Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore, let us go forth to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. For we have no continuing city here, but we seek one to come.
Select a thought to read by choosing a collection, the month, and then the day:
Some people demand a sign to be given them of God so that they will really believe. It will never happen. They are fooling themselves. "No!", said the Preacher that afternoon. "You're going to believe, and then you will see." That is the order of God. I"By faith we understand", wrote the author of Hebrews. It is not a matter of "by faith we close our minds to the scientific facts." Not at all. The gospel can bear up under any examination. But only faith in God enables men to weigh the facts judiciously.
Jesus said that only an evil and immoral generation demands signs from God (Mt. 12:39; 16:4 ), and they do it because they know it is safe to do it. Something in an unclean heart senses that God will never do as men command Him to do, but, hey, it looks good to some people for the ungodly to demand that God do something . . . and nothing happen. This is a kind of wisdom.
There is such a thing as an evil wisdom, and some of it rests in the heart of every man who has not yet entered into the kingdom of God. The righteous, on the other hand, are cleansed from their own ways and understand that vain man cannot make demands of God. He is King; He makes demands of man, and it is dangerous not to obey Him. Besides, for the honest heart who really does wonder if God is really there, the Creator "has not left Himself without witness." He created everything in this magnificent universe, and if the beauty and symmetry of His creation does not touch a person's heart and tell him that there is a God, nothing ever will.
When Thomas saw and touched the wounds in Jesus' hands and side after his resurrection, he, at last, believed it was true. Jesus really had come back from the dead. "Thomas," the Lord told him, "because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are they who have not seen and yet have believed" (Jn. 20:29).
Don't fool yourself into thinking that you would believe if only God would do some astonishing trick for you. That kind of mind cannot believe, "even if one arose from the dead." Simply repent and believe the gospel. After you believe, you will be amazed at the understanding of all things that will follow that little act of obedience.