Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the Gospel of John, chapter 20. John, chapter 20. I'd like to look at verses 19
to 23. The Lord is risen. He's appeared to Mary Magdalene. He appeared to the women that
were with Mary. He's appeared to the two on the
road to Emmaus. And according to Luke's account,
in Luke 24-34, Luke declares that the Lord appeared to Simon,
Simon Peter. We don't know, it's not recorded
when. He did, but the Scripture said
that the Lord did. The Apostle Paul referred to
that meeting that the Lord had with Peter in 1 Corinthians 15.5. And now we come to the account
of when the Lord appeared to the rest of His disciples. Now, let me say this before we
proceed in these few verses. There are some things in these
verses that require reverent consideration. We pray that the
Lord give us understanding of this glorious passage of Scripture. And here's what I'm going to
say. I'm going to say the same words that were uttered by the
dad that was seeking the Lord's help concerning his child that
was sick. That dad that said, Lord, I believe,
help thou mine unbelief. John chapter 20, verse 19, then
the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when
the doors were shut, where the disciples were assembled for
fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst and said
unto them, Peace be unto you." Now, I thank the Lord for the
continued setting forth of what day this was. Notice how many
times the Spirit of God says, over and over, being the first
day of the week. I've said before, this is a special
day. You say, well this is just Sunday.
No, it's not just Sunday. Today is the Lord's Day according
to the Scriptures. This is the Lord's Day. This
is the day which we are remembering the resurrection of the Lord
Jesus Christ. The Scripture says the first
day at evening, first day of the week, same day, doors were
shut. where the disciples were assembled
for fear of the Jews, and came Jesus and stood in the midst
of them." Now, the doors were shut. Barred? Well, the disciples were
scared, had fear of the Jews, but the Lord appeared. Some say that he walked through
the door. Some say the door did not hold
any restriction to him. Did the door just open? I don't
know. I don't know. The scripture says
that the doors were shut. I looked it up. They were barred. They were closed. They were secured. And the Lord walked in. The Lord walked in. I looked
at that and I thought this morning, jotted down a few notes, I thought,
boy, what a beautiful picture of irresistible grace. You take
the door of a man's wicked heart, shut, barred, I'll not have this
man to rule over me. And then Almighty God, according
to His everlasting covenant of grace, mercy, compassion, He
just walks in. You know, you've seen that painting.
It's supposed to be a picture of the Lord and there's no doorknob
on the outside and he's knocking, you know. Go back and read that. That has nothing whatsoever to
do with an unbeliever and him trying to get them to unlock
the door to let him in. I'm telling you, when Almighty
God comes, He comes in power. The door just opens. He walks
in and the Lord stood in the midst. Then this is what he said
to them. First words out of his mouth
to all of his disciples that were standing there. This is
what he said to them. Peace be unto you. I went back and read
the accounts of what he said to each of the different ones
that he met with. You know, it said he came to
the women. Now this is in Matthew 28, 9. This is what he said to them
first. All hail. That is, rejoice exceedingly
and be glad. That's his first words to them.
Then he spoke to Mary Magdalene and this is what he said to her.
Woman, Why weepest thou? Whom seekest thou? Why do you despair? And who do
you seek for comfort? But to these that just a few
days before had forsaken Him. To the one that had thrice denied
Him when the Lord told Peter this very day, Before the cock
crows twice, you're going to deny me three times. Peter said,
in essence, it's not going to happen. It won't happen. I'll die for you. I'll follow
you. I will not. And when he did,
one of the accounts says he looked at the Lord. The Lord looked
at him. My heart just breaks when I think
of that because I think of how many times have I done inattitude. Not maybe outwardly where someone
would see it, but inattitude. Forsaken the Lord. Not believed
Him. Not trusted Him. Not walked in
the life that I had. So He walks to these that had
fled. And this was His word to them.
Peace. Harmony, security, rest, quietness
be unto you. Not blame, not shame on you,
not rebuke. He said exactly what they needed
to hear. He walked into their midst and
he comforted them. Peace. I know what you're thinking. I know what you're feeling. I
know what it is. And this is my word to you. Let
me ask you this. How many times have we that believed? How many times have we found
ourselves that you'll hear something preached in the gospel and immediately,
as soon as you hear something, The Spirit of God takes it and
applies it to your heart and your heart just rejoices and
your heart burns. It was just exactly what you
needed to hear. Mitch, you just read out of 56,
didn't you? When you read that last verse,
Psalm 56, 13, he read this verse in my heart just, you know, for
thou has delivered my soul from death. Lord, you paid my debt. Lord, you bore my sin, you put
away my guilt. Will thou not deliver my feet
from falling? Lord, you've eternally by your
blood You presented me faultless in Yourself by the shedding of
Your blood, the giving of Your body. Lord, will You not keep
me today that I may walk before God in
the light of the living? I read that verse and my heart
just, I thought, I needed to hear that. Lord, will You not
keep me today? You've delivered me eternally.
Would You keep me right now? Oh, may the Spirit of God speak
peace to us. Back in John 20, the Lord came
up to them and He said, Peace be unto you. And then look at
the evidence. He spoke it to them. But then
what He did was He supplied them with the evidence of their peace. Well, first of all, look at the
latter part of verse 19. Jesus stood in the midst. He was standing there. He said,
peace be unto you. He stood there and they're looking
at him. Oh, what a comfort. He's risen from the grave. Peace. The scripture declares where
two or three are gathered together in my name. He said, I'm in the
midst of you. Now, I'm going to tell you right
now. I believe, not as I ought, not as I shall, but I believe
right now the Lord is in our midst. I believe that. Where is He? In our midst. He
was in their midst. The Lord stood in their midst.
And then verse 20, when He had so said, He showed unto them
His hands and His side. Then were the disciples glad
when they saw the Lord. He said in the account of Luke,
Luke 24, 38, 39, listen to this. He said unto them, why are you
troubled? And why do thoughts arise in
your hearts? He knew what they were thinking.
He said to them in Luke's account, Behold my hands and my feet,
that it is I myself. Then he says, Handle me. Touch
me. Feel me. Here, touch me. Satisfy the desire that I know
you have to be assured. Lord, it's you. It's really you. Do we not even now, by faith,
behold the evidence of our peace with new eyes? Do we not behold
his hands and his sight? He said, look at me. An unbeliever will say, I don't
know what you're talking about. I know you don't. But I'm talking
to God's people. Don't you, who the Lord has revealed,
possess new eyes, the hearing ear, the seeing eye? Don't you,
by faith, see Him? Do you not behold Him even now
in our presence? And does not our heart rejoice
as we realize that He's here? He said to them, He said, Behold
the marks in my hands and my side of your redemption. Look. From these hands, from
this side flowed the blood that has cleansed you from all sin.
Rejoice. Peace. Peace be unto you. That blood that speaketh, the
scripture says, even now. Listen to Hebrews 12, 24. And
to Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood
of sprinkling that speaketh better things than that of Abel. What did Abel's blood cry? Vengeance. Vengeance. That's what his blood
cried. Vengeance. That's what the Lord
told Cain. He said, I, your brother's blood
speaks vengeance. What is his blood? The Lord's
blood? Pardon. Pardon. Here's what his blood
cries. Here's what his blood says. Accept
it in the beloved. I'm so thankful. That it's not
according to my works, my will, or my ways. By grace, peace be unto you. And when the Lord had showed
them, that is verse 20, his hands at his side, then were the disciples
glad when they saw the Lord. They rejoiced seeing. And we do too. We do too. One of these days, we're not
going to see him anymore by faith. Not anymore. Going to be by sight. You know. One of these days,
these eyes that behold him truly by faith, going to be complete. And we're going to see him as
he is. And we're going to know him.
And we'll be like him. Peace be unto you. Then verse
21, Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you. As my Father
has sent me, even so send I you. Now, I couldn't help but notice
the repeating of what he had just said to them. Peace be unto
you. Then he said just again, Peace
be unto you. It made me think about that passage
of scripture, Philippians 3, 1, Paul speaking, Finally, my
brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you,
to me indeed, does not grieve us, but for you it is safe. What safety in hearing the words
of the Lord again, peace be unto you. You say, well, we heard
that just a little while ago. I know, I needed to hear it again.
But I'm so prone to forget. I so need to be reminded. First
time He came there and spoke those words to them, they were
sitting there scared, assembled for fear of the Jews. The scripture
says, and now the Lord speaks to them again. Peace. Because He's preparing to send
them out. It's not going to be long. Forty
days He's going to send to His Father. And they're going to
be without his physical presence. He promised them. He said, I'll
never leave you. I'll never forsake you. He's
with us. But there's a physical return
that we're going to behold one of these days. And he's getting
ready to leave. And now he's going to assure them of the peace
and the comfort that they have because He's getting ready to
send them. He said, as my father hath sent
me. How did the Lord God Jehovah
send the Son? Brother Henry Mahan made a few
comments on this and I thought it was so good, I'm just going
to read his comments. He said, the Lord's ministry
was divinely instituted. as the Father hath sent me."
He said, well, even so send I you. Well, ours is divinely instituted
too. He, as God, sends his people. The Lord's
ministry was to his people. Call his name Jesus for he shall
save his people from their sins. His ministry was to his people,
his high priestly prayer. Who is he praying for? I pray
not for the world, but for those that you've given me out of the
world. Who did he die for? I lay down my life for the sheep. Who's going to come to Him? All
that the Father giveth Me. To whom was His ministry? To
His people. What is ours? To the Lord's people. That's what I'm doing. I'm preaching
the gospel. God's going to call out His people.
I don't know who they are. So I do just exactly what He's
told us to do. Go into all the world and preach
the gospel to every creature. What's going to happen? Whatever
God's purpose is. That's what's going to happen. His Word's not going to return
void. It's going to accomplish the purpose for which it was
sent. Almighty God sent the Lord Jesus Christ to His people. As the Father hath sent me, well,
what was the world's attitude toward the Lord? Well, the world
hated Him. What does the Scripture say the
world's going to do concerning us? They're going to hate us
too. That's what the Lord said. As
the Father sent me, even so send I you. John 17, 14, I have given
them thy word, and the world hath hated them because they're
not of the world, even as I'm not of the world. His ministry
was confirmed by miracles, wonders, signs. That's what Acts 2.22
says. I'm sorry, ye men of Israel,
hear these words, Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you
by miracles, wonders, and signs, which God did by him in the midst
of you, as ye yourselves also know. How about these apostles?
How were they confirmed? Listen to Hebrews. Let me just
read this to you. Hebrews 2, 1 to 4. Therefore we ought to give the
more earnest heed to the things which we've heard, lest at any
time we should let them slip. For if the word spoken by angels
was steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just
recompense of reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great
salvation which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord,
and was confirmed unto us by them that heard Him, God also
bearing them witness, both with signs, wonders, and divers, miracles,
and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to His own will." How
was the Lord confirmed? By miracle signs. How were the
apostles confirmed? When the Lord sent them out,
how were they confirmed? Same way. miracles and signs,
wonders. When the Lord came into this
world, what did he preach? He preached the gospel. concerning
Himself. Listen to Luke 4.18. The Spirit
of the Lord is upon me because He has anointed me to preach
the gospel to the poor. He sent me to heal the brokenhearted,
to preach deliverance to the captives, recovering of the sight
to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach
the acceptable year of the Lord. What? Who? Who do God's preachers
preach? We preach Christ. Paul said,
I'm not ashamed of the gospel. It's the power of God and salvation. Let the world say what it will.
They're going to stand before God and answer for it. But I'm
telling you right now, the gospel of God's free grace, sovereign
grace, electing grace, redeeming grace, regenerating, keeping
grace is the message that God the Spirit blesses. to the salvation
of God's people. All right, last two verses for
this morning. John 20, verse 22-23, And when
he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them,
Receive ye the Holy Ghost, whosoever sins ye remit, they are remitted
unto them. And whosoever sins ye retain,
they are retained." Now, that's a very, very misunderstood and
distorted passage of Scripture. These disciples had already received
the Holy Spirit of God in regenerating grace. They could not love the
Lord, believe the Lord, follow the Lord without a new heart. Listen to this, 1 Corinthians
2, 9 and 10, But as it is written, I hath not seen, ear, heard,
neither hath entered into the heart of man the things which
God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed
them unto us by his Spirit. For the Spirit searcheth all
things, yea, the deep things of God. Without the Holy Spirit
in regenerating grace, the carnal heart is enmity against
God. The natural man. Somebody said,
well I loved the Lord before I was converted. No you didn't.
Not according to scriptures you didn't. No. Almighty God gives
a new heart. Creates a new man in regeneration. Makes a new person there. So a sinner believes because
he's born of God. It's given unto you to believe. That which is born of the flesh
is flesh, that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel
not that I said unto thee, ye must be born again. The wind
bloweth where it listeth, thou hearest the sound thereof, but
canst not tell whence it cometh, whether it goeth. So is every
one that is born of the Spirit." So what was the Lord doing and
what was He saying to them when He said, Whosoever sins you remit,
that is, forgive. They are forgiven unto them.
And whosoever sins you retain, they're retained. Whoever sins that are not remitted,
they're not remitted. Well, let me say this. I can
tell you for a fact that Almighty God alone forgives sin. This thing, I came up in a religion
where I was told that there was a man that could forgive sin. And I'd go to this little box. It had these little, you know,
rick rack stuff. And I was to confess my sin to
Him. And He, I was told, could forgive
sin. That's a lie. Nobody, no man
can forgive sin. God alone. God Almighty forgives
sin. So what was the Lord talking
about? Well, first of all, when He breathed upon them who had
already received the Spirit of God in regenerating grace, what
the Lord did was He qualified them with the gifts of the Holy
Spirit for the work that He was preparing them and calling them
to. For the confirmation of who these
men were The servants of the Most High God. What gifts are
you talking about? Well, the Scripture declares,
look at, let me just read Mark 16, 18. Mark 16, 18. Here's what the Lord gifted His
apostles. They shall take up serpents. Now, I know that there's, you
know, see on TV and stuff, where there's people that still think
you can handle snakes and you're not going to get hurt. Well,
I can tell you for a fact, there's some of them that have, and they've
died. Well, the scripture says, concerning
whoever the Lord's talking about, they shall take up serpents,
and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them.
Not going to hurt them. I know the Apostle Paul had a
poison snake bite him and they just, people that was there,
they just stood back and waited for him to die. Paul just jerked
it off his arm and kept going. Scripture says, they shall lay
hands on the sick, they shall recover. The Lord
gifted these men with the Spirit of God's gifts for the confirmation
of who they were and in whose name they spoke. They possessed
varying gifts that included the discernment of spirits. Acts
8.23 is that verse of Scripture where Simon the sorcerer, he
was watching Peter and seeing how Peter was able to do certain
things, and he said, uh, how much is it going to cost me to
be able to do what you do? Now by the gift of the Holy Spirit
that was given Peter as one of the Lord's apostles, listen to
the words, I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness,
in the bond of iniquity. How did Peter know that? The
Spirit of God gifted him to know that. Peter wouldn't have that
ability. I perceive that thou art... I
mean, you could guess, maybe. But how about the gifts of tongues? What about on the day of Pentecost?
The Spirit of God fell on that group of men, 120 men that were
preaching. And they began to speak in other
languages that they'd never learned before. Languages that some people
understood. These are Galileans. And how is it that we hear them
speak in our own language? That was a gift of the Holy Spirit. Receive you, the Holy Ghost. Casting out devils, raising the
dead. You remember when that fellow
was sitting up, Paul preached all night, preached till midnight
one night. Fellow was sitting in the window, fell out and died.
Paul went out. God raised him up. Through Paul. Receive ye the Holy Ghost. But then the Lord said unto them,
Whosoever sins you remit, they are remitted unto them. Whosoever
sins you retain, they are retained. Now remember this. No one can
forgive sin but God. Almighty God forgives sin through
the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. But here's what the Lord was
saying unto them concerning the message that they're going to
preach. The Lord commissioned and gifted
and gave the power through the preaching of the glorious gospel
of God's grace. This is what he was saying. And
we're doing the same thing right now. I have no ability to remit,
to take away, or to cause you to retain sin. I can't do that. I can't do that. They couldn't
either. They couldn't forgive sin, but I'll tell you what they
did do. by the grace of God, the gifts
of confirmation of what they were saying and who they were,
they preached the gospel that declared, this is how sins are
remitted, or this is how sins are retained. You take a false
preacher, preaching a false gospel of free works, works religion. They're not telling you how sins
are remitted or how sins are retained. What they're doing
is they're declaring man, man's honor, not God's. But according
to the message that you preach, the Lord said, sins are declared
to be remitted by the grace of God through faith in Christ. Those sins are remitted. These
men couldn't do it, but they declared the message of God who
does. And He said, those sins that
are retained in the message that you preach, You're going to declare
how sins are not put away. That is, if you believe that
your sins are remitted because you were baptized or because
you... Uh-uh. No. No. That message,
that false message, he said, that's going to be a message
that declares how sins are retained. He said, you're going to go forth
and you're going to preach the gospel. That message that declares
sins remitted or sins retained. And it's going to be without
dispute. And that message is going to declare the basis, the
foundation of the forgiveness of sins. That Philippian jailer
came to Paul, what must I do to be saved? This is what he
was asking. What is the evidence of salvation? Not, what can I
do in order to be saved? What must I do? Paul said, I
tell you what you must do. You must believe. And it's not
going to be of you. It's going to be by grace. God's
going to have to give you faith to believe. What must I do to
be saved? God's going to have to do something
for you that you can't do for yourself. That's the remitting or the retaining. of sins. That message that we preach today,
this is what we say. Here's the message. I can't forgive
sin, but I can tell you what I can tell you. You believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved in thy house.
That's what he told that Philippian jailer. I can't do it, but I'll
tell you this, the God I serve can. How about that message that
retaining of sins. Here's what it is. He that believeth
and is baptized shall be saved. He that believeth not shall be
damned. I didn't retain them. You that
do not believe, they're retained on you. The message that we preach. This is what he told them. The
Lord's disciples were given the Spirit of God the gifts of God's
Spirit to preach the message of remittance or retention of
sins. And that's what we do today.
May the Lord add His blessing upon His precious Word for Christ's
sake. Amen.