Well, good morning, everyone.
It's Luke 24, 33 this morning. If you'd like to turn in the
scriptures with me and read along Luke chapter 24, 33. As I've
been reminding us, I guess I will again to be in prayer for those
who are suffering with this virus and be in prayer, especially
for Gary Holbeck and Jerry Hanson and others are struggling with
it right now. We thank the Lord for for his
mercies in all of it and ask him to comfort and heal as he's
pleased to do. Luke 24, 33, and they rose up
the same hour, that's those two disciples that were walking on
the road to Emmaus and the Lord joined himself to them, taught
them from the scriptures, showed them how he must suffer, he ought
to have suffered and entered into his glory. And he sat down
at meat with them and broke bread and handed it to them. And then
they realized who he was. And then it says they rose up
the same hour after he departed from their sight, not from their
presence, but from their sight. After he broke that bread and
handed it to them, he departed out of their sight. And they
rose up the same hour and returned to Jerusalem and found the 11
gathered together. These are the 11 apostles after
Judah said, and shown who he was and killed himself. And them that were with them,
they found the 11 apostles and them that were with them, and they were gathered together when
they found them. And they went and gathered themselves
to them. They had experienced something wonderful. Think about
this. This is the first half of a point I want to make. In
this text, in our text, something wonderful had happened to them,
and they wanted to be with their brothers and tell their brothers
in Christ about what had happened. Look with me at Acts chapter
418. Acts chapter 418. And this is the other side to
the point that I want to make about this. And they called them
and commanded them, this is when the disciples had been arrested
for preaching the gospel, commanded them not to speak at all nor
teach in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered and
said unto them, whether it be right in the sight of God to
hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. For we cannot
but speak the things which we have seen and heard. When you've
heard the gospel, you can't help but tell somebody. When you know
Christ and you know that he's all, you're gonna talk about
him. And he had told them to, he had commissioned them to.
We cannot but speak, so verse 21, so when they had further
threatened them, they let them go, finding nothing how they
might punish them because of the people. For all men glorified
God for that which was done, for the man was above 40 years
old on whom this miracle of healing was showed. and being let go,
they went to their own company and reported all that the chief
priests and elders had said unto them. Something bad had happened
to Peter and John here for preaching the gospel in this passage, but
they did the same thing those in our text did. They went into
their own company. They went to their brothers and
sisters in Christ. Something good had happened to
those in our text. Notice in Acts 4.23 there, it
says, and being let go, they went to their own company, their
brothers and sisters in Christ. Now, we have to work in this
world, we live in this world, we do business in this world,
we're occupied by this world, we're compelled at times to be
in this world, but when this world lets us go, we gather together
with our brothers and sisters in Christ. When this world lets
go of us, we go to our own company. Sheep gather together, they huddle
together. And it's a blessing and a privilege
to do, to huddle together in his name and to hear him speak
and to worship him together. A blessing that we so often take
for granted, but hopefully less in the days to come. The world
can't understand us, The world can't love us like our brethren
do. They can't care for us like our
brethren do. They can't minister. The world
can't do anything for us like God's people can. Our true family,
the church of God, the body of Christ. Verse 34, here's what
they said. When they went and found those
11 that were gathered together, they gathered with them, and
they said this, the Lord is risen indeed. He's risen indeed, and
hath appeared to Simon. Now, that's the title of the
message this morning, risen indeed. It's not just a doctrine anymore.
It's not just something that they believe. They believed the
Lord when he said he was gonna rise. They knew that in their
head, that he had the power to do that. They had seen his power
on display. It's not just a doctrine anymore. Now, he's risen indeed.
You remember when Martha said, I know my brother shall rise
again, my brother Lazarus, he'll rise again in the resurrection.
The Lord Jesus said to Martha, Martha, I am the resurrection. They saw the Lord Jesus Christ
risen And he revealed himself to them who he was and they said
he's risen indeed He is the risen Christ The resurrection is not
just a doctrine It's a person. And these two on the road to
a man's had seen him. They'd seen him risen. They'd
seen him not in the tomb. No wonder they couldn't find
him in the tomb. He's walking on the road with us. Who knows
where he was before that? He goes where he pleases, but
he's not in the tomb. He's not in the grave. So they
could say he's risen indeed. Not in theory, not on paper,
He's risen indeed. You don't really know anything
until you've experienced it. Let me say that again, because
you're gonna think you're crazy, Chris. You can read it in a book
and learn it. You don't know anything until
you've experienced it. I know people that have degrees
in construction and can't build a doghouse. You don't know it
until you've experienced it. That's true in natural things,
and it's true in spiritual things. Well, Chris, we've never seen
the risen Christ like they did, so how can we know that he's
risen? Sure we have. Of course we've
seen him. Faith is the evidence of things
not seen, the substance of things hoped for. Faith, eyes of faith
are better than the eyes of this physical flesh. Hebrews 11 one, and if you read
the rest of Hebrews 11, you'll see that that's what motivates
us. That's what inspired them, that's what excited them, that's
what caused them to rejoice instead of being sad. They saw the risen
Christ, not just with these eyes, but by faith. He opened their
hearts to lay hold of him, to know that what he told them was
the truth. In the rest of Hebrews 11, it
says, by faith, Moses chose the reproach of Christ over the riches
of Egypt. By faith, Enoch walked with God. By faith, Noah moved with fear
and built an ark and saved his house. By faith, faith is how
we see him. Faith is how we know him. Faith
is how we lay hold of him. And it's a whole lot better than
seeing him with these eyes. I'll tell you this, a whole lot
of people saw him with these eyes before and after he rose
and went to hell. But if you see him with an eye
of faith that he gives you, you're saved, you're his. He gives that
to his own. And by faith, we're saved by
grace through that faith that he gives to say in our hearts,
through the preaching of the gospel by faith, he's risen indeed. He's risen indeed. I can say
that a whole lot more confidently than they could have if they
didn't have faith and they saw him walking around. They had
to have faith just like we do to be able to say this. We see
the Lord crucified and risen just as they did, only better. Faith is better than natural
experience, way better. In fact, natural experience is
worthless without faith. And he is our motivation. The
Lord appeared first to Simon. Think about this for a minute.
He has appeared to Simon. I'm not sure in what context
exactly they're saying that there. Some say that one of them two
was Simon, but that'd be a strange way to say it if it was them
saying it. But others say that somewhere
along the line, not every exact, not every event is recorded in
scripture. Maybe the Lord told them that
he had already appeared to Simon, and that's not recorded, something,
anyway. He appeared to Simon. They were able to know that and
say that. But the Lord we know appeared
first to Simon when he was risen. Besides the ladies, among the
apostles now, he appeared first to Simon. Paul mentions that
in 1 Corinthians 15, five. The angels at the sepulcher are
sent with a message from God, and they are told by God to mention
especially, that God told them to say to those ladies, mention
especially to Simon that the Lord has risen, calls him by
name, and that he would soon see him. And I don't wanna speculate. I don't believe we should speculate
on what God, what the word of God teaches and says. It says
what it says. But here's, I know two things
about what was revealed there. I know these two things. Simon
needed badly to see the Savior. He badly needed to see him. He
had denied his Lord and he was in a bad way over it. You remember
when he said, I'm going fishing. I'm going to go back to doing
what I did before. I can't preach. I'm nobody. I'm nothing. I don't
even have any faith. I denied my Lord. I'm going to
go fishing. And I know some preachers that have felt that way sometimes.
And I know this. Our Lord is tender and kind and
compassionate. And he knew exactly how badly
Simon needed to see him. So I just wanted to say that
on that, that he had revealed himself to Simon. He did first
to Simon among the apostles. I want to speak more though on
this phrase, risen indeed. That's our title. These disciples
had seen him alive, but it wasn't that experience that made them
know that he was alive. It just wasn't. You're saying,
Chris, you're crazy. What in the world are you talking
about? They saw him alive. That's how they knew he was risen.
No, he had to reveal himself to them. Remember that? They
saw him a long time before they had any idea who he was. And
that's how it is with us. If he reveals himself to us as
the risen savior, by faith, giving us faith to lay hold of him as
such and to know who he is, then we'll be able to say, he's risen
indeed. And that's how they were able
to say it. He had to reveal himself to them. He had to open unto
them the scriptures and in the breaking of bread, show them
who he was, who he is, or they never could have said he's risen
indeed. And neither can we, unless he
does the same thing. He got to reveal himself to us.
He's got to open the scriptures unto us and teach us from Moses
through all the prophets and in all the scriptures, the things
concerning himself. Or we can't say it either. The
Lord Jesus Christ does that for all who know him. The natural
man receiveth not the things of the spirit of God, neither
indeed can he, because they're spiritually discerned. But everybody
that Christ reveals, He reveals Himself, He does this for all
of His sheep, by far most of whom have never seen Him bodily
on this earth. It's by grace through faith that
sinners know Christ and are saved. The crucified and risen Lord
of glory, the Savior of His elect is revealed not by physical eyesight,
but by the regenerating spirit of God. The spirit blows where
it will, and you can hear the sound there, but you can't tell
where he's coming from or where he'll go. And so it is with everyone
that's born of the spirit, born again from above and given spiritual
understanding to see Christ in the gospel and to know him. But
the Spirit of God, and that includes, He gives faith in the Son of
God. Spiritual eyes to see Him. If God gives you faith, we know
it comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. That's how
He does it, by the preaching of the Gospel. And faith has
one object. Faith has one object. Because
there's just one subject to believe. There's only one thing to believe
in the Scriptures. The Scriptures just say one thing.
It's the things concerning Him, self. The person of God's son,
when we see him as they did physically, we will see him by faith when
God is pleased and we will tell everyone we care about, he's
risen indeed. We don't see him as they did
physically, but we see him by faith. When God's pleased to
give us faith, faith is the gift of God. It's not of yourselves,
lest any man should boast. And I'll tell you this, we're
not gonna see him like they did physically, bodily on this earth
again until he comes back. But when he reveals himself to
us by faith, you know what we're gonna say? He is risen indeed.
We're gonna tell everybody that'll listen to us. We will know everything
that he said is indeed reality. And that's what I want to kind
of dwell on this morning. Listen, we'll hear his gospel
preached and he'll reveal himself in it. And you know what else
we'll say? We'll say he's sovereign indeed.
He's sovereign indeed. It's not just a doctrine. That's
not just going to be words on a page anymore. It's not just
going to be a confession of faith that some man wrote. I don't
mean to disparage doctrine now. We love the doctrine of scripture.
This is my doctrine, not something some man wrote. I don't need
somebody to explain what God said, and that's my doctrine.
This is my doctrine. I have no warrant but the word
of God and need no other. This is our confession of faith. This is our doctrinal statement
here at this church. You wanna read it? I recommend
it. And I don't mean again to disparage doctrine, but knowing
intellectually the truth of God's sovereignty, and actually bowing
to the King of Glory, personally bowing yourself to the King of
Glory, submitting to His authority and acknowledging He does what
He pleases and He does all things well. It's two different things.
Knowing it up here and bowing to Him in your heart is two different
things. You have to, by faith, experience
that He's sovereign. He got to reveal himself to you
like he did to them. And then you'll know he's sovereign.
You'll say he's risen indeed. He's sovereign indeed. He rules
all things and everybody in every circumstance. Not a pair of dice
can be rolled according to the scriptures without him deciding
what comes up. And the hearts of kings are turned
in his hand withersoever he will. He saves whom he will. Indeed. He suffered indeed. I see that,
I know that by faith. Jeremiah 18, one, listen to this. This is the story of the potter's
house. The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord saying,
arise and go down to the potter's house. May God send us all down
to the potter's house. Because look what he showed Jeremiah
there. And there I will cause thee to hear my words. Then Jeremiah
said, I went down to the potter's house and behold, he wrought
a work on the wheels. He did, he wrought, God wrought
a work on the wheels. And the vessel that he made of
clay was marred in the hand of the potter. It didn't say accidentally. God don't mess up. It was marred,
so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter
to make it. Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter, saith
the Lord? Behold, as the clay is in the
potter's hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. It's
time to go down to the potter. Maurice Montgomery said one time,
one of my favorite preachers ever, Maurice Montgomery, Brother
Maurice, he said this, he said, I don't argue with people anymore
about the doctrine of election and God's sovereignty and salvation
because I've been to the potter's house. When you can say he's
sovereign indeed, it's not just theory to me, it's not just a
doctrine, it's not just a doctrinal statement that I happen to agree
with intellectually, I've been down to the potter's house by
faith. And I've seen who he is. I've seen what we are in his
hand. I've seen that he can do as he pleases. He saves who he
wants to. Once God has shown you in his
gospel who he is and how it is that he saves sinners, he saves
who he wants to save. You won't want to debate it anymore.
when you know that. When you can say he's sovereign
indeed from your heart, you're not gonna wanna debate with anybody
about that. You just wanna rejoice with those
who also know him by his grace. When you see him as he is, he
shows himself to you by giving you saving faith
through the preaching of the gospel, you'll say he's the savior,
indeed. He's sovereign, indeed. Paul
quoted that scripture concerning the potter's house, and he said,
God makes of one lump a vessel unto honor and another unto dishonor. And in Romans chapter nine, he
does as he pleases. He raised Pharaoh up for this
purpose have I raised thee up, that I might show my power in
thee. And he did. But he also has vessels of mercy
that he makes in his potter's house. And he has mercy on them
by the precious blood of his son. And he does so sovereignly. He does as he pleases. He saves
him, he will. Jacob have I loved, Esau have
I hated. And listen, you'll say he's the
savior indeed. He didn't make salvation possible.
He don't offer salvation. He saved sinners. He saved all
for whom he died. He came to save them. He said,
I know my sheep by name. I know who every one of them
is. And I came to lay down my life for the sheep. And he turned
to the Pharisee, the religious Jews, and said, you don't believe
because you're not my sheep. I lay down my life for my sheep,
My sheep hear my voice and they follow me. And if you're not
a sheep, you're not ever going to. All that the father giveth
me, he said, shall come to me. If the father didn't give you
to him, you're not coming. But him that cometh now, it's
not his fault if you don't come. You come to him and he'll in
no wise cast you out. Now, you'll say he's the savior,
indeed, he saved sinners, he saved all for whom he died, neither
by the blood of bulls and goats and calves, but by his own blood,
he entered in once into the holy place, he laid down his life
and shed his precious blood as an offering for the souls, the
sins of his elect, and it says he entered in once into the holy
place, because you don't go into the holy place without blood.
no high priest did, and our great high priest didn't either, having
obtained, past tense, E.D., having obtained eternal redemption for
us. He did that on Calvary. And he
went in and offered his precious blood in the holy place, not
made with hands, in the very presence of his father. And he
had already obtained eternal redemption for us when he did
that, according to Hebrews 9, 12. He didn't make an offer. He made an offering unto God
for the souls and the sins of his sheep. His name is Jesus,
the angel said, for he shall save his people from their sin. And he did. When he shed his
precious blood and offering for their sins on Calvary. He said
in John 6 37, all that the father giveth me shall come to me. And him that cometh to me, I
will in no wise cast out. For I came down from heaven,
not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.
And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all
which he hath given me, I should lose nothing, but should raise
it up again at the last day. And this is the will of him that
sent me, that everyone which seeth the Son, and believeth
on him, may have everlasting life. and I will raise him up
at the last day. There's no uncertainty in that.
He keeps saying in that passage, I will, I will, I will. And he has and he shall. All
who come to Christ are those whom the Father gave to him in
the eternal covenant of grace before the foundation of the
world, chosen by God and given to the Son. Paul said in 2 Thessalonians
2.13, we're bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren,
beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen
you, my brothers in Christ, those who have like precious faith.
I thank God for you because God's the one that saved you. We praise
God, we give thanks to God because he's the one that did it. We
don't give congratulations to sinners for being saved. We give
thanks to God for saving them. He has from the beginning chosen
you to salvation through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the
truth. And those chosen and given, he
said, I'm not gonna lose any of them. I'm not gonna lose any
of them. He's the successful savior. He
shall not fail. He cannot fail. He's the Savior,
indeed, of all whom he came to save. And when God reveals the
Lord Jesus Christ to you by the preaching of the gospel, as he
revealed himself, he made himself known to those two on the road
to Emmaus, he'll make known himself to you in the preaching of the
gospel by grace through faith in him. And you'll come to the
same conclusion that Paul did in Colossians 311. Christ is
all and in all. You'll say, he is all indeed. I've heard people say that. Remember
what Job said, I've heard of you by the hearing of the ear,
but now mine eye seeth thee. And I'm telling you now, just
the physical eye, a lot of people saw him with these eyes and have
gone to hell. But he's talking about, I've
seen, I know that my Redeemer liveth. He saw him with the eye
of faith is what saved Job, just like us. But you'll say Christ
is all indeed when you see him, when you know him by faith. There
is indeed only one thing that is needful. And by God's grace,
I'll sit at his feet like Mary, If he's pleased to have mercy
on me, I'll sit at his feet like Mary and hear his word and know
that there's only one thing needful. The word indeed in our text means
truly, in reality, in point of fact. By God's grace through
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, we can say God truly is sovereign. Christ is in reality the Savior. And in point of fact, Christ
is all. In verse 35, it says, they told
what things were done in the way. Remember, they gathered
themselves with the 11 who had gathered together before they
got there. Sheep are always huddling together. They told them what things were
done in the way and how he was known of them in breaking of
bread. Just a couple of comments on
this. Can you imagine these two disciples, how excited they were
to tell their brethren of how the Lord had joined himself to
them as they walked along the road and taught them and how
that in the breaking of bread, he opened their eyes to know
who he is. I can imagine it, and I'm not
relying just on my imagination to imagine it when I do, because
I've spoken with many of you and with brothers elsewhere about
how that they saw the Lord in the preaching of the gospel and
how that I did. I've told how, boy, the Lord
blessed that to my heart. And he taught, you remember he
said, take my yoke upon you and learn of me. That's what happens
when he speaks to a preacher and the gospel is heard, we learn
of him. We hear of him and we learn of
him. And we talk about that together, don't we? Like these did. They
came excited and said, here's what we, he was with us. He taught
us. He revealed himself to, we've
done that. We don't have to rely on our
imagination to know what that was like. I've sat and talked
with many of you, how that you've seen the Lord and the preaching
of the gospel. And I've heard the excitement
in your voice. We've wept together talking about it. wept tears
of joy together as no doubt these brothers in our text, I suspect
they did too. I suspect they did too. And as
the Lord was pleased to reveal to us in the gospel how precious
and gracious he is, we've told each other about it. and been
excited about it. How powerful and mighty to save
he is. He reveals himself to us more
and more. He gets more precious the older
we get and the more we hear of him, the more he meets with us.
Talk about how much he loves us. And boy, what a blessing
it is to confer together when we hear in the gospel just how
much he loves me. and how much he loves his sheep.
We've rejoiced together and we've worshiped together like these
men did on that day. And may he give us grace to do
so for many, many years to come. And may he be pleased to show
us more and more himself and the things concerning himself.
Amen.