Better Late Than Never — Signs & Wonders — Rich Wilkerson Jr

Alright, if you got a Bible, stay standing for a moment, turn me to John chapter 20. Stay standing if you don't mind. We're going to stand over at South Miami. I can see him sitting down at South Miami, not here at Miami Gardens, everyone here. We are concluding. We are finishing a collection of talks that we have been in called Signs and Wonders. And we've been talking about a God. I love this honor saying, "Who's still moving?" Just in case anybody wants to know where we stand as a church, we think what the Bible says, that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. If you move back then, you can move right now. And so we believe all of it, all the crazy stuff. I think you're shadowed with Jesus, his daydreams. And I believe today he's going to speak to you as we come around this final message. John chapter 20 verse 24, "Now Thomas, also known as Dittamas, one of the twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came." So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord, but he said to them, 'Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.' A week later his disciples were in the house again and Thomas was with them. Though 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. See my hands? Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting." Put that in the chat right now. Stop doubting, stop doubting and believe. Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God." Then Jesus told him, "Because you've seen me, you have believed.

Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." We've been talking about signs and wonders, signs inform, signs point and wonders. They stop us and they leave us in a transformed place. I kind of walked in today thinking about the prophet Isaiah when he got in God's presence. Whoa is me. Who is this God that would come close to me? And today as we come around this final message, I want to preach from the subject, better late than never. I want to get your neighbor to say, "Neighbor, still time to register for vu-kong." Look at your neighbor and it helped me preach my message to say, "Better late than never." Someone say, "Better late than never." God, we thank you for your word. God, we thank you that today, Lord, it's alive and it's active. Lord, we ask now that you would speak to us. God, we've all come in here, Lord, but we want to leave different and transformed. We want to leave here today with the wonder of Jesus on our mind and in our heart that we might leave this place better than how we came here. We thank you in advance for what you're about to do. We love you, Jesus. And if you agree with that prayer, all of God's people said. All of God's people said, "Now, if you love Jesus, go ahead and shame the devil. Make your neighbor uncomfortable. Make a little bit of noise." All right, high five, 15 people. All right, I love you. Say, "I love you." 15 people, 15, right? I love you. I love you, man. Man, you look good.

You look good, bro. Okay. Okay. Engage. You look different now that you're engaged, man. God. Y'all make some noise. Renzo's engaged, y'all. You feel like a glow about you, man. It's a new confidence. He who finds a wife, finds a good thing. How many of you hate to be late? Oh, we're in Miami, like, not me. Some of you are like, "Lates my personality." You ever had that moment where you set your alarm, you have a big day the next day. It's like, "I'm ready. I'm anticipating. I can't wait." And then somehow, I don't know what it is, like the devil got into the alarm. You wake up and you're like, "Oh, I hate that feeling. I think I'm a pretty planned, organized person, for the most part. But every once in a while, something kind of hits you that you weren't prepared for. I remember a couple of years ago, I was actually doing a funeral. And the funeral was on a Saturday. And the family had asked me, we were out of town, Don Shunair, we're going there to do the funeral. And the family had been really, really clear, "Hey, you're going to lead the funeral." I said, "What an honor. It's always a privilege to stand with people in those moments, weddings, funerals. It's a great privilege as a pastor."

So I was prepared. I was ready. I was going to lead the family. Day before we're hosting a- And they said, "It starts at 11 a.m." I said, "Awesome." Now, I want to be very clear. Nobody scheduled me to do anything at the wake. And so at 10.55 the next morning, I get a phone call. Pastor, how far away are you? (audience laughing) Anyone like me? Five minutes? (audience laughing) I hadn't even gotten a shower yet. (audience laughing) I found out that I was supposed to be doing the wake also. So, Don Shri and I are driving over as fast as we can. We get to the service. There's about 65 people sitting in rows, completely quiet, waiting on me. (audience laughing) I'm grateful that I've hidden the word in my heart that I might not sin against God. I came up to the funeral coordinator. I said, "Man, I'm so sorry, I'm late." He said, "Better late, better late than never." I want to encourage some people out there today. I don't know what it is that you're going through, and I don't know what it is that you're facing,

but I want to encourage you that if you're breathing, God is still working. And if you got a pulse, you still got a purpose. Because when it comes to Jesus, it's better late than never. Anybody believe it's not over. I said it's not over until God says that it's over. Somebody clap your hands and build your faith today. Better late than never. For the most part, this is usually always true, but sometimes it's not. For instance, if you're falling out of an airplane and you have a parachute on your back, you better pull that line on the right time. If it comes to breaks on your car, better late than never does not always work. But I'm grateful for the grace of God that tracks us down in our darkest moments, in our hurting moments, in our low moments. Today we are looking at a text in John chapter 20, and it's a story about Jesus as he's appearing to the disciples. I want to give some context to the text, because I think it's very, very important. We are introduced, and I shouldn't say introduced, we see him in other parts of the Bible, but we don't get a lot about this guy. We are introduced by to a man by the name of Thomas. Now, Thomas is one of the 12 disciples, so right away that tells you a whole lot. For the last three years, he has been following Jesus.

He has been, listen to me, a devoted disciple. Jesus himself said foxes have holes and birds have nests, and the Son of Man has no place to lie in his head. It means everywhere that he was going, he was in transit, he was on the move, and Thomas was up for that kind of lifestyle. Thomas was there when Jesus turned water into wine, a no party like a Jesus Christ party, 'cause a Jesus Christ party don't stop. This is Merlot, baby. That's who we serve Christ of Cabernet, okay? Um, he saw this. He was there when blinded eyes were opened up. He was there when Lazarus was brought up out of the grave. I mean, Thomas saw this with his eyes. He was a devoted disciple. But what's interesting is that most people, whether you even go to church or not, most people know Thomas by his nickname. They call him doubting Thomas. Now, I think that is terrible. Can you imagine if your lowest moment in life became your nickname forever, forever? Like, I don't think that's fair. I think that that's so unfair. I've had some bad moments that I don't want to be known by my worst moment. And some of us out there are like, just think about that.

Imagine like, oh yeah, there's angry Andrew. Everyone shut up, gossip Gary's coming by right now. Oh what, that's panic attack, Patrick. Like what? (congregation laughing) This is crazy town. And if we're not careful, we will start putting labels on people and labels tend to limit you. Let me speak to every person in this room. Do not let your worst moment become your permanent name. God says, you are my child, you are my son, you are my daughter, you are not your worst moment, you are not the thing that you did. Come on, you are who God says that you are. Somebody clap your hands and give God praise. He gives you your name. (congregation clapping) 'Cause I don't think it's actually true. I don't think it's fair because Thomas, no doubt he was a doubter, but he was so much more. This isn't the only time we read about Thomas in the text. Go back to John chapter 11. That moment when Jesus actually resurrected Lazarus, that's an amazing moment. But if you go back just a few moments before it, it's fascinating because Jesus gets word that his friend Lazarus is sick, sick into the point that he's gonna die. And then Jesus does something so strange. Jesus waits two more days.

He waits two more days. In fact, he says, it's good that I wait, that I might display for you, and that I might help your unbelief because when you see what I'm about to do, I'm the God who changes things. I'm the God who heals things. (congregation clapping) And so they're getting ready to go back. Last time we were there, they tried to kill you." But guess who steps up? Thomas says, "Whoo, Jesus, if you're going, we're all going. And if you die, we will die with you." That doesn't sound like daddy Thomas. That sounds like soldier Thomas. That sounds like Thomas the real one. That sounds like Thomas the one who's ready for a fight. Let's go back to Bethany with Jesus. And if he dies, we all die. That's the kind of guy you want in a fight right there. Rich, if they touch you, they got to touch me. That's how I feel about my wife. I wish you would try something. And he fellas like me, everyone's walking around. I was like, I wish you what? Today might be your day. John chapter 14, Jesus is teaching. He's preaching to his disciples. And he's talking about him going to heaven. And he's like, I'm going to a place.

And I'm preparing a place for you. My father says, there's many rooms. He says, you know where I'm going. You ever been in a service before where someone's preaching and everyone's like, really getting into it? Like, that's good, man. Even maybe right now it's like, amen. You're like, I don't understand what everyone's cheering about. I like John 14 because everybody's kind of on the edge of their seat leaning in like, amen, Jesus. I keep teaching Messiah. We love you. But as he says, you know where I'm going. Thomas is like, ah. Actually, Lord, we don't know where you're going. How can we know where you're going? Jesus responds back, I am the way. I am the truth. And I am the life. No one gets to the Father, but through me. Thomas, you know where the way is because you know me. And if you know me, you know where it is that I'm going. Somebody clap your hands. [APPLAUSE] What I like about Thomas is that no doubt he doubts, but he's also soldier Thomas. He's also fighter Thomas. He's also right here in John 14, honest Thomas. I don't understand.

And I want to encourage anybody who's here today. I don't know what it is that you've been going through. What you're facing. God's not afraid of your questions. God's not intimidated by your doubts. God doesn't want to hit in you. God wants to be honest to you. In fact, God can't heal that which you hide. But if you want something to be transformed, you bring it out of the darkness, and you bring it into the light. That means your curiosities, your questions, your fears, your anxieties, anybody grateful for a God who actually loves you just the way that you are. He loves us so much that he doesn't let us stay the way that we are. But if we ever want to change, we better get honest. Thomas is honest. Right here in the text, what we see is we see that his name is Thomas. But then in parentheses, it says also "dissimus." Thomas is his Aramaic name, "dissimus" is his Greek name. It's the same name, and it means the same thing. It means "twin." We don't know who Thomas's twin was or is. That's never included. But I think John leaves it in the text somewhat in a mysterious way because I think he's speaking to all of us that we're all a whole lot more like Thomas than we actually say so.

Anyone like me, there's a twin in me. There's no doubt a believer inside of me, but there's also this doubter. I know that's kind of scary to go to a church like, my pastor says he's a doubter. Because as fast as I believe, I also doubt. And there's a twin in you. You're good at worshiping on Sunday, but a lot of you wrestle all week long. And many of us are going, "I believe God is who he is." But man, really come through? I think it's really biblical because we see it all throughout. The Bible, Paul, the apostle, the greatest apostle ever lived. What does he say? He says, "Why do I do the things I don't want to do?" And I don't do the things that I want to do. He says, "Who can save me from me?" Anyone out there who can be honest enough to say that your biggest problem is not other people, it's not your boss, it's not your job, it's not your circumstance. I'll tell you what, right now, my greatest enemy is me. Ain't nobody lied to me more than me. This year's gonna be different. I'm gonna lose weight than I gained weight. (audience laughing) 'Cause I got a problem with me. I'm a twin.

And I can profess with such faith and boldness, and then simultaneously, the twin in me, starts to come out and I can be so afraid, and fearful, and worried, and full of doubt. Who can save me from me? Praise God for Jesus. Praise God for grace. Praise God, it's not all on me, but praise God, it's on the Savior. Come on, somebody didn't give him praise today. Come on. (audience cheering) There's a twin in all of us. There's a twin in all of us. The Bible says here in John chapter 20, as we're getting into this text, the Bible says that as they're there, it had been seven days since Jesus had resurrected. It's interesting 'cause if you go back up into John 20, always important that when you pull out one portion of scripture, that you get the full scope of what's taking place. John chapter 20 is where, There she sees at the tomb, and the tomb is empty, and all she sees is two angels, and then she sees a man who she thinks is the gardener. By the way, wink, wink, he is the gardener. Where did you put him? Kind of funny, right? 'Cause Dontry preached last week about the road to AMAS where they're asking and telling Jesus about Jesus.

I like John chapter 20, because Mary, well, Mary's mad at Jesus about Jesus. Where'd you put him, Jesus, Jesus? (audience laughing) Did you take Jesus, did you take Jesus? She don't know who she thinks he's the gardener. Wink, wink, he is the gardener. Because if you go all the way back to the garden of Eden, Adam and Eve would walk with God in the cool today. He is the gardener, and in John chapter 20, what he's doing with Mary is that he's a gardener again, because he's planting a seed of faith inside of Mary. He's gonna water a seed of faith inside of Mary, and he's getting ready to harvest a seed of faith inside of Mary. (audience applauding) And as soon as he says her name, she goes, "Rabbin' I." And she wraps her arms around him. He says one of the most peculiar things. He says, "Do not hold on to me." But rather, listen, go and tell the others about me. I love things like Vukon coming up, but if we're not careful, we'll get addicted to moments where we cling to Jesus. But every time we've been filled with Jesus' presence, it's because he intends to spill us out for other people. When we get into God's presence, at some point, you gotta leave God's presence, and you gotta go tell other people about him. The upper room was amazing for 10 days,

but out of the upper room is where the church of Jesus Christ was born. Is there anybody out there that wants to go and tell others about the good news of Jesus Christ? (audience applauding) The Bible says, "Later that evening." So listen to this, later that evening, this is John chapter 20, Jesus appeared to the disciples. Important, because oftentimes you can go online right now and people are like, "Man, the blue church," or they'll say this about other evangelical churches. Man, that's not a real church because they don't gather on the real Sabbath. One part of that claim is totally true. We do not gather on the real Sabbath. The real Sabbath is Saturday. And so a lot of people get real lost 'cause they go back to the Ten Commandments and says, "Don't forget the Sabbath." And now they start going, "Man, if you don't gather "on the Sabbath, you're not a real believer, "that's not a real church." However, what you have to see is you have to see the New Testament custom. Jesus was died on a Friday, went to the grave on Saturday, and on Sunday morning early, the first day of the week, he got up out of that grave. (audience applauding) So the early Christians always started gathering on Sunday because they were declaring

with their actual gathering that our God is alive. Our God is risen, and now we gather on the first day of the week to let everybody know we ain't got no dead kind of religion. Our God is alive. If you know he's alive, clap your hands. (audience applauding) But they also gather on the first day of the week because they believe in first fruits, which we talked about in January, that Sunday is the first day of the week. And so God, when I give you the first, I'm trusting that you'll bless the rest. So I don't know what kind of week you've already had, but something tells me, just being here today, it's a declaration of faith going, "God, I'm giving you my Sunday "'cause I need you to show up on Monday and Tuesday "and Wednesday. "Anybody still need God on Thursdays? "Go ahead and make a little bit of noise." (audience applauding) He's gonna bless the rest of your week. We are New Testament believers, and we have fallen in line with that custom that we gather on Sundays. And so Sunday night church, it's 6 p.m. in the city, and all the disciples are there, except for one. Thomas, talk about a Sunday you don't wanna miss.

They're all there, and you can imagine how they're feeling. You can imagine the climate in the room. You can imagine the atmosphere, disappointment, discouragement, defeat, death. They're afraid the room is locked. And the Bible says in John 20, that Jesus appears to them. And when they see them, can you imagine we saw you die? Now you're like, can you imagine what begins to happen with your faith? But there's one who's missing. Thomas wasn't there. It pays to be in church, man. Talk about a Sunday you didn't wanna miss. Thomas missed it. But when Thomas sees them, their attitude's different. Hey, Thomas, man. We've seen the Lord. What an interesting thought. Thomas is grieving, but they've seen Jesus with their own eyes. I have learned more often than not, sometimes God won't give you a new revelation because he's put you around people who are already carrying it. We're trying to give you a good theology and a good doctrine of why you should come to church because sometimes I come to church and my faith is low. Sometimes I come to church and I am discouraged. Sometimes I have been facing the winds of this world

and the storms of this life. All of a sudden I start to borrow your faith. I start to borrow your courage. Oh wow, look at her. She's got joy. And now just the act of your joy starts putting joy inside of me. I can show it to you in the Bible because in Acts chapter 16 when Paul and Stylus start praising God, it wasn't just that their chains got loose. The Bible says all the prison doors swung open, all the chains fell of other people. Come on somebody, why don't you praise God today for the person down your row, for the person in front of you, for the person behind you, my worship breaks other people's chains. Sometimes you've got to borrow courage from other people. Sometimes you don't have the revelation because your neighbor's got it and they've seen the Lord. Thomas Mischurch, I would say don't miss Vukon. Who knows? What kind of revelation you might walk out of those doors getting this year. Who knows what you might witness, what you might see, what you might experience. But nonetheless, Thomas wasn't there. And so when Thomas meets up with them, he sees them and they're happy, but he's sad and maybe that's how you feel today. Maybe you walked into Vukon. And I know it. Vukon Church can be a lot for people. When you've had a difficult week and you show up and there's people outside with Disney microphones all the time, you go, "Hey, hi." You're like, "Right away, I don't trust these people, man." Ain't nobody that happy. What is this Disney world for Jesus? Yes, it is.

This is the happiest place on the planet. Come on, this is people that don't just endure, they enjoy life. But I could imagine what that must feel like, that everyone else around you has seen something that you haven't seen and maybe you're even here today and you're going, "Man, I want you, God, but I'm going to need the proof that you, God." Whatever evidence you're carrying, I need that. And so here comes Thomas. He says this bold thing. He says, "Hey, listen, all of his brothers in the Lord have seen him," because, "Hey, listen, unless he doesn't just make a statement, he draws a line in the sand, unless I see him with my eyes and unless I touch his side and touch his hands, unless I see it, I cannot believe it." And it's very easy for us 2,000 years later to judge Thomas, but, "Man, the twin is in you too." And then we'll never make a deal with God. God I promise, "Man, if you let me pass this to you, I will always, always, always serve you." God, if you just, "Oh, God, please don't let my boss see that I'm late today." I promise. If you, I promise you, let me get through this one, I will never miss church again. A lot of us are into making deals with God. A lot of us are into putting a line in the sand, unless I see it, then I can't believe it. Unless you do it, I cannot believe you're actually working. But here's what's so fascinating about this. What's so fascinating is that proof is not the problem. And maybe you're done, you've been in this collection, we've been talking about signs and wonders about a God who's moving and you're saying, "I need more evidence." And I would actually push back and say, "I don't think evidence is your problem." I mean, Thomas has 10 of his brothers in the Lord who he's spent the last three years

with. They've all, they're all saying, "You know, we've seen the Lord." And for seven days, he grieves. For seven days, he does not believe, even with the proof of the people he trusts the most. See, I don't think evidence is a problem. In fact, I don't think it's just a Thomas situation. I think all through the Bible, we can see this to be true. All throughout the Bible, we can see that God does amazing things and people still don't believe. And if you're not careful, you will develop a theology. Some of us, we even chase down revivals and even chase for churches saying, "I want to see God move in a phenomenal way, in an uncommon way." Because if I see him move in an uncommon way, then I'll start to have an uncommon belief. And sometimes that's true, but sometimes that's not true. Sometimes you don't need to see anything more. Sometimes you've already seen enough. I mean, go throughout the Bible, you do realize that the Pharisees saw all the same miracles. I mean, think about when Jesus heals the lepers. Remember? He's like, "Go back and show the priest." Because if you have leprosy, you actually have to go and be vouchful by the high priest to say that you're now clean. So Pharisees saw him do things. Pharisees saw him heal blinded eyes. Pharisees saw him heal people that were lame. I mean, John 11, we've already talked about it once. What a story. I mean, think about this story. When Jesus waits two more days, he shows up to Bethany, and Lazarus has been in the grave

for four days. That's a very, very important point, because what they believe back then, especially in Jewish custom, that your soul, your spirit would leave the body after three days. So Jesus on purpose waits. I don't know who needs to hear that today. [BLANK_AUDIO] Someone will say, "Better late than never." And Jesus shows up and it seems like he's late, but he's actually on time. In fact, Martha's upset, she's like, "If you had been here, my brother would not have died." And Jesus is like, "Yo, Martha, it's going to be okay. I am. I am." We were singing Yaw way early. I am the resurrection and the life. It's not just a function. It's my very identity. And so after four days of this man being dead, he shows up on the scene and he says, "Roll the stone away." Before he does, Martha's like, "Yo, he's been in there while there's going to be an odor." He said, "Roll the stone away anyways." And he said, "Lazarus, come forth." And after four... I'm not talking about 17 minutes, his heart stopped. I'm not talking about how he drowned for three minutes and got back up and threw CPR and threw a Jericho March. You know, four days dead. After four days of being dead, he says, "Lazarus, you come forth." And Lazarus comes up out of that grave walking out because Jesus was announcing to all of us, "I don't care if you've been dead for four days.

I don't care if you've been dead for 40 days. I don't care how long that thing has been lying there dormant. I am the God who can do impossible things and I can move whenever I want to move somebody given praise." Some would say, "Better late than never." And what appeared to be late was actually on time. Think about how great this miracle is. Well, go back and read it. John chapter 11 verse 46, "Some believe," but not everybody, verse 46, "all the evidence in the world." But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. If you keep reading in John chapter 11, you will see that this is the moment that when the Pharisees get this news, Lazarus was dead, now he's alive, that they create a plot to kill Jesus. Wait a minute, I thought miracles make us believe in Jesus. Yeah, sometimes miracles make us want to kill Jesus. We need more evidence. No, you don't. I mean, is there any greater evidence? I mean, water to wine is cool, but Lazarus being dead brought back to life? Let's kill him. What? Because it's not a miracle problem, it's a heart. That's a heart problem, a critical spirit will always turn to a doubting heart. Matthew 28, I mean, this is the one, right? I mean, Jesus has died on a cross. He's now walked on the earth for 40 days. Paul tells us in Corinthians that 500 people saw him, 500 folks saw him. But Matthew 28, as he's there at the Mount of Olives, the Bible says that Jesus, he ascends to heaven.

Remember, he gives us a great commission, go out in all the world, preach the gospel, why are you putting on Vukon? Why are you putting on this effort? Because we don't think it's the great suggestion, we think it's the great commission that we're still trying to do his last command to all of us. So Matthew 28, he gives the great commission and then he ascends to heaven. Look at what the scripture, this is too good when they saw him, they worshiped him. But some doubt it, that is troubling, that is sad, and it's also hilarious. Because Jesus is like, "Oh." And there's still somebody there going, "I don't think he is who he said he is." Because you don't need more evidence, miracles aren't the problem. The heart is the problem. And I'm not trying to be mean to you, I'm just, I'm giving you a diagnosis that so often what's taking place is that our heart is hard, something in our heart doesn't believe. And here is Thomas and he's drawing a line in the sand and I don't know what took place all the way in Thomas, but I know for seven days he's grieving and grieving, puts you in isolation, grieving, pushes you away from people and grieving makes your heart harder. You start locking up doors and some of us, even in this room, it's like we want God or we say we want God, but something happened in our life, a disappointment, a letdown, a pain, a trauma, and there's a hurt there that hasn't been addressed. And with it, we've started locking the doors to our heart. And it's the truth, but it's a hard truth. You can't fix yourself, like you can't argue your way in, like your heart doesn't change through research or just through intellectualism. That's not what's going to do it. You need a seat of faith to be birthed in it. And so here's Thomas, he's like, "Unless I see it, then I'll believe it, but it's not how God works." God says, "You've got to believe it." And then you're going to see it.

But faith doesn't come by way of seeing. Come on, seeing comes by way of faith. We need our heart transformed. Come on, somebody clap your hands, I need my heart transformed. So what do I do if my heart is unbelieving? Because you're not going to see your way into faith. Did you hear what I just said? - Yes. - 'Cause I'm good, not yet. I'm sorry, I love you guys so much. Y'all, up here real early, man, come on. Give it up for these great women of God, Mary and Martha. (audience applauding) Easy, Martha. Some of us love the presence of God. Let me just get, these are my friends, I love them. I wanna teach this, this is important. Some of us aren't trying to see our way into faith. It's not how it works. So if I see more stuff, if I get to more events, if I get around more mysterious things, mystical things, then somehow faith will be produced, but that's not how it works. Faith leads to seeing. That's why I put the apostle Paul. He said, "Open the eyes of my heart, God." So how do I soften my heart? What do I need to put my heart in a place that it's sensitive to believe again? Because that's what's going on with Thomas.

He's disappointed, he's hurt. I know we call him doubting Thomas, but he's the twin, just like you and me. And the twin and me, man, sometimes I get discouraged and with it, my heart starts to lock up. And what I need again is I need faith to begin to blossom. Well, how does it take place? Paul tells us in Romans chapter 10 verse 17 that faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of God. So did you hear what I said? Faith doesn't come by way of seeing. Faith comes by way of hearing. You gotta hear the word of God. God's word changes things. God's word softens your heart. God's word begins to shift things. Look at this, consequently, faith comes from the hearing, the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ. That's why it's so important when you open up the word of God, understand. You read it, but it reads you. And something changes when you read the book. Look at what Hebrews tells us. Hebrew chapter four verse 12. This is what it says about the book. It says for the word of God is alive and active, sharper than any double-edged sword. Did you know that the Bible is a weapon?

The sword of the spirit, that when the enemy wants to hurl insults at you, you say, "Y'all, I'll cut you devil." Well, how do you cut the devil? You cut the devil with the word of God. 1,000 may fall at my left, 10,000 am right, but no harm will come near me. There is no condemnation for those that are in Christ. Jesus, I know the word of God. Shut your mouth. Sharper the knee double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow, it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart, of the heart. See what it's doing? It's softening your heart. It's changing your heart. That's why it's important that when we come to God's house, you might be going through hell and high water, but when someone comes behind this pulpit and they open up this book, no longer is it just their words that are being proclaimed. Now it's the word of God that's being proclaimed, and when the word of God gets in your situation, faith begins to emerge. Faith begins to rise. I'd encourage some of y'all. Some of y'all, you only listen to worship music on Sunday. That's a mistake. That's a whole mistake.

That's a whole mistake because you are putting yourself in an attitude of faith on Sunday, but then when you put on whatever garbage Monday through Saturday, all you're doing is producing a seed of fear in your life. If I was you, I would get that vu worship record. I would play it every day of the week because I need faith all around me. (audience clapping) So faith comes by hearing, hearing the word, and the more our heart is softened, listen to me, the more and more our heart is softened to believe. Now what takes places is that when God's word goes forth, this is very important. It no longer is just inspiration. It becomes instruction. A lot of us, we hang out in the shallow end of the pool forever, just being inspired. Is rich preaching today? Which one is he live at? Because I need a word. Did you not know? You could get a word. I'm grateful that you like my preaching. I'm just saying you do know you can get a word anytime you want. But your heart has to be softened because if you're not careful, you'll just settle for inspiration, butterflies and fugas. And I like inspiration.

I'm not against inspiration. I want to inspire you. The Holy Spirit is the inspire. He will do that. But at some point, it has to go from inspiration to instruction. And this is important because now when God starts instructing you, now when you start seeing the word, you don't just pay attention to the promise. You also start paying attention to the conditions. And a lot of believers, they know the promise, but they don't recognize I have to obey the condition to get the promise. That in Christ Jesus, everything is yes and amen. All the promises of the Lord, but every promise has a condition attached to it. I mean, look at it. Second chronicle, chapter seven verse 14. Most of us know this passage. And most of us believe for the promise, but we neglect the condition. If my people, that's you and me, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and I will forgive their sin and heal their land. A lot of us, we want the healing, but we don't recognize that the healing is produced A lot of us are going, God, heal me.

I'm claiming second chronicles, but he says there's a condition to it. You gotta humble yourself, you gotta seek your father, you gotta pray, and then with it, then he brings about a healing. Matthew chapter six, verse 33, we looked at this passage a whole lot in January. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Most believers want all the things. God, I want all the things. But all the things is the promise, the condition is, seek first his kingdom. God, I gotta put you first, not in just one category of my life, but God, I gotta put you first in every area of my life. When you put God first, come on, how many believe? The promise is, he'll handle all of the additions. James chapter four, verse eight, draw near to God and he will draw near unto you. God, I need your presence, but you're not even seeking him. You're not even pursuing him. Well, is he then responding upon my initiation? No, the cross of Jesus Christ, the incarnation that God man got himself in the form of a baby and was born and walked on the earth for 33 years. He watched us, he stepped out of heaven. He came in like Renzo, proposed to you.

(congregation laughing) He's a real man. He pursued you when you were running from him, but now that you know him, now that you've received his love, now that you've witnessed his signs and wonders, now you gotta do what his brother said. You gotta draw near to him because every time you get close to him, whoo, he gets closer to you. Come on, somebody give him praise in this place. (congregation clapping) Someone say, better late. Better late. Better late. Better late. Better late than never. Better late than never, because this is how faith works. There's a novel, the novel is called The Miss of Avalon. It's a fantasy novel. It's a fiction novel. I'm not recommending that as required reading, but the premise of the book is that there is this fantasy kingdom that's real. It's this beautiful kingdom called Avalon, but it's hidden by a mist. And people go looking for it, but they never can see it because The Miss hides it. Now here is the deal.

The only thing about The Miss is that The Miss doesn't change with the weather. The Miss doesn't change when the seasons change. The only thing that makes The Miss disappear is when you wholeheartedly believe that Avalon exists. And I can't give you really a better illustration of how faith works. Because faith works this way, that oftentimes life can feel foggy and disappointing and confusing, and I can't see anything. And oftentimes we want The Miss to disappear. And if it would just disappear, then I could believe that Avalon exists. But the kingdom of God is opposite. It's only when you begin to exercise faith that the fog begins to lift. The faith in your heart is what makes the fog disappear. And behind it, you see there is a bigger and better kingdom than you could ever imagine. And so it is with God's kingdom. Many of you are looking for another sign. You're looking for another wonder, but all the signs and wonders have come. Now it's gonna require you to get his word into your heart. And when you believe before you know it, Miss starts disappearing. And before you know it, you start seeing things. Like the scripture says, that those who have ears to hear, they hear it. Those who have eyes to see, woo, now I see it.

Why? Because faith erupted in my heart. Somebody give God praise in this place. (audience applauds) And the Bible says that seven days later, they're back in that same house. And Thomas has already drawn his line in the sand. Unless I see it, then I can't believe it. The fog is all around him, the mist is in front of him. Seven days later, that just preaches in itself. For seven days, he has been operating like Jesus is still dead. But you know what's interesting about unbelief? Unbelief doesn't change reality. It just stops you from experiencing it. Thomas is walking around for seven days, seven days grieving, but he doesn't have to. Seven days he thinks Jesus is dead, but Jesus is alive for seven days. He's waiting for something to happen that Jesus has already done. I wonder how many of us are just like this? Thomas is sitting here man, and he's grieving over a defeated enemy. Thomas is in this moment, he's waiting for something to happen that's already happened he's just late and for many of us this is what we do in our life until i see it i'll believe it i got to see it to believe it and your unbelief isn't changing the fact that jesus is still alive

all it's doing is keeping you from experiencing the reality of his resurrection i don't know who i'm preaching to right now but some of you right now there's an anxiety that creeps up inside of you you're so anxious about the future you don't realize jesus is already in your future and he's already turning the story around some of you are mornin over dreams that he's already resurrected some of you are living defeated when he has already become victorious he declared its finish seven days late seven days late some of you all ain't seven days late some of you are 52 years late some of you all have been in god's presence for 60 years and you just you haven't believed i got good news for you better late i said better late than never put that in the chat better late than never because after seven days i like this story the bible says jesus appears john lets us know that the room is locked i think that's a good detail there was such fear about the persecution that was going to come on them that they were locked in but here comes jesus he doesn't need to use a handle he doesn't need a door knocker the bible says that he appears inside the room because oftentimes we're trying to lock him out he says i'm about to break in i'm about to get into that hard hard i'm about to do something in your life the bible says he appears and it's so beautiful because the first thing he says is his peace be with you that's who he is he is the prince of peace he's the resurrection but he's also the prince of peace that wherever he goes his peace follows his peace doesn't mean my circumstance changes his peace means that his spirit gets inside of me and the bible says that he looks at thomas now notice this he wasn't there when thomas made this great statement yet jesus hears all things and he knows the condition of his heart and he says thomas he says go ahead touch me go ahead and see my scars see that it's see that it's me i love jesus because he pursues doubters thomas was the first doubter he pursued by having all know he's been pursuing millions of doubters ever since he's the god who chases us down he's chasing you down today he's he's appearing to you right now he's speaking to you and here's what's so beautiful about the story never heard this preach before we never see in the text thomas reach out and touch his scars or his wounds all we see thomas do after jesus gives him the command is he says my lord and my god why because he didn't need more proof all he needed was god's presence and when he got jesus his presence his presence was enough to let faith begin to emerge the bible

tells us in john chapter one that the word that's jesus became flesh and dwelt among us if faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of god what happens when you touch the word of god what happens when you get the very presence of jesus christ in your midst i think you can help but be full of faith can't help it i don't need more proof i just need his presence i want to encourage you today his word is going forth he sees you he loves you and he will break into your life he will break into your heart heart he will appear but it's going to require you to believe and jesus says it this way and this is i think the word for all of us here's our application for the week because you have seen me thomas you believe and blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed meaning hey thomas um i'm gonna let you touch me and see me but there is a great blessing for those who come after you who never get to see my physical body with their eyes but rather they walk by faith oh wait i know that scripture i don't walk by sight i walk by faith and what jesus says is there's a greater blessing coming upon you for you believed without seeing the world would say i got to see it to believe it but faith would say when i believe it whoo i'm going to see it better late than never better late than never better late than never i like how john ends the chapter this is what he says in verse 30 john chapter 20 verse 33 31 jesus before many other signs in the presence of his disciples which are not recorded in this book but these are written that you may believe and that by believing you may have life in His name. You know what John is saying? John is saying, there's a whole lot more things I could have recorded, but what I gave you is enough. You see, the great blessing for us as New Testament Christians is no, we are not like Thomas, but there's a great grace that comes upon us. We get the Holy Scriptures, Thomas never had that. We get the testimony of the apostles. He was one of them. But we get to see the lives transformed all around us. I'll tell you one of the great evidences and one of the great signs and great wonders

is when I meet somebody who was running from God and then God broke into their heart. And now their testimony is like all of our testimonies. Once I was lost, but now I'm found. Once I was blind, but now I see. He's telling you and me that you have enough! You have enough to believe. And I like John because he just takes it even further. John chapter 21 verse 25, better late than ever. Here comes the end. Last verse in all of John's gospel, this is good. Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have enough room for the books that would be written. That's a bar. I suppose if we tried to record all of what Jesus had done, not that there wouldn't be enough books that the world would not be big enough. You're not getting that revelation. Your God is so much bigger than your little brain. Your God is so big that the very world, the very earth, could not contain all of it. And John's letting you know Jesus is big and he's still moving. And I can't put him into a biography. There is no book that could contain his greatness or his grace or his mercy. In fact, he's so big. The whole world could not contain his grace.

The whole world could not hold all of his love and all of his mercy. He's bigger than you know! (upbeat music) He's bigger than you know. And you don't need more proof. You don't need any more evidence. Ask him. If I told you today, I'm close and you can sit down 'cause I'm all close. You can see I'm getting ready for Vukon. I don't know why I preached on Sunday, but I felt it, man. I felt it. I felt like I had to preach today. I felt like I had to preach today. If I told you right now, outside here at Miami Gardens, sorry for all the other locations, there's a bus. There's a bus outside. And it's ready to take you to Disney World, the second happiest place on the universe. (audience laughing) Outside of U-Church. And we've got you over there at one of those Disney resorts. It's all paid for, it's all taken care of. We're taking care of your breakfast. We got park hopper passes, it's gonna be gray. How me, I know, we could discuss that. And we could talk about that forever. We could take the next thousand years to discuss that.

Is Rich telling me the truth? Is there a bus out there? The only way you would ever know. - All right, all right, come on, come on. (audience clapping) - Is you would have to get up and go outside. (audience clapping) (soft music) - Belief is in action. And Jesus said in Matthew chapter seven or seven, ask and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find knock. Knock and the door will be open to you for everyone. Everyone, that's you and me for everyone who asks, receives the one who seeks finds and the one who knocks the door will be open to you. If you spend your whole life being a skeptic, judging something from a distance at some point, if you're ever gonna discover it, you're gonna have to give up your distance. You're gonna actually have to pursue. You're gonna actually have to look. And I got good news for you that when you go looking, the evidence is all around. The proof is all around. Is there anybody in this room who has a testimony that once I was blind, but now I see. Once I was far from God, but he brought me close. It might not have happened on my timetable, but I got good news for you.

I wasn't lost. I was just late. Come on, somebody, I wasn't forgotten. I was just a little bit behind, but I'm breathing. And I know he's still working. Come on, somebody, give him praise in this house. Lift your hands. Come on, lift your voice.