Do Not Be Unbelieving, but Believing

Let us read now our text, John 20, from verse 19. You'll excuse me if I read a longish text, but I'm only going to highlight three or four points of them. Starting in verse 19.

On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, Peace be with you.

As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them.

If you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld. Now Thomas, one of the twelve called the twin, or Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side.

Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. So the other disciples told him, We have seen the Lord. But he said to them, Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.

Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, Peace be with you. Then he said to Thomas, Put your finger here and see my hands, and put out your hand and place it in my side.

Do not disbelieve, but believe. Thomas answered him, My Lord and my God, Jesus said to him, Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples which are not written in this book.

But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. We will read thus far. This text contains so much and we can never finish them all.

All the points. This is a marvelous matter. I am just going to mention a point here and there just shortly.

The disciples were in the room at night, locked. They had locked it. And suddenly they got this frightful.

Jesus was suddenly among them, saying to them, Peace be with you. Jesus needs no key to enter a room. Even if there is not a door, he can just walk through the wall.

Saying, Peace be with you. For they had no peace. They were afraid of people.

You have heard his majesty saying unashamedly that Jesus is his Lord before the whole world. For Jesus said, He who is ashamed of me, of him will I be ashamed before the Father and the holy angels. Now having said this, Peace be with you, he showed them his hands and his side.

They were so happy to see the Lord. I remember a very clever judge in Germany who had a very important position. Now, it is no light or easy thing to take the Bible original language from Hebrew and Greek and that, and then to put it into today's language.

Now, I do honour the translators for their work was great, but there is a small mistake in this translation. For it also says, and they've translated, that which you bind here is bound in heaven, that which you loose here is loosed in heaven. Now, the intent of the Greek is rather, that which you forgive here is forgiven in heaven, has been forgiven in heaven.

It starts in heaven. Now, It is related also to the veil which was rent in two. It was three inches thick.

Now, sorry if I use the old imperial system. One thinks of that man after we changed from imperial to metric. He arrived at a garage and wanted petrol and he couldn't say litres, he didn't understand it.

He wanted to know how many kilometres will you be pouring in to my petrol tank. I grew up in the era of pounds and not rands, gallons and not litres. One should not misinterpret it.

I heard of one preacher who went to a group of people living in immorality, prostitutes, drunkards, and he laid hands on them and said, I forgive all of you, now you are forgiven. Now, that's a fairy tale. They still continued in their sins, sitting on their sins.

No sorrow, no regret, no sorrow for their sins. Because after that, they went straight back to their alcohol and drugs. That's just a circus.

And it is a hurtful thing if you find such a thing among Christians, because those in hell, the demons of hell, laugh at such a thing. Forgiveness of sin needs to start with that conviction, sorrow of sin, then confession, and also making right where you need to. And like this brother who gave his testimony earlier on, he said he went back to those against whom he had sinned and made right, reconciled.

What does it help if a disciple of Jesus proclaims forgiveness to a person, and yet in heaven that person is not forgiven, and the other way around. That disciple must be in communication with heaven. Now let me compare that with David.

Now the whole world knows about David's sin, and even preachers who wallow in sin say, How can you criticize me? After all, David did the same thing. The problem is they are able to dance in joy about the sin of David, but not about his forgiveness. True that he sinned, but that sin he did once, he never committed it again until he died.

But preachers like to dwell on the point of David's sin. They don't mention his sorrow, his conviction, his agony about his sin, and his forgiveness. And so they say, we can sin too because David also sinned.

When Jesus said this about forgiving sins to his disciples, he had given them his Holy Spirit. The Prophet said, When Jesus said this about forgiving sins to his disciples, he had given them his Holy Spirit. The Prophet Nathan was able to proclaim God's forgiveness to David, because when heaven saw his conviction, his sorrow, his repentance, in heaven he was forgiven, and so Nathan could proclaim the same.

I said he sinned once and never again. When Jesus said this about forgiving sins to his disciples, he had given them his Holy Spirit. When Jesus said this about forgiving sins to his disciples, he had given them his Holy Spirit.

Now, there is no verse saying that he sinned with women again. But when he was very old, and with his sickness he grew very cold, they didn't know what to do to try and help him, to warm him up, because today we have instruments to do that, then they didn't. But when he was very old, and with his sickness he grew very cold, they didn't know what to do to try and help him, to warm him up, because today we have instruments to do that, then they didn't.

How would you react, you young men? And neither was she an immoral girl, a virgin she was. Just as in history, the Zulu nation has always prized virginity, and His Royal Highness is seeking to bring back that tradition of virginity. Thank you Lord for all that we could experience and hear together, the testimony and the message of His Majesty.

Saying that we are sent, we are commissioned, as you have said Lord, that as the Father sent you, so send I you. Lord, I don't know whether we hear this and understand it. Lord, wouldn't you etch this word into our hearts, like a tombstone where it's inscribed and inscribed.

And what's written in stone, even if it thunders or lightning, nothing will remove it. Lord, grant that your word would never be removed from us till our last breath. Amen.