All right, we'll dismiss the children to go to the creche with Mrs. Shore. And so those that are of that age can go with her. The rest of us, please, open your Bibles again to Luke chapter 24. And let me see if I've got that page number. Oh, here it is. That's page 1095, okay? If you have a black church Bible, 1095. Or if it's your Bible that you're turning to, Luke chapter 24, please. and verses 13 through 32. And this afternoon, when I show some of the slides and things, it was a bit difficult to select which one to show you, what pictures to show you, because I'm only going to show this morning maybe 30 pictures. We're going to look at them for just a little bit of time. They'll be up a little bit longer as I maybe explain something about it, or as we sing, there'll be pictures up as well. But it's a little hard to choose from a thousand pictures or however many I had to select those ones. But going to Israel was incredible. It's not a spiritual experience, if I could put it that way. I mean, coming to Scotland, in Scotland, what you have here, and you may not realize it, but right here within just a few miles of this place is, in modern church history, an area like Israel. It's an area that, I mean, I could take you, I could show you places where well-known, notable people that God used God did, I guess, remarkable things here. I've told people in the States, you know, imagine Iowa, which is all corn. You know, if I said six miles from here, 10 miles from here, 20 miles from here, and I named big name believers that had a huge impact for God. You've got that here. But one thing I would tell you about that being here, and I've walked through the cemetery down in Edinburgh, where Thomas Chalmers is buried, if you know that name. But you look at the gravestones, and it's reverend, reverend, reverend, reverend, reverend, reverend. But guess what? They're not here. I said to Katie the other day, I would love for one of these good old Scots that loved God and had a passion for the Lord Jesus Christ to come back and say, hey, you know, just keep it up, you know, and just encourage it because these guys stood for God, but they're not here. It's kind of the same when you go back to Israel, though you're in a land that has had such a huge biblical significance. Jesus Christ physically, is not there. And so you see these places, and it's awesome, because you're entering into the Bible stories. You know, you stand where David fought Goliath, and you look at the valley, and it's smaller than you thought, and it's very distinct where this took place, and where David would have even crossed the brook to come out to fight Goliath. And that aspect is incredible. And thinking what actually took place here, we stood where that ox cart with the ark on it, and those two cows that had their calves taken away from them were tied to that cart, and it brought the ark exactly where God brought it. You know, the Philistines were doing that little test to say, well, if they don't go this way, then it's not God. And God took it right to those people. And we stood there, and it's the same valley where, just on the other side, that's where Samson grew up, you know? I mean, so it's incredible stuff like that. And one of the places that we stayed was a place called Yad Hashbanah. And it's a memorial, just like Yad Vashem is the memorial to the Holocaust, Yad Hashbanah is a memorial to eight men from, I think, Norway that came and actually started the property or country like that, one of the countries right there. started that property. But what it is now, it's a Messianic Jewish community. So it's a Jewish community that believes that Jesus Christ is the Messiah, and they're Bible believers. And they still have their worship on Saturday, but they're not Sabbatarians like we'd have here, or Seventh-day Adventists, something like that. They're just Messianic Jews. And actually, in Israel, everything shuts down on Saturday, the Sabbath, and everything starts back up on Sunday. I mean, as far as work and everything. But anyway, staying there at Yad Vashem, there were several things neat about the property. They had a biblical garden set they had made where you could walk. passed some things of biblical significance and some actual artifacts, like they brought a 12th century synagogue, the foundation of it, they moved it to this property. They had the different types of tombs that they'd have, the rolling door tomb, a solid door tomb, and the different tombs. They'd have ceremonial cleansing baths, how they'd walk in on one side, walk out the other side, and things that you'd see as you went around the temple property in Jerusalem, stuff like that. So that was neat. But as far as biblical significance of where Yad Vashem is located, if you look just up the hill to the side of the property, and not very far away, it was when that ox cart came lowing and carrying the Ark of the Covenant. It's the property that the Bible speaks about in 1 Samuel 17.1, where they take the Ark from there, the place where it came back with the from the Philistines, they brought it into the house of Abinadab in the hill and sanctified Eliezer's son to keep the ark of the Lord. And that hill that they kept the ark at, when I was there, I was running, and I ran up that hill, you know, to this place that the ark was kept. And it's very neat to me that where that ark was, there now is a group of believers just next door at Yad Vashem, people that love Jesus Christ. I think, to me, that's very significant. So there's that. That's neat. The other interesting point about that property is on the other side of it, heading down towards the Mediterranean Sea, is the Emmaus Road. And that's what we read about today. The road to Emmaus. Emmaus is a village about seven miles from Jerusalem. And it is in this resurrection day story. So what we're looking at this morning, this afternoon, we're going to look at more specifically the story of the resurrection, the story of the crucifixion and what took place. But what we are looking at this morning is day number one in the resurrected life of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so And I mentioned, I think when I was praying, that there is a lot that we know about this one day. It's interesting. I mean, there's not many days that you could pick apart in the life of Lord Jesus Christ and say, this is one day and we've got morning and afternoon and evening, but you do on this day. You have, that morning, the garden scene that takes place by the garden tomb, and the women coming to prepare the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. They've got spices and things, and they get there, and it's open. And the story of Jesus appearing to Mary, and Mary going to tell Peter and John that, well, first of all, telling Peter and John that the tomb was empty, but then after Peter and John left, Jesus appearing to Mary, and that all takes place. In the evening, you've got Jesus coming back, and we'll see it in the story at the very end, Jesus coming back and appearing to his disciples. But during the day, where's Jesus? And the answer is right in our text this morning. He's on this road to Emmaus, and he's doing resurrection life ministry. And so I want us this morning to come to this story and just look at it and say, what's Jesus involved in? I mean, here he is, it's day number one, as he's getting back into life And what is he doing on that day? And so our story begins with chapter 24, verse 13. And behold, two of them went that same day. So it's resurrection day, it's Sunday, the first day of the week, to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem, about three square furlongs. And they talk together of all these things that had happened. So what are they talking about? They're talking about the crucifixion. They're talking about the heartache and the shock of seeing Jesus Christ on the cross. And then, no, they've heard that the tomb is empty and there's uncertainty and there's worry and anxiety that's in their hearts as they're talking. You know, have you ever been disappointed and felt like it affected your faith? I mean, something happened, and it's like, man, you know, I thought I believed, I tried to believe, you know, I was following Jesus Christ, but then something happened, and it just got really rough, and I feel like it shook my faith. That's like these men, it's like Job, remember the story of Job, and the servant knocks on the door and says, you lost all your livestock. And Job is gripped by that, and he goes, well, at least I've got my kids. Knock on the door. Your kids are all dead. At least I've got my health. You know, then he's got boils and we know the story. And I mean, everything is like, Job goes, well, at least I've got, well, at least I've got, well, at least I've got, and God took Job down to, he's got nothing. It's kind of like he's mad. It's like their, their spiritual foundation as, as it were, has been kicked out from under them and they feel very troubled by what's taking place. But then again, on this day, the Lord Jesus Christ comes. And he begins a process of taking those two men very much back into the fold. And that's what we're gonna see today as we look at the resurrected ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. So let's pray, ask God to speak to our hearts as we look to his word this morning. Father, thank you for each one that's here today. Father, I pray that the spirit of God would speak to our hearts this morning as we looked at the ministry of Jesus Christ Savior, thank you that you never wasted a moment. You didn't come out of the tomb to rest and recover and relax. Savior came out to do what you did when you died and to begin the church and to get the men ready for that coming of the Holy Spirit and the power that they needed to take the gospel to the world. And Father, we're here today because of the resurrection. This church would not be here if it wasn't for the resurrection. Father, there'd be no point, there'd be no purpose, there'd be no mission, no ministry without that truth of Christ rising from the dead. And so I just pray, Savior, help us to see you today as we look at you on Resurrection Day. I pray, Spirit of God, would you speak to our hearts about our Savior. It's in Christ's name we pray, amen. Just several things I want to point out about the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ as we look at the story this morning. The first thing is that the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ knows just when to draw near. He knows just when to come alongside and to begin ministering. And verse 15 says, and it came to pass that while they communed together in reason, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. And so you can see them walking along, and they're heavy hearted, and I don't imagine that they're walking at a fast pace, as their heart is just broken with what's taking place, and at that moment, there's this man. It's the Lord Jesus Christ, and we'll see that they don't understand that it's the Savior, but he comes just at that moment, when they're at a very low point. and he comes to minister during that trial that they're facing. Don't be surprised if God allows a trial to be something that draws you to himself. Don't be surprised if it's a tough situation that you find yourself in, that at that time that you're beginning to sense that God is ministering, that God is working, that there is somebody. It's not a feeling, it's not just an emotion, but that there's a reality of the presence of God. even as an unsaved person, even as somebody that God is seeking to draw to Himself. The Bible says, we prayed about it this morning, or we talked about it in our class, the Bible says, no man can come unto me except the Father which has sent me draw him. That there has to be, for anybody to come to Christ, that there has to be that drawing near of God in bringing them, as it were, to Himself. But the Bible as well says, draw nigh to God, and He'll draw nigh to thee. And sometimes it's both ends, isn't it? We face a trial and there's something about that trial that both makes us draw close to God. And at the same time, we sense that God in that trial is reaching out to us. I've shared probably many times the story of Logan's surgery back. I mean, look at him now, he's 11. But when he was born, Logan had basically a misshapen head. I mean, his head was wider in the front, narrower at the back, and actually that's backwards to what's normal. And we noticed that, but Logan had a big head. And so we just thought, well, he's just got a big head. And we were traveling on deputation. We left 10 days after Logan was born to begin traveling to raise support to come over here to Scotland. And so we had a caravan that we'd bought. We had a truck to pull it with. And I mean, we were hitting the road and driving thousands and thousands of miles to meetings with churches. And just, we were on the road. We didn't live in a location anymore. We stayed in church car parks. Parked, hooked up, you know, and we stayed there till our next meeting and just went from place to place as we traveled. But four months after he was born, Katie's just getting concerned. She's still noticing his head shape. So we got an appointment down in Georgia. We were in Michigan when he was born. We're down in Georgia. And the doctor said, well, It could be craniosynostosis, she said, but I don't think that's the case. Craniosynostosis is when the soft spot, the suture fuses prematurely. And she goes, or he goes, I don't think that's what it is. Lay him on the back of his head, you know, and it should reshape his head. And so, but Katie just became convinced. Now, she's looking at pictures online. It's craniosynostosis. I mean, she's convinced. It's a long story. I don't have time this morning to tell the whole story except to say God allowed us to schedule an appointment at the University of Michigan, the premier hospital in the world, for doing surgery for craniosynostosis. We scheduled an appointment there. They saw him. They confirmed that it was craniosynostosis. We were only in Michigan for a week, and then we were going to Wisconsin. they called us, and they had told us at the hospital, they said, we're booked way out. It's going to be many months, but we read online it's best to get it done as soon as possible, get the surgery. And so I said to them, I said, look, I believe you guys are the best, but we also believe it's really important that we do this soon. And they said, we'll give you a call. And they called us the next day and said, we'll get him in on Monday. And Katie's like, OK, what Monday? And they're like, this Monday. And it was Friday. And we had a sign. Possibility of death, possibility of blindness. That probably scares Logan, huh? But I mean, that's a big trial, isn't it? And I said to my wife, I said, you know, on that night before surgery, I said, you know, what's your biggest concern? And she said him dying. And I said, well, look, God's giving me scripture. And God gave me scripture. He gave me the story of the Paul on his way to prison. He's crossing the Mediterranean. And they're in a huge storm. And Paul says to the captain of the ship, look, don't be afraid, because God has promised me that there shall not a man be lost. And I said to Katie, I said, look, God's given me this first. And I get choked up right now, and it's been a while since I've told the story. But the thing about it I want to point out is this. The day of the surgery, we had perfect peace. I got choked up now. I got choked up before. The day of the surgery, he didn't get choked up at all. The day of the surgery, I mean, my wife, honestly, she still is not real happy about letting somebody watch our kids or something. She's very anxious about that. She would have been far more anxious if he would have been with somebody else and we're out doing something than the fact that he's at the hospital having major head surgery where they took his skull out, reshaped it, put it back in. I mean, it's just an incredible surgery that they did. And praise God, it was a very successful surgery as well. And Logan is perfectly normal. But, you know, that trial, you look back at it and say, you know, that was a trial. I've shared before. Afterwards, we had a $60,000 medical bill. That's another part of the story that I could share. But I would say this about that trial. I have no regrets other than the risk to Logan and what he went through. I have no regrets about that trial because the nearness of God was so precious going through it. I mean, it's a wonderful thing when you face the trial and God draws near, you know, God draws close to us. And sometimes for an unbeliever, I feel bad for unbelievers. I look at somebody that's unsaved facing a trial like that. I can look back at them and say, hey, praise God. God gave me grace for that. God saw us through that. God protected my son. But somebody that's an unbeliever doesn't have the joy of knowing that I've got somebody with me that is meeting my needs and taking me through this trial, okay? But look at what Jesus did. He's a good shepherd. These men, their life has been devastated. They think Jesus is dead, or what's going on, we've heard these stories, what's taking place, but that God cared enough for them that on the day of the resurrection, think about this, The day of the resurrection, Jesus takes the time to go to these two men, and basically he's going to restore them. He cares that much about them. John 10, 11 says, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. But he that is a hireling and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth. And the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth, because he's a hireling, and careth not for the sheep. Then he says, I am the good shepherd, and I know my sheep, and am known of mine, and the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father. I lay down my life for the sheep, and other sheep I have which are not of this fold, them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd. What do we see as we look at this story? We see Jesus Christ as a good shepherd going after his men. I mean, he's not going to just let them go back to what they did before and have their heart against God. He's going to lovingly go to them and restore them. And so praise God, the Lord Jesus Christ knows just when to draw near. But then secondly, the resurrected Lord Jesus does not establish faith in sight. He doesn't establish faith in sight or by sight. Verse 16 says, but their eyes were holden that they should not know him. Now we understand, we don't know a lot about Cleopas, we don't know a lot about who this other man was, but what we do know is that they knew Jesus. They were disciples of the Lord. And so they should have recognized him when he came. But like other stories that we have after the resurrection, even though Jesus physically was the same, the Bible says he still had the nail prints in his hands, he still had the spear thrust in his side, that he had a supernatural body. We talked about this in our study of John. He could pass through walls or closed doors into the place where the disciples were. and yet he was physical and he could eat, and he still had the marks. Jesus should have been recognized, but he wasn't. And it's like other stories. Remember in the garden when Mary Magdalene was weeping, and Jesus said to her, he said, woman, why weepest thou? In the Bible, remember what it says? It says she's supposing him to be a gardener. She thought, and I don't know why, again, that took place, that she perceived him to be the gardener and said, and started to talk to him thinking that he's the gardener. The disciples, remember we read the story and studied the story about the restoration of Peter, and Peter said, I go fishing, and they get out on the boat, and Peter and John are there, the other disciples, and Jesus is on the shore. But the Bible says very clearly in John 21, four and five, the disciples knew not that it was Jesus. Then Jesus said unto them, children, have ye any meat? And they answered him, no. And so on all these occasions, it's interesting that it's not that they look right at Jesus and they say, I know by my sight that that's Jesus. And so the Lord could have said to these men, as He drew nigh, they're sad. He could have said, hey guys, it's me. You know what I'm saying? I mean, he could have right then stopped it and stopped their sorrow by establishing faith based on sight. But you know, the thing about faith based on sight. is that faith without sight, the Bible says, is most precious. Faith without sight. Remember that story of Judas. Judas is the one that later, this is gonna take place. Tonight, in our story, okay, in the day that we're looking at, that night, Jesus is gonna appear before the disciples, and he's gonna say, it's me, and you can touch my hands, you can touch my side, but Judas isn't there. And remember, Judas, said to, when they told him, we've seen the Lord, he said unto them, except I shall see in his hands, the print of the nails and put my finger into the print of the nails and thrust my hand into his side. I will not believe. And after eight days, again, his disciples were within Thomas with them. Then came Jesus, the doors being shut and stood in the midst. and said, peace be unto you. Then said he to Thomas, reach into thy finger and behold my hands and reach into thy hand and thrust it into my side and be not faithless, but believing. And Thomas answered and said unto him, my Lord and my God. By the way, I want to point that out again. We've looked at that so many times in the book of John, over and over again, you realize Jesus Christ is God. Thomas says, my Lord and my God. And then Jesus said unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed. Blessed are they that have not seen and yet have believed. See, it's more wonderful today for us to look at the word of God and say, I believe it because God said it. I believe it because God tells the truth, and God loves me, and God gave me a book to tell me everything there is to know about Him, and I trust Him. You think what a disservice it is to somebody, if somebody you love writes a note, and you take it and you look at that note and say, I don't believe that. If I don't, I don't believe that, I've got to see it to believe it. I mean, is that love for that person? It's a better thing for us to look at that and say, They said it, I believe it. When it comes to God, God that cannot lie, when He said it, for us to say, I believe it, not based on sight, not based on God having to prove it to me and make it so I can see it, that's not faith anyway. The Bible says, faith is a substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Real faith is not based on sight. If I've got to see it to believe it, I don't really want to believe it. I want to see it. Does that make sense? I mean, that's not faith. Faith says God said it, I believe it. And so faith without sight is most precious. And that faith is not established by sight. You might think I'm wrong, but the Word of God says that that's right. Faith is not established by sight. Here's the passage I'm referring to, the rich man and Lazarus. Remember there was a poor man, Lazarus, had sores, apparently he had leprosy or something like that, he sat at the gate of a rich man, he was a beggar, and that rich man fared sumptuously in life, and the Bible says that he had everything, and when they died, it wasn't because of his riches, and it wasn't because of his poverty, but it was because that man trusted in Christ, or trusted in God, and God imputed righteousness to him, and this man did not believe in God, didn't depend upon God. When he died, the Bible says this man was in hell, the rich man, and the poor man, Lazarus, Paradise, heaven. Okay, that rich man in hell, you know what he got? He got evangelistic. He got burdened, he thought, here I am in hell, the last thing I want is my brothers to come to this place where I'm tormented in this flame. He said, he first asked to send Lazarus with a drip of water on the tip of his finger to touch on his tongue. And if you think today that a beggar full of sores with a drip of water on his finger touching your tongue is going to satisfy you, then you've got to realize that the place you're in is awful when you think about what hell must be like if that is an idea of satisfaction. But when he says, no, I can't do that, then he says, okay, send him back from the dead to my brothers, because I don't want my brothers to come to hell, lest they come to this place. Send them back to say to them that it's true, it's real. And if they see somebody that's risen from the dead, they'll repent, is what he thought. And the Bible says about that story, Abraham said back, if one went unto them from the dead, or I'm sorry, he said unto them, if they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead. Okay, now let's test it. The Word of God says that if somebody is not going to believe this book, they're not going to accept what the Word of God says, that even if somebody came back from the dead and stood before them and said, I've been there, I'm back, let me tell you it's true, that the Bible says, if they're not going to believe this, and let me say about that, that this book then must be very convincing. This book must be very powerful. This book must have the authority of God behind it. Because we think that would be a very convincing thing for somebody to come back from the dead. But can I give you a story that proves that the Word of God is right? Remember the story of Lazarus? When Lazarus rose from the dead, can you think of an unbeliever that would have been present, that would have seen him come from that tomb after being dead four days? When Jesus said, come forth, we've sung about it today, he came forth. What about, here's one, what about Judas? Judas, the betrayer? Judas, the one that heard Jesus preach, heard Jesus teach, heard, I mean, if anybody had been impacted by this book, it was Judas. He had seen all the miracles take place. But guess what? Despite having seen somebody even rise from the dead, Judas, the Bible says it better for him that he not have been born. It'd be better for him not to have been born. Why? Because the place he's in for all eternity is so awful. Sad, isn't it? We think faith is by sight, but you know, it's interesting here. If faith was by sight, the Lord just come along and say, hey guys, it's me. You might think, well, Lord, don't you care? He does care. That's what we see next. But faith isn't established by sight. So the resurrected Lord Jesus doesn't build faith by sight. He knows just when to draw near. But then the resurrected Lord Jesus cares about the sorrow of faulty faith. The sorrow of faulty faith. Verse 17 and 18, And so the Lord is very aware, isn't he? Why are you guys so sad? I mean, there's obviously something that has taken place. And it's not that the Lord doesn't know, but he's going to draw out of them what their problem is. And sometimes God might do that. He might come along and speak in that way to us. Why are you so sad? It's not that he doesn't know. It's like when Adam and Eve hid themselves, where are you, Adam and Eve? It's that God is seeking to draw them out and to get them to express kind of where they're at. And so he does that, he says, why are you so sad? In verse 18, one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering, said unto him, art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days? Do you know the Muslims believe that Jesus Christ didn't die on the cross? That it was somebody else? Do you know that? There's others that believe that he didn't die. that he was still alive, even though we read on Sunday night, I think it was that, you know, or was it last week, I preached on the man God chose and that the soldier pierced him up to his side, that Pilate said, is he already dead? Got confirmation from the centurion. And so in this story, it says, art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem? Why? because everybody knew. If you think that the Bible's mistaken, that Jesus Christ didn't really die on the cross, you gotta stop and think, this was a big city. Everybody knew. In fact, when Paul stands before Festus, and I stood in Caesarea Philippi in the theater where Paul spoke to Festus, but there in that theater, Paul said to Festus, for this thing was not done in a corner. Festus, I know you know about what I'm talking about. This wasn't done in a corner. Jesus Christ died. Jesus Christ didn't just die. Jesus Christ rose from the dead. That wasn't done in a corner either. But notice their faith was weak. Verse 19. He said unto them, what things? And they said unto him concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people. Now we've already talked about Judas, but these men, Cleopas and this other man, they had seen the things that we talked about. If I today again were to have the Lord Jesus Christ here today, and somebody that was demon possessed, and to think that the Lord Jesus Christ could cast that demon out, a man that was unclothed and chained, and broke the chains asunder, and running through the tombs, cutting himself, like the demonic of Gadara, the Bible speaks about, there on the Sea of Galilee, that Jesus could put him in his right mind, that he'd be clothed, so that people would look at him, be scared, and say, what took place in this man's life to change his life like that? These men had seen that. So again, they had seen the miracles and yet despite that, their faith struggled. They had heard incredible truth. He was mighty indeed, the Bible says, and word before God and all the people. I would love to have heard the Lord Jesus Christ preach. I mean, he was the one that from that point forward, no man durst ask him any questions because every time they asked the question, the Lord Jesus Christ marvelously answered it in a way that shut their mouths. When he spoke, there was a story where the officers went to arrest him. They came to arrest him, and they come back to the chief priests and the Pharisees, and they said unto them, Why have you not brought him? And the officers answered and said, Never man spake like this man. I mean, think about the way Jesus Christ spoke. So I can say of these men, they had seen the miracles, they had heard powerful preaching. And yet their faith is struggling. Their faith is struggling. Their faith focused, can I point out, on humanity, not deity. Verse 20, it says, they're talking about the crucifixion. And how the chief priest and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death and have crucified him. Can you look at that statement with me and what they said? What are they focused on at the crucifixion? They're focused on the men that put him to death. Do you see it? They have, they have. They see the human element coming in and snatching Jesus away from them and taking him and putting him on the cross. But can I ask you something? Did Jesus Christ preach about his death before it took place? Yes. They ought to have looked at it and said, you know, it's just like Jesus said, Jesus said that the son of man must die and be crucified and that he'll rise again the third day. They ought to have been looking at the providence of God in the hand of God. And can I remind us this morning that we can look at this story this morning and we can say, well, who killed Jesus? Well, Judas, because he betrayed him. Well, the soldiers, because they took him. Well, Pilate, because Pilate said, crucify Him. Or, yeah, go ahead and crucify Him. The chief priests and rulers, because they were the ones saying, crucify Him, crucify Him. You know, we can come up with a list of people and say, they're to blame, but can I remind us this morning that Jesus Christ died on the cross because God the Father took His Son in love for us, and because of the punishment of our sin is death, that He took His Son as a sacrifice and that He put His Son on the cross for us, which is exactly what the Word of God says. The Bible says in Isaiah 53 verse 10, Yet it pleased the Father to bruise him. He hath put him to grief, when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin. He shall see a seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. You know what that says? It says this morning that it pleased the Father to bruise him. He hath put him to grief. Why? Because of love for you and me. Remember when Don Dillman was here, Pastor Dillman? Just before I went to Israel, he preached on Mount Moriah and the offering of the sacrifice of Isaac by Abraham, that this father was called of God to walk to Mount Moriah and to take his son and to offer him as a sacrifice. And he pointed out Mount Moriah is where Golgotha is. That's where Calvary took place. You remember that arm is upstretched, outstretched, and the knife is going to plunge down into the breast of the son, and God says, stop. Stop. I've provided another sacrifice. And the ram's caught in the thicket. Remember the story? And when you look at Calvary, that story was both a test of Abraham's faith, but it was also a picture, wasn't it? It's a picture today of exactly what God the Father did when He took His Son and He put Him on the cross for our sins. I've heard an illustration. It's not a true illustration, but it illustrates the truth very well. And that's a story of a rotating bridge where it's over a big body of water and there's a train bridge. And the father, the engineer, is having lunch with his son. And the bridge is open because to let the boat traffic through it had to be open. He's having lunch with his son, and he forgot the time, and the time got away from him, and all of a sudden he realizes the express train's coming, and it's full of passengers, and I've got to get the bridge closed, and I just have time to do it. So he takes off running, he runs to the bridge, and he's just about to hit the lever to turn the bridge, and he looks back behind him, and his son had followed him, and he's fallen down into the gears of the bridge. And his son is trapped. And if he pulls that lever, it's gonna crush his son. But if he doesn't pull that lever, that train is gonna go off and it's gonna plummet into the depths of that river. And everybody on the train is gonna perish. And out of love for others, he takes and he pulls the lever. Now, it's just a story, isn't it? But those people going by on that train, they look over and they might think, why is that man so sad? Why is he weeping? And as they're going across the bridge, they're having a great time and they don't understand. What it cost them to cross that bridge is an imperfect illustration because that father didn't put his son in the gears. Jesus Christ was put by God on the cross of Calvary because the wages of sin is death. because hell is real, because there's no way to heaven except with a clean heart and forgiveness of sin. For us to cross that bridge, Jesus Christ had to die. And it's only this morning, can I say this? It's only by acknowledging what Jesus Christ did that you can cross that bridge today. See, you can't cross to heaven without accepting the fact that the Son of God lovingly died for you and that the Father sacrificed His Son for you on that cross. And see, that's what our Lord did when He died on the cross for our sin. Now, our Lord's looking at these men and His heart is burdened for them because they've got faulty faith. And so, He's examining it. He's bringing it out. In their faith, it's disappointing them. It says in verse 21, it says, But we trusted that it had been He which should have redeemed Israel. Can you hear again in their voice? They're almost saying, God, how could you do this to us? God, we had such strong faith. We really believed that Jesus was the one. But guess what? Their faith is being tried, and it's not standing the test, is it? For sake of time this morning, I'm not gonna turn to this passage, but in Matthew 13, verse 18, there's a story of a parable of the sower. And as the seed, the gospel is sown and it's being cast out and it's into the different ground. The Bible speaks about good ground, stony ground, thorny ground, and it talks about Satan snatching things away. And then the Bible says that there are people that receive the gospel, And that with joy they receive it and they seem so excited, but then testing comes, trial comes, and they walk away. And it shows it wasn't real. There's other people that, they get excited, they receive Christ, and then materialism creeps in. And the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and they want those things, and it doesn't stand the test. And here are these men, they're facing a test of their faith. And their faith is faltering. Their faith didn't know what to do with the astonishing facts. And they say, verse 22, beside all this, today is the third day since these things were done. Yea, and certain women also of our company made us astonished, which were early at the sepulchre. When they found not his body, they came, saying that they had also seen a vision of angels, which said that he was alive. And certain of them which were with us went to the sepulchre, and found it even so as the women had said, but him they saw not. And again, if you look at the tenor of what they're saying, it's kind of like this. None of the guys saw it. But the girls, they said, they said, they said, yeah, the tomb was empty. But they didn't see him. And you hear it in their voice. He said, but I don't really believe it. You know, sometimes you go fishing, you go to a good fishing spot and you don't catch anything and you come back and you say, they say it was a good spot. They say you can catch them there, but you don't really believe that it's a good spot. You don't really believe that you can catch them there. Can I say this this morning? I want to encourage us as believers that I wonder what God hears in our voice today when we say God can build a church in Lonehead. God can save people in Lone Head. God can change that drunkard's life. God can change that adulterer's life. God can change that homosexual's life. God can change that liar's life. God can change that rebellious son, rebellious daughter's life. God can change them. But do we really believe that? See, it's one thing to kind of say facts. But it's another thing for us to say this morning, you know, despite what I see, I still believe God. These men in faulty faith is struggling because it's so focused on sight. It's like, but we trusted, but we saw, and Jesus isn't going to come encourage your faith by sight. So the resurrected Lord Jesus rebukes unbelief and establishes faith. We're going to hurry to the end of this, but I want to cover these remaining points very quickly. It says in verse 25, Then he said unto them, O fools and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken. Ought not Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into his glory? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. He's telling them. They still don't know it's Him. And He says to them, and I've heard it said that fool doesn't mean, in our context today, that's a very strong word. It just means foolish. It just means you're being foolish. It's a little hard to believe. All that the things that God said ought not these things to have taken place, but then listen to what God does. Lovingly, He takes this book and He goes, guys, And perhaps he did this, Genesis chapter three, Adam and Eve sinned against God. Guys, what happened? Well, God took an animal and he covered them. So guys, an animal had to die to provide an atonement? Yes. What about Cain and Abel? Tell me about Cain and Abel. Cain offered a fruit of the field sacrifice. Abel offered a blood sacrifice. God accepted the blood sacrifice. Guys, you remember that story? Then he maybe said, you know, let's fast forward a little bit. Remember that story of Moses and that big stone? And everyone's thirsty, they needed water in the wilderness. And that stone was cleft down the middle. When Moses struck it with his rod, it opened up and the water of life flowed out to quench the thirst of everybody. You remember that story? He goes to Isaiah 53. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace is upon Him, and with His stripes, His whipping, we are healed. Psalm 22, they pierced His hands and His feet. And I can just imagine the Lord Jesus Christ giving a very thorough Bible lesson. Guys, don't you see the Messiah had to suffer? See, they expected a Messiah that would come and reign. They didn't understand the Messiah to come and die. And so, this morning, You might look at people of faith and say, I envy your faith. I've heard it so many times, I envy people of faith. I'll have people say, you know, I really admire you for your faith. And what I tell them is, look, you can have the same faith. Faith cometh by hearing, hearing by the word of God. Jesus did not go, see, let me strengthen your faith. Look at my hands, look at my feet, put your hand on my side. He took the word of God and he began to build their faith in this book, because faith cometh by hearing, hearing by the word of God. This morning, if your faith is weak, the answer is not sight. The answer is not intellectual. It's not about researching extra biblical sources to see if Jesus Christ really existed. No, it's about getting in this book and letting God convince you through his word, because that's how faith is built. And then the resurrected Lord Jesus does not force himself on anyone. The resurrected Lord Jesus does not force himself on anyone. Look at verses 28 through 31. And they drew nigh unto the village whither they went, and he made as though he would have gone further. But they constrained him, saying, abide with us. For it's toward evening, and the day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with them. And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and he blessed it, and break, and gave it them. And their eyes were opened, and they knew him, and he vanished out of their sight. Tell me, what would have happened if Jesus had just been let go? If those men had said, okay, see you later. Thanks for the good stories. He would have never come into their house. He would have never broke bread with them, fellowship with them. And they would have never had their eyes open to understand, there he is. There he is. And see, it's the same today for you. You might think, why hasn't God opened my eyes? Well, have you invited him in? I mean, it's not enough, is it, for Jesus to come alongside you? It's not enough for Jesus to walk with you. It's not enough for Jesus to take His Word and say, look, it's true, I am who I am, and I died for you, and I paid the price for your sin, and it had to happen, the death had to happen. It's not enough, is it? It's only enough when a sinner looks at that and says, you know what? You're speaking to me. I want you in my life. I don't want you to go. You're such an encouragement. You're such a help right now. I just want you to stay. Invite him in. The Bible says, we've said this verse time and again because it's such a crucial verse. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come into him and sup with him and he with me. Can I say it's as easy as this this morning? If you're not saved, if you've never accepted Jesus Christ your Savior, it's as easy as just opening the door of your heart and saying, Lord Jesus, I understand you died for me. You paid the price for my sin. You are who you claim to be. And I just like to receive you into my heart today. It's that easy. The Bible says, he that hath the Son hath life, he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that's inviting, that's accepting, that ye may know that ye have everlasting life. And when Jesus Christ comes in, can I tell you this, your eyes are gonna be opened. That's what somebody says, when I got saved, God opened my eyes. I don't understand. It was so hard to understand before, but now that I have Jesus Christ in my heart, now I get it. Now I understand it. And so the resurrected Lord Jesus does not force himself on anyone. Do not expect today, because I came to church, God is gonna force his way into my heart, into my life. No, it's by invitation. It's us accepting and receiving him into our life. The last thing, the resurrected Lord Jesus speaks to men's hearts in a way that's convincingly of him. Convincingly of him. They said one to another, did not our heart burn within us while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures. Now, I like WD-40. That's kind of a guy thing maybe, but WD-40, if you've got something that's just full of rust, if you spray it on it, it's a penetrating oil. And you see that junk just kind of start to flow away, right? It gets right into the inside. And see, as a preacher, As I preach, I understand, we prayed about this morning, I can't speak to men's hearts. I don't have any ability, and any preacher has no ability to speak to men's hearts. But can I remind us this morning that God has the ability to speak to hearts? That God has the ability to get in there, the penetrating oil, as it were, and to say to our hearts, look, this is true, this is real, this is something you need to listen to, and this is something you need to respond to. Listen to what those guys said. They're walking with Jesus and how do they think back and go, why didn't we understand it was Him? Our hearts were burning. There was something internal taking place. There was a conviction with what was shared that, yes, this is true. Yes, this is true. Yes, this is true. And that's something no preacher can do. That's something God does. It's something God's Word does. Here's a verse, Jeremiah 23, 29, Is not my word like as a fire, saith the Lord? and like a hammer that breaketh a rock in pieces. I'll tell you, if it wasn't for the burning heart of the voice of God speaking in my heart, I wouldn't be up here today. When I was 16 and in high school at Christian camp in Wisconsin, I was sitting in a service, I don't remember who was preaching, but I do remember this, as a 16-year-old sitting there, and just God convicting my heart, and God breaking my heart to the point that I walked out after that service, and I said to God, God, hands off, anything you want me to do with my life, I'll do. And here's the caveat, even if that means preaching. Who I was, I was scared to go, I mean, do anything. If you think you're shy today, you're nothing compared to what I was. Nothing. I even begin to forget what I was like. I was a very shy young person that, I mean, the last thing I wanted to do was get in front of people and speak. But God spoke to my heart, and there's other ways God's worked in my life. But when God speaks, you know what we need to do? We need to respond, don't we? And it might be this morning, we look at this message, and you think, man, the resurrected Lord, Juniah, I wish He'd do that to me. But can I say this morning, He has done that, if in your heart, the Spirit of God is speaking to you, and saying, hey, there is a decision you need to make. Maybe it's you need to trust Christ. Maybe it's you need to invite Him in. He's been walking with you today, in the Word of God, talking with you, convincing you, and you need to receive Him into your heart. It might be the Spirit of God speaking about a decision of obedience that you need to make. that there's a step that you haven't taken that you need to take, or some sin that needs to be dealt with that needs to be put out of your life, or some consecration to Christ, it might be that. But can I say today, whatever God's Spirit is saying, it's saying because Jesus Christ is alive, because of the resurrection truth that we're looking at. And so let me just encourage you today, has the Spirit of God drawn nigh to you? Is there something that God's speaking to your heart about Because as you respond, that's when he opens your eyes and you go, wow, God is so good. I understand now what God's doing in my life. And so let's pray and ask God to do that good work, continue that good work in our hearts this morning. Father, thank you for these two men on the road to Emmaus. And Father, thank you for us this morning. Father, I know this morning that there's nobody in this room that you don't love just as much as you love those two men on that road. And Father, Jesus cares enough today to get face-to-face with every person and say, look, there's a decision that you need to make. And Father, I pray that the Spirit of God would give us grace to yield. Give us grace to let you open our eyes. Give us grace to accept the Word of God and what it says.