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Now let's dive into today's teaching from Pastor Skip Heitzig.
Somebody once described a pessimist as a person who's always seasick. on the voyage of life. Two pessimists met at a party one evening, and instead of shaking hands, they just. Shook heads. There was a farmer who was always happy.
He was always optimistic about life. Yet he had a neighbor who was exactly the opposite. He was that pessimist. Everything was always bad.
So when the optimists would say, What a beautiful day filled with sunshine. Pessimist would counter by saying, It's going to scorch our crops and they'll die. And then, on a day when it would rain, the optimists would say, Isn't God good for watering? The corn. And the pessimist would counter with something like: if it keeps raining, it's going to flood.
So one day, the optimist decided, I'm gonna get this guy and show him something that he can't even gripe about. They went hunting. Duck hunting. And they were in the boat. and they both had their shotguns and ducks flew over.
They both pulled the trigger and Down A few fell into the lake. And the optimists smiled big and said to his dog, gleam in his eye, Go get 'em. His dog got out of the boat. ran on top of the water. retrieved the ducks and brought them back to the boat.
Optimus Elbowed the guy saying, what do you think about that? The pessimist sneered and said, he can't swim, can he? Yeah. All of that reminds me of somebody in the New Testament that's similar to that, named Thomas. I call him the apostle from Missouri.
My dad lived there, so I can say that. The show me state, I won't believe until I see it. Thomas wasn't there the first Sunday evening when Jesus appeared first to his men. He missed the whole event. And for Thomas, the cross was the end of the road.
It was it. There was nothing after that. Nothing left. We usually associate Thomas with doubt, We call somebody who's a skeptic. typically call them a doubting Thomas.
as if somehow Thomas is the patron saint of all sceptics. We In looking at the Bible, discover that. in coming across Stories about Thomas. Whenever he says something. It sounds to us negative, or at least On the dark side.
If it were in musical terms, I would say Thomas is the guy who always sings in the minor key. But something happens to him on this day. That will change his life. And it will change his life forever. We're in John chapter 20.
We're going to begin at verse 24. And we're gonna Look at four ways. Since our theme is Rise Up, Four ways that we can rise up. Today Number one. We can rise up and be honest.
Be honest, Thomas was. Verse 24.
Now Thomas. called the twin Tuck that away in your mind. One of the twelve was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said to him, We have seen the Lord. How do you think they said that?
Do you think they said? Um We've seen the Lord. Or do you think they shouted that? Like they were so excited after seeing him. And so he, Thomas, said to them, Get this.
Unless I see his hands. The print of his nails And put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into a side, I will not. Believe. Thomas was listening to these guys say, We have seen the Lord, and he's probably thinking, I'm not as weak as they are. They're the emotional type, they're the mystical type.
I've been down this road. I see no evidence, no proof. And he probably shrugged it up. My early days as a believer We're in college. And because of my chosen major and profession, My professors The scientific type were typically agnostic or atheistic and very down on my belief system, and I was challenged.
Daily. By skeptics, and it put me in a real tough situation. It was a dark season. But it got me thinking and looking for searching for Honest. Authentic evidence.
For Jesus Christ. which I found. But back to Thomas. Let me give you a little snapshot of this guy. You hear what he said here.
If you went back a couple of years. When Jesus was going to go up to Jerusalem again, Listen to Thomas. Jesus says, We're going up to Jerusalem. The other disciples say, Not a good idea. They want to kill you there.
Jesus says, We're going nonetheless. Here's Thomas's Contribution Let us go that we may die with him. What's up with that? I mean, how positive is that? Let's go, we'll all die.
I'll tell you one thing, that's loyal. And that's courageous. And that's very honest. Here's another time, upper room, last supper. Jesus says Where I'm going.
You know. And the way You know. Jesus has been talking about heaven and a lot of things, and he says, Where I'm going, you know, and the way you know. Everybody sitting around the table, probably going like this. Yeah.
Thomas speaks up and goes, Excuse me, we don't know where you're going, so how can we know the way? I've always loved that. Here's a guy who will speak up. when he doesn't get it. He doesn't understand it.
Thomas Rose up and was honest. A Sunday school teacher was teaching her class about the Good Samaritan. How a man was left by the side of the road, dying, and so the teacher asked her class, What would you do? If you saw a man bleeding. beaten and dying by the side of the road.
One little thoughtful girl, Roser, Hand up and said, I think I'd throw up. She was honest. Thomas could have been that student. He was honest. He wasn't faking it.
Cynical, yes. Hard boiled, perhaps. But honest. At this point in the game, the disciples, including Thomas, Needed A rational reasonable explanation for them to believe. And here's why.
They'd been with Jesus. They put all their faith in him. They heard all of his stories, saw all of the cool miracles he did, and then he died on a cross. It's over. It's over.
Thomas hadn't seen the resurrected Lord. It's over. Whatever that was that we saw that was so cool the last few years. It's over now. At this point, there's nothing substantive.
To substantiate Believing in Jesus anymore or the claims that he made. Until the resurrection until Thomas actually sees the Lord. That restores the reason for him to believe. Why is this important? It's important because Christianity has always appealed to historical fact and rational belief.
You see, we say that the heart cannot delight in what the mind rejects as false. And God is never asking anyone to take a leap into the darkness. Oh, he's going to take a leap of faith. It's just a leap into the dark. No, it's not.
It's a leap into the light. And it's rational. One skeptic who became a believer wrote these words. I took the evidence that I could gather. and put it on two scales.
The scales tip the way of Jesus being the Son of God and resurrected from the dead. It was so overwhelmingly leaning to Christ that when I became a Christian, It was a leap into the light. rather than a leap into the darkness. But the first step is for you to be honest. If you have doubts...
That's okay. Voice them. Be honest about them. But then also be honest about your life. Do you sense?
That in your life All of the status, all of the education, all of the materialism or lack thereof. Isn't enough? To satisfy you? Then be honest about them. Be honest about your past.
You're not perfect. Wouldn't you love to know that you're forgiven of anything and everything. Be honest about that. Be honest about your desires. about what you want.
Do you feel Do you ever feel like there could be? You hope there is something more than what you've already experienced in life. And be honest about your sin. Call it what it is. It's called confession in the Bible.
And bring that to the Lord. Rise up and be honest, Thomas was. Number two. Rise up and be amazed. Look at the next verse, verse 26.
After eight days, His disciples We're again inside. And Thomas was with them. Jesus came. The doors being shut, and stood in the midst and said Peace. To you.
What was Thomas' reaction at that point?
Okay, I'm going to guess. Whoa! I didn't expect that to happen. He'd just been mouthing off. I'm not gonna believe until I see.
Hi. Peace to you. Whoa. You're listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig Weekend Edition. Before we return to today's message, have you ever struggled to study the Bible consistently?
or wondered how to really enjoy your time in the word? In his book, How to Study the Bible and Enjoy It, Pastor Skip gives you the tools and insights you need to dig into Scripture with joy, clarity, and love. clarity and confidence. This practical guide is our thanks for your generous gift of $50 or more to reach more people with God's Word through Connect the Skip. Request your copy when you give today at connectwithskiff.com slash offer.
or call 800-922-82. Mm-hmm.
Now, let's get back to today's message from Pastor Skip.
Now there's a little couple words you may have missed. I did the first time I read them. Notice the phrase eight days, after eight days. You mean the disciples had to Put up with Thomas for eight days? They had to listen for eight days.
I don't believe that. He didn't show up today either. And then the third day, didn't show up today either. And the didn't show up today, he's not coming, not going to happen. I will not believe until I can touch and see.
And I bet. A couple of those other disciples started feeling maybe a little bit like Thomas on the doubting side, but after eight days, Guess who shows up for dinner? Jesus pops in the room, and Thomas saw, and it changed everything for him. You know what? Thomas is like so many people.
Who live their lives without Christ. and thus without hope. Life without God. becomes an exercise in focusing on oneself. and discovering lack of meaning and lack of purpose.
Life is meaningless. More and more people without God are discovering. I want to read something to you. I hope it really gets to your heart, like it did to mine. This was posted.
on an atheist website. By a young woman who frequented that website, and she left her comments, and I quote. She writes, I'm confused. I've always believed that science would be the cure-all for my problems. But I dunno if I can keep living without eternal life.
I guess I'll just have to find a way myself to make it through this meaningless existence. I just wish I knew of someone who could show me the path to eternal life. If science can't provide the answers, though, Then who? Or what can? And then she writes, psi.
Doesn't it seem like there's a higher power that gives our life purpose?
Well, Science says there isn't. And so There isn't. Close quote. How sad is that? That is the cry of the human heart.
Life is without any purpose or meaning.
So I've got to find, figure out, navigate something. to make it worth living another day. What the resurrection did though for Thomas Is Rekindle Hold. Ah, wow. Wonder.
Amazement. Thomas rose up and was amazed. Hey, get this. Did you know? That there are many churches.
Who don't believe that Jesus rose from the dead? They deny the resurrection. I don't know what they do on Easter. What do we do? I don't know what we always do.
They don't believe in the resurrection goes.
So what exactly do they believe in? There's a number of fallacies they hold to. They will say, number one, that Jesus is risen. In spirit. What does that mean?
Is that like my grandma? We say when somebody dies, they're up in heaven. Looking down, they're with us in spirit. Is that all? Is that what Jesus is, risen in spirit?
If that's true, let's go golfing. Instead of being here, It's a nice day. Why are we here? If he's risen in spirit. Others will say, He's risen in our hearts.
That's what the resurrection is. Jesus is just alive in our hearts. We have the Christ consciousness. We have the Christ concept. We have the Christ Spirit.
Oh, go away. How hopeless. That's jibber jabber. Another explanation by some so-called Christians, this comes from Time magazine, always a reliable source of credible information. That Jesus is risen.
In the sense that his teachings live on. He didn't really rise physically, bodily, literally. But his teachings live on like Buddha. Or Gandhi, because we have his words and we keep saying his words, he keeps getting back up. What a joke.
Jesus is not some creed or some concept. He's a person who's alive today and forever more. And without that, we got nothing. And you've got to understand something. This This day is so special to us because this teaching of the resurrection is the pivotal point of everything.
It's the heart of everything we are about. With no resurrection, there's no hope. And we might agree to disagree in a number of things, but not. The resurrection. If Jesus did not bodily, physically rise from the dead, then Jesus Christ is a liar.
Because he said he would die and rise again. He said that. And if he didn't do it... He's a liar. Number two, if he didn't bodily, physically rise from the dead, there's no forgiveness.
Of our sand? There's no salvation. And there's no Hopefully. And so Thomas was right in being utterly hopeless. Until he rose up and was honest and rose up and was amazed at seeing the risen Lord.
Now something to notice before we move on to the third point quickly. It says in what we read, Thomas was with them. When Jesus showed up, Thomas was with them. Because Thomas wasn't with them the first time Jesus showed up. Go back to verse 19 and notice.
This is the first time now. 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, And the disciples were glad, overjoyed, rejoicing is the term. When they saw the Lord.
Okay, stop. Thomas wasn't there. that first time. He missed that. He was out of fellowship, you might say.
He missed that. He missed the appearance, the presence of Jesus, the commission of Jesus, the joy that everybody shared. He missed out on all of that. And I bet when Jesus showed up, one of the apostles was thinking, I wish Tom were here. Don't you wish Tom could see this?
This would be so good for Tom. Ever say that when you're at church and you hear something, you go, I wish Jack could hear this. I wish Shelly were here to hear this. I bet they were saying that about Thomas. But Thomas was absent.
Thomas was an isolated, out-of-fellowship. Christian. You might call him a believer, but not a belonger. And people who are isolationists don't stay in regular fellowship. become Pessimistic.
like Thomas over time. Brittle hardened. Hard-boiled. They miss out on so much. Here's the third thing.
Rise up and be diligent. Rise up and be diligent. What do I mean?
Well You can read and see for yourself. Then he, Jesus, said to Thomas, Reach your finger here and look. at my hands. And reach your hand here and put it into My Side. Huh.
You know what we call this? We call this busted. Thomas mouthing off. I'm not going to believe Jesus shows up here. Uh-oh.
When I was in high school, this is what this reminds me of. I had I had a similar Example or incident. It was PE class, afternoon. I was a senior in high school. And there was this kid on the team that didn't get along with me.
I didn't get along with him. And I was mouthing off about he wasn't a good athlete. He wasn't a good runner. He wasn't this. He's that.
He was standing right. behind me. The whole time I'm mouthing off. And were it not for the coach standing there, I'd have got decked. Because he was superior to me in all the ways that I was ditzing him on.
What Thomas experienced is like that. A hundredfold. Because Jesus shows up, says, Peace to you, Thomas, by the way, reach forth and touch and see that it is me. I love this about Jesus. He condescends so graciously.
to Thomas's doubt. And he invites Thomas, okay, Tommy boy, Mr. Empirical, Mr. I won't believe unless it's science, touch. See.
Feel. I challenge you to do the same. If you want evidence for the Christian experience, there's plenty of it. But be honest. And be diligent.
and be ready to be amazed. Because you'll discover that Christianity That Jesus Christ has three basic credentials. And as you examine three lines of evidence, You'll be amazed. But be diligent. Number one.
Jesus' impact upon human history, unlike anybody else. The impact that Christ has made upon human history. is unique, singular, unparalleled. Number two, the claims that Jesus made about himself. Number three.
A bodily resurrection. Nobody ever claimed, no other religious leader, a bodily resurrection for themselves. Only Jesus claimed there would be an empty tomb, and there was, and his followers went to the death. Believing them. Not one broke.
Thanks for listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. Before you go, don't forget to request this month's featured resource, How to Study the Bible and Enjoy It. This book from Pastor Skip offers practical, encouraging help to take your Bible study deeper and get more out of every verse. It's our thanks for your generous gift of $50 or more to help share God's Word with more people. Call 800-922-1888 or visit connectwithskiff.com slash offer.
and be sure to sign up for weekly devotionals and get your free one-sheet how to approach studying the Bible. It's a great tool to jumpstart your time in Scripture. We'll see you next time for more verse-by-verse teaching of God's Word here on Connect the Skip-Heitzig weekend edition. Make it connect. Make a connection at the foot of the crossing.
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