Luke chapter twenty-four. Our text will primarily be our
Lord's answer to them. These two disciples in verses
twenty-five and twenty-six and twenty-seven. Can you picture these two men
that Sunday afternoon as they walked from Jerusalem to Emmaus,
talking together on that dusty road. And their subject, we're
told, in verse 14, were all these things which had happened, which
had happened. What they had just been told
that morning, that the ladies from the tomb, empty tomb, came
to tell them, what Peter and John came back to tell them when
they went to see for themselves, of all these things concerning
Jesus of Nazareth, that which immediately had happened, that
which had happened three days before, when the mob stood and
cried at the insistence and at the direction of people placed
in the mob to lead them in the chant, crucify him, crucify him. Drown out the voice of anybody
in favor of him. When they ask, as the custom
was for Pilate to do at the Passover to release one of their own that
was a prisoner under them. He did that only then. They were
instructed, cry for Barabbas. shout loud, just in case anybody
cries for Jesus, drowned out their voice with the shout for
Barabbas, that murderer, that thief, that insurrectionist,
Barabbas. What about Jesus? Crucify, crucify,
away with him. He deserves to be crucified. This is what these two disciples,
Cleophas was one, talked about that morning on their way to
Emmaus. I know that that was their topic.
That was the topic of conversation naturally. But in their answer
to our Lord in verses 18 through 24 that we read earlier, They
tell him that. They tell the Lord who himself
drew near and asked them, what manner of communications are
these? In verse 17. What are you talking
about? Outwardly, we observe these two
men walking along, and I don't doubt that they were obviously
distraught. If you were a witness, if you
were standing alongside and observed them, by their very attitude,
it was obvious that they were distraught, that they were burdened. They were weighed down, Lord,
with a heavy, heavy load. But then more so, by their answer,
were given a look into their heart, into their mind, exactly
what it was that so troubled them. And what a sad picture
it is. But these two followers of Jesus
Christ are soon, so very soon, just as they reach their destination
and break bread that same evening. Very soon, they will rise from
the depths of great sorrow, the depths of sorrow, to the heights,
as low as they were low, that's how high they're going to be,
to the heights of joy unspeakable and full of glory. When I thought
about that last night, early this morning, I thought, Lord,
make that happen today. Make the same thing happen today
for your children that may come into the service this morning
distraught, saddened, weighted down with some heavy burden that
they don't even want to share with anyone else and they don't
have to. You know, and by that same word of power and grace
from your own lips, do what no one else but you can do. Lift
him up. Lift him up. Reach down your
mighty hand. and lift them up once again by
reminding them of that certain and sure foundation yourself,
the rock on which the church is built. Remind us again. We're only passing through. Soon
it's all going to be over, Kenny. Soon the heartache will cease.
Soon whatever saddens us, whatever causes tears to fall, soon it's
going to be over. Weeping may endure for the night. And oh, it seems like the nights
are so long sometimes and the daylight will never come, but
it will. The psalmist said weeping may
endure for the night, but joy cometh in the morning. And it'll be an eternal morning.
It'll be an everlasting morning. And we'll be caught up to be
with Him in that city that has no need of the light because
the Lamb is the light thereof. And for any here today that know
Him not, may He do for you what you'll never be able to do for
yourself, bring you to God. bring you to God, reconcile you
to Him. Oh yes, very soon they would
rise from their great sorrow to great joy. And for only one
reason, only one thing accomplishes that. Only one explanation for
the great change that's going to take place in them. Him. because of him. That's the only
reason. Their misunderstanding of his
mission, what he really came to do was the cause of their
sorrow in the first place. They didn't understand the mission
of the Messiah, but he was about to change all that. By expounding unto them from
all the Scriptures, the things concerning himself. And in doing so, he would change
their perspective. By changing their vantage point,
by gently bringing them back to the center, where they can
look properly and accurately at all things, which they weren't
doing on this occasion. That's why they were so sorrowful.
Let me give you a good example of this. Turn with me back to
Psalm 73, the 73rd Psalm. David had the same problem as we all do. We get left or right, or uncentered,
when we take our eyes off Christ. And this is what happened to
the psalmist. Psalm 73, David writes these
words in verses 1 and 2, after he's recovered from his temptation
by the grace of God. He says, truly God is good to
Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart. But as for me,
God didn't change, David said. Always where he was and is. But as for me, that's where the
problem was. My feet were almost gone. My
steps had well nigh slipped. And then from verses 3 to 16,
he records his temptation, the cause of it. why his feet were
almost gone and his steps had well not slipped. It was because
of his complete misunderstanding of God's dealings and ways. Something
had changed, but it wasn't God. No, no, no. It was David. But then God, by his grace, brings
David back as our Lord did the two disciples on the Emmaus road. In verse 17, brings him back
to center, changes his vantage point. Now he sees things not
like he thinks they are, but how they really are. Verse 17,
until I went into the sanctuary of God, then I understood their
end. The lost God-haters, they really
don't have it made. No, no, no. Not like I thought. Oh, I was so wrong. I was foolish. I was no better than a brute
beast before my God that thinks such a thing. No. He said the truth is This is
the best world they'll ever see. The truth is, they're standing
on a slippery slope. And in just any moment, they
could slide right in to an eternal hell. And you that sat here this
morning are in the same boat, except for the mercy of God. But it will not always be so.
And David said, oh, when I went into the sanctuary of God, now
I see things as they truly are. I see things as God shows them
to me and not like I misunderstood them to be. And look at the result
of that. Verse 23, still in Psalm 73,
David says, well, we should read verse 22, so foolish was I and
ignorant. I was as a beast before thee,
nevertheless, I like that, don't you? Nevertheless, it's true. I confess it. I can't deny it.
I was as a brute, ignorant beast before thee to have such thoughts.
So dishonoring to my God. Nevertheless, I am continually
with thee. That hasn't changed. God hasn't
cast me off. Thou is holding me by my right
hand. It's not my hold on you God,
it's your hold on me. Thou shall guide me with thy
counsel and afterward receive me to glory. glory. The glory. Yes, David changed
his vantage point or rather God did and so it was with these
two disciples that day. Our lord gently takes them aside,
takes them aside, and The Word of God is all about
God the Word. That's exactly what we're told
in verse 27. Look at it with me again back
in Luke 24. And beginning at Moses and all
the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the
things concerning himself. He told them not some things
in the Scriptures spoke of him, but he tells them everything
in the Scriptures speak of me. It's all about me. Every prophet,
every song, every book of Moses, everything's about me. Look down,
if you will, at verse 44, when he appears to the eleven. and
we read in verse 44, and he said unto them, These are the words
which I spake unto you while I was yet with you, that all
things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses,
and in the prophets, and in the Psalms concerning me. That's the entire book. That
was the whole Bible at that time. Now, looking back at verse 27,
that's my text. And the title of my message,
The Things Concerning Himself. If you've noticed in your bulletin
this morning, that there's an article in there with the same
title, with the same text. But that won't be a problem,
Lord. Oh, no. Far from it. I think there's
enough here for many, many articles and many, many messages. Our Lord brings these two back
to the center. That is, to Himself. And then,
but not until then, are they made to see what they were failing
to see at the time. But now they're back at the center
and they look out and say, of Him. and through Him and back
to Him are all things to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. Now we see. Now we see. Jesus Christ is the
pearl of great price in the field of revelation. Take your Bible
to Christ just like you would take something to a window to
let more light shine upon it so you could better see. Look
again at verse 17, if you will. Our Lord says, what manner of
communications are these that ye have one to another as ye
walk and are sad? What's making you so sad and
so heavy hearted? And just a part of their answer
is so revealing, verse 21. They said, but we trusted. We
trusted concerning Jesus of Nazareth. Not we're still trusting. Not
they were still trusting Him at this very moment. But we did
trust. We used to trust. that it had
been He, not still was, but it had been He, which should have
redeemed Israel. Not that He did redeem Israel,
but we had hoped that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah that
should redeem Israel. It's no wonder. Is it any wonder
that they were so sad? Huh? Does not that answer reveal
why they must have been sad? How else could they be? They
practically admit to our Redeemer. It looks as though, it seems
now, in light of what's taken place, it seems that we must
have been mistaken, that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah. Now let me ask you, child of
God, each believer. Let me appeal to each of you
this morning. Can you imagine, and it might
help us to get into the shoes of these two disciples, can you
imagine anything that would change your life more, that would be
more devastating to you? than if some way you became convinced
that you were wrong about who Jesus Christ is. Anything, Louie? Can you think
of anything happening in your life that would crush your soul
down more than that? If by some possibility you became
convinced, I must have been mistaken. I must have been wrong to trust
him. I now see. He must not have been
who I thought he was. He must not have been the Messiah. He must not have done what I
thought he done. Oh, thank God. Thank God. That's not possible. That's not
possible. But could anything be worse than
that? All of my hope And I cannot emphasize
that little word enough. Oh, I'm sincere as I can be,
but not sincere enough, Todd. All my hope before God. All my
hope before God. Yesterday, today, tomorrow, until
I draw my last breath, And when I stand before Him, all my hope
before God rests on Him. As Bobby sang a moment ago, Jesus
Christ alone. Without Him, I have no hope. None whatsoever. No hope in my
prayers, no hope in my faith, no hope in my preaching, no hope
in my giving. I have no hope whatsoever except
the good hope I have through grace in the person of Jesus
Christ. Not what I've done, but bless
God, what He's done. That's my hope before God. And
I'll tell you what, I'll tell you what, what you know, believer,
Oh, when I am able, by His grace, to rest my weary head upon that
pillow of sovereign majesty and grace, I can lie down and sleep
in peace and sing as I doze off. It is well, it is well with my
soul. Why? Because I'm in His hand. My hope's in Him. That's the only hope I have. And I ask you again, is that
your hope? Is that your case? I'm asking
you. Answer the question right now
to yourself in your own heart and mind. What's your hope before
a holy God? When you're called out of this
world, which in a few days you will be, When this vapor we call
life is over, you'll be ushered into the presence of God Almighty.
What's going to be your hope? What are you thinking right now? What's your answer right now?
Honestly, what's your answer right now? Are you thinking about
that time when you were a little baby or a child rather, very
young and somebody took you up to an altar in a meeting and
some soul winner coaxed a profession out of you that you didn't have
a clue what it meant and still don't? What's your hope? Are you thinking about that day
you were made a profession and were baptized? Are you thinking,
well, I've been in this church Ever since I was a young person,
Fairmont Grace Church, I'm a member here. Is that it? That's wrong. That's wrong. There's only one
hope, only one foundation of acceptance before a holy God,
and that's Him. That's what he brought them back
to. Look at me, he says. Look back to me. All the prophets
wrote about me. You've got your eyes off of me. And if you would dry your tears
and rise from your sadness to unspeakable delights, you must
look back to me. And they did. They did. Notice first in our Lord's answer.
He tells them what the Messiah's mission was in coming in the
first place. Oh, ought not Christ, he says
in verse 26, ought not Christ to have suffered these things,
these things you're discussing, this crucifixion? Ought not Christ
to have suffered these things and to enter into his glory?
He says that's what all the prophets wrote about. And time would fail
us to consider all the prophets that wrote about it. But he says, ought not Christ
to have suffered these things? His mission was to save his people
from their sins. And that could not be done. It
could not be accomplished apart from suffering, apart from being
made sin himself. Can we be made the righteousness
of God in Him? It's not like they supposed. The Messiah's mission never was
to bring them out of... the bondage of Roman rule and
power. That wasn't his mission. If it
had been, it would have been accomplished if he's God. If
he's God, if he's King of kings and Lord of lords and not this
pipsqueak imposter they call Jesus today. Oh, no. No, that
never was his intent to deliver them from Rome. Oh, but deliver
them from a greater power than that. a much greater power, the
power of sin, to raise his people from spiritual death. That's
my greatest need. Oh no, my greatest need is not
who's in the White House. That's not my greatest need.
I have a concern, somewhat, but it's insignificant compared to
this. My greatest need is this. Christ
had once suffered four sins, the just for the unjust, that
He might bring us to God. Did He? Did He? Did he accomplish his mission?
Did he get the job done? All the prophets, he said, testify
that he did. Oh, yes. Remember just one prophet? As I said, time would fail us
to mention all. Isaiah 53. It pleased the Lord
to bruise him. He was led like a sheep to the
slaughter, and before his shears was done and opened not his mouth. The chastisement of our peace
was upon him. And what was the outcome of all
that suffering, Prophet Isaiah? What was the fruit of it? What
came of all that? Was it for a maybe? Was it for
a perchance? Was it for a hope so? The coming
Messiah that you're speaking of? Is all that just for a possibility? No. Oh no. He went on to say,
He shall satisfy divine justice. He shall justify many because
He shall bear their iniquities. He'll bear them away. When God
bruises His Son, the Great Shepherd, He'll seal the veil of His soul
and what? He'll be satisfied. Ought not Christ to have suffered
these things and to enter into His glory? Glory? Oh, yes, he
reminds them of the suffering, but he also speaks of his glory. One was as certain as the other.
One was the outcome of the other and the fruit of it. No cross,
no crown. Oh, but the glory he now has
only proves the accomplishment of his sufferings. That's exactly
right. If they were not enough to satisfy
God's justice to whom he offered himself, he offered himself to
God without spot, then there would never have been the words
that we read in verses 5 through 7 of this chapter. Look what
the angels said. They were afraid, these women,
and bowed down their faces to the earth, and they said unto
them, Why seek ye the living among the dead? You've wasted your time coming
here looking for His body. He's not here, but He's risen. He's risen. And that proves God's
satisfaction with His Son. He would have never raised His
Son from the dead if He wasn't completely, eternally satisfied
with the offering of His Son to God Almighty. He'd still be
in the grave, Lord. Oh, but when God said, come,
my son, sit at my right hand, I'm satisfied. You have satisfied every jot
and tittle of my holy law. And you have taken away all the
sins of all those that I put in your hands to do that for. I'm satisfied with everything
you've done. And I promise you this, that
at your name, my son, the name of Jesus, every knee is going
to bow, yours and mine and everyone else's. And every tongue confess
that you're the Lord to the glory of God. Secondly, notice what
he actually did. He says in verse 27, or we're
told, And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded
unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. And those things concerning himself
tell of that one who entered once into the holy place. having
obtained eternal redemption for us. That's what all the prophets
said. He'll suffer, he'll bleed, he'll
die, but he'll accomplish the salvation of his people. That
was their message. Mission will be accomplished. And he's telling these two the
mission was accomplished. Behold! Behold! When the fullness
of the time was come, God sent forth His Son. Oh, look at Him. John, God in the flesh. We beheld His glory. He's the
only begotten of the Father. The Word made flesh. The expressed image of God. No man could see God, has seen
God, or will see God, but the only begotten Son, He had declared
Him. He has revealed Him to us in
His own person. Oh, and when the fullness of
the time was come, God sent Him forth. made of a woman, made
under the law to redeem them that were under the law. And
did he do that? Oh, absolutely. Paul went on
to write, because you're sons, because you've been redeemed,
he sends his spirit into your hearts crying, Father, Father,
proof of his mission being accomplished. Paul closes that same epistle
to the Galatians, and he says, God forbid that I should glory.
He tells them, don't be bothered with these legalizers. They just
want a glory in their flesh, and they want a glory in your
flesh, what it can do. But he says, God forbid that
I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now,
wait a minute, Paul. Stop there a minute, Paul. Are
you sure you should glory in that? After all, maybe he only
made redemption possible or left a part of it for you to do. Paul
would have slapped me across the mouth, I imagine, if I'd
been steady. Oh, no. God forbid that I should
glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, because by
that cross He accomplished my eternal redemption. He redeemed
His people from all their sins. I like our Lord's answer here
in Luke 24 to them much better than their answer to Him. They
said, we had hoped that He may have redeemed Israel. But He
tells them, He did redeem Israel. He did redeem Israel just like
all the prophets said so. Last of all, I would remind myself
and you as we come here today to hear and to rejoice in the
things concerning himself. As I mentioned earlier, almost
a year ago, you asked me to be your pastor and I I'm grateful right now. But I've
honestly tried to preach to you the things concerning himself.
And I believe God's honored that message. And I think he'll continue
to honor it. He promised that he would. And
what a blessed tie it is that binds us. We'll be reminded of
it in just a few moments. What a union we share. We're
one. We're one, brothers and sisters.
Lester, we're one in Christ. He loved you, Lester, with an
everlasting love, and me too. He chose you in Christ before
the world began, and He did me too. Christ came for you, but
He did me too. And He went to Calvary and shed
His precious blood for each of you that know Him, brothers and
sisters in Christ. Oh, blessed tie that binds us. This is what we do when we observe
the Lord's table today. It's a celebration of redemption
accomplished. This is my blood which is shed
for you. And it wasn't in vain. When it was shed, it did exactly
what was intended. Put away all the sins of his
people. Moses said to Pharaoh, when he
said, you go on out but leave your cattle, Moses said, no,
no deal. There won't be a hoof left behind. And Christ will have everything
he paid for. Oh, I hope you don't tire of
me quoting it. But oh, dear dying land. Dear
dying lamb, thy precious blood shall never lose its power till
all the ransomed church of God be saved of sin no more. I so enjoy these Lord's days
when we observe the Lord's table. We read as often as you eat this
bread and drink this cup, you do show the Lord's death till
he come. That night he instituted it.
and gave the cup to his disciples that passed this among yourselves
and all of you drink from it for this is my blood which is
shed for you for the remission of sins. I tell you, I will not
drink henceforth of the fruit of this vine until I drink it
new with you in my father's kingdom. What a day. God bless you.