Good evening. I'm thankful to
have been able to be here with you all day. This has been a
real enjoyable thing for us. And I want to thank Brother Todd
again for having me. I'm so thankful for him. Since
I was young, I've always loved to hear him preach the gospel,
just like you do. And I just love him. I love him so much. Thank the
Lord for him. I thank the Lord for Lynn, and
I thank the Lord for Aubrey. You're special to me. And I do
thank this congregation for everything that you have done for Brother
Todd and everything you've done for us. And I thank John and
Cammie for opening their home and being such gracious hosts
to us. Very thankful. Go with me, if
you would, to Luke chapter 24. Luke 24, let's begin this message
by reading verses 30 to 32. Luke 24, 30. And it came to pass,
as he sat at meat with them, he took bread and blessed it
and break, 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 talked with us by the way And while he opened to us the
scriptures. Oh, the blessing it is when God
opens the heart to the gospel. It is such a blessing, not just
the eyes and not just the ears, but the heart. When God opens
a heart to the gospel, nothing is greater. Nothing is more joyful
and nothing is more fulfilling than having our hearts opened
to the gospel. Nothing is more desirable for
a believer than to have the heart open to the gospel. For a soul
who sees this is a saver of life unto life. Not everyone does,
but some do. Some see the gospel of Christ,
the person of Christ to be a saver of life. And for those who see
him to be life, there is nothing like those moments when God opens
a heart. There's nothing like those moments. There's nothing
on this earth that can compare to those moments. Now, God opens
the heart eternally. God does a work of grace and
it's an eternal work of grace. But God opens the heart in moments
too throughout this lifetime as we hear this gospel preached
and as we read the Word and dwell on the Word and enter into Him.
And don't we pray, honestly, don't we pray He would open our
heart tonight, right now. Don't you wish, you know that
you can't do it. If you could, you would. And
if I could do it for myself and for you, I would. I'd love for
our heart to just burn within us. But I can't do it. And you
can't do it. But isn't it our desire, if He
would be willing to open our hearts, Lord, give us a heart
burned for Christ, an eternal heart burned for Christ, and
let me feel that heart burn right now. Let me feel His nearness. Let me hear His voice. Let me
know His presence while I'm here on this earth right now. Now,
salvation is not an experience. Salvation is a person. Salvation is not a feeling. And don't we thank God for that?
Aren't you so thankful for that? Feelings come and feelings go
and feelings are deceiving. Salvation is a person, the Lord
Jesus Christ. And if I'm in him, I'm saved
whether I feel saved or not. And I'm so thankful for that. If God has put me in Christ,
If God has immersed me in the blood of Jesus Christ, if He
is my salvation, then my salvation is not dependent on anything
but Him. Nothing but Him. But even though
salvation is not an experience and it's not a feeling, it is
something that the heart of a sinner will experience and feel. And until God opens the heart,
there's no possible way we could have any idea what that means. But when he does, when that true
heart salvation comes, Brother Henry used to say it's roughly
about 18 inches, the distance from the head to the heart. When
that true heart salvation comes, a sinner will say this, he'll
say, my salvation is not a feeling. It's a person. It has nothing
to do with a feeling. My eternal security has nothing
to do with a feeling. But, oh, does not my heart burn
within me while he talks with me, by the way? It burns within
me. Here's the best description and
example of that. Go with me, if you would, to
Acts chapter 16. Acts chapter 16 verse 13 says, And on the Sabbath we went out
of the city by a riverside, where prayer was wont to be made. And we sat down and spake unto
the women which resorted thither. And a certain woman named Lydia,
a seller of purple of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped
God heard us, whose heart the Lord opened." She was already a worshipper
of God. She gathered together with the
people. And she had a reverence for the
God of her imagination. She was worshipping some God
of her imagination, and she had a reverence for God. But one day, it says, the Lord
opened her heart. And it goes on to say, whose
heart the Lord opened that she attended unto the things which
were spoken of Paul. And when she was baptized and
her household, God was not just merciful to her. He was merciful
to her house. We have a good God, don't we?
When she was baptized and her household, she besought us saying,
if you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house
and abide there. And she constrained us. What was her salvation and experience?
The Lord. The Lord saved her. What did he do? He opened her
heart. He opened her heart. And when
he did that, She fell in love. That's what happens. That's the experience of salvation. A sinner falls in love. It comes when you least expect
it. This woman fell in love with
the gospel. All of a sudden, she was in love
with the gospel. She fell in love with the men
who brought her the gospel. She fell in love with the ministry
of the gospel. She said, you are coming into
my house and I'm going to feed you and I'm going to take care
of you. And that's kind of how it goes, isn't it? It happens that way every time.
I'm so thankful for this gospel. I'm so thankful for this Christ.
When a center's heart is finally opened to the altogether lovely
one, that center cannot help but fall in love. He's altogether
lovely, altogether lovely. Go with me over to Song of Solomon. Song of Solomon chapter 1. Verse 1 says, The song of songs
which is Solomon's. And Solomon represents Christ. And this is the bride. The bride
of the Lord Jesus Christ says in verse 2, Let him kiss me with
the kisses of his mouth. For thy love is better than wine."
That's just sweet. That's sweet. Verse 7. Tell me, O thou whom my soul
loveth, where thou feedest, where thou makest thy flock to rest
at noon? For why should I be as one that
turneth aside by the flocks of thy companions? I just want to
be with you. Where are you going to be? I want to be right there with
you. Chapter two, he says in verse one, I am the rose of Sharon
and the lily of the valleys as the lily among thorns. So is
my love among the daughters. He said, she is beautiful to
me. She's absolutely beautiful to me. As I am, so is she. She says in verse 3, As the apple
tree among the trees of wood, so is my beloved among the suns. I sat down under his shadow with
great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste. He brought
me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love. Stay with me with flagons, comfort
me with apples, for I am sick of love." I am so lovesick right
now. My heart is just lovesick. Verse 6, His left hand is under
my head and His right hand doth embrace me. Verse 10 says, My
beloved spake and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one,
and come away. For lo, the winter is past, the
rain is over and gone, the flowers appear on the earth, the time
of the singing of birds has come, and the voice of the turtle is
heard in our land. The fig tree putteth forth her
green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good
smell. Arise, my love, my fair one,
and come away. All things are made known. She
says in verse 16, my beloved is mine, and I am his, he feedeth
among the lilies, until the day break and the shadows flee away,
turn, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young heart upon
the mountains of Bethar. Now, for a moment, she thinks
she's lost him. And this happens to us from time
to time. For just a moment, she thinks she's lost him. Chapter
3, verse 1 says, By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul
loveth. I sought Him, but I found Him
not. I will rise now and go about
the city and the streets, and in the broad ways I will seek
Him whom my soul loveth. I sought Him, but I found Him
not. The watchmen that go about the
city found me to whom I said, Saw ye Him whom my soul loveth? It was but a little that I passed
from them, but I found him whom my soul loveth. I held him and
would not let him go. I wouldn't let him go. That is
a heart that has been opened. That's a heart that burns deep
within. That right there is the difference
in doctrine and union. That's the difference. That is
the difference. Tell him I love him. Tell him
I'm in love with him. Now, go back with me to our text
in Luke 24. Let's look at the two hearts
that our Lord opened. Luke 24, this is the very day
that our Lord arose from the grave. Luke 24, verse 13, it says, And
behold, two of them went that same day to a village called
Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem, about three score furlongs, right
at seven miles. They walked together right at
seven miles. Verse 14, And they talked together
of all these things which had happened, their Lord breaking
bread with them and saying, one of you is going to betray me." Him entering into the garden
of Gethsemane, falling to the ground, sweating as it were great
drops of blood. Him being taken captive and put
on trial, led up to a mountain outside of the city called Calvary,
stripped, beaten, mocked, spit on, Him crying, it is finished,
and dying. Them taking His body down and
laying Him in a tomb. Stationing guards around that
tomb to keep watch over it. But then on the third day, Sunday,
He's not there anymore. Verse 14 says, And they talked
together of all these things which had happened. And it came
to pass that while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus
Himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were holding
that they should not know Him. And this is how the Lord deals
with His people every time. This is called grace before grace. He comes to His people where
they are. Right there where they are. Do
they not have a hand in Him joining Himself to them? They don't even
know He's doing it. They have no idea that He's doing
it. They're just notified of His presence and His Word to
them after the fact. That's how it happens every single
time. Verse 15, It came to pass that while they communed together
and reasoned, Jesus Himself drew near and went with them, But
their eyes were holden that they should not know him. And he said
unto them, What manner of communications are these that you have one to
another as you walk and are sad? Now he knew what they were talking
about. He knows all things. How many times did he know what
was in the Pharisees' minds? He knows all things. But this
is how the Lord starts dealing with his people. He starts bringing
questions to the heart. This is how this whole thing
begins. He starts bringing questions to the heart. And he asked him,
he said, Why are you sad? Why are you so sad? Verse 18,
And one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering, said unto
him, Are thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not heard
of the things which have come to pass there in these days?
And he said unto them, What things? He knew what things. He had just
finished accomplishing what things. But he's going to bring the heart
of his child to a confession. That's what he's going to do.
Out of the heart, the mouth will speak. Verse 19, And he said
unto them, What things? And they said unto him, Concerning
Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty indeed in word
before God and all the people, and how 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. They
said He was our hope of redemption. He was our hope of redemption.
We were looking to Him. We were trusting Him. We were
following Him. We thought He was going to be
the one who would redeem us from all of our sins. But three days
ago, he died on a cross. They had no idea that he had
just accomplished everything he said he was going to do for
them. They had no idea. Our Lord's ways, we don't see
it. We can't see it in the moment. Trust him. Trust him. There are things that we ought
to see in the Scripture right now. There are things that we
ought to see in the Scripture right now, just like they should
have seen that back then. He told them from the very beginning
that that was going to happen. An angel came and reminded them
of it in verse 6. If you look at verse 6, it says,
He is not here, but is risen. Remember how he spake unto you
when he was yet in Galilee, saying, The Son of Man must be delivered
into the hands of sinful men and be crucified in the third
day. Rise again. And they remembered
his words. The women who were there. The
women, they remembered his words, but these disciples walking didn't
remember his words and they couldn't understand what he had just done. But we can't be too hard on them
because there are things in this word that we ought to see right
now. We have more light than they
had. But our eyes are holding up and that's what that's what's
going on with us, our eyes are holding to it. Verse 21, it says,
but we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed
Israel. And beside all this, today's
the third day since these things were done. Yea, and certain women
also of our company made us astonished, which were early at the sepulchre.
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 sepulchre,
and found it even so, as the women had said, watch this right
here, but him they saw not. That is always the reason for
our sadness. That is always the reason. If
we would like a little insight on what causes our sadness and
our depression, which every one of us have. It's when we don't see him in
it. That's the cause of it. We don't see his hand in it.
We don't see his purpose in it. And when we don't see him, sorrow
overtakes us. For an unbeliever, that's the
great error of missing Christ. That is the great eternal error
of missing Christ. People see the trial. Our Lord
before Pilate on trial. People see the cross. People
see the empty tomb. But they don't see Him in it.
They don't see who He was. They don't see what He accomplished
in it. They don't see the salvation
that He completed. They don't see sin totally removed
in Him, in everything He endured right there. They don't see the
fact that He actually finished it. Verse 24, it says, 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? He had to. He told them He had to. They
were just so torn all to pieces about the fact that He died on
a cross, was buried, and rose again. That just made them so
sad. And he said, ought not Christ
to suffer these things? He had to. This task was laid
on him by God, his father, he had to. There was no other way
for his people to be kept. And not one of them could be
lost. He had to suffer these things. Verse 26, it says, Ought
not Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His
glory? And can you imagine this? Verse
27 says, And beginning at Moses. Would you have liked to have
been in that company right then? And beginning at Moses. If your
Bible has a center margin in it for Moses, do you see all
those center references, those scripture references right there? Don't turn to Him. Genesis 3
verse 15. The serpent is going to bruise
the heel of the woman's seed. But in the process, the woman's
seed is going to crush the serpent's head. That's what happened on
the cross. The next one says Genesis 22.
Abraham taking Isaac up on Mount Moriah. Father, I see the fire
and I see the wood. But where is the land? My son,
God will provide himself a land. That's what happened on the cross.
God provided himself. To be a land. The next one says
numbers 21. And Moses made a serpent of brass
and put it on a pole. Can't you see the Lord telling
this story? Moses made a serpent of brass
and put it on a pole and it came to pass that if a serpent had
bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.
Christ was made to be what was killing the people. The very
thing that was killing the people. And he was lifted up on a pole. That's what happened on the cross.
And whoever looks to Him, whoever has been given eyes to see their
sin, what was bringing death to them, laid on Him, lifted
up in Him, whoever looks to Him will live. Verse 27 says, In
beginning at Moses and all the prophets. You see all the references
in the center margin to that? Isaiah 7, 14. Therefore the Lord
Himself shall give you a sign. Behold, a virgin shall conceive
and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. Isaiah 9,
verse 6. For unto us a child is born,
unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his
shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor,
the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 40, prepare ye the way of the Lord. Behold, the Lord
God will come. He shall feed his flock like
a shepherd. And right on down through there
we could go. Verse 27 says, In 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 whither they went, and he made as though he would
have gone further." I love that. I love our Lord. I love His ways. He knew He was having dinner
with them. He knew He was going to go into their house and have
dinner with them. But He also knew that they were
going to beg Him too. And that's how our Lord deals
with us. He allows us to think that He is removing Himself from
us, so that we will cry out to be
nearer to Him. Isn't that what, as soon as we
feel like He's removing Himself, just at all, oh Lord, draw me
nearer, nearer my God to Thee. They said, please don't leave
us. This is what happens when the
Lord starts opening the heart. They started crying, please don't
leave us, please stay with us. No, I need to get on down the
road. No, no, no, please don't leave us. I have somewhere I
need to be. Please don't leave us. We're
begging you, please don't leave us. Verse 28, And they drew nigh
unto the village whither 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. And that's exactly what we're
doing right now. We are sitting at meat with Him. This is spiritual food. This
is spiritual... This, not this. This is spiritual
food. This is spiritual life. It says in verse 30, It came
to pass, as He sat at meat with them, He took bread. And this is what happens when
the Lord opens the heart. He takes bread. And He blesses it. It. Not the vessel. Not anything else. It. He took
bread. Oh, and our heart burns within
us when this happens. As they sat at meat with Him,
He took bread. And He blessed it. And He break it. And He gave it to them. And they
did eat. Oh, and they ate. Verse 30 says,
It came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread,
and blessed it, and break, and gave to them, and their eyes were opened. And they knew him. They knew
they were sitting at meat with him. They knew he was in the
presence of them. And he vanished out of their
sight. Usually, that's how it is with
us. We see his face in his word,
and it's just for a moment. We hear his voice in his word,
and it's just for a fraction of a moment. For that fraction
of a moment, it's as though we are literally sitting in heaven. It's as though we are sitting
at His feet and then He's gone. We wish it could be forever.
I wish that moment could be forever. We wish that that realization
of really seeing Him with the heart, we wish that could last
forever. One day real soon, it's right
around the corner, it is going to last forever. It's going to
last forever. Right now on this earth, it is
fleeting moments. But oh, in those fleeting moments. That's why believers don't ever
want to miss a service, they might miss a fleeting moment. Verse 31 says, 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 talked with us by the way, and while he opened
to us the scriptures. Those short glorious moments,
they're a foretaste of what we are going to feel. Salvation
is not a feeling. Salvation is a person. But when
that person opens the heart and blesses the word, it's a feeling. And one of these days, we're
going to feel that for all eternity. That feeling is never just the
awe. It'll never go away. It's never
going to go away. We're going to be so in awe of
his presence. We will not just be there for
all eternity. We will be overcome for all eternity. We're just going to be just beside
ourselves. We just can't speak. What we feel now, when our heart
is opened by the Spirit of the Word, as wonderful as it is,
that cannot come close to what we're going to feel. It can't
come close right now, we are hindered by this body of sin,
we're just so hindered by. But one day our eternal existence
is going to be a continual heart burn for Christ, it'll be a continual,
never ending heart, heart, heart burn for the Lord Jesus Christ. And we'll cry, thank you, Lord. That's what we're going to cry. Thank you. Oh, thank you. We're
going to enter into who he is. We'll enter into what he's done
for us. Our gratitude is going to be so overwhelming. Our happiness
is going to be so overwhelming. We've just we've never yet experienced
anything like it. We won't until we're in his presence.
But we're going to be so high on the mountain. People talk
about being on cloud nine. We're going to be so far above
cloud nine. For the Lord, our savior, it's
just going to be. Total overwhelming satisfaction
in those moments, aren't you so satisfied? Don't you just
say this is all I need. You can have take the world.
Give me him. This is all I need. It's going
to be such overwhelming satisfaction, such overwhelming joy, such overwhelming
contentment. It'd be fine with me if I just
sit right here at His feet forever. I'm content. Our hearts will be consumed with
the fire of the Spirit of the Lord. glorying in the redemption
He accomplished for us. We'll glory in it. Verse 32,
it says, They said one to another, Did not our heart burn within
us while He 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. Now they walked seven miles one
way, strolling. I wonder how long it took them
to get back that seven miles. 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 in breaking of
bread. They ran and told everybody. They ran into that company of
disciples crying, He is risen. He is risen. He is alive and
well. The scripture is fulfilled. Our
sins are gone. And I pray that the Lord will
cause us to cry the same thing. I pray the Lord will make us
run with the same message. I pray the Lord will make our
hearts burn over that. If the Lord does not cause our
hearts to burn, they will never burn. They'll never burn. So this is our prayer. This is
the prayer of all of God's people. Revive us again. Fill each heart
with thy love. May each soul be rekindled with
fire from above. John Newton said, let me love
thee more and more. If I love at all, I pray. If I have not loved before, help
me to begin today. Lord, if I've never had a true
heart burned for Christ, would you give me one today? Create
one in me today. Let my heart truly cry, hallelujah,
thine the glory. Hallelujah. Amen. Amen. I've so enjoyed being with you.
Thank you.