“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for,
the evidence of things not seen.” Hbr. 11:1
All sins shall be forgiven
Let us make it very clear: sin is a very serious offence against God. It is a crime against the Creator. It is an open rebellion against the Almighty God who sets up the laws that govern its creation. But what is the biggest sin of all?
Let us see some of God’s commandments.
“Thou shalt have none other gods before me.” Men create themselves idols out of money, sex, fame, health, gambling. Anything can become an idol. Placing something above the living God is a sin. But it can be forgiven if we repent and ask forgiveness.
Murder must be somewhere high at the top of the list, right? The commandment is very clear “Thou shalt not kill”. We know that to kill someone is very wrong. Yet I tell you it is not the biggest sin.
What about adultery? “Neither shalt thou commit adultery”. So much evil is being done by people. Sexual immorality is almost part of the culture of our treacherous generation. But adultery is not the biggest of all sins.
The great message of the gospel of Jesus Christ is that all sins can be forgiven to men.
“Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme.” Mk. 3:28
Whether you are a murderer, adulterer, drunkard, fornicator, gambler, or blasphemer, you can be assured by the gospel of Jesus Christ: The grace of God extends to the worst offenders.
Unbelief as sin
There is however one sin that will condemn people on the judgement day. It is the rejection of the gospel. It is the unbelief in the Son of God, Jesus Christ and what He had done on the cross.
“But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation.” Mk. 3:29
To reject the Holy Spirit’s testimony about the Son of God is to call God a liar.
Unbelief is also the root cause for any other sin that man commits. If you were aware of God’s presence in all your life, you would not say many things that you say. You would not do many things that you make a habit. Presence of God requires from us reverence. If we know God, we know are accountable for our actions, we act differently.
Unbelief is therefore the greatest sins of all. It is rejection of Lord Jesus and His sacrifice. It is the biggest offence to God.
The doors are shut
Today in the Scriptures we read how Lord Jesus appeared to the disciples. It is an evening time, the first day of the week. The disciples are gathered together on a Sunday night. The doors are shut. What is this assembly for? What are they doing? It is very likely they are praying, singing psalms and breaking bread.
The events of the last few days must lay heavy on their hearts. Their Teacher and Master was sentenced to death and crucified. They saw Him dead and buried. Then they saw the empty tomb. There was no body. They heard the testimony of Mary Magdalene who told them she had seen the Lord and even spoke to Him. Surely there is a lot to think about…
They are gathered there for fear of the Jews. They must be worried the hatred that the crowds expressed towards their Master will now focus on His followers. They fear for their lives and rightly so. Just as Christ was rejected by the world, so are we. Christians were, are and will be hated and persecuted.
Now through this locked door, in the midst of this praying congregation, appears Lord Jesus. It is neither a spirit, nor a ghost, but Jesus Christ in the flesh. He greets them by saying “Peace be unto you”.
He shows them his hands and his side. He wants them not only to believe. He wants them to KNOW that he is alive. He appears to them in His resurrected body.
This new, glorified body, although fully physical, does not know the limitations of the matter that we are exposed to. Despite the locked door, the Lord appears in the midst of them.
“Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord.” v. 20
When they see His wounds, they recognise Him. They are glad as they know it is Jesus. We see there are three things that the Lord brings them: He brings them peace. He brings them faith. He brings them gladness.
Jesus tells them again: “Peace be unto you”. He gives them reassurance of that peace, before the mission is set out to them. “As my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.”
The disciples are to go and preach the Kingdom of God. They are to continue Jesus’ mission here on earth. They are to search for that which was lost, by calling people of all nations to repentance.
The Lord knows that we are weak and cannot begin on that which He commanded us. If this tremendous task was left to the disciples only, the mission would surely fail. Therefore Lord Jesus provides a great companion. He says to them: “Receive ye the Holy Ghost”.
This is the greatest gift of all. Holy Ghost is the third person of the Trinity. He makes our witness possible, for He testifies about the truth. Without Him, we cannot do any good work. The mission is to bring the gospel message to all the ends of the world.
“Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things.” Lk. 24:46-48
We can see that both repentance and remission of sins are closely linked. There can be no remission of sins without truly turning to Christ by believing. We read in the gospel of John today:
“Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.” v. 23
We know that man cannot remit any sins. These words are reiteration of the gospel message to the disciples. Sharing the gospel is the purpose of Lord Jesus sending his disciples. “As my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.”
He puts the emphasis on the importance of the gospel. It is pronouncing the remission of sins to all who repent from their unbelief. Is it not wonderful?
Christ died for sins of the world to save His people. Now He appears in His resurrected body as confirmation that His sacrifice was accepted by the Father. Through the power of the Holy Ghost, He brings to His disciples faith and hope and points them towards the cross where they find the greatest love a man can experience. The love of God.
Thomas unbelief
Thomas was not present in the congregation when Jesus first appeared to the disciples. He did not see Jesus resurrected. The other disciples come to their first task: to give their testimony to Thomas. They tell him: “We have seen the Lord”.
What an amazing testimony it is. We have seen Lord Jesus. He was right here in the midst of us. We have seen His wounds and were speaking with Him. He is alive!
Thomas answers them: “Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my fingers into 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.”
When we witness Jesus Christ’s to others and bring them the gospel message, we will hear all sorts of excuses. If God existed, they say… If Jesus was God, they question… How many excuses people can make for their unbelief.
But the Bible is clear: there is enough evidence for God in all the creation. There is no doubt that there is a design to the universe we are living in. Life itself with all its forms and mysteries did not appear out of nowhere. Human body is wonderfully designed. The question is how much evidence would convince an unbeliever?
The print of the nails
Thomas says: “Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails”. Show this verse the next time Jehovahs Witness knocks on your door! They claim that Jesus did not die on the cross, but on a single stake. It is an unbelief in the saving power of the cross. How is it supported by the testimony of the Scriptures? Thomas saw crucifixion with his eyes. He saw Jesus Christ on the cross. He had both of His hands pierced with nails! Not one nail, but nails.
Lord Jesus comes again
Now, we read about another situation – a very similar scenario to the first one. It is after eight days. The disciples are gathered together, the door is shut. Again we can assume the Apostles are praying. This time Thomas is with them.
Once again, Lord Jesus appears to them, standing right in the midst! He greets them the same way as before: “Peace be unto you”. It is third time in this passage we read the Lord greeting them with these words.
Jesus Christ is willing to give peace to His disciples at any time when He comes. He is willing to give you peace today. This is the promise we read few chapters earlier:
“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” J. 14:27
This is the kind of peace we can only experience in the presence of the Lord. It is heavenly peace that suspends all the fears of this world. Look how different can be your reaction to pestilence, tribulation, suffering, when you have this peace of the Lord within. Christians know that the Lord is right next to them!
In the appearance of the Lord in the midst of the Apostles, we can see how the words of Psalm 22 are fulfilled: “In the midst of the congregation will I praise thee.” Ps. 22:22
Thomas conversion
The purpose of His appearance is again to bring peace, faith and gladness. But this time, Lord Jesus comes also to address Thomas’ unbelief. Jesus Christ does not leave any of His brethren behind. Faith may come to them at different timing, but as we learned during Easter, all of them will praise and glorify the Lord. “Ye that fear the Lord, praise him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel.” Ps. 22:23
Jesus speaks to Thomas: “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.” v. 27
The Lord was not present when Thomas expressed his doubts and when he presented conditions that would make him believe. Our unbelief does not change the fact that God is present everywhere. “The darkness hideth not from thee” Ps. 139:12
Behold his hands through faith. Reach hither. This is an encouragement to all believers. Lord Jesus wants us all to experience Him profoundly. Thrust it into my side. He wants us to grow in the knowledge of Him. He wants us to have this new life that we can experience through His resurrection.
Finally, he gives the command: Be not faithless, but believing. Be believing! The only way you can experience the peace that he brings, the true saving faith, the joy of His presence is by believing.
God is willing to help us with our unbelief. “Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief” Mk. 9:24. A simple prayer can be the best cure for our unbelief!
Mustard seed
Faith is that wonderful link that connects us with the kingdom of heaven. The Lord likens both the kingdom of heaven and our faith to a mustard seed. We remember the parable of the mustard seed:
“Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.” Mt. 13:31-32
“Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out? And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.” Mt. 17:19-20
By faith we reach the Kingdom of God, we approach His throne of mercy. Faith is a powerful force that allows us to be connected to God and His wisdom! It is only through faith that we can experience the hope of resurrection. It is only by faith we can truly repent and be healed from our sins. Only by faith we can be filled with that wonderful love that Jesus Christ showed us by giving up His life for us. Faith is powerful!
Confession of Thomas
The words that Jesus speaks and seeing Him at this very moment, make Thomas believe. The immediate answer is his proclamation of who Jesus is. He says: “My Lord and my God.”
Thomas immediately submits himself to the Lord. He recognises Lord Jesus for whom He truly is. He is the Lord and God. His confession is a true mark of the conversion.
Once again, this is a verse to show to JW! Your conversion is not real if you do not see God in Jesus, just as Thomas did and proclaimed. But this has to be revealed to us by the Father and not flesh and blood.
The role of the church
Let us now consider the role of the church in this world, using the Scriptures as the foundation. We read earlier “as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.”
What was holding the Apostles together since Jesus died? They no longer had their Teacher and Master. It was the power of God that held them together.
Thomas did not believe their testimony. Have the Apostles failed? No! Eight days later, when they gather together, Thomas is with them! If they did not testify to Thomas, possibly he would not be there the second time the Lord came to them.
Conversion is the work of God, but we are His instruments that are called to give testimony to Jesus Christ. We are to proclaim His gospel. But it is only the miraculous power of God that can melt human’s heart, bring it to repentance and faith.
“This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent” J. 6:29
What is Faith?
Let us reach for the authority of the Bible to answer that. We read in the book of Hebrews:
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good report. Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.” Hbr. 11:1-3
The whole chapter is showing us how faith works in the lives of believers. But today, let us focus on the definition: “faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
- is the substance of things hoped for. By the very definition, a substance is a particular kind of matter with uniform properties. It is based on the testimonies we received and know to be true.We believe in the gospel. We live differently. We have a purpose. We look forward to our departure from this world.
Faith is substantial. It has properties just as matter has properties. It is experiential. I know what I believe.
- is the evidence of things not seen. Do you need a proof of God’s existence? It is faith. It is the evidence of things not seen. Oh, the great mysteries of faith. How else can one experience that wonderful love of Christ other then by faith.“Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.” 1 P. 1:8-9
Faith is the work of God, it is the evidence of His work in us. No matter what other evidence is presented, we will not believe until the Holy Ghost gives us faith.
The blessings of faith
Thomas did not believe the witness of the Apostles. “Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.” J. 20:29
Resurrection of Jesus Christ gives us hope. We know that God ”hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” 1 P. 1:3
Paul writes of Faith, Hope and Love. These are the Fruits of the Spirit. None of them are possible without the Holy Ghost that only Jesus Christ can breath on us. Neither the hope nor love are possible without faith.
If we are to receive all the blessings of faith, our belief cannot be based on evidence. It is the only way how we can come to the knowledge of love. God is love.
Therefore I urge you. Repent from your unbelief! Trust in Jesus Christ, who died for your sins. He rose again on the third day and is alive. Be not faithless, but believing!
