Sermons on Biblical Characters | Page 2

to be. If he had even dreamed that Jesus would be
there, of course he would not have missed it; but he expected the
meeting to be a very dull affair. He felt confident that whoever else was
there that there would be no Christ. He expected that Peter and James
and John and the rest would meet there and talk of a glorious past that
had gone forever. He would have said, "Yes, I know what they will say.
They will tell how Jesus called them at the beginning. They will tell
how they forsook all to follow Him. They will tell of the great dreams
that they dreamed, of the high hopes that they cherished. They will tell
of all the glad, radiant days that have 'dropped into the sunset.' But they
will have nothing to say to relieve the bitterness of to-day or to fling a
bow of hope upon the black skies of to-morrow. So I will not go to the
meeting to-day."
But the meeting was not dull. The meeting was not sad. The meeting
was not a lament for a glory that was passed, for a glad day that had
slipped behind them forever more. It was a service that thrilled with
present joys. It was a meeting that made the future to glow with
glorious possibilities. It was wonderful, because Jesus came. He came
then, and He comes still. Wherever hungry hearts come together who

yearn for Him and make Him welcome, there comes the blessed Christ
to stand in the midst. And therefore I would not absent myself from the
meeting together of the people of God. I would not because I want to be
there when Jesus comes, when the King comes in to see the guests.
"Thomas was not with them when Jesus came." I wonder why it was
that Thomas was missing. I wonder how it came about that he, the
neediest man among the apostles, was not there to receive the
inspiration and the uplift that came from this service. Why was he not
there?
It was not, I am sure, because he was indifferent. There are many
to-day who have separated themselves from the services of the church,
from the fellowship of the saints, because of a deadening indifference.
They have become absorbed in a thousand other matters till they have
become doubly uninterested in the things of the church and in the
affairs of the Kingdom.
Thomas was not missing because he had found satisfaction elsewhere.
Thomas was not satisfied. Thomas was not happy. I doubt if there was
a sadder man in all Jerusalem than Thomas. I doubt if there was a more
wretched man in the wide world at that time than was Thomas. Thomas
had not turned aside from Jesus to satisfy his soul on husks. He had not
left Christ because his needs had been met and his thirst satisfied at
some other fountain.
Why was Thomas missing? He was missing because he had lost hope.
He believed that Christ was dead. He believed that the cause for which
he had stood was lost and lost forever more. He believed that right was
forever defeated; that wrong was forever enthroned. Over his head was
a blackened sky. For him there was not one single ray of light nor one
single gleam of hope.
If I had met Thomas on the streets of Jerusalem on that day and said,
"Thomas, I saw your friends going together to the Upper Room. Aren't
you going? Jesus might come while they are there," Thomas would
have answered, "No, I'm not going. Jesus will not be there. He is dead.
Don't you know if I thought I would see Him I would go? Don't you

know that I loved Him and love Him still better than life, but Jesus is
dead. Dead! Dead!
"I was in the garden when Judas kissed Him. I saw them lead Him
away. I saw the soldiers scourge Him. I saw Him crowned with the
crown of thorns. I was out on Calvary when the black night came on at
midday and I heard that wild, bitter cry. Oh! I will hear it forever more:
'My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?' I saw His head bowed
and I saw the brute of a soldier thrust the spear into His side. Don't talk
to me about seeing Jesus again. Jesus is dead."
The very bitterness of the sorrow of Thomas had driven him to despair.
He found it hard to believe always. Here he found it impossible. Now,
there are some folks who are sweetened by sorrow and made better.
There are others that are made bitter and morose and despairful. I heard
a man cry one day, an awful cry "Oh,