The Path to Knowing
As Seen in the Life if Thomas
Introduction:
Just
because I believe something does not make it true even if I can justify it. Think
about a time when you really believed something to be true. You had reasons why
you believed it, but it turned out to the false all along. The disciple named
Thomas was a very courageous man who believed that Jesus was dead and had
justified reasons for believing so, but he turned out to be wrong. For a period
of eight days Thomas believed that Jesus was dead, when in fact Jesus had risen
from the dead. For eight days Jesus had been raised from the dead and Thomas
did not know it. When Thomas came to know that Jesus had in fact raised from
the dead, it changed His entire life. We have a natural need for knowledge. We
were created to know and be known by God. Many believe that we can’t really
know anything but must live based upon our own opinions. This belief leads to a
society of chaos and regret.
What
does it mean to know something? Knowledge is a justified true belief. The difference between knowledge and opinion
is justification. However, our justification must be based upon actual truth or
we really don’t have knowledge. With this in mind, we should consider two types
of reasoning that form the majority of what we believe. Inductive reasoning is
belief based upon observation. In other words, we form our beliefs based upon
what we see in the world. Deductive reasoning starts with a belief and through
that belief we interpret what we see in the world.
So
how are you forming your conclusions about the truth claims of Christianity? I
would thank that we use both types of reason being discussed here. This message
looks into how the Apostle Thomas came to believe that Jesus was in fact resurrected
from the dead. By looking at this account we come to see how the path to
knowing is one that requires courage and commitments.
Main Point: The path to
knowledge is one of courage and commitment.
1.
Why I would
rather travel a path than a road.
a.
A path is
followed very slowly, while a road can be driven down at a high rate of speed.
b.
A path is
contemplative while a road can simple be passed along.
c.
I can stop on a
path without fear of being run over.
2.
Courage and
commitment to go were the truth leads. John 11:1-17
3.
Courage and
commitment to ask the difficult questions. John 14:1-6
4.
Courage and
commitment to trust the evidence. John 20:24-29
Personal Challenge: Seek the
comfort of truth rather that the delusion of you own opinion.
