for a few minutes, John chapter
20. This is after the resurrection, and we'll read just a couple
of verses. John chapter 20, verses 19 and
20. John 20, verse 19, Then the same
day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors
were shut, where the disciples were assembled for fear of the
Jews, came Jesus, and stood in the midst, and saith unto them,
Peace be unto you. And when he had so said, He showed
unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad
when they saw the Lord. I want to refer to three things
in verse 19. If you have your Bibles open
there, then we'll go on into verse 20. But three things in
verse 19. First, in verse 19, the meeting. We read that the
disciples were assembled together and they had the doors shut for
fear of the Jews. It is still Resurrection Day,
Sunday, the first day of the week the disciples were assembled. Note, if you will, the emphasis
here in this verse on the time to tell us when it is. Then the same day at evening,
that�s referring back to verse 1 where we read, �The first day
of the week cometh Mary Magdalene.� That�s Sunday. Then notice he
restates Then the same evening, being
the first day of the week, so that it's still Sunday, the first
day of the week, that is emphasized. And the disciples are assembled.
Next Sunday, they're assembled again. And thereafter, through
the book of Acts, And to this present hour, the church assembles
on the first day of the week, the day Christ rose. Now, I realize
that we have some mighty good people in our area, these Seventh-Day
guys, and they're fine people. They're really good in the medical
field. Most that I've met are very polite and decent people,
and we've got one or two works for them. in our church here,
I know Kim does, and that's part of your outfit too, isn't it?
Amanda's good, all these ladies in the nursing field, and they're
fine people, they just cling to that Old Testament Sabbath.
You see, that Old Testament Sabbath was a never-ending thing until
Christ died. It was the same old, same old
every week. One Sabbath just marked the time
to the next Sabbath. As a matter of fact, in the Old
Testament, in Exodus and Leviticus, some of Israel's feasts and observances
and festivals were, they were marked. The dates were kept from
the time from such and such a Sabbath. Between the Sabbaths, it just
marked time. Nothing changed. But you see,
when Christ came, God's offering for sin. When He died and came
forth from the grave, Matthew 28, verse 1 says, in the end
of the Sabbath, it's over. It's over. That Old Testament
type, that day of rest, the seventh day, it was fulfilled when He
who is our rest rose from the dead. So now our Sabbath rest
is not in a 24-hour period, once a week, no. Our rest is in a
person who's died and risen again. And he represents us in the presence
of God 24-7. So the meeting time is proper. And this morning for God's children,
really, every Sunday is Easter. Every Sunday we're testifying
that our Lord got up on this day of the week. And every week
it symbolizes the new life we have in Christ. The meeting. Secondly, not only the meeting
in this verse, verse 19, but look also at the miracle. It
said these disciples being assembled, it said when the doors were shut
where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, came Jesus
and stood in the midst, a miracle. The doors were shut, locked,
barred, for fear of the Jews. But do you notice that shut doors,
locked doors, barred doors, Don't keep him out when he wants in. He's God, and he manifests himself
as being God. The doors were shut, and there's no hole in the wall
where he came in, but he's in. He's in. You and I are living
in a proud religious generation. that's got God out yonder somewhere
begging you to let Him in, implying that He's at our mercy.
But that's not the case this morning. He can melt the hardest
heart in this world. He can change the weakest heart
that you know. Of course, you better think it's
yours. He can bring any sinner to bow
at his feet. It's not my business to qualify
or disqualify anyone. I'm just telling you that he
can do it when and if he wants to do it. If you're his child
this morning, if you are his child this morning, you will
testify that when he showed up in the midst of your heart, you
still had the door shut. When you become willing to let
Him in, He's already in. All these Arminian preachers
saying, now just open your heart and let the Lord in. Your heart
don't need opening to let Him in. It needs opening to let you
out. The real you, all that filth
and garbage, and hatred and jealousy and sin, you got locked up in
here and wouldn't have God or anybody else to know it for anything
in the world. Did you ever read about a woman
in Philippi whose name was Lydia? The Bible says about her that
she was a woman whose heart the Lord opened. Didn't say she opened
it, said he opened it. So here's the miracle. Christ
didn't knock. He didn't call ahead for an appointment. He appeared in the midst of them,
the doors being shut. The meeting, the miracle, third
thing in this verse, the message, and he saith unto them, peace
be unto you. Peace be unto you. What a strange thing. Now here's
one sitting there that's denied him, Peter. All the rest forsook him. Why didn't he say, you bunch
of spineless, low-down traitors? That would have been true. But
no, he says, peace be unto you. I'm not here to fight. Oh, marvel of marvels, how could
he love them now? How could he receive them now?
But he does. But he does. And this peace that
he is speaking unto his own. And if you're on his own this
morning, you need to grasp this. Oh, you need to get along with
him. have him speak peace to your heart, and he'll do it.
He'll do it. This peace is not something obtained
on a human level. It's peace with God. It's the
peace of God that no child of Adam can acquire or afford. It's the gift of God through
his Son. Remember he said back in the
14th chapter, peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you. Not as the world giveth, give
I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled,
neither let it be afraid. You believe in God, believe in
me. Boys, I'm back. Yeah, I died. But I got up. Here I am. Believe
in me. Believe in me. Let not your heart be troubled.
Be troubled about what? Neither let it be afraid. Afraid
of what? Of whether or not God's mad at us for what we've done. How we fail so miserably. But Christ says, peace be unto
you. Don't be afraid. I've already
fixed it. What you are in the frailness
of fallen humanity is not the issue, but who I am is the issue. In the approval of my Father,
all is well for me and for you. Believe in me. Believe in me.
Oh, I want to say to you folks this morning, having Christ for
your hope is a wonderful thing. until you see him as the one
and only one God approves. And embrace him. You're without
any hope. You're without any hope. These
old boys are scared to death. Now in verse 20 comes a manifestation. And when he had so said, he showed
unto them his hands and his side. This was the proof. They knew
it was him. They knew it was him. And of course, verse 24 says,
Thomas, called Edimus, was not with them that day. And so they
go and tell him that they saw the Lord. And Thomas says, I'll
not believe it till I see for myself. And at this point, Brother
Thomas is tagged with being the doubter. You know all about that,
doubting Thomas. But see, that's what they all
required. That's what it took for all of them to believe. But now look at this line, the
last part of verse 20. Then were the disciples glad. when they saw the Lord. Tremendous
line of scripture. Here they had been sad, and then afraid, then confused,
then afraid again, and now they're glad. And you thought you were
the only one on this roller coaster in life. No. It's a public ride. And they thought he was our friend,
but after what we've done, he's not our friend now. He was our
hope, but since we've messed up, played
the fool, cowered, forsook him and fled, he's surely not our
hope now. But Jesus shows up, uninvited, and says, peace be
unto you. I'm still your friend. I'm still
your hope. Quit trusting in yourselves and
trust in me. You just found out you couldn't
cut it. I've known all along you couldn't cut it. You believe in God. believe also
in me." Then were the disciples glad when they saw the Lord. They were still full of sorrow from his dying. They were still
full of fear of the Jews. But his presence made them glad. He promised before he died back
in the 16th chapter and the 22nd verse. Now I don't have this
marked, let me run to it. 16th chapter and the 22nd verse. He made them this promise. And ye now therefore have sorrow,
but I will see you again, and your hearts shall rejoice. and your joy no man taketh from
you." Now he's fulfilled that promise.
Then were the disciples glad when they saw the Lord. They saw Him physically. You've got to see Him with the
eyes of faith as your only hope. of everlasting life. Now, I know
this is simple this morning, but you're pretty simple, not
near as smart as you think you are. Now, when it comes to figuring
out God's business, we must see Him with the eyes
of faith. John 9.39, and Jesus said, ìFor
judgment I am come into this world that they which see not
might see, and that they which see might
be made blind. Toward the end of chapter 9,
these verses are well worth your reading and meditation very often. He said, I come that those that
don't see might see. And those that see, or at least
think they do, might be made blind. What does he mean that
they which see might be made blind? He means those Pharisees, or in our case, those fundamental
faithful Baptists, that think through some religious
notion that what they are and what they've done and what they're
doing recommends them to God. And Jesus is saying, when they
look at me, they conclude that their way's better. And in religious pride, they're
blinded to their own condition. And they reject me, the only
Savior. and they perish in their sins. That old boy in John 9, born
blind, with no hope in himself, and knows it! Christ says, I've
come to open his eyes, because he knows he's blind. Next verse there in John 9, and
verse 40, he said this, And some of the Pharisees which
were with him heard these words and said unto him, Are we blind
also? Jesus said unto them, If you
are blind, you should have no sin. But now you say, We see,
therefore your sin remaineth. They were blind because they
thought they could see. Can I say something to us this
morning? I wish all these people weren't walking out. I would
like for everybody to hear this. The greatest anti-Christ spirit
that we know anything about is the spirit associated with
morality in the religious world. Not that there's anything wrong
with morality. Everything is right about morality. God's people ought to live clean,
be honest, be truthful, be trustworthy. Morality is a wonderful thing.
But the error is, and the spirit of Antichrist is, when morality
is made to be the basis of God's approval. And you and I both
know that's exactly what it's being made today. We are taught from childhood,
or at least it's implied, if you're a good boy or you're a
good girl, God will be pleased with you. And if you're not, He won't be
pleased with you. May I ask you what is wrong We're telling the truth. What
is wrong with telling a child, son, daughter, your mother is
a sinner. Your daddy is a sinner. Being their child, you're a sinner. Nothing you are, nothing you
can do, will ever win God's favor. God sent his son to die for sinners
like you. And accept your hope, be in him,
the Lord Jesus Christ. And what he did on the cross,
that you have no hope. You say, well, you're just obsessed
with that thought, aren't you? Thank you for the compliment. I need to be hung up on Christ
and not on myself. Can I say after all these years
of religious activity, I've got nothing more to recommend me
to him than I had from day one. And neither do you. Neither do
you. You'd better have a hope outside of yourself. Then were the disciples glad
when they saw the Lord. Have you seen the Lord? Old Bartimaeus saw Him in the
darkness of his depravity, a blind man. sitting by the wayside outside
Jericho. He never saw him physically.
He was blind. But with eyes of faith, he sees the Lord. He hears a
commotion. He hears a procession of some
kind coming. And the Bible says when he heard
that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out. and say,
Jesus! And he never cried, Jesus of
Nazareth, no. But he cried, Jesus, thou Son
of David, have mercy on me. That other crowd was just seeing
a man. He was seeing the Son of God, and he was blind. He's the only one seeing. The rest were blind. And some of them said to him,
shut up, boy. There is no hope for the likes of you. See, they
had themselves on a pedestal. In Jesus' day, people believed
that blindness was a curse. They believed God was mad at
you, reading you as blind. They had themselves on a pedestal,
a level above this man. But there is no such level. There's
just two levels. There's where Christ is, and
there's where you are. And you better trust and hope
to be represented in Christ. The Lord called for Bartimaeus
and said, What is it you want? He said, Lord, that I might receive
my sight. That was his first word. that I might receive my sight.
There wasn't any of the rest of them calling him Lord. I'm
telling you, Bartimaeus was seeing better than anybody there. Spiritually, I mean. And then
the Lord opened his eyes physically. Oh, he was depraved. He was blind. He was helpless. He could do
nothing, be nothing in this world. But in the darkness of his depravity,
He saw the Lord, and the Lord made him glad. The Samaritan woman saw him in the darkness of despair. You
know that story in John 4? I mean, it's concluded there's
no help for her. Ask anybody. She'd been married
five times, and she's shacked up with number six now. What
are y'all so quiet about? I'm just telling you what the
Bible says. Not a woman in town would speak to her, let alone
walk to the well with her. She's by herself. But Jesus had said, I must needs
go through Samaria. There's a woman there that's
in a mess. She hadn't done much right in
life. And that crowd's determined to
put her in hell. But I'm determined not to. And
so he went. He met her at the well. And after
a while, she saw him for the first time. She had heard about
him. She saw him with her physical
eyes, but never really saw him. But in a little while, She saw
him, left her bucket that she'd come
to draw water in and ran back to the house. Ran back into town
crying, come see a man which told me all things that ever
I did. Is not this the Christ? She saw
him as her hope when she had no hope. Peter saw
him in the darkness of defeat. John
21, Peter figured the Lord's through with him. He may as well get back to his
old career of fishing, but somehow he'd lost the touch.
Fished all night, and they wasn't biting. I don't mean that literally,
they were fishing with nets. Caught nothing. They tell me
that Sea of Galilee is full of fish. It is almost impossible
not to catch something. They're thick. Fished all night, caught nothing. Well in the morning they heard
a voice on the shore. Caught anything? He knew they hadn't. The Lord Jesus is the only one
who ever walked this earth that knew the answer to every question
he ever asked before he asked it. Did you ever think about
that? But he answered him, no, hadn't
caught a thing. Cast the net on the right side
of the ship and you'll catch some fish. I can't imagine a man like Peter
not coming unglued right here. It was more like Peter to holler
back, mind your own business. Of course the Lord could have
said, that's what I'm doing. But they cast the net on the
right side. All right, plumb for the fish. Now Peter's still a little slow.
They all were. But it hit John. It hit John.
And John says to Peter, hey, it's the Lord. It's the Lord. Peter jerked his clothes off. Jerked them on. He'd done stripped
them off like most good Baptists do this time of year. So he jerked
his clothes on, jumped in, started toward the shore. The Bible says
the other disciples were in the boat dragging the net. Peter's
in the water dragging the net. Here he has got to face the music
now. He's got to face the Lord. What
do I say to him? I've boasted so. that I'd stay
with him. I wouldn't deny him. I'd die
for him. What'll I say to him? Our relationship is history.
He'll have no kind word for me. But he did. He did. And his words were, come and
dine. Come and dine. It's all ready. I don't need your fish. I don't need your fire. I don't
need your faithfulness. I am who I am in spite of what
you are." Then were the disciples glad
when they saw the Lord. One more and I'll close. Y'all
are so quiet and so nice. Start waking up because it won't
be much longer now. Stephen saw the Lord in the darkness of death. Acts chapter 7. He's preached Christ and they're
going to kill him. That's all they're killing anybody
over today. They drug him out of town, they're
going to stone him. Nobody shows up at the last minute
to stop it. God permits it to go on. It's
a fearful hour, it's a dark hour, the hour of death. But the Bible
says that Stephen looked up steadfastly into heaven and saw the glory of God. and
saw Jesus standing. Saw Him standing. Hebrews 1 and 3 says that He,
having purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the majesty
on high. But Stephen sees Him standing. Somebody said the Lord Jesus
must have looked down at that scene and said, I won't take
this sitting down, and stood to usher Stephen home. He saw the Lord. He saw the Lord. Then were the disciples glad
when they saw the Lord. Have you seen him, not with these
eyes, but have you been made blind to all your foolish remedies
for your condition? Have you been brought to look
on Him who hung on a cross and died as your only hope? You must see Him. You must see Him. Thank you for
your attention. Let's stand together.