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THE NORTHERN KENTUCKY SEARCHER VOLUME 6, NUMBER 52, DECEMBER 31, 2006 WHAT THOMAS MISSED The disciples gathered the evening of the first day of the week. Jesus had been raised early that day. Mary had seen the Lord, heard His voice and joyfully reported this to the disciples. What wonder must have filled their minds as they discussed her report. Suddenly, Jesus appeared in their midst, bespoke peace to them and showed them His hands and His side. The evidence was undeniable –IT REALLY WAS THE LORD. What restraint was used by John in stating simply “Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord” (John 20:20 ). It was on this occasion that Jesus said, “Whose sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them: and whose sins ye retain, they are retained.” In the midst of the joy, wonder and excitement, there was one sad note in verse 24, “But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.” Think now what Thomas missed. (1) He missed the joy shared by the other disciples. (2) He missed the evidence of the Lord’s resurrection and had to wait another week to be convinced. (3) He missed the blessing of being with Jesus. (4) He missed the important charge Jesus gave concerning their work in bringing the terms of remission of sins to all. (5) He enrolled his name forever in the list of doubters, though he later believed. We still refer to him as “doubting Thomas. Now think what a Christian misses when he absents himself from the gathering of saints. (1) He misses the joy and comfort which comes from those of like interest. (2) He may miss a lesson from the word of God which would clear away some doubt, or explain some truth which he has missed. (3) He misses the spiritual presence of Christ. (4) He may miss seeing the power of the gospel at work as a sinner is brought to repentance. (5) He misses the approval of God when his absence is willful. Are you a missing Thomas? Connie Adams, The Manslick Road Speaker WHAT IS TRUTH? In the eighteenth chapter of John, Christ stood before Pontius Pilate to answer charges of insurrection. Pilate, the governor of Judea , asked Christ if he was the king of the Jews. Christ answered by saying His kingdom was not of this world. Pilate then asked if He was a king. Jesus responded in John 18:37 by saying, “You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I came into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice.” Pilate, provoked by this response, replied, “What is truth?” (John 18:38). Pilate, thinking his last question was unanswerable departed from the presence of Christ. More than 1900 years after the question was first asked, many people have not found the answer. We would like to suggest a few. God’s Word is Truth A few hours before His death, Christ prayed to His Father. In John 17:17, He said, “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.” The sole source of religious truth is the word of God. Religious truth will never find its source in the wisdom of men. Truth is Valuable Proverbs 23:23 says, “Buy the truth and sell it not.” The value of religious truth can be seen in John 8:32, “You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.” All men are held in bondage to sin until they are set free by the gospel. Truth is Narrow In mathematics, there can only be one correct answer to any given problem. The same is true in religion. Sincerity alone is not enough (Matt. 7:21-23). Many people teach that it doesn’t matter what you believe as long as you are sincere. The fallacy of this idea can be shown by the following statement: If it doesn’t make any difference what you believe about Christ, then it can not make any difference if you believe in Christ. Will anyone deny it? The same could be said of the church, salvation, and God Himself. Truth is Binding When a religiously honest man sees that he is mistaken, he ceases to be one of two things. Either he ceases to be honest or he ceases to be mistaken. He cannot remain in error and retain his honesty. Many religious people have remarked, “Well, I don’t believe everything my church teaches.” If the church of which you are a member is in error, then you are obligated to either change that church or get out. Truth can have no fellowship with error. We must not give aid to any false teacher (2 John 9-11). Truth Will Judge In the resurrection day, you will not be judged by what your mother believed or what your father taught you. You will be judged by the words of Christ (John 12:48). What you know about the truth and your reaction to it will determine what He will say to you on that final day. David Padfield
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