Text: “Jesus saith unto
him, Thomas, because thou hast seen Me, thou hast believed; blessed are they
that have NOT seen, and yet have believed."
John 20:29.
“For we walk by
faith, not by sight.”
2 Corinthians 5:7.
Good morning, Christian in
doubt! You have just been informed that
you, or a family member, or a very close friend, has been diagnosed with a
terminal illness. You have received news
of natural disaster or impending peril
that could very well affect you, your business, or all things close to you and
yours. In steps the demon of grave fear
and deadly doubt. Suddenly, all that you
had set your hopes and dreams upon lies shattered by apparent gloom and
doom. All that you see and hear and
taste and touch and experience is suddenly cast into jeopardy - and deadly
doubt is assailing your Christian faith.
If this describes your current
circumstances or situation - read on, beloved Christian, the Lord God has new
hope especially for YOU today.
“Be still (relax,
all is in God’s control), and know that I am
God; I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.” (Psalm 46:10)
When the Lord Jesus physically
drove the personal-gain merchants out of the Jewish Temple, it was the
religious Jews that asked Him the question, “What sign shewest
thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things?” (V.18)
They knew from their head
knowledge of the Old Testament Scriptures that the coming Messiah would come
suddenly to His Temple, that He would be ‘…like a refiner’s fire, and like fuller’s soap…a refiner and purifier of
silver…‘ that would ‘…purify the sons of Levi, and purge them…that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in
righteousness.’ (Malachi 3:1-3)
However, no sooner had the
Lord Jesus fulfilled this prophesy, right before their eyes, but these
religious Jews immediately manifested the unbelief of their hardened hearts by
asking Christ to show them a miracle in order that they might fully
believe. Not much has changed today, has
it?
Today on our Christian TV
channels we see thousands of people craving similar signs and wonders and - sad
to say - often we see a circus of charlatans more than willing to put on such a
show for them! Beware!
For such people - seeing is
absolutely necessary before they will believe anything concerned with Christ
Jesus, the Son of God Who saves.
Obviously, true God-given Christian faith, in such circles, is totally
lacking.
“”Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, in the feast day, many
believed in His Name, when they saw the miracles that He did.” (V. 23)
“Now faith is the
substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1)
As the apostle Paul writes -
at all times under the inspiration of God the Holy Spirit - “For we walk by faith, not by sight.” (2 Corinthians
5:7)
For the true Christian
believer in this day of increased apostasy; ‘easy-believing’; and what the Scriptures define as ‘…signs and lying wonders…’ - the rule is clearly one of believing in the Lord, and then, by His
grace and according to His Sovereign will, seeing His miraculous hand at work
in doing the most wondrous of things.
All glory to His miraculous and wondrous Name! (2 Thessalonians 2:3-17)
Genuine Christians believe,
and because we believe - we often see the miraculous wonders of a truly compassionate
and awesome Lord God!
The above rule of believing
and then seeing is clearly taught in the example context of our text for today. “…Thomas, one of the
twelve (disciples)…was not with them
when Jesus came. The other disciples
therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord.
But he said unto them, 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.” (John 20:24-25)
Eight days later, Thomas was
with the rest of the disciples when the risen Christ Jesus again appeared unto
them and offered Thomas the opportunity to do just that, “…Reach hither thy finger, and behold My hands; and
reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into My side; and be not faithless, but
believing.” (John
20:27)
“And Thomas answered
and said unto Him, My Lord and my God.
Jesus said unto Him, Thomas, because thou has seen Me, thou hast
believed; blessed are they that have not seen (that‘s you and me, my friend!), and yet have believed.” (John
20:29) Hallelujah! We walk by such God-given faith today!
Thought: Dispel all doubts, Christian believer - only
believe, and then see how the Lord blesses your faithfulness. Jesus cares for YOU.
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