Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayerful attention to the Gospel according to Luke
chapter 24, the portion that we read, and reading for our
text just part of verse 15. Verse 15, Jesus himself drew
near. and went with them. The whole
verse reads, and it came to pass that while they communed together
and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. Luke 24 verse 15. This account of the first day
of the week The day when the Lord Jesus Christ rose from the
dead and appeared to his disciples is a very sacred one, an absolute
vital account. The Lord is risen indeed is a
central truth to our most holy faith. The apostle, when writing
to the Corinthians, he says that if Christ be not risen, then
we are dead in our sins. It is absolutely vital as a proof
that the sacrifice the Lord offered at Calvary to put away sin by
the sacrifice of himself was accepted. That sacrifice was
to save his people from death, it was to deliver them from death
and so he himself must be delivered from death as the first fruits
from the dead to rise again and to ascend up into heaven, the
first begotten from the dead. And so the accounts here in this
chapter are very precious. It begins with much sadness. As the disciples they go to the
tomb, they are in bereavement already, but then they find that
he is not there. But gradually unfolding through
this day is this wonderful precious truth, the Lord is risen. How
often with the Lord's dear people that when the Lord arises in
their hearts, when He blesses them, when He appears to them.
It is in this gradual way, one line upon another, one report
after another report, one word after another word, one view
after another view, until at last they're able to say that
the Lord is risen indeed, He hath appeared to me, He is my
Lord and my God. Some like dear Thomas had to
wait another week before the Lord appeared to him, but he
still came to that place saying, the Lord is my God, my Lord and
my God. And so in this account, we have
the picture of those coming and going from the tomb. We hear the words of the angels
saying to those that looked in, why seek ye the living among
the dead? What a beautiful, precious truth
that that is. They were looking where they
last saw him. He was dead, he was buried. They looked for him there, but
they were asked, why are you seeking? for the living here. You won't find the living here.
The dead are here. What a message this is for many
that are seeking a living Christ and may be seeking him in assemblies,
amongst people, amongst cults, amongst even those with the professed
name of Christ. And yet it may be said, the dead
are there. It is not a living congregation. It's not those that are quickened
by faith. It's those that are dead in profession. Those lying reproved in the churches
in the Revelation had a name to live and yet be dead. And you know, if we are amongst
such an assembly like that, May this word be a word to us. If we are seeking a living Christ,
we are seeking true faith in him and true separation from
the world and the spirit of him, may we not seek him amongst the
dead. But if we discern that those
that we are with, worship with, and are walking with are truly
living souls, And there's that which, like with Ruth and Naomi,
Ruth discerned that Naomi was a living soul. She was one of
the Lord's children and it drew her to her. May we cleave to
those that we esteem the people of God and the grace of God shines
in them. We can truly see the separating
effect that grace has had upon their hearts, that they have
been chosen and called out from a world of wickedness. They are
godly people, they fear the Lord, and they point souls to Christ. We do not expect to find the
Lord amongst those that are dead in a profession, who are just
following for the loaves and the fishes, for what they can
get out of religion, or just preaching it even just as a matter
of employment, as a employment choice and not a calling. God's servants are called to
be an ambassador and to preach the word and it's not something
that they can pick up and drop down and just choose to do for
a little while and then go back to some other type of employment,
no. And so maybe remember the searching
words here to the disciples, why seek ye the living among
the dead? Very clear testimony that he
is risen, but though he was risen, yet he was then to appear to
his disciples. But they did remember his words,
they remembered The Lord had said that he would rise again
from the dead after he was crucified. And so we are told of these accounts
looking into the tomb and what was said to those that came there. But then we have the account
of these two that are going to this village called Emmaus. They were travelling these 60
furlongs, which is seven and a half miles. There's eight furlongs
to a mile. And if they're walking at a normal
walking pace of between three and four miles an hour, then
that would have taken them a couple of hours to do that journey. Well, they went and it was by
the time they got there toward evening. But as they were going,
and there they were, literally speaking to one another of those
things that had happened in this last few days. Speaking of how
their Lord had been taken from them, how wicked hands had crucified
and slain him, and how they'd begun to hear these reports this
day that he was risen from the dead. They were sad, they were
discouraged, they were despondent. They're walking on this journey
and this is what they're talking about. And then this stranger
comes to them and asks them what they were talking about and why
they were sad. And they asked him in turn whether
he was a stranger and did not know those things that had happened
there in these last few days. And so he asked them what things
and he drew out from them. So they told him an account of
all that had happened over those days. And then he reproved them. And he said to them that, 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 for the rest of
that journey, he really preached to them and he opened up in the
scriptures the things about himself. All of the times, the shadows,
all that was foretold, he said before them in such a way that
their heart burned within them as he was talking to them. And
when they came to where they were going and he made as if
he was going further, then they constrained him. They wanted
him to remain with them. And he did. He went in to them. And then as they sat at me and
he broke bread, he was made known to them. They saw that this stranger
that had walked with them was truly the Lord Jesus Christ. But he didn't linger, he didn't
stay with them at that time. He vanished out of their sight.
But the effect upon them was that they immediately went back,
that two-hour journey, even though it was late in the day. they still walk that way back. And those of you who know what
it is to walk for seven and a half miles and then have a short rest
and then walk back again for seven and a half miles, that's
a long walk, that's a lot of walking. And yet when they came
back and they came to the disciples and they were saying that the
Lord is risen indeed and appeared to Simon, And then they told
what was done in the way and how Jesus had made himself known
to them in breaking of bread. And then immediately while they're
yet speaking, the Lord stands in the midst of them and appears
to them all, so clearly shows it is himself, shows his wounded
hands, eats before them. And we are told then in the last
of this chapter, And of course, it then spans over some 40 days
that the Lord was appearing to his disciples sovereignly at
the times that he chose. Then he led them out as far as
to Bethany, and they saw him taken up into heaven. And there he is, a living saviour,
the very same bones and flesh that hung upon the cross, glorified
in heaven. It is he himself, it's not just
another body, another saviour, but a real death and a real resurrection,
a real rising from the dead, a conquest over death, a real
sacrifice and an offering that is accepted of God and the Lord's
presence in heaven. And he has said, Lo, I am with
you always, even unto the end of the world. His presence is
in heaven. His Holy Spirit And the Father and the Son, the
great mystery of the Trinity, the Lord said, shall draw near
and walk with His people. Their sense of Him is not always,
but we know that His presence is with His people. But what
we want is to feel Him and to know this, what the disciples
knew here, the Lord drawing near in a very feeling and very real
sense and appearing to us. We know it cannot be, of course,
exactly as it was in this account. There's none that will repeat
what has happened here. We cannot take from this account
and say, well, this is going to then happen to the Lord's
people on earth. There will be those times that
they are walking on a journey and the Lord in bodily presence
comes and joins himself with them. We do not expect that to
be so. The Lord will return again with
power and great glory, bodily presence from heaven in the clouds
of heaven, and that shall usher in the end of the world. we may
expect the visits of the Lord's face in blessing, visiting his
people to bless them, to comfort them, to teach them and to reveal
himself to them in a spiritual saving way so they embrace him,
they believe him, they trust in him and have the comforts
and the joys that the disciples here realized. And so there is
that which we may have from such a passage as this as a comfort
and help to us. Remember, this was a time of
great sadness to these disciples and so it was a time of perplexing
as well when they couldn't understand the things that were happening,
it had turned upside down all that they had believed and trusted
in. And so when we have discouraging
times, times like today that we're going through, times that
are sad times, times when it seems that all is wrong, times
when It feels like our faith has been misplaced and we've
made some mistake and we're going over the things that have led
up to this present time. It is such a time as this that
this passage, when we look at it, can give us such encouragement
and such help. And so I want to look then with
the Lord's help at these beautiful words, Jesus himself drew near
and went with them. And I want to notice firstly
where the Lord met these two disciples and in saying that
I'm not meaning just on the way to Emmaus, but where it was that
they were and what they were communing and saying with the
whole situation where he met with them. And then secondly,
Jesus himself draws near. And then thirdly, how the Lord
went with these two disciples. Firstly, where the Lord met these
two disciples. I don't want any to construe
what I am to say, as that we should not be found in the Lord's
house when we are able to. We should not expect his presence
and blessing there. We should. We are exhorted where
we can to meet together and forsake not the assembling of ourselves
together. We notice especially the Lord
didn't linger that long with his disciples there when he made
himself known to them. but came to the gathered disciples
when they were all together. But I do want to notice, though
this was not in a synagogue, not in the upper room, not in
a chapel, not in a church, but it was by the way, it was, we
might say, in the week, it was as they were Walking by the way,
yes it was the first day of the week, it was what we term the
Lord's Day now, the day when the Lord arose and appeared and
did so eight days later as well. But it is a sacred thing that
where the Lord met with them was as they were just walking
by the way, they were going on a journey. And how many times
we're reminded of this. We think of the eunuch that he
had been up to Jerusalem to worship, but the Lord Jesus Christ had
not been preached to him, revealed to him there at Jerusalem. And
there he was returning in his chariot. And there it was, God
appointed, that Philip should come and meet with him. And how
was he using that journey? is making good use of it. There's
a real lesson to us here. Redeeming the time. There are
times that when we are journeying, when we're travelling, whether
walking, or in the car, or in the train, that we may indeed
profitably use that time. And they, and I have proved this,
have been times of real blessing. I remember one time over in Australia
when driving to work and I'd had the radio on listening to
the news and I thought, well no, while that is on, that is
shutting out any meditation, any thought of the Lord. And
I turned it off and then started to go over and meditate and think
on the things of God. And the Lord drew near on that
journey. Precious time, a help then to
me. Another time over here, very
special time as well, with a two-hour or hour and a half journey in
front of me, and a desiring that the Lord might be pleased to
bless me in it. And again, in prayer, was not
long before the Lord drew near and blessed me then. And so it
is a real incentive if we are going on a journey, if we have
time where we have a choice what we can do, how we can use that
time, that we are able to use it in a way that the Lord would
join with us in it. We may ask ourselves, how are
we using the time which often is, you might say, a dead time? When we are travelling from one
place to another, how do we use that time? I often think of it
with our preaching engagements. Now we're doing it online, we
don't have those journey times, but there's many times I know
There are brethren in the ministry as well that, especially when
we are travelling alone, then there is no man to hear us and
we can pray aloud as we journey, not with our eyes closed while
we're driving, but we can commune and we can pray to the Lord as
we're going. And there's many a time that
has been a preparation for these services and has not been dead
time that travelling time and I think we need to remember that
and those of us in the ministry because the difference between
maybe ministering online we can think well we can minister we
do not have to travel and sometimes I might be preaching somewhere
that is well over a hundred miles away and so to preach that one
engagement There's some four and a half hours in the car. And it is good to think of such
a journey as these two had here to Emmaus that the Lord so blessed
and so drew near to them. So we would think on that, where
these disciples went was a journey. It wasn't sitting down for a
stated worship, It wasn't in a situation where they were gathered
together and not going anywhere. They were doing something. They
were traveling. And how did they use that time? Well, there was two of them in
this case, not just one. So they were speaking one to
another. But what were they speaking? They were speaking of those things
that actually had happened in the way. We read in Malachi,
then, they that feared the Lord spake often one to another. And again, a beautiful promise
with that. And it is at the end of the Malachi
chapter three, at the end of that, And so we have a direction
here. to speak one to another and the
subject those things that had happened. Peter, he speaks in
his epistles that we have not followed cunningly devised fables
when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord.
What is set forth before us in the holy scriptures of truth
is historical It is those things that have happened. Now this
is what the disciples here, these two, were speaking of, what had
actually happened. They had seen the Lord taken. They had seen what appeared to
be that instead of God in control, man was in control, Pilate He had been able to do what he
did and delivered the Lord to the Jews. The Jews had got what
they wanted. The Romans had crucified him. He had died. He had been buried. These things had actually happened.
They'd seen them. No amount of reasoning could
take away the facts of the actual case, what was before their eyes. and they were going over these
things. We read also that they were reasoning,
they were taking these facts and they were going over them
in their minds and it was making them very sad, making them very
despondent. You know, It is what we make
of things. Remember D.A.' 's friend in an
old people's home in Australia and the distress that he was
in when I visited him at one time because he saw out on the
bay there was boats. They were fishing boats, that's
all they were doing really. But in his mind they were waiting
for nightfall and they were going to come and they were going to
capture him and take him away. And he was so distressed because
of this story that he had made up around these boats. You couldn't,
there were some of his relatives came in and they said it was
all in his imagination. But he could point out that window
and there were the boats. There was nothing imagined about
that. And so what had to be said was
to not deny what had actually happened. but the construction
he was putting on it. And it couldn't be denied what
had actually been happened here. But you know, dear friends, it
may be with us this morning that we have those things that have
actually happened. And we go over them, we talk
one to another of those things. It cannot be denied what has
actually happened in our lives, what has happened in the lives
of loved ones, what has taken place. Now what had happened
here had severely shaken their faith. When the Lord was drawing
out from them what had happened, it was very apparent in this
way that those things that had happened had truly shaken their
faith. You know, they were saying that
we trusted, that it should have been He that should have redeemed
Israel. And those things that had happened,
they really cut to the quick. They really undermined all of
their trust. Now, it may be that that is where
we are, where you are, where I am. as we speak one to another. It may be we speak of how we
trusted this, we trusted that, we hoped this would happen, and
these things have completely taken away these hopes. It has made us very sad, made
us very despondent, and made us very sorrowful. You might say all these dear
disciples could do was to do what they did. No amount of their
own efforts could ever change that scene or make them see in
a different way what they were seeing. And that may be so with us. The
one couldn't shed any more light on it than the other. And we
may have spoken to men, spoken to friends, to brethren, and
we speak one to another, and neither could help the other,
neither could shed any more light and understanding and encouragement
on the situation than the other. But this is where the Lord was
pleased to meet these disciples, and it's a real encouragement
for us. to do just what they did, to
speak one to another and to go over these things. Remember one
time when I was first seeking the Lord and coming back from
night school and they'd had in the common room been telling
jokes and I'd drunk into some of their spirit, I hadn't spoken
of the Lord, I hadn't separated myself from her company, and
I felt utterly miserable. I felt really denied everything
that I was seeking of the Lord. And I remember coming home and
speaking to my mother on the phone when I got back to my own
home and telling her how I felt. And it was as I turned away from
that phone and from that conversation that the Lord dropped in the
lines of a hymn, Oh, where shall I find a guide to direct, most
skillful and kind and brave to protect? And it pointed to the
Lord Jesus Christ. You know, I sat and I sung that
hymn through and it was the last lines of that, only be living
to publish his praise. And the Lord laid that first
seed and intimation that he would use me for the ministry. And
it was the effect, the difference that was wrought after that conversation. And it is in that way that we
have these two here. And you might feel, what can
I do? What can we do? Well, here's a beautiful example
of what we can do, all we can do. And as they walked and as
they talked of those things that had happened, you know, some
people, they go through life and they never lay to heart anything. They never look at anything.
They never look at the Lord's purposes. They never have any
burdens. They never, lay to heart what
is happening, but these two they did, and it may be with you and
I. The things that happen in their
lives, they mean a lot to us, and they are a burden to us.
Well, it is as they're going through these things that the
Lord then draws near, and I want to notice that in the second
place. Jesus himself drew near. Beautiful words, isn't it? Jesus
himself drew near. He draws near. The Lord said,
I will not leave you comfortless. I will come to you. And this
is the most beautiful truth. And may we really embrace it
and really know that though it isn't in this literal way, that
the Lord drew near in this way, yet As I have proved, the Lord
does draw near in a spiritual way. He comes to his people. He doesn't leave them comfortless. And he draws near to bless them
in a sovereign way. They did nothing to cause him
to come. He came himself sovereignly. It was his doing. It was his
work. He knew where they were. He knew
all the things that had happened intimately. He knew their sorrows. He knew their perplexities. He knew all about the situation. And he chose that time to come
and draw near to them. And yet when he did, all that
they knew was that there was a stranger here. They did not
recognise Him at first. They did not know it was Him.
But He drew near. And I just leave this point with
you. As this expectation, the Lord
draws near to His people. He does come to them. He does
bless them. And He does come to them in times
when they have most sorrow and things seem so perplexing. so difficult and hard. May this
be a real expectation to us, that we walk in this way, these
two did, that the Lord himself will draw near to us. Well, when the Lord then did
draw near, how did he go with them? Our third point, how the
Lord went with these two disciples. The first thing was that he came
to them in exactly where they were. He knew their sorrows. He was not coming in an unrelated
way. His blessing, his coming to them
was in exactly where they were walking in that way. He didn't
miss the point. We can do that. You might say
in the ministry, we might say you come into the Lord's house
and you have a burden and a sorrow and the word doesn't touch our
case at all. With the Lord's hand in it, it
will. It will come exactly where we
are. But this is where the Lord was.
He came right where they were and He drew out from them. He
drew out from them. their sorrows. They were able
to tell him, he drew out from them, what they were so perplexed
with. Not only to tell the things that
had happened and to speak of these things and to give an account
of what the Lord was to them and of what the chief priests
and the rulers had actually done in condemning Him and crucifying
Him, and what their trust was, He drew all of these things out. And dear friends, those are sacred
times, whether it is in communion one with another, or whether
it is in prayer, that the Lord is pleased to draw these things
out from us. There are times that we feel
in prayer the heavens as brass, We cannot unburden ourselves,
we cannot lay these things before the Lord, but other times we
sweetly can. And we are to notice when the
Lord drew near, this was the effect, the first effect, even
when they didn't understand who it was, we might say today, we
would know it by a sweet liberty in unburdening all of our perplexities,
our sorrows, and the things that we cannot understand. The Lord
would have them told to him. He drew them out from them. But
then we have the Lord Jesus revealed in several ways. Firstly, he
was the interpreter. He says to them in a very mild
reproof, O fools and slow of heart to believe all that the
prophets have spoken. What the Lord was to do in this
journey, he was to interpret to them what they did not see
and did not understand themselves. Jesus is his own interpreter. God is his own interpreter. He
will make it plain. The hymn writer says, the bud
may have a bitter taste, but sweet will be the flower. We need the Lord to interpret
rightly, as the Lord did with these disciples, what had actually
happened here. Redemption had taken place. The blood offering had been shared. The Redeemer had redeemed his
people the same as the Passover lamb. There was that accomplished
and finished that had been foretold and set forth through all of
the Scriptures. The facts did not change one
little bit, but the interpretation on them did. And the Lord showed
a different of all that they had seen. May we well pray with
the psalmist, open them on ice, that I might behold wondrous
things out of thy law. There may be things in your life,
my life at this time, that will not change, but the Lord will
come and interpret them and show what he is doing and what he
has done, what he has done. That is what was here, what the
Lord had done. And they needed the Lord to do
this. They couldn't do it themselves, but he interpreted it to them.
But then not only was he an interpreter, he was also a preacher. And he
preached to them here in all the scriptures the things concerning
himself. One example to us in the ministry
preaching from the Old Testament, the same as Philip did, began
at the same scripture and preached unto the eunuch, Jesus. What
a sermon that was, how their heart burned within them, all
the types, all the shadows, all of that which had been revealed
beforehand was shown to them through this preacher. May we
expect the same when we hear the word preached, and to know
the effect of the Lord's presence with us. Remember, they still
did not know who it was, but their heart burned within them.
Do we know different times of hearing times? Times when we
have heard with our heart as well as our ears? Times when
we've wanted that sermon not to stop, the Lord was going to
go on, they'd come to the end of their journey, You know, I
think it was Cramner or some of those that were preaching,
and when they preached, the hearers used to cry out because they
had a timer, like an egg timer, to give the timer the sermon,
and they'd see it running out and running out, and they'd call
out, and they'd turn it over, turn the timer over, start it
again. Those would be precious times
when we don't want the word to cease, we want to still hear
that word spoken. We'd had that effect with these
too as the Lord preached to them. But then it was the Lord Jesus
that was desired by him, they wanted him, they constrained
him to abide with them. They really desired that still
burning, still company, still the presence of this stranger
with them. A people that desire Christ,
drawn to Him, attracted to Him, even when they do not know Him.
You know, the man that was born blind, the Lord opened his eyes,
he'd had many blessings before he ever knew who it was that
had blessed him. Samuel had the Lord first speak
to him. He did not know the Lord. The Lord spoke to him, but he
thought it was Eli. But Eli at last realised it was
the Lord that was speaking. How many have thought that it
is the voice of their pastor, voice of the minister that's
speaking, but then discern it is actually the Lord that is
speaking through them. Very often it is. The Lord will
bless using more than one of his servants, like he did with
Samuel. He'd spoken to Eli through another
one of his servants, and then he spoke to Eli again through
Samuel. So Eli was able to say, it is
the Lord. Let him do what seemeth him good. Very often, the Lord will, in
blessing his people, use more But it is the Lord that is speaking. But then at last he reveals himself. How little would you and I think,
as we begun a journey with such sadness and going over things
that look so dark, that it would actually end in a revealed Christ. And yet that is exactly what
happened here. It was as though he sat at meat,
he took bread and blessed it and prayed. Was it that they
were brought back to view the Lord breaking the bread of the
Lord's supper? He did show forth the Lord's
death till he come. Was it that as he broke the bread
they saw the print of the nails in his hand? Whatever it was,
we are told their eyes were opened and they knew him. The Lord opened
their eyes. The Lord revealed himself to
them at the time that he chose and in his way and appointing. And that will be the same with
you, with I, with each of the Lord's people. We need the Lord
to reveal himself to us. Really, the summary at the end
of this account where they told what things were done in the
way and how he was known of them in breaking of bread is a wonderful
testimony for any poor sinner to tell to the Church of God
where they're able to speak of what has actually been done in
their lives in the way and they're able to speak of how Jesus was
made known to them is absolutely vital. that we see in the Lord
Jesus Christ as these two did, their true Redeemer. Now not
only was it they trusted it should have been He that redeemed Israel,
they knew it was He that had redeemed them and had accomplished
and finished what He said that He would do. It is a blessed
thing to view and to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ not
as a dead Christ, but as a risen and living Redeemer, and as one
who could really enter into our path, meet with us into our sorrows
and turn our sorrows to joy, and bless us with our living
faith in Him. May this account be a help to
us, a strength to us in our sorrows. May we begin where These dear
disciples begin and end where they ended. May we know something
of the Lord's sovereign coming and revealing himself to us. Jesus himself, what a blessing,
himself drew near and went with them. May the Lord go with us
in life's journey. May the Lord go with us and revealing
himself to us and at last we see him face to face in heaven
above. May the Lord add his blessing.
Amen.