These poinsettias, many of you underwrote them. We want them gone. So please take your poinsettias out of our church. Just kidding. Help yourself afterwards. If you underwrote some of them, grab them. And if you look at those and say, man, I should have done that this year. Do it next year. Take one this year to remind you. Up until the beginning of Advent on the 1st of December, we've been doing a study on nomenclature. the nomenclature of the Christian faith, which is a study of descriptive words and concepts of our faith. And we began with a look at a very important characteristic of Almighty God, and that is His sovereignty. God is sovereign. Sovereign is another word for king. There is no one else higher than the king. And that was quite literally true. In the Middle Ages, the king would live in his castle on top of a hill. And all the other people in that domain would live down the hill from where the king is. And there is no one higher than the king. There is no appeal to his decrees. He is the prime actor and initiator. His life and his purposes are developed and executed without our advice and counsel. It's because God is in charge, and we are not. Very often, I think, we get a very me-centered universe going, where God has to work his plans around us. And if he's not working his plans around us, then there's something wrong with what he's doing. I live there way too often. The point is that this is a theocentric universe and not an androcentric universe. It's God-centered and not man-centered. God is at the center of his creation. He is Almighty God, sovereign over all his creation. And this is a great concept and quite reassuring to know that an omnipotent God holds the reins of history in his hand. And he knows where all the potholes are on the road that leads to the end of his sovereign purposes. God is sovereign. That study led us to a study in the Holy Trinity. We said that the Holy Trinity is one God with three distinct persons. This is a gigantic mystery to us. We can't understand it. And there's nothing in our experience with which to compare the notion of the Holy Trinity. So there are no metaphors or illustrations or similes that are comprehensive enough for us to help us understand the Holy Trinity. What we can say is this, that the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit are the same in substance, and they're equal in power and glory. We can pray to the Father. We can pray to the Son. We can pray to the Holy Spirit. They are God. They're equal in their power. They're equal in their personal value and worth. We said we can understand the Holy Trinity ontologically. I hope you remembered that word, and you've used it several times since we talked about it. Ontologically, you could fit that almost into any conversation. because it has to do with being, B-E-I-N-G, with our being. Well, of course, you woke up this morning, you were being, right? So you were ontological this morning. So now you have that. And every morning you wake up and you think, hey, I'm ontological today. That is, in terms of his being, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are all equal. So we said it's kind of like, Chuck and Mary. Who's more important? Well, Mary is, but OK, we'll shoehorn Chuck into the equation too. But in terms of personal value, they're the same. One is not more important than the other. But in terms of role, they have different roles in their daily lives. They do different things, but they are equally valuable in all that they do. So too, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit have different roles in the providential governance of his creation. In that sense, we think about the economy of the Trinity or how the Trinity works. The Father did not die on the cross. God the Father did not die on the cross for our sins. The Son did not set times or ages, the Father did. And neither the Father nor the Son applied the salvation that the Son of God bought and paid for. It is the Holy Spirit who applies the salvation that Jesus bought and paid for. We looked at the scriptural backing for this position, which leads us or which led us to a discussion of the atonement. Now, I don't know if you know it, but we sang about the atonement a few moments ago. I circled it because I said, hey, that's what we're talking about today. I heard about his groaning of his precious blood's atoning. So we studied a little bit about the atonement in our study of nomenclature. Atonement with God. The Bible says in Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 1, we were dead in our sins and trespasses. And again, in Ephesians 2 verses 11 and 12, remember that one time, you Gentiles in the flesh were separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world. But God took the strangers and called them, that is, you and I, called us friends. And so God is now our friend through the atonement. We who were once alienated and strangers to the covenants of promise without hope and without God in the world, we're now friends of God, which led us then to a consideration of worship. as worship is the prize of atonement. And we said that worship is the assigning of worth to the one who made the knowledge of and life with God possible, Jesus. We're created for the purpose of worship. So even the most irreligious person worships something. He or she may not worship God, but whatever it is of ultimate worth to them is that which they worship. We looked at J.I. Packer. We quoted him as saying, what makes life worthwhile is having a big enough objective. There's no greater blessing than to fill your mind with the knowledge of who God is. And worship, then, led us to the consideration of the heart, not the telltale heart, not the thump, thump, thump that happens in your chest, but that which determines the trajectory of your life. your desires, your thoughts, your emotions. And in this regard, we quoted Alexis de Tocqueville, who said, the incomplete joys of this world will never satisfy the human heart. And then we quoted John Calvin, who said, The heart is an idle factory. That is, an I-D-O-L factory, not an I-D-L-E factory, but an I-D-O-L factory. The heart is an idle factory. And we talked about how we identify idols in our lives, in our hearts. And to do so, we ask questions such as, what is it that you love or hate that determines where you go with your life. Such a question provides explanation for what we do. Another question we said was, what do you want? What do you desire? What do you crave? What do you lust for? What do you wish for? That question uncovers the desires that you serve and the desires that you obey. And we looked at Jeremiah 17.9. It says, the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick. who can understand it. So we don't want to follow our hearts. We want to follow what God says about himself in the scriptures. It's the deceitfulness of the heart that drives sin and is not changed from the outside in by resolutions. One of my very favorite authors and persons in American history is a pastor by the name of Jonathan Edwards. He served the Lord in the middle of the 18th century. And he wrote and compiled in his book, Religious Affections, a list of 70 resolutions None of them involved either diet or gymnasium membership. So as you look at your own resolutions this week, just remember Jonathan Edwards and his list, his rather famous list of 70 resolutions, none of which diet or gymnasium were driven by such. His first resolution begins like this. He said, resolved. that I will do whatsoever I think to be most to God's glory. I think that's a wonderful thing to fashion your life after. That's a good resolution. But our lives are not changed from the outside in. Our lives are not changed by our resolutions. In fact, we took an informal survey. How many people have ever, you don't need to raise your hands for this. We did it back. I already know how you voted on this. How many people have ever made a New Year's resolution? That was the first question. There was a follow-on question to that. How many people have ever kept a New Year's resolution? And I tell you that the number of hands was greatly reduced by the time I got to the second question. We're not changed from the outside in. We're changed from the inside out. That is a major difference between Christianity and any other world religion. Other world religion says, you polish yourself up on the outside. And when you've changed enough, then you can come to God. But Christianity says, you come to God first. And he will clean you up, clean you from the inside out. We had a lady that came to this church, I've mentioned her before, and actually she came to this church before. This was a church. We were moving into this building on May the 15th of 2005. And somewhere in April, she pulled in. I happened to be here. I was tearing down cobwebs or something like that. I don't know if you knew this. They used this for a storage facility before it became our church for the promenade across the street. And they stored. models of the buildings back in Bonita Bay. And they had a toilet back in one of the rooms back there stored. And they had four air handlers that were sitting about where Jack and Lars are right over there. And there was a sign, a green neon sign that said, Hoolahands. And they had let us use the building. And I thought, you know what? If we change our name to Houlihan's Presbyterian Church, we have her sign. Now I'm trying to think why I brought that story up. It was a good story, wasn't it? Thank you, okay, thank you, thank you, okay. See, I think you know this better than I do. So there was this lady who came and she said, well, what is this? She said, I really don't know why I'm here. I just kind of pulled in and I saw your car and I came in. What is this? And I said, well, it's going to be a church. We're going to put a church right here in this building. And I said, well, and I think I know why you're here. I think God brought you here today. And she said, what for? I said, because. You're going to meet him today. And we began to read the Bible together. And she, after a few weeks, became a believer in Jesus Christ. She was a very good tennis player, played a lot of tennis, but was very competitive. And she said, perhaps a month after that experience where she came to believe in Jesus, She was playing tennis with some people and someone called one of her shots out. And she didn't agree with it. And so she went to the net and she pointed and she said, come here. And the other person didn't know whether she was going to brain her with a tennis racket or what was going to take place right there in that moment. But she came over and she said, that's not the right call. And she turned around and started walking back. And she said, well, she went back to Annette. And she said, come here. She stuck out her hand. She said, that was not my call. That was your call. And I'm sorry. And she said, she walked back to the service line. And she said, what just happened there? That was out of character. But you see, God, God. broke into her life. The Holy Spirit applied the salvation that Jesus bought and paid for to her heart. And she was beginning to change from the inside out. She didn't make any resolutions not to cause a fuss at the net. That was a change from the inside out. Things begin to happen. Changes occur. We come now. to a transitional nomenclature concept, and it has to do with miracles, and we're really talking about the miracle of new life, because in the end, that's what the Bible's about, about how God is reconciling a lost world to himself. And so we're coming now to a transitional concept, which is signs, miracles, and wonders. And I want to use the remainder of my time here this morning to begin a discussion on miracles, signs, and wonders. This is going to be an ongoing project because this is going to be the new series, the Miracles, Signs, and Wonders in the Gospel of John. And I'd like for us to be conceptually clear on the subject of miracles, signs, and wonders because of the series that we're going to launch into. Now, depending on how you count, In the Gospel of John, there are seven miracles. There is Jesus turning the water into wine, the healing of a Roman official's son, the healing of an invalid at a pool by the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem, the feeding of 5,000 people, the walking on water, the healing of a man blind from birth, and the raising from the dead of Lazarus. Now, all of this is happening pre-crucifixion. The list doesn't take into account Jesus' own resurrection. That would be an eighth one. Or in the 21st chapter of John, John and his compatriots were fishing out in a boat, and they see somebody, a figure on the shore. And, oh yeah, this is another one. Oh, I love this. There's a movie that came out a few years ago, and I can't remember the name of the movie. What is it? Risen, thank you. That was pretty good. You got that before I even gave you a description. Risen, and it had to do with the resurrection of Jesus and how they had a search for the body. And they searched and searched and couldn't find it because you see Caesar was coming to Jerusalem and Pilate had a problem. Pilate had crucified somebody and he couldn't produce a body. That was creating quite a stir through the Roman Empire. And so in that movie, Jesus is standing on the seashore. And the disciples, John and the disciples, were in a boat just about 100 yards off the shore. And Jesus looks up to these fishermen and he says, any luck? Now please see the irony in that. First of all, Jesus didn't believe in luck. He was the sovereign God. But in any case, they see Jesus on the shore, and he says, cast your net off to the side. He cast the net off to the side. They bring in this huge haul of fish. That was a miracle. And that's when John jumped into the water and went to see Jesus. And that would be a miracle, too. And then we're going to consider today an event where there was two more miracles that took place, not of the seven, but all of those other miracles were post-resurrection miracles. So what we're going to say is we're going to take a look at the pre-resurrection miracles of Jesus as John presents them. So as far as our text goes today, just that morning, the empty tomb had been discovered, and the Marys had seen it, and they'd been confused by that empty tomb. And Jesus spoke with at least Mary Magdalene. We don't know how many people he actually spoke to at the tomb, but at least with Mary Magdalene. And she went, as told, to see the disciples and to pass on the good news of Jesus' resurrection. That evening, the disciples, likely the expanded cadre of followers, were gathered together behind locked doors for fear of some of the Jewish leaders that had just had Jesus crucified. Of course, we know that Judas had failed Jesus horribly, and Peter too. In his own way, he had failed Jesus as well. And I think we all know that Judas's was a matter of betrayal and Peter's was a matter of denial. But there was not much high ground in that room that night for the rest of the crew. Most of them wandered away during the crucifixion incident. Even now, one of his close followers was a no-show, Thomas. But here they were, his followers, huddled behind locked doors, adrift without a leader, fearful of the Jews, likely for the most part ashamed at their failure at Golgotha. Jesus passes through the locked doors. The scripture passage that we're going to read in a moment says that the door had been locked and Jesus appeared. Some way, somehow, he had come through the door. And the very first words out of his mouth as he materialized through the door to the fearful, shame-filled group was, peace be with you. Now, that probably lifted an incredible burden off the shoulders of his disciples who were there together in that upper room. And he repeated it once again. In John chapter 20 and verse 21, Jesus said to them again, peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you. Now, I'm sure you've probably experienced this. when you have wronged people horribly. And you've felt an overwhelming burden of guilt with that. And whoever it is that you wronged looks at you and says, don't worry about it. Years ago, when I first got my driver's license, I shouldn't tell this story because I'm going to have an accident this day because of it. But when I first got my driver's license, I was backing out of the driveway and a car was coming up the road. And I looked down the road and I said, I could beat that guy. So I stepped on it and went, whoo. And there was a car parked right behind our driveway. And I caved in the driver's side quarter panel. And that was, I'd had my license for maybe two months at the time. And I had this huge pile of guilt on top of me. And I went across the street, and I knocked on the door. And they came to the door, and I said, I think I just crunched your car. And they said, ah, don't worry about it. We're selling it anyway. Well, I don't know if they're going to sell it or not, and I don't know how that affected the value of it, but I was sure relieved. When someone says, don't worry about it, it takes the tension out of the room. And I like what Becky Pippert said. Becky Pippert said, when someone has seen the very worst of you and has forgiven you, then there's nothing that anyone can do to you. Guilt is a controlling emotion. Jesus took the tension out of the room that night, and he gave them a task. He says, as the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you. That's astonishing when you think about it. Jesus, who is the perfect, sinless, fearless God-man, gives the frightened, huddled cadre of followers a job on the same level as his own calling. even as the Father God Almighty has sent me. I'm sending you." That had to be enormous for these followers of Jesus to realize that not only had Jesus said, don't worry about it. He said, not only that, I got a job that I've been sent to do, and I want you to do that job. Now Thomas, You know him as Doubting Thomas. But Thomas, having been absent that evening, said, I'm not going to buy into that unless I can put my finger in his hands and thrust my hand in his side. Philosophically, that makes him an empiricist. Seeing is believing. About eight days later, the same event would play out again. The disciples were up a room. The room was locked. Jesus materialized through the door and said to Thomas, OK, Thomas, go ahead. Put your fingers right there. Put your hand in my side right here. And Thomas did. And then he fell down to his knees and he said, my Lord and my God. And Jesus would then bless the rationalist in him. And he said, have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe. To that he was talking to you and I. We're those who have not seen yet believed. And that's where we read that in John chapter 20, the section from John chapter 20, verse 19 down to verse 29. On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them 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. Jesus said to them again, peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending 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 withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld. Now Thomas, one of the 12, called the twin, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, we have seen the Lord. But he said to them, unless I see in his hands the marks of the nails and place my finger into the mark of the nails and place my hand into a side, I will never believe. Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, peace be with you. Then he said to Thomas, put your finger here and see my hands, and put out your hand and place it my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe. Thomas answered him, my Lord and my God. And Jesus said to him, have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen. and yet have believed. So that is the lead up to what John would tell us is the point of all this. He adds his own commentary, John does, and explains his motivation for writing this book. He tells us that the miracles that have been included in this book were not randomly selected. Keep in mind that John is a little different than the other gospels. The other gospels, the theologians refer to as synoptic gospels. Syn, S-Y-N, means together with. A Greek word, S-U-N, sun. But it means together with, and optic means? what you see, right? You go to the optician to help you see better. So you have seen together with, and that's what the synoptic gospels are. Matthew, Mark, and Luke. You see things together with those three gospels because they cover pretty much the same material. John is a little bit different. He includes extraneous information. that the other three don't include. We know that Jesus' ministry was approximately three and a half years long because John includes the account of three Passovers subsequent to his baptism. And now, Jesus' ministry is purposefully laid out by John with a specific purpose. The miracles that John includes in the pre-resurrection time of Jesus are there as a selection of a larger set of miracles. And these are there to engender faith on the part of those who are believing, just like Thomas. And I think if any one of us were to materialize through that glass door right over there, I would call that a miracle. But that's not included. Jesus materializing through that door is not included in the seven, but Jesus did it twice. And I guess the story of that is that the threshold for any miracle that I participate in is somewhat lower than a miracle Jesus might do. In other words, Jesus, as the divine son of God, can do something like go through a glass door or go through a wooden door. That's no big deal. He's God. Of course he can do that. If I were to go through that glass door, we'd call it broken. And these miracles, then, that Jesus performed throughout the Gospel of John will be the subject of our attention over the next several weeks. And we read about this. in John chapter 20 verses 30 and 31. Now, Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples which are not written in this book, but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. OK, that is our path. That's where we're going in the next many weeks. What is the takeaway from what we've talked about today? Well, I think that there's at least a couple of things that are takeaways from this. First of all, I like what Verne Poythress says. Verne is a New Testament professor at Westminster Seminary. And he says, in so many words, Thomas is a skeptic. and is confronted by the resurrected Christ. The person who, like Thomas, has an encounter with Christ and who travels down the route to becoming his disciple in time gets his fundamental questions answered. The Bible contains clear answers to the honest skeptic's questions, and the answers include the following. God exists. There is only one God. God created the world and continues to rule over it. That word is providence. We used it earlier today. We learned that God can work miracles whenever he wishes, and that God does work miracles at times when miracles further his purposes. Remember, we're talking about a theocentric, a God-centered universe and not man-centered. The miracles showed Jesus is who the Gospels say he is. He is both God and man, and he became incarnate, enfleshed, in order to bring salvation and to fulfill the promises made in the Old Testament. So we say, as we did several weeks ago, Jesus, son of David, son of Abraham. And then there's a second takeaway. If a person comes to see that Jesus is who he claims to be, many things follow. First of all, our lives have to change, because Jesus calls us to be his disciples. And when we become his disciples, we accept what he says. He calls us to be not just converts, but followers and co-workers in his mission, to love what he loves and hate what he hates. Thomas was a doubter and a skeptic. He didn't believe. He needed to see for himself. But when he saw for himself, Thomas was a convert a follower, and a co-worker. Tradition tells us that Thomas would bring the gospel to India, and that while he was in India, he was killed by a jealous Hindu priest on December the 21st of the year 72 AD. He was a convert and a co-worker when he became a disciple. We're going to close in just a second, and we're going to sing a song. It's an old song. You'll remember it, perhaps, from a Billy Graham crusade. But I hear George Beverly Shea singing that in my ears as we sing it. But one of the verses that we're not going to sing today is the verse that goes, just as I am, thy love unknown. has broken every barrier down. Now to be thine, yea, thine alone. O Lamb of God, I come, I come. Would you stand with me as we sing together, Just As I Am? Let's do the first and second verses. Just as I am without one plea, but that thy blood was shed for me, and that thou bidst I come, I come. Just as I am and waiting not to rid my soul of one dark lot, to thee whose blood can cleanse Now will you receive God's benediction, for it is now unto Jesus who is able to keep you from stumbling. It is now unto Jesus who is able to present you before his glorious presence, spotless and with great joy. To the only wise God, our Savior, be glory, honor, majesty, and dominion, both now and forevermore. Amen. Go in peace.