In the sermon 'The Power of the Resurrection Pt. 2' by Scott Brown, the focus is on the biblical account of Thomas's encounter with the resurrected Jesus, as described in John 20:24-29. The sermon explores the theme of belief and restoration, emphasizing Thomas's desire for evidence before believing in the resurrection. The speaker challenges the perception of Thomas as 'Doubting Thomas,' suggesting instead that he should be seen as 'Thomas the Relatable' for his insistence on substantial evidence, which reflects a deep and sincere faith. The narrative highlights how Thomas's absence from the initial appearance of Jesus to the disciples led to a missed blessing, illustrating the importance of gathering with fellow believers for encouragement and spiritual growth. The sermon also delves into the theological implications of Jesus's wounds as evidence of atonement and the basis for peace, urging believers to ground their faith in Christ’s works rather than personal merit. Additionally, it recounts the tradition of Thomas's missionary journey to India, portraying him as a courageous and inquisitive disciple who ultimately proclaimed Jesus as 'My Lord and my God.' This declaration encapsulates what it means to be a believer, highlighting the personal relationship with Jesus and recognition of his divinity.

Please open your Bibles to John 20 and find verse 24. It's always a blessing to open up God's inerrant and sufficient and very very sweet words of life and consider the words that are here. I'll begin in verse 24 and read to the end of the chat, read through verse 29. 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 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 was with them.

Jesus came, the doors being shut and stood in the midst and said, peace be 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." Lord we thank you for reporting this to us so that we would learn of your salvation, of your treatment of people like Thomas.

We thank you that you put him before us. We thank you that you treated him so well, so sweetly. Amen. So there is a ministry of restoration that accompanies the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Not only is there an overflow of gladness and peace, not only is there a commission that one is sent on, there's a ministry of restoration.

And I think that's what we see here in verses 24 through 29. So what about Thomas? I was quizzing some of the young men in our church after the sermon today, and we started talking about Thomas. And one of them said we ought to think of him as Thomas the Relatable. I like that.

I like that. I don't like doubting Thomas. I don't really absolutely think it fits. You know, Jesus is wanting him to believe and what is he wanting him to believe? He's wanting him to believe in the resurrection.

He's wanting him to believe that Jesus who was crucified was raised from the dead. That's what he wants Thomas to believe. My understanding is that Thomas at this time was a believer. He was an Old Testament believer. He was saved by faith like every Old Testament saint.

Every Old Testament was saved by faith as Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness. So I believe Thomas was a believer in the sense that he was a true quote unquote Christian saint of the Old Testament. But he, along with most of the other disciples, he did not believe in the resurrection. He could not believe it. He wanted to see evidence.

My view is that Thomas was wise. He wanted to see it. He is like those that don't just want to take something on the surface. They want to know. They want to know in some level of depth.

And I don't think that we should call him doubting Thomas. He didn't doubt the resurrection. He didn't believe it. He didn't believe it. So, but one of the most wonderful things happened is that the disciples pursued him.

He wasn't with them. Thomas was not with them when they met on that first Sunday night service in the history of the church. He was somewhere else, we don't know where he was. Maybe he was discouraged, everybody else was discouraged, but he wasn't there And so he missed it. He missed the visualization of Jesus' hands and his side.

He missed seeing him. And so that was the issue. But then the disciples pursued him and they obviously found him and they told Thomas what they had seen, that they had seen the resurrected Lord. And this is I think a beautiful illustration of how restoration takes place. Someone goes after somebody, you know, the 99 are left and the one is found.

And I think that's what happened with Thomas. Now we don't know everything about it. I want to suggest that what happened with Thomas might be some reflection of Galatians 6-1. If anyone is caught in a trespass, you who are spiritual, restore him in a spirit of gentleness. I think that's what happened with Thomas and they told him about the resurrection and you see this in verses 24 and 25.

Now Thomas called the twin, one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So they got they found him at some point sometime during that week and said we saw him and it was amazing. And then a week later they're meeting again and Thomas is there. So in the first meeting Thomas wasn't there and here in verses 28 to 29 or 26 to 29 Thomas is present and this is is the third recorded appearance. Now I think the first appearance was on the road to Emmaus, and then the second appearance was in that locked room with fearful disciples, and now eight days later, Jesus appears again.

Now what's the deal about eight days? Well it's it's the Sabbath again. It's Sunday again because they they as they counted days they counted the first day as day one. So you know it's now Sunday again the Jews counted days inclusively. For example if I said I'm gonna win the lottery in two days that means tomorrow because I'm counting today as one day.

But I can't get over the tenderness that Jesus expresses toward Thomas. Jesus Christ did not treat him like a doubter any more than he did the other disciples. You know Thomas had missed what it looks to be maybe an entire week. He missed a week of encouragement because he was not there. And if he had only gathered with them that first night, if he had just shown up, he probably would have had a different week.

And you know, I think often, you know, believers Continue to exist in a state of discouragement. Maybe a state of anger. Maybe a state of spiritual laziness and malaise spiritual deadness because they don't show up they don't come and get encouraged with the Saints and That's I think that's what happened with Thomas. He just, he didn't show up. Here's the big application.

Show up at church. Come to church. We're here to encourage you. We want to lift your spirits. We want to tell you how great Jesus Christ is.

We don't want you to be looking down on the mouth anymore about anything. We want you to be filled with songs of deliverance whenever you're afraid. When you come in here, frankly, that's one of my goals. I don't want fearful people walking out of here. I want them to see the beauty and the power, the goodness, the tenderness, the love of God that's in Christ Jesus.

That's what I want him to see. And so anyway Thomas missed it, but when you gather, when you gather with the Saints, you're actually interrupting your soul. And that's one really good thing about the Lord's Day. It interrupts the whole process of your thinking and feeling, and it throws you into a different world of meditating on the things of heaven and the good things of God. You know, often people walk in here so discouraged and they walk out and God's delivered them from their fears.

So there you go. So Thomas missed the blessing with the other disciples. Perhaps his not coming together was the means of his not slipping back and missing the encouragement of Jesus. So now Who was Thomas? Thomas was courageous.

You know, what do we know about Thomas? We know in John 11, 16 that when all the disciples were threatened, Thomas said, let's go die with him. Let's go die with Jesus. He was a courageous man. Thomas was no slouch.

In John chapter 14, we learn that he's inquisitive. He says to the Lord, how do we know the way? What is the way? And Jesus says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. Thomas was used of the Lord to draw out those wonderful words that have encouraged saints you know since those words were spoken I am the way the truth and the life No one comes to the Father but by me." Well, Jesus said that in response to Thomas.

Thomas was an interested, inquisitive disciple. So I want to say that he's the loyal and courageous Thomas. I'm going to say that Thomas' disbelief was sincere disbelief just wanting to have more evidence and so let's let's look at this in more detail about how Christ treats Thomas in verse 26. In verse 26, we learn that the Lord Jesus repeats what he said in the meeting that Thomas missed. Thomas did not hear Jesus say, peace be to you.

Jesus wanted him to hear it. So they met the second time a week later and Jesus is just repeating what he said before to the one who was missing. By the way, frankly, this is one thing pastors always want to do. If you miss, they want they don't want to figure out a way to figure out a way to get it to you. And Jesus comes back into the room and he says, peace be to you.

And the Lord Jesus is lingering with Thomas in a very, I think a very compassionate way. He's helping him to understand. He's taking time with him and he's repeating what he already said to the other disciples before and he's appealing to him. He's showing him the reality of things And then in the next verse Jesus gives Thomas the evidence for the reason for the peace that he is proclaiming. And he's just said peace be to you and then he said to Thomas.

So imagine that just for a moment, the sequence, peace be to you, and then he says reach your finger here and then you know put your hand into my side and then he says do not be unbelieving but believing and again I think that the believing and unbelieving here has to do with believing in the resurrection of Jesus Christ His unbelieving in the resurrection ended here and he believed. And the Lord Jesus though casts a vision for those others who would not be in that room and that would include us. It would include all those who were not in that room with Jesus. And he said, blessed are those who have not seen but believe. That would be us, wouldn't it?

We didn't. We've not seen his hands. We've not seen with our own eyes his side, but we're happy. Blessed. Happy are you.

The blessed, happy ones who believe that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead. We haven't seen him, but we believe because the Lord caused our hearts to believe and it's such a wonderful thing. But it's very clear from this text that Jesus shows Thomas his wounds as the basis of the peace that he is pronouncing to him. His wounds are evidence for his atonement. I'll say that again because it's very easy for Christians to rest their faith on things other than the atonement.

His wounds are evidence of the atonement. It's not your feelings. It's not how you did today. It's his wounds. It's his suffering and his resurrection.

So you know today we celebrated the Lord's Supper and in many ways we were just remembering his hands and his side again. And we, what we are allowed to say, and it really is such a reason for this blessedness, this happiness, is that we we say that Jesus made peace with us through his wounds. And we are held by his wounds, not our own passion. Not our works, but we're held by his works, by what he has done. Over and over again in this series on the on the crucifixion and the death and the burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, I've said it several times and I'll say it again that your faith rests on things that Jesus did, things that he accomplished on the cross and through his resurrection and this is the basis of the Christian faith and when we're witnessing to people we need to just keep that central.

It isn't primarily God has a wonderful plan for your life. He actually does have a wonderful plan for your life and it is going to include suffering. But his plan is that his son died for your sins and he took the punishment that you and I deserved. It's what he did that saves you, not what you and I did that saves us. So I think I just want us to see that this pastoral care of Thomas, the Lord Jesus Christ, you know, meets with Thomas at the point of his concern and the point of his question, the point of his doubt or unbelief rather, and he ministers to them.

And then in verse 28, Thomas confesses. So his disbelief ended and it's very very clear and Thomas answered and said to him my Lord and my God I Want to take those two individually my Lord and then my God Because in those two words are found what it means to believe and what it means to be a Christian. And I know particularly we have many younger people, children with us today, and I really want your attention on this. If you're under like 12 years old, I want you to listen to me right now. Here's what it means to be a Christian.

Because you might be asking, am I a Christian? You grew up in a Christian home and you might be waiting for some flash, some remarkable amazing thing to happen to you, but these two words will help you understand what it means to be a Christian. So I want to talk to you about it. Okay Thomas said my Lord And what he means by that is that He wants to submit to the Lord His heart wants to follow the Lord. His heart wants Jesus Christ to rule his life and make him what he ought to be.

And what a Christian says is, my Lord. And that means that you want to follow him you want to follow him and then he says my God my Lord and my God when he says my God he's really proclaiming the deity of Christ, that Jesus Christ is God, that Jesus Christ is the eternal God. He is one with the Father. That Jesus Christ is God. And of course in the Gospel of John the Lord Jesus Christ has proclaimed this in many many different ways.

Jesus Christ came in the flesh. He is the Word made flesh. He is God in the flesh. So whenever you read about Jesus you are reading about God and Thomas is declaring Lord Jesus Christ you are God And you are the everlasting Father. You are the Prince of Peace.

You are, like one of the confessions says, very God of very God. And when you say, my Lord and my God here's what you're saying I am his and he is mine So if you're young and you're asking yourself, do I believe? Then ask yourself, do you want to follow him? Ask yourself, do you believe that he is God and that he is the word made flesh? Ask yourself that.

There's a song I love to sing to my little children when they were little. It's called I Believe in You. And whenever I sing that song, I just so prayed that they would believe. And sometimes I would ask them, do you believe after I sing that song in the night, just before I pray for them? So that's the question, do you believe?

Do you believe in him? If you're not sure, talk to your parents or you can talk to me or you can talk to Mr. Davenport or you can talk to a lot of people here but do you say in your heart my Lord and my God well I said that a long time ago and I am so thankful. I am so thankful. Well, so what happened to Thomas?

Tradition says that Thomas traveled to India in 52 AD. That's a long way away. Now, we have some people from India here who know how far away that is. His name in the Indian language, Toma, is a very popular name even in India today. How about that?

Thomas's name is a very popular name in India today. Isn't that interesting? And I'm told that there's a mountain called St. Thomas and his church not far from where Nimi Noah lives. So Thomas was there as far as we can tell.

And there's very rich tradition in India itself that Thomas was there and that there was a church and a mountain is actually named after him in India. Fox's book of martyrs says that he preached the gospel, I'm quoting, preached the gospel in Parthia in India where exiting the rage of the pagan priests, he was martyred by being thrust through with a spear, just like his Lord. And Thomas felt the side pierced by the spear of his Lord. And then he was most likely pierced by a spear for his Lord. Blessed are you who have not seen and yet believed.

So are you believing or disbelieving in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Well I'm just gonna close with another text out of the compendium of the apostolic preaching of the resurrection in Colossians 1 19 and it really tells the story of Thomas and all those who believe even though they have not seen For it pleased the Father that in him all the fullness should dwell, and by him to reconcile all things to himself, by him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of the cross. And you who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now he has reconciled in the body of his flesh through death to present you holy and blameless and above reproach in his sight if indeed you continue in the faith grounded and steadfast and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister. Once alienated, then brought near by the power of the resurrection. So when you think of Thomas, I would just encourage you not to think of doubting Thomas.

Think of a courageous man, a bold man, who wanted evidence, a relatable man, who really paved the way for us to teach us even more about what it means to be a child of God and to find yourself in that place where you say, my Lord and my God, I want to follow you. Would you pray with me? Oh Lord, we are so thankful for this salvation not based on our own merits, but upon your works of righteousness, the things that you have done for us. Amen.