and turn in your Bibles to Luke chapter 24. We'll be reading verses 36 through 53 this Lord's Day morning. We'll be reading from the English Standard Version, which is the translation found in your pew Bibles, under your chairs or in front of your chairs. How good it is on this and every Lord's Day to submit to hear the living Word of the living God. Luke 24, beginning in verse 36 and reading through the end of Luke's Gospel in verse 53 of Luke 24. As they were talking about these things, Jesus Himself stood among them and said to them, Peace to you. They were startled and frightened. and thought they saw a spirit. And he said to them, why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts? See my hands and my feet. It is I myself. Touch me and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have. When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. And while they still disbelieved, for joy and were marveling, he said to them, have you anything here to eat? and gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate before them. Then he said to them, these are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me and the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled. And he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures and said to them, thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer, and on the third day rise from the dead, And that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in His name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. Stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high." And he led them out as far as Bethany and lifting up his hands, he blessed them. While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up. We worship Him and return to Jerusalem with great joy and we're continually in the temple blessing God. The inspired word of our God. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, how thankful we are for Christ. We thank You that He has blessed us, the Apostolic Church in every age. Thank You indeed that we share the same joy, the same worship that the Apostles knew so long ago on this, the first Lord's Day. Father, we thank you that the blessings of each Lord's Day are the same, immeasurable. Father, thank you that Christ is the center of it all. Thank you for nourishing our faith in Him alone. Thank you for allowing us to examine ourselves as we listen to the voice of your Spirit, as He illumines our hearts, each and every one, as you have brought us here to hear the Word of our Lord, the Word of Jesus Christ, Savior, King of kings and Lord of lords. In His name, the name above all names, we pray and worship. In the name of Jesus, Amen. Well, how badly we need to hear Jesus' first three words in our text today, peace to you. This might very well be the hardest Lord's Day this year, or even in the last four years, to take these words to heart, to focus free from distraction on the kingdom that will outlive every nation on earth for all eternity. Hear the words. Feel the weight of Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, sinless, holy, eternal being, fully God, as well as in the fullness time becoming fully man for your salvation. Peace to you. Now for us on this Lord's Day, this week to come, the temptation for us is in many ways the same as the temptation that the disciples were confronted with here in our text. The disciples know what you know. At this point, on this Lord's Day, they know enough to know that Jesus has indeed risen from the dead. Hear the undisputable testimony that they have received already. Look at verse 33, just a couple verses up from where our text begins. We'll read through verse 35. And they rose at that same hour, returned to Jerusalem. They found the eleven, and those who were with them gathered together, saying, The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon. Then they told what had happened on the road and how He was known to them in the breaking of the bread." The reports of the reality of Jesus' resurrection, they're piling up on this first Lord's Day. Here is how a New Testament scholar and believer, pastor, Darrell Bach, describes it. The report for Cleopas and of his friends shows that Jesus is really among them, no matter where they are. It shows the surprising, comprehensive way in which the appearances came. Not only did Jesus provide evidence for His resurrection on the road to Emmaus, He did it in Jerusalem too. The excitement is so great that one report is interrupted by another. You get the clarity of the fact that Christ is risen just as He said He would be. And this is what they are talking about when Jesus comes and stands among them. They were talking about these things, these reports, this truth, these multiple reports of Jesus appearing to His people wherever they are after His resurrection. He appears to them. But, they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit. Bach goes on and writes this, the disciples are not operating with expectations of the miraculous. This is not good. And the question, the application for our text, one of them, Jesus' question to you on this day, with all that is on the calendar in the week to come, are you operating with expectations of the miraculous today? It's important that we do, that we are. Now indeed, Tuesday is what it is. And you do have a biblical responsibility to vote in this election if you're registered. And it's helpful for us to look at verses in Romans 13 that make this quite plain. Here are the words of the inspired Apostle Paul in just a few short verses. Romans 13, verses 5 through 7. Therefore, one must be in subjection. Not only to avoid God's wrath, but also for the sake of conscience, but because of this you also pay taxes for the authorities or ministers of God attending to this very thing. Pay to all what is owed to them. Taxes to whom taxes are owed. Revenue to whom revenue is owed. Respect to whom respect is owed. Honor to whom honor is owed. Now with the Christian heritage that gave rise to our civil magistrates and God's providence, your government wants you to weigh in on how high your taxes should be. Who should be in charge of the government that decides not only what the taxes are, but how they should be distributed. And so it is a profound biblical application of the Scriptures and the hope of the Gospel to vote if you're registered. If you're not registered, it's not the end of the world. Again, a good application of the Scriptures is to go and register to vote and vote in elections to come. But what is key, and the profound application of the text is this, what is your countenance? What defines you as you enter the voting booth? Look at verse 38. Jesus does not say, your response of being startled and frightened is understandable. You should be startled and frightened at my presence in your midst. You have a lot going on. Your civil magistrate is evil. It's full of problems. Indeed, there is much that weighs you down. You should be startled and frightened. What does He say instead? He asks a rhetorical question that is a rebuke, it's a merciful rebuke in love. Why are you troubled? Why do doubts arise in your hearts? The message is clear. You don't have reason to be troubled, to have doubts in your hearts. Indeed, I am your Lord and I am with you. I stand with you these days. Again, Bach is scathing in his explication, but it's accurate and true. The disciples, he writes, are as skeptical as the rest of humanity. Now may that not be true for you in this week to come on this Lord's Day or the Lord's Day a week from now. Praise the Lord that again, you are not skeptics. You are the redeemed. Praise the Lord that He changes hearts. He makes believers out of skeptics. Do you, unlike the disciples at the start of our text, again the key question, are you operating with expectations of the miraculous? Will you walk into that voting booth troubled with doubts in your hearts, or will you hold your head high with the peace that Jesus gives you, knowing that He went to the cross to take your guilt before God away, and that He rose again to be with you forever? Again, the miraculous indeed, on Tuesday, is no different than any day. It's the God, the Holy Spirit that indwells you, that you take with you into that booth. The miraculous is not found in who you vote for, it's found in who defines you as you take your place in subjection to the civil magistrates who are ministers of God, but you do so as ambassadors of the eternal heavenly kingdom. That is the miraculous in our land and how our land, how everyone in every nation made in the image of God needs that. Now look at verse 39. See my hands and my feet, that it is I Myself. Touch me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones, that you see that I have. Again, the grace and the power of Jesus Christ. Not most evident who wins, but again, who you are as you represent Christ. Again, you do not come to vote with hope inside the voting booth. You bring the hope of all mankind into the polling place and the voting booth with you. A good way to stay balanced is to pray that God would give you an opportunity not to talk about the election, but to talk about the Lord who was risen, and that the majority of people you rub shoulders with when you vote, that they need. They need the hope that is far more than anything else that they can find, again, in any civil magistrate, in any land, in any age. Again, the hope that you have is more powerful than anything that will go on on Tuesday. Internalize that. Pray for God's blessing upon you as you represent no less than Christ fully God and fully man. Ambassadors for His eternal kingdom. Now that brings us to verses 40 and 43. Christ's provision and redemption. Again, He showed them His hands and feet, He asked them to touch His hands and feet, and their right response, marveling, reflecting on the resurrection, a real body. And again, this is important, the resurrection applied to your soul, as again, your body will one day be glorified like your Lord's. Again, the power of the Gospel is not to escape the world of flesh and blood. The language of rapture is a discussion for a different day. But again, the Lord could easily have raptured all of His kingdom on this day. He did not. He gave them power and He gave them hope, joy, and again, blessed them to be able to apply the salvation He accomplished as He left into the heavens. He kept His power, His Spirit, His love alive in this world through you. And again, how blessed it is to be empowered to represent Christ and to bring Him glory in this world as you wait for the glory to come. That's what communion is all about. Again, to stop, to reflect, to feed on the Lord Jesus. Now, here in these verses, Jesus gives the disciples time, as He eats in front of them, eats with them, to chew on the fact that He is risen, having borne the wrath of God and being fully God, able to withstand it, so that those who could not withstand it and be saved for all eternity are saved through faith in Him alone. You need to take advantage of this meal. Communion gives you time to reflect on the fact that, again, Jesus is risen. Again, as it comes to elections, it's good to talk about the history of the Bible-believing church in our land. Many in the Bible-believing church for a long time did not do so well in applying the scriptures to several magistrates. Their line of thinking was something like this. Don't vote. Don't get involved in politics because of this. It is a world full, politics is, of liars, egomaniacs and sin. And so therefore, stay away from it. Now, what's wrong with that idea? It's true. But it's no different from any other calling, any other sphere of life in the fallen world, is it? That's the point. The power of Christ is so powerful. And again, with balance. And as an ambassador for Christ Jesus, you can play your role as a citizen of the civil magistrates as this land, and not be overwhelmed, weighed down, or distracted from who you are and the simple gospel that you depend upon for your salvation. Now, the Gnostics believed that Jesus could not have had a real body, because the human body is evil. This is what they believed, this is what they taught. Jesus had to be a spirit before, during, and after his death and resurrection. They taught that spiritually mature people, again, withdrew from the world. They isolated themselves because, again, the power of Christ was not powerful enough to transform weak bodily vessels. And so the best you could do was to withdraw from all the sinners that you saw around you. Now, these verses speak to the opposite. Again, Jesus is powerful enough to obey the law perfectly as a true man, tempted as we are, the Scriptures say. And so indeed the gospel is to be applied to our testimony in the community. We can vote us knowing that the Lord will bless us to be able to serve under our civil magistrates, but again, as those defined, as those who serve or live for no less glory than the eternal glory of the risen Lord. And that brings us to verses 44-49. Christ's promise for you to be on His side. And notice the means that Jesus uses to bless His apostles as the Lord of glory. He has shown them the literal wounds in His physical body, in His hands and in His feet. He's even asked them to touch Him. But again, He continues on as again the power of Christ is transferred to His disciples, to the apostolic church throughout time, through His Word. Verse 44, something as simple as reading what God will use to transform the world. Words on a page. The inspiration of the Scriptures. Now, Jesus explains text. He explains the Old Testament. What it's about. It's all about Him. Verse 45, the law of God must be obeyed. Again, the point of the law of Moses. Indeed, He paid the wages of sin, even death itself. Salvation and hope for life in this world and in glory is through faith in him alone. Again, the Christ must suffer and be raised on the third day. He prays to the Lord that he doesn't stop there. He explains the Old Testament. He also explains the New that will be written in the coming years by these inspired apostles. Verses 47 and 48, he explains what the New Testament will be about. will be about how to take the good news that you have. Indeed, Jesus suffered, was raised, took the guilt of all sin away from those who by His power have their faith placed in Him alone, beginning from Jerusalem, again to all nations. A great encouragement and application to the text. Again, if Jesus Christ, the Lord of Glory, if He blessed His Apostles by explaining God's Word to them, how blessed it is to have the same power, the same Spirit, the same Word, indeed, to be able to put in front of sinners in our generation. Turn to Acts chapter 10. And here, an explanation of the Scriptures very similar to the one Jesus gives by a sinner just like you and just like me. We'll look at verses 34-43. Acts 10, beginning in verse 34, So Peter opened his mouth and said, Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears Him and does what is right is acceptable to Him. As for the Word that He sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ, He is Lord of all. You yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed. How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. And we are witnesses of all that He did, both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put Him to death, hanging Him on a tree. But God raised Him on the third day. Made Him to appear, not to all the people, but to us who have been chosen by God as witnesses. who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name. Now, the miracle of the text, again, this is the same inspired author, Luke, of Acts, as it is of the Gospel of Luke, where he records Jesus preaching. Again, the most important words in this text, notice that again, the preaching, the message, the Gospel is the same. Most important words in this text in Acts 10 are the first five. So, Peter opened his mouth. Now, before Jesus' resurrection, this was not always a good thing, was it? For Peter to open his mouth. Do you remember the language of Matthew 16, 23? Jesus, after Peter had opened his mouth, said, Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me, for you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man. Boy, are those important words for us heading into a presidential election. Not setting your minds on the things of God, but on the things of man. Peter is a lot like us, isn't he? But notice after Christ descends, the power of the Holy Spirit that Peter preaches about has come upon him and upon all who in the apostolic church are part of the sheep of the Good Shepherd, the bride of the Holy and Perfect Bridegroom. Verse 38, the content of what Peter shares with those who are lost but are now being won. God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. Beloved in Christ, that power is yours. Never take that lightly or for granted. There are these ten verses within this text in Acts. And if anyone asks you, what do you believe? Or why is your faith in Jesus Christ alone? You have no more to do than to open a Bible to this chapter, to Acts chapter 10. Read these ten verses and they will know what you believe. This is a perfect, holy, ageless articulation of the Gospel. inspired words by the Holy Spirit with power, and they are yours, to give to those who need what you have, who need to believe what you believe, and who will, not by your power, but by the God who inspired these words. And bless Peter to preach, again, not with his power, but with the power of no less than Jesus of Nazareth, anointed with the Holy Spirit and with power. Again, just to make sure that we don't miss the point, Luke goes on, verses 48 and 49. Again, the miracle of the Gospel, that the power of the Holy Spirit would again be yours as a member of the Church. No greater power than the power of the Scriptures in the hands of God's people. Jesus is the Living Word, chosen to spread His power through the reading of His Word, the proclamation of it throughout the world. Now, another application in one sense is very applicable to this week to come, but in another is applicable every single day as God sanctifies you and again, deepens your love for Jesus and the magnitude of what it is to be saved out of this world of hopelessness, of death. Half of your neighbors in the week to come are going to be very, very discouraged. Now, that's true throughout the nation. It's also true in Florida. Again, in God's providence, you are here. And what they are going to need is this power. Power to be forgiven. Apply it to these elections. Remember the parable of the Good Samaritan. Who was the Samaritan's neighbor? It was the church member, the Israelite, who despised him. And what did the Good Samaritan do? He cared for him. He nursed his wounds. He sacrificially served him and loved him. A good Samaritan's neighbor is your neighbor. It's the one who is downtrodden or the one who is incredibly arrogant. And again, the man or woman who very well may despise you for the way that you vote, whatever that may be. Whichever way you vote, 50% of the people out there, it's going to be beyond their comprehension that you voted the way that you did. But the command is the same. Love your neighbor as yourself. And again, it is in the fact that you can love somebody, even if they disagree with you on issues of importance such as these, that in the power of Jesus Christ, you can love them just the same. And indeed, in the blessed power of Jesus Christ, you can run for office, and you can vote for others that run for office. And when you or your guy loses, you can still love your neighbor who helped bring about that defeat. That is power indeed. You have the power to do that. God the Holy Spirit indwelling you. The apostles did wait and you know exactly what happens. The Holy Spirit came down upon them on Pentecost and indeed spread throughout all creation from every tribe through to every tribe, every tongue and nation. Even this one. That brings us to the close of our text in verses 50 through 53. And what blessed words. Jesus blessed them. Again, in these tumultuous times, in this time where there's so much intensity in the cultural discussion, receive that blessing. He blesses you just as much as He had blessed the apostles on this day in the year 33. Lifting up His hands, He blessed them. Covenant children, let me say something to you. And again, this isn't talked about that much, so this is good to bring it up in a text such as this. Don't let your pastor's wingspan minimize what goes on in the salutation and the benediction. There are pastors that are far taller, especially in the Reformed world. I might have the shortest wingspan of anybody. He will be in front of me and give a benediction and a salutation. But why is that dying? It's not about the individual that lifts hands. Again, Paul is clear. To a man, it is about weak vessels that do that. The point is that it is an expression of Jesus lifting his hands in a text such as this for Jesus Christ to bless his people. He doesn't do that because of the strength or the greatness of those who represent him. He does that in spite of their weakness and in spite of their inability. And so, covenant children, indeed, do not take lightly what happens in the salutation and the benediction. Jesus figuratively lifts His holy hands with scars in them, having gone to the cross for your salvation, and He lifts those hands that were lifted on the cross, and in the power and in the age of His resurrection and glorification, He lifts His hands, and He alone blesses you. There's power indeed in the worship of God's people. Again, all by God's grace and power. And again, the blessing of His blessing is church. Now, verse 51. He's carried up into heaven. Now, the importance of this text, again, is where the text began. Peace to you. Not earthly peace. Not temporal peace. Eternal peace. The peace of the Prince of Peace. And Christ's peace remained on earth in His church. We do well to remember the first proclamation of the peace of Christ, the peace of the eternal Son of God. In the highest heaven to earth, again, that peace remains. Do you remember the first time that the peace of the Prince of Peace that would remain on earth, the peace of the highest heavens, do you remember when it was first proclaimed in this Gospel? It's on the night of Jesus' birth. Never forget, again, the constancy of the peace of the Lord to you. The words of the angels, messengers of the Christ child who had been born, the eternal Son of God who took on flesh and blood. Glory to God in the highest and on earth. Peace among those with whom He is pleased. Again, that's the piece that Jesus references here. Again, He is the source of it. And He gives it, and He showers it upon you, no less than the apostles on this day, or the shepherds on the day of His birth, the night of His birth. Now, verses 52 and 53. What's the right response to Jesus, to the peace of the Prince of Peace? They worship, they return to Jerusalem with great joy, and they're continually in the temple, blessing God. There's a very intentional contrast between the weakness of men and the power of our Lord as Luth's Gospel closes. It will be less than 40 years that this temple in which they worship and give God praise in Jerusalem itself will be burned to the ground. The civil magistrates within this generation, the one that's in our text over Jerusalem, the civil magistrates in charge of Jerusalem will destroy it. Worshipping of God, the forgiveness of sins in Jesus' name would continue long after the temple was destroyed. The powerlessness of civil magistrates could dampen the joy and the eternal grace of the Gospel lived out in the redeemed hearts of His people. May we be cognizant that this is just as true for us today. God is, Jesus Christ, fully God, fully man, is mightier than the leaders that so many in our land pin their hope sign. God got our attention, didn't He, just a week ago. And again, God's ways are not our ways. But boy, may we pay attention when again, election, it seems like everything rises or falls on what happens in an election. And then a hurricane like Sandy comes. And there are people who in a day, their homes, their cars, everything are close to it, loved ones. Indeed, the death toll is over 70 now, destroyed as the storm and the ferocity of the Almighty God is evident within his creation, marred by the guilt of arson, fallen because of us. Now, many of those people will still vote, but they will vote having been reminded of the power of the risen King. And remember the language that Peter preached in Acts 10. It is Jesus who has been appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. He is holy. And it's not because He took sin or its wages lightly that He went to the whore of the cross to redeem sinners who would be saved through faith in His name alone. So indeed as we close, and again in the week to come, do vote with your heads held high, but remember as you do your hope, the truth of what the prophets bore witness, that everyone who believes in Christ alone receives forgiveness of sins through His name. God the Holy Spirit indwells you now, and He will one week from today, no matter what happens comes Tuesday, it's very important. When Jesus rose from the dead, his church worshipped with joy before and after the temple in Jerusalem itself was destroyed. And may we be sure as we take communion now, as we feed, not corporally or carnally, but nonetheless truly on the Lord of our salvation, the bread of life, in the power of God's Word and Spirit, we worship today and one Lord's from now just the same, with the same joy that no leader of any nation can ever take away. Praise the Lord that He is your King and He feeds you this day as also your priest on Himself, His holy sacrifice of His body alone. Let us pray with reverence and awe to our glorious and risen King. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, how thankful we are that Jesus indeed humbled Himself to the point of the cross We thank you that because of His sacrifice and the power of His resurrection, His name has been exalted indeed above every name. That on heaven and earth, every knee should bow, every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. We thank you that He is. And we thank you that by your power and love and great grace, He is our Lord. We thank you that He loves us and walks with us personally as our personal and holy Savior. Thank you for the power of Christ and may we reflect the grace that he has showered upon us, that you have showered upon us in him well in the week to come. Thank you that on this Lord's Day and one Lord's Day from now, whatever your sovereign providence should hold in the week in between, thank you that we can worship as those who are citizens of the eternal kingdom without end of the King of kings and Lord of lords. Thank you that we are citizens of the new Jerusalem above. Thank you for Christ and thank you that we can apply his salvation that he has accomplished to every sphere of our lives, even in elections. And we pray that our countenance in this week and our testimony to those around us indeed would be to the glory of his holy name. In the name of Jesus, we pray and live. Amen.