965
HE KING'S BUSINESS
sical resurrection of Jesus any foundation for their belief in a "spiritual" resurrection? ( 3) Why did Thomas doubt the tes– timony of the eleven? ( 4) Has God given us in His Word all that is needed as a founda– tion for our faith? Why did Jesus reiterate the message in His prayer in John 17: 18 in v. 21 of this lesson? (5)
ne poor follower and appealing to him Ith outstretched arms? Can we learn e lesson of His love and desire for ur unbounded faith in Him? Thomas never put his finger or hand pon those wounds,-but, broken own, made the first confession which ver fell from human lips of Jesus s God, "My Lord and my God" (Jehovah Adonai). Truth shone in. Doubts fled. Un– belief was swept away. With one bound Thomas passed from the depths of unbelief to the heights of joy. l'Iis confession is in advance of all others which had been made previously. In John 1: 49 Nathaneal had said, "Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the king of Israel." but here Thomas gives Him the fullest possible ascription. Jesus accepts the title and the homage. He must, there– fore, be either God or an impostor. ( 1 Tim. 3: 16) "Great is the mystery of godliness; God was manifested in the flesh." There is a beautiful veiled rebuke to Thomas in the answer of our Lord to Thomas: "Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed." And a blessed commendation for all of us who can say, "Whom having not seen, we love; in whom, though now we see him not, yet believing, we rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory" (1 Pet. 1: 8) Thomas believeQI because he saw. How much higher a manifestation of faith it is to believe without seeing. (Luke 1: 38, 45; Heb. 11: 8; 2 Cor. 5:7) Seeing the invisible; seeing through God's eyes, as God sees; believing with simple faith all that God says; this is the faith of the believer. Topics for Study ( 1) Is sight essential to true faith 1 ( 2) Have those who deny a phy-
Would you be willing to die in defense of your faith, and why?
( 6)
SUGGESTIVE COMMENT Dr. Elwood P. Lyon, Evangelist and Bible Teacher, Pasadena, Cal. The Doubting of Thomas. The Evidence that Convinced Thomas. He was honest. Willing to be con– vinced. We might say that Thomas doubted to the end that we might not need to doubt. Thomas was of a mel– ancholy nature apparently. His sin was in refusing to believe by faith. But his salvation was complete. There are many Thomas-souls in the Church to– day. Jesus did not censure inquiry, ex– amination, investigation. But He re– buked the arbitrary and stubborn de– mand for proof. On the other hand Jesus does not want credulity or thoughtless supersti– tion. He wants a faith that rests upon the word of Life, even His Word. II. The Convincing Evidence to Thom.as. The evidence of sight and touch. Had Thomas been in the company of the disciples at first he would have been spared the anxious, waiting pe– riod of doubt. Absence from Chris– tian fellowship works havoc with the faith of many today.
I.
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker