There is a warning for us in that. How much did Thomas miss by not being gathered together with God's people, with the other disciples on that first day of the week? And so also for us, how much do we miss? We're not gathered together with God's people on the first day of the week. The other disciples in love for Thomas sought him out in the course of the next week, and there's something instructive for us in that as well. When we see a fellow disciple going off on his own and separating himself from the gathering of God's people, the other disciples need to seek that one out and to call that one to come back with them. so that in the next week, a week later, Thomas is now gathered together with the rest of the disciples. But Thomas still does not yet believe the resurrection. When Jesus appears to him, Jesus is going to rebuke him in verse 27 and say, be not faithless, but believing. We're told the specific character of Thomas is unbelief. That's evident in what he says to his fellow disciples in verse 25. When they say we've seen the Lord, he says, except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails and put my finger into the print of the nails and thrust my hand into his side. I will not believe. A specific character of Thomas' unbelief is that he demanded some kind of proof to the senses. He was adamant, I will not believe unless I see the marks in the hands of Jesus where the nails were pounded through and I'm able to put my own hand in there and then also able to put my hand in his side where the Roman soldier had thrust through the spear. And if I don't see and if I don't touch, I'm not going to believe. Thomas wasn't accusing the other disciples of lying. He maybe thought that they thought themselves that they had seen a kind of spirit or a ghost, but he didn't believe that they had actually seen the risen Lord, that he rose again bodily from the grave. Thomas was not believing He was walking by sight and not by faith. We may not excuse that. We don't soften that. This was sin on Thomas' part. Sinful unbelief. At the same time, we can over exaggerate the weakness of Thomas and portray him as if in comparison to all of the other disciples, Thomas especially is woefully weak. But that isn't the case. Thomas merely epitomizes and illustrates what was true of all of the disciples. None of the disciples, immediately when they heard a word of the resurrection, believed that this was true. They all were demanding some kind of proof, some kind of appeal to the senses. When the women came back from the tomb and they say, we heard the angel say he rose, and in fact, we saw Jesus appear to us on the way, the other disciples said, we're not gonna believe. We need to see the nail prints in his hand and the pierced side where the spear went through and then we will believe. So that Jesus elsewhere also has to rebuke the other disciples for their faithlessness. Certainly there was weakness on the part of Thomas but that merely illustrates the weakness of all of the disciples who were not believing, but faithless. While it's true that we don't minimize the weakness of the faith of Thomas and the other disciples, at the same time, we realize that that merely illustrates the weakness of our own faith. It's not that Thomas or the other disciples entirely lost their faith. It's not the idea of what Jesus is saying here that once they had faith and now that faith has entirely abandoned them. But the idea is Thomas and the others, their faith was woefully weak. It was being choked. The same can be the case in our lives as well. As those who have received the precious gift of faith, we can never lose that. God in His goodness and faithfulness preserves all of His people in faith all of their life long so that they can never lose that faith. But that faith doesn't always manifest itself in the heart and life of the child of God. There are times in our lives where our faith is very weak. One man put it well, God has in His family many weak children, many dull pupils in His school, many lame sheep in His flock. And at times that can characterize every one of us. There may be times in our lives where on account of the weakness of our faith, we are low and despairing and hopeless. The despairing, hopeless circumstance cut ourselves off like Thomas did from the rest of God's people and the gathering of God's people on the first day of the week. There may be times in the weakness of our faith that, like Thomas, we're doubting. Doubting our own salvation and the forgiveness of our sins. Doubting some truth of God's Word. Or responding in sinful bitterness to God's heavy hand in our life. Or sinfully anxious about the future. And what characterizes that weakness of faith and unbelief is that we walk by sight and not by faith. That is, we want some kind of proof. We need some appeal to our senses in order to be convinced and in order to believe in Jesus and and the trustworthiness and faithfulness of God. It's very easy when God brings trials and afflictions upon us for us to walk by sight. To begin to evaluate our situation purely in terms of what we can see and what we feel the external circumstances of life, and then begin to judge who God is in the light of these circumstances. If this is the circumstance of my life, we may begin to think, well that must mean that God doesn't love me, or He doesn't care about me, or He's forgotten about me, because what else would explain this circumstance of life? We want some kind of proof That God is still with us. We want some change in our circumstances to indicate that God is working all of these things together for our good. That merely shows the weakness of our own faith. We don't trust in God and the Lord Jesus Christ and God's good way for us always like we should. There's a sense then in which Thomas is a twin, and that is he's a twin to every child of God. In that what we see in twin Thomas is exactly what we see in our own lives as well, so that like Thomas, we're prone to say, I will not believe unless I can see and I can touch. The crucified and risen Lord, however, doesn't leave Thomas in his doubt and in his despair. But an act of mercy and love for Thomas appears to him. And that is an act of mercy. It's an act of mercy simply in the fact that Jesus is going to appear to his disciples when Thomas is there. It's an act of mercy when we consider how Jesus deals with Thomas. There's a rebuke for Thomas. There's correction. Don't be faithless, but believing. But Jesus deals with him tenderly. He doesn't break Thomas. He doesn't quench the smoking flax. But he deals gently, patiently to correct Thomas and the other disciples. Thomas isn't left perpetually to doubt. He isn't left in this circumstance of hopeless despair. Did Jesus really rise again from the dead? But the very next week when Thomas is gathered together with the other disciples, Jesus appears to him to drive away those doubts and to build him up and to strengthen him in his faith. Jesus' appearance to Thomas confirms the reality of his resurrection. Jesus appears to Thomas. He says to Thomas, look, here are the pierced hands. Here's the pierced side. Take your hand. Put it into those holes and thrust it into the side. Jesus is showing to Thomas that it's Him. It's the same Jesus. This same body in which Jesus lived with Thomas and the other disciples for the last three plus years. This same body that Thomas saw nailed to the cross. The same body that was thrust through Would the soldier's spear, the same body that Thomas saw go into Joseph's tomb, is the same Jesus in the same body that now has risen again from the dead? But though it's the same Jesus and the same body, it's clear to Thomas and to the others, there is something different. There's a change also to the body of Jesus. Jesus proves that by his miraculous and sudden appearance in this room in which the disciples are gathered. They've locked the doors out of fear of the leaders of the Jews hunting them down as the followers of Jesus. But suddenly and miraculously, while the doors remain shut and locked, Jesus is now present in the room with them. Jesus demonstrates that as well. by what he says to Thomas in verse 27. If you compare what Thomas has said in verse 25 to what Jesus says in verse 27, it's nearly identical. And technically we would say, well, Jesus wasn't present when Thomas said those things to the other disciples. And now Jesus shows he knew exactly what Thomas had said, though he wasn't present there. He was present and he did know what Thomas said. And in the end, it's simply the fact that Jesus is there. That proves his resurrection. He's alive. He was nailed to the cross. The marks are there. He was thrust through with the spear. You can see that and touch that as well. He's alive. He's risen again from the dead. He couldn't be held by death in the grave. He's risen again victorious over all. The Lord Jesus Christ crucified and risen, in a sense, appears to us today. Not in some strange mystical way, of course, but the risen Lord Jesus Christ appears to us gathered together on the first day of the week with fellow disciples and under the preaching of the Gospel of the Resurrection. It's a loving and a merciful appearance, we can call it that, of the Lord Jesus Christ to us. Our faith is weak at times. There are times where we're doubting and hopeless and despairing, whether that's on account of the magnitude of our sins, or that's on account of the difficulty of the way in which God is leading us through this life. And in His mercy, the crucified and risen Lord appears to us on the Sabbath day in the gathering of God's people under the preaching of the gospel of the cross and the resurrection. And Jesus, as it were, says, behold. The hands that are pierced. Behold the hands that were pierced at the cross for you and for your sins. Behold the risen Savior who, though pierced and crucified, is not dead, but is alive and risen again. The mercy. Jesus to us weak, doubting believers. To build up and to strengthen us in our faith. And the fruit and the effect of that is peace. Jesus repeatedly proclaimed peace to his disciples when he appeared to them On that resurrection day. Verse 19, he says to them, peace be unto you and then again. In that same appearance in verse 21, peace be unto you and now a week later, the disciples gathered together again. Thomas is with them. Jesus says to them immediately in verse 26, peace be unto you. And that. Peace was the effectual giving of peace to his disciples. This is the fruit and the benefit of Jesus' resurrection that as Jesus who died and rose again proclaims to his people peace. For Thomas who's restless, who's struggling, who's doubting, Jesus Christ comes to him and appears to him and gives to Thomas peace. And that's the great benefit of the death and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ for us. We who are prone to be restless, wondering, doubting, fearing, hopeless, despairing. The gospel of the resurrection is peace be to you. Have peace knowing that the hands of the Savior were pierced at the cross for you. To pay in full for all of your sins. Have peace knowing that the crucified Savior is not dead, but He's risen again. He's alive. And His resurrection proclaims His and our victory over sin, death, and the grave. Peace be unto you. That peace, effectually applied to Thomas' heart, draws out of him a striking confession. Verse 28, Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. That confession is a genuine confession of faith. Christ, in appearing to Thomas, delivers him from his faithlessness and forgives him of that weakness. And, the Lord Jesus Christ, having paid for Thomas' sins at the cross, also works effectually in Thomas faith to believe. Thomas' faith was strengthened here. That's evident from the fact that Thomas is lifted up to proclaim the divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ. He'd seen just now the proof of His humanity. The hands pierced. As he was nailed to the cross, he'd seen the proof of Jesus' real humanity. He's led now, even higher, to confess Jesus' real divinity, my Lord and my God. And, what further indicates that this is genuine faith in Thomas is that we never read of Thomas reaching out and touching the pierced hands. He had said before, very adamantly, unless I see and touch, I'm not going to believe. And Jesus says, here it is, go ahead. Thomas doesn't need that any longer. He's seen, he doesn't need to touch. He believes. And in believing, Thomas confesses. This is such a striking confession because, though simple, it's one of the clearest proofs in the Word of God of the divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ, the fact that He truly is God. It would not have been so surprising to say about Jesus, My Lord, My Master, My Ruler, but He says, My Lord and My God. There's some who try and explain that away. They say Thomas didn't really know what he was saying here. Or they'll say it was something that just came out of his mouth so suddenly and unexpectedly. Some will say this was blasphemous on his part to refer to Jesus this way. But the reality is this was a beautiful confession of faith. If Thomas was somehow blaspheming Jesus by equating Him with God, then Jesus would have rebuked Thomas for this. And He doesn't. The fact is that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is powerful proof that Jesus is the one true God. Earlier in the book of John, John chapter 2, where Jesus cleanses the temple for the first time, the question is raised to him, by what authority are you doing this? What gives you the right to walk into the temple and to drive everyone out of there? And Jesus' response is, destroy this temple and in three days I'll raise it again. And he was speaking about his resurrection, the proof of the authority that he had to do this. It's the resurrection. Romans 1 verse 4 says that Jesus is declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead. By the work of the Lord Jesus in him, Thomas makes a personal confession of faith. It's not only Lord, God, but my Lord and my God. Doubts of Thomas are driven away. And in the confidence of faith, he knows not only who Jesus is, but he knows who Jesus Christ is to him and the relationship in which he stands to Jesus Christ, that Jesus is his Lord and master who's bought him with his precious blood and that Jesus is his God. Whom he adores and whom he serves. Beautiful confession. And yet. Jesus has a word yet for Thomas. Some instruction that is necessary for him and for the other disciples yet. And that's verse 29. Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed. Blessed are they that have not seen and yet have believed. It's that especially that gets at the unique character of this appearance, and especially the point that the Word of God is driving home here. The point of Jesus here is to teach Thomas, the other disciples, and us about the real nature of faith. The nature of faith is that it does not rest on and depend upon. Our senses or some kind of external proof. True faith rests. On the testimony of God himself. And his word. Many passages of God's Word speak of that. Hebrews 11 verse 1 very familiar to us. Now faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen. 2nd Corinthians 5 verse 7. We walk by faith, not by sight, and there's the contrast. There's faith and there's sight and sight is one thing, but faith is another. 1st Peter 1 verse 8. whom having, referring to Jesus, having not seen, ye love, in whom though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory. That's one of the main points of emphasis throughout the book of John. You go through the book of John, chapter after chapter, There's some reference to the true nature of faith and believing in the Lord Jesus Christ. That it's not based on having seen some miracle of Jesus. It's not based on some appeal to the senses. But it's grounded in the testimony of who Jesus Christ Himself is. As that's revealed in the Word of God. Right here in John 20, verse 31, in concluding this, and really much of the book of John, it says, But these are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing ye might have life through His name. It's in the weakness of our faith that we demand external proofs. Or we walk not by faith but by sight and judging everything in the light of what I can see and what I can touch and what I myself can understand of my circumstances. Jesus in speaking of the blessedness of those who believe without seeing. He's describing the nature of true faith and the faith that he works in every believer in the New Testament. The Lord Jesus Christ has not only died for us and allowed his precious hands to be pierced with the nails of the cross. He's not only risen again from the dead as the victor over sin and death and the grave, but he also works within us. applies to us all the blessings of his death and his resurrection and works faith in us and strengthens faith so that without seeing we believe. We believe. That the crucified and risen Jesus is our Lord and our God. Because we have some external proof of that? Because we've seen or touched some evidence of that? No. We believe that because that's the testimony of the Word of God. We believe that because Christ has given to us the gift of faith whereby we believe this Word. We believe and confess the truth of Christ's crucifixion. That His hands were pierced for us. Not because we've seen it and we were eyewitnesses of that because we've been given the gift of faith whereby we believe the testimony of the word of God. We confess this morning the truth of the resurrection. I believe the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Not because there's some scientific proof. Because we were eyewitnesses of that resurrection, we believe it simply by faith in the Word of God. We believe and are confident of the benefits to us of the resurrection. That our sins are forgiven and we're right with God. That we have a new life, the life of Jesus Christ Himself within our hearts. Not because we can see and we can handle these spiritual realities, but we believe because we've been given the gift of faith. To believe the Word of God. We believe that our trials and afflictions. Are for our profit. That they're not the evidence that God is against us or that He's forgotten us. That He's cut us off from His love and His tender mercy. We were going to base things on what we can see and what we can feel. That might be the conclusion that we're led to. We believe that all these things are for our good and for our profit because faith looks beyond the external and penetrates all the way into heaven. Rests in the testimony of God in His Word. We have hope in the face of death. Our own death or the death of loved ones who die in the Lord Jesus Christ. Hope of soul going immediately to glory at the moment of death. The hope finally of the return of the Lord Jesus and the resurrection of our bodies and life forever in the new creation. We've not seen heaven. And we've not seen the resurrection. And we've not seen the new creation. But we believe it. By faith in the Word of God. Blessedness for we who have been given the precious gift of faith. It's not to say that Thomas wasn't blessed and the other disciples weren't because they had to see first and then they believed. He's growing them, strengthening them. They also were blessed with the joy and peace and blessings of salvation. What blessedness for we who've not seen and yet believe. And confess, Jesus is my Lord and my God. Blessedness is the blessedness that's found alone in the Lord Jesus Christ. He alone is the object of our faith. The object of our faith is not things we can see and things we can handle, but the object of our faith is nothing less than the crucified and the risen Savior as He is revealed to us in the Word of God. Belonging to the Lord Jesus Christ. Being united to Him by faith. We know the blessedness, the joy, the happiness, the peace of our salvation now and forever. Amen. Let's pray together. Our Father who art in heaven, we give Thee thanks for the resurrection gospel I'm thankful thou hast not left thy son in the grave, but raised him up again on the third day for us and for our salvation, for the demonstration of thy glory and thy honor. And we pray that thou will give to us peace and joy in the knowledge of The great salvation that's ours in our Savior. Strengthen our faith. We believe, but help thou our unbelief. By Thy Word and through Thy Spirit, strengthen our faith and trust in Thee and give us the grace to walk, not by sight, but by faith. We pray these things in Jesus' name, Amen.