Transcription downloaded from https://sermons.northharris.freechurch.org/sermons/4960/luke-24/. Disclaimer: this is an automatically generated machine transcription - there may be small errors or mistranscriptions. Please refer to the original audio if you are in any doubt. [0:00] Good evening, a warm welcome to the service this evening. [0:20] Good evening. [0:50] Good evening. [1:20] Good evening. Good evening. Good evening. Good evening. Good evening. Good evening. [1:32] Good evening. Good evening. Good evening. Good evening. Good evening. Good evening. [1:44] Good evening. Good evening. Good evening. Good evening. Good evening. Good evening. [1:56] Good evening. Good evening. Psalm 118 from verses 16 to verse 19. The right hand of the mighty Lord, exalted as on high, the right hand of the mighty Lord doth ever valiantly, I shall not die but live, and shall the works of God discover. [2:16] The Lord hath made just thy sower, but not to death given over. He'll set you open unto me the gates of righteousness, then will I enter into them, and I the Lord will bless. [2:27] Please stand us and gather to God's praise. We remain safe to serve. The Lord hath made just thy name. [3:03] The Lord hath made just thy name. The Lord hath made just thy name. The Lord hath made just thy name. [3:16] The Lord hath made just thy name. The Lord hath made just thy name. [3:28] The Lord hath made just thy name. The Lord hath made just thy name. [3:44] The Lord hath made just thy name. The Lord hath made just thy name. [3:59] finish Satsang with Mooji 84918 [5:40] Thank you. [6:10] Thank you. [6:40] Thank you. [7:10] Thank you. [7:40] Thank you. [8:10] Thank you. Thank you. [9:10] Thank you. Thank you. [10:10] Thank you. Thank you. [11:10] Thank you. Thank you. [12:10] Thank you. Thank you. [13:10] Thank you. Thank you. [14:10] Thank you. Thank you. [15:10] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Amen. Amen. [15:21] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. [15:33] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. We're not quite. finished James' letter but we're not going there tonight we'll return there in a couple of weeks time just to finish things off I want to read this account of the resurrection from Luke chapter 24, we read from Matthew this morning, we read from John, last Lord's Day and we read from Luke's account this evening Luke chapter 24 and we read from verse 1 this is God's word on the first day of the week, very early in the morning the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb they found a stone rolled away from the tomb but when they entered they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus while they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them in their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground but the men said to them why do you look for the living among the dead he is not here he is risen remember how he told you while he was still with you in Galilee the son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men be crucified and on the third day be raised again then they remembered his words when they came back from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the others it was Mary Magdalene [17:15] Joanna Mary the mother of James and the others with them who told this to the apostles but they did not believe the woman because their words seemed to them like nonsense if ever there was a doubt over the credibility and the authenticity of scripture you know we have it here we have it corrected here if you were wanting to write a propaganda document to make the Christian faith look absolutely shining bright and the leaders of the Christian faith look exemplary these verses would not be in the gospel here we have the brave apostles the strong faithful apostles the one we would expect to be so full of expectation and faith and they're absolutely terrified locked away it's the women who see the resurrection and are first to receive the news they run to the apostles and when the apostles hear did they rejoice no they did not believe the women verse 11 because their words seemed to them like nonsense [18:31] Peter however got up and ran to the tomb bending over he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves and he went away wondering to himself what had happened and then we have the account here of the two on the road to Emmaus Emmaus and I want to just pick up at the end of that verse 33 and read on from there verse 33 they got up this is the two who have had this encounter with Jesus and they go back to the disciples they go back they got up and returned at once to Jerusalem there they found the eleven and those with them assembled together and saying it is true the Lord has risen and has appeared to sign then the two told what had happened on the way and how Jesus was recognised by them when he broke the bread while they were still talking about this Jesus himself stood among them and said to them peace be with you they were startled and frightened thinking they saw a ghost he said to them why are you troubled and why do your why do doubts rise in your minds look at my hands and my feet it is I myself touch me and see a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see I have when he had said this he showed them his hands and feet and while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement he asked them do you have anything here to eat they gave him a piece of broiled fish and he took it and ate it in their presence he said to them this is what I told you while I was still with you everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the law of Moses the prophets and the Psalms then he opened their minds so that they could understand the scriptures he told them this is what is written that Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations beginning at Jerusalem you are witnesses of these things [20:41] I am going to send you what my father has promised but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high Amen and may God bless that reading of his word to us we sing again now to God's praise mission praise 799 just as we turn back to the scripture let's again draw near to God in a moment of prayer our heavenly father we thank you for your word to us and we thank you for the verses that we have read and just as we read of Christ opening their minds so that they could understand the scriptures in order that they could see Jesus and understand why he died and how he rose and we thank you [21:42] Lord that just as there was that promise that there would be forgiveness of sins and everlasting life for those who repent and believe we thank you that that promise is still a promise that stands good today and we pray this evening Lord as we come again to gather around your word that you would meet with us that you would open our minds and stir our hearts that our hearts would burn within us as did the hearts of those who who walk with Jesus on the road to Emmaus and we ask Lord that you would give us faith or that you would increase our faith so that we would trust Christ and Lord that we would live for Jesus we thank you for the blessing of all that we meditate upon today the gospel of Jesus Christ the fact that Jesus came to this world and lived and died and rose and the prospect of his return we thank you Lord that that is a truth that is so simple that the youngest of us can grasp it in some measure and yet these are truths that are so profound that although we spent all our lives meditating upon the depths of them we would never plumb the depths of them so we ask [23:09] Father that you would minister to us through your word and in the power of the Holy Spirit that we would know and understand and believe and know the reality of Christ in us and his risen power are through us we thank you Lord for our being here this evening and for the freedom that we have and the desire that we have to worship you we thank you that we meet as do many across this island and community across the nation and across all nations and we pray that whatever the gospel of Jesus Christ Christ crucified and risen is preached that Lord you would add your blessing and that you would build your church we pray especially for Farrakhar tonight and we ask that you would be with him having shared your word and grab her today that you would use him Lord that you would equip him and that you would bless him and make him make him a blessing in the place that you have given him opportunity to preach help him Lord we pray and we ask [24:16] Lord that you would help us now we pray for others who are ministering in different places in different contexts we think especially of Iona one of our own number out in Canada we ask Father that you would help her as she gets alongside the children there as she brings to them the gospel of Jesus and her actions and her reactions in her words we thank you that you are using her and we pray that you would continue to use her and make her a blessing and bless her in your service in that place we pray that many children would see Jesus in and through her and would be caused to trust Jesus through that ministry that you have called her to for this time we ask that you would be with those Lord who are struggling at this time we think of those who are sad and who are grieving and we ask Lord that you would comfort them with the wonderful news even that we have meditated upon today that Jesus rose from the dead and promises that his resurrection life will be given to all who are looking in faith to him we pray [25:26] Lord for those who are struggling with difficult times and we thank you that you have promised that although we will not be shielded from difficult times we will be shielded in them as we look to you as the rock of ages and we ask Lord for those who are struggling as they come to our minds that you would comfort them and uphold them and help them Lord and that they would not drift from you at this time but they would be brought into a whole new level of intimacy with you through these struggles and Lord we pray for those who would desire to be present tonight and who are sick and who are committed with responsibilities in this world and we pray that you would bless them Lord as we pray that you would bless us at this time hear our prayers take away our sin empty us of ourselves fill us with the Holy Spirit that we would be enabled to see Jesus for we pray these things in Jesus name and for his sake Amen good to see some boys and girls tonight it's not every night [26:35] I have a box of chocolates here as soon as I've got them boys and girls at school do you want to come out and just get one to set you up for the service out you come chop chop Angus McKellar sit down those who weren't brave enough anyone else want put your hand up if you've never got and you would like Hannah Bethany no you might get one in point two as well we'll see if you could turn please in your Bible to Luke chapter 24 I want to think fairly broadly tonight about the resurrection the account and the accounts of the resurrection that we've had occasion to look at over these past few weeks last Sunday morning and then on [27:49] Wednesday evening we were in John chapter 20 and we were thinking about the scene of the open tomb as John shows us Mary Magdalene as Mary Magdalene comes very very early in the morning to the tomb of Jesus and John gives us this very vivid picture of this woman who is broken and who is grieving because she loved Jesus and she comes looking for his body and yet she finds to her shock and her subsequent delight that he was not there but he was risen he was resurrected he was alive and this evening with Luke 24 open in front of us we're taken again to that same place it's a slightly different perspective but it's the same scene we're taken again to this place to that tomb that we know [28:51] Joseph of Arimathea provided that place where Jesus' body was laid that place where Mary Magdalene and the others wept that place where the angels appear that place that the disciples ran to and the scene that we have in front of us that place is a place of great significance and yet with Luke's gospel in front of us and John's gospel in front of us last week we have no coordinates recorded we have no exact location of that place where Jesus' body lay Duncan McSween who leads the road to recovery on Tuesday he was telling us that he's heading off in the next few weeks to the Holy Land there's various places that he'll be taken to in that tour in the Holy Land and there's various sites that he'll be taken to and he'll be given a great assurance that this miracle or this thing happened in this exact place where we're standing and the likelihood is he'll be taken to a couple of places that may be similar to the place where Jesus' body laid but there is absolutely no certainty that the place that he'll be taken to is the exact location [30:22] I was reading an article some time back about some of the more well-known world religions I think there were 17 world religions that were listed and in each case with these religions their founder was identified and the coordinates were given where you could find the grave of the founder who's now dead and yet with Christianity and today in particular we think about the fact that Jesus is not dead he is risen he was dead he was crucified his body was laid in that tomb but the Christians didn't actually think to mark or protect its location it's a place of great significance but they seemed to very quickly overlook the coordinates of that location they didn't make a habit of going to visit the tomb of [31:32] Jesus they didn't turn it into some kind of a holy shrine why not because of the resurrection because of the fact that Jesus is risen yes his body laid in the tomb for that short time but then he rose from the dead and that tomb was vacated that place no longer was a place with any great attraction because Christ was risen from the dead and I want to think about three things this evening before seven o'clock three things in relation to the resurrection first of all resurrection as fact secondly resurrection as a feeling something that affects us in our very inner beings and thirdly resurrection and what that tells us about the future so first of all resurrection as fact it's reminded today of a conversation that I listened into some years ago now it was in our house grace was not yet in school and Anna was maybe in primary one or primary two and you have these kind of psychedelic conversations that you listen into from time to time and it went kind of like this grace piped up in the middle of a game [33:16] I don't like lava you know lava is in the molten lava she said I don't like lava I think she'd seen a cartoon or something I don't like it it's yucky and Anna responded by saying it's not yucky lava is not for eating it's hot and it's rocky and it comes out the top of a volcano grace said no it's not and I said yes it is we did it in school we had a project all about it that's what lava is and grace said well that's not what lava is to me it's just yucky I don't like it and Anna walked away in a fury and frustration seeing that she was going to get nowhere but her point was grace didn't get to decide what lava was lava was not a concept that could be explored and stretched lava was a thing it was a fact it was something that was reported and there was something that's to be believed and whether we go to [34:24] Matthew or whether we go to Luke or whether we go to John and we read about the resurrection what we can see very clearly is that it's reported to us as a fact now today we hear all kinds of psychedelic explanations about the resurrection every year you pick up newspaper articles and there's nonsense written about the resurrection if you read liberal theology and I don't recommend you do it won't take you long to hear somebody writing something along the lines of well resurrection yes Jesus lives on but he lives on in the mind and in the experience of his followers it's a kind of spiritual resurrection that the church remembers it's not real resurrection but that's not what the bible says it's not a concept for us to stretch and spiritualize the resurrection is reported to us as a fact and the disciples here as we follow through the plot here they are reporting this to us as something that really happened [35:42] Mary Magdalene is telling the disciples that she really did see Jesus in John chapter 20 she appears knocking at the door of the room where the disciples are and she's saying to the disciples Jesus really is alive I don't understand how I can't give you the science but he's alive the disciples here if we were to have a conversation with them about this passage in Luke 24 you know we can hear them saying we saw Jesus resurrection his resurrected body with our eyes and it blew our minds and it terrified us he terrified us as he walked through a closed door we can read about that in verse 36 to 42 we can read about how the disciples were amazed and they were startled and they were frightened when they saw him but they saw him and then they wrote down what they saw and they reported it as a fact the genre of writing here is not poetry it's reporting it's facts it's why you have details you know like the fish good verse 41 [37:16] Jesus is asking the disciples have you got something for me to eat and the disciples are thinking ghosts don't eat but Jesus was no ghost he was physically resurrected and here he was eating fish verse 42 Luke tells us not just any fish not fried fish but broiled fish it's one of these little details that a doctor would record why are you giving us the details Luke and Luke says because this is what happened it was broiled fish and he really asked for it and he really took it and he really ate it we really saw him I'm just telling you the facts and it's the same in John chapter 20 going into 21 we have we have these accounts of these appearances of the resurrected Christ and they are reported to us and presented to us as facts to believe so the first question tonight in application is do you believe not do you understand not can you and I provide a scientific explanation of what it is we're reading this is not natural this is supernatural what has been reported here the question that is posed to us is do we believe it we're in [38:54] John 11 when Jesus speaks to the sisters of Lazarus he says to Martha he says to us I am the resurrection and the life do you believe this so do you resurrection is a fact it's a fact it's reported to us as a fact that we are to believe the second thing here is the resurrection is to provoke and stir within us a feeling a real personal feeling response within us there's many reports that we can read in a newspaper we've been saying that resurrection is a fact it's reported to us as a fact now there's lots of facts that we can read in a newspaper and they don't really affect us too much they don't stir much feeling within us they don't really affect our lives all that much [40:03] I was reading in the news or hearing the news today about a report on the boxing last night Joshua versus Parker supported as the facts of the fight but to be honest it doesn't overly interest me and it certainly doesn't affect me another article that caught my eye was Prince Harry and is it Meghan Meghan Meghan Prince Harry and Meghan's royal wedding florist has been revealed it's a newsworthy story supported as a fact it doesn't do anything for me it's no relevance to my life but the account of the resurrection of Jesus yes it's a fact to believe but it's one that should transform our lives and stir great feelings of joy and peace within us if we are believing the hymn that we sang there [41:16] Knowing You Jesus in the Greek and New Testament the word that's used for knowing is the word gnosis g-n-o-s-i-s and it's a word that doesn't speak about just simple head knowledge it's a word that speaks about a deep personal powerful life transforming knowledge and that's the kind of knowledge that we are to have in relation to the resurrection it affects us it should stir great feelings within us so what does the resurrection mean for you and I if we're Christians well there's two things the first thing is the resurrection means that we can actually know that we're saved when we were doing the building works here and coming close towards the end of it [42:19] I think it was about the Thursday or the Friday before the last week and we were beavering away doing all the things that we were hoping to do and we hoped that we'd be able to get access for the prayer meeting on the following Wednesday evening and we knew that we had to do this and that and the next thing but we didn't know for sure that we were going to get in and then on the Friday I think it was the man from the council I don't know it's been the Tuesday the day before the man from the council came in and he wandered through there and he wandered all around the place and he had a chat with Jim and he had a chat table and he took out his papers and he signed them and he stamped them he gave his approval for us to be able to come in and the resurrection in some ways is like the stamp of approval for salvation it's God's stamp of approval on history of the salvation that he has provided all that [43:28] Jesus had done all that he came to do on that cross he accomplished and as he cried out it is finished the work was finished and then as he rose from the dead we see the absolute certification and absolute assurance of the fact that we can be saved stamped across history one commentator Donald Gray Barnhouse said the resurrection of Christ is our receipted bill it's the receipt that God has paid for salvation through the blood of Christ as we hang on to that we can know that we're saved the resurrection showed that sin and Satan and death and hell had been defeated the resurrection showed that the way to heaven the way for sinners to be reconciled with [44:39] God it was now done the resurrection shows that salvation is now freely available to all who come and trust in Christ Romans chapter 10 unlocks that truth verses 8 and 9 of Romans chapter 10 says this the word is near you it is in your mouth and in your heart that is the word of faith we are proclaiming that if you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead you will be saved not you might but you will be saved Paul is saying here if you and I confess with our mouths that Jesus is Lord if we believe truly in our hearts that he is risen from the dead then we can know we are saved we can know and experience the joy and the peace of being safe eternally we can sing with great gusto it is well with my soul we can live with that knowledge and we can die with that assurance peace remember having a conversation one day with a [46:19] Jehovah's witness and thinking about how cruel that false religion is speaking to this man he's knocking on door after door after door trying to work out his salvation trying to work his way into heaven remember saying to him how can you know that you're going to heaven and he said no one can know that's why we keep on working it's false religion the apostle Paul as the spirit of God inspires him says yes you can know you can know that you're going to heaven but it's not about you and your good works and your door knocking it's about Jesus and his finished work if you believe that he was resurrected if you confess that he is [47:23] Lord you can know that you're saved and that should give us great joy and peace resurrection means that we can know we are saved and secondly the resurrection means that we can know life transforming power every day this is not something that's just simply off in the distance this is day to day stuff Paul in Philippians 3 verse 10 he says I want to know Christ Christ and the power of his resurrection and that's the Christian faith it's about knowing Jesus it's about knowing his power in our lives every day Paul in [48:25] Romans chapter 8 he reminds the Christians in Rome this very thing he says in verse 8 those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God you however are not controlled by the sinful nature but by the spirit if the spirit of God lives in you and if anyone does not have the spirit of Christ he does not belong to Christ but if Christ is in you your body is dead because of sin yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness now listen to this and if the spirit of him who raised Christ from the dead is living in you he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his spirit who lives in you we look at Paul and all the batterings he took and we ask Paul the question how is it you can keep on going how can you keep on running this race how can you keep on following [49:32] Jesus in spite of such intense opposition all the time and the answer is the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead was living in him we're going to come and think about Peter in a few weeks time in the book of John and how is it that Peter could go from being this absolute tragic failure to one who's a fearless preacher of Christ how can he go from being terrified when a little girl says to him are you not one of them to stand in before the rulers of the age and saying no one will stop me from talking about Jesus how can that be well I'll tell you how it is it's because the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead was living in him how can it be that the disciples who are locked in their we shed terrified hiding behind closed doors very very soon in the book of [50:41] Acts will be absolutely irrepressible going everywhere telling the good news about Jesus Christ and the answer is the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead was living in them and how is it that Christians in China and Pakistan and North Korea and Eritrea and Iran and Iraq can continue to worship even when their families disown them and their governments are against them and their churches when they build them are flattened and they are ridiculed and attacked every day how can they keep on going because the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead was living in them the spirit of the resurrected Christ was living in him Liam Morris the commentator says the same power that brought [51:45] Christ back from the dead is operative within those who are Christ's the resurrection is an ongoing thing the resurrection is a fact to believe but it's a feeling it's an experience it's a reality that we should know every day in our lives as we look at the prospect of going from this world we can look at that with peace and joy knowing he has done it and his resurrection shows that he has done it and until that time day by day when things are tough as life often candy we can keep on going because the same spirit who raised Jesus from the dead is living in us Tim [52:48] Keller says this think of the immovable slabs in your life I read this I was thinking about all these massive slabs that these men out here were picking up and throwing over their shoulders that I couldn't even get to move Tim Keller says think of the immovable slabs in your life your bitterness your insecurity your fears your doubts these things can be split and rolled off the more you know him the more you grow into the power of the resurrection the more time you spend with him seek him read his word the more you pray the more it stirs up the resurrection power that is within you through the Holy Spirit so the resurrection is not only a fact to believe but it's also an experience a feeling a reality that we are to know and finally the resurrection as future and time is gone so [54:01] I'm just going to simply read the passage that we read this morning with the wee ones because the apostle Paul as he ministered in Thessalonica and he saw those he loved dying there were those in these fellowships who were asking the question what next where are they going do we have hope and the resurrection tells us that we have hope not just for time but for eternity 1 Thessalonians 4 brothers we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep or to grieve like the rest of men who have no hope we believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with [55:01] Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him according to the Lord's own word we tell you that we who are still alive who are left to the coming of the Lord will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep for the Lord himself will come down from heaven who is to come will come down from heaven with a loud command with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God and the dead in Christ will rise first you picture that lusk in time and the dead in Christ will rise first after that we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so we will be with the Lord forever therefore encourage each other with these words [56:02] Thomas Watson says we are more sure to rise out of our graves and out of our beds the resurrection is the future for those who are trusting Christ we will rise to share in his resurrection life if we will put our faith in him let's pray Lord we pray that you would help us to hear these things help us to see Jesus and all that he has done for us and give us faith we pray that we would believe and hang on when things are tough to the wonderful promises that are ours in [57:03] Christ and we pray this in Jesus name Amen