May it please God to bless our
souls as we consider his word together. Let us turn to the
Gospel of Luke, chapter 24, and we'll read verse 32. The Gospel
of Luke, chapter 24, and reading verse 32. And they said one to
another, did not our heart burn within us while he taught with
us by the way and while he opened to us the scriptures. In our religion we have those
situations which are negative and we have those situations
which are positive. if we are truly amongst the children
of God. And we need to be very clear
that a negative religion will never get us to heaven. We need a positive religion. You might ask, well, what is
a positive religion? A positive religion is very simply
stated that it means that you and I, by the grace and work
of the Holy Spirit, are drawn to the Lord Jesus Christ. It will not be satisfactory to
rest in just a negative evidence. And you may say, well, what does
that mean? Well, it is of course of vital
importance that the Spirit of God leads us and directs us to
show us that we are sinners and sinners indeed that need salvation. But many people today will acknowledge
that they are a sinner and yet have no evidence of the life
of God in their soul and have no evidence that they are a true
child of God. And so it is therefore important
for us that we do not rest and many people have rested on just
a negative religion but you see that will never get us to heaven.
And you may say, well, why won't it get me to heaven? The reason
it won't is this, that such a religion does not bring honor and glory
to God. And it's as the Holy Spirit reveals
the Lord Jesus Christ to our souls as that one who came into
this world and live that perfect life and die that synatonian
death on our behalf and that we have an interest and that
will be a saving interest in his synatonian death. That's
what will take you and me safe to glory. And so how necessary
it is that the Holy Spirit gives us to realise that we possess
the life of God in our souls by a positive evidence of his
work. Now that was very clearly which
occurred here in these two that were walking on that Emmaus road. And the effect was, as they described
it here, did not our heart burn within us while he taught with
us by the way and while he opened unto us scriptures. You see, they'd been discussing
what had happened. They'd been, we might say, discussing
the things of God. And they were talking about them. And Jesus came, and we're told,
behold, two of them went that same day to a village called
Emmaus, and they talked together of all these things which had
happened. Well, no doubt many people talked
about the things which had happened. And it's the same today. Many
people talk religion. Many people talk religion. There's
no saving knowledge in talking religion. But on this occasion,
there was a wonderful blessing. And what a mercy it is for you
and me, if in our religion, There's a time of wonderful blessing. And what was that? Jesus himself,
nobody else. Jesus himself drew near and went
with them. Well, what a favour that was. What a blessing that was. And
you see, he asked them certain questions. And they were able
to answer those questions. But it doesn't appear that it
really had a great deal of effect. Even when they said, we trusted
that it had been here that should have redeemed Israel. And beside
all this today is the third day since these things were done.
And they recounted what had occurred. But then the Lord said these
words. fools and slow of heart to believe
all that the prophets have spoken and that's our condition left
to ourselves we may have had knowledge of the truth and the
things of God but they are not saving and so the Lord says O
fools and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken
But then, you see, the Lord opens up the Word of God to these two. And that's what you and I need. We need the Holy Spirit to come
and to open the Word of God to our spiritual understanding. And we read these wonderful words,
and beginning at Moses, And of course beginning at Moses means
beginning at Genesis. Because Moses of course wrote
the first five books of the Bible under the inspiration of the
Holy Spirit. So we can assess that the Lord
Jesus went right back to the beginning. Right back to the beginning.
Never think the Old Testament therefore is irrelevant. It is very relevant to us today. And as the Holy Spirit opens
our understanding and reveals Christ to our souls in the Old
Testament, how blessed and how strengthening that will be to
our faith. And so what did the Lord do? Beginning at Moses and all the
prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things
concerning himself. We don't have any more detail
than that. That's the only detail we have of this wonderful sermon
that was preached to these two on the Emmaus Road. And the Lord does come, and as
it were, he preaches into our hearts. And that was the effect
because as when the Lord had departed from them. What did
they say? He said this, did not our heart
burn within us while he talked with us by the way and while
he opened to us the scriptures. Now that surely was the blessed
work of God to them. My friends, you and I need the
same today. We need the same blessed work of God to our hearts. And it has an effect like this. And that will be a very sure
evidence that you and I possess the life of God in our soul when
we are able to discern and to experience and to know that the
effect of these great truths to our soul brings about that
within us which is described like this. Did not our heart
burn within us? Let's just be clear about this.
This wasn't just a theory in the mind. This had an effect
inside, in the heart. And that's so necessary. And that is a defining experience,
a defining evidence that you and I possess the grace of God
in our hearts, by the work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. And what does it do? Like it
did with these two. Did it not burn within us? Burn within us. The definition
of the Greek word to burn is this, to set on fire, or to kindle,
or to consume. Well, let us look into our own
hearts to see whether there has been an occasion when the fire
has been kindled in our heart. And that fire will be the blessed
work of the Holy Spirit directing us to what the Lord Jesus Christ
has done for our never-dying souls. It's the blessed eternal
work of the Holy Spirit. And it's not something that you
and I produced. We cannot produce it ourselves.
It is the sovereign work of God. But when that work comes into
our hearts, it clearly lights up, it kindles a flame within. Something we've never experienced
before, we've never known before. And it's a wonderful evidence
of God's work within. And what does a fire do? What does a fire do? In a cold
situation, a fire warms, doesn't it? The work of the Holy Spirit
warms our heart. It warms our heart towards the
Lord Jesus Christ. We find there's an attraction
We find there's a need which we never knew before. We never
knew before. It's the work of the Holy Spirit.
You see, it's right to come and worship God. Oh, it's absolutely
right. But you and I need the revelation
of God in Christ to our souls. That's precisely what produced
this effect upon these two. This is what caused them to say,
did not our heart burn within us? While he talked with us by
the way. And it's as the Holy Spirit opens
up to our understanding the blessedness of the work and the importance
of the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, that we rejoice in our
hearts, our spirits are moved, a change has occurred, and what
do we have? What do we have? A positive evidence
that you and I are a child of God. a positive evidence that you
and I are a child of God. And my friends, nothing less
than this will do. Don't wander on in life just
thinking, well, I'm all right. You and I need the evidence,
the blessed work of the Holy Spirit in our heart, in measure,
like it was here. It really means, you see, Coming
back to that definition a kindling You see when when a fire is started
You know, there's only a very small flame isn't there? It's
nothing tremendous to start with. It's just a little kindling but
even the smallest flame produces a warmth and produces a change,
you've only got to think, haven't you, of a little candle and a
little flame on a candle. And you put your hand over that,
you very quickly get burnt by it. There's a warmth even on
a little flame. And therefore what a mercy it
is if the Holy Spirit has given us a little warmth in leading
us to the Lord Jesus Christ. The effect is this. We give up
all hope in ourselves. We don't come and say, well,
I've done this and I've done that, because it won't count. What does count? It's what God
has done in our heart. That's what counts. That's what
will take us to heaven. Nothing else will. And you and
I need that. We see people today, sailing
a long life, thinking they're all right, and they're relying
upon what they've done and what they've said and this and the
other. When you and I stand before that judgment seat of Christ,
which we will do, all of us, it won't be what we've done.
It'll be what Christ has done for us. Now here, in this account,
is a very clear word, a very clear description that Jesus
came. And you see, he didn't talk about
the weather, did he? He didn't talk about what jobs
they'd be doing. He didn't talk about what was
going to happen next week. He directed them so clearly to
himself. Beginning at Moses and all the
prophets, expounding unto them in all the scriptures the things
concerning himself. And it had a wonderful effect
upon them. And I believe that's true when
the Holy Spirit comes and reveals Christ. And we understand spiritually
for the first time when our eyes, our spiritual eyes, have been
opened. We've been blind before. Blind. We walked in darkness. There's
been no light. But when the Holy Spirit comes
and reveals to us something of the necessity of a crucified saviour, a risen saviour,
not one who died and that was the end. A risen saviour, a one
who conquered, a one who took our sins and they were washed
away through his death. You and I need the wonderful
favour of the work of God in our hearts. And if we possess
that work of God, to come to the time when the Holy Spirit, the scripture uses the word quickened,
that means made alive. The time when you and I are made
spiritually alive. There's a change, isn't there?
There's a movement in our heart. We're a new creature. Old things
have passed away. All things become new. We read
the Bible with different eyes. We don't read it just as an interesting
book, just as an historical event of things which have occurred.
We now read it as the Word of God. And as we read the Word
of God, we read it to benefit in our soul's experience, so
that the Scriptures may be open to our spiritual understanding
of what joy it is, how we rejoice in the great revelation of the
work of God in our hearts. We then observe the wonderful
work of the Lord Jesus Christ, and how it came to pass, and
how it was fulfilled, and how it had a blessed fulfillment
on our behalf. And therefore, we have the wonderful
evidence of the work of the Holy Spirit in our heart. And I suppose
it comes down really like this. The psalmist knew what it was,
and this is what he says in the 104th Psalm and the 34th verse. My meditation, my meditation,
now just ponder that. When the work of the Spirit comes
into our heart, we will want to meditate on the things of
God, we will want to meditate upon the things of the Saviour. And the psalmist says this. My
meditation of him shall be sweet, not bitter. There may have been
a time when things were better, our sins were better, but now
Christ has come and our meditation on him, on
his finished work is sweet because there is our hope. Hymn writer has it right, doesn't
he? My hope, going personal, my friends, my hope is built
on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. Oh, there's
a time to rejoice then. And when that is made over to
our hearts, we'll understand this expression, did not our
heart burn within us? Wasn't there a kindling there?
Wasn't there a flame which warmed our heart towards the Saviour?
My meditation of Him shall be sweet. It will be sweet. I will be glad in the Lord."
Now, I do want us to realise that these things are needful. And these things are real. And
these things are the positive evidences of the work of God
in the heart. And if the Holy Spirit, blessed
be God, has given us this evidence, then we can humbly concur in answer
to that great question, is it well with your soul? We can say it is well, because I've known the effect
of the blessed work of the Holy Spirit in my heart, which has
warmed my heart. The coldness has been removed
and there's a warmth towards the Lord Jesus Christ. We don't
have any warmth left to ourselves. Nature is not warm. Nature is
cold. But you see, when the Holy Spirit
works, there's that warmth, there's that change. Yes, there's that
kindling of that flame within. What a wonderful mercy it is,
you see, this kindling of this fire. And it increases. You and I are blessed. increases
and what a wonderful thing it is and so here this statement
did not our heart burn within us well this morning can we answer
and say and it's like this by the grace of God I can confirm there was a kindling
of this fire within And I can concur with these two on this
Emmaus road, the effect of the work of God in my heart. Did not our heart burn within
us while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened
to us the scriptures? It is, you see, when Jesus comes
and speaks to our heart, no one else hears it. No one else hears
it. Even in the case when the Apostle
Paul was conversing on that Damascus road, when that light shone,
he heard the voice directed to his heart. The Word spoke. What a change there was. What
a blessing there was. What a favour. So it is for you
and me and how necessary that we know the wonderful work of
the Holy Spirit. We touch that in the Psalms.
Jeremiah, another prophet of the Lord, a man of God, he also
spoke in similar ways. And he tells us, then I said,
I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. His word was in my heart as a
burning fire shut up in my bones and I was weary and forbearing
and I could not stay. No, the work was so great. And it
is so. The work of God is great. It's
the work of God. It's not the work of man. And
it's the work of God which you and I rely upon and must rely
upon. We can't rely upon our works. And all of our works, our best
work, has sin with it. But you see the work of God in
the heart is a pure work. It's a holy work. It's a righteous
work. It's His work. And it produces
a gracious effect. And so here was Jeremiah, and
Jeremiah had a tough old life, didn't he? You may say, well
I've got a tough old life. Well you may have. But it's a
good thing if you and I can say, but his word, his word was in
my heart, not just in my head, in my heart as a burning fire
shut up in my bones. Well, the life and light of the
work of God in our hearts, what a great blessing it is for you
and me to be favoured with this. And so, as we read this account
this morning, and we see here with these two on this Emmaus
road, these things are recorded in the Word of God for our instruction
and for our encouragement. and to direct us to the need
there is for such a work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts, to
convince us that we are amongst those who are the children of
God. The work of the Spirit, the true work of the Spirit,
gives us an undisputable evidence that his work is within us. Let us not just wander on in
life in an aimless way, just hoping things will work out in
the end. Surely the expression must be
to the seeking soul, words like this, give me Christ. or else I die. And that means
give me a knowledge in my heart of the Lord Jesus Christ as my
all-sufficient Saviour. Nothing else will do. Nothing
else will do. But if the Holy Spirit directs
us to the Lord Jesus Christ, it may be perhaps in a way that
Jeremiah was directed to describe the sufferings of the Lord Jesus
Christ when he was directed to write the 53rd chapter in Isaiah. And he starts of course with
that question, who hath believed our report? It's the first question. The second is, and to whom is
the arm of the Lord revealed. Both are relevant, both are important. That the grace of God directs
us to believe the truth of God, the word of God, which is the
report from Genesis to Revelation, that we believe in the word of
God and we recognize it's true, we don't argue about it and say,
well, I don't believe that and I don't believe this. When the
Spirit of God works in our soul, we will become like a little
child. You know what a little child's
like? He's willing to learn. He's teachable. He doesn't argue. He listens. When the Spirit of
God comes into our hearts and produces, kindles that flame,
that warmth, that light, we become like little children. Oh, we're
submissive to God's will. All our ideas go out the window,
don't they? We have that example in the Word
of God, that man who was amongst the tombs and the disciples came
and they found him sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and
in his right mind. He'd been a wild man. You and
I might have been a wild person, May not always be outwardly,
it may have been outwardly. Many of God's children have been
a wild person. They follow their own desires.
They've done wild things. Whatever it is, the Spirit of
God makes a change. And so it is to those who believe
the report and to whom the arm of the Lord has been revealed.
It's being revealed. And we shall then understand,
as the Spirit opens our understanding to what Isaiah wrote here in
the 53rd of Isaiah, which before we may have read, we may have
been told it speaks of Christ. But when the Spirit works, then
we're drawn to it. We're attracted to it. And we're
thankful that we have such a clear description of the Lord Jesus
Christ in the Old Testament, which confirms without any doubt
the validity of the Word of God. And so, Isaiah, wonderfully blessed
by the Holy Spirit, directs us, he tells us, for he shall grow
up before him as a tender plant, as a root out of a dry ground,
He hath no form nor countenance, and when we shall see Him, there
is no beauty that we should desire Him. Naturally, my friends, there's
no beauty in Christ that you and I should desire Him. And
here we have a description. He is despised. People don't
like to look after and go after despised people, do we? Here's
the Savior, despised, and yet our great and glorious Savior.
He may have been despised by you and me in days past. Is He despised today? Is He despised
today? He may be. He may be despised
by you. Perhaps you don't like to acknowledge
that. He may be despised by you because
you're not willing to take up your cross and follow Him He's
despised and rejected of men by mankind at large. He's rejected. Man says, I will not have this
man to reign over me. I'm not going to follow this
despised man. I'm not going to bow down to
him. I'm going to do my will. I'm going to follow my path. Oh, says the Lord. When we shall see him, there
is no beauty. that we should desire. Naturally,
nothing that will attract us to the Saviour. We see these
pictures, don't we? People draw the picture of the Lord Jesus
Christ as some beautiful person. Naturally, we will not be attracted.
The previous chapter describes the Lord Jesus in these words. His visage was so mild, more
than any man, and his form more than the Son's man. Nothing naturally to attract
us to Christ. And the reason for that is so
that we understand very clearly it's the blessed work of the
Holy Spirit that attracts us to Christ. And then, Surely hath borne our
griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we did esteem him stricken,
spitten of God, and afflicted. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed. Again, in our
natural way, our natural mind, no attraction in those words.
Blessed God, if the Holy Spirit's touched our hearts, to think
that the only begotten Son of God was wounded for our sins,
was bruised for our sins, was chastised for our sake, bore
the stripes so that we might be spiritually healed, or blessed
with a spiritual view of these things. This is what draws us to Christ. And we see how suitable the Lord
Jesus Christ is. And I'm sure that the Blessed
Lord would have spoken of this account to those on the Emmaus
Road. And it was that and many other
scriptures that produced this fire within, this kindling within
our heart to realize the great truths of God's Word. And Isaiah
tells us, all we like sheep have gone astray. We've turned everyone
to his own way. We've all gone our own way. Word
of God in another place tells us we've all gone astray, speaking
lies. Oh, we're not good people at
all. We're great sinners and we need a great Saviour. We need
a great salvation. And when the Holy Spirit directs
us to the Saviour, oh, do we not
rejoice in it? And we understand then what He
went through. He was oppressed and afflicted
and he opened not his mouth. He had a great work to do, to
redeem our souls. He didn't object to that which
occurred to him. He willingly came and was in
this place. Yes, well today, what's our thoughts
of this? How do we react? When we read
such an account as this, does it rejoice our hearts? Do we
bless God for the plan of salvation? It was a plan, wasn't it? But
you and I could never work out ourselves. You and I would never
have worked out a plan like that. That's why the Jews didn't believe.
They had a vision of Christ coming as a great king. He did, but
not in the way they thought. They thought he would have worldly
splendour. No, he had heavenly splendour. So, my friend, left to ourselves,
we're under a wrong impression. But blessed by the Holy Spirit,
we're so glad to have such a saviour, which came right down to our
level, for the lowest place. Yes, he knew. He knows where
we are. He comes to us like he did with
those two on that mass road. They didn't ask for him, did
they? But he came to them and he went with them and expounded
to them, opened the scriptures all about himself. And the effect
was, their heart burned within. Well, my friends, today, may
we be able to look back in our lives. And if not, to pray earnestly
to God that we may know this experience. The evidence of it
will bring us to glory, to heaven at last. The lack of it will
leave us short. Leave us short, my friends. You see, the hymn writer has
it right, doesn't he? When he said, to know my Jesus crucified
by far excels all things beside. Because if Christ had not died,
and if Christ had not been crucified, and by that I mean the most terrible
death, then he would not have been a suitable saviour. But
to think that the Lord God Almighty, the Lord Jesus Christ, yes, the
second person in the Trinity, condescended to come into this
sinful world to redeem our souls. Now when the Holy Spirit applies
that word, does not our heart burn within us? I think that
this great God has saved my soul. has given me a good hope of eternal
life, so that by His grace I can come and stand with the Apostle
Paul and say, I know whom I have believed. Because of what the
Holy Spirit has done in my heart, because There has been produced
there that which I could not do for myself, and you and I
cannot do this. We cannot work ourselves up into
some frenzy. People do try to, don't they?
But it's not in their heart, it's in their mind. This is the
blessed work of the Spirit of God. And this, my friends, will
bring you and me to heaven. And so may we know the evidence
of it, and have the evidence of it, and bless God for it.
and praise him for it, and thank him for it, and indeed go on
our way rejoicing. You know, in that 104th Psalm
that we just referred to, in that verse, we read the 34th
verse, the 33rd verse tells us, I will sing unto the Lord, as long as I live, I will sing
praise to my God, while I have my being." What a wonderful statement,
what a wonderful thing, if that is the blessed effect of the
work of the Holy Spirit in our heart, which has changed us from
a dead state, a theoretical state, into a true state, whereby we
are able to testify, we're able to join with these two on this
immense road and say to the glory of God, did not our heart burn
within us while he talked with us by the way and while he opened
to us the scriptures. Amen.