And I've loved you with an everlasting
love. He didn't start loving us when
we believed. We believed because he did love
us. Everlasting. Turn with me to Luke chapter
24, if you will. I'm going to start reading in
verse 13 and go down to verse 35. And behold, two of them went
that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem,
threescore furlongs. And they talked together of all
these things which had happened. And it came to pass that while
they communed, And reasoned, Jesus himself drew near and went
with them. But their eyes were holding that
they should not know him. And he said unto them, What manner
of communications are these, that ye have one to another,
as ye walk and are sad? And to one of them answers, whose
name was Cleopas, answering said unto him, Art thou only a stranger
in Jerusalem? and hast thou not known the things
which are come to pass therein these days. And he said unto
them, What things? And they said unto him concerning
Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet, mighty indeed, and
word before God and all the people. And the chief priest and our
rulers delivered him to be condemned to death, and have crucified
him. But we trusted that it had been
he which should have redeemed Israel. And beside all this,
today is the third day since these things were done. Yea,
and certain women also of our company made us astonished, which
were early at the sepulcher. And when they found not his body,
they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels,
which said that he was alive. And certain of them which were
with us went to the sepulcher and found it, even so as the
women had said. But him they saw not. Then he said unto them, 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 beginning at Moses and all
the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the
things concerning himself. And they drew nigh unto the village
where they went, and he made as though he would have gone
further. But they constrained him, saying, Abide with us, for
it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. And he went
in to tarry with them. And it came to pass, as he sat
at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and break it,
and gave to them. And their eyes were opened, and
they knew Him, and He vanished out of their sight. And they
said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while
He yet talked with us by the way, and while He opened to us
the Scriptures? And they rose up the same hour,
and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together,
and them that were with Him, and saying, The Lord is risen
indeed, and hath appeared, to Simon, and they told what things
were done in the way, and how he was known to them, of breaking
bread." Our great, blessed, glorious
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. to whom we have grace,
to whom we have mercy, to whom we have peace. And we thank you
for all those things. We thank you, Lord, that besides
you, there is none other. You're the God of heaven and
earth. And the earth belongs to you
and the fullness thereof and everything that's in it and everyone
that's in it. And, Lord, you do according to
your will in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of
the earth, and none can stay your hand or ask what doest thou. But, Lord, we come to bless you
and praise you that you are our God and that you made yourself
known to us like you did these disciples on the Emmaus Road.
And, Lord, we ask as you walked with them, met with them, and
opened the scriptures to their understanding, Would you meet
with us today? Would you walk with us today?
Would you open our understanding today? Would you cause our hearts
to burn within us with the gospel? Would you cause the heart, O
Lord, to rejoice in you and see you as you are, see you in all
your glory, see you in all your power? See you, Lord Jesus Christ,
as only you make yourself known to us. So open our eyes, open
our ears, open our hearts, and Lord, meet with us today. And
Lord, cause the gospel to run well here today. Let people be
brought to a faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. May today be the
day that he opens the understanding and opens the scriptures to people's
hearts and understanding. And Lord, we pray that if you
do that for someone, that they would be willing and able to
confess his holy name, honor him by their confession of faith.
Bring glory to yourself in this service. Have mercy on our brothers
and sisters who are suffering. Meet the needs of all of us. For Christ's sake. Amen. Let's stand together and sing
the hymn of the day in the bulletin. Precious Savior, friend of sinners,
we have such to Thee drawn near. Let Thy Spirit dwell within us
with that love that casts out fear. Matchless Savior, let us
know Thee as the Lord of Righteousness. Cause our hearts to cleave unto
Thee, God, and with Thy presence blessed. Open now thy precious
treasure, let thy word here freely flow. Give to us a gracious measure,
it is thyself we long to know. Come and claim us as thy portion. Let us all find rest in thee. Leave us not to empty notions. We would find our hope in thee. Be seated. I hope you're still here in Luke
24. I want to talk about walking with
the Lord, walking with the Lord Jesus Christ. Here's two disciples. They'd been in Jerusalem. Cleopas,
of course, is Simon Peter. And these two disciples, what had taken place, you just
imagine what was going through their hearts. You know, it says
back up there in verse 12, where Simon Peter, look what
he says. Verse 11, excuse me, start there. And when they came
back from the tomb, they told the apostles, and their words
seemed to them as idle tales, and they believed them not. Then arose Peter and ran under
the sepulcher, and stooping down, he beheld the linen clothes laid
by themselves, and departed wondering in himself that which was come
to pass. And as our Lord appeared to these
two disciples, and look what it says in verse 13, and behold,
two of them that went that same day. What same day? The same day Christ had risen
from the dead. The same day that all of them
went to the tomb and said, He's not here. And they did not believe
that when the women went and told him, they says, I don't
told. But when Peter went and seen
him, he was wondering, he began to wonder. But it was on the
same day that Christ had risen from the dead. And all my, and
these people were doubtful, fearful, sad, confounded. Their heart hurt them and their
expectations. which were once were very great
was as nothing. They were feeling lost is what
they were feeling, hopeless even. Because they couldn't find Christ,
they couldn't find his body. And they had done forgot that
he had told them that he had rise from the dead. They had
their whole future, their whole future in this man, Jesus of
Nazareth. who died in disgrace as a common
criminal on a cross three days earlier. And they had heard that
our Lord had risen from the dead, but they didn't believe it. They
didn't believe it. They didn't believe it. And here
they are walking and talking, and let's see what they're talking
about as they go. They start in verse 13 again,
and behold, Two of them that went that same day to a village
called Emmaus, and look what they did. And they talked together
of all those things which had happened. They began to talk
about what had just happened. They rehearsed everything that
took place. They rehearsed how that the Lord
Jesus Christ had taught them, and taught them, and been with
them, and what a wonderful Savior He was. And they told about all
the things that happened, about how he was apprehended out of
the Garden of Gethsemane. They talked about how that no
doubt he was delivered up. And they took him and condemned
him and scorched him and beat him, put a crown of thorns on
his head, put a purple robe on him and mocked him as the king.
And they believed all those things and seen all those things and
talked about those things. They talked about, oh, his death. How it happened, how did this
happen? How did this come to pass? They
talked about the miracles, the wonders that surrounded it. They talked about how that the
sun quit shining for three hours. They talked about an earthquake
had come and busted the rocks into, busted up the rocks. And oh my. And I tell you the
way he was treated. And then they were no doubt ashamed
of themselves because they went and hid and did not appear at
the cross to be on his side. Didn't identify with him while
he was on the cross. So oh my. And then, oh my, look
what it says here. And then, you know, his resurrection
wasn't really so. That's what it says back up there
in verse 11. And their words seemed to them
as idle tales, and they believed not. And here's the thing. Do you know how many people that
does not believe in the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, And
here they are, they said, how could we believe such a preposterous
thing? We saw him dead. We saw him taken
off the cross. We saw him wrapped up in linen
clothes and put in a grave. We saw him put in a grave. And
then they put a rock on that grave so he wouldn't get out
of that grave. They put a rock on it. And they
saw. And then they went to his tomb,
and his tomb was empty. What in the world does all this
mean? Oh, they were probably going
to give up the cause. Look what it says in verse 21
down here. They were probably going to give
up the cause of Christ. But we trusted that it had been
he which should have redeemed Israel. And beside all this,
today is the third day since these things were done. And certain
women, also of our company, made us astonish, which were early
at the grave." Oh, and their communing and reasonings together. I want you to notice this now.
They talked about everything that happened to the Lord Jesus
Christ and who He was. What in the world were they looking
for? was they talking, they was talking, they was talking about
Christ. And they was talking about everything
that had happened to him. They reasoned, they was reasoning
this together. Ain't that what it says in verse
16, 15? And it came to pass that they
communed and reasoned, communed and reasoned about the Lord Jesus
Christ. And they talked about Christ.
They, you know, what I think they were doing was actually
reasoning and searching for him and wondering what in the world
had taken place. And that's the thing about it,
beloved. You know, there's a lot of people that reason and wonder,
how could these things possibly be? How could somebody who was
crucified rise again dead and buried and put in a grave? How
long, how could he possibly be alive again? How could it possibly
happen? And most folks only talk about
the resurrection of Christ on Easter. But I'll tell you what,
bless His holy name, they were reasoning together about Christ. And that's what I'm doing here,
reasoning with you about Christ, about the Lord Jesus Christ.
And oh my, they're going to probably give up the cause. And look what
happens here now, again in verse 15. It came to pass while they
communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near and went
with them. You know, it says wherever two
or three are gathered together, I'll be with them. There's just
two here. Oh you know Malachi 3 16 says
they that feared the Lord spake often one to another and these
men feared the Lord and spake one to another about Christ and
everything that had happened to him and this is the third
day this is the third day and they come and told us that he
was alive and we haven't seen him yet we haven't seen him but
oh my and the Lord went with them, heard and drew near and
went with them." And in their murmuring and in
their reasonings, they talked about him and they were searching
for him. And oh my, and he asked them
a question. Oh, they talked to get a clearer,
a greater knowledge of him, trying to figure out what happened.
You know, we walk by faith. We live by faith, not by sight.
And if you're searching for him, you'll find him if you search
for him with all your heart. But now look what he said here.
Look what our Lord Jesus Christ said. Well, before I do that,
let me deal with this. He was a stranger to them. And
look what it says there in verse 16. Their eyes were holding that
they did not know him. They was looking at him, walking
with him, And he's reasoning together about themselves and
the Lord Jesus Christ himself grew near. You remember, I preached
here recently about only the Lord's people saw Christ after
his resurrection. And only if he made himself known
to them. And that's the way it is right
now. You won't know him unless he makes himself known to you.
And so these folks, if Christ was walking with them, they're
looking straight at him, having a conversation with him. And
they did not have a clue who he was. Oh, he was a stranger to them.
Look down verse 16. And their eyes were holding that
they should not know him. He was a stranger to them. And
that's what he says, they said down there in verse And he said, what commander of
communications? And one of them named Cliff said,
aren't thou only, verse 18, aren't thou only a stranger in Jerusalem? Look down at verse 18. And oh
my, aren't thou only a stranger? Are you a stranger here? They
didn't know him. And let me tell you something.
Have your faith ever been so weak that you didn't see? Have you ever been so sad that
you couldn't see him? Have you ever grieved so much
that you couldn't see him? Have you ever been so cold of
heart that you couldn't see him? Have you ever come to a service
and not seen Christ? Huh? And, oh, my, when our faith
is weak, you know what it says? They reason together, and that's
what we do. We began to reason. We began to try to figure things
out. We began to try to do things on our own. And oh my, we can't
see his face. We don't see his presence. But
he's still near. And he's still with us. And these
folks didn't know it. It's like Mary. She thought Christ
was the gardener. And she said, sir, if you've
taken his body somewhere, let me know. And I'll go get him."
And our Lord Jesus Christ said, unto her, Mary, and immediately
she knew it was him. Immediately she knew it was him.
And I tell you, let me give you a few things that keeps us from
seeing him. There's a few things that keeps
us from seeing him. And I know this from experience. I know
it from experience. Unbelief. That's the greatest
reason we can't see Him. Unbelief. Unbelief. Carnal reasoning. Trying to figure
out things on our own. And then doubt. Doubting. Doubting, is the Lord really
with me? Does the Lord really know me? Does the Lord care about
me? Does the Lord care about what I'm going through? Does
the Lord understand what I'm going through? And this is, I
think, the greatest right here, is discouragement. Oh, discouragement
will keep us from seeing Him. When you get discouraged and
you get so discouraged that you can't do nothing, you're just
discouraged and all you can think about is your discouragement.
You can't think about anything else but how discouraged you
are. And why are you discouraged? Why is discouraging me? It's
either something in your life or somebody that's done something
to you to discourage. And there's things that discourage
us. And discouragement is one of the awfulest things that you
go through as a believer. Discouragement. And then feelings. Oh, feelings. Feelings keep us
from seeing the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh my, feelings. And I tell you,
this is what really messes up. Looking for evidence inside yourself
whether you know Christ or not. That's the worst place you can
look. Looking at your own self, looking at your own heart, looking
at your own feelings? Oh my. Martin Luther said this,
for feelings come and feelings go. And feelings are deceiving. My warrant is the word of God,
not else is worth believing. Though all my heart should feel
condemned for want of some sweet token. There is one greater than
my heart whose word cannot be broken. And oh my. So our feelings sometimes do
that. And now here's another reason.
Here's another reason. Sin. Sin. Sin. Sin keeps us from seeing Christ. And I'll tell you another thing,
laziness. Laziness. You ever been lazy in this thing
called spirituality? You ever been lazy as a believer?
Been lazy to pray? Been lazy to read? Been lazy
in the services? Been lazy? Huh? And another one's
too busy. Just too busy. Together, together
with God's people. Oh my, too busy to gather with
the Lord's people and hear a talk of Him. And another reason is
providence. God sometimes in His providence
will shut us up. Oh, listen, that's one of the
awful experiences in the world is for God in His providence
to take your heart and take your mind and take your eyes and put
you in such a providence that you can't see, you can't feel,
you can't understand, you're just lifeless, you're dead, and
you're scared to death that God's left you to yourself. Psalmist
David said, Why art thou disquieted in me, O my soul? Why are you disquieted in me, O my
soul? Why? Then he turned around hope
thou in God. Then he said it again, why art
thou disquieted in me, O my soul? I shall yet praise him who is
my hope, who is my hope. And I'll tell you another thing
that keeps us from seeing him is trials of faith. God sometime
tries us, he puts us in the fire. You know, the scriptures talks
about trying to faith. Oh my goodness. And you know,
faith, trials of faith. If you ain't got faith, it won't
ever be tried. But if you got faith, God's gonna
try it. And he'll try it in a lot of
different ways. He'll try it in a lot of different
ways. But now look what goes on between Christ and these disciples. And our Lord asked them a question.
the talk between Christ and these disciples. And he said unto them,
in verse 17, what manner of communications are these that you have one to
another as you walk and are sad? Oh, you reckon he asked these
people questions for information? Oh, the first he starts a conversation
with a question. What are you all talking about?
What are you talking about? That's what our Lord's asking.
What are you talking about? Huh? And He asked them with a
question. What are you talking about that's
making you so sad? Have you ever talked yourself
into a sadness? Talked yourself into a negative
thought and negative attitude, you know, have you ever talked
yourself into being sad? You start seeing things that's
happening, you just, you start thinking about it and talking
about it, and then you get sad. You get sad. And that's why our
Lord said, why, as you walk and talk to one another, are you
so sad? You think the Lord don't know
what world condition we're in? Why are you so sad? What's making
you so sad? Oh, I'll tell you one thing. When
Christ isn't present with us, it's time to be sad. When the
Lord ain't there, it's time to be sad. And oh, he questioned. He questioned their unbelief.
He questioned their conversation. He questioned, what are you talking
about? What are you talking about? And
that's what he wants to know. What are you talking about? What's
important to you? What's your conversation about?
What are you talking about? And all that you have one to
another as you walk and are so sad. Let me tell you something about
us as believers. When God's people are sad or
grieved, You know what makes them sad and grieved? Over their
unbelief. Oh, my goodness, how we grieve
and are so sad over our unbelief. How sad we are over our reactions
to trials that God sends our way. Oh, how we grieve over our
reactions to how people sometimes treat us or how we treat other
people. And oh, we're sad and grieved
over sometimes God's providence that shuts us up. Let me ask
you something. Does any of you ever say, boy,
I took that really, really well? I handled that just exactly right. I handled that the way I should.
I said the thing just exactly what I should have said. I acted
just exactly what I said, just exactly what I should have said.
I handled that trial better than anybody I've ever seen handle
a trial. Could you say that about yourself? You know who discourages me more
than anybody else? Me. Me. Oh, boy. Our Lord, He said, what
are you talking about? What are you communing about?
Why are you so sad? You keep Luke and Luke with me
over in Hebrews 4. With me in Hebrews 4. Our Lord
cares about us. I know that these fellas didn't
know it. They didn't know it. They didn't
see Christ. They didn't know Christ. At this particular time,
they had known Him, had conversed with Him, had been with Him.
But look what he says here in verse 14, Hebrews 4, 14. See then, he said, I want you
to see this and understand this, that we have a great high priest,
not the one that went into that holy place, not one of these
fellows that works in the church, not one of these fellows that
wear a robe and a fish hat on his head. Seeing then that we
have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, that's
where our high priest is at, Jesus, the Son of God, let's
hold fast our profession. For we have not a high priest
which cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities,
but was in all points tempted like we are, yet without sin. So since we have this high priest,
since he's touched with the feelings of our infirmities, Since he
was without sin, let us, therefore, come boldly unto the throne of
grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace. When? When? When does that say right there?
What does that say? In time of need. In time of need. Oh my, they had reason to rejoice. Christ had risen. We'd go back
over to Luke 24. They had reason to rejoice. Christ
had risen. But they didn't believe he had. And being sad, oh, being so sad,
they communed with one another. And that's what we ought to do.
It becomes us to talk about Christ. It becomes us to talk about our
master. If our hearts were full of Christ, I believes our mouth
would be too. Scott used to talk about like,
you know, mules having blinders, you know, when they used to work
on them, horse used to work, they put blinders on them so
they wouldn't see anything around them. And so they could work
them so nothing would ever spook them. Old Scott used to say,
we need blinders on so we see nothing but Christ. God give
us blinders. Fill our vision with nothing
but Christ. but Christ. And oh, it's good
for us to get together and talk about Christ. It's good for us
to reason about Christ. And oh, my. And then our Lord
asked that question in verse 17. It said, What are you talking
about that you have one to another as you walk and are sad? And the one of them whose name
was Cleopas, now this is Simon Peter, that's a Answering said
unto him, oh, they, they, they, answer his question. And oh,
my. And one of them whose name was
Cleophas answering said unto them, art thou only a stranger
in Jerusalem? And you've not known the things
which are come to pass these days? These days? How in the world could he be
in Jerusalem and not know what in the world took place the last
three or four days? How could he not know that? How
could he not know that they was in Gethsemane and his sweat became
as it were great drops of blood? How could they not know that
the Jews had taken Christ? How could they not know that
he had been beaten and scourged and all the things that happened
to him and then taken and nailed to a cross and washed his blood
and watched a soldier take a spear and rip open his side? How could
he not know these things? And he was in Jerusalem at that
time. Oh, my. And they wondered. And look what our Lord said to
them. In verse 19, he said unto them, what things? You know what he wanted them
to do? Talk about him. What things? Now, they going
to tell him what things. And look what they said. Oh,
my. What did he do? What things? What things? And he asked them two questions. Two questions. What are you talking
about? Why are you so sad? And he said
to them, what things? And they answer him, concerning
Jesus of Nazareth. That's who is raised, which was
a prophet. This man's a prophet. He was
a prophet. Everybody knew he was a prophet.
He understood the scriptures. He talked about God. He revealed
God. He talked about all the scriptures. He was a prophet. And he came
and he told us things. He told that woman at the well,
said, everything that he ever did. Come see a man that told
me everything that ever I saw. If this man were a prophet, what
about Moses? Oh, he said, he's a prophet.
Then watch what else he said. Mighty in what he did. Here's
mighty in his deeds. His deeds, oh my goodness, you
imagine the deeds he did. He raised the dead. He raised
a man that had been dead four days and was stinking. He raised a girl from the dead
that's 12 years old. He stopped a funeral one day
and met people on the way to put a man in the ground and bury
him in his casket and our Lord stopped him and told that young
man to get up. There was a man born blind one
time. Never had seen a thing. And our
Lord just opened his eyes. Opened his eyes. There were lepers
that came to him and said, Lord, if you will, if you will, you
can make me clean. I will be clean. I will be clean. Oh, my, they,
oh, listen. And I, you know, and they found,
look what else they said. Body and deed and word, his word
was with power, his word was with authority. And this word,
indeed, before God and before all the people, before all the
people. And oh, then look what else they
said about him. And you know what? The chief
priest and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death.
They talked about his death. And they have crucified him.
Crucified him. Nailed him to a tree. Crucified
him. Crucified him. Oh my. And then look what he said. Verse
21. For we trusted it that it had been
him we should have redeemed Israel. You reckon he did? We thought he was the one who
was going to be the redeemer. We thought he was going to be
the one to wash us from our sins, redeem us from our bondage, save
us from our self, save us from our lies, save us from our false
religion, save us. And oh my, and beside all this,
today's the third day since those things were done. And oh, and then he said this.
Yea, and certain women also of our company made us astonished,
which were early at the sepulcher. Made us astonished. What made
them astonished? They said, we found an empty
grave. And they said they saw two angels. They found an empty
grave. But now look what he says. Oh,
my goodness. When we are in such a sad state
as these two disciples, and we get that way, I don't know about
you, but I tell you what, I do. I do. But look what he said. Then he said unto them, O fools,
Foolish, foolish, foolish man. And look what he says, slow of
heart. Slow of heart. To believe all that the prophets
have spoken. Oh my. Now wait a minute. Who in the world would he be
telling these folks that? Oh, you slow of heart to believe
all that the prophets have spoken. He rebukes them for their unbelief. Slow to believe. Slow to believe. Oh, that the prophets have spoken.
Look what he says. And oh my. And ought not Christ
to have suffered these things? Don't you, didn't you read in
the Bible that Christ was going to have to suffer? That he's
going to have to suffer? Oh, Isaiah said he's going to
suffer. Moses said he's going to suffer. Isaiah said he's going
to suffer. Malachi said he's going to suffer.
Then he had to suffer before he could enter into his glory.
And how did he reveal himself to these people? And beginning
at Moses. He started in Genesis, Exodus,
Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. And then he went right through
the scriptures and he began to expound himself. Tell them what
the scripture said about himself. It started at Moses. Moses. Oh my. And all the prophets. This is what he did. He expounded
unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.
You know who Christ preached? The priest himself. All the things concerning himself.
That's what I want to know, the things concerning himself. I
want him to make me know the things concerning himself. And
oh, listen, let me show you something in 1 Corinthians. Look in 1 Corinthians
with me. Talking about the scriptures.
1 Corinthians. Look with me in chapter 15. Look what it says here. He preached to them the things
concerning himself. Wouldn't you have loved to heard
this conversation, heard this message? Well, I believe we do
every time we open the scriptures. Look what it says, starting verse
one. Moreover, brethren, I declare
unto you the gospel. which I preached unto you, which
ye also have received, and wherein ye stand." You believe this gospel,
you stand in this gospel. "...by which ye are also saved
by the gospel, if ye keep in memory. Hold fast to what I preached
unto you, unless ye have blinded in faith." Now listen to this
now, "...for I delivered unto you, first of all, that which
I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to
the Scriptures." People say, you know, the gospel is the death,
burial, and resurrection of Christ. No, it ain't. No, it ain't. That's facts. It has to be according
to the scriptures. Has to be according to the scriptures.
And look at this in verse four. And that he was buried, that
he rose again the third day according to the scriptures. And then he
was seen as Cephas. That's Cleopas that he's talking
about. Now look in Romans chapter 10. In Romans chapter 10, talking
about the scriptures. He opened the scriptures. Opened
the scriptures. Look in Romans chapter 10, verse
14. Verse 13, you know what he said here. for whosoever shall call upon
the name of the Lord shall be saved. Now watch what he says
here. How then shall they call on him
in whom they have not believed? You won't call on somebody you
don't believe in. And how shall they believe in
him of whom they have not heard? You can't not believe Christ
until you hear some things about him, until you hear what the
Bible has to say about him, not what your somebody else says
about him, but what God says about him and what the preacher
says about him, what the scripture says about him. And how shall
they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach except
they be sent? And so, and look at what it says
here in verse 16, but they have not all obeyed the gospel. For
Isaiah said, Lord, who has believed our report? Who has believed
what we said about Christ? A root out of dry ground, wounded
for our transgression, esteemed stricken, smitten of God and
afflicted of God, wounded for our transgression, bruised for
our iniquity, chastisement of our peace was upon him, led as
a lamb to the slaughter. It pleased the Lord to make his
soul an offering for sin. And he went through that, and
oh my, and look what he said. So then faith, faith, how do
you get it? It comes to where you are. It
comes to you. And it comes by what? Hearing. What do you have to
hear? The word of God. And that's what
he opened the scriptures to their understanding. Now back over
again in Luke 24. And I love the fact that he said,
and them all the scriptures, the things concerning himself.
Oh my, I'd love to heard that message. And communing with us,
the first thing he does is open the scriptures. Open the scriptures. Look what it said over in verse
45 of Luke 24. Then opened he their understanding,
that they might understand the scriptures." Oh, he communes with us and he
opens the scriptures to us. And then he calls us to Zareh's
presence. Look what happens now. Verse
28. And they drew nigh unto the village,
unto Emmaus, where they went, And our Lord was just like he
was going to go on. He just kept on walking. He just
kept on going. But they stopped him and said,
oh, they constrained him saying, abide with us. Stay here with
us. For it's toward evening and the
day is gone. And he went in to tarry with
him. And they still don't know who
this is. Still don't know who this is. And watch what happens. And it came to pass, and it always
does, as he sat at meat with him. Now look what he did. He
went in there as a stranger. He went in there as somebody
that didn't know what happened in Jerusalem. And then he started
talking to them. And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with
him, he took the bread. They didn't take the bread and
give to him. That's what mostly happens if you're a guest in
somebody's house. They feed you. But our Lord took the bread that
was on that table, And look what he said. And blessed it, and break it,
and gave to them. They remember this happened in
that upper room, when he broke the bread and gave them the wine,
said, this is my blood, this is my body broken for you. And
then look what he said here now. And their eyes were opened. And
they knew him. Oh, their eyes were opened. Oh,
thank God he opens people's eyes. Oh my, open my eyes that I may
behold wondrous things out of thy law. Oh my, their eyes were
opened and he knew them. knew Him and what happened, then
He's gone. He did all that with Him on the
Emmaus road to do one thing, to make Himself known. And He'll
walk with us and go with us when we're sad, when we're discouraged,
when we're fearful, when we're doubtful, when we have unbelief,
and when we have sin, and when He'll still draw near to us to
do one thing. For us to know Him. For us to see Him. For us to
see Him. And I tell you, once you see
Him, you want to see Him all the time. And the more discouraged,
the more down you get, and the more doubtful you get, the more
unbelief you have, the more you seek Him. I don't know how many
times I've walked into this pulpit, empty and walked out and got
empty again. But that tell you something,
if I can see Christ, Scott Rich said all the time, he said, if
I can just get a crumb from the master's table, I can go a long
time on a crumb. I can too, I can go a long time
on a crumb. But oh, he did all this, and
he broke that bread, gave it to them. That's him, that's the
Lord. Oh my. He was a stranger, but
he took the place as the head of the house. And look what they
said. And then our Lord was gone. And then they said one to another.
They kept talking now. They kept their conversation
going. And they said one to another, did not our heart burn within
us while he talked with us by the way? And while He opened
the Scriptures to us, the Scriptures? Did not my heart burn within
me? Oh my, did not my soul were blessed? Did not my heart rejoice
in what I heard? He talked with us, by the way. And while He opened us the Scriptures,
oh my, they knew Him. Their presence increases their
love, their zeal, their faith. And oh, they talked about what
he had done for their cold hearts and their unbelief. He warmed
their hearts by opening the scriptures to them. Oh, my. And look what happens now. You
know, this three score four long is seven miles. Seven miles. They walked seven miles to get
to the village that night. around and walked right back. You know why? To tell them we've
seen the Lord. They walked seven miles, that's
fourteen miles. And I'll tell you what I bet,
I bet that last seven miles, I bet both of them was just like
that because Christ was with them, telling them and opened
their understanding. And then on their way back, all they could
think about is what he had done for them and how he had opened
their understanding. And now they saw the Lord and they went
running back. What'd they go back for? Look
what it says. 33, And they rose up the same hour,
and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven together, and
they that were with them. And this is what they said, The
LORD is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon. And they told
what things were done in the way, and how he is known of them
as breaking bread. Oh, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my,
my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my,
my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my,
my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my,
my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, I tell you what,
they went to tell others, tell what they'd seen and heard. And
look what goes on now. I won't even deal with this,
but I mean that. And as they thus spake, guess what happened? Our Lord stood in the midst of
them and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. And you know, instead
of rejoicing and being grateful and being glad, they were just
exactly like us two disciples on Emmaus Road. They were terrified
and affrighted and supposed that they had seen a spirit. And he
said unto them, there he asked why they're so sad. Here he asked,
why are you troubled? Why do thoughts arise in your
hearts? Behold my hands, my feet, and
see that it is I myself. Handle me and see, for a spirit
hath not flesh and bones, as you see me have. Oh, my. Them fellers went 14 miles. Most of it was walking and talking
with the Lord Jesus Christ and they got right back over there
and he had made himself known to them sitting at the table
eating. And then they went right back
and he made himself known to them again. Why are you so sad? Why are you
so troubled? It's me. It's me. It's me. Our Father, in the blessed name
of our Lord Jesus Christ, thank you, thank you, blessed be your
name, for your precious, precious word that's got such light, got
such assurance, got such comfort in it. And Lord, we ourselves
want to see you, want you to walk with us and be among us.
Well, you were just with two that day. Wherever two or three
are gathered together, you said you'd be in the midst. And, Lord,
I pray that you was in our midst this morning. I believe you were. I believe you were. And I pray
that you'd be pleased to bless yourself to the hearts and understandings
of your people here today. Oh, God, make yourself known.
Break that bread where people know that it's you. Open the
scriptures that people know that it's you. Open the understanding
that people know that it's you. And do that for your own glory,
and for our good, and for the salvation of sinners. We ask
these things in our Lord Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Jesus Christ is made to me all
I need, all I need. He alone is all my plea. He is all I need. Wisdom, righteousness, and power
? Holiness forevermore ? ? My redemption full and sure ? ?
He is all I need ? Well, we're gonna have a lunch after the
morning service. Let's go get things ready and
they'll open that door and holler at you when they get ready. Lord
bless you. I'll see you Wednesday night,
God willing.