The midland journal., 1946-05-17

LESSON rEXT-John II: z. 8. 16; 20:
1929
MEMORY SELECTION - Blessed are
they that have not seen. and yet have
believed.-Tohn 20:29.
Doubt and faith-both seem to
come to the hearts and minds Of
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 it's grip.
Thomas and his experience fol-
lowing the, resurrection of our Lord,
presents 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 11:7, 8,
16).
Unafraid of the threats of men,
Jesus was about to 60 once more
into Juden. On his last two visits
there, the Jews had sought to kill
him, namely, at the feast of taber-
nacles (JOhn 8:59) and at the feast
of dedication (John 10:3I).
He was not one to draw back for
the fear cf 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. If his Lord
was going to face death, he was will
ing to go along and die with him.
Let us recognize that here was
man of re al 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, it was not the
silly and shallow unbelief of a
trifler. 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 double guard against
the enemy of our souls.
Thomas next appears in
III. Faithless Failure (John 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
crucified. He and the disciples
were alone to face a hostile world;
at least SO it seemed to them.
The awful day of crucifixion
preyed heavily upon the mind of
Thomas. That is evident from verse
Is. He had been thinking of those
awful bleeding wounds, and had for
gotten absut the promises of resur-
rection.
Jesus died, and that is a precious
truth; but one must not stop there,
for dead Saviour is no Saviour
at all. Thomas got sidetracked in
his 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,
but 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
ing of his people.
Having gone thus far in discour-
aged unhelief, it was easy for
Thomas to take the next step and
demand PHYSICAL proof of 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
iii. Full Confession (John 1925
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 un-
doubtedly because he knew the es-
sential fi1eness and trueness of
Thomas.
His doubts were unfortunate and
entirely unnecessary, but they were
genuine. No real doubter will ever
remain one long, for if he brings a
genuine doubt to the Lord, he will
find it fully met. It is the trifers,
those who use their doubts to hide
their sins, and those who are un-
willing to bring their dark thoughts
into the light of the presence of
Jesus, who go on doubling year aft
er year.
Notice the comment of Jesus fol-
lowing the glad and complete con-
fession of faith by Thomas. 1t is a
good thing to believe because one
has seen and been convinced. That
is proper and blessed.
But the real fullness of blessing
comes to the one who can rise to