Reading
DISCLAIMER: The following has been auto-transcribed. We hope it will help you to find the section of this audio file you are looking for.
Luke 24 and the two on the way to Emmaus.
But I put it forward as a suggestion, and if others have something else, then uh, I will be very happy to defer to them.
In suggesting this, I realize that it is not a perhaps a doctrinal path, although there are many things that can be brought out of it. But I might suggest, and I think others would be of the same mind, that.
While it is wonderful to know more and to learn more, sometimes what we need is what these two needed, and that is to recognize first of all who the Lord was, that He was with them, and that His presence was everything in their lives. But what do others think about that?
I think if we're gonna take up this chapter, we ought not to miss what's in the first part of the chapter either, because it's beautiful to consider the resurrection and Mary Magdalene and her heart as well.
And that would be very nice, Jim. I think it'd be nice if we could read the whole chapter. I just suggest, and again, this is something we're all aware of that if we get.
Two.
Taken up with the details in some of the beginning of the chapter. We'll never get to the end of it, so let's remember that. But is, is, is that, uh, is that all right?
Luke's Gospel, chapter 24.
Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came under the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared.
And certain others with them they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre, and they entered in found not the body of the Lord Jesus.
It came to pass, as they were much perplexed there about the old, two men stood by them in shining garments, and as they were afraid and bogged down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead?
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. They remembered His words, returned from the sepulchre, and pulled all these things under the 11 and to all the rest.
It was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and other women that were with them, which pulled these things under the apostles.
And their words seemed to them as idle tales, and they believed them not.
Then arose Peter and ran under the sepulchre. Stooping down, he beheld the linen clothes laid by themselves.
And departed, wondering himself at that which was come to pass.
And behold, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, was from Jerusalem, about 3 score furlongs, And they talked together of all these things which had happened, and came to pass that while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near.
Went with them, but their eyes were holding that they should not know him.
He said unto them, What manner of communications are these, that ye have one to another as he walk, and are sad? And one of them, whose name was Cleopas answering, said unto them, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem has not known the things which are come to pass there in these days? He said unto them, What things they said unto them concerning Jesus of Nazareth?
Which was a prophet mighty indeed in Word before God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death, and have crucified him.
00:05:03
We trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel.
Beside all this, today is the third day since these things were done.
Yeah, and certain women also, our company made us astonished, which were early at the sepulchre. When they found not his body, they came saying that they had seen a vision of angels which said that he was alive.
Certain of them which were with us went to the sepulchre and found yet 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? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them, and all the Scriptures, the things concerning Himself.
They drew near under the village, whether they went.
And he made as though he would have gone further. But they constrain him, saying, Abide with us what is toward evening in the days far spent? And he went in to tarry with them. And it came to pass, as he said, to meet with them. He took bread, and blasted and brake, 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, while he opened to us the Scriptures, they rose up the same hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found the 11 gathered together, and them that were with them, saying, the Lord is risen in need, and has appeared to Simon. And they told what things were done in the way.
And how he was known of them in breaking of bread.
And as they thus speak, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and said unto them, Peace be under you. But they were terrified and afraid of them, supposed that they had seen a spirit. He said unto them, Why are you troubled, and why do thoughts arise in your heart?
Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself handle me and see, for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.
When he had thus spoken, he showed them his hands and his feet.
While they yet believe not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have you hear any meat? They gave him a piece of a broiled fish, an oven honeycomb, and he took it, and did eat before them. He said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you while I was yet with you.
That all things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses.
And in the prophets and in the Psalms concerning me.
Then opening their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures, and said unto them, Thus it is written, And thus it behooves Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day. And their repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things.
And behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you, but carry in the city of Jerusalem.
Until ye be endued with power from on high. And he led them out as far as Bethany, And he lifted up his hands and blessed them. And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them.
And carried up into heaven, and they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy.
We're continually in the temple praising and blessing God. Amen.
00:10:03
So just a couple.
Of preliminary remarks perhaps, uh, and that is that.
First of all, our brother Clarence Lundin used to remind us, and I've often appreciated it, that more than any of the other Gospels, Luke is the introduction to Paul's ministry.
And we know, of course, that the Spirit of God used Luke to write not only the book of Luke, but also the Acts of the Apostles, which.
We might say is the bridge between the two dispensations, the bridge between the Lord's ministry on earth and the ministry of Paul, which was presenting the heavenly calling of the church. And so with that in mind, here at the end of Luke, the Lord gives us first of all the story about the women that came to the tomb of the Lord Jesus, and then these two on the way to Emmaus.
And both of them, it seems, were feeling pretty badly, and perhaps feeling pretty bad, I should say. And we're discouraged. And the women, of course, their affections were drawn out. Even if the Lord were in the grave. The two on the way to Emmaus were going away, thinking that their hopes had been dashed to the ground and everything they had looked for was not going to happen. And what to do now? And the answer to both?
Was the realization that far from being the end of all things, the cross and the resurrection was the beginning, and far from dashing their hopes to the ground, it was only to give them that which was far better than an earthly Kingdom, a heavenly Kingdom, and.
Instead of losing the Lord Jesus as they thought they had in death, His resurrection had restored him to them.
But in an even more wonderful way. And so the Lord Jesus here presents himself to both. And in both cases it results in joy and blessing to their hearts. And I guess my thought was that you and I, if we could speak of it in this way or living in times that are somewhat similar in the thought, in this thought that here these people were living.
You might say on the bridge between two dispensations, God was working in a way to set his earthly people aside for the time being and to bring in heavenly blessing to bring in the truth of the Church.
None of which had been revealed yet, but the Lord hath spoken that it would be revealed. And these people were living, you might say, on the edge of a change that was about to take place. You and I are too. We're seeing events all around us that show us that the Lord's coming is near. And we're seeing signs of coming judgment, which we know is going to make incredible changes in this world and usher in that glorious millennial scene.
You and I, of course, will be caught up long before for heavenly blessings.
But at the same time, what was the answer to all the difficulties, all of the discouragement, all of the problems? It was the Lord Himself, the realization that he was not dead, but that He was alive.
The realization that His presence was everything to them and at the very one who had hung on Calvary's cross was alive and therefore them, and was the answer to all of their difficulties.
All of their disillusionment, all of their discouragement.
Christianity sets us in relationship with the Lord Jesus in a very unique way as it's introduced to us here. And there are two things that are unique to Christianity that you don't see in anything previous or anything else that is practiced today, as we might say the so-called religions of the world. One is what the chapter begins with, the other is what the chapter ends with.
One is that, first of all, it sets Christianity, sets us in relationship with a living Savior. And it's interesting as you go through the four gospels that you find in each gospel, things that are unique to the gospel and the ministry of the evangelist and the way he presents Christ. And in someone gospel you'll have something that isn't mentioned in another gospel, or it may be mentioned in a couple of gospels but not in another, and so on.
00:15:09
But there's one event in the work, life and work of the Lord Jesus that is brought out in all four gospels very, very clearly, and that is the resurrection. Every gospel brings out with a number of verses, the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ because it is so vital that, don't misunderstand me, not that every part of the work of Christ isn't vital and important.
But lest we miss it, he brings it out, Because if Christ be not raised, your faith is in vain, and ye are still in your sins.
And the Spirit of God is very clear that we are now associated with a living Savior.
There's many today who will bow down to someone who's in the tomb, and they'll pray and look to someone who's dead for assistance and deliverance. We have a tomb too, but it's an empty tomb. But the other thing that is unique to this dispensation is that we are set in relationship with Christ in resurrection. I'm sorry, in ascension. And that's what we're going to find at the end of the chapter.
He blesses them, He lifts up his hands, and His feet leave them out of olives, and he returns to the glory. And brethren, the realization of those two things in our souls is what is going to encourage us to go on in the path of faith and service. As has already been said, there's lots of difficulties. The great work of the enemy today is to discourage and dishearten the people of God in one way or another. But what we need to keep focused on is the fact that we have a living Savior, one who came from the tomb.
But not only so. One who is seated at the right hand of God. In ascension we are not associated with Christ the way they were in Luke's Gospel, the way the disciples were and the other believers were in the days of the Lord Jesus.
Though we knew Christ after the flesh, henceforth know we Him no more. No, we don't know Christ after the flesh the way they did down here when He was down here.
But we know him in a far, far more wonderful and intimate way, associated with him as the ascended man.
First creation ends in death.
New creation.
Uh, begins with the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. He is the head of new creation in resurrection. And I must say, like you mentioned, Bill, so often we get our hopes, our thoughts shattered, and it seems like in a certain way it's necessary so that we can grasp God's thoughts.
His thoughts are so much higher than our lives, and we hear things as they happen in the world today, and we don't have an explanation. I find that we as Americans try to figure things out perhaps more than other peoples in the world, and we struggle with it. How in the world does this fit? I don't understand. And that's true, we don't. But God has his thoughts, brethren, and He wants us.
To think His thoughts. That's why we have the word of God in our hands, to see His thoughts. But it's so evident that the Lord told them so often that He was going to go up to Jerusalem, that He was going to be crucified, and that He was going to rise again the third day. They didn't get it because they were intent in their thoughts of thinking of His establishing an earthly Kingdom.
And so when it all happened, they were shouting, their hope was gone. That was it. They were totally discouraged. Brethren, when God allows our God to be shattered, it's because He has His thoughts and He wants us to understand those thoughts in a measure at least. Notice that when these two, these women are encountered by these.
To angels they tell them that the Lord had told them that, and verse eight it says they remembered his words.
00:20:00
Over evidence. May the Lord help us to think His advice.
Brother Bob, at the beginning of these meetings you read the 23rd Psalm.
And read some other verses in the 70s song and umm, you know these verses of Scripture that we've been reading of in the 24 chapter of which really have to do with the discoveries as well. A Good Shepherd given his life that are sheep. And so we find that that good comfort went through the cross-border judgment for our citizens now in prison at the very first day of the week, the very day that he had risen from among the dead.
When we work for them, dude, and umm, here it is the very beginning of a, a new dispensation as where the church was going to be formed approximately, I think it was 50 days after this resurrection. And then we have in verse 13, the work of the Good Shepherd now beginning in connection with the restoration of two that are going in the wrong direction. And then you have the ascendant shepherd at the end of the chapter. So perhaps in three parts the story is told, but it's really a story about before Jesus system.
And, uh, so you have, uh, these ones that, uh, you'll do bring us, let's say, didn't remember verse six that says he had risen, remembers verse eight. They remember his words. And one of the things that will help us to, uh, recognize his hands and aiming for his commitment to determine his work because for ignorance with the word of God, then we're going to follow our same errors, the same difficulties that they follow against themselves. I just want to re refer to, uh, Luke's not, uh, chapter 18.
There and that that portion of Scripture that the Lord Jesus spoke to her most said that he was going on to Jerusalem verse 31.
Luke 18 and verse 31. Then you look under exam the 12 and said unto them, Before we go up to Jerusalem, all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man shall be accomplished, for He shall be given her none of the Gentiles, and shall be marked and spitefully entreated or insulted.
Pitted on and they felt surgeon and plays against them. The third game he shall rise again. And they understood none of those claims, these things and this same was hid from them. Neither knew they the things which were spoken. And so he told them faithfully, but they happened this prophetic scriptures and they should have turned to the scriptures. And you already have the fact that during the first both part of this, uh, chapter that they hadn't turned into the scriptures. But we find a little bit later on that the Lord himself opens up the scriptures and that's what we need to have the scriptures to word of God open to us.
When perhaps in any dispensation, in any kind of religion, we need to have orders on work because we have construction and incurred in an applying at the end of the dispensation, the time of loan state and the times of disheartening events, a time of great peace and spiritually and departure from the truth, we need to have the word of God.
The Spirit of God is careful to instruct these people.
We saw the Lord go up. If you look at Acts chapter one, Luke talks about the farmer, Theo, the Porter, Creedus. That's Luke. Now he's right to ask. And in the first chapter of Acts, it says very carefully.
When they ask the question.
The Lord will tell this time restore the Kingdom to Israel. That's.
In the end of the sixth verse. Then we'll read in the seventh verse a few verses.
X-17 is headed to them. It is not for you to know the times or the cheese which the Father had put in His own power, but He shall receive power after that. The Holy Ghost is come upon you, and you shall be witnessed unto me, both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and in all Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the earth. That's where we live. And when He had both of these things, He said it to them.
He was taking already be held. He was taken up and the proud regime out of their side, and while they looked fantastic toward heaven, he went up. As he went up, behold 2 of men.
Stood by him in quite a peril, and they said you met him Galilee.
00:25:03
Where you stand looking up into heaven.
This ain't Jesus, would you take it up from you into heaven? Shall so come in life manner as you see them go into heaven. What a remarkable thing that they saw the Lord going out. We're the ones that are going to see Him come down. It's a greater thing to see the Lord come down.
We're we're here to waiting for that.
Luke 24 is full of discouraged people.
It's the characteristic of Luke 24. It's full of discouraged people. It's 53 verses long that it's not until the 31St verse. It's almost 60% through this record before we find a single person that recognizes the Lord Jesus.
It's significant in it, brethren, in this way.
They all had expectations. They all were expecting something. And when their expectations were shattered or broken, they became discouraged. And it's no different in our lives. When we have expectations of certain things and they don't come to pass as we expect them to, it brings on, it tends to bring into our hearts a discouragement.
A depression upon the soul because what I expected, I don't, It didn't happen. I don't have it. And that's the discouragement of the people here. We trust that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel. We've had verses before us. Why didn't they understand the prophetic scriptures and so on.
Because those things were not where their expectation was.
When my expectations are not where God's expectations are, it's a good recipe for paint for me. And so they had to learn something. They had to learn an extremely beneficial and important lesson in their lives. That in the chapter is with worship.
It ends with praise and Thanksgiving, but there is a process through which each of these discouraged people had to go.
In order to arrive at that point.
Their expectations had to do with themselves. The prophetic scripture had to do with himself.
And when the Lord Jesus speaks to them, he does not immediately make himself known to them because He has to change their focus. The focus that they had was upon themselves and what they were going to get.
Through Him, yes, they appreciated him, yes they loved him, but they also had expectations for themselves in connection with it. And so when the Lord Jesus meets these two discouraged souls on the way to Emmaus and he starts to speak to them.
He what does he start to focus their attention on?
Himself.
They didn't recognize himself in it because that's not what they were looking for. They were looking for somebody to comfort them in their loss.
And what they had expected and the Lord Jesus very graciously and very patiently more than once in the chapter not only on the two to Emmaus, but also in the those that he makes himself to on later on who can't believe it.
They can't even accept that when they see them face to face because their focus wasn't the path of peace for their souls, but when they gradually learned through the chapter the expectation is himself and what related to himself and what was going to take place concerning himself and that changed their focus of their thoughts and their attention.
To himself. And then they began to understand.
And their understanding came in something more important than understanding how things affected themselves was how things affected himself.
Because he is the only one that you can center your expectation in that will not find this kind of discouragement. Sooner or later, every single human expectation that relates to self and is centered in myself is going to be subject to being bringing sorrow along with it because of the nature of the world in which we live and the sin that exists in it. And so.
00:30:25
When they see himself in resurrection, they have an object now before their hearts that can provide them with a joy and an expectation that will satisfy their hearts without discouragement. And the end result of the chapter is when that has process has taken place in them, then there's worship and there is praise and brethren.
Process that's in this chapter, in smaller or greater extent, is going on in the life of every single person in this room, except perhaps the most young ones who haven't gotten started yet in these things. But I'll say at least every adult in this room is going through Luke 24 in a practical sense in your life with respect to the expectations that you may have concerning this life rather than concerning that which concerns himself.
Which goes beyond this life into eternity.
And what you allow to brother Dawn that sometimes perhaps we have the proper expectations, but the wrong timetable. And that was another difficulty, wasn't it? Because as our brother Buchanan read to us in Acts chapter one.
They said, Wilt thou at this time restore the Kingdom to Israel? And the Lord had to say to them that it was not for them to know the times and the seasons. In a sense, there was the right expectation, but the wrong time. It wasn't perhaps the right expectation for themselves, as you say, but it was the right expectation in connection with God's purposes, because there will be the restoration of the Kingdom in a coming day in Israel, in a coming day, in the full exaltation.
Of Christ here in this world and His rightful place and so on. But that wasn't for them at that time. And sometimes aren't we like that, brethren, we get ahead of the Lord. Perhaps we have something that we feel should unfold in our lives and we get ahead of the Lord.
And I often think in a practical way of that verse in the 37th Psalm that says, Commit thy way under the Lord, trust also in him. And then it says, and he shall bring it to pass. But brethren, it may not be to pass in the way that we had fought or hope, or in the timetable that we had thought or hope. And one of the great difficulties with human nature is we spend perhaps our whole lives trying to learn the lesson of patience or waiting on on God.
It's against human nature. We like things and especially brethren, in the day in which we live, we like things instantaneously. We're used to everything being at our fingertips and an 800 number and a speed dial and an instant this and an instant that. And then we get frustrated when it doesn't work properly. Brethren, we need to realize that God doesn't work on the same timetable that we do. And those in this chapter, they had to realize that God had the Lord had purposes.
He had a timetable, but it wasn't necessarily according to their timetable and that those purposes weren't necessarily for them directly, as Brother Don has brought out. God had something different for them at this time. And these women and the disciples, the two on the way to Emmaus, they had to learn this. It was difficult for them. And brethren, we shake our heads at them as we read this chapter. We shake our heads at the women. We say, well, they should have known.
Mary Magdalene should have known especially the apostles, the disciples. They should have known they.
We're closest to the Lord during its public ministry. They've heard that what he had said.
They should have known the two on the way to a Mass. They ought not to have been on their way to a Mass and been discouraged and so on. But brethren, instead of shaking our heads at them, we need to learn from them. Yes, and I trust we will. But instead of shaking our heads at them, let's examine our own souls this morning. We're far more responsible than they were. We have far more than they do. They were living at the during these events that were unfolding.
00:35:04
They didn't know what was they had. They couldn't look back in retrospect. They couldn't read go ahead and read the book of the Acts and read Pauls epistles and see what was going to unfold as to Christian blessing and position. They didn't have the Spirit of God in the same way that we have as an abiding presence here with us and in US. They didn't have the completed scriptures. We are far, far more responsible and rather than.
There is no excuse for discouragement in your life and mind. Is there discouragement? Yes, there's plenty in my life often, and none of us can say we've arrived. But rather, when we think of what we have, a risen Christ, an ascended Christ, the complete word of God, the Spirit of God, all these things that are ours as present possessions now we have no reason to be.
Discouraging. Discouraged. In fact, we have every reason.
To be encouraged. But as we brought out the reason, there's some of the reasons we get discouraged are we lose sight of Christ, we lose sight of what is ours, and we lose sight of His purposes and His timetable.
It's nice to see.
Not just the the perspective of man or what they were looking for and disappointed because they didn't see realize that there's two ways of looking at the chapter that stand aside and how they went through that discouragement. There's God aside that purposefully allows things to happen the way they did so that he could keep them about his resurrection and of new creation and it's so wonderful to.
To ask for example, the Lord says uh in verse 26 off comprise you have suffered these things into into his glory.
God's timetable of being perfectly fulfilled here and he was working all these things out. It's so good to, to step back and let God show his money to go on his, uh, way of dealing with us as we go through life.
When we go through life, it's not usually enough just to know doctrinally what Christianity is about. We usually have to learn it by going through an experience that really makes it come home to our souls. And that's what this chapter is doing. It's putting them through circumstances about resurrection, about death and resurrection. And not even just resurrection, really new creation, that is.
Not just Christ risen on earth, but Christ who is preparing them to know Him by faith and in the breaking of bread and so on. That's why he did it the way He did, because He was preparing them for the time when he would be gone. And that's for our instruction. Then we don't see it. A risen man here on earth, the Lord Jesus in power and glory, doing, wielding his power and setting everything right.
We're still waiting for that part, but we must see them in heaven. But we do see in the circumstances that allows us in our life, it will step back and let Him show us now that He is risen and that we need to trust Him even though we don't see Him right here on earth.
It's amazing to see how he meets each one differently.
Too. And uh, we're all individuals. We all have our particular personalities.
And God in his wonderful patience, is working with us, each one accordingly. We know that He appeared first to Mary Magdalene and resurrection. We know here in verse 34 that there was a time when He appeared to Simon Peter. We don't know anything more than what it says in verse 34 about that.
Encounter We have quite a bit about these two on the way to miss.
It was 3 score furlongs. Uh, I calculated it's about 7 miles.
Lord was not in a hurry. He asked them what they were troubled about. He had time to listen, and then He had time to open their hearts to the scriptures. And it's just amazing how He takes each one of us the way we are, rather than deals with us accordingly according to the need that He sees.
00:40:15
And then you have them collectively in the midst in verse 36 and 37, another need and he meets that accordingly. So it is wonderful to see, uh, these not frustrated with our discouragement, but it's going to work with us according to the need of each one. I think that's so important, Bob, because as Jim has said.
There's no excuse for being discouraged, and that is true.
We could equally say there's no excuse for sinning either either.
Which one of us would stand up and say is to use Jim's expression that we've arrived? And so the Lord has made provision if we sin, and He's made provision for discouragement too. And it is beautiful to see the way he meets each one in this chapter.
According to their own individual circumstances and needs, according to the degree of intelligence, according to what they had to go through in order to get to the right point. And he meets each one of us today in that way. As Dawn has said, every one of us that is mature enough to be able to understand is in some way going through what these experienced in this chapter and God's whole purpose with your heart and mind.
If we could use the expression, which is somewhat common today, is to get us In Sync, synchronized with God's thoughts, with the Lord Jesus Christ. Because all too often our thoughts are different. And sometimes, as we've had brought the force, we don't understand completely God's ways with us. But what a wonderful thing it is to be willing. And these were willing here each one of them received.
You might say the blessing the women who were at the sepulchre.
Simon Peter is an individual. Eventually all the apostles, the two on the way to Emmaus, whatever it was, the Lord was willing to meet them where they were, was willing to look after what needed to be done in order to remove the discouragement, in order to bring them into, you might say the same wavelength with his thoughts and what he was doing. And again, we don't pretend that we all understand perfectly. I think your remark about us in North America, Bob and.
Allow us to include Canada in that a little bit too.
We wanna figure things out. We've got technology, we've got the ability to look at things. We think we can figure everything out. And then the Lord allows situations and difficulties that we can't figure out, whether in the secular world or even among believers. So what does that do? It casts us back on the Lord, doesn't it? And that's what He wants. He wants us to walk with Him on His wavelength and in simple trust and dependence on Him. And we can all still do that today.
In the measure that we're willing to let him work with us the way he did in this chapter.
Like I said.
On your On the encyclopedia.
I believe circumstances.
They had lost their their Lord Mancinos crucified and they weren't able to really enter into God's plan, the purposes that he had in mind. And so the sorrow that they were going through was not wrong. It was, it was national.
But the problem came in when sorrow mixed with unbelief.
That turns into discouragement.
And that is the case whenever we become discouraged, our sorrow is mixed with unbelief.
And so that's what we have to lay hold of God allows.
Very, very sorrowful circumstances in our lives.
But in our heart is established in great, and we don't doubt it, the heart of God.
In our circumstances.
00:45:00
We realize who he is and how good he is.
And we don't stop. We are able to judge unbelief. It comes into our our unbelief is terrible dishonored to God.
It lowers his glory.
And not when we have that type of an attitude towards God. We can't expect to rise above our system stances. We keep God in his proper places. Grace will always do.
Then our sorrow will not turn to unbelief.
And thus become discouragement. Hmm.
It's the heart of kindness that the lioness, umm, reveals and results that the deals of each one of these individuals this week to, to see, to understand, to enjoy. And I just want to point out that, uh, the Lord had desired that, umm, they would understand these things and enter into the joy and joy and umm, I've seen this in the spring. So along with that.
He began to open things up to them. It had been a close book to them before, as it were.
They weren't in 12 but the Spirit of God they could understand in some measure, but as soon as he was raised, then he began to open things up to them and just point out that there are seven things that are opened in this chapter. Perhaps some of notice before, but in chapter 24, verse 2, the first one that opened is the tomb itself. They found the stone rolled away from the Tupac. He was raised from among the dead. The second thing that is opened is in verse 27, the beginning at Moses and all the prophets he expounded unto them and all the Scriptures that things concerning himself.
So the Scriptures were open to them as being a closed book in a sense before that. And then you have verse 29, an open home. They constrain him saying, abide with us for it is toward evening and the day is far spent and he went in to carry with them. Not wonderful to have them. Scripture is open and have the Lord in the home. And then you have umm, another opening in verse 31. Their eyes were open and they knew him, and he vanished out of their sights.
The 5th opening is in verse 45. They open that open to their understanding that they might understand the Scriptures. That's one of the things that characterizes Christianity, the understanding of the purposes of God in the heart of God. And you have the 6th opening in verse 51. It came to pass while He blessed them, He was parted from them and carried up into heaven. So is ascension. The heavens opened and received the Lord Himself.
And then in verse 52, as was already being mentioned, the last opening of where the heart was opened and uh, the worship flows freely. They worship him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. And so at the book, it's a chapter of openings, new beginnings of, uh, Christianity. And I know the church wasn't formed until the day of Pentecost, but really you have an transitionary period, the kindness and the love of the Lord Jesus.
Being brought forth and told out to his people as he enjoys, as he umm, works with each one individually that they might come into share that joy that he has.
Well, I know, Brother Bill, you had the exercise to spend some time on these two on the way to Emmaus. And it is significant, isn't it, that as the ITS story opens up their journey here, there are really two things that are immediately brought before us that cause them to be discouraged and saddened as they talk together, by the way.
The first one is in verse 14, they talked of all these things which happened. Now you say, well that was good. Yes, it's good to talk about events and happenings in our lives. And sometimes on an occasion like this, we when we're together, we talk about things and we get caught up as we say. And certainly not nothing wrong with that, but I suggest that what we learn from this verse is the absence of their talking, bringing the Lord Jesus into the circumstances.
And brethren, if we simply talk about happenings in our lives and our experience and we leave Christ out of the circumstances, out of the circumstances, we don't bring Christ in, we're going to get sad and discouraged too. We're going to lose sight of who it really is. That allows everything in your life and mind. And so they didn't bring Christ in as they talked. You know, there's a nice contrast in connection with the the believers in Malachi's day, that little company.
00:50:14
They talk together too, and it says they spake often one to another. The Lord hearkened and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for those that feared the Lord and that thought upon His name. I take it from that, that scripture that when they spoke one with another, they brought the Lord into the circumstances. They brought the Lord into the conversation. And isn't that what's necessary? The Saints in Malachi Day, they were right at the end of a period of time too, and right at the end of the Old Testament.
And things were pretty bleak there. Things were pretty difficult, and much was wanting in the things of God and so on. But they spoke, they brought the Lord into the circumstances, and they were encouraged to go on in spite of what they found around them. But here we find that they spoke of all that had happened, but no mention of bringing the Lord in. The next difficulty is in the very next verse, and that is, they didn't realize who was with them.
And isn't that our great folly, brethren? At least it is mine. I guess I can only point the finger at my own soul. But so often I go through the circumstances of life and I get very discouraged, even afraid, because I don't realize the Lord Jesus is right there. Why? Here they were discouraged. Jesus Himself drew near and went with them. He didn't forsake them, but they didn't realize who it was enjoyed or been exercised by.
The disciples on an earlier occasion when they were on the boat and there was a storm and the wind was contrary, you have it in Matthew 14 and they see the Lord Jesus walking on the water and they cry out for fear. Why? Because they didn't recognize who it was. And what really brought comfort to their souls on that night was the words of the Lord Jesus when He said, it is I. And brethren, if they could have just realized that here it is I.
The Lord Jesus with them.
Like that he was with the disciples in the storm that would have brought a different perspective to their souls as they walked along and and spoke together. And so I say we need to be exercised rather than that in all that we speak of together, we bring in the Lord into every conversation and circumstance. Not that we don't enjoy natural things together. I don't mean that. And then to realize that in the difficulties of life, whatever it may be.
He'll never leave us nor forsake us, He said to them later on before he left them. Lo, I am with you always. Even under the end of the age and even when we're discouraged, even when we get far away from the Lord and we don't recognize Him, He draws near and goes with us.
When are two people?
That we read in their verse 14.
Walk together to aminos, it says.
They talked together all these things, which is act.
Now all these things.
That could have included a lot of also those things that happened in the trial that the Lord Jesus had to go through and how he behaved and what he said.
I just wonder how they could enter into his store.
While they were walking together.
I'm thinking of umm.
The last few months we had the rating and Matthew and we ended up with the trials of the Lord Jesus and what he said on the cross. We entered into some of the thoughts that we might have thought that these thoughts asked any questions and there was a wonderful time. It was a time of very serious thinking. So Treasury when we consider the Lord Jesus on the cross.
And in this month of work that we are able to save our time, we are very privileged that the air is meeting. We have a whole hour every Tuesday to talk about the Lord Jesus, which we did in the last three months and it was wonderful when we got to the place.
00:55:12
Where the Stonewall was rolled away.
And these angels set there and explained that he he was there. And then we had to think about he looked at already risen. That store didn't have to be rolled away. He had already ResMed. He had come out. And then when we reached here now these two people.
What must, uh, must they have all talked about? We talked about many things about things that happened that we read in the Old Testament scriptures that talk about the Lord Jesus. And we enter into his thoughts from that standpoint too, from these scriptures. And we have much joy in our hearts doing these things. And when we come home, we can meditate on this thing.
It's a wonderful privilege, dear brother, if we can take time out and do that and have it like run to reach, uh, once an hour every week and then also have it at home.
It's a joy, of course, when you're retired, you have more time than when you walk. You can be occupied with these things before you come to meet, and then you should have thought about it. It's all having thoughts about the Lord Jesus, which makes us happy when we can leave all the things that these two men are. These two people there got cancer. They got all these things to answer, and we get a lot of these answers when we come together.
Ask questions.
And have thought about.
The weight of the lower visual and this water is being resisted. It's helpful to see that wisdom of the Lord Jesus in dealing with discouragement. When he talks to the two on the way to Emmaus, He lets them talk first. He doesn't give him the answer. He knew immediately the state of their hearts.
And what their need was.
And in his perfect wisdom, their need was to get it off their chest. As we say, they had to get out what was going on in their souls. And in fact, at one point they asked him a question and he turns it around by another question. He doesn't even answer their question. He doesn't even defend himself. And the question that they ask him, well, don't you know about what went on in Jerusalem?
He turns around and he says what things and they talk some more. And brethren, it's the wisdom of God. When a soul is discouraged, it has to get it out and it can't listen until it has a chance to to dump it out and get it on out. Yes, the Lord Jesus addressed the issue of their faith and not understanding. He gave the answer of the occupation they needed, ought not Christ.
And so he turned the conversation from themselves to himself after, but it, it doesn't start there. We may see a discouragement in another and we think, well, I know what's wrong. I have a word for that. And so we tell them the solution, umm, to their need as we see it. Uh, but that's not the wisdom of God in many times, and we have it perfectly expressed here in the Lord Jesus.
He allows them to run on, if you will, until they run out, and then having done so, their minds, their hearts are capable of responding to something coming in. May the Lord help us to help one another in that way.
100 and 51151.
Lord Jesus.
When waiting for.
I made it more.
Call.