In this sermon, the preacher discusses the 30 days between the resurrection of Jesus and his ascension. He emphasizes the message of this period, which is to behold the risen Savior. The preacher also talks about how Jesus appeared and disappeared during these 30 days, showing himself to his disciples. He mentions that Jesus appeared in the spirit, through the word, and to faith, unlocking the door of the upper room. The preacher also mentions that there are five waves of appearance that Jesus spelled out, with the possibility of more. Additionally, the preacher discusses the doubt of Thomas and how he questioned why he always seemed to miss out on blessings.

Thank you for every part of this inspired book, in a special way tonight, we thank you for John chapter 20. And we know that your Bible would not be complete without this section. We know our lives are made more complete in Christ by the revelation of Christ from this section of Scripture. And so we would ask now that by your grace, you would minister the Lord Jesus to our hearts. I pray that you would protect your people from anything that is not from you. I pray that you would enable your people to be open to everything that is from you. Thank you in advance that you promised to over answer this and all prayer. We claim it in the worthy name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Well again, I don't have to keep saying it, but it is such a privilege for me, for our family to be here, and for me to be able to set before you those precious things that God has begun to dawn on this poor heart. Such an honor. I think tonight, in the next however many minutes, my son seems to know. On the planet earth, there is none more blessed than the one who stands before you to proclaim the unsearchable riches of our Lord Jesus Christ. And I sense that responsibility and that privilege. And I thank you on the level of earth for the opportunity. We've been looking at these 40 wonderful days between the resurrection of our Lord Jesus and his ascension. Those days that were pictured in the Old Testament when that wonderful sheep was laid, announcing the harvest, the first fruits of the harvest. And our Lord Jesus, during that 40 days after his completed world, kept appearing and disappearing and appearing and showing up. And the message of that 40 days, beyond anything else, the cardinal, the fundamental message of that 40 days, is behold the risen Savior. See Jesus. God was moving him all around. He kept showing up everywhere. He was instructing us in a special way to behold him in these days and how he appeared so we would then live a life. And he would continue then in these representative ways to appear unto us. As I understand it with my present life, there are five ways that he spelled out. I have an idea that there's something in those other six that I haven't seen yet. But there's at least five ways that he has spelled out and you can expect him to appear to us. So far we've looked together at two of those. How will the Lord Jesus appear in the church age? And the answer is as he illustrated in the story of Mary Magdalene. He wants to appear in the spirit. Do not keep clean to me in the flesh. I will appear spiritually. How will the Lord Jesus appear unto us in this church age? As he illustrated by the story of the Emmaus disciples, I will appear in the pages of this book. In the Bible. That's how I will show myself unto you. I will be the teacher. I will be the thing. I will show myself and your hearts will burn. And then you'll open the door and I'll come in and sup with you. And you'll enjoy my fellowship and when it passes away, in the fellowship of God's people, I'll open the book again. I'll appear to you and you'll answer the door. You'll fellowship with me. And he appears and vanishes and this is his reign. That brings us this evening to the third appearance and it's the story of Thomas. We're going to link two stories together because I believe the Holy Spirit has linked them together in the person of Thomas. John chapter 20 verses 19-25 Easter Sunday night his appearance to the ten Thomas absent. That's the point of that appearance. Thomas absent. And then chapter 20 verses 26-29 8 days later, the Lord Jesus' appearance to the 11 Thomas present. Let me begin by stating the chief point because I might ramble a little tonight and therefore we'll put it right up front. No playing games, no trying to have you discover it. Here's the principle. John chapter 20 verse 29 Jesus said to him, because you have seen me, have you believed? Answer implied, yes. Blessed are they who did not see and yet have believed. Blessed are they who have not seen and yet believe. Thomas needed sight, he needed sense in order to believe. Blessed are those who see by faith. How will the Lord Jesus appear? He'll appear in the spirit. He'll appear in the book. He'll appear to faith. So simple, so wonderful as he lays down these tremendous principles. And from the story of Thomas, we learn the blessedness that comes without seeing. The blessedness that comes by simple faith. That's what we'd like to look at this evening. Glance if you would please at verse 19 and 20. Let me try to set the situation up and do a little donkey work and get the scene set. When therefore it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, when the doors were shut, when the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, peace be with you. And when he had said this, he showed them both his hands and his side. His disciples therefore rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Now we all know the wrap that Thomas has received. He's known as Doubting Thomas. And it's because of this statement in verse 25. The other disciples therefore were saying to him, we have seen the Lord. But he said to them, unless I shall see in his hands the imprint of the nails and put my finger into the place of the nails and put my hand into his side, I will not believe. We say, what incredulity, what unbelief, what arrogance. Imagine saying something like that. I want you to notice, please, what our Lord Jesus did when Thomas was absent. When he appeared to the ten without Thomas being there, he offered his hands and his feet as evidence of his resurrection. They didn't ask for that. He initiated that. He showed up in the room and said, take a look here. Look at my hand, look at my feet. He initiated that. He said, I'm alive. In Luke's gospel, we have a fuller record of the same evening, the same event. Luke 24, verse 36 to 40. And while they were telling these things, he himself stood in their midst. They were startled and frightened and thought that they were seeing a spirit. And he said to them, why are you troubled? Why do doubts rise up in your hearts? See my hands, my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me. See, a spirit does not have flesh and bones that you see I have. And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. Jesus invited them to touch him. Jesus invited them to look at his hands. Jesus invited them to look at his feet. He wanted them to know with empirical evidence. He wanted them to be certain. He wanted them to be sure. He knew Thomas was not there. That didn't take our Lord Jesus by surprise. I call attention to this because Thomas was not asking for anything more than everybody else got. They already had that. And they said, we saw the Lord. And I imagine there was more conversation. You should have been there, Thomas. He showed us his hands. He showed us his feet. We saw the nail prints. It was amazing, Thomas. I wish you had been there that night. You missed the meeting. You missed the blessing. Wish you had been there. And all Thomas wants, don't miss it. He just wants what everybody else had. Jesus initiated it for everybody else. And they get credit. He asked for it, and he gets blamed. That's all that's about. Because if you don't understand that, you're going to miss the Thomas story. You're going to miss the heart of God. Oh, may God give us light on this. I told you that God is using these 40 days as a transition period for the age to come. He's illustrating what's going to happen when the dear Holy Spirit comes and it becomes reality. Why was God so hard on Thomas? Let me give a little illustration, and maybe we can back into the great principle here. Again, I speak as a fool, but let's say I, Ed Miller, took Thomas' statement, and what if I said, and meant, literally, no figure of speech, unless, John 20, 25, unless I see the imprint of the nails in his hand and put my finger in the place of the nails, with my hand into his side, I will not believe. What would happen to Ed Miller if he said that? I'll tell you what, if I said it and meant it, I'd go to hell. If I wouldn't believe until that happened, I would never believe. Because that's not going to happen. You see, God has called Ed Miller, 1958, when Ed Miller first heard the call, God called Ed Miller to believe the record based on the infallible proofs that were given to reliable witnesses. So I've got to believe Mary Magdalene. And I've got to believe those two Emmaus disciples. Do you understand where Thomas stood that first Easter? He stood in the shoes of the church. He was called upon to believe the resurrection on the same basis that you have to believe it. He was called upon to believe by the same evidence that I have. God says, look, I'm going to do something wonderful here. I am going to dump all my infallible proofs on thee. Thomas, I'm selecting you. I want you to represent the church. And you'll show people for ages the blessedness that comes by faith without seeing. Well, that's not how he read it. So he didn't understand it that way. Thomas stood in that privileged position to represent the church age. I know Jesus rose. I believe Mary Magdalene. I believe those women who said they saw him and embraced his feet. I believe Peter and John when they talked about going into the tomb. I believe the record of the apostle Peter. I believe about this fishing trip and the charcoal fire. I believe the record. I believe the stone was rolled away because I read it. I believe that the clothes were folded up. I have the same evidence that Thomas had. Thomas was called upon in a course like Mary was clinging to the flesh and she failed. And the disciples were slow of heart and they missed the point. Now, Thomas, and by his failure, God can write down for us the principle by faith. I praise the Lord for his failure, that God allowed that because now we have the principle. Try to enter in this emotional scene eight days later, John chapter 20, verse 26. Thomas didn't doubt, as you know, more than anybody else doubted. His failure was in the picture. He failed to believe by faith as we're required to believe. Eight days, verse 26. Eight days, again, his disciples were inside and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors having been shut, stood in their midst and said, Peace be with you. Then he said to Thomas, reach here your finger. See my hands? Reach here your hand. Put it into my side. Be not unbelieving, but believing. Thomas answered and said to him, My Lord and my God. Jesus said to him, Because you have seen me, have you believed? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. Thomas is not an unbelieving unbeliever. He is an unbelieving believer. He loved the Lord. He's not rebellious. He's not refusing the Lord. He just wanted evidence. Empirical evidence. He wanted truth. He wanted to be sure. He wanted what everyone else had. Suddenly the Lord appears in the room and walks right up to him. No preliminaries. Walks right over to Thomas. Thomas, stretch out your hand. I suggested yesterday what I would have done if I were there. Look all around here. Who squealed? Who told? How did he know? Well, we know how he knew. Our Lord Jesus was present there. He couldn't be seen. He couldn't be felt. He couldn't be touched. But he was there. Indeed, he was there. And he saw it all. Again, I don't know. The Bible doesn't tell us. But I personally doubt if he took him up on that invitation. I don't know if he did or if he didn't. I have an idea someday when we see the Lord. I always wonder about going to heaven. You know, when you first see the Lord, what's it going to be like? I just picture myself being shy. You know, and sort of like hiding behind a tree like, Jesus, hey, how's it going with you? It's not going to be that way. He's a God of grace. He's always initiated. I won't be surprised if he walks up to me and swings me around. Say, Ed Miller, give me your index finger, that resurrection hand. Look at here. He's going to initiate as he did here for dear Thomas. Thomas said, verse 28, My Lord and my God. I consider that to be the highest confession that was ever made by human lips during the entire ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ. And he had the privilege to make that. Nobody else called Jesus God. They were sort of afraid of blasphemy. And I don't say they didn't believe it, but they didn't come right out and say, My Lord and my God. I think Peter came the closest in the great confession. And then Matthew 16 and verse 16, Thou Christ, the Son of the living God. And he said, flesh and blood didn't reveal that to you. Amen, Peter. But Thomas says, my Lord and my God. Where do you go from that? When he is absolute Lord, and he is almighty God, you see what the Lord Jesus was doing is, if I understand it right, he was saying, Peter, I mean, Thomas, I have intended to show the blessedness of coming to know me by faith without sight. And the blessedness that would lead to this glorious conclusion. You see, we see Jesus in bits and pieces and fits and starts. Now and then, he's there, he's gone, he's there, he's gone, he vanishes. And finally, when it's all done, we're going to say, my Lord and my God. And what God was saying is, Thomas, you have come to this conclusion because you've seen me. You can come to this conclusion and this blessedness without having seen me by the simplicity of faith. Every time Christ has appeared to you so far in your Christian experience, he has taken you forward either in his lordship or his deity. Am I right? Absolutely. And every time you see him, you're going to take another step forward in his lordship and his deity. My Lord and my God. That's what he does. That's the whole idea of the revelation of Christ. Thomas came to this confession by sight. He wants to show the blessedness of coming to this confession by the simplicity of faith. And so those are the three principles. How will he appear? He'll appear spiritually. He will appear in the Bible and he will appear to faith. Now what I'd like to do to make this intensely practical is to go back in the life of Thomas and illustrate and apply a little more directly so that we can know the blessedness of the revelation of Christ without seeing. The first truth really includes the first three stories and it's a little recapitulation but I think it's important. Mary Magdalene, the two disciples at Emmaus, and now Thomas. And when I say that Jesus in this 40 days appeared in the ways he will appear in the church age, I don't mean to qualify it, but I have to qualify it. He desires to appear in the spirit. That's his heart. He desires to appear in this book. He desires to appear in faith. But I hope you understand when I say God is bigger than his desires. And God is bigger than his pleasure. And God is bigger than his intention. And there's no contradiction there. You see, I say Mary is a great illustration of seeing the Lord in the spirit. Yeah, but if she didn't claim him in the flesh, she wouldn't have seen him that way. You see, you say, well what if, you know, we're weak. What if we're sore at heart? And what if we claim him in the flesh? And what if we're like Thomas and say, I want evidence, I want proof. If he's only going to appear in the spirit and in the word of God, and if he's only going to appear to faith, maybe I'm wiped out. Maybe I won't see him. Many Christians, like Mary, claim him in the flesh. Many Christians, like Mary, need some external help in order to enter into the revelation. I know some Christians, they wouldn't call it a need. I tend to think maybe it's a need. To worship the Lord, they need a little picture to help them worship the Lord. A little form. Someone says, ah, you know how I worship the Lord? Turn on the soft music, you see. And somehow with that music, I can get into the worship mood, you know? And I can get in there. Is that claiming him in the flesh? Do we need something like that? Someone says, you know how I worship the Lord? I've got to be out in nature. That's where I see God, you know? And if I'm in nature, then it gets awesome, and I see the sea, and the mountains, and the meadows, and I can worship the Lord better with just a little bit of help. Someone says, you've got to go to the holy land. Walk where Jesus walked. Get into Gethsemane. Then you're going to worship the Lord. Go to Bethlehem or something like that. What about those folks who say, we've got to go to Joshua. We've got to go someplace where he keeps appearing. If some person uses a soft light or has to burn a candle or needs a stained glass window or a cup of wine, is God going to say, I'm not going to appear to you. There he is in the house. Brothers and sisters in Christ, as you know, there is a more excellent way than our Lord Jesus. He looks at Mary and he says, Mary, I appreciate so much this precious perfume you've got. I don't want that. I want you. He's going to accept that. But he wants you. He wants you. And so, if he will, he's going to be there. Just so, he's not going to deny you if you come academically to this book. He's not going to deny you then if you neglect the book. And he's going to talk to you through the ants outside, you know, if they have a message. And you're going to walk by the tree planted by the water and there's going to be a vine over here. He'll even talk to you what the Bible says in the sluggard's garden. You're going to still speak to him? I'm telling you, in his heart, this is how he wants to do it. And just so, with Thomas, we say, Christ will appear to fail you. Thomas saw it by sight. That's how he had his revelation. It was by sight. It was not by faith. God meets us where we are always. And even as our sister sang, even though he knows, he's still going to meet us. Chapter 20, verse 28, or 29, Because you've seen me, have you believed? The answer is yes. That's how I got it. It was by seeing, through sense. And so if we're weak and we need evidence, I'm not encouraging doubt, and I'm not encouraging sight, and I'm not encouraging flesh and helps and all of that. But if that's where you are, you know, don't throw in the towel. Don't say, well, God will never meet me because he gave five ways and I'm not meeting those ways. He's going to teach you those ways. He's going to teach you. But he's not going to forsake you while he's teaching you either. He's going to appear. God wants to meet you here. I've been hearing that a lot. I guess Bill Burkhart had a word from the Lord here just before he came up, that the Lord's going to meet you up here. He wants to meet you up here. He's bigger than what you do for him. He's bigger than your Bible. He's a lot bigger than your faith. And he's faithful. He's going to meet us. I read these things and sometimes I try to enter in them. I thought, how would I treat Thomas? I probably would have said, Thomas, grow up, you little baby. You need all of this sight and sense and feeling and emotion and you got to touch him and all of that. Come on, Thomas. Shame on you. You have to use sight. Jesus didn't do that. The second principle has to do with the blessedness that is the heritage of those who see without, by faith, who behold the Lord without sight. Verse 29. Because you've seen me, have you believed? Blessed are they. He didn't say, blessed shall they be. This is not conditional. Blessed are those who believe without seeing. What kind of a week do you think Thomas had between Easter and the next week? Think it was a blessed week? You see, Mary heard his voice. Thomas didn't hear his voice. The women talked to him and worshipped him and wrapped themselves around his feet. Thomas didn't have that. Peter and John had an experience and Peter had a special experience meeting with the Lord. Thomas missed that. The two disciples walking on the amazed road, their hearts burned, they had a Bible study from Jesus. They broke bread together. He appeared to them. Thomas didn't have that. I have an idea. Thomas had a rotten week. I don't think he had a good time. Blessed are those who believe without seeing. They would have had a good week. You see, Thomas didn't see himself as God intended him. Thomas didn't say, well now here is a great opportunity to picture the church after Pentecost. And I'm going to have the privilege of showing, based on the reliable testimony of witnesses who have received infallible proof, I have the privilege to show the joy that comes from believing without seeing. He didn't say that. What he said was, how come I'm always a day late and a dollar short? That's what he said. He said, how come everybody is always getting blessed and I'm not there? I was there six weeks in a row and Jesus didn't show up. I missed one week and everybody starts talking, you should have been there, it was great, the Lord came, he stood among us, he gave peace and all of that. Maybe from time to time you've been there, it could be frustrating for a Christian. But everybody around them seems to be getting blessed. And you're sitting in your chair and people in front of you waiting and crying and praising God and you're trying to work it out. And you say, I know I can wish this and I know it's in there and it's not coming. And someone says, they say, I've been touched by the Lord, I want to praise God. And you say, good for you, I haven't been touched by the Lord and I want to be touched by the Lord and he's not touching me and I don't know how to get him to touch me and I can't force him to touch me and if he doesn't touch me, I'm not touched. And what's going on with you and what's happening? I've had people come up to me in tears. How do you see them in the book? You don't show them something. So someone gets one gift and someone gets another blessing and someone gets a deliverance and someone gets a healing and someone gets an insight and someone else gets a visitation and someone else gets an opportunity and for him, a door is opening for him, a ministry is opening and you're sitting there saying, I love Jesus, too. How about it, Lord? It's something. Ever been there? See, that's where Thomas was. See, we've lived so long in this world of sight and sense and things and feeling and the material thing that we've come to almost believe that sight is better than faith, that sight sees more than faith. It is not better. Oh, the blessedness. For those who can believe, take the simple step of faith without the experience. Faith lays hold of the blessedness. Sight is limited, so terribly limited. Sight is personal. Sight needs to see. That's not to devour. Sight needs to see. Faith doesn't. Do you know faith is corporate? What do I mean by faith is corporate? See, if I'm depending on sight and I don't have the experience, I got a rotten wing. If it doesn't happen and I'm depending on the experience and it doesn't happen, I've got a bad wing. But if I see Christ by faith, I don't have to wait for the experience. At any moment in my life, I can have the experience, the revelation of Christ. I don't need to be healed to know Christ as my healer. If I need sight, I will. If I go by faith, to heal Brother A, I claim that. It's corporate. I don't have to have Christ reveal himself personally to me through this book. See, by faith, I can take someone else's revelation. God reveals it to them? Good, thank you, I got it. Someone says, oh Isaiah, man, he saw the Lord high and lifted up. What a vision he had. Hey, I had it too. See, he had it by sight. I just went in there and took it by faith. I had the same vision he had. You say, John had this great revelation of new Jerusalem coming down. It must have been wonderful to see the new Jerusalem coming down like a bride out of heaven. I had that vision. I got it right out of there. He had it, I took it by faith. I saw the new Jerusalem coming out of heaven like a bride adorned for her husband. I feel sorry for you if you haven't had those visions. Faith sees more. Tell me your revelation of Christ, Brother. Sister. I won't be jealous of you. I won't say, oh, Sister A had this revelation of Christ. I didn't have it. As soon as Sister A tells me that revelation, I got it. It's mine. See, sight can only have it all. But faith can have everybody's. Faith is corporate. Faith is bigger than sight. You tell me your revelation, I'll tell you mine. I'll take yours, you take mine. Has he delivered you? Has he saved you from temptation? Has he supported you in some trial? Has he guided you when you needed to make a decision? Has he unlocked some scripture to your heart? Has he delivered you from depression or fear or anxiety? Has he given you a loving and a forgiving spirit? Thank you. I appreciate hearing that because I'm claiming it from me. Someday I might even taste it, but I don't need to taste it. I can have the blessedness without having the experience. We live, as you know, in Rhode Island. You gotta come to my state. When I say my state, I own it. I'm not playing a game. All things are mine, my state. I own Rhode Island. You gotta come. And you ought to see my mansions on Bellevue Avenue. I don't take taxes on those. But whoever has the deed cannot enjoy them any more than I enjoy them. That's not possible. And I have an ocean up there. Listen to 1 Corinthians 3.23. All things belong to you whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or this world or life or death. Do you ever think about that? Death belongs to you. Or death, the things present, or things to come. All things belong to you and you belong to Christ and Christ belongs to God. You know why a Christian can be blessed and happy all day long? Because he lives by faith and not by sight and he has everybody's and the whole body is blessed. He's blessed. He rejoices with those that rejoice and he weeps with those that weep. The whole world is his. Everything's his. The future's his. The present's his. The past is his. Everything belongs to him. Life and death and angels and princes. It's all his. I feel sorry for that guy, that girl, that's stuck with sight and has to keep going, Oh, Lord, touch me. Oh, Lord, do this. Oh, Lord, do that. Not me, folks. Touch anybody, Lord, and let me know, God, and that's mine. I'm claiming it. You live by faith. Faith is bigger than sight, infinitely greater than sight. That's why we need each other. That's why we're the body. That's why you hurt me if you don't tell me what you've seen of Jesus. I've got to wait her out until he comes to me personally and you're forcing me to live by sight. Don't do that. If God has told you something, tell me, huh? Tell each other. That's how you want it, either. We need each other. Every one of us. I've seen the Lord and we all need to share that because by faith, I have your revelation, you have my revelation, and we grow together. If it was only sight, we'd miss out on all that. Oh, God, help us to lay hold of that. Remember I told you that God had chosen Thomas to represent the blessedness of those who can receive the revelation apart from sight. Brothers and sisters in Christ, as Thomas threw away his privilege, it's possible that we can throw away our privilege if you insist on the subjective experience. God might want to give it to you. I'm not saying resist it. But if you insist upon it, you might be throwing away your privilege to represent to others the blessedness that comes without seeing. That's why believe in God. Don't throw away that blessed privilege. I think we cut ourselves short if we insist on the experience. Don't you love to see a Christian who's just happy in Jesus, period? Just happy in the Lord. Just to be around someone who owns everything and who owns everyone. You belong to me. I belong to you. The teacher belongs to me. The student, everybody. We're just all one in Christ and we have everything. And it's so glorious to be around someone like that. It is a benedict. One more point I want to make and we'll wrap this up. It's in chapter 20, verse 19, also verse 26. Verse 19, when the doors were shut. Verse 26, the doors having been shut. In another connection, I pointed out that Jesus didn't necessarily pass through a solid object. He just appeared in the room. But verse 19 tells us why the door was shut. For the fear of the Jews. That's why the door was shut and that's why the doors were locked. The Jews had killed the shepherd and the sheep were fighting. And they had gathered up there. I'm sure they expected to be pursued and maybe arrested. They were nervous. They were frightened. I don't think they were cowards or they wouldn't have gathered at all. But I think that they were afraid and for fear of the Jews they were in that room. I love to use this passage for shut-ins. Because that's what they were. They were sort of shut in. And the Lord appearing to shut-ins is a very precious thing. But these shut-ins were a little different because they were not free. Notice in verse 19 His first words, Peace to you. I read one commentary and he said, That means, Hello. See that was the normal greeting they would say. Shalom, peace be with you. Hello. It's hard to believe that the first word of our victorious Savior from beyond the grave is hello. That just doesn't do much for my soul. Hello. They weren't in the room five minutes. In verse 21, Jesus therefore said to them again, Peace. That's how I know it's not hello. See you come to my house I say, Hello. Then we talk for five minutes and all of a sudden I say, Hello. You say, Hello. No, He wasn't saying it. He was trying to offer them peace. These disciples deserved anything but peace. They deserved blame. They had forsaken. They scattered. And now He comes back from the dead and before He says anything He says, Peace. Remember He had already given that peace on earth. Part of the revelation of Christ is to get us out there. He's going to do it and I'm going to show you tomorrow these next revelations because that's exactly what those are about. How will He appear? He will appear in the Spirit. He will appear in the Word. He will appear to faith. And when He appears in the Spirit through the Word to faith He's going to unlock the door of the upper room. And He's going to teach us in this next experience with Tiberius He's going to teach us how to get out of the upper room and how to get out in the world. Oh may God bring this thing to a climax. We pray tonight and as we look tomorrow that we get the full heart of God. Nothing less than the full heart of God. His heart is beating hot for a lost world. And if ours is not then we're not seeing Him as we ought to see Him. So you just pray that God will prepare us all and we'll continue this tomorrow. Let's bow together. Father we thank you for the privilege of faith. Blessed are those who've not seen. Oh yes Lord. Blessed, blessed, blessedness upon blessedness is ours because we have each other and the revelation you give to each one of us we can claim. Thank you for these reliable witnesses who have proclaimed what you've done for their soul. Lord teach us how to claim what you've given to everyone else. Thank you that you're going to work this in our hearts. We pray in Jesus name.