So good to back with you again tonight.
Sounds like my joints when I get up
in the morning.
I appreciate the word concerning these books.
Saving Life of Christ takes its title from
Romans 5 and 10.
If when we were enemies, past tense, we
were reconciled to God, past tense, an accomplished
fact, by the death of God's Son, much
more, a million times much more, we shall
be saved by his life.
You're not saved by the death of Christ,
except in a very limited sense.
You escape hell, you're destined for heaven, but
that isn't salvation.
You're saved by the life of Christ, because
the death of Christ for you is designed
to put the life of Christ in you.
And we've already discovered that that's what it
takes, because it takes God to be a
man, and Christ in the Christian puts God
back into the man.
Let's not forget it.
I might even mention it again.
We're told that under the most favorable conditions,
we never ever remember more than 10%
of anything that anybody has ever said.
So if you want everybody to remember everything
you said, you've got to say everything at
least 10 times.
And I'll do my best.
If I perish, I perish.
If you've never recognized the spiritual content in
the book of Esther, it's quite fantastic.
With meticulous accuracy, God unfolds the whole redemptive
and regenerative purpose.
Begins with a man called King Ahasuerus, representing
the human soul under the domination of an
evil malicious influence in the person of a
man called Haman, who represents the flesh, always
does.
He was an Amalekite, he's the one who
wears the ring of executive government.
He calls the shots.
Everything that Ahasuerus does with full confidence in
Haman's competence, he does at his behest.
On the outside, exercising no influence, Mordecai, representing
the Holy Spirit, he has no access to
the palace.
As in the unregenerate, so we are dominated
by that Adamic nature of satanic origin.
And the Holy Spirit plays no role.
And the whole unfolding of the book, of
course, is designed to get the wrong man
out and the right man in.
And the only way to get the wrong
man out and the right man in is
to get the right man in to get
the wrong man out.
And that's what the gospel is all about.
Mystery of godliness is no longer a mystery,
because it's become an open secret in Jesus
Christ, who in the sinlessness of his humanity,
in a fantastic way, demonstrated how he as
God created man and those principles that must
control man's relationship to God and God's relationship
to man.
Trust that those books may be helpful.
But if you want a really good book
that comprehends it all, read the Bible, because
that's where it is.
And if it isn't there, it isn't anywhere.
It's the book that God has given to
us.
The revelation, as we reminded ourselves yesterday, that
testifies of him.
Judas said Dr. Gamaliel is dead.
And Jesus said Dr. Gamaliel is dead.
Those who followed Judas scattered.
And said he, those who followed Jesus will
scatter.
What's the panic?
If he's dead.
But said Dr. Gamaliel, if he is alive,
and these men share his resurrection, then you
better keep your hands off them, unless you
can fight against God.
And as we saw last evening, and know
today, Dr. Gamaliel was right.
That's why nearly 2,000 years later, we're
gathered in this hall tonight, rejoicing in the
one who is our life.
And whose body, as individual members in particular,
by that miracle of spiritual new birth on
the grounds of redemption we have been at.
And whose privilege it is at this very
moment to share his life, who gave himself
for us, that he might give himself to
us.
But you see, at the stage where we
left them last evening, the disciples hadn't a
clue about this.
Not a clue.
They didn't want the cross, because it didn't
make sense.
And they didn't believe in the resurrection.
So something must have happened.
For we find them in Acts chapter 5,
remember, from Sunday evening, or Sunday morning rather.
Acts chapter 5, teaching and preaching the very
thing that in Matthew 16, the Lord Jesus
forbade them under any circumstances to teach or
preach, that Jesus was the Christ.
Something must have happened.
And what happened was their rediscovery of the
Lord Jesus.
Not on the basis of a mere human
affection.
Something way and beyond mere dedication or loyalty
to a leader.
No longer just now the verb of those
enthusiastically want to see a movement off the
ground.
They rediscover the Lord Jesus in an entirely
new dimension, in the power of his resurrection.
And it really all began in Matthew 28.
And we're going to turn there tonight and
begin the story of their rediscovery.
Matthew 28, in the end of the Sabbath,
as it began to dawn toward the first
day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and
the other Mary to see the sepulchre.
And of course, they came more than to
see the sepulchre.
They came, we're told elsewhere in the other
gospel records, loaded with spices and ointment to
embalm the dead body of their now risen
Lord.
For this was the third morning.
It was the first day of the week.
That first day that since then we have
celebrated as the Lord's day because on it
we celebrate his resurrection.
In the end of the Sabbath.
Now I probably need not remind you that
the Lord Jesus was not crucified, quite obviously,
on Friday.
That is a superstition that has been passed
down through the centuries, but of course has
no biblical foundation in fact.
Said the Lord Jesus, as Jonah was, three
days and three nights in the belly of
the whale, so shall the Son of Man
be three days and three nights in the
two.
Had the Lord Jesus been crucified on Friday,
Friday night, Saturday night, risen again on Sunday
morning, how many nights would he have been
in the two?
Two.
And neither the Lord Jesus nor the Bible
makes that kind of a mistake.
So merely in passing, almost in parenthesis, let
me remind you that the Sabbath that followed
the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus was not
the normal Saturday Sabbath.
It was clearly pointed out in the 19th
chapter of John's gospel, just in case you
and I should be that dumb as to
think it was the real Sabbath, that it
was the Passover Sabbath.
It was a high day.
31st verse, if you care to turn to
it, though find the way back please quickly
to Matthew 28 when we're at that stage,
31st verse of the 19th of John, the
Jews therefore, because it was the preparation that
the body should not remain upon the cross
on the Sabbath day, parenthesis, just in case
you make a mistake, that Sabbath was an
high day, a special Sabbath, not Saturday.
It was the Passover Sabbath.
Happened to be a Friday.
So there were two Sabbaths in a row,
Friday, Passover Sabbath, a high day, and Saturday,
the normal Sabbath.
And lest these bodies hanging on a cross
should desecrate the high day, the Passover Sabbath,
they besought Pilate that their legs might be
broken and that they might be taken away.
And so the soldiers came, you'll remember, and
they smashed the legs of one and smashed
the legs of another.
And when they came to the Lord Jesus,
they said, he's dead.
Can't be dead.
It's too soon for him to be dead.
Nobody was ever dead that soon.
For crucifixion was an excruciating means of execution
introduced by the Romans, who borrowed it from
the Phoenicians and the North African coast before
ever they invaded Palestine.
But he was dead.
Because you see, said the Lord Jesus, to
Pilate, nobody takes my life from me.
I lay down my life, a ransom for
many.
So they didn't break his legs.
That's why in the 12th chapter of the
book of Exodus, speaking of that which foreshadowed
the coming of the Lamb of God, that
taketh away the sin of the world, the
Passover Lamb, no coincidence that the Lord Jesus
was crucified at Passover.
For when the angel of God's judgment sees
the Lamb of that unblemished, the blood of
that unblemished Lamb painted upon the doorpost and
the lintel, he will pass over.
But a bone of his body shall not
be broken.
Because God writes history in advance.
So they couldn't work on Friday.
And they couldn't work on Saturday.
But crucified Thursday in the tomb, Thursday night,
Friday night in the tomb, and Saturday night,
in the end of that Sabbath, as it
began to dawn toward the first day of
the week, Sunday, came Mary Magdalene and the
other Mary to see the Sabbath.
Now just imagine that you might have been
visiting in the neighborhood just about that time,
up early in the morning, together with your
friend, you suddenly notice these weary-eyed, red
-eyed women, sadly trudging down the street, loaded
with their spices and their ointments.
And you might nudge your friend, say, who
were they?
And your friend would say, followers of Jesus,
where are they going?
To the cemetery.
Which was pretty obvious.
If you saw somebody going down the road
with a wreath, you wouldn't think they were
going to a wedding.
Why?
Or your friend would say, he's dead.
They buried him.
So what was the message that these women
who washed his feet with their tears and
wiped them with their hair, these who were
so devoted in their attention and service, who
loved him with a deep affection, what was
the message they had for the world on
that resurrection morning?
Jesus is dead.
They didn't want the cross, they didn't believe
in the resurrection.
Mind you, it's a bit scary.
For one thing, there was an earthquake, and
you don't have an earthquake every Sunday morning.
And as the earth rocked beneath them, they
trembled with some apprehension, came near enough to
the tomb to see what had happened, they
found bodies lying as though they were dead,
and that was a little unusual too.
And then by this time, scared out of
their wits, suddenly they looked up into the
face of an angel.
And you don't see an angel every Sunday
morning.
Behold, there was a great earthquake.
The angel of the Lord descended from heaven,
came, rolled back the stone from the door
and sat upon it.
His countenance was like lightning, his raiment white
as snow, and for fear of him, the
keepers did shake and became like dead men.
And the angel, very kindly, said to the
women, don't be frightened, fear not ye.
I know that you seek Jesus.
I know why you've come.
You're trying to find Jesus, but you haven't
found him, and you won't.
For two good reasons.
First reason, you're looking for him in the
wrong tent.
And because you're looking for him in the
wrong tent, you're looking for him in the
wrong place.
I wonder which tents you're looking in for
Jesus.
You're still hanging around an old rugged cross,
one of those beautiful songs of the faith,
filled with deep sentiment, and yet filled also
with idolatry.
I love that old cross.
Do you love the cross?
I don't.
I love the one who died on it,
but I don't like that wicked, evil instrument
of torture, a means of execution, a Roman
scaffold.
I might just as well pick up a
dagger and say, I love that old dagger.
I just love that old dagger.
It's the dagger they used to kill my
mother.
You see, we're brainwashed and sentimental trash.
The cross was a cruel, evil, wicked place.
It was engineered, thought up by wicked men,
for he was to fall into the hands
of wicked men and be done to death.
That was their plot.
He said, you seek Jesus, which was crucified.
What tent is that?
That's the past tent.
He might well have added, you're absolutely right,
he was crucified.
That's exactly why he came into this world.
He was the word made flesh.
By agreement, as between himself the Father and
the Holy Spirit in the eternal ages of
the past, he was the lamb slain before
the foundation of the world.
This didn't take him by surprise.
He didn't drift to disaster.
He wasn't the unhappy victim of being a
progressive philosopher too advanced for the day and
age in which he lived.
This didn't take him by surprise, for may
I remind you of last evening's discussion between
the Lord Jesus, Moses and Elijah in the
Mount of Transfiguration, when he spoke with them
of the death that he would accomplish.
He was crucified.
You're absolutely right.
But he is not here.
Because you're looking for him in the wrong
tent.
And you're looking for him in the wrong
place.
He, verse six, is not here.
He is risen.
As he said, he told you again and
again that this exactly what he was coming
to accomplish, this was the messianic plan, this
was the purpose for which as the savior
of the world, he assumed our humanity to
lay down his life, a ransom for many.
But he told you that the third day
he would be risen from the dead.
But although you listened to what he said,
you didn't hear it.
It's amazing how long you can listen without
hearing it.
Remember how in the eighth chapter of John,
the Lord Jesus turned to the scribes and
the Pharisees.
He said, you listen to everything I say
and never hear a word.
I preached to countless hundreds of thousands of
people, have done for the last 46 years.
People have listened and listened week after week
and never hear a word.
You can come to Lake Hulme and listen
and listen and listen, still not hear a
word.
In other words, you may become textually aware,
be schooled in the language of the prophets
and still miss the heart of the message.
Come, said the angel.
See the place where the Lord lay, said
the angel to these women, come with me
and I'll show you exactly where he is.
And I'll tell you where he is.
Go quickly, tell his disciples that he's risen
from the dead.
Behold, he goes before you into Galilee.
There you will see him.
Lo, I have told you.
And they departed quickly from the sepulchre with
fear and great joy.
And they did run to bring his disciples
away.
They just couldn't get there quick enough.
They wanted to burst into the presence of
that bunch of frightened men, huddled together in
the upper room behind locked and bolted doors,
fearful of every footfall.
They wanted to be the very first to
break the fantastic news that the tomb was
empty.
They had been rebuked by the angel for
looking for the living amongst the dead.
Jesus is alive.
And as they went to tell his disciples,
verse 9, Behold, Jesus met them, saying, All
hail.
And they came and they held him and
worshipped him.
That's where it all began.
Their rediscovery of the Lord Jesus and the
power of his resurrection, an empty tomb and
a naked cross.
Would you turn to Luke 24 and let's
pick up the story from there.
Luke 24.
As they were afraid and bowed down their
faces to the earth in verse 5 of
Luke 24, the angel said, Why seek ye
the living among the dead?
He is not here.
He is risen.
Remember how he spake unto you while he
was yet with you in Galilee, saying, The
Son of Man must be delivered into the
hands of sinful men and be crucified and
the third day rise again.
And they remember the words to which they
had listened, but which they never heard.
They remember his words and they returned from
the sepulcher and they told all these things
unto the eleven and to all the rest.
It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary, the mother
of James, and the other women that were
with them.
When they told these things to the apostles,
they came pounding up the stairs.
And as the apostles, hidden behind those barred
and bolted doors, heard these footsteps on the
stairs, they went as wide as a sheep,
broke out in beads of perspiration, and Peter,
no doubt, turned to John and said, John,
they've come.
We knew it would happen.
They've killed Jesus and we buried him.
Now they've come to kill us and somebody's
going to bury you and somebody's going to
bury me.
We warned him again and again.
We told him it was absolute sheer folly
to go to Jerusalem, but he wouldn't listen.
He was too stubborn.
Goodbye, John.
Die bravely.
Bye-bye, Philip.
Bye-bye, Andrew.
What a bunch.
And then suddenly somebody recognized the voices of
the women.
It's the girls.
They're after the girls.
Quick, get them in.
So they moved the kitchen table and the
grand piano and the birdcage and everything else.
They had stuck in front of the door.
And finally, they pulled the girls in, rammed
the door back, put back the ball, put
back the clothes, all the furniture.
And then the women really went to town.
All wanted to be the first to tell
the news, all speaking at once.
They say, generally speaking, ladies are generally speaking.
But on this occasion, they actually had something
to say that was really worth saying.
They said, Jesus is alive.
They said, you'll never believe it.
It was pretty scary, mind you.
There was an earthquake and the ground was
rocking in all directions.
Then we saw dead bodies lying around.
They looked dead.
And then suddenly we looked into the face
of an angel.
But he was very kind.
He said, don't be frightened.
And then he rebuked us for looking for
the living Jesus amongst the dead.
And he took us into the tomb and
showed us that it was empty.
And on our way back, what do you
think?
We met him.
We spoke to him.
And then their words froze on their lips.
In that cold, icy atmosphere.
You might well have imagined that Peter, James,
John, and the other disciples would have been
overjoyed at the fantastic news that Jesus was
alive.
Verse 11.
And their words seemed to them as idle
tales.
And they believed them not.
They said, women, you're hysterical.
Suffering from hallucinations.
We've all had a rough time.
We don't blame you if your nerves have
snapped.
But you're suffering from a nervous breakdown.
You better go home and take six aspirins.
Have a good night.
You'll be fine in the morning.
But don't come telling us that nonsense.
Jesus is dead.
We buried him.
That was the apostolic tree nearly 2,000
years ago.
Jesus is dead.
We buried him.
They might well have added, as a few
nitwits did a few years back, publicized highly
in your news media from one or two
of your theological seminaries, that if Christianity is
to survive, it's got to survive without Jesus
Christ and without God because he's dead and
we buried him.
That's what you get a PhD for.
But they thought they were smart.
These folks just a few years back really
thought they were progressive.
They were tragically out of date.
This was the apostolic creed 2,000 years
ago.
Jesus is dead.
We buried him.
And when the women came and said, Jesus
is alive, they said, idle tales.
Now you'll understand why the Lord Jesus told
his disciples to keep their mouth shut.
How would you have invited the disciples in
their then condition to come and conduct a
Bible conference here at Lakeview?
Oh, Hume Lake, whichever way you like to
say it.
What would they have had to say about
Jesus?
Only one thing.
He's dead.
We buried him.
Pretty startling, isn't it?
Then Peter did something which was typically Petrine.
Having heard where Jesus wasn't in verse 12,
he ran to the sepulcher to see if
he could find him.
Stooping down, he beheld the linen clothes laid
by themselves and departed wondering in himself at
that which was come to pass, but still
very much unconvinced, even by the empty two.
And two of them, deciding that the end
had come, the curtain had dropped, were going
home.
To lick their wounds, cherish melancholy memories of
the beautiful life in whom they had vested
so much hope and expectation, but had come
to such an untimely end.
He's dead.
We buried him.
Behold, two of them went that same day
to a village called Emmaus, which was from
Jerusalem, about three score furlongs.
They talked together of all these things which
had happened.
And we reminded ourselves of this.
Yesterday came to pass while they communed together,
reason, Jesus himself drew near.
He went with them, but their eyes were
holden that they should not know him.
You won't recognize the risen Lord Jesus if
he's still hanging on a cross in your
heart, or if you've still got him lying
in the tomb.
He said, what's bugging you?
Why so miserable?
Why so sad?
What manner of conversation are these that you
have one with another as you walk and
are sad?
One of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering,
he said, art thou only a stranger in
Jerusalem and hast thou not known the things
which have come to pass in these days?
He said, what things?
I think he probably knew quite a lot
about the things that had been happening in
Jerusalem.
He was there.
It was through his hands they drove the
nails.
It was through his feet they drove the
nail.
On his brow rested that crown of thorns.
It was his side they pierced.
What things?
And pathetically, they began to tell their risen
Lord about their dead Jesus.
Concerning, said they to him, verse 19, Jesus
of Nazareth.
He was a prophet, mighty in deed and
word before God and all the people.
He was.
What tense is that?
Past tense.
We trusted past tense that it had been
he which should have redeemed Israel.
Of course, we were wrong.
They killed him.
We buried him.
Jesus is dead.
And said he to them, verse 25, all
fools.
Fools.
Slow of heart to believe all the prophets
have spoken.
Ought not Christ to have suffered these things
and to enter into his glory.
And beginning at Moses in the book of
Genesis and Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy and the
whole of the Pentateuch.
Beginning at Moses and all the prophets.
He expounded unto them in all the scriptures.
The only Bible he ever held in his
hand.
The Old Testament.
From beginning to end.
He expounded unto them in all the scriptures.
The things concerning himself.
And as he began to weave his way
through those Old Testament passages.
And discuss with them as once he had
with Moses and Elijah on the Mount of
Transfiguration.
The things concerning himself.
We're told their heart burned within.
Everything began to make sense.
And they drew nigh unto the village.
Whither they went in verse 28.
And he made as though he would have
gone further.
For he never intrudes.
He'll pass by.
He'll come your way.
But said the Lord Jesus, it's only the
thief who breaks in.
I knock.
If any man hear my voice and open
the door, I will enter.
At his invitation.
And fellowship with him.
But I want to tell you tonight.
Apart from your invitation, he'll pass by.
But his solemn pledge.
If a man seek, he'll find.
Let him only ask, he will receive.
Let that man only knock and the door
will swing wide.
Only those never found who never sought.
Only those never received who never took.
And to them alone.
The door remains closed who never knocked.
It may well be that I'm talking to
somebody sitting around one of these tables here
tonight.
And you haven't found because you never asked.
You haven't received because you never sought.
The door seems still slammed in your face.
Because you never had the courage to knock.
They constrained him.
Unwittingly inviting beneath their own roof.
The risen son of God.
Abide with us.
It is toward evening.
The day is fast spent and he went
in to tarry with them.
And though he was their guest sitting at
their table.
He played the role of host.
Taking the bread.
He broke it.
And said thank you.
And two pairs of eyes watched one pair
of hands.
And they saw the print.
Of the name.
Of verse 31.
And their eyes were opened.
They knew him.
And in that climactic recognition.
That revelation of his person.
He disappeared.
Vanished out of their sight.
And they said one to another did not
a heart burn within us while he talked
with us by the way.
And while he opened to us the scriptures.
They said the Bible came alive.
He's alive.
The women were right.
And they didn't even unpack their bags.
They rose up verse 33 the same hour.
And they returned to Jerusalem.
And they came pounding up the steps to
corroborate the message of the women.
That Jesus was alive and the tomb was
empty.
And when Peter, James and John heard them
come pounding up the stairs once more.
They almost had a heart attack.
And only reluctantly did they at last open
the door and let them in.
And verse 35.
They told what things were done in the
way.
How the Lord Jesus was known of them.
In the breaking of bread.
They said the women were right.
We grossly misjudged them.
They weren't suffering from hallucination.
We've seen him.
He sat at our table.
And you might well imagine that that was
convincing enough.
To fill the other disciples at last.
With a sense of unspeakable joy.
But you'd be wrong.
You needn't bother to turn to it.
But allow me to cite from the last
the 16th chapter of Mark's gospel.
Verse 9, Mark 16 verse 9.
When Jesus was risen early the first day
of the week.
He appeared first to Mary Magdalene out of
whom he had cast seven devils.
She went and she told them that had
been with them as they mourned and wept.
And they when they had heard that he
was alive and had not.
And had been seen of her.
Believe not.
After that verse 12.
The Lord Jesus appeared in another form under
two of them.
As they walked and went into the country.
The two on the way to Emmaus.
And they went and they told it to
the residents.
Neither.
Believe they then.
The two disciples who came from the road
to Emmaus.
To corroborate the message of the women that
Jesus was alive.
They said you're worse than the women.
You better go home and take 12 aspirants.
Are you surprised that the Lord Jesus forbade
them to tell anybody that he Jesus was
the Christ?
Continuing in the 14th verse of that 16th
of Mark.
Afterward the Lord Jesus appeared unto the 11
as they sat at meat.
And he Christ upraided them with their unbelief
and their heartness of art.
Because they believed not them which had seen
him.
After he was risen.
Back in Luke 24 and verse 36.
And as they thus spake.
Jesus himself stood in the midst of them.
And he said to them peace be unto
you.
And you might well imagine that in the
presence of the risen Lord.
Now in their midst.
Every last doubt.
Every vestige of skepticism would be banished.
But they literally translated shrieked in terror.
They were terrified.
And afrighted.
And suppose that they'd seen a ghost.
Rather than believe that God had raised the
Lord Jesus from the dead.
Peter, James, John and the others.
With the exception of Thomas who wasn't there.
All thought they'd seen a ghost.
And said the Lord Jesus.
Why are you troubled?
Why do thoughts arise in your hearts?
Didn't you hear what these two disciples said
when I sat at their table and broke
the bread?
They told you they saw the wounds of
the cross.
Behold my hand.
See for yourself.
And for good measure behold my feet.
That it is I myself.
Handle me and see.
Come on Peter, handle me.
Come on, come on.
Little nearer.
Touch me.
Come on.
I said come and touch me.
Peter, come on.
But Peter was sort of going green around
the ears.
Have you ever touched a ghost?
So I imagine Peter probably turned.
The Lord Jesus turned away from Peter and
said, John, come on, John.
Peter's scared.
Come on now.
Little nearer.
There we are.
That's it.
Now touch me.
And he touched him.
And he was real.
Man, he was real.
And he cried, he's real.
And they all crowded around.
They all touched him.
And they could hardly believe.
Verse 44.
For joy.
And that was the first consequence of their
rediscovery of the Lord Jesus and the power
of his resurrection.
A new joy.
Peter later wrote it in the first chapter
of his epistle.
Joy unspeakable and full of glory.
You know, recite it.
Maybe you've never related the passages, the one
to the other.
Keep in the place then Luke 24, because
we haven't quite finished.
Turn to the first chapter of John's first
epistle.
1 John chapter 1.
That which was from the beginning.
End of that verse of the word of
life.
We know the one of whom he speaks.
For the first chapter of John's gospel begins
in the beginning was the word and the
word was with God.
The word was God.
By him all things were made.
Without him was not anything made that was
made.
But in him was life.
And this life that was in him was
the light of men.
And that word was made flesh and dwelt
among us.
And we beheld his glories of the only
begotten of the father.
That which was from the beginning.
John says here in the first chapter of
this first epistle.
That which was from the beginning of the
word of life.
Which we've heard.
We've seen with our eyes.
We've looked upon.
And our hands have handled.
We touched him.
What does he mean?
Oh, he said in that upper room.
Having ridiculed the women.
Having tried to humiliate those two disciples on
the road to Emmaus.
Scared out of our wits.
Thinking Jesus was a ghost.
For the life was manifested.
We've seen it.
He continues.
Verse two.
We bear witness.
We show unto you that eternal life.
With the father.
And manifested to us.
We touched him.
That which we have seen and heard.
Declare we unto you.
That you also may have fellowship with us.
And truly our fellowship is with the father.
And with his son Jesus Christ.
And continues John.
Fourth verse of that first chapter.
And these things write we unto you.
That your joy may be full.
We want you, says John, to have that
full-blooded joy.
That became ours in the day when scared
stiff.
A bunch of frightened men.
We touched him.
Jesus is alive.
We touched him.
A new joy.
Show me a miserable Christian.
Burdened by the pressures of his circumstance.
And I'll show you a Christian who's never
discovered that Jesus is alive.
Save maybe that academic nod that says, Yes,
maybe he's in heaven and one day I'll
see him.
Until now.
I've got to sweat it out until Jesus
comes.
Those who've touched him.
Those who through faith have appropriate not only
what he did.
But what he is.
Who are prepared to settle for both.
That he gave himself for me.
He's given himself to me.
All that he is I've got.
I can't have more.
Need never have less.
Are those who reign in life by one
Christ Jesus.
And recognizing that the deity who threw the
universe into space.
Inhabits now their redeemed humanity.
Are prepared in every given situation.
To place their problems at his feet.
Know that at once they become his opportunity.
And there is absolutely no situation that can
ever arise.
At any time.
Under any circumstance.
No matter how frightening.
No matter how threatening.
For which he as God in me.
Could be less than big enough.
If Jesus Christ is God and lives in
you.
What situation can you imagine.
Could ever arise under any circumstance.
For which he as God in you.
Could be less than big enough.
And the moment you dare to say I'm
a Christian.
You're saying Christ.
God the creator lives in me.
The moment you dare say I'm born again.
What you're saying is that Jesus Christ risen
from the dead.
Has come in the same person of the
Holy Ghost.
Through whom the Father indwelled his humanity as
God.
Now to inhabit me as God.
Don't forget that's what you're daring to say.
The moment you say you're a Christian.
But tell me this.
If you want to tell the neighbors.
If you want to tell your business associates.
If you want to tell your mom and
dad.
If you want to tell your kids.
Boys and girls.
Your sons and your daughters.
Your brothers or your sisters.
Your fellow citizens.
If you want to tell the world.
Jesus God creator redeemer.
Inhabits my humanity.
He threw the universes into space.
He threw the stars into the far corners
of the night.
He's the one who at this very moment.
Upholds all things by the word of his
power.
And he lives in me.
And all that he is I've got.
And he's waiting to demonstrate himself strong on
my behalf.
If you're prepared to say that.
Don't you think they should notice it?
Have they ever noticed it?
Have your kids ever noticed that Jesus Christ.
The creator God lives in you.
By the way you react.
In every given circumstance.
That's evangelism.
Evangelism isn't just standing up in the pulpit
and ranting.
Evangelism is making it demonstrably obvious.
That Jesus Christ is alive.
Clothed with the flesh and blood of your
humanity.
Because you're allowing him as God.
To demonstrate the fact.
That he's big enough for the job.
That's evangelism.
You know why we have to knock on
other people's doors?
Because they've never seen anything in us.
Startling enough to make them knock on our
door.
If it was demonstrably obvious.
That Jesus Christ was living in you.
That miraculous quality of life.
That he as God alone can impart.
To a redeemed sinner.
You wouldn't have to knock on other people's
doors.
They'd be lining up.
To ask you what it is that makes
you tick.
That's evangelism.
But we've long since thrown that out of
the window.
We've taken over the job.
And Jesus Christ is unemployed.
Because we're so much smarter today than he
is.
A new joy.
The hilarious joy.
The full-blooded joy.
That derives from knowing that Jesus Christ is
alive.
Not just in heaven.
But in me.
Right now.
At this very moment.
And for every new situation.
Every new step takes.
I'm going to celebrate his victory.
Over death and sin and hell.
And the devil himself.
New joy.
Anything else?
Verse 44.
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 concerning me.
And he led them in a Bible study.
As he had the two disciples on the
road to Emmaus.
And their hearts too burned within them.
The Bible came alive.
He opened.
Verse 45.
Their understanding.
That they might understand the scriptures.
Thus it behoved.
Christ.
Thus it is written.
And thus it behoved Christ.
To suffer.
And to rise from the dead.
The third day.
It's all according to plan.
Everything has gone dead on schedule.
He opened their understanding.
That they might understand the scriptures.
Nothing had ever been wrong with the scriptures.
But something had been tragically wrong with their
understanding.
There's nothing wrong with the scriptures today.
If you find something wrong with the scriptures.
You better examine your mind.
There's something wrong with your understanding.
It means that you need an encounter with
the risen Lord.
Who in deity by the Holy Spirit authored
it.
As holy men of God spake as they
were moved by the Holy Ghost.
Both the Old and the New Testament.
As a record of God's timeless, redemptive and
regenerative purpose.
That is designed in Christ to restore a
man to his true humanity.
In that relationship that lets God be God.
Amen.
Yesterday evening we discussed the mistake that the
scribes and the Pharisees.
The theologians of his day.
The ecclesiastical hierarchy.
The mistake they made.
They detached the written word from the living
word.
And because they detached the written word from
the living word.
They had a Bible that didn't make sense.
And remember that when you create a system
and call it church.
Based upon a Bible without revelation.
Of the one of whom it testifies.
The time will come when you invest in
that church.
The authority of being the truth.
That Jesus Christ God's truth will walk by.
And being incompatible to the church.
You'll perpetuate the church and crucify the truth.
That's the inevitable consequence of studying a Bible.
Apart from that revelation that introduces you to
the one of whom it testifies.
But the disciples you see made the same
mistake.
But in reverse.
The scribes and the Pharisees.
The theologians examined the word analytically.
Purely as an academic study.
Detaching it from the person of Jesus Christ.
And the disciples detached the Lord Jesus as
the living word.
From the Bible as the written word.
So as the written word to the theologians
didn't make sense.
So Jesus Christ to the disciples didn't make
sense.
He never made sense.
He was always saying the wrong thing and
doing the wrong thing.
They tried to persuade him again and again.
That it was sheer stupidity to go to
Jerusalem.
But he insisted.
I'm going there.
I'm going to be delivered into the hands
of wicked men.
Done to death.
But don't panic.
On the third morning I'll be risen from
the dead.
Peter said forget it.
Can you imagine how excited the disciples were
when at last.
Entering the city of Jerusalem.
He riding on that colt.
Untrained and great crowds strewing his pathway with
palm branches.
All shouting Hosanna to the highest.
Can you imagine how at last the disciples
got excited.
Nudged each other.
The movements off the ground.
Man look at the crowds.
What a rally.
And probably you know John turned to Andrew
and said hope he doesn't spoil it.
And Andrew probably said he will.
He always does.
Sure enough he did.
He went into the temple and he kicked
over the table.
Shooed out the animals.
And at the top of his voice he
says you've turned my father's house into a
den of thieves.
And little groups of sulky disciples outside said
he's done it again.
Torpedoed the whole thing.
This can only end in disaster.
And it did to them.
But you see he set his face like
a flint.
He turned neither to the right hand nor
to the left.
He allowed neither foe nor friend to deter
him from that.
Redemptive purpose for which is the lamb.
He was slain.
But he opened their understanding that they might
understand the scripture.
And in a blinding flash of revelation suddenly
the one dovetailed into the other.
And then both made sense.
New bible.
You got a new bible?
If you haven't really entered into the good
of his resurrection.
You may with great dedication study the bible
but it'll be terribly boring.
It'll just be an academic study.
It'll have pages of notes.
Whole chapters analyzed.
But it won't throb.
It won't beat in harmony with the heartbeat
of God.
Thus it is written.
Thus it behove Christ to suffer.
To rise from the dead the third day.
That repentance and remission of sin should be
preached in his name.
Among all nations.
All the way down human history.
Beginning at Jerusalem.
Until one night a company of folks will
meet him later.
In August 1980.
Repentance.
And remission of sin.
That's why these wounds are in my hands
and feet.
I was made sin for you.
I was wounded for your transgressions.
I was bruised for your iniquities and the
cost of your peace with God was laid
on me.
According to the gospel of Isaiah.
Written hundreds of years before ever you were
born.
A new joy.
A new Bible.
And a new message.
And we're almost done for tonight and you've
listened remarkably well.
Just these last few things.
Before we conclude.
A new message.
You see the Lord Jesus had placed a
prohibition upon them.
They would tell nobody that he Jesus was
the Christ.
Coming down from the mount of transfiguration.
No matter what they may finally have seen
or heard.
Said the Lord Jesus.
Not a word.
Until when?
Do you remember?
Matthew 17 9.
Until the son of man be risen from
the dead.
Because until then nothing, nothing, nothing will make
sense.
But he did let them do a little
preaching.
Good homiletic exercise.
Not that they had anything to say.
But God still lets a few preachers preach
who don't have nothing to say.
He didn't bother to turn to this.
But you might like to make a note
of it in the margin.
Maybe there in Luke 24 alongside.
Mark 6 and verse 7.
The Lord Jesus called unto him the twelve
and began to send them forth by two
and two.
And he gave them power over unclean spirits.
Did you notice that?
He sent them forth the twelve two by
two.
Who did that include?
Judas Iscariot.
He was a preacher.
He also had the power to cast out
unclean spirits.
Don't please imagine that exorcism makes you a
spiritual giant.
Judas could do that.
And he betrayed his Lord into the hands
of those who did him to death.
You don't have to be converted to be
a preacher.
There are countless tens of thousands of preachers
who have never been converted.
The only thing is this.
If you're an unconverted preacher, you should be
as smart as Judas.
Resign the ministry.
But just don't do it the way he
did it.
He committed suicide.
You just quit and sell vacuum cleaners.
If that's an honest business.
Depends on the vacuum.
What do they do when he sent them
out to preach?
Do you know what they preach?
Tells you in verse 12.
Same chapter.
Mark 6, 12.
They went out and they preached.
Men should repent.
Period.
They told wicked men to be good.
They told bad men to be sorry.
But they never told them how to get
saved.
Why not?
Well, if you don't want the cross, what
can you talk about?
In terms of redemption.
If you don't believe in the resurrection, what
can you say of spiritual new birth?
For redemption demands his death for us.
And regeneration, new birth demands his life in
us.
And they neither wanted his death nor did
they believe in his resurrection.
So how could they speak of forgiveness?
And how could they speak of spiritual resurrection?
New birth, the impartation of the divine life.
The risen life of Christ to the forgiven
sinner.
They had nothing to say except be sorry.
They could tell people to be sorry, but
they couldn't tell sorry sinners how to be
saved.
Not till the son of man was risen
from the dead.
That repentance and remission of sin should be
preached in his name, said the Lord Jesus.
Luke 24, 47.
And without the shedding of blood, the laying
down of that sinless, spotless life, forfeiting the
Holy Spirit that he on the cross might
there, physically alive but spiritually dead, alienated from
God the Father and the Holy Ghost by
your sin and mine, suffering a death like
ours, you now and I through him.
And for his dear sake, might share a
resurrection like his.
That the same Holy Spirit who was restored
to his spirit in the moment in which
before he died physically, he could cry, it's
finished.
And the veil of the temple was rent
from top to bottom.
And the way of access into the holiest
of all was made open by the blood
of Jesus so that we with boldness might
enter him.
And then as those redeemed, acquitted, forgiven for
his dear sake, become the recipients of that
life first restored to him and now restored
to us in a spiritual rebirth that puts
God back into the man.
New joy, new Bible, new message.
And said the Lord Jesus, verse 48.
And now you are witnessing of these things.
I'm removing the prohibition.
I'm lifting the ban.
At last now, having given me time enough
to talk to you long enough, you know
enough to talk sense, a new joy, a
new Bible, a new message and a new
responsibility.
Now you're going to the outermost ends of
the earth, beginning at Galilee and then beginning
at Jerusalem and then in Judea and Galilee.
And then to the nations of the world,
to the far corners of this planet.
Tell the good news.
That on the grounds of repentance through the
shed blood of God's incarnate son, there's forgiveness.
And last thing, said the Lord Jesus.
You're not quite ready.
For your new responsibility.
Because although not last, you've come to understand
why I died for you.
You have not yet entered into the good.
Because I didn't come into this world to
get men out of hell into heaven.
Though that happens to be included in the
program.
I came into this world to get God.
Out of heaven into me.
Tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you
be endued.
With powerful men.
Having given myself for you.
Very shortly from the Mount of Olives.
I'm going to ascend to return to be
with my father.
But then in the person of my other
self, the Holy Spirit.
I may give myself to you.
And by my presence.
In part to you, all the divine dynamic
that will make you morally competent.
For your new office.
My witness.
You will be poor.
Again.
You will be raised from the dead.
The new enabling.
A new joy, a new Bible, a new
message, a new responsibility.
And tomorrow we're going to talk about.
The new enabling.
That spiritual new birth that first took place
at Pentecost.
When for the first time in all human
history.
God took up residence again within the redeemed
humanity of forgiven sinners.
Cleansed in the blood of his incarnate son.
And there was presented to the Lord Jesus.
The new body.
Not that conceived of the Holy Ghost and
fashion in the borrowed womb of that virgin
girl.
But that.
Of which those 120 became the first members.
And to which has been added all down
the centuries.
Such as are being saved.
In repentance toward God.
Faith toward the Lord Jesus.
And among whom you and I tonight.
A number.
To the Lord.
Sharing his life on earth.
On the way to heaven.
More than Congress.
Through him that loved us.
For the eyes of the Lord run to
and fro throughout the whole earth.
Looking for any boy, any girl, any man,
any woman, anywhere.
Out of every nation, kindred, tribe, or tongue,
or race, or creed, or class, or color.
Whose heart being perfect toward him.
Will allow him as God to be God.
And show himself strong.
On their behalf.
That's the prospect.
And every horizon beckoned him.
Heavy with blessing and gold.
With promise.
Paganini, the great violinist.
Playing to an enthralled audience.
Of whom it had been advertised he would
produce the whining of the wind in the
trees.
Cooing of the dove in the street.
Laughter of children.
The music of water trickling down the mountainside.
Stepping onto the platform.
Bathed in golden light.
First plucked out one string.
And then a second, then a third.
Until only one remained.
And then to the startled audience he said,
ladies and gentlemen.
Paganini.
And one string.
And on the one remaining string he began
to play.
And they heard the whining of the wind
in the trees.
The chattering of children in the streets.
The cooing of the dove.
And the music of water trickling down the
mountainside.
Just one string.
And the master player.
Just a hollow box.
And a piece of catgut.
In the hands of Paganini.
Your life.
Apart from your creator within the creature.
A hollow box.
Filled with Christ.
And in the master's hands.
The unspeakable melody.
Of a life in tune.
With his major.
That's something.
That's music.
Now let's pray.
Yes, Lord Jesus.
Dr. Gamalia was right.
Nobody can fight against God.
He couldn't kill you.
And they can't kill us.
We share your resurrection.
We thank you we can step out into
the dawn of every new day.
Loving Lord.
Into the glorious adventure of being that part
of your humanity on earth today.
Through which you continue to do.
And continue to teach.
The things that once you began to do
and began to teach.
Thank you that you're alive.
Not just in heaven.
But in me.
And Lord Jesus.
I want somebody to notice him.
Some little boy or girl.
Looking into my face will see you smile.
Somebody who's full.
And doesn't know how to get up.
Will see my hand.
And feel your touch.
This is marvelous.
I'm a Christian.
A real Christian.
And I never deserved it.
You died for me.
You live in me.
And all I've got to do is say
thank you.
And know it's true.
And prove it.
Every moment.
Of every day.
In your own dear and precious name.
Amen.
While listening to this tape, perhaps God's spirit
has been talking to your heart.
If you felt the need to draw closer
to your creator.
Why not start today?
God has provided a way for man to
enter into a relationship with him forever.
Through his son Jesus Christ.
Jesus said I'm the way, the truth, and
the life.
No man comes to the father but by
me.
The bible says that as many as receive
him to them give he power to become
the children of God.
You too can receive him right now by
asking him to forgive you of your sin.
And asking him to come into your life
and to be lord and savior of your
life.
If you'd like to receive Jesus Christ in
your life today.
You can do so through a simple little
prayer.
Just open up your heart and.
Repeat this prayer with me.
Lord Jesus I admit to you that I
am a sinner.
I believe that you died on a cross
for my sins.
Please forgive me of all of my sins.
Please come into my heart and into my
life.
Please make my life acceptable unto you.
Thank you lord for your gift of eternal
life.
And I receive you this day.
In Jesus name I pray.
Amen.
Now if you prayed that prayer with me
right now.
You are a new person.
All your past sins and faults have been
forgiven by God.
And in his eyes you are a brand
new creature.
The bible says that if any man be
in Christ.
He is a new creature.
All things have passed away and behold all
things become new.
Now as a newborn spiritual infant.
You should seek the sincere milk of God's
word.
So that you may grow by it.
So read your bible.
And pray to the Lord often.
And seek out other Christians and enter into
fellowship with them.
We'd love to hear of your decision for
Christ.
We'd love to give you a free study
of the book of John.
On cassette by Pastor Chuck Smith.
Jesus never turned a spiritual or hungry or
thirsty soul away.
But filled everyone who asked.
So we'd like to do the same for
you in his name.
So please write to us at the address
on this tape.
And tell us of your needs.
And what the Lord has done for you
today.
May the Lord bless you now.
And keep you in everything you do.
And everything you say.
And welcome to the family.