Here's our text this morning.
It's taken from Luke 24, verse 39. Behold my hands and my feet,
that it is I myself. Handle me and see. A spirit hath
not flesh and bones, as you see me have. Now here's our subject. Behold my hands. My friends,
the Lord Jesus had been crucified and had risen from the tomb.
But the disciples were not yet convinced of his resurrection.
The women had come back from the tomb and told what they'd
seen and what they'd heard, what the angels had said. Why seek
ye the living among the dead? He's not here. He's risen. But
these disciples were still in a state of fear, indecision,
and depression. They were very sorrowful. And
two of them were walking from Jerusalem to a little village
called Emmaus. They were sad, they were sorrowful,
they were so sorrowful over the death of their master, and they
were talking between them of the things that had taken place
over the past few days, when the Lord Jesus Christ, the risen
Christ, came and joined with them and walked along beside
them. And after they had walked a little
ways, they didn't know him, their eyes, the scripture said, were
holding, that they did not recognize the master was walking right
along beside them. They were walking along talking
about the things that had taken place. And he looked at them
and he said, why are you so sad? Why are you so sad? And one of
them looked up and said, well, are you a stranger in these parts?
Don't you know what has taken place over the past several days?
Don't you know about Jesus of Nazareth and about his death
and these things? He said, no. What things took
place? Then one of those disciples began to tell him about Jesus
Christ. He's telling the Lord himself
about Christ. He said, we thought that he was
the prophet that Moses prophesied would come. We thought that he
was the Messiah. We thought that he was the one
God would send to restore Israel to its glory and to its greatness. We thought all these things,
but alas, he's dead now. And that's when the Lord Jesus
said to them, O fools, O fools, and slow of heart to believe
all that the prophets wrote." They still didn't know who they
were talking to or who was talking to them. He said, ought not Christ,
ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to
fulfill all that the Old Testament Scriptures say about him? And
he then opened their understanding concerning the things in the
Scripture about the Messiah, about the Redeemer, and he told
how that Every type and every picture in Moses, in the psalm,
in the prophets were about the coming of Christ and the death
of Christ and the sacrifice of Christ and the fulfillment of
these things, the resurrection of Christ. And he talked to them
as they walked along and opened their understanding, revealed
to them the scriptures, the Old Testament scriptures about Christ.
And they came to where they were going to stop for the evening.
And they invited him to come in and stay with them. They said
the day's far spent. Night is coming on. Why don't
you just come in and stay with us? So he went in and they prepared
a meal and he sat down at the table with them, the Lord Jesus
did, with these two disciples. And he break bread and he blessed
it. And then they knew, their eyes
were opened and they knew that it was the Christ they were talking
to, that it was their master, their risen Lord. And the scripture
says he vanished out of their sight. He left them. And then
these disciples got up quickly from their meal And they hastened
back to Jerusalem, back to find the other disciples and to tell
them that the Lord had risen indeed, and that the Lord had
appeared to them and talked to them. And they came back excited
and just filled with joy, and they found the other disciples,
the eleven, and they began to tell them about what they'd seen
and what they'd heard. And the Scripture says, as they
spoke, as they spoke, the Lord Jesus again stood their midst
now here here the left Peter James John Matthew all the disciples
and these two these two followers were there 13 of them and I suppose
others and our Lord Jesus appeared right there in their midst right
there in their midst and he said to them peace be unto you and
they looked up and saw him and the scripture said they were
terrified they were terrified they were afraid And the scripture
says, many thoughts ran through their minds, and they shrank
back in fear. They thought they'd seen a spirit.
And he said to them, why are you afraid? Why are you afraid? Why do doubts and fears fill
your heart? Why are you afraid? Behold my
hands. Behold my hands. My friend, I
ask you this morning, are you ever troubled and are you ever
fearful concerning life and death? concerning judgment and eternity,
concerning the presence of God, and the law of God, and the holiness
of God, and the judgments of God, and the love and wrath of
God, about your relationship with God, about your interest
in Christ. Are you ever troubled? The condition
of these disciples, they were terrified, they were afraid,
and many thoughts ran through their minds and hearts. Does
that describe you ever? Oh, yes, it certainly does. I
know that it does. I know that it does. If not,
you'd have to be unaware of the magnitude of these issues. Not
to have some fears and concern and anxiety about life and death,
about judgment in eternity, about a relationship with God or the
condemnation of God, about living eternally with God or eternally
separated from God, about the spirit of God. not to have any
concern and anxiety about those things, you'd have to be totally
unaware of the magnitude of these issues. If you're not concerned,
you may be dull to these great events that are recorded in these
verses here. I'll tell you this, for every
true believer, every day requires a fresh glimpse of Christ. Now you remember that, for every
true believer, every day, requires a fresh glimpse of the Lord Jesus
Christ. When the disciples were afraid,
when they were troubled, they saw him crucified, they saw him
buried. And here he is standing in front
of them. Here he is saying to them, peace be still, peace be
unto you. When these disciples were afraid,
and when they were troubled, and when thoughts filled their
hearts, our Lord Jesus just said three words, Behold my hands.
Those were the three most important words. He said other things,
but that's what he said. You look at my hands. You look at
my hands. I found another verse over in
John 20, verse 20. Listen to this. And when he had
so said, he showed them his hands. And when he had so said, he showed
them his hands. and his side, and then were the
disciples glad. When they saw his hands, they
were glad. Why were they so glad when they
saw his hands? Well, I'll tell you, for the
same reason that you'll be glad if you understand the significance
of his hands. Here they were. Do you get the
picture? Full of doubts and fears, and their hearts were troubled,
and our Lord appeared to them, stood before them, and he said
to them, And when they saw his hands, they were glad. And I'll
give you six things. First of all, behold my hands.
Behold my hands. If you can see this now, bear
with me. They are the hands of our sovereign
Lord and God. When he held out those hands
before his disciples, he sang to them, these are the hands
that made the world. These are not the hands of a
weakling. These are not the hands of a defeated reformer. These
are not the hands of a frustrated, dependent martyr. These are the
hands that formed the world. These are the hands, you've heard
the song, he's got the whole world, the whole universe in
his hands. Listen to David in Psalm 95.
In his hands are the deep places of the earth. The strength of
the hills is in his hands. The sea is his. He made it. His
hands formed the dry land. Oh, come let's worship and let
us kneel before the Lord, our Maker. And the question comes
to me, if he with his hands so clothed the lily of the field,
which today is and tomorrow is not, the grass that today is
and tomorrow is cast into the oven, if he with his own hands
paints the blue sky, if he with his own hands makes the tree
to bear fruit, if he with his own hands Feeds the robin and
the sparrow. Will he not clothe me? Will he
not feed me? Oh, he said, ye of little faith,
believe in me. Behold the hands of your sovereign
Lord and be not troubled. Behold the hands of your sovereign
Lord and be not afraid. Behold my hand. These are the
hands of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. These are the
hands of our sovereign Redeemer. And then secondly, He said to
them, Behold my hands. My friends, these are the hands
of our surety. Read over in John chapter 10,
beginning with verse 24. It says, The Jews came to him,
and they said to him, If you be the Christ, tell us plainly,
and we'll believe you. He said, I told you. I told you,
but you didn't believe me. You didn't believe me because
you're not of my sheep. You see, my sheep hear my voice, and I
know them, and they follow me. And I give them eternal life,
and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them
out of my hands. You see, my Father which gave
them to me is greater than all, and no man can pluck them out
of my Father's hands. You see why the disciples were
glad? And if you can ever get a hold of this, you'll be glad.
You'll be glad. When they were so troubled and
afraid and filled with doubts and thoughts troubled their hearts,
He just said to them, Behold my hands. Don't be afraid. These are the hands of the sovereign
king, and these are the hands of our surety. We've been put
by the Father in his hands, and he says, no man can pluck them
out of my hands. My Father gave them to me, and
they're in the hands of my Father, and no man's going to pluck them
out of my Father's hands. That's the reason old Paul could
say, who can lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It's
God that justifies. Who can condemn me? It's Christ
that died. Who can separate me from the
love of God? So tribulation, distress, famine,
persecution, the sword, I'm in his hands. I'm in his hands. Every believer is given to Christ
in the covenant of mercy. Every believer is secure in the
hand of Christ, our surety. He'll bring us home. He'll bring
us home. He'll not lose a one. That's
what he said. Not a one. I will not lose a one. There's
a beautiful story over there in the Old Testament. You remember
the brothers, the ten brothers sold their brother Joseph into
slavery? And they thought he was dead.
But by God's providence, he was taken into Egypt many years past,
many years past. And Joseph became second in command
in the land of Egypt. He was second to Pharaoh. He
was really the king over Egypt. And God sent a great famine over
the whole earth. But Joseph, by God's warnings
and God's teaching, supplied Egypt with enough corn and grain
and wheat and barley and all these things to feed the world.
He had it stored for seven years. He'd stored up these things,
and then when the famine came, they had plenty. Well, Joseph's
ten brothers, their father and that little brother Benjamin,
they were still down in the land of Egypt, just starving. And
they said to their father one day, they said, we hear that
there's plenty of corn and rye and grain and wheat in Egypt.
Let's go up there and get some. Father said, go ahead. So the
10 boys went up there. And Benjamin stayed home. He
was the little brother, son of my love, beloved son. And so when they got there, Joseph
recognized them. They had to go to Joseph to get
the food. He recognized them. They didn't recognize him. They
thought he was dead. Well, Joseph gave them plenty to eat, to take
home. But he said this to them, he said, He knew better, but
he wanted to see his brother Benjamin. He said, you fellas,
have you got any more brothers? They said, we got a brother at
home. He said, we're really 12 brothers, but one's dead. His
name was Joseph. Benjamin's at home. Here are
10 of us here. He said, I believe you're spies. Oh, they said,
we're not spies. He said, I believe you are. So you leave one of
the brothers here, and nine of you go home. And then you come
back and bring that little brother with you. And I'll believe you
and give you plenty to eat. And you'll all go back, all 11
of you. Well, they went home and told their old father, Jacob,
about it. He said, Oh, no, you're not going back. He said, Joseph
is dead and Simeon now is in captivity and you want to take
Benjamin up there? The man's a madman. And they
said, Let us go. We're going to starve. He said,
Oh, no, we'll just do without. Well, things went from bad to
worse. And so the brothers came to the father and they said,
We've got to go. We've got to go get Cohen. Let Benjamin go
up there with us and get Cohen. He said, No, sir. So Judah, That's
the tribe from which our Lord Jesus came. One of the brothers
named Judah, the kingly tribe. He said to his father, it's in
Genesis chapter 43 verse 9, if you want to look it up later.
He said to his father, he said, Father, let Benjamin go with
me. Put me in charge. Put him in
my hands. Make me and hold me responsible. And I'll bring him back. I'll
be his surety. And if I don't bring him back,
you hold me accountable. That's what a surety does. And
our Lord Jesus Christ is our surety. If I bring them not home,
you can require it at my hands." So there, when the Lord Jesus
stood before his troubled, frightened disciples, so afraid, their hearts
filled with all kind of thoughts, he said, look at my hands. These
are the hands of a sovereign who cannot fail. These are the
hands of your surety in whose hands you are completely safe.
You'll never be deserted. I'll never forsake you. And then
he said thirdly, Behold my hands, these are the hands of my substitute.
That's the reason I'm glad. I see the nail prints in his
hands. And I know why they're there. He said in Psalm 22, 16,
They pierced my hands and my feet. And old Thomas, they told
him the Lord had risen. He said, I don't believe it.
I don't believe it, except I see the print of the nails in his
hands. I won't believe. Well, my friends,
that's not all bad. That's not all bad. The only
one who can save you has got the nail prints in his hand.
The only one who can forgive your sins has nail prints in
his hand. And those nail prints were put there in your place
and in your stand, you see. I know no redemption except by
substitution, and I know no substitute but Christ. He was wounded for
our transgression. He was bruised for our iniquity.
The chastisement of our peace was upon him. And by his stripes,
we're healed. When I see his hands, the hands
of the sovereignty, and I see nail prints in those hands, I
know this, by his stripes, I'm healed. By his scars and by his
wounds, I'm made whole. And that's my security. And that's
my safety. You see, the holy law of God
must be honored. It must be exalted. It must be
magnified. God Almighty's justice must be
satisfied. There's no way God's going to
sneak anybody into heaven by the back door. There's no way
God Almighty's going to have to overlook our sins and take
us to glory with those sins unpunished and His law unsatisfied. Everything's
got to be on top of the table. Everything's got to be above
board. God's got to be just and justifier. God's got to be a
righteous redeemer. He's got to be a glorified grace
giver. And that's what the scars mean.
The debts paid. Jesus paid it all. All to Him
I owe. Sin left a crimson stain, but
He fully, completely, totally, effectually, sufficiently satisfied
it all. And there's no charge against
us. It's paid in full. It's paid
in full. And I believe right now in interceding
for His people in glory on the right hand of the Father. He
doesn't have to say a word. Just hold up His hand. Just hold
up His hand. The hands indicate He was wounded
in the house of His friends. Behold my hands. Don't look to
the law. Look to Christ. Don't look to
your good deeds. Look to Christ. Quit looking
in your filthy heart for some satisfaction and peace. Look
to the wounded hands of Christ. By his stripes we're healed.
I wish I could make that plain to you, but I can't. God will
have to. But here's the fourth thing.
Behold my hands, the hands of safety. Safety. The disciples
were out there on the boat, and our Lord Jesus appeared to them.
walking on the water. And when the disciples saw him,
they said, well, it's the Lord. And Peter spoke up. Peter was
always so impulsive and always talking when he should have been
listening, you know. But God loved him, and Christ blessed
him and used him mightily. And Peter said, Lord, if it's
you, let me come to you on the water. And the Lord said, well,
come on. And so Peter stepped out of the
boat, and he did. He walked on the water all right.
He certainly did. He walked on the water. But it
says, when he saw the waves, boisterous, and the wind, and
the clouds, he began to sink. He began to sink. And the scripture
says in Matthew 14, 31, that the Lord Jesus stretched out
those wounded hands. Those hands that were wounded
for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities. Those hands
that are our sovereign Lord's hands, our surety's hands, our
substitute's hands. Our Lord stretched out His hand
and brought him to safety. He brought him to safety. What's
that saying to me? I'll tell you what it's saying
to me. I'm not through with this life yet. I'm not over this journey
yet. On this sea of life there are
many storms, and the waves are very high, and the clouds are
very dark, and I will surely fail. You will surely fail. Is that right? No, sir. I'll
finally fall, I'll finally sink, I'll finally perish beneath the
waves. They're too mighty for me." Well, you're right on half
of it. They're too mighty for you, but you'll never perish,
not if you're His own, because His hand is always there to lift
you. Listen to what the psalmist said,
the steps of a good man. We're not claiming to be good.
We're good in Christ. We're holy in Christ. We're righteous
in Christ. But the steps of a good man,
a godly man, a believing man are ordered by the Lord. He delights
in His way, and though He fall, He shall not be utterly cast
down, for the Lord upholdeth Him with His hand." And that's
what our Lord is saying to these troubled, frightened disciples.
Their Lord had been crucified, they thought He was gone, they
thought they were on their own, they're out here sheep among
wolves, they're out here in a world unfriendly, a world of hatred,
And they were scared to death, and he stood before them, and
he said, Behold my hand. I'll hold you up. I'll hold you
up. And he demonstrated it here in
the life of the Apostle Peter when he began to sing. Our Lord
stretched out his hand. He let him walk, and he let him
fall. He let him walk, and he let him
fail. But he didn't let him completely perish. He brought him back up.
And the old songwriter said, When the storms of life are raging,
And we've got old age to go through, and we've got some sickness to
go through, and we've got some valleys of sorrow to go through,
every one of you. Don't boast too loud. Don't brag
too much. I'll tell you, the only thing
you can boast in is His power to keep us. The only thing you
can brag about is His sufficiency. That's right. That's right. When
the storms of life assail and my heart begins to fail, Thou
who rulest wind and water, stand by me. Stand by me. And though
He fall, He shall not be utterly cast down, for the Lord upholdeth
him with his hands. Don't look within, look to those
hands, the hands of safety. And then fifthly, he said, behold
my hands. Now these are the hands not only
of sovereignty, these are the hands not only of our surety,
not only of our substitute, not only of our safety, but these
are the hands of solace and comfort. The Scripture says in Luke 24
verse 50, He led them out as far as Bethany. And the scripture
says He lifted up His hands and blessed them. I've seen preachers
stand over congregations and raise their hands, you know,
and pronounce a benediction or a blessing. I'm kind of ashamed
to do that because there's nothing, there's no power in my hands
to bless anybody. There's no strength in my hands
to keep anybody. There's no power in my hands
to heal anybody. But I tell you this, if He's
pleased to raise His hands over us, the hands of sovereignty,
and the hands of substitution, and the hands of our surety.
Brother, let me tell you, He can bless you. He can bless you. It says in Mark 10, 13, they
brought little children to Him, and He took them up on His knee,
and He laid His hands on them, and He blessed them. He laid
His hands on them and blessed them. He continually blesses
His children. He said, Blessed are the poor
in spirit, theirs is the kingdom of God. Blessed are the peacemakers,
they will be called the children of God. Blessed are you when
your hunger and thirst for righteousness, you'll be filled. Blessed are
you when men persecute you and say all manner of evil against
you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad. I bless you, Christ said. I bless
you. I bless you. I raise my hands
and bless you. I tell you every step of the
way, all down through the day of life, we've been blessed.
What's that song? Count your many blessings. Name
them one by one, and it will surprise you what the Lord has
done. Somebody said to me recently,
he said, you know, if God never gives me another blessing on
this earth, he's blessed me beyond everybody I know. I've had so
many mercies and so many blessings. I won't complain the rest of
the way. But here's something else about this hand of comfort
and solace. Even when he chastens, he blesses. In Job chapter 5, it says, happy
is the man whom the Lord corrected. Happy is the man whom the Lord
corrected, that's what it says. Therefore, despise not the chastening
of the Almighty. He woundeth, but his hands make
whole. The same hand that corrects and
the same hand that disciplines is the same hand that says, forgive
him, forgive him. He put his hands on them and
blessed them. Oh, how beautiful. No wonder
they were comforted. No wonder they were glad when
they saw His hands. The hands in whom the whole world
has been placed by God Almighty's decree. The hands of our surety
to whom every believer has been entrusted. The hands of our substitute
who effectually by His death and the shedding of His blood
hath redeemed us. The hands of safety. He'll keep
me till the river rolls its waters at my feet and then He'll bear
me safely over. where my Lord Jesus I shall meet
in the hand of comfort. And then last of all, it's the
hand of salvation. In Isaiah 59-1, it says, Isaiah
wrote, Behold the Lord's hand is not short that it cannot save. His hand is not short that it
cannot save. What's he mean by that? It means
just this. He can reach even you. He can
reach even you. I don't care who you are. of
where you are or what you've done, his hands not shortened
that it cannot save, his ears not heavy that it cannot hear,
the cry of a needy sinner, the cry of a repentant soul, the
cry of a weary traveler, the cry of a heavy laden sinner,
his ears not heavy that he cannot hear, his tune your way, and
his hands not short that it cannot save. If you call on him, this
is the hand of our Savior and the only Savior There's none
other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be
saved. But now watch it. Let's don't close before we read
this. Hebrews 10, 31. It's a fearful
thing to fall into the hands of a living God. I'll tell you
the disciples in their trouble and anxiety, sitting there with
thoughts filling their hearts, and our Lord Jesus stood before
them, and he comforted them with his presence and a revelation
of his hand. He said, let not your heart be
troubled, behold my hands. And they were glad. But I'm telling
you this, one of these days it's going to be a fearful thing to
behold his hands, for it's a fearful thing to fall into the hands
of an angry God. And God is angry with those who
rebel against Christ and those who despise the riches of his
grace.