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Returning to Luke's Gospel, chapter
24. Luke's Gospel, chapter 24. And as I mentioned, we are going
to watch the video on Uganda this evening. And due to that,
our time here is slightly constrained and it would normally be my intention
to read probably about 40 verses from this passage, because what
we're going to say involves 40 verses roughly, but we don't
have time to do that this evening, but we will. read from verse
number 44 down to the end of verse 53 and we will consider
the other verses in the passage as necessary. Certainly it is
a familiar passage, the Lord Jesus Christ has risen again,
he's met the disciples on the road to Emmaus, he's appeared
in the upper room and we take up our reading there at verse
44. And it is the Saviour speaking. And he said unto them, These
are the words which I speak unto you while I was yet with you,
that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the law
of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the Psalms concerning
me. Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the
Scriptures, and said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus
it behooved Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the
third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should
be preached in his name, among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these
things. And behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you,
but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem until ye be endued with power
from on high. And he led them out as far as
Tibethany, and he lifted up his hands and blessed them. it came
to pass while he blessed them he was parted from them and carried
up into heaven and they worshipped him and returned to jerusalem
with great joy and were continually in the temple praising and blessing
god amen amen we trust the lord bless the reading from his word
This evening, the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ is certainly
fundamental to the Christian faith. We cannot, this evening,
emphasize how vital, how important it is to our beliefs and to our
salvation. 1 Corinthians chapter 15 points
out to us that if Christ had not risen again from the dead,
then our faith is in vain. Myself being here tonight bringing
the word of God to you is basically a waste of time. That is what
Paul says, it's in vain. But Christ is risen, our faith
is not in vain. And we can rejoice in that. The
hymn writer said, lives again our glorious King, hallelujah.
Where oh death is now thy sting, hallelujah. Once he died our
souls to save, hallelujah. Where's thy victory, boasting
grave, hallelujah. And because of Christ, because
of his work of atonement, resurrection, we have a hope. We have a hope
that we are saved, that we are redeemed. We have a hope that
one day we will be resurrected and we will be with Him forevermore. But as we turn to Luke chapter
24 for a few moments, We have here the resurrection of the
Saviour in view, the events that took place recorded for us by
Luke, the events that took place after Christ rose again. And
such an event has a great impact upon our lives, not only upon
our souls but throughout our whole being. And in this passage,
such a dramatic change took place upon the disciples. A change
took place within them because Christ had risen again. We have
the disciples, the two on the road to Emmaus. And we have that
from verse number 13, moving down the passage. But notice
verse 17. A stranger draws alongside. The
stranger is the Lord Jesus Christ himself. But they did not know
that. And he said unto them, verse
17, what manner of communication are these, that ye have one to
another as ye walk and are sad? And so we have here these disciples
on the road to Emmaus and they are sad, they are downcast. The
reasons are given if we move down that passage we can see
that it concerned Jesus of Nazareth which was a prophet mighty indeed
and word before God and all the people and they were concerned
because they had trusted in him that he would have been the one
to redeem Israel from the Roman rule. But he was put to death,
he was crucified. Women had come off their company
to the sepulchre, verse 22. Verse 23, they found his body
and this vision of angels and said that he was alive. And the language itself is implying
that they were concerned, they were not sure whether these things
were true or not. But the disciples, And those
in the upper room went from being those who were sad and downcast
to those who were filled with joy. Those who went into the
world and shared the gospel of Christ and saw a great work done. There was a dramatic change all
because the risen Christ appeared to them. I want us to consider
this evening the blessed effects of seeing the risen Christ. The
blessed effects of seeing the risen Christ, there are four
thoughts that I want to leave with you. And we see, first of all,
that there was encouragement. There was encouragement. As I
said, these saints were downcast, but they were encouraged because
of Christ appearing to them, because of Christ speaking to
them. And we must acknowledge here
in these things that not only is the presence of Christ seen,
but also the word of Christ. They saw his physical presence,
but they also heard his words. They were not just encouraged
because of the physical presence of Christ, they were also encouraged
because of the words of Christ. And in all that we see here tonight,
we will see clearly that it was the physical presence of Christ,
he was alive, plus it was his words that made this dramatic
change in their lives. They were downcast, but the appearance
of Christ encouraged them. We have noticed verse 17 where
they were sad, where they were troubled. The disciples themselves
in John chapter 14 were told by the Savior that he would leave
them, that he would return again, that he was going to prepare
the way of salvation for them. But they did not understand these
things. The Savior himself said to these
disciples, verse 25, O fools, and slow of heart to believe
all that the prophets have spoken. The word fools there is not a
reference to those who are wicked, in the sense of the wicked being
fools, but rather they were fools because they were slow of heart
to believe. They failed to understand, they failed to believe, and Christ
called them fools. It is interesting to notice that
they were discouraged, that they were downcast, because they did
not understand these things. The Lord Jesus Christ explains
the Scriptures to them. He says to them, O fools, and
slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken.
If they had believed what the prophets had spoken, they would
have known that these things would come to pass. The birth
of Christ, his life, his ministry, his death, his resurrection,
all those things were found in the Old Testament Scriptures.
And sometimes when we are discouraged ourselves, it can be because
of a lack of understanding of the Scriptures, a lack of reading
the Scriptures, a lack of communing with the Lord. Not always, but
certainly there is a major part for the The Word of God to play
in our lives. The Word of God ought to be read
on a daily basis. We ought to immerse ourselves
in the Scriptures because they do encourage us. The words of
Christ encourage us. The words of Christ change our
hearts from being downcast to being encouraged. And it's happened
to us many a time. We've maybe been concerned about
something. We've maybe been feared about something. And we've turned
to the scriptures and the Lord has given us a particular verse. When I went into college, I was
absolutely petrified. And one of the passages that
the Lord used to call me was in Jeremiah 1. And the Lord says
to Jeremiah, be not afraid of their faces. And he goes on to
apply that and to mention that, to speak about that. But that
was an encouragement from the Lord. I was concerned about dealing
with people and about going forth into the Lord's work and the
Lord said, be not afraid of their faces and for he was with me
and we have all experienced encouragements on different levels and in different
situations from the Lord. His word encourages us. It was
Richard Sibbes, the Puritan who said that the comforts of Christ
are greater than any trouble can be. The comforts of Christ
are greater than any trouble can be. It was Edward Payson
who said that this visit from the Saviour came at a time when
it was needed. They drew alongside, or Christ
drew alongside them on the road to Emmaus and Christ came at
a time when that visit was needed. When we are discouraged, when
we are downcast, when we wonder what is going on, the Lord has
a time and a place to come alongside and encourage us. It's not always
our time, but it's the Lord's time. He has that time. Edward Payson said, the faith
and hope and courage of its members were reduced to the lowest point
of depression, and unless revived by his presence must soon have
expired. One member, referring to the
disciples, one member after another would have returned to their
original occupation and the church would have scattered and become
extinct. This is what he said in regard
to the depression, the sadness, the sorrow that the disciples
feast. The appearance of Christ changed
all that. We notice at the end of the chapter
they worshipped him, they returned to Jerusalem with great joy.
There was a great and mighty difference took place because
Christ His appearance, his words encouraged his people. Notice
here, secondly, there was enlightenment as well. There was enlightenment. Verse 27, we see that the Lord
Jesus Christ, to those in the route to Emmaus, expounded the
scriptures. Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them
in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. And he did
the same with the disciples in the upper room, verse 45. is
a verse that we are going to focus on for a moment. Then opened
he their understanding that they might understand the scriptures.
Only the saviour through the working of his spirit can open
the scriptures to us. The disciples had failed to understand
what was being taught in the Old Testament scriptures regarding
the saviour and the discouragement and sadness stemmed from that
particular fact. It was Matthew Henry who said
that if they had given the prophets of the Old Testament their due
weight and consideration, they would have been as sure of Christ
rising from the dead that morning as they were of the rising of
the sun. The scriptures would have made
them certain that Christ would rise again. The Lord Jesus Christ
is the message of Scripture, we see that clearly in these
verses. Notice verse 44, where the Saviour refers to the law
of Moses and the prophets, the Psalms, and he brings to the
disciples those things that concern himself. Men today try to take
Christ out of Scripture, they try not to focus upon The Saviour,
but the Word of God is focused entirely from Genesis to Revelation.
Christ is the message. He is central to our theology
and to our doctrine. And they received a great lesson.
They were taught by the Saviour. They were taught by the Saviour. Psalm 2, Psalm 23, Isaiah 53,
all those passages, many more. refer to the one who was the
Messiah. Christ who came, Christ who died. Isaiah 53 brings to our mind
the Saviour upon the cross. Psalm 16, if I remember rightly,
refers to the resurrection as well. And the Old Testament Scriptures
showed forth that Christ was the Messiah. He fulfilled these
prophecies. But we must notice here that there was enlightenment
because Christ opened the Scriptures to them. There are things in
the Word of God that we find difficult to understand. Things
we will not ever fully understand. There are things in the Word
of God that men who have been preaching and reading the Word
of God for 60 years still struggle with. There are things that I
don't know. There may be things I may never
know. There certainly will be. But we need to pray for enlightenment. We need to pray that the Lord
will open his word to us, that he will teach us the things that
he wants us to know from the scriptures. May we never think,
when we come to the word of God, that we can look at these things
ourselves, that we can understand these things ourselves. We can
go to a commentary, we can go to a book of sermons, and we
can say when we come to them, well, these things will teach
us the word of God. And yes, those things are good,
they have their place, but they do not take the place of the
Lord writing his word upon our hearts, opening the scriptures
to us. And that must always be our prayer,
that the Lord would give us understanding, that we might understand the
scriptures. Notice here thirdly that there
was enjoyment. There was enjoyment. Verse 41, it says, and while
they yet believed not for joy and wondered, He said unto them,
Have ye here any meat? There was joy. In verse number
52, there was joy as well. They returned to Jerusalem there
with great joy. Notice in regard to the last
point actually in verse 32, and it's connected with joy as well,
these disciples on the road to Emmaus said, did not our heart
burn within us while he talked with us by the way and while
he opened to us the scriptures? Certainly, their hearts burned
within them when the word of God was brought to them, and
that would have led to a joy. And when the word of God is open
to us, when Christ appears to us, when we are in his presence,
there is joy. There is joy. These disciples
were filled with joy because Christ was not dead, he was alive.
They rejoiced in Christ Jesus. Notice in verse 52, they worshipped
him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. Worshipping God
is connected with great joy. Can we truly worship God if we're
sad and downcast? Can we? In Philippians 3 verse 3, the
Apostle Paul mentions three particular things regarding those who are
the circumcision or those whose hearts have been purged by the
spirit. Three particular things that identify such people as
true believers. which worship God in the spirit
and rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh.
And again, worshipping and rejoicing joy are connected together again
in this particular verse. And when we worship God, We ought
to do so with great joy. We can have sorrow. We can be
discouraged with things that are taking place in our lives.
But we should still have a joy in who Christ is. The Apostle
Paul referred to being sorrowful, yet always rejoicing, always
being full of joy because of Christ. And that joy did not
disappear when the trials of life came. That joy was always
there. That joy helped him through the trials of life. Real joy
is founded on the Saviour. Notice here, finally, there was
enduement. There was enduement. We see this
in verse number 49. And behold, I send the promise
of my Father upon you, but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem till
ye be endued with power from on high. The Lord Jesus Christ
in verses 46-48 refers to the great work that had to be done.
There is the finished work of Christ upon the cross. There
is the unfinished work of Christ taking the gospel to the world.
Those who or outside of Christ, those who
were sinners coming and placing their trust in Him, the Spirit
of God working within them. That is the unfinished work of
Christ. A work that will continue until the last day. A work that will continue until
the Saviour returns. But notice here, verse 47, and
that repentance and remission of sins should be preached Repentance
and remission, those things that are at the heart of the gospel
should be preached in his name among all nations beginning at
Jerusalem and ear witnesses of these things. And verse 49 he
says the promise of the Father will come. Christ gave them a
mission, Christ gave them a commission to go forth. and that the power
would come upon them. They would be endued with power.
What a promise that was. Christ left again in verse 51. He was carried up into heaven
but yet he left a great promise with them. The Comforter would
come. The Holy Spirit would come. They would be endued with power.
And I want you to notice one particular thought regarding
this and we'll close. Christ ascended to heaven. The disciples were rejoicing.
They had great joy. The important thing is that they
were receiving power for the work. They were downcast at the
start of, I suppose, the start of this chapter. They were downcast
on the road to Emmaus. But at the end, they're rejoicing.
God's work has a future. The work of God has a future. When Christ had died, in their
minds, Christ did call them fools, but in their minds they were
downcast, discouraged. It seemed to be at an end. Sometimes
when someone passes away thinking in regard to the Church of Christ,
many would be of the opinion that whether it's a minister,
whether it's someone who is heavily involved, that that is the end
of things. When the Savior died, certainly
these men were confused and downcast. They wondered what was happening.
Edward Payson said that they would perhaps return to their
former employment, but Christ rose again from the dead. His
work had a future. And the future in view here at
the end of this chapter is the future that we are currently
in as well. It stretches forth into the New
Testament Church, into the days of the Reformation. Today, the
work of God has a future. And that should encourage us.
That it is not through ourselves, it is not through our might,
it's not through what we can do. It is through the promise
of the Father. It is through the power of the
Spirit. It is through the power of God. And in the days of the
New Testament church, the Lord did work, the Lord did move,
the Lord did save. And the same power that they
experienced has not changed, has not diminished. It's the
same power we have today. And may we know it, may we be
encouraged that God's work has a future. May the Lord bless
these things this evening for his name's sake. Amen.
The blessedness of seeing the risen Christ
| Sermon ID | 41215424261 |
| Duration | 21:59 |
| Date | |
| Category | Prayer Meeting |
| Bible Text | Luke 24:44-53 |
| Language | English |
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