جارٍ تحميل الأرشيف الحي.
Part 1 of 16
واصِل الاستكشاف
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One of the 12 disciples, Thomas, was nicknamed Twin. In John 20:25, when the other disciples told Thomas they had seen the risen Lord, he replied, "I won't believe unless I see the nails in his hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in his side."
Before we begin, take a moment to high-five at least three people near you and tell them today's topic with an attitude: "Lock in, twin." Now have a conversation with yourself and say: "Self, it's time to lock in. What God is getting ready to do, eyes have not seen, ears have not heard. This moment is too big for you to miss it. Lock in, twin."
We are living in arguably the most distracted generation in history. Not because we have less discipline, but because the enemy has more weapons. He uses your phone to fight for your attention. He uses social media to fight for your attention. He uses the news, notifications, and everything else to compete for your focus.
In this season, I'm not just protecting my property—I'm protecting my focus. Your focus is too valuable for everyone and everything to have it. Look around this room: you've accomplished things that other people would be impressed by, yet you're saying to yourself, "I'm not even locked in yet." What will happen when you really lock in?
We have normalized short attention spans, constant scrolling, and multitasking everything. We struggle to sit still. We struggle with being in the right place while being fully present at the same time. When your body is here but your mind is not, you struggle to stay focused.
Focus is an act of spiritual warfare. Focus is declaring war against the enemy, saying that your future is too valuable to give it to you. You need to focus not just to guard your feelings, but to protect your future. Big faith is in your focus.
There was a man named Peter who was in the middle of a storm with 12 disciples stuck on a boat. Jesus told him to come, and Peter stepped out of the boat and started walking on what other people drowned in. He was doing the impossible. But when he saw the winds and the waves, he began to sink.
He started out doing the impossible, but he couldn't sustain it because he lost focus. Jesus looked at Peter and said, "Why is your faith so little?" Because if there's something called little faith, there's also something called big faith. And big faith is in your ability to stay focused.
This attention deficit issue is not just a cultural issue—it's also a spiritual issue. 1 Peter 5:8 says:
Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
He didn't say "my enemy." God and the devil are not equals. The devil prowls around like a roaring lion. He has a lot of bark and no bite. He's loud. He has power, but you have authority. You don't fight power with power. You fight power with authority.
So even though the enemy may show up with power, you show up with authority—the authority in the name of Jesus. I know your child may be sick, but in the name. I know the doctor's report, but in the name.
Paul gives military language: "Be alert." This paints the picture of a guard or a soldier being on duty, watching something. Be alert because you can't fall asleep in this big moment. If you fall asleep, you give room for the enemy to do whatever he wants.
Be careful when you're surrounded by people who are asleep. We keep losing focus by association. When I say "lock in, twin," I'm not telling you to lock in by yourself. I'm saying we're getting ready to lock in together. This is shared focus. God, send me people who have focus on the same level that I have or even more.
You ever been in a season where you were slipping and you got around somebody who was locked in? You were chilling, slipping, and didn't even know it. But you got around them and saw how locked in they were, and it offended you. "Oh, you ain't got time to go out with anybody no more, huh?" But then when you're alone, you think, "I got to get myself together. We better than this."
Faith needs friends. There was a paralyzed man who had four friends. He couldn't get to Jesus by himself, but God put people in his life who would carry him on a mat, get to the house where Jesus was. When they couldn't get in through the door, they had so much faith they tore a roof off and got him to Jesus. Jesus looked at the paralyzed man and said, "Their faith has made you whole."
I dare you to praise God not just for yourself, but for everybody on your row. And if they get agitated, just say, "You don't even know what my praise is doing for you. You don't even know what my praise is doing for your family, because I have shared faith."
When I say "Lock in, twin," here's what it means: Lock in, twin, is the recognition that the moment is too big for us to miss due to our focus being a mess.
For some of us, confession is good for the soul. God has been too good to us to allow our focus to be a mess. So we blame exes, we blame supervisors, we blame coworkers, we blame family members. But at some point, you're going to have to take ownership and say, "I wasn't as focused as I should have been in that season. And because I was not as focused in the past, I'm dealing with the mess today."
Be alert. Why? Because distractions are expensive. They cost you time. You can get a lot of stuff back. Time ain't one of them. Distractions cost you tears.
You can get into a season where you're not locked in and not discerning and not focused. People, places, and things come into your life that you think is God when it's really you. You become emotionally attached to people who are not aligned with your purpose. So when God is ready to open the door He has for you, you're going to have to close the door you had for you.
You know you've been struggling with this when you sit down to pray and all of a sudden your mind starts racing. You go to your prayer time with God ready to pray, in your word, and then your mind starts thinking about, "Is Taco Bell open?" Then your mind goes from Taco Bell to, "Did I do the laundry? What am I wearing today?" Before you know it, time that should have been sacred—time that's going to pour back into you so you can pour back into others—has been lost because you did not protect your focus.
This is not random. This is resistance. This is warfare. Whenever you make a decision to focus on what matters most, the enemy will begin to distract you the most. He doesn't just have weapons of mass destruction; he also uses weapons of mass distractions.
Peter didn't just say, "Be alert." He also said, "and of sober mind." I come from a bloodline of men who all died from being alcoholics. There are some people in my family I have never seen sober. When you become intoxicated, you start walking different.
But what if I told you some of us are not intoxicated with alcohol? What do you do when you're intoxicated by pain? Pain has you in your feelings. Grief is controlling you, bitterness is controlling you, anger is controlling you, offense is controlling you.
This is what we see in Thomas. He's emotionally and mentally intoxicated to where his faith is creating doubt. "I won't believe unless I see it."
Thomas often gets a bad rap, but I like Thomas. He's often called "doubting Thomas" because of one moment, and people demonize him. I want to humanize him.
Here he is, having walked with Jesus for three years. He had one moment where he expressed doubt. He didn't betray Jesus like Judas. He didn't deny Jesus like Peter. But because he's having a real conversation and expressing how he feels, people are calling him a doubter.
When Jesus had to go back to resurrect Lazarus, the other disciples were afraid because they knew people wanted to kill Jesus and his team. It was one disciple who spoke up: Thomas. He said, "Hey, let's go die with him." Thomas was such a ride-or-die disciple.
Why do I like Thomas? Because Thomas has no filter. He's going to keep it real and tell you how he really feels. So when he says, "I refuse to believe until I see it," he's being vulnerable. But be careful when you're having real conversations surrounded by fake people, because they start putting labels on you. They don't know how to recognize real.
Some people are so used to being around fake stuff that when you finally bring the real thing around them, they don't even know how to appreciate it, how to receive it, how to value it. God, if you don't do nothing else, send some real people who can be real with me and I can be real with. Real recognize real. I don't have to keep wasting time interpreting how I feel, because you do know how to interpret real.
By the time we meet Jesus in John 20, we meet the disciples after a devastating sequence. He's been:
The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is the same power that lives inside of us. The resurrection is an invitation—an invitation for broken people to experience restoration, for bound people to experience liberation, for guilty people to receive justification, for doubting people to develop anticipation, for dead people to experience regeneration, and for surrendered people to walk in transformation.
With the Holy Spirit, we have the transformational power to turn what's a tomb for others into a womb for us. What other people get buried in, we give birth from.
In John 20, this is like the fourth time Jesus has popped up on his disciples post-resurrection. Before John 20, the last time he appeared to the disciples was in the upper room. But Thomas was not there. Look at verse 24: "One of the 12 disciples, Thomas, nicknamed Twin, was not with the others when Jesus came."
They told him, "We've seen the Lord!" They shouted with excitement. He interrupted their praise break and said, "Hey, I ain't trying to hear all that. I'm not believing unless I see the nails in his hands, put my finger into them, and place my hand into the wound in his side."
This is why everybody calls him doubting Thomas. Be careful when you allow people to label you based on one season. You mean to tell me I've interceded for you, supported you, been there for you, and I have one human moment of weakness, and you're putting a whole label on me?
The devil is a liar. Labels are for boxes, not for people. Do I have anybody today that said, "Labels are for boxes, not for me"?
With labels come limits, and Jesus took the limits. But this text doesn't give us a label—it gives us his location. When Jesus comes back, he's not in the room.
Maybe Thomas is doubting right now because he was distant. Distance creates room for doubt to grow unchecked. For some of you, when you're all in, you're all in. But when you're done, there's no need for conversation. You'll just holler later.
So he's distant when Jesus comes back. And for some of you, could it be that your distance is creating doubt? Or could it be that your distance is the reflection of your doubt? There's danger in the distance.
I come to preach to a few of you who know what it's like when life happens and you like to be by yourself. I'm not saying Thomas is wrong. I'm just saying this is not wise. When you're in one of the lowest moments of your life, the worst place you can go is into isolation.
You mean to tell me we were good enough for you to hang around when we were winning? But now that we're losing, you want to lose by yourself? If we're going to win together, then the quality of a relationship shouldn't just be based on how well we do when we win together. True strength and value in that relationship will be seen when we start losing.
Here he is by himself. This season for Thomas reveals to us what it's like when your faith comes to a dead end. A dead end is a place that leads to nowhere.
Have you ever put your all into a relationship and the relationship led nowhere? Have you ever put your all into a business or an idea or a job and felt like this is leading nowhere? Have you ever poured as much wisdom into your kids and got to a season where it felt like it led nowhere? Have you ever served in ministry, put your heart into it, felt overlooked or unappreciated, wondering if this is leading nowhere?
The grave represents dead ends. And Thomas is so grieved by the crucifixion that he's allowing his grief to create a grave that Jesus is no longer in. For some of us, we're so blinded by our disappointment and pain that we don't even realize the grave was not a setback—it was a setup for a comeback.
I wonder if there are some people in this room saying, "You better get ready for my comeback because I'm about to bounce back like I never left. I'm coming back stronger, wiser, better." Do I have any bounce back believers who can give God a bounce back praise?
My family is bouncing back. My faith is bouncing back. My anointing is bouncing back. He's on the brink of a bounce back and doesn't even know it.
But then the text says in verse 26, eight days later. There's something special about the number eight. Eight represents new beginnings. In Jewish and Hebraic culture, all males were circumcised on the eighth day.
Eight days later represents something profound. Eight represents new beginnings. In Jewish and Hebraic culture, all males were circumcised on the eighth day. This was such an important task that Jesus didn't officially get his name until the eighth day of living after being circumcised. You couldn't even get your identity until you could handle a cut.
Eight days represents the cutting off of the flesh. Because sometimes bouncing back or new beginnings feels like being cut. Do you have some people that survived some cuts in your life—cuts that hurt you, but didn't break you? Cuts that made you stronger?
Eight days later, the disciples were in the room together. This matters because you don't appreciate it unless you know what it's like to feel like you missed your moment. What if God is sending some of you into a season where he's about to do it again? There may be moments and opportunities you feel like you missed, but he's saying, "Just get back in the right place because I'm about to spin the block and do it again."
You didn't miss your moment. What if you just weren't ready for it yet? "I needed to deal with the twin in you that would have sabotaged it if you would have got it prematurely. So I had to make you wait eight days to cut off your ego, cut off your pride, cut off your preference so that when I show up this time, you'll have some faith when I show up and not be stuck in your feelings."
The disciples were in the room. The text says the doors were locked. There's no wasted ink in the Bible. Then the text says, suddenly, Jesus was standing among them. Don't overlook this—the doors were locked, but suddenly, he's there.
Jesus, post-resurrection, suddenly appears beyond locked doors. And we are post-resurrection believers. Before the resurrection, he would have to knock and wait. But after resurrection, he breaks through. Now that you have been resurrected with Jesus, there are certain doors you don't have to wait behind—you just break through it. He's taken the limits off. He's giving you access to rooms.
He breaks through the room and says, "What's up, twin? You lost something. And I came to bring it back. Because you survived the crucifixion. You survived the antagony. You survived the threats. But your peace didn't. So I came to give you one of the most valuable things a believer can have."
The first thing out of his mouth is peace. Not an assignment, not an instruction, not an explanation—peace.
In other words, you're in the right place with the wrong posture. Peace. Your body is here, but your mind is not right now. Your body is here, but your heart left a year ago. Peace. You need to settle your soul.
You will always lack focus whenever you lose peace.
When you don't have peace, you don't focus—you force it. You start forcing stuff that's not in God's will because you're doing it with the wrong posture.
He said the same thing when Moses had Pharaoh and his army behind them and the Red Sea in front of them. He said, "Watch this. Be still." Because sometimes focus does not look like you're doing more. Sometimes focus looks like you being still. Jesus is saying, "We don't need to be moving at the same time right now. I need you to be still and let me fight your battle."
There's some stuff you've been losing sleep about that when you get his peace, he'll give you a peace that surpasses all understanding. While other people think you cried yourself to sleep, you're going to be snoring so loud because you have peace. Peace is more important than a paycheck.
You survived the storm. You survived the attack. You survived the season. But what if your peace didn't? And Jesus is showing up for you just like he showed up for Thomas, saying, "Hey, I came to give you something that you lost—peace."
I know you're in the storm right now. Your door's locked. You're afraid. You just saw them crucify me on the cross, and you think you're next. But I need you to have peace so that you don't die full. I need you to die empty—completing your assignment. The problem is not death. The problem is dying with incomplete assignments.
Jesus looks at Thomas and says, "Hey. Look at my hands. You see the scars where the nails were? Put your finger right there. Look at my side. They pierced me in the side." In this season, Thomas, you don't need a sermon. You need scars.
Sometimes part of your calling is to be evidence of what God can do. Your neighbor would be shouting right now if they knew they weren't just sitting next to a person—they're sitting next to proof. I'm proof that God can pick you up, turn you around, and place your feet on solid ground. I'm proof that cancer won't kill you. I'm proof.
This is what we call a miracle of exception—when everyone around you is subject to the same conditions, but God exempts you from the same outcome. We may go through the same thing, but we don't come out the same way. This is how the Hebrew boys can be thrown in the fire but don't even come out smelling like smoke. Because I am the exception.
I'm proof. For some of you, you should be dead by now, but you're proof. You should be in jail right now, but you're proof. You should be in a sick bed right now, but you're proof. You should still be depressed, but you're proof. You should be losing your mind, but you're proof.
Lock in, twin. Because what if in this next season, God doesn't just want to use your skill, but he wants to use your scars? We overcome by the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony. Whose life is waiting to break through when you testify?
Thomas made a few decisions that we can make to experience what he experiences.
There was a room he should have been in, but he wasn't. But he had enough humility to get back in the room. For some of us, we don't need a new word—we need a new position. Where did you disconnect from that you need to be back locked in with? Get back in position. Sometimes your provision is waiting on you to be in the right place.
Jesus gave peace, but Thomas had to receive it. He didn't argue. He didn't ask for explanation. He just received it.
For some of you, what if God has been trying to give you peace, but you're so accustomed to living in chaos that peace feels uncomfortable? You feel guilty for laying down. When there is peace in your house, on your job, in your relationship, but you keep fighting that voice that says something ain't right? What do you do when peace feels foreign?
You can't have peace without trust. Because without trust, you'll never rest.
What if Thomas wasn't doubting—what if Thomas was just overwhelmed? He just watched his savior die. He didn't even recognize him on the cross. They put him in the grave. He gave his life for three years. He left everything for this man. He's overwhelmed. When Jesus says, "Peace," he recalibrates his soul.
Peace doesn't just improve your productivity. It also increases your protection. Peace is a shield that God uses to protect your future. Sometimes God has given you peace not just to protect you from the enemy, but also to protect you from you. If you're not careful, you'll start looking for unnecessary fights. And the Holy Spirit is like, "Hey, hey, hey. Peace. Be still."
After he touches the wounds and the scars, Jesus looks at him and says, "Don't be faithless. Believe." For some of you, God wants to give you your faith back. You don't believe like you used to. You allowed pain to domesticate your faith. So now, you believe God for stuff that you can do, not for stuff that he can do.
Sometimes God will give you a level of faith and belief that's beyond human limitations—that if God don't do it, it won't get done.
But here's what Jesus says after this: "Hey, you've seen it and you believe. But blessed are those who have not seen, but still believe." He was using Thomas to also speak to you. Do you have anybody in the room today that says, "Even if I don't see it, I know he's here. I know he's working. I still believe"?
