Arkansas State press., 1946-05-17
A FRIEND WHO LEARNED
TO BELIEVE

LESSON TExT-John II; 7. 8, 49, 20:
24.29
MEMORY SELECTION - Blessed are
they that have not seen. and yet have
believed, 90 20.
Doubt and faith--both seem to
come to the hearts and minds OK
men. Yet they are directly contra
dictory to one another and cannot
exist together. To believe Is to
drive out doubt, and when doubt
comes in. faith loses its grip
Thomas. and his experience fol-
lowing the resurrection Of our Lord,
presents a lesson on what a man
can do to meet honest doubt and
how such a man can come out Into
the sunshine Of faith.
We find In Thomas, first, an ex-
preston of
I. Fearless Loyalty (John ll:7, 8.
49,.
Unafraid Of the threats Of men.
Jesus was about to 60 once more
into Judea On his last two visits
there, the Jews had sought to kill
him, namely. at the feast Of taber-
nacles (John 8:5O and at the feast
OF dedication John l0:3D,
He was not one to draw back for
the fear Of men when the Fathers
will led him forward In his service
to humanity. Lazarus was dead.
and Mary and Martha needed him
and he was going to them.
Then came fine expression OF
the loyalty Of Thomas. II his Lord
was going to face death. he was will
ing to 60 along and die with him.
Let US recognize that here was a
man Of real courage, willing to show
his loyalty even by giving his life.
There is something fine about
that attitude. and something which
shows Us that when this man later
expressed doubt. II was not the
silly and shallow unbelief Of q
trifier. This man loved the Lord and
served him. and yet he failed him.
When we think we are strong. we
had better watch out lest we fail.
Let Us be clear and triumphant In
our declaration Of loyalty TO Christ.
both by word and by life. And then
let US set a double guard against
the enemy of our souls.
Thomas next appears In
II. Faithless Failure tJohn 1924,
25).
He had been willing to die for his
Lord, or with him, but now the Lord
had been taken by wicked hands and
crucifed. He and the disciples
we're alone to face a hostile world ;
at least so 1t seemed to them.
The awful day Of crucifxion
preyed heavily upon the mind Of
Thomas. That is evident from verse
rs. He had been thinking Of those
awful bleeding wounds, and had for
gotten about the promises Of resur-
rection.
Jesus died, and that is a precious
truth; but one must not stop there.
tor dead Saviour Is no Saviour
It all Thomas got sidetracked IN
ais thinking. Let US not make the
same mistake.
Another reason for his failure
was that he did not 60 to the meet
ing OF his brethren. Perhaps he
did not feel like going. and did not
think it was any use to 60. All,
out that's just the time one needs
the fellowship Of other believers. Go,
and you will meet the Lord!
The Lord was there and Thomas
missed him. We, too, will miss the
Lord and his blessing If we stay
away from his house and the meet
ng Of his people.
Having gone thus far in discour-
tgcd unbellef, it was easy for
Thomas to take the next step and
demand physical proof o: the resur-
rection His dependency had now
reached the place Of making unrea-
sonable demands and Of discredit-
ing the witness OF others.
We are glad that we can close
our study on the note Of renewed
faith and OF
Ill. Full fesslon John 49, 26-
29)
Note that the Lord was ready
FULLY to meet the demands Of Thom-
as, even though they were on the
unreasonable side. That was I'M
doubtedly because he knew the es-
sential fineness and trueness Of
Thomas.
His doubts were unfortunate and
entirely unnecessary. but they were
genuine. No real doubter will ever
remain one long, for II he brings a
genuine doubt to the Lord, he will
find it fully met. 1t Is the triflers,
those who use their doubts to hide
their sins, and those who are I'M
willing TO bring their dark thoughts
into the light Of the presence of
Jesus, who 60 on doubling year aft
er year
Notice the comment OF Jesus fol-
lowing the glad and complete con-
fesslon Of faith by Thomas. 1t is a
good thing to believe because one
has seen and been convinced. That
Is proper and blessed.