Our lesson this morning will
be taken from Luke chapter 24, verses 33 through 39. In these verses, our Lord asks
two questions and gives one answer. He's the
answer, whatever the question. Let's read our text together,
Luke chapter 24, beginning with verse 33. And they rose up the
same hour, and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered
together, and them that were with them, 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 of them and
breaking of bread. And as they thus spake, Jesus
himself stood in the midst of them and saith unto them, Peace
be unto you. But they were terrified. Now these are the people that
he walked with and taught and broke bread with just a short
time ago. And now suddenly he appears in
the midst. He didn't knock on the door and
come in. Nobody ushered him in. He just appeared. He was there. And they were terrified and afraid
and supposed that they had seen a spirit. And he said unto them,
why are you troubled? And why do thoughts arise in
your hearts? Behold my hands and my feet,
that it is I myself. Handle me and see, for a spirit
hath not flesh and bones as you see me have. And when he had
thus spoken, he showed them his hands and his feet. And while
they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them,
Have ye here any meat? And they gave him a piece of
broiled fish, and of a honeycomb. And he took it, and did eat before
them. Just take a few minutes of our
time this morning to recap the events following the resurrection
of Jesus Christ. Several women, believing women,
godly women, who were disciples of the Lord came early to the
tomb on the first day of the week, and they were shocked to
see. They wondered on their way over
there how they were going to move this great stone that sealed
his tomb. And when they got there, the
stone was already moved, already rolled away. And they were shocked
to see that great stone, which sealed his grave, being removed.
And while standing in amazement, two angels appeared and said
to them, why seek ye the living among the dead? And quickly they
returned with the good news of his resurrection, but their words
were received as idle tales. And that same day, two of his
disciples left Jerusalem to go to Emmaus, walking along the
road, discussing all that had happened to our Lord and to them,
and asking concerning their sadness, this man who joined their company,
began to talk to them about, why are you so sad? What's going
on? And so he told them. He told them what was going on. He joined them, but hid his familiar
face from them. And having asked them of these things,
he began at Moses. He said, O fools, it is low of
heart to believe all that the prophets have written of me.
You know, that's where our trouble begins, isn't it? We tend to rest on things we
think we know, instead of resting on things that the Lord has revealed
to us through His prophets and through His apostles, through
His Word. So constraining him to abide
with them, Christ came into their home, and as they sat down to
eat, He took bread and broke it and blessed it, And suddenly
they knew who he was. And then he vanished out of the
sight. And these two men returned to Jerusalem and began to tell
the apostles all that had transpired. And as they were gathered there,
telling the good news, suddenly the Lord Jesus Christ appeared
and stood in their midst and said, Peace be unto you. Now his words did not at first
have the effect that you might think it would. You would think, he just went
all the way through the Old Testament, from Moses to Malachi, revealing,
and they said, oh, and I know they heard, they heard in their
heart. They said, didn't our hearts burn within us as he opened
to us the scriptures? I know that they knew him, knew
who he was, and knew how his words affected them. And you would think his appearance
to them would only confirm what it was they were trying to tell
the other apostles. They'd tell him, we saw him,
he's alive. But when he appeared in the midst
now, they're terrified. And rather than embracing this
one they so loved, they were terrified and afraid. Why? Why? Several reasons. First of
all, it wasn't a natural act. It's not a natural act. We're
sitting here this morning. Let's just suppose while we're
sitting here, we know the Lord's raised us. Huh? He's confirmed that in our hearts.
We know that he's right. He has risen. He's not in the
tomb. But suppose he appeared in your
midst this morning. Huh? By boy, now we're talking
about a whole different ball game. He don't come through the
door. He just appears. Here he is.
I think we might feel the same way. This is not a natural act.
Dead men don't rise from the dead. My parsonage and ball was
built right beside a cemetery. A man asked me, he said, don't
that bother you living next to a cemetery? I said, no, I ain't
worried about them. It's the living ones that I worry
about. I ain't worried about the dead.
But dead men don't rise from the dead. Dead men stay dead.
Dead men go back to the dust, and dead men's bodies decay and
corrupt. They'd seen him. But reality
hadn't set in yet. Why were they so terrified? Because
rising from the dead is not a common occurrence. And secondly, they
were frightened because they were yet ignorant of the life,
death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. They still didn't understand
what it was he came to do. They still couldn't understand
that this is God come into the flesh. Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of
God, Son of Mary, Son of God, Son of Man, did not have His
beginning in Bethlehem. Scripture said, The Lord possessed
me in the beginning of His ways before His works of old. In Proverbs
8.23, He said, I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning,
or ever the earth was. When there was no debts, I was
brought forth. And before creation was even
coming into being, then I was by Him as one brought up with
Him, and I was daily His delight, rejoicing always before Him. Jesus Christ is the God-man. It was not possible that death
should hold Him down. This is the God-man. And when
the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son,
made of a woman, made under the law to redeem them that were
under the law, that we might receive the adoption of children,
of sons. And His appearance on this earth
is the manifestation of the eternal purpose of God. But His beginning
wasn't in Bethlehem. His appearance was. His manifestation
was. But his beginning, he had no
beginning. You read about it in Hebrew.
He's a priest after the order of Melchizedek. Had neither beginning
nor end. Our salvation, Paul said, is
according to his own purpose and grace which was given us
in Christ Jesus before the world began. But now watch this, 2 Timothy
1.10. But it's now made manifest by
the appearing of our Savior, Jesus Christ, who has abolished
death and has brought life and immortality to light through
the gospel. Everything God determined to
do from the beginning, He trusted into the hands of His eternal
Son. Only one worthy to take the book
of God's decrees from His hand, and that was the Lamb. The Lamb
came and took the book. full provision purposed in Him,
salvation, creation, providence, all things given unto Him. And
His brief appearance in time was the center point of the manifestation
of the glory of God. God's glory can only be revealed
in His Son. He's the only one who can. John said the life was manifested,
and we saw it. We've seen it. Why were these men afraid? Because
one they knew had died, was buried and sealed in a tomb, was now
standing in their midst. It wasn't a common occurrence.
And because of their ignorance of the life, death, and resurrection
of Jesus Christ. Poor sinners lived their lives
in fear because of their ignorance of the eternal purposes of God
in Christ. That's why we fear so much. We
fear everything, don't we? You wouldn't fear that if you
understood and believed all that was manifested in Him. We wouldn't
fear that. Perfect love casteth out all
fear. Isn't that it? Beloved Jesus of Nazareth is
God come into the flesh. It is He with the eternal appointments
of God appearing to accomplish the salvation of a people given
to him by the Father before the world was. And it's one thing
to think that a man influenced generations by his life and death,
gave himself to assist fallen men, but it's quite another to
know one upon whom God bested all things. To see a man who by himself purged
our sins and sat down at the right hand of God. One who by himself, by his own
blood, entered into heaven itself to obtain eternal redemption
for us. It's one thing to see a great
prophet, a master theologian, and read of his exploits. Quite
another to see him who is the eternal word of God. Jesus of
Nazareth, as a man, has no equal. He's a one of a kind. Only one
God-man. Think about it. He's a one of
a kind. He is God. In Him, Paul said,
dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. Peter spoke of Christ's death
as being according to the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God. And men by wicked hands took Him. He was crucified and
slain. whom God hath raised up, having
loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that he should
be holden by it. This is God. God over all, he
said, blessed forever. And to see this man in the midst
was to see the manifestation of the eternal Son of God. That's
why they were frightened. I tell you, I was scared to death
when God began to reveal Himself to me through His Son
and that redemption accomplished in Him. I was terrified. Why? Because I didn't know who
God was. The only thing I knew was the
God of religion. He's no God at all. He's just
a pipsqueak. Jesus Christ came to reveal God
as He is. And who is this God? He's He
who holds you in His hand. That's who He is. Huh? Who is this God? He said, there's none like Me.
I have nobody to compare Myself with. If I'm going to teach you
who I am, I'm going to have to send you My Son, because that's
the only way you can know Me. Oh, my son. They began to see
who God was. Men can't touch Him. They wanted
to. They tried to. They put their hands on Him.
They smacked Him. They spit in His face. They laughed
at Him. Nailed Him to a cross till He
died. But now He's standing in their
midst. Oh, they began to be frightened. Terrified is the word He uses. Terrified. And here's another amazing statement.
A lot of mixed emotions when you begin to realize who God
is. Listen to this. Verse 41, Luke 24. And while
they yet believed not for joy. That don't make sense, does it?
They believed not for joy and wondered. Partly the reason for their fear
was that what they were seeing was too good to be true. That's
what that statement means. This is too good to be true.
Have you ever experienced this? I'm hearing a man and he's telling
me that God Almighty, before the world was, before ever a
man was created, before ever the earth was hung in space,
chose a people. And God decreed their salvation.
And everything that concerns that salvation, He gave us in
His Son. Oh, this is too good to be true.
You mean God made full provision for me? What he told that thief
on the cross. He didn't walk an aisle. He wasn't
baptized. He never saw any water. He didn't
do anything. He said, Lord, remember me. He
said, this day shalt thou be with me in paradise. Huh? Too good to be true, ain't it?
But that's what it is. That's what it is. Oh, I remember hearing a sermon
by Henry Mahan caused me to weep uncontrollably with joy. It was
a sermon on the prodigal son. And as he spoke of the father
running out to his wayward son, I experienced what this verse
is talking about. It just seemed too good to be
true. God Almighty, throwing His arms
around the center. I could see it, read it, hear
it, understand all the facts. But everything I saw and heard
just seemed too good to be true. There got to be a catch, but
there's not. Here's a man that occupied heaven
from all eternity, yet stood in this world as a man, died
on a cross, was buried, and now was alive and standing in their
midst. Oh, the risen Lord who now stood
in their midst asked two questions. Why are you troubled? Are you
troubled? Huh? I'm talking to believers. Are you troubled? What are you
troubled about? Why are you troubled? What is it that causes your anxiety
and worry and all these things? Why are you troubled? And why
do thoughts arise in your heart? Why do we try to explain away
what is so obvious? Huh? So clear. So manifest. If any truth has ever been manifested,
it's His death, burial, and resurrection. More so than anything. More so
than creation itself. Jesus of Nazareth was the most
approachable man that ever walked this earth. He welcomed madmen. I don't think about old Legion,
that demoniac. They couldn't hold him with chains,
Russell. He was a madman. Lived in the tombs. Cut himself. Tried to kill himself and couldn't.
He was a madman. Nobody wanted anywhere near him.
They left him isolated. The Lord said, come to me. Come
on. He welcomed demon-possessed men,
lepers, palsied men, troubled children, adulterous men and
women, tax collectors, even the old Roman centurion. Why would any man fear him? I'll
give you two reasons. Ignorance and unbelief. That's it. Every week I stand before you
and describe to you the eternal Son of God, our Savior. I've
told you about His eternal appointments, His sonship, our union with Him,
His Father's redemptive will, His life, His death, His resurrection. And some of you young people
have been listening to me for years. And yet, you don't believe. Huh? You can't commit. And you cannot bow. Why? Truly, the Son of God has appeared
in our midst. And why do you persist in your
unbelief? Isn't that what he... Why are
you troubled? What's holding you back? Huh? Why do we just sit? What are we waiting for? This
is the Son of God. He came. He's triumphant. He accomplished the victory.
He fulfilled everything demanded of God. Why do we hold back? Isn't that what he said? Why
are you so troubled? Ignorance. Ignorance. and unbelievable. And I'll tell you something else,
because it just sounds too good to be true. I might could believe in a plan
or a system. I might could believe in an idea
or even in a purpose, but to hang my soul on a man That's what salvation is. To rest my future on a man. To
live my life and die my death trusting only in a man. Ignorance
and unbelief. That's what leaves us fearful
at the revelation of Christ. Why are you troubled? Can not
God appear and disappear? Can not God do anything? And cannot God do all that He
says He can? Why are you troubled? And then
secondly, why do thoughts arise in your hearts? No telling of
the explanations that were being hatched in their hearts concerning
this woman who appeared before them. College courses in religion make
all religions the creation of men. They treat salvation the
same way they treat creation. It's all evolution. It's been
passed down, passed down, developed. Superstition, spiritualism, whistling
in a cemetery kind of stuff. Four leaf clover kind of thing.
Well, I'm going to walk down the aisle and I'll just carry
that with me like an old four leaf clover. Why do thoughts arise in your
hearts? True religion, not man-made,
but fear and deceit are. Two questions with one answer.
What can dispel our fears and ignorance? What can put an end
to our troubled minds and hearts? Verse 39. Behold my hands. You see the holes? Behold my
hands and my feet. That it is I myself. Handle me
and see for spirit hath not flesh and bones as you see me have. Is what I'm looking at really
the Christ of God? Is He really the sovereign Savior?
Is this one made to appear in our midst the eternal Son of
God? Behold my hands and my feet. And every week I set before you
the revelation of Jesus Christ. I point you to the risen Savior.
How do you know that He whom I preach is the Christ? Because
I set before you the crucified Savior. That's who's appearing before
them, the crucified Savior. He still has the holes in His
hands. Christ and Him crucified, that's
the gospel, the God-man coming into this world to save sinners.
God coming into the flesh to do for sinners what no sinner
could ever do for himself or would do. Can this be the Son
of God? Behold! What is it that will allow me
to enter into this peace that patheth all? He said, Peace be
on you. What is it that will allow me
to enter into this peace that passeth all understanding, the
crucified, resurrected Savior? That's it. Oh, that He be pleased
today to stand in our midst and show us the evidence of His resurrection. And that evidence is in the Gospel. It's in the Gospel.