Participants: Carlton P. Byrd
Series Code: BOL
Program Code: BOL000513A
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00:02 Breath of Life Ministries Presents:
00:08 B513 Doubting and Duplicitous Thomas 00:15 Breath of life Theme [music] 00:20 PB: The Word of God says in the fourth gospel 00:24 according to John 20: "Then the same day at evening, 00:28 being the first day of the week, when the doors were 00:31 shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of 00:34 the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, 00:37 and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. 00:41 And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his 00:45 hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, 00:49 when they saw the LORD. Then said Jesus to them again, 00:54 Peace be unto you." It's the second time He says it. 00:59 "As my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. 01:05 And when he had said this, he breathed on them, 01:08 and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: 01:10 Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; 01:13 and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained. 01:16 But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, 01:22 was not with them when Jesus came. The other 01:27 disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the LORD. 01:31 But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his 01:35 hands the print of the nails, and put my finger 01:39 into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand 01:44 into his side, I will not believe. And after 01:48 eight days again his disciples were within, 01:50 and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, 01:53 the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, 01:57 and said, Peace be unto you. Then saith he to Thomas, 02:03 Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; 02:09 and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: 02:14 and be not faithless, but believing. 02:18 And Thomas answered and said unto him, 02:20 My LORD and my God. Jesus saith unto him, 02:23 Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: 02:30 blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed. 02:36 And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence 02:38 of his disciples, which are not written in this book: 02:40 But these are written, that ye might believe that 02:42 Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that 02:45 believing ye might have life through his name." 02:52 I want to talk to you just for a minute on 02:55 doubting and duplicitous Thomas. Father, 03:00 bless us now as we open Your Word. 03:02 Expound on what we have just read. 03:05 May Your Holy Ghost reign today and when 03:07 the appeal comes move by Your power and 03:09 by Your Spirit. Forgive me of my sins. 03:11 In Jesus' name, amen. 03:14 Doubting and duplicitous Thomas. 03:18 It's one week after Jesus' death. 03:21 The disciples are huddled in a room, scared. 03:26 All they know is Jesus has been crucified. 03:30 He's dead, and they laid His body in a tomb. 03:33 They're afraid, because they had laid down their lives, 03:37 their jobs, their careers to follow Jesus. 03:40 They had left their families and their friends 03:43 to follow Jesus. When He was healing the sick, 03:46 raising the dead, restoring sight to the blind 03:53 it was cool to be a disciple. But now that He's dead, 03:59 all of a sudden it's no longer popular to be 04:02 called one of Jesus' disciples. It's no longer 04:06 safe being one of His disciples. Sometimes I'm 04:11 learning that being in the will of God causes 04:14 you to be outside the favor of people. 04:16 Mary Magdalene sees Jesus. She runs and tells 04:21 the disciples what she has seen but they don't 04:24 believe her. But then all of a sudden, 04:26 in the midst of their fear, in the midst of 04:28 their worry, Jesus shows up. The Jesus they knew. 04:33 The Jesus they thought they knew. The Jesus that 04:37 they had rolled the stone in front of the tomb to 04:40 keep Him in the tomb, and to keep anybody from taking 04:42 Him out of the tomb--this same Jesus appeared in the 04:46 very same room that he was in prior to his crucifixion 04:49 to the same disciples, and He now says Peace be unto you. 04:54 Somebody asks the question "Where is God?" Where is 04:58 God in the midst of your trouble? Where is God in 05:02 the midst of your trials? Where is God in the midst 05:04 of your fears? I came to tell somebody that God's 05:07 in the midst of it all. God's right there, 05:11 in the midst of your fears; in the midst of your worries; 05:13 in the midst of your hang-ups. And God will stay there 05:17 until you're safe, secure and stable. It was not 05:21 the disciples' faith that brought Jesus into the room. 05:26 The Bible says they were fearful, and you can't be 05:30 fearful and faithful at the same time. You see, 05:35 I'm learning, you don't earn God's presence just 05:38 because you have faith. Sometimes God will stop 05:42 by when you're faithless. Sometimes God will stop 05:46 by when you're fickle, worried and scared; but my 05:50 God shows up anyhow. Fearful and afraid, but God 05:53 shows up anyway. Have you ever gotten a blessing 05:57 and you didn't expect it? The disciples were not 06:01 expecting Jesus, but Jesus shows up. He says Peace 06:05 be unto you. But you know what? These words don't 06:09 move the disciples. These words don't excite the 06:15 disciples. The disciples don't jump up. They don't 06:19 say amen; they don't stomp their feet; they don't 06:22 clap their hands or say hallelujah at these words. 06:25 They don't say Oo, he preached today; he preached that; 06:29 he preached up something today. We're at church. 06:31 They don't say all that. Let me throw this in: 06:34 Don't make the mistake of substituting emotional 06:37 reaction for spiritual depth. Preaching is not 06:41 decibel level. If you're going to shout, 06:44 say something worth shouting about. You hear 06:47 me say all the time, we've got all this cotton 06:49 candy preaching. Big and sweet on the outside, 06:51 but hollow and empty on the inside. But somebody 06:54 knows that a constant diet of cotton candy will 06:57 rot your teeth and destroy your stomach. 06:59 But somebody don't give me all the time 07:03 you'll feel good. Don't give me your preference. 07:06 Don't give me your opinion, but give me the 07:09 unadulterated Word of God. I can't deal with 07:13 play preaching, 'cause play preaching doesn't 07:15 do a thing for me. I need a Word that's going 07:18 to shake me up. I need a Word that's going to 07:21 stir me up. I need a Word that can humble me, 07:24 make me stand still, back me up and hush me up sometimes. 07:28 I need a Word that makes me shake my head when I 07:30 walk out of church. I need a Word that's going to 07:33 make me get on my knees and pray when I leave church. 07:36 I need a Word that's going to make me say Lord, 07:38 I know I'm not everything I should be, but change me 07:41 into what You want me to be. I need a Word. I don't 07:45 need a play word. I need a Word that's going to 07:48 deal with me; that's going to hit me hard. 07:50 Fellowship is good, but I need a Word. 07:52 Testimonies are good, but I need a Word. 07:55 Music is good, but I need a Word. 07:57 Does anybody need a Word from the Lord? 08:00 [Aud. reaction] PB: And let me put a kickstand 08:02 right there and park this for a minute. 08:03 Music's good. I love music, you know that. 08:06 But let's be clear: Yes, we need good music 08:08 in the church. It saturates my soul, it inspires me, 08:12 it motivates me, it encourages me. I want good music, 08:15 but I'm finding too many folk come to church and 08:18 love the music but don't have an appreciation for 08:20 the Word of God. 'Cause let's be real: 08:23 When the music stops playing, when the organist 08:27 stops playing, when the pianist stops playing, 08:29 when the drummer stops beating, I need a Word 08:33 from the Lord. Thy Word have I hid in my heart, 08:36 that I might not sin against Thee. Thy Word is 08:39 a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. 08:42 Sanctify them through Thy truth. Thy Word is truth. 08:45 Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. 08:47 The disciples were not excited by "Peace be unto you." 08:52 It was not until they saw His hands. 08:56 It was not until they saw His side. 08:59 It was not until they saw His wounds. 09:02 It was not until they saw evidence. 09:05 Because the Bible says then they were glad. 09:10 Sometimes some of us have to see it before 09:13 we believe it. If we can't see it, 09:15 we can't believe it. If we can't feel it, 09:17 we can't trust it. If we can't touch it, 09:18 we can't rely on it. And if we can't understand it, 09:21 we won't even try it. Words were not enough for 09:24 the disciples. They had to see it, to feel it, 09:27 to touch it so they could understand it. 09:29 Sometimes people have to see it, feel it, 09:32 touch it. So that means sometimes in this 09:35 Christian walk you've got to have some blood on you. 09:37 Folk got to see it. You've got to have 09:39 some scars on you. Sometimes you have to 09:42 have some wounds on you. Sometimes you've 09:44 got to have some mud on you. Legitimacy is 09:47 proven through struggle. You can't say your 09:49 blessed if you've never been broken. 09:52 You can't say you're faithful if you've 09:54 never been tested. I say it all the time, 09:56 too many folks test a lie instead of testify. 10:00 You can't testify until you've been through a test. 10:03 Don't you tell somebody you can make it 10:07 unless you've been through it yourself. 10:09 Don't you tell somebody they can stop smoking, 10:12 and you've never smoked a cigarette in your life. 10:15 Don't you tell somebody it's easy to stop drinking 10:17 and you've never had a 40-ounce in your life. 10:21 Don't you tell these young people it's easy to 10:23 be celibate and abstinent but let's not go 10:25 back in the yearbooks. Come on, say amen. 10:30 [Aud. reaction] PB: Don't you tell somebody 10:33 it's easy to forgive and you've never been lied on; 10:37 cheated on; betrayed or talked bout. Don't tell 10:42 somebody it's easy to make ends meet, and you've 10:45 never had to rob Peter to pay Paul. But I've got 10:48 a witness in this place that when you've been through 10:51 hell and high water; when you've been tested and tried; 10:55 when you've been criticized and ostracized; 11:00 when you've been through it then the people are glad. 11:04 When Jesus shows them the wounds in His side, 11:07 the nail prints in His hands, then they were glad. 11:11 Then they were rejoicing. Then they were excited. 11:16 Except one of them. One of them was missing. 11:22 Now remember, when Jesus began His journey 11:27 with the disciples, there were 12. But we know 11:31 we lost one, Judas, he committed suicide. 11:35 That leaves 11. But yet in this room there 11:39 are only 10. The Bible says one of them, 11:43 Thomas, wasn't in the room. Makes me comment 11:47 here that there is a ministry of presence. 11:50 There's something you miss when you're not 11:52 in the room. Television is good but it doesn't 11:56 capture everything. The Internet is good but 11:59 it doesn't pick up all the nuances in the room. 12:02 Because there's something that happens when 12:05 God is in the building. That's why the Bible says, 12:09 Let us not forsake the assembling of ourselves together. 12:13 That's why we physically come to church. 12:16 There's something special that happens when 12:19 you're in the room. Do I have a witness in this place? 12:21 But Thomas wasn't there. But when the other 12:26 10 disciples saw Thomas, they were excited. 12:29 The other 10 told Thomas, "Thomas, we've just 12:33 seen Jesus! Jesus has just risen from the grave! 12:37 Jesus is alive!" They're excited, and you all 12:40 know that when you're excited, you want everybody 12:42 else to be excited. When you're glad, 12:45 you want everybody else to be glad. 12:47 When I'm excited in Jesus, I want to 12:49 be around other people who are excited in Jesus. 12:52 Can I confess? I don't like coming to church 12:55 and being around people who aren't happy in Jesus. 12:58 Now notice I'm not saying everybody's got to jump 13:00 up and down and clap, I'm not saying that. 13:01 I'm just talking about can you be happy in Jesus. 13:04 I refuse to be a prisoner in my own church. 13:07 Because the joy of the Lord is my strength and 13:12 there's something about the joy of the Lord. 13:15 Oh, when I think of the goodness of Jesus, 13:17 and all He's done for me my soul cries out hallelujah! 13:21 Thank God for saving me. The disciples are happy, 13:25 but instead of Thomas being happy; instead of 13:27 Thomas being excited; instead of Thomas being glad, 13:30 Thomas says this: Unless I see the mark of the 13:36 nails in His hands; unless I put my finger in 13:40 the mark of the nails; unless I put my hand in 13:45 His side, I will not believe. I will not believe 13:49 what I can't see. I will not trust what I can't touch. 13:54 I will not risk what I can't count. I've got to see it; 13:59 I've got to feel it; I've got to taste it; 14:01 I've got to touch it; I've got to try it; I've 14:04 got to handle it before I believe it. 14:07 Thomas didn't take anybody's word for it, 14:09 he wants to see Jesus for himself. 14:11 And before we're too hard on Thomas, 14:13 there's a whole bunch of Thomas in us. 14:16 We don't take anybody's word for it, 14:19 we want to see it for ourselves. Remember now, 14:23 the other 10 disciples, remember they weren't 14:25 glad either until they saw Jesus' hands and 14:29 side for themselves. Thomas demanded to see 14:33 something, and so do we. So Thomas walks 14:36 around all week with skepticism. 14:40 But the Bible says "eight days later." 14:42 How many days later, everybody? Aud.: Eight. 14:44 PB: Jesus later returns to the same 14:45 room where the disciples had gathered before, 14:47 but this second time Thomas is in the room. 14:52 Although the doors were shut, Jesus still 14:56 got in the room. I wish somebody knew what 14:59 I was talking about. Locked doors, blocked doors, 15:03 barred doors, bolted doors, padlocked doors, 15:08 sealed doors, impassable doors, impenetrable doors, 15:13 closed doors, restricted doors, obstructed doors. 15:17 Any door of any kind couldn't keep Jesus out, 15:20 because when Jesus wants in, Jesus will get in. 15:25 [Aud. reaction] PB: Jesus gets in the room. 15:28 Ha ha ha, and says a second time, Peace be unto you. 15:35 Now remember, Jesus says this and the original 10 disciples, 15:40 they are already convinced. They're already persuaded; 15:43 they already know it's Jesus; they're already excited; 15:46 they're already glad. Then they were glad. 15:49 But the second time Jesus comes, it's Jesus Himself. 15:54 Not His representative; not His associate; 15:59 not His ambassador; not His angels, 16:03 but Jesus comes back a second time. 16:07 And He comes back a second time for 16:09 one person. Oh, that should make somebody shout, right there. 16:13 [Aud. reaction] PB: That Jesus will come back 16:16 even if it's for one person. If Jesus had to go to 16:23 Calvary for just one person, I'm so glad that He 16:28 came to this earth just for this one person. 16:32 He didn't have to do it, but He came for me, 16:35 in spite of my mess. He came for me. In spite 16:40 of your mess, He came for you. Is there anybody 16:44 grateful up in Oakwood today that Jesus came just for you? 16:49 [Aud. reaction] PB: In fact, even when you 16:53 didn't come to Jesus -- [Aud. reaction] 16:56 PB: Jesus came to you. When you couldn't 17:04 come to Jesus. The man at the pool at Bethesda, 17:09 he couldn't get there. When you couldn't come, 17:11 Jesus still came for you. When you were messed up, 17:15 Jesus came for you. When you were drinking up, 17:19 smoking up, living up, lying up, cracking up, 17:26 Jesus came for you. And when you look back over 17:31 your life and you look at what you used to be; 17:34 and you look at where you are right now, 17:36 somebody ought to praise Him. Somebody ought 17:38 to worship Him. Somebody ought to magnify Him. 17:42 Somebody praise Him, because Jesus came just for you! 17:47 If you were the only person on this planet, 17:49 Jesus still would have emptied heaven for you. 17:54 I was reading Ellen White, and she says in 17:56 "Christ's Object Lessons," she says: 17:58 "If there had been but one lost soul, 18:02 Christ would have died for that one." 18:07 Hallelujah, somebody! Let me go on. 18:10 But there's something else I'm going 18:13 to point out in the text and then I'm 18:15 going to sit down. Because we often miss this. 18:17 Look at verse 24. Look at it. It says-- 18:22 if you've got it, let me hear you say amen. 18:24 Verse 24. John chapter 20, verse 24. 18:29 If you have it, let me hear you say amen. 18:31 Aud.: Amen. PB: Okay, it says, the text: 18:33 "But Thomas." But whom, everybody? Aud.: Thomas. 18:36 PB: "One of the" what? Come on, one of the what? 18:39 Aud.: Twelve. PB: "Called Didymus was 18:42 not with them when Jesus came." 18:46 Let's read that one more time, 18:48 'cause you don't know what you're reading. 18:49 "But Thomas, one of the" what? "Twelve, 18:53 called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus" what? 18:58 Now, who are his--even for me as a little boy 19:02 growing up in the church--Thomas has always 19:06 been referred to as Doubting Thomas, 19:09 because of Thomas's disbelief in his 19:12 fellow disciples' claim that they had 19:15 seen Jesus. So we call him Doubting what, 19:19 everybody? Doubting what, everybody? 19:21 Aud.: Thomas. PB: All right, now, 19:23 we've briefly touched on that, but I'm going 19:27 to come back to Doubting Thomas in just a minute. 19:29 But there's something else I want to point 19:31 out in the text. Thomas is not just Doubting Thomas. 19:33 It's not just Doubting Thomas. 19:34 Thomas is Duplicitous Thomas. 19:37 Pastor Byrd, what do you mean? 19:39 The Bible says Thomas, called Didymus. 19:44 Thomas is a Hebrew word meaning "twin." 19:49 Didymus is a translation, a Greek translation for 19:54 the word "twin." Which means, whether you spoke 19:57 His name in the Hebrew or whether you spoke his 20:00 name in the Greek, when you spoke his name, 20:03 you were calling him "twin." One man is called "twin." 20:07 Somebody's going to get this in a minute. 20:14 [Aud. reaction] PB: His name is twin. 20:19 The Bible is not saying he has a twin, 20:23 the Bible is saying his name is twin. 20:27 You all don't hear what I'm saying. 20:30 Let me try it this way: Whether you 20:32 know it or not--Pastor said I have a 20:34 birthday coming up--I don't know if 20:35 you know it or not, but I have a twin. 20:37 A real twin. But I'm not talking ab out, 20:41 in this sermon, my twin. I'm not talking 20:44 about my twin brother. Yes, I'm Carlton 20:48 and he's Carl. I'm Buddy and he's Buster. 20:52 But when I talk about twin, I'm talking 20:56 about the fact that I have another person in me. 21:00 He wears the same size shoe I wear; he wears the 21:06 same size shirt I wear. He drives my car; 21:11 he eats my food; he lies in my bed; 21:14 he looks like me, but yet there's another me. 21:18 What am I talking about? You see, 21:22 there's a difference between the 21:24 person that you appear to be and 21:27 the person that you are. I wish I 21:28 had a witness in this place. [Aud. reaction] 21:31 PB: All that glitters is not gold. 21:34 What's on the outside may not be what's on 21:38 the inside. You see, everybody up in here, 21:42 you've got two voices speaking to you. 21:44 One voice is telling you to do right, 21:47 and another voice is telling you to do wrong. 21:50 Which means, you can be an angel at the 21:52 church but a devil at home. [Aud. reaction] 21:55 PB: You can smile in front of people but 21:58 be crying on the inside, and nobody ever knows 22:01 because everybody has a twin. There's a person 22:03 inside of a person, and he or she can be in 22:06 conflict and nobody even knows it. There's a 22:11 lady in here, you're married to a man who has 22:14 two sides. There's a man in here, you're married 22:18 to a woman who has two sides. Your coworker has 22:23 two sides. Your classmate has two sides. 22:28 Most people don't really know who you are. 22:32 You see, everybody in here has a twin. 22:34 One twin is happily married but the other 22:36 twin wants to call it quits. One of us wants 22:41 to go to church but the other one wants 22:42 to stay home. One of us wants to be in church 22:45 on Sabbath morning but the other one wants to 22:47 be in the club on Saturday night. One of us loves 22:52 people but the other one of us is sick and 22:54 tired of people. One of us is faithful but 22:57 the other one of us is faithless. We come to church, 23:02 we say amen, hallelujah, thank You, Jesus, 23:07 praise the Lord, happy Sabbath. I did tell 23:12 you the story of when I was a pastor in Houston 23:14 and somebody walked up, a visitor to the church, 23:16 and the greeters to the church said "Happy Sabbath." 23:18 They said, "Oh, John Doe." They didn't know 23:19 what that meant, you know, they just was, 23:22 they thought they were saying their name-- 23:24 Happy was the first and Sabbath was the second. 23:25 But anyway. But we say "Amen, hallelujah," 23:34 and nobody knows or has a clue that there's 23:40 another twin who's hurting, broken and wounded. 23:44 Pastor, you do community service. Real ministry 23:48 is not when you deal with the first twin. 23:51 Real ministry--I wish I had some witnesses 23:56 up in Oakwood today--real ministry is when 23:59 you deal with that second twin. When you 24:03 get beyond image; when you get beyond all 24:06 the hats and all the doctrines and all the degrees; 24:09 when you get beyond the superficial and you get 24:11 down to who you really are. That's why somebody 24:15 comes to church and says "Yeah, I have a doctorate; 24:18 yeah, I have a degree; yes, I got a little 24:20 money in my pocket, but Lord, 24:22 I need You to touch me. I need You to heal me. 24:25 I need You to redeem me. I need You to save me." 24:28 Not the artificial me. Not the superficial me. 24:33 Not the fake me. Not the image-conscious me. 24:37 Not the phony me. Not the suit-wearing me. 24:41 Not the hat-wearing me. Not the Happy Sabbath me, 24:45 but the real me. The broken me, the depressed me, 24:52 the stressed me. And so here I am. You get to the 24:57 point where you say, you know what? I don't care 24:59 who's looking at me. You get to the point in life-- 25:03 when I was talking to my friend, Mike Tucker, 25:05 I got to this point. But you get to the point, 25:08 you don't care what people say. You don't 25:11 care what people think, because you're saying God, 25:14 the real me needs some help. God deliver me. 25:19 God save me. God rescue me. God heal me. 25:25 Deliver me from my twin. [Aud. reaction] 25:29 PB: I don't want to be Doubting Thomas, 25:35 but I don't want to be Duplicitous Thomas either. 25:40 I don't want to live one way during the week, 25:43 and then live another way on the Sabbath. 25:47 I don't want to sow wild oats during the week 25:51 and they pray for a crop failure on the weekend. 25:54 Thomas is just as much Duplicitous Thomas as he 26:00 is Doubting Thomas. Let's not be too hard 26:04 on Doubting Thomas, because Thomas was just 26:06 as doubtful as the other disciples. Remember, 26:10 they weren't glad until they saw Jesus' 26:13 hand and His side. Jesus then says-- 26:18 I'm getting ready to end, verse 27, 26:21 here's the clincher--we'll go back to the doubting. 26:23 "Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; 26:30 and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: 26:36 and be not faithless, but believing." But wait a minute. 26:43 How does Jesus know what it would take to make 26:45 Thomas believe, when Jesus wasn't in the room 26:47 when Thomas said he had to see the nail-print hands 26:50 or see the pierced side? 'Cause remember, you all, 26:53 Jesus wasn't in the room when Thomas said that. 26:57 Which means, then, that God can hear us even when 27:00 we don't think He hears us. He knows, hallelujah, 27:03 what you need before you even know you need it. 27:07 Jesus says, "Thomas, it is I." Thomas says, 27:11 "My Lord and my God." Jesus then replies and says, 27:17 "Thomas, because thou has seen me, thou hast believed. 27:21 But blessed are they that have not seen, but yet believe." 27:27 Thou preach, right there. Here Jesus lets us 27:30 know that He reserves a greater blessing for 27:34 those who have not seen but still believe. Why? 27:39 Sight can be a greater risk than blindness, 27:43 because you can believe too much in what 27:45 you're seeing, never thinking that what you 27:47 see can be confusing and misleading. 27:49 Think of the woman who married the wrong man, 27:51 or the man who married the wrong woman, 27:53 going by what they see than what they really saw? 27:56 Just because a woman is pretty doesn't make her pure. 27:59 Just because a man is handsome does not make him holy. 28:04 Just because church folk appear consecrated, 28:06 that doesn't make them Christlike. 28:08 Sight can impede faith, confuse love and hinder hope. 28:14 >: Thank you for joining us for another exciting 28:15 Breath of Life television broadcast. 28:17 Tune in next week at the same time, 28:20 as Dr. Byrd will deliver another dynamic 28:22 message from the Lord, just for you. 28:24 Until next time, may God bless you. 28:27 END |
Revised 2016-04-15