It does turn again to God's Word,
and I want this morning to direct your attention to words that
we find here at the beginning of the book of Acts. In the Acts
of the Apostles, chapter 1, and we'll read the first three verses.
The former treatise, Have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus
began both to do and teach until the day in which he was taken
up after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments
unto the apostles whom he had chosen to whom also he 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 and in particular these words that we have in verse
3, to whom also he showed himself alive after his passion by many
infallible proofs. The expression here, infallible
proofs, is the rendering of a single word, and the particular word
is found on this single occasion in the New Testament Scriptures.
A very significant word then is that that the translators
of our authorised version have rendered by two words infallible
proofs. That is the proofs of the resurrection
from the dead of the Lord Jesus Christ. And of course the records
of his resurrection is to be found in all of the Gospels in
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. We have a fourfold account then
of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ and then also we
have that remarkable 15th chapter that we have there in the first epistle of Paul to the
Corinthians And now, in the opening words of that chapter, he speaks
of the resurrection very much in terms of that that lies at
the heart of the Gospel. Whereover, brethren, I declare
unto you the Gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have
received, and wherein ye stand, by which also ye are saved, if
ye keep in memory what I preached unto you. unless you have believed
in vain." And then he goes on to speak so plainly of Christ's
death and His resurrection and the various ones to whom Christ
appeared after He was risen from the dead. Verse 4, he says, He
was buried and He rose again the third day according to the
Scriptures. But with regards to the words of our text back in
Acts 1 and verse 3. Here, of course, we have in particular
the writings of Luke. Interesting to compare the opening
of the Gospel of Luke and then the opening of the Acts of the
Apostles. We see how the two books are
so closely related, written by the same human author. There, remember we have that
preamble at the beginning of Luke's Gospel, "...for as much
as many have taken in hands and set forth in order a declaration
of those things which are most surely believed among us, even
as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were
eyewitnesses and ministers of the world, it seemed good to
me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first,
to write unto thee in order, Most Excellent Theophilus. that
thou mightest know the certainty of those things wherein thou
hast been instructed and it's the same person that's addressed
here in the opening verse of the Acts of the Apostles the
former treatise have I made O Theophilus of all that Jesus began both
to do and teach until the day in which he was taken up after
that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the
Apostles whom he had chosen and so We can say that when it comes
to these infallible proofs, Luke, the writer, is very much mindful
of the things that he himself had written, not only what he
was about to write in the Acts, but those things that he had
also written, and particularly, of course, those words that we've
read just now in our reading from Luke chapter 24, So as we
turn to consider something of the infallible proofs, we'll
make several references back to what is recorded there in
Luke 24. But I want to mention in particular
four proofs that we're to discern here. First of all, how that
the Lord Jesus Christ was seen. And secondly, how the Lord Jesus
Christ may have been touched. Then thirdly, how Christ eats
with the disciples. And then finally, how the Lord
Jesus is the one who speaks to them again after his resurrection. These four things that I want
to try to draw out this morning. First of all, how that Christ
was seen. And we have it here at the beginning
of this third verse of our text in Acts chapter 1, to whom also
He showed Himself. He showed Himself alive. And did we not read it there
in chapter 24 of the Gospel at verse 39, where he says to them,
Behold, and say. Significance, of course, of the
opening word. The word behold is that it's
a strong word, it has that idea of fixing the eye, examining
the thing closely, looking into it very carefully. Behold, he
says, and say. and that the Lord Jesus Christ
then is that one that they actually saw with their own eyes and it
was not a spirit, it was not a phantom that they saw Surely,
initially, that was the case, as we're told in our reading
there, back in Luke 24 and verse 37, we're told they were terrified,
and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit when
the Lord appeared in the midst of them. They supposed that this
was a spirit. We know that the door where they
were meeting was shut, it was bolted and barred because they
were so afraid of the Jews. We have that recorded in John
chapter 20 and verse 19, the same day at evening, being the
first day of the week, when the doors were shut, when the disciples
were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in
the midst and says unto them, Peace be unto you. It was a different body in a
sense. It was a spiritual body, it was
a glorified body, nonetheless it was a real body. It was not a spirit. When the
Apostle Paul is writing in that 15th chapter to the Corinthians,
in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, he speaks of the resurrection
body of the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 43 says, it is sown in
dishonor, it is raised in glory, it is sown in weakness, it is
raised in power, it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual
body. There is a natural body and there
is a spiritual body. But it's a body, and it's a real
body, it's more than a spirit. And so the Lord Jesus Christ
indicates to them that what they are witnessing is not merely
some phantom, this is substance, this is a real person. He says
there again in Luke's account, verse 39 of that 24th chapter,
Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. handle me and see for a spirit
hath not flesh and bones as ye see me have." He indicates him
quite clearly, quite plainly that it is really himself, it
is I myself he says. It is the real me. And so, in
the words of our text, "...to whom he showed himself alive
after his passion by many infallible proofs." As they were able to
see him, so also they might, if they would touch him, they
might handle me. We have it, remember, in those
words we just quoted again, at verse 39 in Luke 24, He says, handle me and see for
a spirit hath not flesh and bones as you see me have. Now we know
that in the early years of the Christian era there were those
who did deny the reality of the human nature of the Lord Jesus
Christ. They denied then the reality
of the resurrection And John is the one who, in his writings,
deals with these heretical teachers, and declares them to be deceivers
and antichrists. In the first general epistle
of John, in chapter 4, verse 2, he writes hereby, Know ye
the Spirit of God? Every spirit that confesses that
Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God. And every spirit that
confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of
God. And this is that spirit of Antichrist,
whereof ye have heard that he should come, and even there already
is it in the world." They were not to be surprised that there
were these false teachers who were peddling these strange doctrines,
who were denying the truth concerning the human nature of Christ. and
certainly denying the truth concerning the reality of his resurrection
from the dead. And not only there in that first
general epistle, but again, writing in 2 John, in verse 7, he says,
Many deceivers are entered into the world who confess not that
Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. How strong is the language then
that John employs when he writes against those who would deny
the truth of the human nature of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
it's that human nature that rose again from the dead. For John, he could well witness
to these things and the truth of these things. Remember again
the significance then of the opening words of that first epistle
of John. He says, that which was from
the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with
our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled
of the word of life. Our hands have handled of the
word of life. This is that favoured one. he
was the one who was there lying upon the Lord's bosom when he
instituted the Holy Supper. And so he could speak of those
things that he had not only seen, but those things that he had
handled, he knew the reality. Christ, after his resurrection,
was in a glorified body But it was a real body, it was a body
of substance, a body that could be handled. And so we have the
account, did we not, of Thomas, who was not present with them
on that resurrection day, but a week later, the following first
day of the week, Thomas is with them. And remember how John records
the event concerning Thomas in chapter 20 of his Gospel we're
told, verse 24, Thomas one of the twelve called Didymus was
not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore
said unto him We have seen the Lord, but 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." He wants to see something substantial,
does Thomas. And so we're told that after
eight days again his disciples were within. The following Lord's
Day, the following first day of the week, and Thomas is with
them. And again, the doors being shut,
the Lord Jesus comes and stands in the midst of them, and said,
Peace be unto you. Then saith he to Thomas, Reach
hither thy finger, and behold my hands, and reach hither 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 here is a body that is clearly of
substance this is a real body this is a real resurrection from
the dead when the Lord again in that strange way the door
shut yet his body though a substantial body is a spiritually glorified
body and he can again appear in the midst of the disciples
they saw him They may have touched that body, the reality of it,
but then the Lord Jesus Christ quite deliberately eats in their
presence, eats before them. That's the significance, is it
not, of what we have there in Luke 24. when he willingly partakes of
food. Verse 41, While they yet believed
not for joy and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here
any meat? any fruit, meat used in that
general sense, have you here, any meat? And they gave him a
piece of a broiled fish, and an honeycomb, and he took it,
and he did eat before them. Now how important are these words
at the end of verse 43, that he did eat before them. He quite deliberately eats before
their eyes. They see him partaking of food. It's a very significant expression. We have it, remember, back in
the Old Testament when they were guilty of the most gross idolatry
in the matter of the golden calf. God had given commandment to
them concerning the manner of worship. They'd received the
Ten Commandments. And they were afraid, and they
desired that Moses should act as mediator. He goes into the
mount, and whilst he's away from them for those 40 days, they
begin to grow weary. What has become of him, they
say? And they desire Aaron to make them a god. And he makes
the golden calf, and they worship the calf. Well, they imagine
they're worshipping God by means of this image of a calf. and
how God's wrath is kindled against them and he sends Moses from
the mountain and he has the tables the Ten Commandments written
with the finger of God he has these tables in his hand and
there in Deuteronomy he reminds them of what happened Deuteronomy
9.17 I took the two tables and cast them out of my two hands
and break them before your eyes He quite deliberately does it
before them. They see the breaking of the
tables, because they were guilty of breaking the commandment of
God. They were the transgressors, they'd broken the covenant. He
does it before their eyes. And so too, the Lord Jesus Christ,
He quite deliberately partakes of food before their eyes. He
wants them to see it. This is one of these infallible
Proofs. And what are we told? They believed
not for joy and wondered. Oh, what strange emotions, what
a peculiar mix of emotions they were experiencing. on that first
day of the week, the day upon which the Lord Jesus Christ arose
from the dead. And we see something of it, of
course, in that portion that we were reading. When the women
come back from the empty tomb, there in Luke 24, verse 11, their
words seem to them as idle tales, and they believe them not. They couldn't believe it. Though
the women were testifying to the truth of the resurrection,
they couldn't believe what they were hearing. And when the Lord
speaks to those two on the road to Emmaus, how does He address them there
at verse 25? He said unto them, O fools, and
slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken.
They were so slow to believe these things. How necessary then
it was that there should be many infallible proofs. They had to
be convinced of the truth of his resurrection from the dead.
That's why Luke tells us here in the text that he showed himself
alive after his passion by many infallible proofs being seen
of them 40 days over a period, a long period. of 40 days he
would appear to them at various times to prove the truth of his
resurrection and as I say one of the proofs is the fact that
he eats and he doesn't just eat before them we see him also eating
with them, do we not? there at the end of John's Gospel
that incident that John records when when they were fishing and
they come to the land and they see a fire and fish lay there
on and bread and the Lord is there in John 21 and verse 10
Jesus says to them bring of the fish which ye have now caught
Simon Peter went up and drew the net to land full of great
fishes and hundred and fifty and three And for all there were
so many, yet was not the net broken. Jesus saith unto them,
Come and dine. And none of the disciples asked
him who art thou, knowing that it was the Lord. Jesus then cometh
and taketh bread, and giveth them and fish likewise. This is now the third time that
Jesus showed himself to his disciples after that he was risen from
the dead. Oh, it is proof upon proof of the truth of His resurrection. They see Him. They may touch
Him and handle Him. He eats before them, He eats
with them. All of these are the proofs. And the strong word that
we have here used by Luke in our text rendered infallible
proofs, not just proofs, but such remarkable proofs, such
significant signs of the truth of His resurrection. And then
in the fourth place we see how that the Lord also speaks to
them. And we have it here again, the
end of the text, this third verse of Acts 1, speaking of the things
pertaining to the kingdom of God. He continues His ministry,
His great prophetic ministry, He is that teacher come from
God. Remember now just previous to his crucifixion in those three
chapters in John's Gospel, John 14, 15 and 16, we have his discourses,
his valedictory discourses. Well, he continues to minister
to them after his resurrection, after he has accomplished that
great work, he's been obedient now unto death. He has fulfilled
all righteousness by making that great sacrifice for sins. And so what does he do? He speaks
of his kingdom. He speaks of that kingdom which
is a mediatorial kingdom. My kingdom is not of this world,
he had said to Pontius Pilate at that mockery of a trial that
he had to endure. My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world,
then would my servants fight. But his kingdom is not a worldly
kingdom, it is a spiritual kingdom. In the game, there at the end
of our reading this morning, Luke 24 and verse 44, He said
unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you while
I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled which
were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the
Psalms concerning Mary." Jesus is the Spirit of prophecy. All
the Old Testament speaks of Him. And so He tells them, you see,
all that is written there in Old Testament Scripture must
be accomplished, must be fulfilled. And all was accomplished and
fulfilled in his great work. Then opened in their understanding
that they might understand the Scriptures, and said unto them,
Thus it is written, and thus it beholds Christ to suffer and
to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and
remission of sin should be preached in his name among all nations
beginning at Jerusalem and ye are witnesses of these things."
That's what they do in the Acts of the Apostles, is it not? They
bear witness to the truth of his resurrection. One must be
chosen from the rest of the disciples to fill the place that was Judas
Iscariot's place, the one who had betrayed the Lord Jesus Christ. And so at the end of this chapter
we see how the choice falls upon Matthias. Look at what they say
previous to that. Verse 21, Wherefore of these
men which accompanied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus
went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John, unto
that same day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained
to be a witness with us, a witness with us of his resurrection. This is the great ministry of
the apostles, is it not? They are witnesses. and in the
Acts are constantly bearing testimony to the truth that Christ died
and Christ is risen again from the dead. And they preach that
kingdom, that spiritual kingdom, that mediatorial kingdom. He
is the one who is the head over all things to the churches in
all. He reigns as King of Kings and
Lord of Lords. He gives that great commission
at the end of Matthew's Gospel. All power is given unto me in
heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the
Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever
I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you all the
way, even unto the end of the world. He is that One, you see,
who is reigning, and He speaks then. He speaks of His Kingdom. These, then, are some of those
proofs, those infallible proofs of the truth of the resurrection,
these witnesses, how they saw the Lord Jesus Christ, how they
saw the reality of His body, Here was that that was substance
that could be touched and handled. How He eats before them, they
witness Him partaking of food. This is no phantom. And then
He speaks and gives them that great commission. Well, as we
draw these things to a conclusion this morning, I want to observe
three things from the fact of the resurrection of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Three great truths. First of
all, Here we have a demonstration of his deity. In this he shows
himself to be God and man. He could die because he was a
real man. But the Lord Jesus Christ is
that one who also raises himself from the dead, does he not? Remember
the language that he uses in the 10th chapter of John concerning
his death and his resurrection. His dying was a voluntary act. No one could take his life from
him. The Jews many times would have
sought to kill him, they would have stoned him because they
said he was a blasphemer. But they couldn't, his time was
not yet come. But when his time was come He made the sacrifice
Himself. He offered Himself. He's not
only the sacrifice, of course, He is the Great High Priest who
makes the sacrifice. Quite remarkable, really, when
we consider it. In Christ we have both the priest
who is sacrificed, and He is also the sacrifice that is being
offered. And so he says there in John
10.18, No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down,
and I have power to take it again. Oh, he had that authority, you
see, to raise himself again the third day. And remember those
words, in verse 39 of that 24th chapter in Luke, where he says
to the disciples, It is I Myself. Those four significant words,
Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I Myself. Handle me and see, for a spirit
hath not flesh and bones as ye see me have. It is I my self
literally the original reads I am myself that's what he says
I am myself and isn't that what we see repeatedly in John's gospel
that the Lord Jesus Christ is the I am that he is Jehovah He
is Jehovah Jesus. Those great I am statements that
are scattered throughout John's Gospel. In chapter 8 and verse
24 he says to them, if you believe not that I am he, you shall perish
in your sins. But you know that the pronoun
there is italicized, it's been introduced by the translators.
Literally he says to the Jews, if you believe not that I am,
ye shall perish in your sins." And then at the end of that 8th
chapter, he says, before Abraham was, I am. The great boast of
the Jews, of course, was that they were the children of Abraham. But the Lord Jesus Christ tells
them, all before Abraham I am, He is the God of Abraham and
the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob and in His resurrection
He is demonstrating His deity in all that we read concerning
His experiences as He comes to make that great sacrifice His
obedience unto death, in all of this He is showing Himself
to be the true God. Remember when they come to arrest
him there in the garden. He declares himself to be the
I Am and they cannot lay a finger upon him. He comes before them
and says, Whom seek you? And they say, Jesus of Nazareth.
And he says unto them, I Am. There at verse 5 in John 18.
Verse 6, Then as he had said unto them, I am he, or literally
I am, they went backward and fell to the ground. Then I see
them again, whom seek ye? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth.
Jesus answered, I have told you that I am he, literally I am,
if therefore ye seek me, let these go their way. and they're
obedient to him. The disciples go their way. And
he is that one who gives himself into the hands of those who have
come to arrest him. Oh, we see him clearly there
as God. God manifests in the flesh with
all the authority that belongs to him in his Godhood. But we see it so clearly when
he He is raised again from the dead on the third day. He is
declared to be the Son of God. We read in Romans 1 and verse
4. And the word declared there means
He is that One who is marked out, declared to be the Son of
God, with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the
resurrection from the dead. It is an infallible proof, this.
of the truth of his deity. That he is a man, yes, but he
is the God-man. He is God manifest in the flesh. But then, not only a demonstration
of his deity, but the resurrection is also a sign of the reality
of his dying. In order to rise, he must first
die. And so here, as he rises again
from the dead, what does he say to those disciples? Behold, my
hands and my feet, that it is I myself. And when he had thus
spoken, he showed them his hands and his feet. He shows them his
wounds. Had he not just on the cross
poured out his soul unto death? Had he not died a bloody death
without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins
and he had died and his experience of death was a real experience
he did descend into Hades he descended into the realm of the
dead We have that question in the book of the Prophet Zechariah,
Zechariah 13 and verse 6. What are these wounds in thy
hands? What are these wounds in thy
hands? And the answer, those with which I was wounded in the
house of my friends. And John Calvey makes the observation,
by this sign he testified he was risen for us. or he received
those wounds you see in the house of his friends he died for his
friends those that the father had given
to him though in their natural state in a condition of alienation
and enmity yet the very ones that the father had given to
him the ones that he comes to redeem he dies for them and he rises
again for them Here then, not only does He demonstrate the
truth of His deity that He is God, but also we see this sign
that He really did die, and He died for His people. He bore
in His own person that tremendous wrath of God that was there just
as earth when He died upon the cross. He's put to death in the
flesh, but He's quickened now by the Spirit. He's risen again
from the dead. And then, with regards to the
glorious truth of the resurrection, we see this in the third place,
which strengthens the believer's faith. It strengthens the believer's
faith. What strange emotions, as we've
said, what a strange mixture in the experience of those disciples
of the Lord. They believe not for joy, It
was altogether beyond them. They could not but wonder at
these things. They believed not for joy and
wondered. It seemed too good to be true.
It seemed too great to believe. There is, you see, with faith
so often this strange mixture of doubts, of fears, is there
not? The Hymn writer says, Dream not
of faith so clear as shuts all doubting out. Faith is a strange
grace, is it not? how often it is assaulted, how
often Satan comes and comes with his lie and seeks to attack the
poor child of God and to instill into the mind those doubts and
those questionings. He is such an artful foe, is
he not? But what a precious truth is this doctrine of Christ's
resurrection from the dead. Again, We have it there, of course,
in that 15th chapter of Paul's first epistle to the church at
Corinth. And you're familiar, I'm sure,
with the language of the apostle there. 1 Corinthians 15, verse
14, he says, If Christ be not risen, then is our preaching
vain, and your faith is also vain. Yea, and we are found false
witnesses of God." Because this was the great testimony that
the apostles bore. They constantly asserted the
truth of Christ's resurrection. If we are found... Yea, and we
are found false witnesses of God, he says, if there's no resurrection. Because we have testified of
God, that he raised up Christ, whom he raised not up, if so
be that the dead rise not. For if the dead rise not, then
is not Christ raised. And if Christ be not raised,
your fate is vain, ye are yet in your sins. All with Christ is not risen
from the dead, the vanity of believing in him. How can a dead
man save a sinner? But he is not dead, he is risen
again. He has demonstrated the truth
of his Godhood. And he has ascended on high and
he is able to say to the Ottomans, to all that come unto God by
him. Lord that we might be those friends
who do truly believe these things, to be steadfast in believing,
yes, to tremble, fear and quake, says Joseph. That was the experience
of these disciples of the Lord. They believed not for joy and
wonder. They were made to fear and quake at these remarkable
things that they were witnesses to. Or that we might be those
then who are brought to understand the significance of the infallible
proofs that the Lord Jesus Christ himself was pleased to give to
those first disciples, to whom also he 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. The Lord be pleasing to bless
this truth to us today for his name's sake. Amen.