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Title: Sermons on Biblical Characters
Author: Clovis G. Chappell
Release Date: February 14, 2007 [EBook #20578]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SERMONS ON BIBLICAL CHARACTERS ***

RICHARD R. SMITH, INC.
NEW YORK
1930

V GOING VISITING--JONATHAN
VI THE WOMAN OF THE SHATTERED ROMANCES--THE WOMAN OF SYCHAR
VII A GOOD MAN--BARNABAS

"Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when
Jesus came." Did you notice the name of this man who was missing? Who
was it when the little company met after the crucifixion that was not
there? There was a man expected who failed to come. Who was this man?
When the little company gathered in the upper room behind shut doors
there was one chair that was vacant. Who should have occupied that
chair?

Well, in the first place, it was not Judas. He was missing. He was
not there, it is true, but he was not expected. Judas had already
betrayed his Lord. Judas had already been whipped and scourged by his
remorse of conscience clean out of the world. Judas had gone to his
own place in the great Unseen Country. Judas was not there, but he was
not expected to be there.

Who was the missing man? It was not Pilate. We no more expected
Pilate than we expected Judas. Pilate had had his chance at Jesus.
Pilate had had an opportunity of knowing, of befriending Him, of
serving Him. But Pilate had allowed his own interests to get the

better of his conscience. Pilate had chosen the friendship of Caesar
and had spurned the friendship of the King Eternal. So we did not
expect Pilate to be present in this little company of the friends of
Jesus who met on the resurrection side of the cross. Who was the
missing man? It was not Caiaphas. He, too, had stood in the presence
of Jesus, but his envy had made him blind. And he shouted "Blasphemy!"
so loud that he drowned the voice of his conscience and the gentle
whisperings of the Spirit of God. No, it was not Caiaphas, nor any of
the indifferent or hostile crowd that we miss in this meeting.

Then, who was this missing man? And we read the text again and we find
his name was Thomas. That is a very familiar name. Oh, yes; we
remember Thomas quite well. It was Thomas who was missing. Now,
Thomas was expected, for he was a member of the little band of
disciples. He was one of the Twelve. He belonged to the Inner Circle.
His fellow Christians had a right therefore to expect him. Yet Thomas
was not with them.

It is a sad day ever for any congregation when its own membership begin
to absent themselves from its services. It is a sad day for any
congregation when those who compose it can be counted on to be there at
the social function, there at the place of business, but cannot be
counted on when the interests of the Kingdom are at stake and when the
Son of God goes forth to war. Believe me, no community ever loses
respect for a congregation till that congregation loses respect for
itself.

And did you notice when it was that Thomas was absent? "Thomas was not with them when Jesus came." What an unfortunate time to be away! What a great calamity to have missed that service of all others! There was the little despondent, despairing company of ten meeting behind closed doors. They were sorrow-burdened and fear-filled. But Jesus came, and Thomas, the saddest and bitterest man of them all, was not there.

Of course he would have gone if he had had any idea what a wonderful
service it was going 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