Okay now, Luke 24, we'll have
this message today, and possibly one or two messages left. And then we'll be through with
the gospel given by Luke. And we've been studying in Luke
for three years plus four months. So it's been a while, but it
goes by quickly, doesn't it? But it's been such a time of
refreshing. We've been through John twice,
Matthew twice, Mark once, and now Luke. And you have to combine
all four together, all four records together. to get the complete
story for us. Now, I'm titling the message,
Heartburn. Heartburn. You can remember that
title, can't you? Heartburn. Heartburn. From verse 32, you remember what
they said one to another? When the Lord revealed Himself
unto them and opened their eyes and opened their understanding,
did not, they said, did not our heart burn within us? While He talked with us by the
way, while He opened to us the Scripture. You know, heartburn
is something very noticeable. You ever get that condition when
you eat things you shouldn't and you get heartburn? It's something
that's very noticeable. You take note of it. And that's
what happens when God is pleased to warm our heart with the Word
of Truth. Our heart is warmed. Our affections are warmed. Our
affections are stirred up to look to the Lord Jesus Christ. Heartburn. These two men who
were so privileged and blessed to have this special meeting
with the risen Lord Jesus Christ. Someone said this is one of the
11 appearances of the Lord Jesus Christ after his resurrection. Now, I would have loved to have
been there that day. But through the written Word,
we are reading exactly what they experienced. So, I'm going to
take you this morning on that seven-mile journey from Jerusalem
to Emmaus as these two men talked with the Lord Jesus Christ. Now
we know beyond all doubt that He's raised up from the dead
and seated in glory. There right now, there's a God-man
in glory. who is our mediator, our intercessor,
our advocate. We have one God and one mediator
between God and men, that is the God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ. He ever lived to intercede for
us. Our Lord said this, John 14, before He went to the cross,
He said, because I live. This is even before He died.
He declares, because I live. You shall live also." Now what
we have here in Luke 24 is only given by the writer whose name
is Luke. In Mark 16, 12, there's a brief
mention of the two men that he appeared unto, but only here
in Luke 24 do we have the full story of what took place this
day and given to us in real intimate exact detail. I mean, they said,
the Lord came home with us, and he break bread, and he blessed
it, and he gave it to us. That's pretty good detail, is
it not? And all of this is given not
to entertain us, This unique story is given unto us to show
us the gospel of Christ. There is much we can glean from
this and learn from this special appearance of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now, one of these two men is
mentioned and named in verse 18, one of them whose name was
Cleophas. In John 19.25, he was the husband of one of those women
named Mary who stood at the cross. She's identified as the wife
of Cleophas. Some think that Luke was the
other person here that's not named, but rather he writes by
inspiration upon this occasion. Now, here's what we want to do.
My practice has been for these many years that I've been here,
is to when we read a portion of scripture, is to glean gospel
nuggets and gospel thoughts from the Word of God. All this Word
is given unto us to preach the gospel. And we can certainly
use this portion of Scripture, as in all Scripture, to preach
the gospel. Now, verse 13, Behold, two of
them went the same day to a village called Emmaus, which is about
60 threescore furlongs, seven miles from Jerusalem, and they
talked together of all the things that happened, and it came to
pass that while they communed together, while they talked together,
reasoned together, The Lord Himself drew near with them, but their
eyes were beholden, that they did not know Him." Now, the Lord
in His sovereign power, the Lord in His sovereign mercy, withheld
His identity until the time that it pleased Him. Sunday afternoon,
these two men headed for home, to their village, to Emmaus,
and as they walked along and talked of all the things they
had experienced, The Lord Jesus Christ Himself. I love that statement. I've got a sermon that I've preached
several times and the title of it is Jesus Himself. The Lord
Jesus Christ Himself drew near with them. Now, what a blessed
thought. As believers in our journey here,
we can be assured the Lord is always with us, especially when
we meet together As an assembly of believers, he said, and he
promised us, he said, where two or three are gathered in my name,
I'm in your midst. Is the Lord among us? If we're
gathered in his name, the Lord is among us. He assures us in
Matthew 28, before he ascended to glory, he said, Lo, you go
and preach the gospel to every creature, and remember this,
Lo, I'm with you always. wherever you go in this world.
Our Lord said, I'll never leave you, I'll never forsake you,
no, not ever. The Lord is always with us. Notice something else. In verse
16, the Lord is sovereign in His power, and to keep His identity
hidden, at first their eyes were holding. That is, they did not
know Him. And he did this that he might
freely talk with them and draw out the thoughts of their heart,
and we can learn from that. The Lord withheld Himself from
them, from them knowing Him, and we can glean from that that
the Lord is sovereign in revelation. He'll have mercy upon whom He
will, when He will, with whom He will, as it pleases Him. He's
hid these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them
unto babes, even so, Father, for so it seems good in thy sight. He reveals Himself to some, And
to others, I have no revelation of the Lord. Now, he said, I
will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion
on whom I will have compassion. Verse 17, 18, and 19, the Lord
asked two questions. He said to them, what manner
of conversation or communication are these that you have one to
another? And they said unto him, Are you a stranger in Jerusalem? You don't know what's been taking
place? Hast thou not known the things
which are come to pass there in these days?" They're really
accusing him of being ignorant, being unknowing of what great
events had taken place. And he said to them, what? What
thing? What are you talking about? Now,
the Lord never asks us questions to find out information because
He knows all things. I'll give you a good example
of that. Remember when Adam and Eve sinned against God and tried
to hide and run from God, took fig leaf apron to try to hide
themselves from God, and God came forth that day and said,
Where are you? Now, God knew exactly where Adam
was, but the Lord asked questions to reveal our heart unto Him
and to others. The Lord never asked a question
to receive information, for He knows all things. He knows the
thoughts and the intent of our heart. We read in Hebrews chapter
4, neither is there any creature that doth manifest in His sight
All things are naked and open unto the eyes of Him with whom
we have to do." He knows all things known under God, all of
His works from the beginning. He knows our down-sitting. He
knows our uprising. There's nothing hid from Him. He knows our thoughts afar off. But rather the Lord asks questions
that we might fully reveal ourselves and tell out our heart. He said
in verse 18 or verse 19, what things? And they said unto him,
what things? It gives them opportunity to
declare unto us everything that the Lord had taught them. He
pretends he has no understanding of the recent events, when in
reality, he is the event. He is the event. All things that
happen in this life are ordered of God. In your life and in mine,
in the life of every believer, we know that all things work
together for good to them who love God, to them who are called
according to His purpose. Whatsoever the Lord please, that
did He in heaven, earth, seas, and all deep places. Now, I love
their answer. I love what they say. They said
unto him concerning Jesus of Nazareth, Which was a prophet,
mighty indeed, and word before God and all the people, how the
chief priests and rulers delivered him to be condemned to death.
Remember they said, we have no king but Caesar, crucify him.
And they did. Verse 21, but we trusted. We
trusted that it had been him which should have redeemed Israel.
Besides all this, today's the third day, all these things were
done. Certain women, also of our company, were astonished,
which are early at the grave, and when they found not his body,
they came saying that they'd seen a vision of angels, and
he was alive. And certain of them which were
with us went to the sepulcher and found it, even so the women
had said, but they saw him not." Now, Mary did, and others. For
the most part, they did not see him. Now, I love what they said
here, concerning Jesus of Nazareth. You remember in Romans chapter
1, when Paul said that he's a servant of God, separated unto the gospel
of God, and then he said, concerning what the gospel of God is all
about, concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, how He was made of the
Son of David, but declared to be the Son of God by His resurrection
glory. The gospel, therefore, is all
about concerning the person and redeeming work of the Lord Jesus
Christ. That's what the gospel is all
about. They immediately said unto him concerning Jesus of
Nazareth, a prophet mighty indeed in word before God and all the
people. Now, let's look at that statement.
He is a prophet, the prophet of God, mighty indeed, mighty
in word, for his works declare that he is God. He is that prophet,
priest and king. He is that prophet, fulfilling
what is said in Deuteronomy 18, where God said to Moses, I will
raise up a prophet from among the brethren. And he was of the
tribe of Judah, house of David. Like unto thee, I will put my
words in his mouth, and he shall speak unto them all that I shall
command him. And it shall come to pass, whosoever
will not hearken unto my words, which he shall speak my name,
I'll require it of him." The Lord Jesus Christ is that prophet
of God who tells us the way of salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, I am the way, I am the
truth, I am the life. He is that prophet of God who
is mighty in deed. John the Baptist, when he was
in prison, sent his disciples to the Lord Jesus Christ and
he told them to ask this question, are you the Christ or do we look
for another? And the Lord said, you go back
and you tell John this, the blind received their sight, the lame
walked, Lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised
up, the poor have the gospel preached to them, and blessed
is he whosoever shall not be offended in me." The mighty works
that the Lord Jesus Christ did give witness and full proof that
He is the Messiah. He is the Christ of God. He is
mighty indeed as a prophet of God, and as a prophet of God,
He's mighty in word. He's mighty in word, is he not?
Listen to this scripture. Never man spake like that man. You remember? The Pharisees sent
servants out to arrest him. And when they came to arrest
him, they couldn't touch him. And they came back and they said,
why didn't you bring him? They said, never man spake like
that man. For his words were with power. You see, He speaks and it's done. He commands and it stands fast. He speaks and the waves are stilled. He speaks and dead men live. He speaks and devils are cast
out. He speaks and all creation is
born and sustained by the Word of His power. He is the Creator. He said, let there be light.
And there was light. His words are the mighty word
of truth. He is the truth of God. He is the prophet of God, mighty
in deed and mighty in word. Now, verse 20 declares, these
two men declared, the chief priests, the religious crowd, and the
rulers delivered him to be condemned to death. They wanted no part
of his ministry. They wanted no part of him. They
accused him of being a devil, a demon spirit. They accused
him of being a wine-bibber and a gluttonous man. The Lord Jesus
Christ told them the truth and they wouldn't have it. They said,
we'd be Abraham's children. Remember what the Lord said to
them? You're not of Abraham's children,
you're of your father the devil." And they hated him, they hated
his word, they hated his truth. The chief priest, our ruler,
delivered him to be condemned to death and have crucified him. But never forget this, even though
they betrayed the Lord, and they desired him to die a horrible,
brutal death that was reserved for the most wicked men, The
Lord himself said, no man takes my life from me. I have power
to lay it down. I have power to take it again.
This commandment have I received in my father. He was delivered
by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God. Yes, they
delivered him up, but they only did what God determined before
to be done. He died for our sins according
to the Scripture, no man takes my life, I lay it down. He bare our sin and his own body
on the tree as he suffers under the weight of our sin, under
the holy wrath and judgment of God for our sin. Read on, look
at verse 21. They said, we trusted. We trusted that it had been He
which should have redeemed Israel. He did. He redeemed, notice,
He redeemed Israel. They believed in particular redemption.
They believed in death and atonement. They didn't say, we believe that
He atoned for all the sin of all men. The messenger from heaven
said, call His name Jesus, He shall save His people from their
sin. He is the Redeemer who redeemed
Israel, God's elect, from all their sin. And that's to whom
we look, is it not? We trusted Him to be our Redeemer.
We not only look to Him as God's prophet, We trust Him as our
Redeemer, as God our Savior. He is the Redeemer of His people.
He obtained eternal redemption for us with His own blood. None
can perish for whom He redeemed. He said, all that the Father
has given to me, they'll come to me. And those that come to
me, I will unknowingly cast out. Read on, verse 22, 23, and 24. said that he was raised up from
the dead, and they heard Their testimony, you remember back
in verse 11 and verse 12, when the women came to the apostles
and told them these things, verse 11, their words seemed to them
as idle tales, and they believed them not. Then arose Peter, ran
to the sepulcher, stooping down, and he beheld the linen clothes
laid by themselves, and departed, wondering in himself at that
which was to come." He said down in verse 25, Luke 24, old fool,
slow of heart, to believe all that the prophets have spoken. Now, let's begin there at verse
25. Here we see the Lord gently rebukes
them out of love. and appears to preach to them
the gospel of Christ and to reveal himself unto them. Now, he draws
near unto them on purpose. For what purpose? To reveal himself
unto them through the preaching of the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ himself. Now, old fools, 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?
What is being slow of heart? Being slow of heart to believe. What is that? Unbelief. Unbelief. Lord, we do believe. Help thou
my unbelief. How prone this flesh is to believe
a lie and reject the truth. Those women told those men the
truth. He's risen! And they would not
believe. O fool, slow of heart! The carnal, natural man received
not the things of the Spirit of God. He must take us and reveal
them unto us. Someone said, I got this somewhere,
I don't remember where, the world of unbelievers, the world of
the ungodly, calls us fools for believing the gospel. The Lord
calls us fools for not believing the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And I thought of this scripture
sitting there a moment ago. Psalm 53, the fool hath said
in his heart, there is no God. There's an article in the Bulletin
by John Chapman on that subject about the fool. Don't look at
it now, you can look at it later. Saving faith when given quickly
Saving faith when it's given quickly and readily, received
and loved, and embraces the truth of the gospel. When faith is
given, and when the Word is preached, and God blesses that with the
Spirit of truth, it's revealed unto us quickly, and we respond
to the truth, and we receive the truth. All the Word of God. The Apostle said this, Acts 24,
but this I confess unto thee, that after the way which they
call heresy, so I worship the God of my fathers, believing
all things which are written in the law and in the prophets,
and have hope toward God. Remember our Lord said, you are
they which search the scriptures, in them you think you have eternal
life, but they are they which testify of me. A believing heart
believes all the Word of God, from Genesis all the way through
to Revelation. We believe all things written
in the Word of God. That's what saving faith does.
We receive the Word of Truth, not as it is the Word of men. When we read Paul or John or
Peter or Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John, we receive these things
as it is the Word of God, the Word of Truth. Now look what
our Lord said here in verse 26, "...ought not the Christ of God,
the Messiah, to have suffered these things, and to enter into
His glory?" Now, the Lord Jesus Christ must die for our sin. His sufferings unto death were
appointed of God, as the sacrifice for our sin. Without his sacrifice,
without his death, without the shedding of his blood, we have
no remission of sin. Thank God he bare our sin in
his own body on the tree. Thank God he won by one sacrifice
suffered the just for the unjust that he might bring us unto God.
Not only was his sacrifice appointed of God, but also his resurrection
glory and his enthronement, where he's seated on the right hand
of God. He's seated because the work
is done, it's finished. Now, look at verse 27. And beginning at Moses, and all
the prophets, He expounded unto them in all the Scripture the
thing concerning Himself." Now, this was a two or three or four
hour sermon that the Lord preached to them, and we could go all
the way back to Genesis, and go all the way through the Word
of God and preach the Gospel, the Old Testament. Now, this
is one of the most amazing Scriptures to me, found in the book of Luke. He says again in this same chapter,
verse 44, He said unto them, when He appeared to the eleven
and the others, These are the words which I speak unto you,
while I am yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled
which are written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets,
and in the Psalms concerning me. Verse 45, Then opened he
their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures.
And He said unto them, Thus it is written, thus it behooved
Christ to suffer, to rise from the dead, The third day that
repentance and remission of sin should be preached in His name
beginning at Jerusalem, all nations, and beginning at Jerusalem. You
are witnesses of these things. They went and preached what they
knew. The Lord is risen. Now the Lord
Jesus Christ preached the gospel to them, those two men as they
walked along That Sunday afternoon until evening. He started at
the book of Genesis and preached all the way through Malachi.
Three or four hours. He preached to them the gospel.
The Lord Jesus Christ is the complete and total fulfillment
of every Old Testament shadow, picture, and type. He is that
prophet like Moses. He is that priest like Aaron,
but oh, so much greater. He is that prophet like Moses,
but oh, so much greater. He is the king like David, but
the greater David hath appeared. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
fulfillment of every shadow, type and picture of the Old Testament
Scripture. We talk about instituted types.
He's the fulfillment of the Passover, the atonement. Providential types,
the man from heaven, the smitten rock, all speak of Christ. Personal
types. I love personal types of Christ.
The Lord Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of all those things
revealed in the Scripture. If we begin at the book of Genesis,
In Genesis 3.15, he is a fulfillment of the woman's seed that crushed
the serpent's head. He's a fulfillment of it. We're
reading Hebrews 2.14, through death, he destroyed him that
brought sin and death. That is, he put away our sin
and conquered Satan. He is the woman's seed that crushed
sin's dominion. In the book of Exodus, he's the
Passover lamb. Christ, our Passover, is sacrificed
for us. In the book of Leviticus, Christ
is our atonement for our sin and the mercy seek. And we know
the Lord said here in His love, not that we love God, but that
He loved us and caused Himself to be the sacrifice for our sin.
In Exodus, in Genesis, in Leviticus, in the book of Numbers, Christ
is the brazen serpent lifted up. Remember the Lord said in
John 3, verse 14, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,
even so the Son of Man must be lifted up. So you can go all
the way through those five books of Moses and preach Christ, the
Lord Jesus Christ. And in the book of Deuteronomy,
The Lord Jesus Christ did a city of refuge. Those six cities that
we've studied about. All the way through, Christ,
Christ, Christ. He said, come unto me and rest
all you labor and heavy laden. Come to me and rest. He's our
refuge. In the Old Testament, the Old
Testament is the New Testament concealed, and the New Testament
is the Old Testament revealed. That's what we see, a revelation
of Christ. The message of both Testaments,
old and new, is the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, if you notice, I
never say, let's turn in the Old Testament. I just say, let's
turn to the book of Isaiah. So, we have just one message,
two testaments, old and new, but one message. Therefore, we
can say the book of God is all about him. He took all the scriptures,
Old Testament, that he had in that day, in the prophet and
in the psalm, and he preached the gospel to them. Now, in conclusion,
verse 28. And they drew nigh to the village,
whether they went, and he made as though He would travel on
and leave them in the village. But they constrained him. They
wanted to hear more of this message. They said, abide with us. For
it is toward evening, the day is far spent. And he went in
to tarry with them. He went home with them. And it
came to pass, as they sat down at meat, he sat down at meat
with them. He took the bread, He blessed
it, and He broke the bread, and He gave it to them. May the Lord
be pleased to do that. Break the bread of life and give
it unto us. And their eyes were opened. That
is, He opened their eyes. He opened their understanding.
And they knew Him. They knew Him before, but now
they know Him better. And they know the one they talked
to is the Lord Himself. And He vanished out of sight.
That is, he walked out of the house. He didn't disappear. He was a man of flesh and bones.
He walked out. He ceased to be in their presence.
Now, verse 33, 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 word of the Lord? These two men had such a special
sermon preached to them by the Prince of Preachers, the Lord
Jesus. And in the preaching of the gospel,
their understanding was opened. God enlightened their eyes, and
they had a blessed special revelation that the Lord Jesus Christ is
everything in salvation. And they suffered this delightful
symptom, of spiritual heartburn. Their cold spirit was truly warmed
and renewed by the Word of the Lord. Remember before He said
of them, O slow of heart, now their hearts warmed up. They
were no longer cold hearted, now their hearts warmed up. Their
heart now burned with passion and love and reverence and adoration
of Him and faith in Him and they wanted to hear more. So it is with us today, when
we hear the message of the Word of the Lord concerning the Gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Gospel of God, and when blessed
by the Spirit of God to our heart, doesn't our heart burn within
us? Aren't we warmed when we hear
of the blessedness we have of the Gospel, for example? When
we hear of the full forgiveness of our sin, what does that do
for you? That warms my heart. That enlightens
my countenance. When we hear of the full forgiveness
of sin, how our heart burns within us in thanksgiving adoration
and gratitude unto Him that loved us and washed us from our sin
in His own blood. When we hear of His blessed righteousness
freely imputed unto us by His free grace. Righteousness. How righteous do you have to
be to stand before God? Perfect is God. How can that
be? Only in Christ our righteousness. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord imputed righteousness without work. Doesn't our heart burn
within us when we think of the Lord being our righteousness
before God, justified freely by His grace? When we hear this,
Salvations of the Lord, that He saved us by His grace. Yes,
we're sorry, rotten, guilty, vile sinners, but He saved us
by His grace. Doesn't that warm our heart?
Doesn't that help us along the way? For by grace are you saved
through faith in that not of yourself, but the gift of God.
When we hear of Christ being made unto us all that we need
now and forever, He's made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption. Doesn't our heart burn within
us? With gladness that our God shall
supply all your needs according to His riches in glory, through
and by the Lord Jesus Christ. To Him be all the honor and glory,
both now and forever. If you have a pencil and like
to make notes, buy verse 32 there. Pencil in Jeremiah 20, verse
9. Jeremiah 20, verse 9. Don't turn
there. We won't turn, but I'll tell
you what it says. When Jeremiah was preaching the
gospel of God, and when he was persecuted so heavily for preaching
the gospel, he said to the Lord, I'm done. I'm going to quit the
ministry. I'm not preaching anymore. That's what Jeremiah said. Here's
what verse 9 says, Jeremiah 20, But his word was in my heart
as a burning fire shut up in my bone, and I couldn't shut
up. He wanted to quit, but he couldn't.
The Word of God was like a burning fire in his heart. He had to
preach Christ. And then David said this, my
heart was hot within me while I was musing the fire. When I
was musing or meditating on the word, the fire burned. Then I
spake with my tongue. You see, Paul said, we have believed,
therefore we speak the truth. Now, our prayer and my prayer
for us May God be pleased to do that even now, to open our
eyes, to enlighten our understanding, and to warm our hearts with faith
in believing God and Christ as God our Savior. It is impossible
to please God. You know why it is? A man without
faith is a man without Christ. A man without Christ is a man
without forgiveness, without salvation. May God grant us faith
that our heart may be warmed, enlivened, made new, brought
again from the dead, and given life in Christ Jesus.