Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-09-07
Lesson in Thomas Refusal to Be-
lieve in the Resurrection.
TEST HE PROPOSED FOR HIMSELF.
The Wonderful Change That Came When
He Looked On the Savior.
UNBELIEVERS IN THE CHURCHES
WRITTEN FOR THE DISPATCH.

1t. When Christ said to them that after DE
should be put to death He would upon the
third day rise again they listened with
dull amazement, hearing His words (Which
were certainly plain enough }, but having no
sort of understanding of them; and present
ly they are found questioning one with an
other as to what this "rising from the dead"
might mean. But they got no answer to
their question, and they seem speedily to
have forgotten both the question and the
hard saying which had started it.
When the women came hurrying from
the empty tomb, declaring that they had
seen a vision of angels which assured them
that Christ was risen from the dead, the
apostles gave no credence whatever to
these strange tidings, accounting them to be
but "idie tales" The gospel of the resur-
rection was preached to them, and they all
with one consent rejected it. ''If Christ
be not raised, your faith is vain." st. Paul
said afterward. making the fact of the resur-
rection the very foundation of our whole
belief. But the apostles at the beginning
refu sed to believe it. The central truth
the a postles, and they would not hear it.
THE DoUBTING THOMAS.
The eminent illustration of this initial
unbellef was that stout and persistent
doubter, Thomas. Here is man who held
out against the evidence of a dozen excel
lent witnesses. The whole company of the
apostles could not persuade him. The record
OF this unbellet of Thomas is nv text. Here
1T is, as st. John wrote it in his gospel
Christ, you remember, has already appeared
to Mary Magdalen, and to the company OF
deyout women; He has manifested Himself
to the two disciples who were walking home
to Emmaus; sometime during the day, Peter
has seen Him; He has entered into the pres
ence OF the frightened apostles who were
gathered in the upper room that Easter
night, and shown them BY the sight of his
nail-pierced hands and feet that it is He
Himself.
'But Thomas" we read, "Thomas, one of
the twelve, called Didymus, was not with
them-when Jesus came. The other disciples
therefore said unto him: I'VE have seen the
Lord But he said unto them: Except 1
shall see in His hands the print of the nails,
and put my finger into the print of the nails,
and thrust my hand into his side, will not
believe"
Then week went by. "And after eight
days again His disciples were within, and
Thomas with them; then came Jesus, the
doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and
said: Peace be unto you;' then saith He
unto Thomas: Reach hither thy finger and
behold my hands, and reach hither thy hand
and thrust it into my side, and be not faith
less, but believing"
DIDN'T NEED A TEST.
But Thomas needs no test. The sight of
the face of Christ was enough for him. "And
Thomas answered and said unto Him: My
Lord and my God. Jesus saith unto him:
Thomas, because thou hast seen me thou
hast believed; blessed are they that have not
seen and yet have believed"
This is the record of the unbelief of
Thomas. 1 want especially to emphasize
these three sentences: (D Except I shall
see in His hands the print of the nails-I
will not believe;" (2) "And after eight
DAYS His disciples were within, and Thomas
with them;" (3) "Thomas answered and
saith unto him: My Lord and my God"
These three sentences, if you will think
of them, tell US three things about Thomas:
Q) That he was an unbeliever, (2) That he
conducted himself in certain manner, and
90 That his unbelief was at last translated
into faith. The presence of the unbeliever,
the behavior of the unbelieyer, and the con-
version of the unbeliever, are the three facts
upon which shall comment in this sermon.
There was an unbeliever among the
apostles. Let us begin with that. Indeed,
as have reminded YOU, there were at one
time among the eleven apostles as many as
eleven unbelievers. Only one was left now,
but he was an unbeliever in good earnest.
Listen to him. He will not even say, iii
can but touch his nail-pierced hands, will
believe" That would at least allow a posi-
bility of future faith. Thomas sees no DOS
sibillty of belief; II will never believe"
he says, "unless can put my finger into
the print of the nails" And that he never
dreamt of doing.
THOMAS CHARACTER.
Part of this unbelief of Thomas belonged
to the man himself. He was not u man who
believed anything easily. He was not
readily provoked to hope, nor apt to console
himself in trouble by the comforting visions
of sanguine imagination; he did not possess
that excellent habit, the habit of looking
always on the bright side of things. He
was naturally despondent, quick to see di-
ficulty, slow to believe. Everything that Is
told about him show that.
We are told. for example, that when
Christ turned his face toward Bethany,
going to raise Lazarus from the dead,
Thomas was in despair. They had threat
ened in Judea that they would kill Him if
He dared to venture within their borders,
and into Judes He was going. Thomas saw
nothing but death before Him. At once his
IoA ba
go," he said, that we may die with Him."
He was brave man, but he lacked hope.
Again, at the Last Supper, during our
Lords long conversation with the apostles,
it was Thomas who broke in, ds the Master
said, "Whither goye know, and the way
We know" and Thomas saith unto Him,
Lord, we know not whittier thou goest, and
how can.we know the way?" 1t was the
same refusal to take things Tor granted, the
same inability to believe contentedry that
would come out right somehow,
which he had shown before. Thomas looked
ahead into the future, and 1t was all per-
fectly black. He could see no "way" in it
at all.
WAS AN IDEAL WITNESS.
Now, this temperament of Thomas is of
interest and value to US especially in this:
that here we have among the witnesses of
the resurrection an ideal witness. Let us
have an unbellever in the midst of that EN-
thusiastic company OF disciples, somebody
with observant and critical eyes, with
practical mind, not easily reused into en-
thusiasm. naturally incredulous, with
strong confidence that dead people stay
dead; give US witness with will OF his
own, whose Judgment is not jostled out of
IFS way by any crowd however big, whose
best friend cannot persuade him to believe
what he does not believe, who resolutely re-
fuses to credit what he has not seen with
his own eyes. Here he is in the person of
In the cathedral at Copenhagen stands his
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