 
or his skepticism, or rather his refusal to believe in the 
resurrection, paves the way for this glorious declaration concerning 
who our Lord Jesus Christ is. So as I said, I want to take 
up 24 to 31 under the two main concerns, the post-resurrection 
appearance to the disciples with Thomas and then John's purpose 
for the fourth gospel in verses 30 to 31. But note in the first 
place, with reference to Thomas. verses 24 and 25. Now Thomas 
called the twin. One of the twelve was not with 
them when Jesus came. Now we don't know why that was, 
and it is intriguing because Jesus keeps appearing to these 
men on the first day of the week. Jesus continues to emphasize 
this redemptive transition or shift. The moral principle of 
the fourth commandment is always abiding. There ought to be one 
day out of seven that men cease from their labors and enter into 
the worship of our triune God. Now, in the old covenant, there 
was a positive commandment with reference to Saturday observance. 
In the new covenant, that positive commandment is seen in Sunday 
observance, but the Sabbath is still perpetual. It's never been 
done away with. It has never been suspended. 
It has never been cast away by our Lord Jesus. We see Christ 
uphold it. We see Christ assert His Lordship 
over it. And in this particular case, 
we see His appearance to the disciples on the first day of 
the week. He dignifies it. He reveres it. He demonstrates by His example 
that His church ought to follow His footsteps. And that's precisely 
what we see in the book of Acts. In Acts 20, verse 7, they gather 
together on the first day of the week to break bread with 
one another, and Paul preaches the Word of God. 1 Corinthians 
16, collections are laid aside for the first day of the week. 
John in that glorious statement, Revelation 1.10 says he was in 
the spirit on the Lord's day, that day particularly belonging 
to the Lord, the Christian Sabbath, Sunday. And so Christ dignifies 
it. Christ shows his approbation 
of it. And by way of example, we are 
to follow these disciples and follow the early church in this 
first day observance. But notice when these disciples 
gathered together, Thomas wasn't with them. Now we don't know 
why Thomas wasn't with them. We do understand that they were 
fearful of the Jews. Perhaps Thomas was a little bit 
more fearful and didn't even want to assemble with the disciples 
at that particular time. Perhaps he was just grieved and 
depressed and down and discouraged. I mean, he had spent all this 
time with Jesus and now Jesus had been taken away. Maybe he's 
just, you know, blown away by this. I don't know. Maybe he 
had some other business that demanded his attention. But the 
reality is he wasn't present with those believers on that 
first, first day of the week when they gathered together and 
Jesus came and appeared to them. And I think we learn something 
by that. There is blessing assembling 
with the people of God, right? In other words, when the disciples 
gather together, there is a blessing attached to that. We know from 
the New Testament that God dwells in the midst of his people, in 
this new covenant era, in the church. We go to the book of 
Revelation in chapter one, and where do we find Jesus? That 
one who is ruler over the kings of the earth, that one is in 
the midst of the lampstands. That means he walks among his 
churches. There is a special privilege 
and blessing that we have in the New Covenant in terms of 
our saving religion, which calls us out of the world, into the 
house of God, this one day out of the seven, to be with the 
people of God and to engage in that holy, blessed privilege 
of worship. So Thomas was absent, now he 
is present. Notice that Thomas was obstinate. Look at what the disciples say 
in verse 25. It's a beautiful thing, isn't it? When we have 
seen the Lord, we typically want to tell people, don't we? I mean, that's how it goes, right? 
If we're gripped under a particular worship service or we've been 
reading our Bibles and the Lord God in His kindness has shown 
us something out of Scripture, we might trot over to our wife 
or to our husband or to our children. We say something equivalent. 
We say, we have seen the Lord. Not physically, it's not like 
He put in an appearance, but through His Word and by the power 
of His Holy Spirit. We have seen Him. He has manifested 
Himself to us by His written record, and we have seen and 
profited by that. Well, that's what they do, only 
He did physically appear to them. He say, say to them, we have 
seen the Lord. Now, notice what Thomas' response 
to this is. Verse 25, he says, 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. We need to appreciate that the 
disciple here is dictating the terms by which he will believe. We're not supposed to do that. 
If you were here this morning and you're not a believer in 
Jesus Christ, and you have something of Thomas' disposition, unless 
the Lord does such and such, I will not believe. You need 
to repent. You need to forsake that sin, 
and instead of putting God on trial and making Him perform, 
we need to bow to His authority, believe the word as it's written, 
and submit to the lordship of Jesus Christ. Thomas is dictating 
the terms upon which he will believe. 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. For Thomas, faith 
wasn't enough. He had to feel, he had to touch, 
he had to see. He had to be an empiricist and 
go about this handling of the material or the data. in order 
to give his approval to it. The second thing we ought to 
observe about Thomas here is that he makes an emphatic denial 
of the resurrection. He doesn't doubt. Again, we call 
him Doubting Thomas, but he says, essentially, at the end of verse 
25, I will certainly not believe. You know, if you use a double 
negative in English, you turn a statement into a positive. 
just to make sure everybody's awake, because everybody just 
went, what? You understand how that goes. 
You use two negative terms in a declaration or a statement 
in English, and you turn it into a positive. Well, in Greek, if 
you use two negative terms in a statement, it's really negative. It's not a positive. It's really 
negative. And that is what Thomas does. 
I will not not believe. The translation, I will not believe, 
is pretty strong as it stands, but probably something like, 
I will certainly not believe. Listen to Calvin on Thomas in 
this instance. Calvin 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 also proud and contemptuous in his treatment of Christ. You 
see, I'll go one step further with reference to Thomas in this 
particular instance. His statement here evidences 
that he doesn't believe the testimony of the Old Testament. What passage 
did Pastor Porter read at the outset of worship? Psalm 16. 
What passage is cited by the Apostle Peter on the Day of Pentecost 
to highlight and confirm that the Scriptures foretold the resurrection 
of our Lord Jesus? Thomas had Psalm 16. Thomas had 
Psalm 22. Psalm 22 is a psalm of the cross, 
to be sure, but it transitions into a psalm of exaltation. That 
exaltation is associated with the resurrection. Thomas had 
Old Testament scripture. Thomas had the testimony of the 
written word. And yet Thomas says, I will not 
believe. You see, I think at times this 
is where unbelievers find themselves. God has spoken. God has revealed 
himself. God has given the word. And then 
they say foolish things like, well, unless you do thus and 
thus as well. Well, who do you think you are 
to demand extra from the living and the true God? Instead of 
appreciating the fact that the heavens declare the glory of 
God and the fact that He has written us a blessed word from 
Genesis to Revelation, He has given us all things to feed faith. 
He has given us all things to believe. You get this idea at 
times that Christianity is devoid of evidence and it just takes 
this leap in faith. That's not what's going on here. 
There is objective data. The historicity of the resurrection 
is there. We believe truth. We believe 
revealed facts. We believe the data. And in this 
instance, Thomas says, I will not believe the Old Testament 
testimony. Do you know what else he doesn't believe? The testimony 
of Jesus. Because how many times did Jesus 
say he must go to Jerusalem? He must be crucified. He must 
be raised the third day. We have seen it in our studies 
in Matthew. He does this in Matthew 16. He 
does it in Matthew 17. He does it in Matthew 20. And 
so what Thomas is saying, I will not believe, based on Old Testament 
testimony, based on the word of the Lord Jesus Christ, and 
even the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, What happens in John 
11? John 11, Jesus goes to the grave of Lazarus, and he says 
to that dead man, dead man, come forth. They saw this. They saw his power. They witnessed 
his ability. And yet Thomas says, I will not 
believe. So he rejects the testimony of the Old Testament. He rejects 
the testimony of the living Lord Jesus. And he rejects apostolic 
testimony because they just said, we have seen the Lord. If I said 
to you, I just saw the place that had the best pizza in the 
world, you might say, well, I won't affirm that until I've tasted 
it. That's fine. It's a whole different 
claim altogether. But if a disciple of the Lord 
Jesus Christ, consistent with Old Testament testimony, consistent 
with the work and the word of the Lord Jesus, comes to you 
and says, we have seen the Lord, then you continue to demand, 
you continue to ask, you continue to insist that this Lord Jesus 
present you evidence, or you will certainly not believe. It's 
high treason. So it's not a case of simple 
doubting. Simple doubting, again, maybe 
goes back to the idea, is that better pizza than that? Well, 
I'm not sure. Thomas is resisting, Thomas is 
rejecting, and I think that underscores in the second place the grace 
of Jesus Christ all the more. How would you have dealt with 
Thomas? If I would have been the Lord, 
I might have said something like, Thomas, you're seeking an evidential 
approach to things. You ought to embrace the presuppositionalism 
of the best of the Reformed theologians. I might have done that. Might 
have handed him a Van Till or a Gordon Clark book and said, 
you need to learn something about evidences and proofs and presuppositions 
and assumptions and that sort of thing. That might have been 
my tact, or I might have just said, well, forget it then. You 
reject apostolic testimony, you reject my word and work, and 
you reject the Old Testament. I'll have nothing to do with 
you. But note how gracious Christ is in verses 26 and 27. After eight days, again, by Jewish 
reckoning, this would have been the first day of the week again. 
And after eight days, his disciples were again inside, Thomas with 
them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, 
and stood in the midst and said, peace to you." Now that's a gracious 
statement by our Lord. He doesn't say, I know there's 
dissension in the ranks. I know there's one in here that's unbelieving. 
I know there's here one that says he will certainly... No, 
he conveys this pronouncement of peace. I think at times we 
take Jesus' pronouncement of peace the way the hippies sort 
of gave it in the 60s. You know, peace, man. It didn't 
mean anything. The guy that you meet and he's 
got long hair and he hasn't showered for three weeks and he's got 
no job and no car and no nothing and he says peace, man. I mean, 
I guess there might be something objective in there that we can 
hold on to, but that's not the way this peace wish was. Jesus 
says in John 14, 27, In other words, what the world offers 
by way of peace is fading. It's fleeting. It is like the wind. It's here 
for a moment and then it's gone. But the peace of Jesus Christ 
abides. The peace of Jesus Christ sustains. The peace of Jesus Christ moves 
you through this lower world with the proper attitude and 
disposition. That's a beautiful thing that 
we oftentimes neglect with reference to our stake in Christ's gospel. How many times do New Testament 
epistles begin with this pronouncement, grace and peace from God our 
Father and the Lord Jesus Christ? You know what follows Paul's 
great declaration concerning justification by faith in chapters 
three and four of Romans? It's chapter five, verse one. 
Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have what? We have 
peace with God. Do you know what brings peace 
here this morning? It's not a good bank account. 
It's not a good job. It's not, you know, well-adjusted 
children. Not to say all those things are 
terrible and go get rid of them, but peace comes through the knowledge 
of God through Christ our Lord. Therefore, having been justified 
by faith, we have what? We have peace. We have peace 
with God. It's a beautiful thing, isn't 
it? And Christ pronounces that here to his disciples. And then 
notice, very specifically, his grace expressed to Thomas. He 
says in verse 27, 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. The Lord knew what was happening 
when he was not physically present with the disciples. The Lord 
knew what Thomas had objected to when he was not physically 
present with them. And the Lord answers very specifically 
to Thomas' request. The language matches precisely 
what Thomas utters to the disciples. Christ comes now and says, do 
this. It's an amazing thing, isn't 
it? I wonder at that particular time what's happening among the 
disciples. How did he know? Did somebody call him? Did somebody 
tell him? In essence, the Lord Christ removes all grounds of 
unbelief. Again, Calvin refers to him as 
stupid and monstrous and contemptuous of the living Christ. I have 
suggested that the moniker doubting doesn't even begin to touch the 
surface of what Thomas' problems are. He says, I will certainly 
not believe, and here Christ says, Touch, handle, feed your 
faith. It's a beautiful revelation of 
who our beloved Savior is. Now, that brings us thirdly to 
consider this confession of faith in verse 28. Notice, verse 28, 
Thomas answered and said to him, that's very important, the to 
him. I said, why is that important? 
Because it wasn't blasphemy. Some suggest that what Thomas 
is doing here is something like, you know, pagans or worldlings, 
or unfortunately at times those who profess faith in Christ, 
if they hit their thumb with a hammer, they might say, oh 
God. Sort of like that is what they think that Thomas was doing. 
That would be blasphemous. For a Jew to use the name of 
God in a context that was not worship, that was not prayer, 
that was not theological discussion, would have been treason and blasphemous. 
As well, it wasn't just an exclamation like, my word. You know, Christians 
at times, they hit their same thumb with the hammer, and instead 
of saying, my God, because they know that's frowned upon, they'll 
say, my word. Like some sort of an exclamation to express 
their surprise or their grief or their pain or their sorrow. 
And some suggest that's what's happening here, that he's not 
really directing this to Christ, that it's more just this exclamation. That little dative, to him, is 
very important. He says it. to him. He says it 
to Christ. It's not an exclamation. It's 
not some sort of a blasphemy. It is a confession of his faith 
specifically directed to the Lord Jesus Christ, my Lord and 
my God. The confession was not an acknowledgment 
that he was a god, some sort of little g-god, some sort of 
additional god in the pantheon of gods. Again, this is a monotheistic 
Jew. He wouldn't see sort of the main 
God and these lowercase g gods. No, he's confessing Jesus the 
way that John presents him in John 1.1. In the beginning was 
the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He became flesh and he dwelt 
among us and we beheld his glory. The glory is of the only begotten 
of the Father, full of grace and truth. Thomas acknowledges 
that this Christ is his Lord. In other words, he is my master. He is my commander. He is the 
one that demands my allegiance, and he will have it. See, I think 
we need to confess this confession more often, if not in public 
worship or if not in prayer, in our lives. Could persons look 
at us and see that we serve the Master Christ? Could persons 
look at us and see that we serve a different master than what 
this world serves? Going back to the observation 
earlier with reference to the first day of the week, how many 
professing Christians confess the perpetuity of the Sabbath? 
Not everybody. It's a doctrine confined to the 
Reformed confessions, most typically. Why is that? If the authoritative 
God of heaven and earth tells you to cease and desist from 
your normal activities for one day out of the seven, Who are 
we to whine, grumble, and complain, and say, well, that's burdensome, 
and that's a heartache, and a hardship? Do you realize the nature of 
the complaint against the Sabbath commandment? We're complaining 
against God because He calls us to rest. That's like when 
you're a father or a mother, and you have kids that are five, 
and you tell them to go take a nap, and they complain, and 
they whine, and they murmur, and they grumble, and they don't 
want to take a nap. And then they hit 25, or 35, and 45, and 
they say, why did I ever complain? I would love to have a nap, especially 
when they hit 55. Oh, you know, naps, they crave 
that, right? Do you realize the Christian 
complaint against Sabbatarianism is that God the Lord commands 
us to rest? How terrible, how vicious, how 
harsh. Is he our Lord? Mark 2. Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath. Now this is one test case concerning 
our allegiance to the Lord. What about when he tells us concerning 
the object of worship? You shall have no other gods 
before me. You say, yeah, but me. You may not voice this, you 
may not express this, because no one's typically that honest, 
but does your life indicate a division between the God of heaven and 
earth and your own desires, your own wants, your own needs or 
perceived needs? You see, there's always this 
rival contender to the God of heaven and earth, and it's not 
necessarily Moloch, it's not necessarily Asherah, it's not 
necessarily Mammon, it's not necessarily the sticks and stones 
of the heathen out there, it could be our own hearts. Vying 
for attention, narcissism, and self-devotion, blasphemy, Sabbath-breaking, 
insubordination. You young people who confess 
saving faith in Jesus Christ, who call Him, My Lord. Are you 
wretched to your parents? Are you insubordinate to your 
parents? Are you the kind of kids that 
your parents would, you know, bash their heads up against the 
wall because you won't get it? Don't be that way. If you confess 
my Lord and my God, you ought to be the most loyal subject. 
Same with the workplace. Those who confess my Lord and 
my God ought to be the best workers. They ought to be the most diligent 
servants, the most diligent employees. Isn't this Paul's emphasis in 
Ephesians 6? Don't render eye service as unto 
men, but service as unto God. It's your profession of my Lord 
and my God. is to be fleshed out, murdered. Do we confess the lordship of 
Jesus Christ and murder people in our hearts? You know, I suppose 
and I assume none of you are out there with swords or knives 
or guns killing people. But the prohibition goes further 
than that. The spirituality of God's law 
is everywhere maintained. You're not supposed to hate your 
brother in your heart with no cause. You're not supposed to 
call him fool or rock up. You're not supposed to say evil 
things about other people. I know it's bizarre, but God 
the Lord says, don't do that. Adultery, are we expressing our 
commitment to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and harboring a 
porn addiction engaged in the actual act of adultery? doing 
those things which are forbidden in the seventh word of God, and 
yet at the same time, word of the law, and at the same time 
say, my Lord and my God, eighth commandment, are we stealing, 
are we thieves? Well, I don't go to Walmart and 
steal things, but I'm not the best employee. You're a thief. 
Your employer, get it or not, believe it or not, isn't paying 
you to sit and chat. He's not paying you to be on 
Facebook. Ninth commandment, are we clear 
with our words? Do we speak the truth? Jesus 
is my Lord, but I'm a dishonest person. Persons can't trust me 
for my word. and covetousness. We confess 
the lordship of Jesus, but our hearts are so full of covetousness 
about someone else's wife, or somebody else's car, or somebody 
else's house, or somebody else's whatever. Brethren, if we confess 
with Thomas, my Lord, we are confessing something significant 
in terms of our relationship to this Lord. We follow him, 
we obey him, we do what he calls us to do. When we falter, when 
we stumble, when we sin, we confess it, we forsake it, and we move 
on in the pursuit of those things that are pleasing to him. But 
Thomas' confession doesn't end with my Lord, he calls him my 
God. This is a piece of very high 
Christology in the early church. John Owen calls it a gracious 
discovery of Christ. And again, this is John 1-1, 
John 20-28. What do you think John wants 
you to get? He wants you to get that this 
Jesus is the eternally begotten Son. God from God, light from 
light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, one in being 
with the substance of the Father and the Holy Spirit, who for 
us men and for our salvation came down from heaven. He took 
on our humanity so that he could indeed obey the law, so that 
he could die as a sacrifice and a substitute at the cross. so 
that he could be raised the third day and ascend back on high, 
leave captivity captive and give gifts to men. This one is indeed 
God. But Thomas' confession doesn't 
stop there. He acknowledges that Christ is 
Lord. He acknowledges that Christ is God. But he acknowledges this 
not in the abstract. Well, I happen to know, based 
on the information that has been presented in your earthly ministry, 
based on Old Testament testimony and the apostolic witness, that 
you are indeed God and you are indeed Lord. That's not the language 
of Thomas. Thomas says, my Lord and my God. Isn't that a beautiful thing? 
That's what faith does. It expresses not just in truth 
that these things happen, but it lays hold of that truth by 
God's grace to be sure. It accepts, it receives, it rests 
upon this holy Lord Jesus Christ. It's not a confession in the 
abstract. It's not a confession of particular data. It's not 
a confession of just simple truth, but it is an owning of that truth 
for oneself. It is to believe the gospel. 
That's what's expressed here by Thomas. Can you, do you, this 
morning, say with Thomas, my Lord and my God? Or are you Thomas 
prior to this gracious discovery saying, unless, unless, unless, 
Be very careful of putting conditions upon a God who has revealed Himself 
in nature and who has revealed Himself in His Word. Be very 
careful of that argument that says, well, if He'd just grant 
me some evidence, well, then I would believe in Him. What 
more evidence do you want than to look out upon the world today? 
The heavens declare the glory of God. What more evidence could 
you possibly demand than the written record of Genesis to 
Revelation that has one consistent testimony that God is in Christ 
reconciling the world unto himself? Don't make demands, rather confess 
Jesus as my Lord and my God. Young people and children, you'll 
never be empowered to actually subordinate yourself to your 
parents' authority, apart from the gospel of grace. You'll always 
resist. You'll always reject, you'll 
always have that hardened, hardened attitude that may actually promote 
in you a hatred of your parents someday. And what a wicked blot 
on creation. Somebody that has been given 
a birth to by a couple of decent human beings turns against those 
human beings. I really believe that is one 
of the primary failings in our culture, is the fifth commandment. 
Boy, oh boy, it's just a mess, isn't it? I mean, thankful you 
kids are all here. You're nice and you're happy. 
You're not standing up this morning and not that you have to throw 
tomatoes. Jesse Van Wert thought that was a bit of an awkward 
thing. Who would bring a tomato to work or to church to throw 
at the pastor? And I said, well, in Whitfield's 
time when he would preach, they'd throw tomatoes at him and dead 
cats. So, you know, if you're gonna throw anything, I'd prefer 
tomatoes than dead cats. But you're all here and that's 
good, but your heart's here. And there's some in this church 
that pray for the young people and the children on a regular 
basis. I know your parents pray for you probably very consistently, 
probably every day. And on the outside, everything 
looks good. On the outside, everything looks 
happy. On the outside, everything looks positive and healthy. On 
the outside, you're here. But on the inside, are you? Have 
you confessed my Lord and my God? Have you confessed who Jesus 
Christ is? Are you a Thomas? Unless he satisfies this demand 
for such and such, I will not believe. That is a terrible course 
of action to pursue. You young people and children, 
I will call upon you, hopefully until my dying breath, to believe 
on the Lord Jesus Christ, to confess Christ as my Lord and 
my God. Do not die Christ-less. Do not die grace-less. Do not die faith-less, because 
hell is eternal. Notice what goes on. Jesus receives this, doesn't 
he? There's instances in scripture where persons want to give religious 
devotion or worship to other persons, and those persons say, 
don't do that. They discourage that religious 
worship from being given. You see it in the book of Acts 
in chapter 10. You see it again in chapter 14, Paul and Barnabas 
at Lystra. Remember, those pagans wanted 
to bow down before Paul and Barnabas, and they wanted to offer up sacrifices. 
What do Paul and Barnabas do? They don't say, yeah, just bring 
those sacrifices over here. Just bow down. They don't do 
that. They say, get up. We're men of 
like passions with you. What's the implication? The God 
whom we serve is not a God of like passions. He is not creature. He is creator. Bow to Him. Worship Him. Sacrifice to Him. And of course you see it in the 
book of Revelation when John tries to worship the angel. What 
does the angel do? He deflects it. He defers. He 
doesn't say, do that. But here Christ accepts this 
confession of His Lordship and His deity. What does that mean? It means Christ is Lord and God. He accepts it from the mouth 
of this disciple, and that brings us finally to consider, with 
reference to this section, the Lord's last beatitude in verse 
29. Jesus said to him, Thomas, because 
you have seen me, you have believed. Notice, he doesn't say, you crossed 
a point, you're no longer possible, you have believed. Again, Jesus 
deals graciously, doesn't he? Very kindly. I'd probably be 
upset if I said that was the best pizza in the world, and 
you'd say, I will certainly not believe it unless I taste it. 
Well, why not? I said it. It was me, and I know pizza. We can be very petty, can't we? 
Our Lord is not petty. Our Lord is Lord and God, and 
our Lord pronounces upon Him this statement, "'Because you 
have seen Me, you have believed.' But then the beatitude follows, 
"'Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.'" 
That refers to everybody after the apostolic church, everybody 
who would indeed hear the gospel and believe it. not demand evidence, 
not demand signs, not demand performances, not demand some 
more sort of impressive feats by the triune God. No, blessed 
are those who have not seen and yet have believed. For those 
struggling with what it is to believe, Jesus says, you're blessed. You're blessed if you believe 
these truths, the truths concerning His Lordship and His Godhead. 
This is a blessed thing. This is a glorious thing. He's 
not putting Thomas' faith in a lower category. The apostles 
certainly did operate on what they saw, but it was as well 
faith. They believe what Scripture says 
concerning Christ and what Christ demonstrated. The Lord speaks 
here concerning man's response to the preaching of the gospel 
when he would be no longer physically present on earth. Calvin says, 
here Christ commends faith on this ground, that it acquiesces 
in the bare word and does not depend on carnal views or human 
reason. The bare word, you hear the gospel 
and you believe. You hear the gospel and you believe. 
You don't hear the gospel and demand more. You don't hear the 
gospel and demand this, and demand that, or he's gotta satisfy this, 
and if he'd just get my sick mother out of the home, then 
I would come to Jesus. When did we ever, as creatures, 
think we could be in the bartering trade with the God of heaven 
and earth? When did we ever think it was okay and legit to put 
conditions on God? Lord, if you deliver me from 
this potential drowning incident, then I'll go to church. Now, 
maybe you don't do that and praise God that you don't, but there's 
a lot of people out there that sound like mercenaries. They'll 
try God if he performs. You'll hear him say, well, I 
tried prayer and it didn't work. Never conceiving of the thought 
that sometimes no is an answer. Could you imagine if you were 
bound by your children to always answer yes? Daddy, can I have 
50 cents? Yes. Can I have $50? Yes. Can I have $5,000? Yes. We put 
those demands on God, don't we? We don't like no answers. Why? If I tell my kid no on 50 
cents, he hopefully ought to knuckle under, grin and bear 
it, and go live with no 50 cents. But if we don't get what we want 
from God, I tried prayer and it just didn't work. Since when 
is it working in terms of your perception, the condition upon 
which prayers are to be offered? Now, there's church cultures 
and preachers that sort of cater to this mindset. Try prayer because 
it works. Try prayer because God always 
gives good gifts to his children. He also gives cancer to his children. He also sometimes takes his children's 
children away. We've become Job's wife, haven't 
we? Curse God and die. We've forgotten 
about Job's beautiful confession, naked I came into this world 
and naked I shall return. The Lord gave, the Lord took 
away, blessed be the name of the Lord. We need more Job-like 
faith and less Job's wife-like faith, less faith like hers. When did we assume as the creature 
that it was okay to enter into trade agreements with God? Unless, 
unless, unless, then I won't believe. You see, Jesus says, 
blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. There's that passage in Luke's 
gospel in the thief on the cross. Calvin calls that the greatest 
expression of faith in all of the Bible. Why would Calvin say 
that? The apostles saw Jesus do mighty 
things, didn't they? They saw Him heal, they saw Him 
raise, they saw Him feed, they saw Him do incredible things. 
Face it, in terms of our carnality, wouldn't it be easier to believe 
on a Savior who just multiplied enough fish and enough loaves 
to feed a whole mass of humanity? Sure, He deserves our faith. 
What did the thief on the cross see? broken, bloodied, and battered. His faith looked beyond the blood, 
the gore, the battering that Christ had received, and he confesses, 
Lord, Lord, remember me. It's an expression that there's 
mercy to be had in this Christ. Remember me when you come in 
your kingdom. That's faith, brethren. It's 
not being dazzled and then siding with the Savior. If you are struggling 
this morning as to whether or not to come to Christ, if you're 
struggling this morning hearing this preaching and saying, you 
know, I want to have Jesus save me from my sins, but I don't 
know if I, you know, want all the implications associated with 
that. But as I've heard, it sounds good, and there is forgiveness, 
and there is a righteousness. There's also trial and hardship. 
These gospel preachers or these health-wealth gospel preachers 
that stand up there and say, you know, come to Jesus and life 
will just only ever be good. Your wife will have big hair, 
you'll have big cars, you'll have big summer homes, you'll 
have big bank accounts. They're lying. Absolutely, positively 
lying. Sometimes you come to the Lord 
Jesus Christ and what happens? You've got heartache, hardship, 
misery and pain. Not the same sort of heartache 
and pain and misery that you had prior to Christ, but there's 
trouble and trial and difficulty in this Christian life. So I'm 
not gonna sit up there and say, okay kids, come to Jesus and 
there'll be endless candy in the jar at home. Come to Jesus 
and all your troubles will be gone. It's not the old World 
War II song, pack up your trials and your old kit bag and smile, 
smile, smile. Some want to handle scripture 
that way, they want to narcegete it that way, but that ain't reality. 
Jesus Christ himself said in the upper room, in this world 
you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I've overcome 
the world. So even in the midst of the heartache, 
the hardship, the trial, the sorrow, and the difficulty, we 
have confessed by the grace of God, my Lord and my God, and 
we have that peace that He pronounces to His people, even in the midst 
of the trials, in the midst of the sorrows, and in the midst 
of the hardship. That's positive blessing. And in this, the Lord 
confirms how John's gospel is going to end. Notice, the last 
statement there in verse 29, blessed are those who have not 
seen and yet have believed. Let's look finally quickly at 
the purpose of the fourth gospel, verses 30 and 31. And truly Jesus 
did many other signs in the presence of his disciples which are not 
written in this book. That could be all the signs that 
he ever did or the post-resurrection signs. I don't think it matters 
a whole lot. John's point is Jesus is incredible. John's point 
is, is he did many other signs which are not written in this 
book. Later on, he's going to say in verse 25 of chapter 21, 
and there are also many other things that Jesus did, which 
if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world 
itself could not contain the books that would be written. 
Do you ever just kind of in your mind's eye picture one of the 
apostles writing his epistles or writing his gospel narratives? 
That's the last thing John writes. Not ever, but here in John's 
gospel. His mind and heart are full of 
the Savior. His mind and heart are full of the one who's altogether 
lovely and chief among 10,000. There are also many other signs 
that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose 
that even the world itself could not contain the books that would 
be written. He's so glorious. You walk into 
my study, you'll see a lot of books. Now, some say that's a 
huge library. It's not. I mean, it's a great 
library, and I praise God for the quality. I mean, just beautiful. It's wonderful. But in terms 
of quantity, there's pastors, theologians who have, you know, 
massive libraries full of books about this book. Isn't that incredible? Yes, because 
our God is incredible, because His Christ is incredible, and 
that's what He is saying to us. I suppose that even the world 
itself could not contain the books that would be written. 
And then in verse 30 of chapter 20, these are written. Verse 
31, that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son 
of God, and that believing you may have life in His name. The 
emphasis here is on faith, that you may believe. That certainly 
coincides with what we just saw in this Thomas account, isn't 
it? Jesus says, you have believed, Thomas, but blessed are those 
who have not seen and yet have believed. John comes down now 
to give us the very purpose in his writing. And what does he 
iterate or reiterate or what does he highlight? What does 
he say is essential? These are written that you may believe. 
Matthew Poole defines faith this way, is properly an assent given 
to a proposition upon the testimony of revelation. Our confession 
in the chapter on saving faith says, by this saving faith. I think this is very important. 
I would just like to say, if you haven't been listening up 
to this point, listen, because this is a question that comes 
up. What does it mean to believe? It really is an easy response. It means to believe. We've made it very complicated 
over history and whatnot, but when we ask the question, what 
does it mean to believe? It doesn't mean to not believe. 
It means to believe what scripture says. God created the world. I believe that. God brought the 
children of Israel out of Egypt in what has been historically 
termed the Exodus. I believe that. God planted his 
people, Old Covenant Israel, in the land of Canaan. He gave 
them a mandate to engage in holy war, to go in and utterly dispossess 
the land of the Canaanites. I believe that. He told them 
to do that and to do it sufficiently in a manner that was consistent 
with his word. They didn't do it. They left Canaanites in the 
land. They themselves became like Canaanites 
and started worshiping other deities, so God brought judgment 
upon them via Assyria and Babylon. I believe that. Good! You should 
believe that because it's the written record of God's revelation 
that everyone everywhere ought to believe. And our confession 
says that. By this saving faith, a Christian 
believes to be true whatsoever is revealed in the Word for the 
authority of God Himself. It then highlights that they 
see the Bible as the book of books, highlights some other 
particulars in terms of what they see. It says, but the principal 
acts of saving faith have immediate relation to Christ, accepting, 
receiving, and resting upon Him alone for justification, sanctification, 
and eternal life by virtue of the covenant of grace. In other 
words, my Lord and my God. And that is precisely the content 
that John specifies in terms of his purpose. Notice in verse 
31, but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is 
the Christ. the Davidic Messiah promised 
in the Old Testament, the prophet and the priest and the king, 
that one who is indeed anointed by God for the service of his 
covenant to execute the demands in terms of obedience to the 
law, sufferings on the cross, resurrection on the third day 
to secure their salvation. We need to believe in Jesus the 
Christ. And then he goes on, the Son 
of God, the Son of God. The second person in the Holy 
Trinity being very an eternal God, the brightness of the Father's 
glory of one substance and equal with Him. You see, we need to 
believe those things concerning Jesus. So saving faith is an 
affirmation, a belief in the truth of Scripture. God did create, 
God did liberate, God did chasten, God did all those things in Old 
Covenant Israel. But as the Confession says, but 
saving faith or the principal acts of saving faith have immediate 
relation to Christ. So I would suggest that all of 
us listen to Thomas this morning and hear that confession, because 
that is the confession unto eternal life. That's what John says in 
verse 31. And that believing you may have 
life in his name. If you do not believe, you will 
not have life in his name. But it's that faith, it's that 
look, it's that look and live. That whole idea from John 3, 
where God, or Jesus rather, highlights the serpent in the wilderness 
that was put up on that pole, or that brazen serpent on the 
pole, and the Israelites were told to look and to live. Jesus 
uses that analogously to His being lifted up. So what's the 
point? Look and live. My Lord and my 
God, confess Jesus thus. Well, in conclusion, the historical 
reality of the resurrection, seen here by Thomas, seen here 
by the other disciples, is conspicuous in the New Testament. The testimony 
and the words of Jesus Christ. The testimony and the words of 
Jesus Christ. Matthew 16, 17, and 20. I must 
go to Jerusalem. I must be crucified. I must be 
raised the third day. The fact that Jesus appears first 
to a woman in the New Testament records. I will argue just with 
these few things concerning the historical reality of the resurrection, 
the gospel narratives have everything other than a group of guys collaborating 
together to present a story they're hoping people latch on to. I 
think people look at the Bible that way. I remember being in 
high school, I went to a papist school, I had a papist friend, 
and we'd have spent, you know, sleepovers, and we'd think, you 
know, what if the Bible was just some guys on some drug trip, 
and they wrote this book, and they buried it, and people found 
it later, and they just said, wow, this is our religion. That's 
not what the Bible is. I would suggest that if guys 
did bury a book, they would collaborate to make sure they smoothed out 
any difficulties that might be there. You don't have that smoothing 
out in the gospel records. The Mishnah, the early part of 
the Talmud says that the witness or testimony of a woman was not 
valid. Why would the gospel writers 
put in the fact that Jesus appeared first to a woman? Because they're 
not trying to hide anything. They're not trying to collaborate. 
They're not trying to satisfy some demand for evidence based 
on Talmudic principles. As well, consider that there 
was a lot of unbelief connected with the fact among the disciples. Even in Matthew 28, some believed 
and some doubted. If you were one of the gospel 
writers and you were collaborating with other gospel writers, we'd 
probably say, don't put it in that people doubt it. Just like 
if we were writing the books of 1 and 2 Samuel, we want to 
hold our excellent hero David in high esteem, we'd probably 
excise 2 Samuel 11 and 12. We don't want to put in there 
that he committed murder and adultery, because that just doesn't 
look good for our hero. Truth has nothing to hide. You 
look at the gospel narratives and you see no collaboration 
in terms of a bunch of guys trying to pull the wool over people's 
eyes. Notice as well the nature of 
his appearances. He appears to individuals, a 
pair of disciples, small groups, large assemblies, to women and 
to men, public and private, different times of the day, and both in 
Jerusalem and Galilee. This is not a mass hallucination. This wasn't a first century situation 
akin to UFO sightings on the desert by Air Force bases at 
three in the morning. This was not some hallucination. Consider the threat both to the 
Roman Empire and to Judaism in terms of the claims of a risen 
Messiah. They never found a body, they 
never produced a body, they never ever were able to refute the 
claim that Christ did indeed rise. They couldn't silence this 
morning's confession. He is risen. Indeed, he is risen. He is not here. Try as they might, 
they post guards. They foresee that these men might 
try and steal the body to perpetuate this myth. They couldn't stop 
it because it was a reality. It was a fact. He is risen. And then as well, consider the 
apostolic testimony and the consistent report of the church throughout 
the centuries concerning the resurrection. This is one of 
our foundational truths. You can be wrong on a whole host 
of things that the Bible teaches. I'm not suggesting you be wrong 
on those things, but you can't deny the resurrection. You can't 
be wrong on the reality that He is risen. You cannot be wrong 
on the reality that the tomb is empty, that our Savior lives, 
that He's enthroned at the right hand of the majesty of God on 
high, and all those who by His grace confess Him, my Lord and 
my God, He saves to the uttermost. He saves to the uttermost, in 
the language of Hebrews 7, all those who come unto God through 
him, for he ever lives to make intercession for them. Consider 
the blessed truth in our passage concerning the deity of our Lord 
Jesus Christ. There are actually persons out 
there that deny that Jesus is God. How do they do that in light 
of a John 20-28? How do they do that in light 
of the fact that Jesus approved it, Jesus received it, Jesus 
commended the apostle himself for that confession? Calvin 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 noon day. And 
then there are those who say, well, you know, Thomas confesses 
him as God in verse 28, but John says we're to believe that he 
is the Son of God. How can he be both God and Son 
of God? The blessed doctrine of the Trinity, 
the glorious truth that there is one God, in essence, in substance, 
three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He can be this because 
the Son is distinguished from the Father by the peculiar relative 
property of begottenness and His personal relation to the 
Father as Son. In other words, the idea of the 
only begotten Son, that language distinguishes between the Father 
and the Son. In the beginning was the Word, 
the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He's both with 
God and He was God. And that's what our text is ascribing 
to us now. He is God, and he's with God, 
because of the one glorious God in three blessed persons, Christ 
does have the whole divine essence, yet the essence is undivided. 
The certainty of the doctrine of the deity of our Lord Jesus 
Christ is everywhere upheld in Scripture, and I love what Ryle 
says here. And I think we need to get this 
because there's a lot of goings on with reference to this doctrine 
of the deity of Christ. There's a lot of goings on with 
reference to the doctrine of the Trinity. Ryle says, let us 
settle it firmly in our minds that the divinity of Christ is 
one of the grand foundation truths of Christianity, and let us be 
willing to go to the stake rather than let it go. Praise God, that's the kind of 
commitment and conviction the church had at least when Ryle 
wrote. Had a recent discussion with 
one of the young brothers about Christology and about doctrine 
and the fact that so many people professing faith in Jesus Christ 
couldn't give a basic explanation of the doctrine of the Trinity 
and who Jesus is. I suggested that there's one 
of two reasons why. In the first place, some churches 
don't preach doctrine. They don't teach doctrine. They 
don't teach things like the Trinity or who Jesus Christ is. They 
have extravaganzas. That's what really matters today. Serving the goddess Ishtar with 
an extravaganza instead of teaching on the doctrine of the hypostatic 
union. What are we more drawn to? Eggs, baby, than doctrine. You see, here's the second problem. 
You do have churches that preach and teach doctrine, but sheep 
don't always show up. You can't make people hear the 
doctrine. You can't make people hear the 
truth. There seems to be a lackadaisical spirit with reference to sound 
theology in our day. That's troublesome. That's problematic. Let's recover something of what 
Ryle bids us here. Let us be willing to go to the 
stake rather than let it go. I'd rather die on this confession 
than ever relinquish the truth that Jesus is my Lord and my 
God. That's the attitude that we ought 
to possess, the attitude that we ought to express, the attitude 
that we ought to have. And finally, beware of the wretched 
folly of placing conditions upon Christ. The folly of demanding 
evidence should be obvious. Unless he this, unless he that, 
unless I can do this, then I will certainly not believe. As well, 
there's a folly of demanding temporal blessings. Till you 
change my circumstances, I'm not going to believe. Till you 
increase my bank account, I'm not going to believe. Till you 
give me health, I'm not going to believe. Till you perform, 
I'm not going to believe. That's terrible! Come to Christ! The folly of demanding comprehensive 
understanding should be obvious. It's another problem I think 
people have. Well, unless God can answer all these questions, I'm 
just not going to believe. Or you pastors, or you theologians, 
or you churchmen, you just can't sufficiently answer all my questions. I don't know that that's required 
of any of us to answer all your questions. It's certainly wrong 
for the creature to assert this to the Creator and say, unless 
you answer all my questions, I will certainly not believe. 
Or there's those who engage in that universal blessing. Unless 
you bless all those poor tribesmen out in the deepest, darkest places 
in Africa, unless the whole world is ameliorated from their downtroddenness 
and poverty, then I will certainly not believe. If any of you are 
holding on to such conceptions, let them go, forsake them, relinquish 
them, and look and live. Jesus Christ is Lord, Jesus Christ 
is God, and Jesus Christ saves to the uttermost all those who 
draw nigh to His Father through Him. Believe. Believe. Blessed are those who have not 
seen and yet have believed. Well, let us pray. Father, we 
thank you for your Word and we thank you for this confession 
in the mouth of the biggest skeptic that we've seen in Gospel records. We thank you that he went from 
skeptic, he went from doubter, he went from an obstinate man 
to confessing the Lordship and the deity of Jesus Christ. Give 
us grace to likewise confess such things. Give us grace, Lord 
God, to live in light of this confession, to be willing to 
go to the stake for this confession, and to seek, by your grace, to 
understand the truth concerning who you are, concerning the Father, 
the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Go with us now and bless this 
day and help us to rejoice in the fact that He is indeed risen, 
and that the tomb is empty, and that the right hand of God Most 
High knows the presence of Jesus Christ, that one alone in whom 
there is forgiveness, even the forgiveness of sins. We pray 
in His most blessed name. Amen.