Seeking for the Lord's help,
I direct your prayerful attention to the Gospel according to John
chapter 20 and verse 20. It is specifically the last clause
that I want to speak from. The whole verse reads, And when
he had so said, he showed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad,
when they saw the Lord. And it is these words, when they
saw the Lord. We read that when the Lord rose
from the dead, that he showed himself alive, as in the words
of Acts chapter one, verse three, showed himself alive after his
passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days,
and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God." How vital
that the Lord was seen, that he truly had risen from the dead,
that it is recorded how he was seen, and that it was sovereignly at
his time, his way, and in doing so, it established, really, a
pattern. Those that were the Lords, those
that were his disciples, not the whole world, they had the
Lord appear to them, and they saw him. as that which we read
here, they literally saw him in the flesh. A spirit hath not
flesh and bones as ye see me have. The Lord had risen indeed. Of course, the Lord said to Thomas
here, that those that had not seen, he said, Thomas, because
thou hast seen me thou hast believed. Blessed are they that have not
seen and yet have believed. That is, not seen literally with
his eyes like Thomas had. But blessed be God that he is
seen still, we read in Hebrews, but we see Jesus and we see him
by faith, we see him through the lattice of the word of God. And what is then upon my spirit
is not just that seeing Him, but the effect that is recorded
in the Word of God. So I want to notice three points.
Firstly, they saw the Lord. And just to remind you of those
times in Scripture where there are those that saw the Lord. And then secondly, when. When
they saw the Lord, their reactions, very different ones. And then
I want to look lastly, when we see the Lord, what we are to
expect and to think of what our reactions are to or have been
as well. But firstly, they saw the Lord. We think of Adam. Formed and
created by God, the Lord walked with him, spoke with him, he
knew the Lord. When they fell, the Lord came
and they were fearful, they were frightened of that same God that
had been their friend and one that they walked with. in a fallen
state and condition. They were frightened. But Adam,
he saw then the Lord. Our Lord tells us that Abraham,
he saw Christ die. And not only Abraham, but also
we have Job. At the end of the book of Job,
he says that I've heard of thee by the hearing of the ear. but
now mine eye seeth thee. Of course, the Lord was not yet
upon earth. Job was not seeing the Lord like
Thomas was, but he says, mine eye seeth thee. Job was amongst
those. We think of Isaiah, who also
saw the Lord, the holy, holy Lord God. and what his reaction
was. We have Daniel. The Lord appeared
to him more than once. Daniel was greatly favoured and
greatly blessed, and the Lord used him much and appeared to
him, showed himself to him. Not again in the person as like
he was on the earth, but revealed in vision to see him before he
came in the flesh. We think of Peter, the Lord appeared
to him first when they were fishing and then when they caught nothing,
the Lord appeared to him, worked the miracle There were those
times that they saw the Lord but didn't know who it was, but
when he worked the miracles, when he spoke to them, he revealed
himself to them, then they knew who it was. And each time there
was an effect that was felt with them. You might say each of the
dear disciples, they lived, they walked with the Lord, they knew
him, in the days of his flesh, and they also knew him when he
rose from the dead. We think of Peter, James and
John that were favoured to go up into the mount, and they saw
him not as Jesus of Nazareth, despised as a mere man, but they
saw him in his glory, in his beauty, they saw him in a different
way than they had seen him before. These are times when the Lord
was pleased sovereignly to reveal himself to them and show himself
to his disciples. We have in this chapter when
the Lord appeared to Mary and with her, she did not discern
it was him first, but he clearly revealed himself just by her
name, and she recognised who it was. Now those two that were
on the way to Emmaus, and again they did not recognise who it
was, but there was that effect as they walked with him. And
later on he very clearly revealed himself to them, but then immediately
vanished. out of their sight. And we have
the words of our text. The disciples in the upper room,
the Lord coming with the doors that were shut, and he shows
himself to them. In various accounts, sometime
it recorded one thing and some another thing, but that upper
room appearance and then eight days later, with Thomas. And so we have these times that
are recorded, we have times with Moses in the burning bush, Mount
Sinai, where he saw the Lord. And it's easy to read over these
passages, but what they're recording is these are mortal men and women
And they have been shown the eternal God. They have been shown
the one that made the heavens and the earth. They have been
shown Him who knows us through and through, knows our hearts,
knows what we're thinking, who has made us, and before whom
we must stand at the last great day. It's easy to overlook or
forget What a great God, an eternal God, we stand before, and with
the Lord Jesus Christ, God manifest in the flesh, or like the hymn
says, veiled in flesh, the Godhead see. Of course, through the Old
Testament, He was seen in the types and in the shadows, and
very much in the similar different way of his Godhead manhood, especially
with the Ark. With the Ark, it was all of gold,
overlaid with gold. Without a covering on, it must
have been such a sign, such a precious sign, all of gold. But it was
to be covered, it was to be covered with the banter skins, the veil
was to be over it, and over that was to be a blue cloth or blue
representing grace. With our Lord Jesus Christ, even
his enemies could not resist the grace. They said that what
poured from his lips, what manner of speech, what authority, they
recognized the grace of the Lord. But then they saw his humanity. They said, he's not this Jesus,
the son of Joseph, the carpenter's son. They're offended at it.
It's as if the blue cloth was lifted and all you saw was just
the badger skins. But if you lifted the badger
skins, then you see the gold. And there were those times with
the disciples, with the Lord, that they had, as it were, the
lifting up. and they saw the gold beneath. When the Lord was asleep in the
ship, manhood, asleep or wearied at the well, but then when he
rose and rebuked the winds and the waves and the great calm,
they got a picture of the other side, his majesty, his might,
his power, what he was, and in the miracles that he performed. What a wonder that here on this
earth, poor sinners like you and I have seen the Lord. They saw Him in the days of His
flesh. They saw Him by faith before
He came. And we trust there are those
of us who have seen Him by faith since. But those that saw Him,
when they saw Him, what was the effect? I want to look at this
in our second point. Our text says, when they saw
the Lord. If we read the whole verse, when
he had so said, he showed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad
when they saw the Lord. And you find in each time when
the Lord reveals himself, together in the inspired, infallible word
of God, is recorded the reaction of the people that saw him. It did not leave them unmoved. It did have an effect. It wasn't
always the same effect, but it did have an effect. If the Lord
reveals himself to you and I, it won't leave us unmoved. It will have an effect. One of
the hymn writers says, does their mind the spot and place where
Jesus did they meet? Many of us, where we've been
blessed through the word or seen the Lord in the word, then we
remember what effect it had upon us. We'll hear the disciples
had been through the day, various reports and Gradually they were
beginning to realise the Lord had risen. Those two that came
back from the way to Emmaus, they came back to the disciples
and they were saying, the Lord hath risen indeed. Many times they had doubted,
they hadn't believed the reports, and the Lord chided them for
that when He appeared to them. But at last they realized that
this was so, and then the Lord, when he appeared in this way
to them, it just simply is set forth. Then were the disciples
glad. How glad, how rejoiced, how pleased
that their Lord, who they had seen crucified and slain and
buried, was standing before them alive and showing them his wounded
hand and side, and eating before them, showing by those infallible
proofs that he had risen from the dead. And their eyes, they
saw it. They saw it. The visits of the
Lord make the people of God glad. When they see the God of heaven
and earth in the face of the Lord Jesus Christ, when they
see him risen from the dead and appear to them, then it makes
that sorrowful soul glad. It makes those to be happy that
were mourning. It turns their mourning into
joy. And that was the case, of course,
with Mary, when the Lord appeared to her. She was weeping. Why weepest thou? Whom seekest
thou? And she does not know who it
is. She thinks he is the gardener.
And yet he says one word, one word, you know, before she even
turned. She turned herself and saith
unto him, Rabboni, which is to say, Master, I believe she knew
the moment that he, He said her name. The Lord says that he calls
his sheep by name. He knows everyone by name. And he says this also in John
10, that they know him. My sheep, they hear my voice,
they follow me. And he knows his sheep by name. the blessings that he gives them
in such a way that they are persuaded he does know them, he does understand
them. And again, he was the one that
came to Mary, found her out, visited her and blessed her. Her place was a place of sorrow
and the Lord showed himself to her and took away that sorrow. Her response Rabbono, which is
to say, Master, I no doubt the Lord knew how she would respond. He restrained her, as it were,
touch me not. I'm not yet ascended to my father. What do we think of those that had
gone before? If we go back to Adam, we said
with Adam, when the Lord appeared to him in the state, fallen state,
then he was seeking for a covering. He couldn't face God. And it was God himself that provided
a covering, and it was through the slaying of an animal, a sheep
no doubt, and clothing with not fig leaves, but with a covering
that came about through one being slain, the skins of that which
had been slain. God provided a covering. But we see in Adam, what outside
of Christ, without a covering, with our own fig leaf righteousness,
with our own works, we cannot stand before God. We are frightened, we are fearful,
we flee away from Him. And so Adam's reaction is recorded
for us. How did he react? As a sinner,
convinced of sin, he sought to hide, he couldn't face God. We mentioned concerning Abraham,
Our Lord, again, when He describes how Abraham saw his day, doesn't
just describe it, doesn't just say in John 8, verse 56, that
your father Abraham saw my day. It's not just recorded like that. He says, your father Abraham
rejoiced to see my day. And he saw it and was glad. The same effect of the disciples. And were the disciples glad when
they saw the Lord? Why is it the Holy Spirit all
the time is making sure that wherever the Lord is seen, the
reactions of the people are recorded? Abraham, When did he see Christ's
day? Of no doubt he saw it on Mount
Moriah, for other visits, of course, that Lord visited him
with. But when he offered up his son
Isaac, my son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering. And he saw Christ's day in that
substitutionary offering. All of the sacrifices, all of
the offerings, They pointed to Christ. They pointed to that
one offering at Calvary. And here, Abraham was shown the
substitutionary offering of our Lord Jesus Christ. God's arrangement,
God's way. God chose to allow that there
should be a way of providing a substitute We're used to, in
life, many times where we might be asking for something, and
instead of what we've asked for, they're given a substitute. But
if we were to go to the courts of the land, and you had someone
that was up on charges, and you said, well, can I have a substitute? Can someone stand in this person's
place? They said, no, the law doesn't
provide for that. You say, I want to take my driving
test, but I'm not a very good driver. Can I have a substitute?
My brother's a better driver. Let him take it. No, you're not
allowed to do that. And so there's things that we
are not allowed to be in a substitute, even though we might think we'd
be a very good substitute. But in God's provision and with
his son, that is allowed. Man cannot do it, because if
a sinner wants to be A substitute for a sinner, because the law
demands without the shedding of blood there's no remission,
if he was to stand in another's place, he would die, but he would
have to die anyway because he's a sinner. So what he does cannot
atone for another. It must be that the one that
is the substitute is able to take the other's place, but not
die themselves, but all rise from the dead themselves. And so we're told that it was
by faith with Abraham and he received Isaac, as it were, from
the dead by faith. But he saw Christ's day, Christ
rising from the dead, from the sacrifice, from his offering,
And the blessing was, because thou hast not withheld thy son,
thine only son Isaac, that in blessing I will bless thee, and
in thee and in thy seed shall all nations be blessed. Not seeds
as of many, says Paul, but seeds of one which is Christ." And
so Abraham would have seen Christ in the types and in the shadows. You might say, well, he saw my
day. He saw Christ by faith in what
he would do, what he would offer. You know, all of those sacrifices,
the Old Testament, were no worth at all. In fact, God says, away
with them, no smoke in my nostrils. It was only a virtue where it
was offered by faith, where they were looking past the sacrifice
and they could see Christ, and they could see what it was setting
forth, all the while it was just a sacrifice That is not acceptable
to God. It is by faith. And so Abraham's
reaction is recorded here. We mentioned about Job. Job had
been through that great trial. Satan permitted to take really
everything from him, including his health. God permitted him
to retain his life, to not take his life. But after he goes through
that long trial, at the end of the book of Job, we read Job
saying, I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but
now, might I seeth thee, wherefore I abhor myself and repent in
dust and ashes. Again, we have the sight, Job
saying, might I seeth thee, not like the disciples here in literal
flesh, But he's seeing him by faith, he's seeing him in the
lattice, as it were, of the Word, and the Lord's showing who he
is, that he's speaking to him, and the effect is recorded. He
abhors himself, repents in dust and ashes. He sees himself as
he really is. What an effect. And the Holy Spirit has made
sure that here is a man that, at the beginning of the Book
of Job, is an upright man, one that assures evil, fears God,
a godly man. And yet when he sees the Lord,
he sees himself, and he sees who he really is, and he repents
in dust and ashes. I remember that effect. Not an
easy sight to see ourselves as we really are. But when we see
the Lord, that is one of the effects recorded in the sacred
word. We think of Isaiah. When Isaiah
sees him, in the sixth chapter of Isaiah, we read of the way
that the vision was shown to him, If I can turn to it. It is in chapter 6, verse 5. A vision of the law. We have
the seraphims, we have the one crying to another, saying, holy,
holy, holy is the Lord God, Lord of hosts. The whole earth is
full of his glory. It's interesting that this description
of the Lord as holy is the only one of the attributes of God
that is three times repeated in the word of God. You don't
read that mercy, mercy, mercy, or love, love, love, But holy,
holy, holy, thrice holy God, a triune God, is the Lord of
hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory. The post of the
door moved to the voice of Him that cried, and the house was
filled with smoke. Then said I, woe is me, for I
am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell
in the midst of a people of unclean lips, for mine eyes have seen
the King, the Lord of hosts." Very clear declaration that he
had seen the Lord. And again that effect. Sinful
man standing before a holy God. In the Lord Jesus Christ he lives,
he can stand. Outside of Christ, he cannot.
But when the Lord reveals himself to his people, they are not light
and frightening. They are not flippant. They are
not unmoved. They are moved. And their reactions
reflect a holy, holy God. And in that way, they know whom
they have seen. It cannot have the effect of
anyone else or any other sight, but a sight of the Lord by faith. We think of Daniel when the Lord
appeared to him. He says that he fell to the ground. He was as in a great sleep. No strength remained in him. In Daniel 10 verse 8, retain
no strength. Again, the effect is recorded
for us upon those that the Lord revealed himself to. And Daniel
again, an upright, godly man, one that was greatly beloved
and greatly blessed. And yet even he was so affected
in that way. Perhaps following on from Isaiah,
where his Word was, woe is me, I'm a man
of unclean lips, I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean
lips. And you think when the Lord appeared
to Peter, as recorded in Luke, this is when they were fishing,
when they had the miraculous draft of fishes that were brought
in. and the effect it had on Peter. We read that the Lord has said
to them, launch out into the deep. This is Luke chapter five,
verse five. Simon answering said, oh dear
master, we have toiled all the night and have taken nothing. Nevertheless, at thy word, I
will let down the net. Now remember, Peter is seeing
the Lord as he is the Lord Jesus of Nazareth. When they had done
this, they enclosed a great multitude of fishes and their neck break. And they beckoned unto their
partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and
help them. They came and filled both the
ships, so that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw it,
he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me, for I
am a sinful man, O Lord. And we are told, for he was astonished,
and all that were with him at the draught of the fishes which
they had taken. What an effect! And this was
the Lord who they knew very well, but when he worked this miracle,
when he did this to them, how it highlighted his own sinfulness,
his own unworthiness, that he could not stand before the Lord. He didn't want the Lord to depart
from him, literally, but this is what he felt. So how can I
stand before such majesty, such a holy God, one that can work
such wonders? Again, this is the Holy Spirit,
not just recording what had happened, but recording when the Lord is
seen in a different way than they had seen before. When he's
seen in his glory and seen in what he can do and what he can
perform. We think of also when they're
on the Mount of Transfiguration. This is Peter, James and John
And here again, they had seen the Lord before, they knew the
Lord, they'd been walking with Him, but now is the time that
they're to see Him in a different light, in a different way. And so we have it in Mark 9 and
verse 6, we have the Lord appearing to them, and Molius and Moses
were talking with Jesus, And Peter, he answers, he says to
Jesus, it is good for us to be here. Let us make three tabernacles,
one for thee, one for Moses, one for Elias. We wish not what
to say, for they were sore afraid. That's the effect. What a sight,
what a vision of the Lord in his glory. And that which is
shown to them made them afraid at those things. Yet they were
with the Lord whom they knew. Suddenly they looked round about,
they saw no man anymore, save Jesus, only with themselves. These are those times the Lord
showed himself to his disciples. Then they saw the Lord. Then they saw him. And then the
effect is recorded of when they saw him. Like with the text,
glad. What a solemn thing. On those
that we read in the Revelation, that when he is seen then, it
is recorded there what shall be the effect as well. In Revelation 1 and verse 7,
Behold, he cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see him. Not just his people this time,
every eye shall see him. And they also which pierced him.
And here again is recorded the effect. And all kindreds of the
earth shall wail because of him, even so, Amen. In another place
we are told, of those that shall call upon the rocks and hills
to hide them from the face of him that sitteth upon the throne. And so right through the scriptures,
the Lord sovereignly appears to his people. He reveals himself
more to them, shows more of his majesty, his Godhead. And each
time, each vision, each thing that they see, There is an effect. It doesn't leave them unmoved. It doesn't leave them as it found
them. And it's good for us to remember
that we are seeking the blessing of the Lord. We are seeking that
Lord would reveal Himself to us through His Word. That Lord
would bless us with faith in Him so that we see Him by faith. We can be sure there will be
and a fact. I want to then think of this
in our last point. When we see the Lord, it's a
solemn thing to think, dear friends, that every one of us here will
one day see the Lord. We shall. We shall either see
Him with joy, as our Redeemer, Paul says, Then shall we know,
even as we are known. The moment we see through a glass
darkly, God sees us clearly, but we cannot see Him clearly.
But then as face to face, just the same as you can see me, I
can see you, so it shall be, this is only types and shadows
in heaven, that it shall be exact face to face. and the effect there. For those
that are in Christ, it will be the one that they have seen and
known here below. The one that they have had like
the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. They understood
risen Saviour, the debt paid, sins put away. Satan bruised
his head and the Lord's appeared to them. risen from the dead,
conquered the grave and death. Or it shall be those that have
hated the Lord, rejected Him here, known Him not. They shall
call upon the rocks and the hills to hide them from the face of
Him that sitteth on the throne. All of us, beyond the grave,
we shall see the Lord, and there will be But it is through the Gospel
that we are brought by faith to see the Lord here below. And
light was recorded with those two on the way to Emmaus. The
Lord was with them, but they didn't recognise Him, not by
sight. But afterwards they were able
to think back of what effect it had when He was speaking to
them. Did not our heart burn within
us while he talked with us by the way. Don't always think that
when the Lord first reveals him to his people, they know who
he is. Remember Samuel, it is said of
Samuel, he did not yet know the Lord, but the Lord was to reveal
himself to him. So the Lord stood in the night
and he spoke to him, Samuel. And he goes and sees Eli. He must have thought, that's
Eli's voice. I recognize Eli's voice. But
it wasn't Eli. And after he'd gone back a couple
of times, Eli perceived it was the Lord that had spoken to him.
And he says, when he comes again, say, speak, Lord, for thy servant
heareth. Not more Samuel. He's only able
to say, speak, for thy servant heareth. He couldn't pronounce
the Lord. But the Lord then spoke to him
and gave him a message for Eli, a message that a previous prophet
had already given to Eli. So when Eli wanted to hear that
message, that message was not a new one to him. He knew it
was the Lord because it was a confirming of what he'd already had before
concerning his sons, concerning his house. And we read then that
Samuel was established to be a prophet of the Lord. And at
the end, a couple of those chapters, we read that the Lord appeared
again to Samuel by the word of the Lord. And I love that word. He appeared to him by the word
of the Lord. It's a similar way to when our
Lord is saying in John 6, except ye eat the flesh and drink the
blood of the Son of Man, There's no life in you, so how can? And
they were saying, how can we eat his flesh, drink his blood? How can he give us this? They're
thinking literally. But then our Lord says, the words
that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life. And that is why in the preaching
of the gospel, we preach in words. We preach the word, that is our
commission. The written, incarnate Word is
the same. The Apostle Paul, I determined
to know nothing among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. The Lord said, if I be lifted
up above the earth, I will draw all men unto me. And when they
are preaching Christ, when they are preaching Him that had died,
been crucified, and raised again, There were those that believed,
there were those who were drawn in the day of Pentecost. It was
the effect that again is told. Yes, they're not seeing the Lord
literally with their eyes, but they're hearing of Him. By the
hearing of the ear, you might say, then they're seeing through
what is set forth in such a way that they're pricked in their
hearts. They're convinced. There's the real effect. The
same as we read the contrary effect. Some believe the word
spoken, some believe not. Some were moved, some were affected,
some were not. And the effect is very important. We're not to be unmoved by the
word of the Lord. The word of the Lord is powerful,
It breaks the rocks, it breaks hard hearts. Remember the account
the Lord gave of the rich man and Lazarus. The rich man in
hell, he thought that if Lazarus was to rise from the dead and
appear to his brethren, they'd be warned from coming into that
place of torment. And the Lord says, but they have
Moses and the prophets. He said, no. If one rose from
the dead, then they would believe. And our Lord said, if they hear
not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced, nor neither
will they believe, even if one did rise from the dead. And the
emphasis then is on the word. We made those of the Thessalonians. They received the word, not as
the word of man, but as it is in truth, the Word of the Lord. That is God's ordained way of
revealing His beloved Son to His people, of showing Himself
through the Word of God. But as we've noticed, each time
He appeared, whether it was in Old Testament or New, there was
always an effect. And that will be so. When we
receive the Word, when we hear the Word, it will have an effect. It will convince of sin. It will
humble us before the Lord. It will make us to see His glory.
It will have times that make us glad and our heart rejoice. Times that make our heart burn
within us while He talks with us by the way. But it won't leave
us unmoved. Where the Word of the Lord is,
there is power. My word shall not return unto
me void, it shall accomplish the thing whereto I sent it. My sheep, they hear my voice,
they follow me. They follow me, following the
voice, following his word. They shall all know me from the
least unto the greatest of them. How shall they? Not by seeing
a picture, not by seeing a visual, a literal person here below. But they shall all know me. They
shall recognize the Lord. They shall see him in the word.
They shall know his character. They shall know his kindness,
his mercy. They shall know him as a friend.
They shall know him as, like Thomas says, my Lord and my God. May our prayer be, Jesus, reveal
thyself to me. Show me thyself. Show me thy
beloved Son, show me the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin
of the world. You know, John Baptist, he pointed
him out, behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the
world. And it's a blessed thing when
we behold him in his word, through the word, and our eyes see him,
And we see in a text, in a passage, where we've never seen before,
and seen it in a light, and it touches our heart as never done
before. And you'll remember those verses,
you'll remember that passage. They'll be precious to you, where
the Lord has been pleased to show Himself to us through the
Word. Our text says, When they saw
the Lord, Those two on the way to Emmaus, when they came back,
they had a report and they told what was done in the way and
how Jesus was revealed unto them in the breaking of bread. That's
a wonderful testimony. If we can speak of what has been
done in the way and how the Lord was revealed unto us, what the
effect was and what we saw in Him, the beauty, the attractiveness,
the suitability, the preciousness, Peter says, unto you which believe,
he is precious. May the Lord bless us with such
visits that move our heart and may we know those visits by the
effect. We don't live on feelings, we
are blessed through the Word, but God's people do have feelings,
and the Word does affect them and does move them, the hymn
writer says, my heart will move at thy command. May the Lord bless the Word and
grant us such views of our Lord that shall move us in that way. Amen.