Introduction: In this story the disciples are an example to us about how NOT to be. They didn't believe in the resurrection. They were hiding and afraid of the Jewish leaders. Jesus had been crucified. They thought they would be the next to be arrested and jailed or killed. Finally Jesus appears and SHOWS them blatantly that He is alive. Then they have joy and peace.

I. Faith is a great blessing to those who have it.

A. As this chapter tells us, faith brought peace and joy to the disciples.

B. Is. 26:3-4

"You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you. Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD, is the Rock eternal."

C. Psalm 33

Psa 33:13 From heaven the LORD looks down and sees all mankind;
Psa 33:14 from his dwelling place he watches all who live on earth--
Psa 33:15 he who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything they do.
Psa 33:16 No king is saved by the size of his army; no warrior escapes by his great strength.
Psa 33:17 A horse is a vain hope for deliverance; despite all its great strength it cannot save.
Psa 33:18 But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,
Psa 33:19 to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine.
Psa 33:20 We wait in hope for the LORD; he is our help and our shield.
Psa 33:21 In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name.
Psa 33:22 May your unfailing love rest upon us, O LORD, even as we put our hope in you.

D. Proverbs 3:5-6

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight."

II. Faith, not works, is the key to salvation....Romans 4:1--5:2

Rom 4:1 What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather, discovered in this matter?
Rom 4:2 If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about--but not before God.
Rom 4:3 What does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness."
Rom 4:4 Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation.
Rom 4:5 However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness.
Rom 4:6 David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:
Rom 4:7 "Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.
Rom 4:8 Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him."
Rom 4:9 Is this blessedness only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We have been saying that Abraham's faith was credited to him as righteousness.
Rom 4:10 Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it after he was circumcised, or before? It was not after, but before!
Rom 4:11 And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them.
Rom 4:12 And he is also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.
Rom 4:13 It was not through law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith.
Rom 4:14 For if those who live by law are heirs, faith has no value and the promise is worthless,
Rom 4:15 because law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression.
Rom 4:16 Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham's offspring--not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all.
Rom 4:17 As it is written: "I have made you a father of many nations." He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed--the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were.
Rom 4:18 Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, "So shall your offspring be."
Rom 4:19 Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead--since he was about a hundred years old--and that Sarah's womb was also dead.
Rom 4:20 Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God,
Rom 4:21 being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.
Rom 4:22 This is why "it was credited to him as righteousness."
Rom 4:23 The words "it was credited to him" were written not for him alone,
Rom 4:24 but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness--for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.
Rom 4:25 He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.
Rom 5:1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
Rom 5:2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.

III. If you don't have faith, how can you get it?

A. Ask for God to increase your faith, as did the father who came to Jesus to heal his son who was possessed by a demon. "Lord, I believe! Help my unbelief!" was his cry.

B. Many verses teach us that we must receive faith as a gift from God. We can't make ourselves believe. We can only cry out for God to give us the gift:

Eph 2:8-10 "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."

John 6:35 Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. John 6:36 But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe.

They had seen Jesus do miracles. They had heard Jesus preach the Gospel. Yet they refused to believe in Him. Why? Jesus goes on to explain...

John 6:37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.
John 6:38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.
John 6:39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day.
John 6:40 For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."
John 6:41 At this the Jews began to grumble about him because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven."
John 6:42 They said, "Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, 'I came down from heaven'?"
John 6:43 "Stop grumbling among yourselves," Jesus answered.
John 6:44 "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day.

In order to have faith, you must be drawn to Jesus by the heavenly Father. If you want to have faith, cry out to God to give it to you, because it is His miraculous gift, not something you can create by yourself by will-power. Cry out to God for faith, and God will give it to you.

Conclusion: The disciples did not have faith. They did not believe in the resurrection. But it was the gracious will of God that they would believe, so Jesus appeared to them and literally forced them to believe in Him. He challenged Thomas to feel the scars in His hands and in His side. Jesus will not appear in the flesh to you and me. He is seated now in Heaven at the Father's right hand. But He WILL give us the gift of faith. "Blessed are those who have not seen, and yet have believed." Our age is a curious mixture of hard-nosed materialistic unbelief and superstition. Some people won't believe in anything they can't weight in a scale and measure with a ruler. Others believe in anything, including communicating with spirits and reading tarot cards on the psychic hotline! Today I would encourage you to follow the Bible. Put your faith in Jesus, and your life will be blessed for both time and eternity. Amen.