Join us as we delve into the rich narrative of Thomas the Apostle, a pivotal moment captured in the Gospel of John. This episode addresses a fundamental aspect of Christian faith—believing without seeing. With an engaging discussion on the nature of faith and the importance of belief in action, learn how Thomas’s story resonates with believers today who seek assurance and understanding. Listen in for an inspiring discourse that highlights the unwavering faith we are called to embrace.
You know, friends, we call him a doubter, but he did declare, My Lord and my God. Let’s talk about Thomas, who saw the resurrected Lord. We’re going to talk about him today here from the International Gospel Hour. Stay tuned.
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Hi, this is Jay Webb for International Gospel Hour. For 90 years, churches of Christ have proclaimed God’s Word through International Gospel Hour. You are about to listen to another Bible-based lesson with Jeff Archie of International Gospel Hour, starting now.
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I am bound for the promised land.
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Well, greetings and hello, everyone. Great having you with us, and we appreciate your choice to listen to us at our broadcast from the International Gospel Hour. Regardless where you may be listening to our broadcast, thank you for choosing this option. And if you wouldn’t mind and you have opportunity, would you give us a call at 855-444-6988 and just let us know where you’re hearing our broadcast. If it’s convenient and you can do so, please let us know. It’s always good to hear from you. And let me also add, if you’re into social media and you have a Facebook page, go look up International Gospel Hour and follow us at our social media, our Facebook page. We’ll keep you informed of the things that we are doing here. We’ll also let you know of our daily broadcast that you can listen to us online and even right here where you listen to us. We’ll share with you our videos of the week. We’re grateful to offer a number of things through our social media and we hope that you will join us. The past few broadcasts have found us discussing John the 20th chapter. And what we do is, what we’ve been doing rather, is we started at the end of the chapter with verses 30 and 31. And then we looked at the remainder of the chapter of the things that were written. Now, as a reminder, John 20, 30 and 31 says, The Bible says, And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book, but these are written, that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name. And we’ve been spending time with the phrase, these are written. And what a joy to look at the entire chapter of John 20. when we began and saw the running souls to and from the tomb, the running tears of Mary, the refreshed disciples when the Lord came into their presence, and then the remission message, yes, a message of remission, the great commission for the gospel to be preached to all the world and for people to believe, to repent of their sins, to be baptized for the remission of those sins, to be saved. To God be the glory. It’s been an awesome study through John 20, but we’re not finished yet. We’re going to come back and talk about a very special person. And we’re going to look at John 20, verses 24 through 29. But first, allow me to pause to defer to our J-Web, who has a few words about our International Gospel Hour app.
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The International Gospel Hour app is available for your iPhone or Android. A free download awaits you at the App Store for iPhones and Google Play for your Android. Just search International Gospel Hour and download our app free. Our app allows access to our study resources all in the palm of your hand. Please download the International Gospel Hour app today.
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And now, friends, let’s consider John, the 20th chapter, verses 24 through 29, that begins, Now Thomas, called the twin, one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said to him, We have seen the Lord. So he said to them, Unless I see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe. And after eight days his disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the mist, and said, Peace to you. Then he said to Thomas, Reach your finger here and look at my hands, and reach your hand here and put it into my side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing. And Thomas answered and said to him, My Lord and my God. Jesus said to him, Thomas, because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. You know, friends, there are a lot of thoughts and things have been written about Thomas the Apostle. You know, he’s called Doubting Thomas by so many. But have we not seen questions and concerns of all of the apostles throughout the study of the Gospels? Now, while Thomas said he would not believe unless he saw, Jesus addressed his unbelief And all for the very things Thomas desired to do. But you know, friends, Thomas never touched the Lord. His reply was a simple, my Lord and my God. Now, the lesson for us. It’s the latter part of John 20 and verse 29. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. You know, when you think about it, Jesus affirmed He was God in the flesh. Thomas called him my Lord and my God, and Jesus knew exactly what Thomas had said because he told him to reach his finger here and look at my hands and reach your hand here and put it into my side. If that’s what it’s going to take, then you do it, in other words. Sometimes, friends, I believe that Thomas had been through so much, he just did not believe his fellow disciples. You know, they all forsook him and fled. Peter followed afar off. John took care of Mary, the mother of Jesus, when he left the cross of Christ. And so I’m not as hard on Thomas as some people might be, but I do want to learn from Thomas. Now, think about it. None of us have ever seen Jesus, but we can believe that he existed. We can believe in his teaching and be blessed because millions have and millions more will continue to do so. It is rather stunning to see how there are those within the United States of America that the belief in Jesus seems to decline. That is tragic. But friends, when we have raised a number of generations, or the last two or so generations, to where previous generations ceased worshiping and ceased having anything to do with God, what do you expect? We can believe and we can be blessed. And Thomas, he was ready with faith. He was ready to reply. And he did. So friends, so should we. Jesus said, don’t be unbelieving, but believing. And he was ready. He replied, my Lord and my God. Friends, we need to have that readied faith. From what we have read here, that we don’t need signs. We don’t need anything else. We simply need to believe in Christ, to grasp these words, the power of the gospel, and believe and affirm with our actions, my Lord and my God. Again, dear friends, these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name. Friends, it all begins with the faith you and I have. It’s not faith alone. Abraham believed in God and it was counted unto him for righteousness. We see that often in Romans 4 and Galatians 3. But we find that his belief was a belief in action. He moved when God said move. Belief in God is not simply I believe and then we do absolutely nothing. You know it’s interesting to find the term faith only or faith alone side by side in the scripture one time. And it says you see then how by works a man is justified and not by deeds. Faith only, James 2.24. Now friends, the context there expresses that our faith should be expressed by the works that we do. Our faith should always be expressed by the obedience we bring forth. And friends, that’s what we need to do. Now when we’re obedient and we’re Christians, then we go back to James 2 and we see how works or acts of faith are brought forth to show our faith. But we don’t do works just to gain heaven. It’s not like God has a checklist and we’ll get a certain percentage. Works express a saved man’s faith. You see, works are not what a man does to be saved. Works are what a saved man does. These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ and that believing is You may have life in His name. Friends, when we believe in Christ, we want to obey Him and to do His will. Now, friends, we probably have talked about some things. And from time to time on our broadcast, as a matter of fact, I say this often, we may have brought forth some things for you to think about. We’d like for you to think about them in light of Scripture and study on these things in between our broadcast. And we want to send you our Bible course today. That’s free, and it’s by mail. Here is our J-Web with the details.
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Our well-received Bible study course by mail is available to everyone absolutely free. Would you like to try it? All you do is call us toll-free at 855-444-6988 and leave your name, address, and just say, Home Study. That’s it. That’s all you have to do. You may also go to our website at internationalgospelhour.com. Click on the Contact tab and leave us the same information, name, address, and type Home Study in the message box. At your own pace, you can study the Bible in your own home. Again, it’s free. Give it a try. And it’s from your friends here at International Gospel Hour.
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So, friends, from John chapter 20, these are written. The running souls to the tomb to help us to return to the empty tomb and be reminded that the Lord is resurrected. The running tears of Mary and how she kept looking. And during our most trying times, let us keep looking. He’s there. The refreshed disciples, when Jesus comes near and how we can assemble with the church, and through our faith and our repentance, our confession and baptism, we’re added to the church, that we may come near with other disciples. The remission message. We can tell His story. We can tell the gospel that saved us that will save others. And to have a ready faith that will reply, my Lord and my God, and to live that faithfully. Let’s continue these studies together at another time. Thank you for joining me on the International Gospel Hour. And I’m Jeff Archie. And friends, keep listening.
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Thank you for listening to our broadcast today. To God goes all the glory. And we hope that our study today will draw you closer to His Word to walk in His way. To listen to it again or our other broadcasts, please visit our website at internationalgospelhour.com.
