The Twelve Apostles: Flawed Yet Faithful

Information is needed in almost every day, all within years of founding the Corinthian congregation needs to see them reformed The Sopranos.

The church is performing regularly in the history of the church. Sometimes that reform is more the nature of a revitalization, but I think people have, especially in America, been to content to be satisfied with entertainment and with shallowness and we need a seriousness about God about Christ and about his word and I think should be drawn again to passionate interest in the word is gonna take a major reformation of the church today.

My hope is that this series will serve the church by causing people to reflect on what the church ought to be. According to the word of God, the necessity of reforming the church teaching series with W. Robert Godfrey visit Lincoln here.org/teaching series to learn more today on Renewing Your Mind. Doubting Thomas was a man of faith, but only so much faith in the rest of his friends came and told him that Jesus had been raised from the dead. Thomas would not believe it. He was so hurt by the loss of Jesus that he wouldn't allow himself to believe anymore his face that hit the wall. We tend to think of the apostles turns more than the fact that Jesus called them and they follow, but we realize they had feet of clay. They were sinners just like you and me on more than one occasion we see sin manifests itself in Peter as we just heard Dr. RC's pro se Thomas's faith and the wall.

Let's learn more about some of these men and discover their true character study that I think will help us replace the faith. Let's come now and stand and hear the word of God from Luke chapter 6 verses 12 through 16 now it came to pass in those days that he went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. And when it was day he called his disciples to himself and from them he chose 12 through May also named apostles Simon, whom he also named Peter and Andrew his brother James and John, Philip and Bartholomew, Matthew, and Thomas James the son of Alpheus since Simon called the zealot, Judas, the son of James than Judas Iscariot, who also became a traitor. Again, this small passage describes a moment USA events in the ministry of Jesus when he selected these men were described later as those who turned the world upside down. You've heard the word of God, receive it with the fullness of the authority that attends. Let us pray. Again, our father and our God, we beseech you for your help this morning that as we prepare our hearts for coming to the holy table of our Lord, we pray that through the words you will prepare us for that moment. We ask that you would give us understanding of the text that we have heard and that the text may find its home within our hearts, for we ask it in Jesus name, amen. Last week we looked that's Simon Peter and Andrew his brother and that James and John, and this morning were going to look first of all, at Philip of the New Testament doesn't give us a lot of information about Philip but he is introduced very early in the Gospel of John, when were told that he comes to Nathaniel, who is also called Bartholomew and testifies to Nathaniel that he said we have found the one, of whom Moses and the prophets spoke and so Philip and bearing witness to Jesus made his confession of faith in his conviction that Jesus was the one who had been prophesied through the Old Testament law and the prophets. Indeed, the one who was the Messiah, and later on we see Philip again approaching Jesus on the occasion of the feeding of the 5000 that he was the one who calculated the expense that would be involved in buying provisions to feed that vast multitude. On that occasion, and because of that incident. Some people of unfairly. I believe in unjustly dismissed. Philip is just another calculating person because he should've realized that Jesus had the power and the ability to feed all of those 5000 people without having to go in by an enormous amount of food well ice I said I think that's tremendously on fair is just an statement made in passing, and certainly is not characteristic of Philip in his whole life, another thing we need to know is that Philip the apostle is not to be confused with Philip the deacon and evangelist who is found throughout the book of acts and who meets the Ethiopian then explains Isaiah 53 that's a different person altogether, but one of the most important moments in the life of Jesus comes in the upper room when Philip says to Jesus, show us the father and it suffices us to hear that Mr. Cummins many of you could stand up in front of all these people and say suffices. And I take some skill set and a case Philip was saying we've seen all these wonderful things that you've done, we witness the turning of the water in the wind, the walking on the on the water. The calming of the sea. The raising of Lazarus and all the rest of these wonderful miracles. But there's one thing that we want to give us the big one. Jesus show us the father then will be completely satisfied that there was ever a time when Jesus seems to be exacerbated with one of his apostles were disciples. It was on this occasion because he said to Philip. Philip how long have I been with you and use Google don't know me, Jesus don't get don't you understand Philip that he who has seen me has seen the father. What a powerful statement that Jesus makes regarding the significance of his incarnation, he was seen me has seen the father. Well, like many of the other disciples after the resurrection of Jesus and the day of Pentecost came the many of the apostles became missionaries to other lands and tradition tells us that the missionary outreach of Philip carried all the way to ancient Gaul. That is to France that he is the first to bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to France and then he spent much time in Turkey where in confrontation with pagan priests there. He was despised, and as result was martyred in the year 54 A.D. he was doubly martyred, if that's possible. First, he was stoned almost to the point of death, and then they finish the job by crucifying him now the second apostle that we want to look at. Briefly this morning is Bartholomew who is called Nathaniel in the gospel according to John, as I mentioned a moment ago it was Nathaniel or Bartholomew, to whom Philip came and said, we have found the one on the phone as prophesied by the law of Moses and the prophets in the Faneuil was intrigued by that announcement and he said really, whereas the worry come from, and Philip said he came from Nazareth. Nathaniel laughed at that and Ozzie said Nazareth, are you kidding to many good things come out of Nazareth. That's like saying the came from both low or someplace like that in central Florida. But Jesus saw Nathaniel approaching and he made this strange announcement as he saw him coming sign. Behold an Israelite, in whom there is no guile now again the Gospels do not tell us a lot about Nathaniel but Jesus pronounced from that that point is profile.

What a description of a person's character, behold an Israelite, in whom there is no deceit.

Guileless person. When you love the have that on your tombstone that this person was a person without any deception without any dishonestly without any manipulation, but utterly guileless and when Nathaniel hears this pronouncement, he shocked me saying how the world did you know that you don't even know me. Jesus said I saw you under the tree over there and I knew you even before then, and Nathaniel was so impressed by Jesus display of supernatural knowledge that he immediately exclaimed you're the son of God, you're the king of Israel placing wasn't just Peter who made a great confession of faith among the disciples and among the apostles, but here we first year at your the son of God from Philip.

Now it's Nathaniel saying you are the son of God and the king of Israel will again. The Scriptures don't speak much more of this guileless Israelite, but from the testimony of church history and of tradition, we are told that he also became a missionary and went to Armenia and started the first Christian church in Armenia, but his ministry there got him in conflict with the local priests of pagan religion and they didn't like what he taught you know he would teach such things as the sanctity of life and the sanctity of marriage long before Chick-fil-A faced the same kind of negative reaction is an interesting and are cultured in our day that if you believe in the sanctity of life and in the sanctity of marriage to things instituted by God in creation. You are now risking being accused of a hate crime, and that's all far we have come that we understand the hearts of men and how desperately wicked. We are in our fallen humanity and this is the kind of problem that Nathaniel ran into in Armenia so he too was martyred in the year 70 A.D. and he was killed. First of all by having his skin flayed with whips that is being whipped so severely that most of his skin came off of his body, and when they were finished with the flying they let him out and crucified.

But Matthew we've already examined because we met him earlier in the gospel of Luke. We know that he was Levi, the tax collector, whom Jesus called from his tax collecting business and how Matthew then through this wonderful party for Jesus and the rest of his tax collector friends that created such hostility from the Pharisees that they began to seek ways to do away with Jesus, and of course the greatest claim to fame of St. Matthew is that he wrote the gospel, bearing his name. And of all the four Gospels.

The one with the most references to the Old Testament is his gospel. It is a gospel clearly written for a Jewish audience while he too became a missionary and according to ancient tradition took the gospel to Ethiopia and was one of the first two visit and established a church there in Africa. But in 60 A.D. he also got into problems with the local pagan priesthood as a result he was beheaded as a martyr to the fight and that leaves us this morning with Thomas. Thomas, who is known in infamy as being the skeptic of the resurrection is called doubting Thomas. In fact, is also called Thomas, one of the twin, but if we look at the other references to Thomas in the New Testament we see that Thomas was not it's unfair to just consider him simply as a skeptic when things got really bad. During the last days of Jesus life and Jesus told his disciples that he was going to be arrested and suffer and die most of the rest of the disciples wanted no parts of that but it was Thomas who said we will go with you and we will die with you. He stepped up and was willing to accompany Jesus to the point of death, no, of course, that didn't happen, but of all of the disciples, perhaps at this point he was the most zealous for Jesus and one in his zeal, he saw his Savior executed taken down from the cross and buried in the rest of his friends came and told him that Jesus had been raised from the dead. Thomas would not believe it. And I think it was to protect his own face. He was so hurt by the loss of Jesus, so devastated by his execution that he wouldn't allow himself to believe anymore. His face had hit the wall and there was no more room for hope in this man and so he gave the challenge to the rest of those who work giddy in their excitement about the resurrection. He said you guys can believe that stuff but unless I put my finger in the woundedness and in my hand, and the side word spirit dear for them. I will not believe you know the story how when the disciples were gathered in the upper room and Jesus appeared in their midst. Jesus look at Thomas he said here Thomas put your finger in my put your hand in my side. That was the offer that Jesus made to Thomas in the Scriptures.

Don't tell us if the talk Jesus up on the offer and actually touch the risen Christ. I doubt very much if he did, though. He said that they would take that to convince them the presence of Jesus. Now with those outspread hand was more than enough to convince them and you talk about confessions of faith. Now Thomas is on his knees and he gives perhaps the highest not perhaps the highest profession of faith of any of the disciples of Jesus when he looked at him and he said my Lord and my God. Notice there are other occasions where human beings bow down before angels or even had people bow down before them. As Paul had to experience on his missionary journeys and in every case where one who was not God was treated as God never rebuked the Angels would not receive worship from human based.

Paul refused and Silas refused to accept worship from people in their adulation. When Thomas said, my Lord and my God. Jesus didn't say to him. Thomas don't get carried away. I'm not God and God's representative on the firstborn of all creation.

But I'm not the eternal self existent second person of the Trinity nano Jesus receive worship from Thomas Thomas who then later became a missionary to India and in the year 70 A.D. suffered martyrdom being killed with the spear but his confession brings down through the ages and to this day, my Lord, my God, you know when we hear the skeptics accuse us as Christians of following a made up religion should think of the apostles. After all, if if Christianity were mere man-made religion with these minimum remained firm all the way to a martyr's death. It's one thing to hold onto a truth claim. When everything is going well. It's quite another when your life hangs in the balance. Thomas's confession stands the test of time because of his faithful wife. I'm glad you joined us today for Renewing Your Mind.

Kindly web our study today comes from Dr. RC Sproul sermon series in the gospel of Luke were going verse by verse were in chapter 6 now so we still have much study I had of us.

Let me recommend a helpful study companion for our time together each week.

Contact us today and request a digital download of RC's commentary on Luke's gospel in nearly 600 pages.

You'll find helpful insight into every passage to receive a just contact us with your donation of any amount at Renewing Your Mind.work well. We are in our 51st year of ministry and our desire remains the same, to reach as many people as possible with the truth of God's word. We recognize that this outreach will succeed only as long as were dependent upon God in regular prayer, so we hope that your regular financial support is accompanied by prayerfully near and for this work were grateful for you. I'm thankful for Dr. Sproles clear teaching about doubting Thomas today. I know that many believers struggle with out you may even describe yourself as a modern day doubting Thomas and ask linear video one of our teaching fellows.

Dr. Sinclair Ferguson answered this question, what would you say to someone who still down to salvation.

After seeing his fruit in his life by singularly important thing of all was that some assist being the consul if I think the great masters of the spiritual life into one of them put it this way. Make sure foot if he looks you take yourself and your need. Take 10 looks at Christ because at the end of the day we don't find the guidance of our salvation auto shootings it ourselves of audit.

Note own experience, but but in Jesus Christ for the thing I think I would say would be that you need to hold onto the promises that God has given to you. For example, a promise like this in the book of James. You draw near to me and I will draw near to you and hold onto that promise rather than hold on to the way you feel about who you out and put you out as a Christian. So it's always important for us and foremost to look to Christ to hold onto Christ and to hold onto the promises of God, not just in genital as in single God. I believe your promises, but to look for specific promises he's given the applicable to your situation and to hold onto them and because one of the things God is doing when we find ourselves struggling in this way is that he is disciplining us and teaching us to trust in him. Even when we can't feel him out even when we don't see exactly what he's doing in our lives next Sunday. Guntersville returns to Luke chapter 6 to teach us more about Jesus apostles, so I hope you'll join us for Renewing Your Mind