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Pastor Chuck Swindoll | Insight for Living – A Resurrected Christ . .... · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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Speaker 1: I want to go to the NFL to be got.
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Speaker 2: S sistemo.
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Speaker 3: Down through the centuries, Christians have greeted one another on
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Speaker 3: Easter Sunday morning with the same greeting as the one
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Speaker 3: speaking makes the announcement in those responding affirm it. So
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Speaker 3: we'll do that together. He has risen, he has risen,
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Speaker 3: he has risen.
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Speaker 4: H S.
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Speaker 2: S sign to sound se.
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Speaker 5: Sa song song sound so sound to t to s
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Speaker 5: S S steps to time to since it's sun times,
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Speaker 5: see to the school press time so.
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Speaker 6: He can it'd be the one who died born or
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Speaker 6: sin through.
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Speaker 4: Sacrifice to conquert, priesting theda seeing.
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Speaker 7: Seeing all the bore o boy oh wakes star the
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Speaker 7: night when.
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Speaker 6: Christ is time bus lit their eyes.
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Speaker 4: Tivey stands their friend Yankee say Christ christ is ready.
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Speaker 4: Were start to the darkness. One's happened. They saw in
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Speaker 4: man their hearts feed.
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Speaker 7: Past darlas have not seen.
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Speaker 6: Yet, seeing army come high, bear no bolding and faith.
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Speaker 6: They preach the truth and come of.
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Speaker 8: Price and pulling out their lives.
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Speaker 6: They gained life.
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Speaker 5: I say, says it praise.
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Speaker 3: Please say, rather than have you turned to the passage
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Speaker 3: I'll be reading. I'd like to read it to you.
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Speaker 3: It's from the Gospel by John, and it's out of
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Speaker 3: the narrative where Thomas makes a statement that is shocking,
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Speaker 3: but later it is a magnificent statement of faith as
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Speaker 3: he realizes Christ is in act alive. I'd like you
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Speaker 3: to stand as the scriptures are read and remain standing
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Speaker 3: for prayer. Please referring to the Sunday when Christ was raised.
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Speaker 3: That Sunday evening, the disciples were meeting behind closed doors
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Speaker 3: because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Suddenly Jesus
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Speaker 3: was standing there among them. Peace be with you, he said.
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Speaker 3: As he spoke, he showed them the wounds in his
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Speaker 3: hands and his side. They were filled with joy when
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Speaker 3: they saw the Lord. One of the twelve disciples, Thomas
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Speaker 3: nicknamed the Twin, was not with the others when Jesus came.
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Speaker 3: They told him, well, we have seen the Lord. But
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Speaker 3: he replied, I won't believe it unless I see the
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Speaker 3: nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them,
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Speaker 3: and placed my hand into the wound in his side.
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Speaker 3: Eight days later, the disciples were together again, and this
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Speaker 3: time Thomas was with them. The doors were locked, but suddenly,
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Speaker 3: as before, Jesus was standing among them. Peace be with you.
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Speaker 3: Then he said to Thomas, put your finger here and
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Speaker 3: look at my hands. Put your hand into the wound
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Speaker 3: in my side. Do not be faithless. Believe my Lord
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Speaker 3: and my God. Thomas exclaimed. Then Jesus told him, you
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Speaker 3: believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who
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Speaker 3: believe without seeing me. Don't know if you've ever thought
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Speaker 3: of that before, but that would be us. We are
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Speaker 3: the ones who have never seen him, and yet we believe. However,
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Speaker 3: you may be like Thomas. If so, you are the
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Speaker 3: one I want to talk to today. But first let's pray.
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Speaker 3: Will you vow with me on this great resurrection morning?
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Speaker 3: Our Father, we thank you for the hope we have
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Speaker 3: in Jesus. Those who grieve the death of those they
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Speaker 3: loved and have lost find hope in this day. For
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Speaker 3: as Christ was raised, so our loved ones, and so
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Speaker 3: we will be raised. Also. Death has been robbed of
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Speaker 3: its sting and the grave of its victory. Thank you
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Speaker 3: for the magnificent message that comes with the resurrected Christ.
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Speaker 3: Thank you, Father for speaking to your son in that
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Speaker 3: tomb telling him to arise. Thank you that it is
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Speaker 3: your amen to his it is finished on the cross.
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Speaker 3: As we rejoice, we give you our offerings, and we
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Speaker 3: do so with a rejoicing in the name of Jesus
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Speaker 3: who arose. We pray these things, and all God's people said, Amen,
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Speaker 3: you may be seated.
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Speaker 5: M hm hm hm.
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Speaker 9: Hm hm.
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Speaker 5: Hm. The clouds had not.
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Speaker 10: Yet lifted, the tomb were sealed.
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Speaker 9: In talk.
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Speaker 10: The crew who crossed a crucified the whole of every.
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Speaker 3: The Sun, the lord of life.
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Speaker 6: My death had been destroyed.
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Speaker 11: Then in the silence of the tomb, he heard his
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Speaker 11: father's allus.
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Speaker 2: Alrise h.
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Speaker 10: For star of her morning scares, come forth, my annoyed
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Speaker 10: to morn into e turn.
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Speaker 5: All life.
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Speaker 10: Horrah, horriz, cast away death, stark disguies, my glorious son,
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Speaker 10: victorious one.
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Speaker 3: In mysty.
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Speaker 9: Rise the earth began to.
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Speaker 3: The crowd began to quick.
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Speaker 9: The mighty storm and sealed. The tool of dead began
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Speaker 9: to shake, and suddenly.
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Speaker 3: The dark sas shattered it like his light. As Jesus Christ,
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Speaker 3: the Sun, the God the.
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Speaker 2: Stool, Yes.
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Speaker 8: On the corny starways pot for why going.
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Speaker 9: To bar until it.
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Speaker 11: Rise?
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Speaker 9: Fun has to think it.
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Speaker 8: Stark, ye, my clostre, It's had inst my cloak on step.
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Speaker 3: Thomas has gotten a bad rap. It just isn't fair.
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Speaker 3: All through the centuries, as preachers have turned to this disciple,
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Speaker 3: they referred to him as Doubting Thomas. He's portrayed as
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Speaker 3: the chronic skeptic, the negative member of the disciples, the
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Speaker 3: eternal pessimist, the one who always sees the glass half empty,
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Speaker 3: the habitual doubter. No, not really, I'm here to say
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Speaker 3: that isn't fair. It's easy to go there because he's
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Speaker 3: not like the other eleven. But he's his own man.
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Speaker 3: Matter of fact, he thinks for himself. I think it
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Speaker 3: started early on in life when you realize that he
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Speaker 3: was tagged with this true nickname, the twin. He's called
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Speaker 3: Thomas Didimus, the Greek word for twin, and in fact
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Speaker 3: he was a twin. When you're a twin, I'm not
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Speaker 3: a twin, but known a number of twins. And they're
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Speaker 3: growing up. When they're little, it's cute and you see
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Speaker 3: them dressed alike, and they and mom and dad compare them.
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Speaker 3: They're just alike. And well, I will tell you, if
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Speaker 3: they grow up and keep dressing alike, they're weird. They're
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Speaker 3: weird because somewhere in the teenage years, they start realizing
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Speaker 3: I may be a twin, but I am not like him,
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Speaker 3: or I am not like her. In fact, I'm not
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Speaker 3: like anybody else. And they especially began to think independently.
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Speaker 3: They take pride in their own opinions. This is the
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Speaker 3: kind of man like that. So if you can possibly
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Speaker 3: remove from your mind the word doubter and listen to
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Speaker 3: me for just the next few minutes, I think I
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Speaker 3: can convince you of another side of Thomas that you'll respect.
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Speaker 3: To begin with, Thomas is the kind of man who
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Speaker 3: refused to be influenced by those who were around him.
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Speaker 3: We see that in the first of three scenes that
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Speaker 3: John paints of Thomas. By the way, the other writers
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Speaker 3: of the gospel, Matthew, Mark, and Luke only list Thomas
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Speaker 3: as a disciple. They tell us nothing about him. But
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Speaker 3: when we get to John's gospel, three specific scenes reveal
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Speaker 3: the man who is the adult twin thinking on his own.
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Speaker 3: The first scene is in John eleven. By now Jesus
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Speaker 3: is a marked man. Those in Jerusalem especially are out
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Speaker 3: to get him to quote the disciples. They're ready to
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Speaker 3: stone him. So he and his twelve disciples are hidden
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Speaker 3: away while they are there. He gets worried from Martha
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Speaker 3: and Mary that their brother, his longtime friend, Lazarus, is sick,
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Speaker 3: not just sick, but very sick, so sick that he dies,
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Speaker 3: and Jesus never goes to visit him while he's sick,
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Speaker 3: or to be there when he dies. Martha and Mary
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Speaker 3: are offended by it, but the Disciples don't argue because
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Speaker 3: to go back to bethany where Lazarus dies, he's like
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Speaker 3: walking into a human avalanche of stones. I mean, they
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Speaker 3: would blow their cover and it would surely be death.
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Speaker 3: So the Disciples are not interested at all in going.
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Speaker 3: Jesus said, our friend Lazarus is asleep, let's go wake him.
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Speaker 3: He doesn't decode that language. The Disciples take him literally
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Speaker 3: and they say, if he's asleep, then he'll wake up.
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Speaker 3: There's no reason to go. Then Jesus says to them, no,
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Speaker 3: he's dead. Let's go, And I am glad I wasn't there,
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Speaker 3: because when I go and raise him from the dead,
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Speaker 3: you will believe. They're still not convinced. They don't want
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Speaker 3: to go, except Thomas. This first scene shows Thomas as
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Speaker 3: he speaks. He said to his fellow disciples, let's go too,
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Speaker 3: and let's die with Jesus. That sounds pretty courageous to me.
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Speaker 3: The others weren't willing to go. Thomas is you know
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Speaker 3: what I was reminded of when I read those words.
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Speaker 3: I went back to nine to eleven, and in my
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Speaker 3: mind I got on board a plane that was plunging
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Speaker 3: to its end over eastern Pennsylvania, and one man on
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Speaker 3: board named Todd Beamer said to his fellow passengers, let's row.
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Speaker 3: And to this day we set up Todd as a
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Speaker 3: as a hero, and we should. Thomas is saying, let's row,
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Speaker 3: let's go. If we die, what better one to die
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Speaker 3: with than Jesus. It's the same tone that Thomas uses.
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Speaker 3: Let's go, guys, if it means death, what greater person
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Speaker 3: to die with than our savior Jesus. We admire Thomas
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Speaker 3: because he refused to be influenced by those around him.
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Speaker 3: Before I go to the next scene, let me say
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Speaker 3: to you, who are Thomas's sitting here today? Good for you.
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Speaker 3: We admire you. You refuse to just go along with
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Speaker 3: a majority. You may have been I'm trying not to
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Speaker 3: say dragged to church. You may have been brought to
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Speaker 3: church today sort of against your will every Easter. It
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Speaker 3: happens to several and you may have said, well, okay,
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Speaker 3: but down inside, down deep, even though you chose to
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Speaker 3: keep it to yourself, you don't go along with a
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Speaker 3: lot of this. You've heard the songs, you've read the words,
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Speaker 3: You've been around Christians long years of your life, but
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Speaker 3: you're not there. You're not influenced by what others say
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Speaker 3: or believe. Let me add here, Keep thinking for yourself.
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Speaker 3: It's commendable. We reared our four children to think for themselves. Boy,
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Speaker 3: we got what we reared. I'll tell you they think
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Speaker 3: for themselves. In the final analysis, that's a good way
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Speaker 3: to be when you become an adult, because you're surrounded
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Speaker 3: by those who try to convince you to believe what
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Speaker 3: they believe, even if it's wrong. Isn't it interesting when
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Speaker 3: you put it in that light, It's an admirable trait
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Speaker 3: not to go along with what everybody else is saying.
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Speaker 3: Thomas knows the threat of going back to Bethany. He
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Speaker 3: knows there are those wanting to stone Jesus. He knows
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Speaker 3: they may not live through it. But if he's with Jesus,
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Speaker 3: that's enough for him. Come on, let's rule The next
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Speaker 3: scene is in John chapter fourteen. A number of things
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Speaker 3: have happened. The screws are tightening down, the hatred against
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Speaker 3: Jesus is intensifying. Those who wanted to kill him before
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Speaker 3: are more in number. In fact, there's a conspiracy out
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Speaker 3: against him if they could just get their hands on him.
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Speaker 3: So he gets along with his disciples, all twelve of them,
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Speaker 3: in what we would call a second story flat, and
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Speaker 3: the account is given to us in John thirteen through sixteen.
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Speaker 3: It's called the Upper Room Discourse. I'm interrupting jesus teaching
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Speaker 3: by taking you to John fourteen, where he is in
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Speaker 3: the middle of his teaching. The disciples are there, and
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Speaker 3: they're afraid. Humanly speaking, they have every reason to be,
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Speaker 3: because Jesus' future in some ways spells their future. So
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Speaker 3: Jesus calms them. He says to them at the beginning
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Speaker 3: of John fourteen, familiar words to Christians, don't let your
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Speaker 3: hearts be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me.
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Speaker 3: And then he now sort of dumps the prophetic truck
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Speaker 3: on all of them. In my father's house are well,
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Speaker 3: there's plenty of room there. I go and prepare a
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Speaker 3: place for you. If I go and prepare a place
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Speaker 3: for you, come again and receive you under myself. You
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Speaker 3: know what they heard, abandonment. He's been with them for
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Speaker 3: three three and a half years. Every day they wake
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Speaker 3: up and he's there. They go to sleep and he's there.
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Speaker 3: They come to a difficult situation, He's there to resolve
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Speaker 3: it for them. He's there, right there with him. They
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Speaker 3: can see him, they can touch him, they can hear
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Speaker 3: his words. But he says, now I go to prepare
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Speaker 3: a place for you, and if I go and prepare
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Speaker 3: a place for you, I will come again and receive
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Speaker 3: you to myself.
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Speaker 9: What what?
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Speaker 4: To us?
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Speaker 3: It's familiar to us, it's comforting, but we're hearing it
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Speaker 3: for the empty time. They hear it for the first time.
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Speaker 3: They don't want to hear something like that. Sounds a
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Speaker 3: lot like abandonment to every one of them. Jesus even
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Speaker 3: says to them, where I am going, you know, and
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Speaker 3: so the way you know, and they're all sitting and
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Speaker 3: staring at him, not saying a word, reminds me of
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Speaker 3: my first day in Hebrew class. All the class sitting
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Speaker 3: and staring. We had a teacher who loved the Hebrew Bible.
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Speaker 3: He used to cradle it in his arms like this
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Speaker 3: Hebrew Bible, and he would read it as he would rock,
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Speaker 3: and he would get teary. I would read it and
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Speaker 3: I would tear up for other reasons. I realized I
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Speaker 3: had it upside down, and so that helped resolve some
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Speaker 3: of the tears, but not all of them. But we
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Speaker 3: were all sitting there, steering, not willing to admit that
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Speaker 3: we didn't know what in the world. The teacher was saying,
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Speaker 3: that's all the disciples except Thomas, except Thomas. You realize
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Speaker 3: that he interrupts Jesus. When Jesus said the way I'm going,
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Speaker 3: you know you know where I'm going, Thomas goes, No, No,
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Speaker 3: we don't. As a matter of fact, we don't know
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Speaker 3: anything about this. You may look forward to going past
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Speaker 3: and raminon the Milky Way, and Orian, you may look
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Speaker 3: forward to going back where your heavenly Father is. Sounds
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Speaker 3: an awful lot like abandonment mixed up with theological gobbledygook.
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Speaker 3: To me, we don't know where you're going. How in
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Speaker 3: the world can we know the way? Does this sound
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Speaker 3: like doubting to you? Sounds like an honest reaction to me,
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Speaker 3: nobody in my Hebrew class would go, doctor Walkee, have
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Speaker 3: a clue what you're saying right now. We just sat
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Speaker 3: there like we do, and we didn't. Thomas says, I
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Speaker 3: refuse to act like I understand what's unclear and strange.
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Speaker 3: Don't you admire that? Don't you appreciate someone who isn't
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Speaker 3: pushed by peer pressure, who even though his colleagues didn't
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Speaker 3: understand either, he's willing to speak for himself, which really
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Speaker 3: speaks for all of them. And he says to Jesus, actually, Jesus,
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Speaker 3: you may think we know, we don't. And this is
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Speaker 3: what led Jesus to make the statement that you and
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Speaker 3: I have quoted as Christians throughout our Christian life, and
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Speaker 3: we love the statement. Jesus said to Thomas, I am
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Speaker 3: the Way, the Truth, the life. No one goes to
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Speaker 3: the Father but through me. Did you know that statement
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Speaker 3: came as a result of Thomas's saying, we don't know
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Speaker 3: what you're talking about. Most people didn't know that. Merrill Tenny,
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Speaker 3: when he was teaching at Wheaton College for years, wrote
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Speaker 3: a book called The Gospel of Belief. It's a book
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Speaker 3: on the Gospel by John In it, he makes a
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Speaker 3: wonderful statement about that line, The Way, the Truth, and
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Speaker 3: the Life, Tenny writes. Without the Way, there is no
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Speaker 3: going without the truth. There is no knowing without the life,
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Speaker 3: there is no living. That's what Jesus is saying, Thomas,
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Speaker 3: I may never be able to give you all the
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Speaker 3: details regarding the future. Let me tell you, Thomas, if
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Speaker 3: you really want to know Father, the journey must pass
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Speaker 3: through me. On the turning point. No one comes to
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Speaker 3: the Father but through me. Thomas doesn't argue, and by
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Speaker 3: the way, Jesus doesn't rebuke him for the interruption. You've
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Speaker 3: got questions, ask them, You've got reservations, say so. Nothing
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Speaker 3: is wrong with either. What's wrong is when you sit
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Speaker 3: in silent unbelief, acting like you get it, acting like
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Speaker 3: you go along with it, when in fact you don't.
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Speaker 3: Thomas didn't. He's a pretty good model to follow. There's
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Speaker 3: a third scene, and a whole lot has happened between
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Speaker 3: that point and the The Disciples and Jesus went to
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Speaker 3: the Garden of gethsemone, and there Jesus agonized in prayer,
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Speaker 3: let the cut pass from me. Nevertheless, not my will,
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Speaker 3: but yours be done. It was the Father's will that
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Speaker 3: he go to the cross. Within a matter of minutes,
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Speaker 3: they came in the garden. It was around midnight, and
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Speaker 3: they arrested him. The disciples forsook him and fled, every
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Speaker 3: one of them. They arrested Jesus. They put him on trials,
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Speaker 3: Six unfair trials unfolded. They declared him guilty. They didn't
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Speaker 3: find him guilty. Not one witness brought against him could
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Speaker 3: hold up in court. Nevertheless, he, like sheep going to
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Speaker 3: a slaughter, didn't open his mouth. He took the charge
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Speaker 3: against him. They scourged him, and they crucified him. Listen
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Speaker 3: to me. That's the last scene Thomas had of the
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Speaker 3: one he had followed for three years. Blood draining from
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Speaker 3: his head, from the crown of horns, from his hands
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Speaker 3: and feet, from the spikes, from his side, the sphear
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Speaker 3: the cross is covered in blood, and he's limp and
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Speaker 3: he is dead. Not only did dead men tell no tales.
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Speaker 3: Crucified victims don't walk away alive. And Thomas knew it.
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Speaker 3: You see, Thomas is not the dreamy type to think, oh,
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Speaker 3: I know what he said, so that's where I'm going.
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Speaker 3: He saw him dead. Chances are good you've never seen
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Speaker 3: anyone dead. If you ever have, you'll never forget the scene.
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Speaker 3: It impacts you. And probably you've never seen anyone who's
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Speaker 3: been murdered. I know for sure you've never seen anyone
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Speaker 3: who's been crucified. Thomas did. On that Sunday morning, Jesus
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Speaker 3: was raised from the dead miraculously and bodily. But Thomas
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Speaker 3: wasn't there. I don't know where he was. That night,
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Speaker 3: ten disciples meet together. Thomas isn't one of them. Judas
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Speaker 3: has already hanged himself. So these ten are there and
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Speaker 3: Jesus appears, shows them his hands and his feet and
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Speaker 3: a sighed, and he says, look, look I've been raised,
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Speaker 3: and they rejoice. But the scripture says, Thomas, the twin
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Speaker 3: wasn't there. Where's Thomas? Why isn't he with them? If
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Speaker 3: you're a Thomas, you understand you need time alone, especially
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Speaker 3: if you're disillusioned, especially if someone you trusted has let
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Speaker 3: you down, and you had looked forward to that marvelous
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Speaker 3: kingdom that he was going to establish. So much for
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Speaker 3: the kingdom, your last mental image is a victim hanging
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Speaker 3: on across And I know the disciples all said to him,
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Speaker 3: we've seen him we've seen him, he's been raised. Do
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Speaker 3: you remember Thomas. He's not influenced about what everybody says.
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Speaker 3: So we read that Thomas's response is, unless I can
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Speaker 3: see the mail prints in his hand or the wound
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Speaker 3: in his side, I'm not there. It's not doubting. That
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Speaker 3: is the way you respond when you are a realist,
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Speaker 3: when you're a reflective person, you don't just buy into
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Speaker 3: it because your buddies are saying one thing, you've never
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Speaker 3: seen any evidence of that. I'm sorry, guys, I'm not there.
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Speaker 3: You know what I love about this narrative. The next
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Speaker 3: line begins eight days later, the disciples are together again
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Speaker 3: and Thomas is with them. Eight days what's happened? I
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Speaker 3: don't know where's Thomas? I don't know. My imagination takes
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Speaker 3: him to maybe the shores of the Sea of Galilee,
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Speaker 3: where he walks alone and remembers when he was called
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Speaker 3: by Jesus to become one of the twelve, and he
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Speaker 3: remembers that, Or perhaps he slips into a quiet room
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Speaker 3: to be alone and to think about that time when
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Speaker 3: he was with his friends and all the other disciples
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Speaker 3: in Jesus and they listen to Jesus talk about the future.
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Speaker 3: He remembers that he replays that, but he's not here.
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Speaker 3: When you're a Thomas, you have to be alone, and
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Speaker 3: when you're alone, you have to have space. You've got
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Speaker 3: to have room. All these years, the Lord has left
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Speaker 3: you alone. If you will, things have occurred, and he
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Speaker 3: has not badgered you. He's left you with your thoughts,
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Speaker 3: your questions, your statements. I'm not going to believe it
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Speaker 3: just because my mother tells me I should believe it,
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Speaker 3: or I'm not going to go there just because my
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Speaker 3: good friends that I love to be with are Christians.
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Speaker 3: I've got to be sure in my heart. You got
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Speaker 3: to know this is true. Now, then we're ready. I
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Speaker 3: commend you for that. As a matter of fact, if
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Speaker 3: there was ever a moment for Jesus to shame Thomas,
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Speaker 3: this is it. Look at it. Eight days later, the
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Speaker 3: disciples were together, Thomas was with him, the doors were locked,
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Speaker 3: and suddenly Jesus, standing among them, says, peace be with you.
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Speaker 3: Then he said to Thomas, shame on you. No, no,
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Speaker 3: he doesn't. He looks at Thomas and he says, look, look, look, Thomas,
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Speaker 3: here are my hands. Look reach over here and touch him.
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Speaker 3: Here's my side feel that scar where the spear pierce
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Speaker 3: my side. Thomas, I'm back, I'm alive. I'll soon eat
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Speaker 3: fish with you along the shores of the sea where
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Speaker 3: I call you. A ghost doesn't eat fish on the shore.
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Speaker 3: A ghost doesn't offer you his hands in his side,
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Speaker 3: flesh and blood. And I've got to hand it to Thomas.
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Speaker 3: He is a man who refuses to accept what he
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Speaker 3: can't perceive, and his heart will not believe. He just
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Speaker 3: can't go there. But now now all the evidence needed
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Speaker 3: is standing in front of him. And you know what,
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Speaker 3: he does not one further question or statement, Only my
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Speaker 3: Lord and my God. It's all you read, one of
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Speaker 3: the greatest statements of faith in the fewest words in
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Speaker 3: all the Bible, my Lord, my God. But the narrative
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Speaker 3: doesn't stop. He goes on to say, you believe because
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Speaker 3: you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without
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Speaker 3: seeing me. I always read that and smile, thinking, most
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Speaker 3: of us who gather on Easter Sunday are there. He
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Speaker 3: had us in mind because you haven't seen him, but
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Speaker 3: you believe in him. And let me add a few
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Speaker 3: of you are former Thomas's. You just needed time, You
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Speaker 3: needed room, because You're not the type to be influenced
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Speaker 3: by the majority. You're not the kind of person that
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Speaker 3: acts like you. You get it when it's strange and
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Speaker 3: unusual information. You're not the type to accept it when
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Speaker 3: your mind can't perceive it in your heart can't recede it.
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Speaker 3: But today's the day. Today's the day.
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Speaker 5: I urge you.
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Speaker 9: I urge you.
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Speaker 3: You're the type that needed this information. Now you've got it.
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Speaker 3: Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, the risen Savior. Trusted
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Speaker 3: him with all of your heart. I plead with you
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Speaker 3: on this Easter Sunday, as your own person, making your
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Speaker 3: own decisions, thinking independently, realize that you have no other
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Speaker 3: claim throughout eternity but Christ. He's the only one who
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Speaker 3: has gone before you and will come back and receive
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Speaker 3: you to himself. The Lord himself will descend from heaven
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Speaker 3: with a shout the voice of the Archangel, the trumpet
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Speaker 3: of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first,
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Speaker 3: that we who are alive and remain shall be caught
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Speaker 3: up together with them in the clouds to meet the
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Speaker 3: Lord of the Air. So shall we ever be with
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Speaker 3: the Lord comfort one another with these words, How great
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Speaker 3: Thomas will be in our midst. Though gone, he will
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Speaker 3: return and in a glorified state, he will be raised
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Speaker 3: like you're believing parents and grandparents and mine as well,
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Speaker 3: and we will be taken from this earth into glory.
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Speaker 3: But now, having not seen, we believe. I can't end
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Speaker 3: this message without an urgent plea.
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Speaker 4: To you.
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Speaker 3: May I call you this my Thomas. Friends, don't be
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Speaker 3: ashamed of how you have been thinking. That's part of
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Speaker 3: your growing up, that's your temperament. You just can't accept
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Speaker 3: it and believe it because everyone around you does. But
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Speaker 3: today you've heard enough to know here is a man
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Speaker 3: just like that who was allowed to see there is
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Speaker 3: in Christ, and as a result he believed in him.
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Speaker 3: Trust in the Lord with all of your heart today.
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Speaker 3: Understand that He died for your sins, and he rose
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Speaker 3: for your righteousness, and by trusting in him you will
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Speaker 3: have sins forgiven and his righteousness credited to your account.
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Speaker 3: How great is that without the Way, there is no going.
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Speaker 3: Without the truth, no knowing, and without the life of Jesus,
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Speaker 3: you'll never know the Father. Trust in him so that
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Speaker 3: you can join with us in that glorious proclamation we
57:39
Speaker 3: have announced down through the centuries he has risen. Stand
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Speaker 3: to your feet again. We announce that He has risen.
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Speaker 3: He is risen.
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Speaker 12: Act to be going.
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Speaker 4: S.
1:02:26
Speaker 3: The preceding message, A Resurrected Christ, A Transformed Life was
1:02:31
Speaker 3: copyrighted in twenty eighteen and twenty nineteen, and the sound
1:02:35
Speaker 3: recording was copyrighted in twenty nineteen by Charles Rswindall, Inc.
1:02:40
Speaker 3: All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for
1:02:44
Speaker 3: commercial use is strictly prohibited. In the preceding message, Charles
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Speaker 3: Arswindall Inc. Is grateful to Stonebrier Community Church for permission
1:02:52
Speaker 3: to use their twenty eighteen performances of Christ The Lord
1:02:56
Speaker 3: Has Risen Today lyrics by Charles Wesley. Instrumental arrangement by
1:03:00
Speaker 3: Michael Canter John copyrighted in nineteen ninety nine by Broadman Press,
1:03:05
Speaker 3: also performed with fanfare and Him for Easter Morning arrangement
1:03:09
Speaker 3: by Paul Solan, copyrighted in nineteen eighty three by fred
1:03:12
Speaker 3: Bach Music Company, and the Deskcant copyrighted in nineteen seventy
1:03:16
Speaker 3: six by Paragon Music Corporation. Crown Him with Many Crowns
1:03:21
Speaker 3: Lyrics by Matthew Bridges and Godfrey Thryng music by George Elvie.
1:03:25
Speaker 3: Arrangement and choral ending by William David Young, copyrighted in
1:03:29
Speaker 3: nineteen ninety seven by Integrity's Hosanna Music and Word Music.
1:03:33
Speaker 3: Christ Has Risen, He Has Risen Indeed featuring Bonnie Liked.
1:03:37
Speaker 3: Lyrics and music by Keith Getty Kristin Getty and ed
1:03:40
Speaker 3: Cash arrangement by Gary Rhodes, orchestration by Tim Kaites, copyrighted
1:03:45
Speaker 3: in twenty twelve by Getting Music Publishing and Altrop Music.
1:03:49
Speaker 3: And A Rise featuring David Gashen. Lyrics by Claire Klooninger.
1:03:53
Speaker 3: Music by Kathy Brazil, copyrighted in nineteen eighty seven by
1:03:57
Speaker 3: Word Music